I just got off the phone with my friend, AnaMaria Herrera of Practice Building Institute.  We talk “biz” every week or two, and today she told me how she’ll be moving her contact list from Aweber to 1 Shopping Cart.  She knows that she’ll potentially lose quite a bit of her list if they don’t opt-in again.  What she said to me was, “I wish someone had told me when I started to choose 1SC, even though I wasn’t ready for all it’s functionality”.

I feel for AnaMaria.  I tell everyone who asks (and probably many who don’t) – to not start with Aweber or Constant Contact (or other) in order to save money in the short term.  Everyone eventually moves to 1SC – do it now so you don’t lose some of your followers later when you make the move.  Some listen – some don’t.  But I can’t count the number of times we’ve imported lists for clients into 1SC from their former, smaller broadcast/autoresponder services.   [We have a great system for doing this - ask me about it if interested - but we don't expect to ever see a 100% confirm rate - it just won't happen.]

Don’t get me wrong – Aweber and Constant Contact have their places, and if you never, ever plan to sell a product, or have affiliates – then these are great systems.  But if you’re starting out building your list and choosing which program to use – go with 1SC now so you’re not sorry later.  Though most entrepreneurs and small business owners do manage wonderfully for years with 1SC – for the larger, more profitable businesses – Infusionsoft may be the place to start.  However, a move from 1SC to Infusionsoft is more seamless than a move from Aweber to 1SC!

Either way – remember the saying – make decisions based on the business you expect to have, not the business you have now.  Good luck!

~Donna

The Who’s Who Directory of Women in eCommerce…

Check it out! http://wecai.org/whoswhodirectory08.pdf