Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

5 Reasons I Prefer MailChimp to Constant Contact

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5 Reasons I Prefer MailChimp to Constant ContactI was talking with a potential new client the other day about their newsletter. They currently use Constant Contact and I asked how big their list is –  under 1,000 contacts. So, I made my usual recommendation to switch to MailChimp. Why? Because it’s free for up to 2,000 email addresses, and most of my clients are under that threshold.

Also, let’s be honest here. Constant Contact is like having an AOL email account. I’m going to judge you for it.

I know that sounds terrible, but it’s true. A big part of that is that it’s been around for so long. But also, the functionality is clunky. Yes I spend a LOT of my day in MailChimp so I am biased towards it, but every time I work with Constant Contact I realize just how dated their system feels. So, I will continue to make the recommendation  to move to MailChimp from Constant Contact.

Here’s 5 more reasons…

  • MailChimp is FREE for up to 2,000 email addresses. Constant Contact charges you regardless of your list size. FREE is a very good price for a small business owner on a budget!
  • Constant Contact charges you MORE for automation. MailChimp introduced FREE automation last year. I also have an issue with charging me more for automation. Just have a flat rate and include everything. I don’t want to be nickled and dimed…
  • I find 99% of my answers in the MailChimp Knowledge Base. While free accounts don’t have access to customer service chat/phone they have such a deep knowledge base that I rarely have to chat with them (I have a paid account) and when I do they are SUPER helpful and I’ve been thanked for my crazy questions.
  • Multiple Users – in MailChimp I can setup myself as another user for client accounts. This means I can tell when I did something or when my client jumped in to futz with a newsletter. This is especially handy if you have multiple people working on your newsletter. Constant Contact only allows one user at their basic level which means you’re sharing passwords and never know who broke what…
  • I love the ease of integrations with MailChimp – I have my CRM linked to MailChimp, my bookkeeping system linked to MailChimp and my PayPal is linked to it so I can automatically send thank you emails when I receive payment.

I can go on and on about why I like MailChimp better (and they don’t pay me to!) but if you are considering the right email marketing program for your growing business I’m going to almost always recommend you go with MailChimp. And that potential client is now a new client who’s first newsletter went out through MailChimp this week!

Local Business Owners: GDPR Applies to You Too

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A couple of weeks ago I was talking to my good friend Jen McFarland at Foster Growth. She’s my go to gal when I have tech questions. So, as GDRP has become THE hot topic for small business owners in the last couple of weeks, I asked Jen to share her recommendations. For most of my clients we’ve talked about this already and made changes as needed. My recommendation – read Jen’s blog post and start to implement the changes with your web developer and with your newsletter signup forms in the coming weeks and months to be ahead of the game.

If you’re like me, your inbox started overflowing last week with one updated privacy policy after another. Each email referenced the need to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

What in the Hell is GDPR?

In 2016, the European Union (EU) passed GDPR to serve as a data protection stand for its citizens. The regulations went into effect May 25, 2018.

The EU was ahead of the curve in viewing email addresses and online surfing habits as personal information in need of being protected. It’s almost as if they saw the whole Facebook Cambridge Analytica thing coming… but I digress.

GDPR is similar to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) used to protect our credit card numbers and any personally identifiable information associated with credit card payments. My advice if you’re a business owner and don’t know about PCI compliance – don’t be like the City of Portland – always use a 3rd party payment processor and never take credit card numbers on paper unless you want to comply.

Like PCI DSS, GDPR seeks to protect EU citizen’s personal information. In this case, all of the data collected, stored and processed via an online transaction.

I’m a US Business. Why Should I Care About GDPR?

You might think it has nothing to do with your business, but the regulations apply to any online service or company that collects, processes, manages or stores information.

The scope of the law isn’t to enforce EU businesses. The regulation intends to protect EU citizens regardless of when or where the data collection happened.

That means you too, local business owner.

Typical cases where your business collects information and may need to update its privacy policy or processes to comply with GDPR:
• Tracking codes installed on your website (e.g., Google Analytics, Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, Bing, Twitter, et al.)
• Newsletter opt-in or a free ebook/gift
• Collecting emails as part of a point-of-sale system (or your online store saves emails to a list)
• Exchanging information with another business or individual that results in receiving, processing, managing or storing personal information from the EU (applies to all information, including information you have from years ago)

As you can tell, these regulations are pretty far-reaching. The good news is, it’s straightforward to comply (unless you fall under #4 in the list above – in which case, consult your attorney and IT department).

Here are a few simple steps to get you started:

Step 1: read a little about GDPR on Wikipedia or other trusted sources like (here or here) and comply with any updates sent by your vendors that collect information on your behalf (e.g., Google Analytics, MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, etc.)

Step 2: create or update your privacy policy (and then follow it). I used Terms Feed to create my updated privacy policy. You can also consult your attorney.

Step 3: make it very clear what people are subscribing for and that they can unsubscribe at any time. No more auto-subscribing, unless you are strictly B2B and correspondence falls under the “legitimate interest” provision.

For example, I added these words to my opt-in forms “Subscribes you to Foster Growth LLC email list. All emails include an unsubscribe link. You may opt-out at any time. See our privacy policy.”

Most point-of-sale systems allow you to add text letting people know that by giving you their email address they are consenting to be added to a list

Step 4: notify everyone on any existing lists and give them the option to unsubscribe

Step 5: add a cookies policy to your website and notification so people can opt-out of cookies (cookies are the tracking codes you use for Google Analytics, Facebook ads, et al.). I used Terms Feed for my cookies policy and CookieBot so people can opt-out of cookies.

Here’s the link to a more comprehensive GDPR checklist.

If you have questions, consult your attorney, web developer, or tech strategist.

Take action now because there are penalties for not complying. Also, it’s likely increased data protection will spread beyond the EU.

About the Author

Jen McFarland is a technology strategist and project turnaround artist. Her company, Foster Growth, helps businesses make better technology decisions. Her superpowers are listening, evaluating problems, and finding direct, simple solutions. Jen’s approach delivers substantial results like 250% increases in web traffic and a 98% reduction in data entry.

3 Newsletter Tasks to do Your First Year in Business

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3 Newsletter Tasks to do Your First Year in BusinessWhen you’re starting a business it’s hard to figure out what all you SHOULD do, versus what you want to do, need to do and have to do. When I am working with a company as they are about to launch a business I recommend three things when it comes to a newsletter.

  1. Send Out an Announcement Email –  I can’t support you and hire you if I don’t know you’re in business. It’s a big deal! You’ve started a business! Tell all your friends, family and colleagues about it! Get that announcement email out to your contacts. I recommend you do this almost immediately – but at least within the first 3 months
  2. Setup an Email Capture Form on Your Website – The sooner you can start collecting contact information from people, the better. Eventually you can setup a free gift but for now, just make sure you have a way for people to subscribe and give you their contact info. MailChimp makes this really easy with their forms – and your web developer will know how to do it too (and it’s a giant red flag if they don’t!)
  3. Start a Monthly Newsletter – You thought I wouldn’t suggest this? Once your business is up and running it’s time to have a monthly newsletter. Yes monthly. Once a month reach out to your contacts and let them know what you’re up to. What awesome tools have you discovered? What successes have you had with clients? What kinds of projects and services do you offer that people need to know about? I can’t hire you if I don’t know what you do. And I won’t hire you if I forgot you were in business.

Starting your own business is a LOT of hard work. And there are a bazillion moving pieces. It’s hard to figure out what you have to do, what you should do and what can wait. I can give you a million more ideas of what to do, but these are three things that I guarantee will set you up for success in the long run.