There is alot of talk about growing your email list, what you should send them and everyone favorite f-word – funnels.
Be no one has really broken downs which email service provider is really best for new bloggers, more established blogs, freelancers, courses/ebook business, e-commerce or local business.
I have done my very best to break down my unbiased opinion about the top email service providers but you should know some of the links found here are affiliate links – meaning I might receive a small commission if you decide to go with one of the options I laid out here.
Why you need an email service for your blog in the first place…
Before we get started you might be wondering why you actually need an email service provider in the first place and why you just can’t add a whole bunch of people to your Gmail contacts then just bcc them.
Because just adding people to your normal Gmail or Hotmail account and emailing them is actually illegal and you could face up to a $15,000 fine with per person. Eeek.
Before you even start looking for an email service for your blog…
Before you try to set up your email service provider you must have an official/branded email address that ends in your blog domain.
So yoursuperawesomeblog@hotmail(.)com is bad, but Yourname@Yoursuperawesomeblog(.)com is okay.
If you’re hosting your blog on Siteground you can get one of those for free. If not you can always use something like G-suite (formally Google for work) to set one up.
Two things your blog’s email service must have…
Regardless of what email service provider you choose for your blog if it doesn’t have the following two things click away fast.
1. Automation
Automation allows you to send a set-series emails to people automatically like a free 5 day course , welcome series or sales funnel.
2. Subscribe Based System Not LIST Based System
Subscriber base simply means that if someone decides to sign up for five of freebies they only count as 1 subscriber. Active campaign, Mailerlite & Convert Kit are subscriber base.
List based – Means if someone signs up for five of your freebies they’re counted as 5 subscribers. So you’re paying five times as much! They are taking up five of your free spots! They could get your weekly email newsletter five times instead of just once Since the list “don’t talk” to To each other (Unlike subscriber based systems) Mailchimp & Aweber are listed based.
3 things to think about when picking your blog’s email service
1. Your current income & where you would like it to be in 6 months and a year.
Look I have totally been there where I barely had to two pennies to rub together and hopes of getting a business off the ground. If that’s you or you’re doing your blog as more of a hobby / online journal then chooses a service with a free option like Mailerlite (free up to 1000 subscribers) is a good bet. Mailchimp is free up to 2000 subscribers but it’s list based so it’s not really worth it.
But if you have dreams of turning your blog & business into something that generates $5000 month, $10,000 month and beyond then stretching your budget and invest in a more advanced system like Active Campaign ($9/mo for 500 – $23/mo for 1000 subscribers) or Convert Kit( $29/mo for 1000 – click here to get an exclusive 30 free trial) right off the bat is the way to good
So you don’t waste precious time and brainpower scouring your blog for old opt-in boxes and moving over any autoresponders (email series) you created in Mailerlite or MailChimp.
2. How comfortable you are with technology
If you hate technology sticking with a simple system like Mailerlite or Convert Kit is definitely the way to go.
However, if you got a little bit of technical skills or honestly you loved doing proofs in math class the robust features of Active Campaign might be the way to go.
3. What type of income model you have
If you run an E-commerce store on Shopify, Big Commerce, Woocommerce, etc you need Active Campaign. (Convert Kit & Mailerlite weren’t made to handle e-commerce)
If you mainly generate income from ads, sponsored posts, and affiliate sales – Mailerlite (the free or paid plan) is perfect for you
If you sell a couple (1-3) different digital products or courses Convert Kit is the right choice for you (Click here to start your free 30-day trial). (If you’re looking to fancier funnels and sequences Active Campaign is right for you)
If you sell freelancing services, alot (4+) digital products or courses or want to run a membership site – Go for Active Campaign.
My humble but honest opinion about which is better….
For Beginners:
Like I said before I wouldn’t touch Mailchimp or Aweber with a 10 foot pole. Mailerlite offers free landing pages, popups, and excellent automation series and tagging for a dirt cheap price. Plus mailerlite is subscriber based!
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For more advanced users:
Active Campaign vs. Convert Kit For Bloggers
A couple of months ago I would have said Active Campaign hands down.
Active Campaign WAS a fraction of the price of Convert Kit and even though:
- Active Campaign doesn’t have free landing pages (Convert Kit does)
- Nor does Active Campaign have an easy way to spot “cold subscribers” (people that don’t open or click on your emails) (Convert Kit does)
Convert Kit wasn’t worth the extra $12 – a month.
(Especially when you can create nice landing pages with your the Divi Builder)
But now that Convert Kit is only a couple bucks more per subscribers then Active Campaign, Convert kit might be the better choice especially after looking at your tech comfort level and income plan.
But what about Infusionsoft or Ontraport?
Unless you are making over $50,000 per month doesn’t even bother looking at either of those. But if you are making over $50,000 you must schedule a call with Akilah Pitts. She’ll hook you up.
So which email service should you choose for your blog?
Honestly, just pick one and use the crap out of it. No email service provider will be completely perfect. But spend time, even money to learn more about your system or hire someone to set it up and teach you about it.
For an exclusive 30-Day free of Trial of Convertkit click here
For a free 15 day trial of Active Campaign (no credit card required) click here.
So which email service did you choose for your blog? Let me know in the comments below
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This is the kind of post that us beginners need to see more often so thank you for it Kate! A simple comparison of several of the things that we’ll need, or a list of ‘beginner’ plugins to install on our blogs.
When you’re a beginner, the sheer number of choices of an entire list of plugins that you ‘could’ install is enough to freeze some of us in our tracks.
Thank you so much for this information! I think I’m going to give MailerLite a go. I am completely clueless when it comes to email service providers and/or how to use them!
I like mailerlite because even on the free plan they still offer customer support.
Thank you so much for this breakdown!! Every blogger has a service they used, but I could not find a breakdown of why each one chose that one! This has helped me exponentially in making my decision. I am going to go with ConvertKit because I have dreams of building my blog to produce a sustainable income and don’t want to waste time learning one service just to convert to another.
I’m so glad it helped. Angleen. What do you blog about?
Thank you so much the great information sharing! This has helped beginner exponentially in making the decision.
thankyou for this dear!! i am glad i am with mailerlite as a beginner
I’m so glad. Their team is so nice.
Thank you, Kate. I am still trying to decide as one aspect of my business is a farm with Shopify so I was testing out Drip. I am not excited about the lack of support I am seeing. Do you have any thoughts on Drip?
Shelly, I’m not sure how drip does with shopify. I haven’t heard anything bad about drip but I also don’t hear it being spoken about alot in general. From what I’ve seen it’s like Convertkit and Active Campaign had a baby. If their customer service is bad, I would go with something else.
Thank you for this. I’ve just learned Google/Blogger is zapping Feedburner and their email subscription service, so I’m shopping for a replacement.
One thing, it appears many of these services require you include a physical address on your emails. I’m just a personal blogger and do not want my home address on these. Any advice?
Thanks again.
Hey John,
It’s actually required by law with the CAN-Spam Act that an address must be shared at the bottom of your emails. So you have a couple of options (again I’m not a lawyer so I would consult with one.)
1. You can invest in a PO Box. Sometimes that will work as an address.
2. If you used the paid version of Convertkit they will let you use their physical address at the bottom of your emails. – I would double check with Convertkit help desk before investing to see if they still offer this.
3. If you have a co-working space you’re apart of you can see if you can use that.
Other then that you can not send emails legally without a void address. See https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business for more information.
Thank you Kate. And thank for bringing my attention to MailerLite. I’m trying them out and I really like. And I figure I can use a work P.O. Box. Thanks again!