MailChimp Autoresponder for Free Accounts?
A short question here...
I can't fund a paid subscription to MailChimp yet, and have not been using it because it apparently doesn't come with autoresponders (they're not free.)
However, I've heard from a couple sources that they DO have free autoresponders for free accounts. Has anyone heard of this or better yet, experienced it?
I can't find such a thing anywhere on MailChimp and just heard that it's not obvious. I'd love to know how to do this if anyone knows.
There's also a thing called "Zapier." which is supposed to connect with MailChimp and act as an autoresponder. Again, anyone knows, please respond.
so two things...
- What is Zapier?
- Does MailChimp have autoresponder service with free accounts, and if so, where is it?
Thanks!
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I dug into MailChimp for the alleged autoresponder service for free accounts that I found online. There is an automated service of sorts on MailChimp but this doesn't apply to setting up e-mail sequences, which is a service only for paid accounts.
However, the automation services they DO have are very basic and are tucked down in the menu system they have there. The following is a list of e-mails and forms you can customize.
These are the categories:
Subscribe
Unsubscribe
Update Profiles
Other Bits
Nothing here of interest when it comes to autoresponders (now quickly being re-termed as "automation.")
You can't use them for the type of automation that would allow e-mail sequences or series.
I will be now looking into Zapier.
From the looks of it, Zapier does not help when it comes to e-mail sequences, and in short, does more of the same kind of things that you can do with the options above and plus, though all the pluses are related to sending new subscribers from other platforms.
It's something I don't think I can use and definitely not for email sequencing of broadcasts, lessons in an e-Course, etc. Might be capable of this, but I think I will stick with a paid account and save time.
MailChimp has two nice options - very low cost e-mail service or the purchasing of "credits" which, goes like this:
from $9 to $99, you will compose e-mails at 3 cents each.
From $100-$249, you will compose e-mails at 2 cents each.
From $300 + you will compose e-mails at a penny each.
It gets better if you can put up the money!
This page shows the pricing: http://mailchimp.com/pricing/all/
Daniel, check out MadMimi I think the responder is limited to one list but that is OK to get going.
I understand that affiliate campaign activity is prohibited on MadMimi. Is this correct? I may have my information wrong, but learning this discouraged me from proceeding with MadMimi and I deleted it.
However, any page I use with MadMimi would have links to pages that have links to my WA review, which in turn, would have the affiliate link. Would this be okay?
Interesting. If I can't make MailChimp work, I will be resorting to MadMimi. If they kick me off, well, I tried. Eventually I will definitely need a paid service, but just can't now with the expenses of getting a motorcycle, the training, costs of the motorcycle itself and repairs that needed to be done, licensing, birth certificate, tag, plate, insurance, the whole nine yards. Hopefully I will get a part-time job to be able to support living and go back to using my WA income for what I originally wanted to use it for - support my online presence and use it to build it out.
Hi Shawn. If the review at http://tim-bonner.com/mad-mimi/ is correct, it seems like the "auto" part of the autoresponder is also excluded on free accounts with MadMimi just like it is with MailChimp. Can you verify if that's the case?
I will look into it after I get some important business out of the way today. I will be looking into what I found about MailChimp to see if it is valid. If so, I will create a Resource on it here so others can take advantage of it. It will, however be options offered by MailChimp before I create any Resources on it.
I will also research MadMimi and what's included in the free account.
For now, I have top-priority stuff I need to get done. Should be later today :)
From the Horse's Mouth...
me: Is there autoreponder service included with the free account?
Just a moment...
Support:
Hi Daniel
Joe here
me: Good morning Joe [smile]
Support: Unfortunately, no. Our version of the autoresponder, called the "Drip Campaign," is a paid plan feature
me: Thanks for the quick response. This is all I had,
Support: Sounds good!
We'll be around if you have any other questions
me: Will do Have a great morning!
Support: You, as well!
Now I'm going to go after MailChimp to see if them having autorsponder service for free accounts is true or a myth.
Ey there Shawn, is Mad Mimi totally free or is it a trial version? Someone just mentioned that it's only free for a short time. Thank ya' partner!
AngelaHall has just been going through the same problem with trying to set up a free Autoresponder. The best free options mentioned by other WAers were MadMimi.com and ListWire.com. I hope this helps. I'll be checking them both out tomorrow. ~Marion
I already mentioned MadMimi above. This is definitely a possibility. However, ListWire puts links on every one of your free account emails that do two things I don't like, though the link part of it is not what bothers me the most:
1. Links to Listwire on email broadcasts
2. That the link and advertisement may tell potential prospects that I'm too cheap to use a paid account. I don't think MadMimi does this and I know for sure MailChimp doesn't do it.
Thanks for the suggestions! Of the two, I'm now looking into MadMimi once again.
If you don't already have a list then you can use a plugin to collect email addresses. The one I use is Easy Sign Up which I have in a widget on my website whitewitchcoven.com where I offer two free eBooks for people who register. The plugin sends an email to the person who left their details and I get an email telling me their name and email address. If you want to do this and need help setting it up just PM me and I'll give you step-by-step instructions.
You don't need an autoresponder until you have a list and want to send emails.
I had Aweber for a long time and it's wonderful. I found MailChimp to be preferred over Aweber and appears to be simpler to use. I simply don't have the funding to support a paid email service. Once I do, it's the first thing, and Jaaxy, that get restored!
Nope MailChimp doesn't support AR for free accounts. Haven't heard of Zapier.
I currently use GetResponse. They are pretty good. They have live chat. They interface can be hard to understand in the beginning, but once you learn it, it's simple. They have 30 day free trial account. It supports autoresponder in the free account.
I didn't like GetResponse, but I have not had it since 2005 and it may have definitely improved over what it was back then. It was the most difficult, time-consuming service I've seen to this day. I'm sure however, that it is now much improved over what it was!
I had a chance to look further into the free mailchimp autoresponder service and another source says the same thing, which is besides Zapier. Tonight I'm going to get in MailChimp and follow the instructions to see if what is being said is true.
If so, and it's a service that is indeed, provided by MailChimp, I will create a resource on it here! It would be invaluable!
Awesome, the GR interface is a bit cluttered but the Live chat is amazing. I questioned the heck out of the customer service team. Even in free account it's available.
Zapier sounds like a quick fix to your problem though. All the best Daniel, hope it works out well :)
Thanks Brian I just had a round of computer problems that killed the rest of my time here, so looks like the magic word - "tomorrow."
FWIW, here is Zapier's page on integrating with MailChimp.. https://zapier.com/help/mailchimp/
Hi Daniel. I don't use MailChimp, so I'm not real familiar with how they operate. According to http://mailchimp.com/pricing/free/ it seems they may take the auto out of autoresponder for free accounts.
No idea about Zapier.
I checked the page and find that "automation" is x'd out for the free account, but that they don't actually say "autoresponder" may be what they exactly mean here, or may not.
I'm going to follow instructions on some information I found today about accessing autoresponders with a free account. It's apparently not made obvious and one must navigate through menus to get to it. It might be rubbish, but it's worth checking into. It might be there.
RE: Zapier
Wow! Thanks for this resource! It's time to leave now, but I will go into this tonight when I get back to this media room :)
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I've used MailChimp for a few years now, but only to send out newsletters. Chucks - until WA, I didn't even have a website. (don't laugh - this is true stuff).
After reading this blog, I logged into my MC account and discovered they don't even provide chat unless you have paid account with them (which I do not).
But - here's what I copied "automation" link: (hope it helps...)
=====
When you create a list in MailChimp, we automatically generate a series of signup forms and response emails. You can use the tools on the Create Forms page to customize the Unsubscribe sequence, Update Profile sequence, and other list forms and emails that make up our double opt-in process. MailChimp forms are mobile responsive too. So potential subscribers can easily view and submit their information from a smart phone or other mobile device.
Once you've completed your design you can use the share link we provide to direct people to the signup form. Below we'll walk you through getting started creating and customizing your forms.
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...sorry - can't spend time trying to hack their system to get the video up for ya (you'd laugh if you knew how completely foreign this is to me)...
But Daniel is right - it doesn't look like the free version is any help with what we need here. If you'd like me to copy/paste the rest of the info on the MC page, let me know and I'm happy to.
God Bless! ~Cathy
Great info... thank you again, Cathy!!!
Extremely appreciated Cathy! Yes, they will provide what you need for double opt-in and this is what those other two things I found will do on MailChimp, so yes, I will be purchasing something from them in order to get the autoresponder service.
I was shown a plugin earlier today but I've used up my allocated 500-Mbs for this sorry network! My Internet speed is now at 2.3 kb! I won't get full Internet speed again until sometime tomorrow, probably at this time tomorrow night. It's the stupidest thing. I forgot about this limitation and downloaded a video. BAM! Once it hit that milestone, it screeched to a halt and I couldn't even finish the download!
I have to put off further work until tomorrow now, including the testing of that plugin. That would make a great backup in case I ran out of funds for MailChimp.
If the plugin performs well, I will make note of it here at WA, but it's something I need to check in with WAHosting. Let them take a look at the plugin first to see if it's okay to have on WA servers.
Hi Daniel! The same things happens here if I download too many videos during the month. We have satellite Internet and most of the time, it's fine. But let there be clouds or let me get really involved in training ... boom! We have to buy more credits.
I'm sure many of us here would be interested in hearing about your experiences with the plugin (whether it works or not). May save us some heartache.
God Bless!
~Cathy