TinyLetter Simplifies Email Newsletters

Today MailChimp acquired TinyLetter to provide email newsletters capabilities for anyone that can send an email. Seriously, it’s that easy.

Want proof.  Notice how they get you started by having you select your username – which then becomes the sign-up URL for your newsletter.

In other words, one step at a time. Oh, and like MailChimp – it’s FREE.

MailChimp and TinyLetter – A Great Partnership

MailChimp is my newsletter service of choice for a number of reasons – with one being that they provide an abundance of educational materials.  Nevertheless, there is still a significant time commitment involved with learning how to do it well.

Yep, given my moderate technology skills (and patience) – it indeed took me a while to get my monthly newsletter – Web Marketing News off and running.  Of course, like so many other things in business and life, once you figure it you realize it’s not that difficult after all.

Tell that to small businesses who are challenged with both time and technology.

TinyLetter was designed for them.

Start Sending Email Newsletters Now

TinyLetter is ideal for those that want to launch their newsletter now – and with minimal effort.  It’s also perfect for groups or clubs that don’t need all of the features that MailChimp provides.

In fact, that’s how MailChimp describes TinyLetter – as MailChimp Lite.  Additionally, the language is simplified too.  For example, you don’t send an email campaign – you simply send a letter.  Simple.

To test out TinyLetter, I chose my username, and gave my newsletter a name and a brief description.  That’s it – two minutes. From that point forward you are ready to start drafting your first newsletter.  Just import the emails of your audience and you are good to go.

Here’s what my sign-up box looks like without any additional customization.

Tweaking your newsletter further is very straightforward.  You can customize the look and feel by uploading graphics or using the backgrounds provided. Evidently there are some stats available too.

Graduate from TinyLetter to MailChimp

MailChimp says their motivation behind this acquisition is that their freemium business model offers all of the robust features as the paid version – which can be still be more than some beginners can handle. So, TinyLetter offers a freemium service that allows really small businesses to build their list with their business.

However, I am wondering how it will work when you want to run with the big dogs and graduate from TinyLetter to MailChimp.  Knowing MailChimp, I imagine the plan for making a seamless migration from TinyLetter to MailChimp is already in the works.

So, if you have been challenged with getting started with email marketing, you have just run out of excuses.

Give TinyLetter a try or recommend it to your local community groups.

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It’s a holiday weekend here in the United States, so I’ll be back early next week,  Jeff