Converting Your Email List to MailChimp

As my email subscribers already know, I recently switched over from FeedBurner to MailChimp for my email subscription list.  I am very happy with the results and more importantly, I hope you are as well!

I would highly recommend doing something similar if you utilize FeedBurner or any other email subscription program or plugin with limited functionality.

In that way, you can have full control over your own email list.  If you don’t yet have an email list, this would be a great time to set one up!

The additional functionality gained with MailChimp far exceeded my expectations.

And oh, by the way, MailChimp is absolutely free for most folks just starting out!  Way cool right?

Why Do I Need An Email List?

Even if you are just getting started and see no reason for an email list right now, you should still be collecting email subscriptions.  Here are a few reasons why:

1)  Google could completely change their algorithm and penalize or de-index your site, your Web Hosting server could go down, etc., but with your email list you still have a way to communicate with your customers.

2)  Even if you have no plans to sell any of your niche sites right now, an email list would be an attractive selling point that would allow you to get a lot more $$ for any potential sale down the road.

3)  An email subscriber list is a great way to connect with readers/customers on a one-on-one basis.  It can also be a great way to get feedback.  It is personal, direct and private.  I guess these days “private” is a relative term, given all the press about government snooping, but you get the idea.  😉

My primary motivation for ramping up my email list was the one-on-one interaction.  I love hearing from you guys!  Knowing you’re out there is what motivates me to want to create great content and really strive to add as much value as possible.

Why Convert From FeedBurner to MailChimp?

FeedBurner is a Google owned product that they purchased a few years back and have done little to nothing with.  It is primarily utilized for RSS feeds, it just happens to have a way to subscribe to RSS via email.

It is supported only through Google online support/forums and I can attest to the fact that you will most likely not receive a useful response to any requests for assistance.  In addition, there has been talk that it could be discontinued at any time.

If you want to continue to utilize FeedBurner for RSS feeds, feel free, it does a fine job of that.  However, for email subscriptions, MailChimp is a far better alternative.

Benefits of MailChimp

1)  You have full control over your subscriber list.  You can utilize your list for whatever purpose you like, not only for sending out blog post updates.  In addition, you can receive an email whenever anyone new subscribes.  Not only that, but you can set it up so that when someone does subscribe, they can receive an automated “Welcome Email” response where you can include a free bonus or other “Thanks” for subscribing.

In addition, if you send out an individual “campaign” email as they’re called, you have the ability to see who from your list opened the email and whether anyone clicked on any of the links.  That is pretty neat.

2)  Ability to customize.  With MailChimp RSS to email, you can fully customize the look/feel of the email that goes out for all new blog posts.  For instance, the emails could automatically include links to your most recent blog posts or even a link to a product or eBook that you sell or promote.

One real nice customization feature is the ability to auto-convert embedded videos.  If you’ve received emails on your mobile device with videos embedded before, most likely the video will either not appear at all or you will be unable to view them.

In MailChimp, you just have to click a check box to auto-convert video and they will include an image in the email which is linked to the video for playback.  I’m really looking forward to testing that out, as that is something I’ve run into before.

3)  It is FREE.  Well for most folks just starting out it is.  As long as you’ve got fewer than 2,000 subscribers across all lists in your account, you can send up to 12,000 emails per month without paying a dime.  They do not ask for a credit card or payment of any kind.  Pretty cool right?

Conclusion

Hopefully you can see why an email list is a valuable and essential resource to have.

If you’re excited and ready to get started, here are the two tutorials from the MailChimp blog that I utilized to do the switchover:

Moving Your Subscriber List From FeedBurner to MailChimp

MailChimp RSS to Email

If you have any questions at all on switching over from FeedBurner or any other email subscription program/plugin, just let me know.  I’d be glad to offer any assistance that I can to help you take your mailing list to the next level!

If you’re not a member of my email list yet, subscribe here to see exactly how the emails come through.  As soon as you confirm your email address, you will also receive an immediate welcome email.  That is sent automatically through MailChimp and it contains a link to my free bonus eGuide on Keyword Brainstorming.

I’d be glad to show you exactly how I did that, if you need any assistance.

If you’d like to join up with MailChimp utilizing my “Monkey Rewards” link, feel free.  If we both eventually graduate to a paid account at some point in the future, we’d both get $30 credit to use towards future MailChimp fees/services.  However, that was not at all an intention of this post and I plan to utilize the free MailChimp service for the foreseeable future so no sweat if you don’t.

Thanks and as always, best wishes for success with all of your online adventures!