The Switch

August 7th, 2007 by Cristina Favreau

Alright, so I spent all day yesterday switching newsletter providers. I went from Constant Contact to iContact. I must say, the entire process has been quite stressful — and will remain to be stressful for another month or so. I’m not sure how many subscribers I’ll lose, but at least those who opt-in to the new list will be those who still really want to be.

And now that my decision is made, in typical Cristina-style, self-doubt has set in.

You see, iContact performed a scheduled maintenance between 12am and 2am today (they warned us ahead of time), so if you tried to subscribe to my new list during those times, you would have landed on a page with this message:

iContact is getting a tune-up.
We’ll be back as soon as we can.

An unwelcome deterrent, I agree.

To that effect, I received an email today from a would-be subscriber who brought the (”not good”) message to my attention. Then, confirming my self-doubt issues, he asked why I didn’t opt to go with AWeber instead. I read: You are going through the trouble of switching, so why aren’t you using something better? (That’s not at all how he said it, but that’s how my inside voice read it!)

Believe me, I struggled with my decision. At first, I was leaning towards AWeber simply because many ‘experts’ in my field use it. But a trusted colleague, Michelle Ulrich (who is an ecommerce expert), strongly recommended iContact — her exact words were:

I use iContact.com (formerly Intellicontact.com) with one of my clients and LOVE it. I have not used Aweber.com largely because most of my clients do not like ‘text’ only. I do not believe Aweber has an html or design view, but I could be mistaken.

I tend to get stuck in analysis paralysis when faced with a difficult decision, so I had to take my own advice by not letting procrastination create a loss of momentum. Instead of allowing myself to get stuck, I took action, by choosing to go with iContact and going through with it.

So, yes, I could have made a better choice — I mean there’s always going to be something bigger and better out there — but at least I made a choice.

Thank you for your patience during the transition and for your continued support. As always, I’m open to your feedback, good or bad.

What issues come up for you that, if you allowed it to, would start creating a loss of momentum? How do you get unstuck?

Category Email Marketing, Productivity, Regaining Momentum | Comments

  • Cristina:

    Sorry for your difficulties. It is, as most of our users know, atypical of our service to have those interruptions. We value your (and your readers') feedback.

    Let me know personally how we can make the transition better. We stand by our promises and will do everything we can to work with ALL customers.

    You made the right decision. Give it time!

    Best,

    Chuck Hester
    iContact
  • Cristina,

    Not sure when Michelle last took a look at our site but we've been doing HTML design emails and templates for years and years. Long before other providers even existed. (Our 9th anniversary is later this month, woohoo!)

    Wish you the best of success in your transition. If for some reason it doesn't work out we're here to help.

    Tom Kulzer
    AWeber CEO
  • Chuck and Tom! WOW, you guys are quick! I posted this message not 5 minutes ago, and you're already joining the conversation!! Thanks so much. I'm flattered that you both took the time out to visit, read and comment on my blog.

    Chuck, an additional thanks for contacting me personally.

    Tom, it's not personal (as you know!). No doubt you understand the power of word-of-mouth referrals! While I've heard nothing but wonderful things about AWeber in my community, I was swayed to register with iContact due to recommendations from people I personally know and trust.

    It shows you both care about and proudly stand by your products, making sure the word gets out. Thanks again guys!
  • Oh my goodness Cristina - Tom and Chuck must have a Google Alert set up and it pinged your blog ;)

    I use Aweber - and I LOVE it (thanks Tom :) ) - but I'm not here to sway your decision at all.

    I'm just here to offer some support from a fellow solo-preneur. And tell you you're not alone in your analysis paralysis (LOL!).

    In the end, you MUST do what feels right to you... what you feel right with in your soul. If you chose iContact, then I have no doubt it's the absolute RIGHT tool for your business.

    As you know, I've been blogging about honesty in business and being authentic... so whatever felt right to you IS right :)

    Now, issues that come up for me is that old "Well, if I don't follow the pack, will I be less successful?!?" Seriously - for all the authenticity conversations I have, there are times that I go through my own self-doubt around these things too.

    To get myself out of that, I leave the office, take a walk, get centered and ask myself in my soul what feels like the best choice for my business.

    Then, I think about how each choice feels. I visualize myself doing it both ways - the following the pack way, and MY way. I try to see which feels better to me, and what exactly I might feel during each step of the process.

    If something doesn't feel right to you while you're doing it, it won't feel right to everyone else either - and your results will be less than spectacular. For example - when you're putting together a marketing message - if you don't feel right about it, no one else will either.

    So, the decision to be authentic always wins... but sometimes, there's a twinge of panic that I have to pacify first :)
  • I was wondering why you moved from Constant Contact and what makes iContact a better alternative? I've been with Constant Contact for a couple of years and have toyed with the idea of looking at other options and your post has spurred me on to do some research. I was particularly impressed with the immediate responses you got from both Aweber and iContact! I'll be looking at both.
  • Jenn, thanks for the confidence-booster!!
  • Heather, there are a few reasons why I switched:
    <ol>
    <li>The first reason is that less than half my subscribers weren't getting my newsletter sent by CC. Providers like 1shoppingcart.com, AWeber and iContact work very hard to get all messages through to your subscribers.</li>
    <li>The second reason I switched away from CC is that they don't have any autoresponders (other than your "thanks for subscribing" message).</li>
    <li>Third is iContact offers a survey option (included in the price, that is, not separate like CC). If you've been following my blog a little, you'll know that I've turned into a survey junkie.</li>
    <li>Fourth, iContact is cheaper than CC and I get more options.</li>
    <li>Fifth, it has been highly recommended by colleagues I trust and respect.</li>
    </ol>
    I hope this helps you make your decision.

    Let us know who you choose to go with.
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