First, I am going to start by saying that I am not an expert in email marketing. I am just a small business owner, self-taught, that is struggling to get by. What you are going to read below is my opinion and how I decided to make the switch from Mailchimp to Flodesk.
If you ever had a newsletter list you have probably heard or searched for Mailchimp email marketing or something like that. Mailchimp has been around for many years and built a reputation for itself, while Flodesk is much newer.
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*** This post may contain affiliate links, which means that I will earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you decide to make a purchase. ***
Mailchimp email marketing
I signed up with Mailchimp in those early days of my business because it’s free if you have under 2000 subscribers. And you can’t beat free. Especially if you are new and just starting out and literally have no money to spend, free is your best friend.
I would sign up for anything free I could use. And don’t get me wrong, I am very grateful for that, and I wouldn’t change my decision back then. Plus Mailchimp’s free plan is not at all bad. It actually has all the basic features if you just starting out.
It may even have more than can use if you are just discovering email marketing. The downside is that it’s not very beginner friendly, in my opinion. Their dashboard has changed a lot the past 3 years that I have been using it, but still I find it not as user friendly as I would like.
I actually had to take a course about Mailchimp and how to use it for my business, to send automated emails and deliver my freebies. It is that hard to comprehend. Unfortunately, that course is no longer available by the instructor because of the way Mailchimp decided to change some things up.
Having said that, I have to acknowledge that Mailchimp has a lot of articles on how to use it, but I even found those a bit tricky to understand. And I do have a decent understanding of the English language.
Let’s just say that you have to spend many hours to understand all the features, how they work and how they can benefit you.
The main reason I left is their pricing. Once you have over 2000 subscribers you are going to have to pay a lot of money to keep sending emails. This is where you can see how they structure their pricing, by each plan and by how many subscribers you have, and decide for yourself if that feels a lot to you.
I know money is a sensitive issue, and what feels a lot to me may not be the same for you.
Mailchimp overview
Pros
– Free plan under 2000 subscribers.
– Many features and integrations even in the free plan.
– Automations are part of their free plan now.
– Lots of integrations with apps.
Cons
– Not user-friendly. There is a big learning curve for the beginner. But you can do it if you are determined.
– Pricing
– Ugly web forms and email layouts. If you don’t know how to code you can’t really customize to your liking and match your brand.
Flodesk email marketing
Now, let’s move on Flodesk. I first heard of them from a knitting friend and I was sold pretty quickly. I actually used her affiliate link to get a 50% discount, forever. But let me explain more why I chose Flodesk.
The number one reason that affected my decision was again, pricing. In the unbeatable $38 a month for everything, it was an easy decision to make. And that is without the 50% discount. We are talking about $19 a month!
And when I say everything, I mean every feature they offer. This price is for everyone, no matter how many subscribers they have or how many of the features they want to use. Whatever Flodesk has to offer is yours with this monthly fee.
The second thing that got me on the Flodesk side, was the beautiful and elegant templates. They are really clean, simple, feminine templates, that help your email stand out and look professional.
With little to no effort, and the drag and drop feature, you can easily customize one of the existent templates to fit your brand and aesthetic, at no extra cost. You can play around as much as you like until you are satisfied with the result. And of course you can save your favorite templates to use again and again.
The other thing that helped me get on board with them is that the company is founded and run by two women. This may not seem important to you, but in a man’s driven world, it’s a really nice change to see a successful company that is run by women and I would love to support that.
In the time I am writing these words they are still in beta, adding new features and tweaking things every week to make the best they can. Their customer service is amazing and no question is a dum question.
They answer every single thing you ask them in a kind way, and they will help you set up your account in no time.
Being in beta means that sometimes, things may not work as they are supposed to, but that is so rare, and the times that I * thought * it did happen, it was actually a mistake on my part. Whoops! Thank god they have amazing customer service.
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Their interface and dashboard are sooo user-friendly. It’s very easy to navigate through their site and find everything you need. I am really in love with the simple and clean theme of Flodesk.
Now, coming from Mailchimp I was used to a different set of analytics and information on a weekly basis about how my account is doing, which Flodesk still doesn’t offer. It was one of the things I really liked on Mailchimp, but it’s something I can live without.
They do have analytics for every single email of course, they just don’t automatically inform you of the new subscribers or unsubscribes. If it’s something you are keeping a close eye to, you have to do it manually.
Now, while they are still in beta, you can take advantage of the 50% off the regular price (from $38 to $19) if you sign up through my link. Don’t miss out on this. I have no idea how much longer they will be on beta, and you lock the $19 forever if you choose to sign up now.
Oh, and did I mention you get a free 30-day trial? Signup with my affiliate link, use Flodesk for a month, and you won’t be charged anything if you don’t like it. How amazing is that?
They also recently launched Flodesk University. This is an amazing recourse of topics about email marketing, how to use certain features of Flodesk, making money from your email list and much more. This is something you should definitely check out on day one.
Flodesk overview
Pros
– Pricing. Amazingly low for what they offer. And it’s for life.
– Free 30 day trial.
– As user-friendly as it gets. I don’t think there’s an easier interface out there.
– Beautiful, clean, and elegant templates.
– It is run by two women.
– All features are included in your subscription. No hidden fees or more advanced plans. You will have everything they offer.
– Instagram feed integration in your emails if you like.
– Amazing customer service.
– New features added all the time.
– Shopify integration.
Cons
– Limited analytics but all the essentials you are going to need.
– No free plan available but there’s a 50% discount if you signup through my link and a free 30-day trial.
– Not so many integrations with other apps.
– Doesn’t integrate with Woocommerce if you have an online store, but there’s a way around it using Zapier.
Conclusion
I have chosen Flodesk because it suits my business needs at this time. You have to ask yourself some questions in order to decide what will be best for you. Like, if you are just starting out and you have absolutely no money to spend, go with Mailchimp email marketing. It will be difficult in the beginning but you will get it, eventually.
Are you just a little down the road with your creative business and you want to invest in some beautiful emails and start earning money from your list? Go with Flodesk. At the end of the day, it will be your decision.
If you would like to know all the tools I use to grow my business you can check out this blog post.
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