I’ve had newsletters since the start of my career, whether it was a list I kept myself, a yahoo group, or a MailChimp account from the early days. The way early days! And one of the questions that is now getting asked, especially with so many integration is do you HAVE to use MailChimp or MailerLite?

After you reach so many subscribers, either one of those options gets pricey. And there are many other ways to handle your newsletter and still be in compliance with privacy and anti-spam laws.

The real question is: how comfortable do you feel with importing emails. One of the very nice things about Mailchimp is that many of our author sites like ProlificWorks, StoryOrigin, and BookFunnel connect directly to Mailchimp. There are also tons of plugins for collecting subscribers at your newsletter. With any of these options, you don’t have to worry. Those who subscribe will automatically join your newsletter and begin receiving your welcome sequence.

If you don’t use one of these integrations, then you will need to download a CSV file (a spreadsheet) and import the names and emails into your system. Of course, it’s vital that you have people’s permission and that they’re aware they’re signing up for your newsletter. Depending on the volume of subscribers you have, you may need to do this a couple of times a week, or perhaps a couple of times a month.

Of the two, my preference as someone who works on the technical side, as well as the end user side, is MailChimp. While I’m not thrilled with the changes they’ve made they have a better user reputation.

Do you have to use them? No. You can choose what you want, and I’d be happy to talk options with you to determine the best provider for you.