# anyone tried mailchimp?



## baumwolle (Mar 4, 2006)

Has anyone had any experience with MailChimp, an email marketing service?

I used to use Constant Contact but canceled when they upped their fee structure earlier this year. Thinking about starting up again with a new service. 

I noticed that MailChimp offered a pay-as-you-go fee scale, which is appealing because I have a small but interested list. Plus they have a cute little monkey mascot  

Thanks!


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## baumwolle (Mar 4, 2006)

Sorta pathetic to reply to my own post, but...!!

I've tried MailChimp for 6 months now. They just upgraded their system to make designing emails and newsletters easier. And expanded their reporting features.

All in all, I've been really happy with their service + cost. Way better than Constant Contact for my purposes. Check them out if you're looking for such a service.


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

Thank you for replying to your ...own post about the service .


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Thanks for reporting back on your experience with mailchimp. Do you design the newsletter layout online with mailchimp, or do you have to import HTML?

I have a newsletter through constantcontact, but I'm not a big fan of their monthly fees.

I have another newsletter through campaignmonitor, and they are a "pay only for what you use" type service. They have some other pretty cool features as well.


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## Reckless Tees (Feb 24, 2007)

I also use mailchimp.com and they are awesome. You pay a certain amount based on the amount of people on your mailing list. You can customize your layouts, graphics, everything! Plus it is super easy and fast to use. I highly recommend.


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## tshirt0mania (May 27, 2008)

Hello! I am new here and this is my first post, I will make it brief. 

I've used Dada Mail (formerly known as Mojo) since the time I started building websites. It's free, frequently updated and it works flawlessly.


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## baumwolle (Mar 4, 2006)

Rodney said:


> Do you design the newsletter layout online with mailchimp, or do you have to import HTML?


They let you do it either way. I use their templates because it's easier for me. They only have a few (postcard and 3 or 4 newsletters), but you can customize them easily. And they don't put their logo on your campaign...a big plus. 




Rodney said:


> I have a newsletter through constantcontact, but I'm not a big fan of their monthly fees. I have another newsletter through campaignmonitor, and they are a "pay only for what you use" type service. They have some other pretty cool features as well.


That's exactly why I left CC last year. Prices kept going up.

Just checked out CM. It looks cool too. Seems more technical, geared toward people who build campaigns for others. Interesting that they let customers rebrand their service to sell to customers. That's a pretty unique feature.

I still dig the little monkey icon though


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## Basikboy (Aug 28, 2007)

How often do you guys email your customers? I have heard from some folks that you can really scare off customers sometimes with these email campaigns.


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## baumwolle (Mar 4, 2006)

I try to send out something every other month. Sometimes a newsletter. Sometimes just a coupon code.

I have unsubscribed to lists because they send too frequently. Usually more than twice a month starts to get on my nerves. Unless there's always a good coupon included!


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## Reckless Tees (Feb 24, 2007)

I think it depends on the product you're selling and what the emails are saying. Sometimes I send as often as every 5-7 days, but I try to keep it less frequent than that. I would say 2-3 times a month is good. If they don't like them, they can unsubscribe. Only have about 10 unsubscribe so far and my click through rates are rather high.


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## Needles & Ink (Mar 20, 2008)

Hey, Im looking into getresponse.com they like 17.50 a month for up to 10,000 emails per month, unlimited emails and campaigns, reporting and templates.

Has anyone used get response? Any comments on them?


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## Basikboy (Aug 28, 2007)

Don't your websites you run your stores from offer emailing to your customers? I think I read somewhere that Cubecarts did?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

tshirt0mania said:


> Hello! I am new here and this is my first post, I will make it brief.
> 
> I've used Dada Mail (formerly known as Mojo) since the time I started building websites. It's free, frequently updated and it works flawlessly.


I've used dadamail/mojo for years as well, but I got tired of hosting the script on my servers and updating it all the time.

I like the idea of a "managed" email service with features that help get the email delivered and looking good. But dadamail is an awesome newsletter script if you're installing one on your website.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> Seems more technical, geared toward people who build campaigns for others. Interesting that they let customers rebrand their service to sell to customers. That's a pretty unique feature.


Yeah, that comes in pretty handy. If I'm building a website for a client, I can put up a "coming soon" page for them with their own newsletter signup and let them manage it and still see all the clients from one account.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Needles & Ink said:


> Hey, Im looking into getresponse.com they like 17.50 a month for up to 10,000 emails per month, unlimited emails and campaigns, reporting and templates.
> 
> Has anyone used get response? Any comments on them?


I would suggest picking a service that doesn't have a monthly fee. Pay for only your usage.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Basikboy said:


> Don't your websites you run your stores from offer emailing to your customers? I think I read somewhere that Cubecarts did?


Cubecart may offer that feature, but the benefit of using a service is that it's run by a third party that helps you design an attractive newsletter and helps you get your newsletter run. They handle subscribing and unsubscribing of members, spam reports, etc. 

I found out a while ago that there's a lot more to email marketing than just getting emails and sending out newsletters through your server.

I just signed up for an account at mailchimp today. My merchant account provider happened to have a special going where you get 2000 free mail credits, so I took it as a sign I was supposed to try them out. I'd like to move my constantcontact list over to them.

My problem has always been sending too *few* newsletters. I forget to send them out.


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## Reckless Tees (Feb 24, 2007)

I disagree with Rodney about finding a place with no monthly fee. My monthly fee actually motivates me to send out campaigns so that each month I make it worth what I'm spending, which is only $15. I can see how a monthly fee may be a negative aspect, but you can make it positive too.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Reckless Tees said:


> I disagree with Rodney about finding a place with no monthly fee. My monthly fee actually motivates me to send out campaigns so that each month I make it worth what I'm spending, which is only $15. I can see how a monthly fee may be a negative aspect, but you can make it positive too.


I thought you were using mailchimp? They don't have a monthly fee that I saw.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

Rodney said:


> I thought you were using mailchimp? They don't have a monthly fee that I saw.


Oh, I see now. They have both pay-as-you-go plans and they have monthly fees as well. You can pick which billing method you prefer.

Money can sometimes be a good motivator, so I definitely see your point Mike


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## LjD (Nov 11, 2006)

two questions. if my host has a mailing list option, how would i transfer that to mailchimp? also, does mailchimp have a "add to newsletter" option you can put in your website? thanks..


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

LjD said:


> two questions. if my host has a mailing list option, how would i transfer that to mailchimp? also, does mailchimp have a "add to newsletter" option you can put in your website? thanks..


Mailchimp (and most other newsletter services) has an "import existing list" feature where you can copy and paste or upload a csv/excel file from your existing opt in list.



> also, does mailchimp have a "add to newsletter" option you can put in your website?


Yes, just about every newsletter service like that does  mailchimp, constantcontact, campaignmonitor, etc . They all have an "add to newsletter" option that you can add to your existing website. 

Some of them have things called API's that allow you to automatically integrate your newsletter with your shopping cart. So that when your customer checks the "send me your newsletter" option when they are buying from you, it automatically sends that information to your newsletter powered by mailchimp, campaignmonitor, etc.


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