Local shops & online sellers
Invite shoppers to opt in for new arrivals, useful product tips and relevant offers. Link each campaign to one product collection or action.
Email marketing for small businessesStay in touch.
Stay in touch.
Give customers a reason to return.
A social post can start a conversation. A permission-based email list gives you a way to continue it—with useful updates, relevant offers and a clear next step.
Affiliate disclosure: Let’s Go SMALL is a MailerLite affiliate and may earn a commission if you purchase through our links, at no additional cost to you. Choose for fit, cost and permitted use. Our disclosure.
Email newsletters and campaigns—not postal direct mail. Reviewed October 12, 2026.
Make the follow-up useful
Build a customer relationship beyond the first click.
Contractors & home services
Share a seasonal maintenance checklist, project photos or booking availability with subscribers who asked to hear from you.
Consultants & professionals
Send practical educational updates and a simple consultation link. Respect professional rules and avoid sensitive client details.
Creators & community businesses
Welcome new subscribers, deliver a promised resource and keep a manageable newsletter rhythm. Start with one audience and one useful promise.
Our practical starting pointsNewsletter & signup workflow Email & multichannel needs
MailerLite for focused email. Brevo for a broader workflow.
These are starting hypotheses to test with your own needs, not a promise that one platform wins for everyone.
Start by evaluating MailerLite
Explore its email editor, signup forms, landing pages and automation tools when you want a focused path from subscriber signup to a welcome message and regular campaigns.
Free plan snapshot: up to 250 active subscribers and 2,500 monthly emails; 2 users, 3 active automations, 3 forms and 1 landing page. Exceeding limits can pause sending or other features.
Paid Comfort and Power plans expand usage. Review live pricing for your audience, sending volume and billing term.
We may earn a commission. Check the content restrictions below before signing up.
Compare Brevo
Evaluate Brevo when you want to explore email alongside other marketing and customer-management workflows. Check exactly which channels, automations, integrations and add-ons your plan includes.
Free plan snapshot: 300 email sends per day, up to 100,000 stored contacts and a 2,000-contact automation limit. Unused daily sends do not roll over. A large stored list does not mean you can reach it in one day.
Paid tiers set both email-volume and contact-storage limits. Some tiers can automatically upgrade when contact limits are reached.
| Decision | MailerLite | Brevo |
|---|---|---|
| A small first newsletter list | Test within subscriber, send and feature caps | Test within daily sending and automation caps |
| A campaign to 1,000 subscribers | Above the Free subscriber limit; compare paid plans | Above the Free daily send limit; compare paid plans or permitted requeue workflow |
| Your real monthly cost | Compare audience size, sends, feature-use limits and support | Compare send tier, stored contacts, branding and add-ons |
| A regulated or restricted business | Check policy before signup or import | Check policy before signup or import |
Plans change. Verify provider pages before purchase. No platform guarantees inbox placement, sales or a specific return.
See the workflow
Watch MailerLite in action.
Short vendor-produced demos show the interface. Features shown may require a paid plan; verify availability before choosing.
Design an email
See the drag-and-drop editor and template workflow.
Promotional footage supplied by MailerLite. Use playback controls to start.
Build a follow-up sequence
See how messages can be arranged into an automated workflow.
Promotional footage supplied by MailerLite. Use playback controls to start.
Let subscribers choose
See the subscriber preference center. Check paid-plan availability.
Promotional footage supplied by MailerLite. Use playback controls to start.
A fit check before the signup
Your content and contact list must qualify.
Build a list people asked to join.
MailerLite requires permission. Purchased lists, scraped addresses and social connections without explicit email permission do not qualify. A sale, business card or Facebook friendship is not a blanket invitation to add someone to a newsletter.
Use a clear signup promise, record when and how permission was given, and honor unsubscribes. Double opt-in can help verify addresses and document intent. Check privacy obligations for where your subscribers live.
U.S. commercial-email basics
The FTC’s CAN-SPAM guidance covers accurate sender information, truthful subjects, identification of advertising where required, a valid postal address and a clear opt-out. Honor opt-outs within 10 business days; provider rules may be stricter. Hiring a platform does not transfer all responsibility away from your business.
Read the FTC business guide →Your first week
Start with one form and one useful welcome.
- DAY 1–2
Choose the promise
Define who the email serves and what they receive. Example: a monthly home-maintenance checklist. Pick one campaign goal.
- DAY 3
Set up the sender
Use your business domain, follow the provider’s authentication instructions, and test the reply address and unsubscribe path.
- DAY 4–5
Create the signup
Explain content and frequency. Put the form on a relevant page and send a welcome message that delivers what you promised.
- DAY 6–7
Send and learn
Test on mobile, check every link and send to a small eligible audience. Track clicks, inquiries or purchases—not just opens.
A simple welcome-email outline
Subject: Here’s your [resource]—welcome!
Thank the subscriber, deliver the resource, explain what comes next, and offer one useful next step. Include your business identity, postal address and unsubscribe link in the footer.
Budget before upgrading
How many extra sales cover your email cost?
Use contribution profit per sale: revenue minus the variable cost of delivering that sale. Include your time and other costs when judging the full return.
The calculator estimates the number of incremental sales needed to cover a monthly marketing cost. It is a planning tool, not a conversion forecast.
Illustrative example: $30 in software plus $70 in time and other costs, divided by $25 contribution profit, requires 4 extra sales to cover $100.
Monthly break-even estimate
Costs and outcomes are your assumptions. No visitor data is submitted.
Already using another platform?
Compare your workflow before moving.
Your current platform might already do what you need. Compare MailerLite with Brevo, Mailchimp, Kit, GetResponse, ActiveCampaign or beehiiv against a written checklist: your actual list size, send volume, automations, integrations, support needs and total cost.
Recreate one real campaign
Test an email template, one form, one automation and the reporting you use. Include any paid add-ons and annual billing requirements in your comparison.
Protect permissions and opt-outs
Export a backup, preserve consent records and suppression lists, and map your fields. Never re-subscribe people who opted out. Review migration requirements before importing.
Build a follow-up system you’ll actually use.
Start small: an eligible audience, a clear signup promise, one welcome email and a campaign you can maintain.
Affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you purchase. Eligibility, pricing and results depend on your use case.
Sources and next steps
Official details reviewed October 12, 2026. Educational guidance, not legal advice.
- MailerLite pricing · Free-plan limits
- Brevo Free-plan limits · Brevo plans
- MailerLite content eligibility · Permission rules
- FTC CAN-SPAM guide
Launch readiness · Business planning · All tools & resourcesBookkeeping & invoicingOnline-store launch checklist
Keep inquiries and marketing permission clear
Use a customer intake form for service requests. If you also invite newsletter signups, make that choice separate and optional. Verify any email-platform connection before launch.
Affiliate disclosure: We may earn a commission if you purchase through our Jotform links, at no additional cost to you. Choose a tool that fits your business. How our links work.
Companion setup guide · October 31, 2026
Useful page → optional signup → helpful welcome.
Give visitors the resource they came for. Our AI-controls checklist is available without an email address. An optional newsletter invitation can build a longer relationship.
- Write the promise: “Get practical small-business launch and website updates from Let’s Go SMALL.” State the frequency you can actually maintain.
- Use a separate signup: do not treat a checklist download or customer inquiry as newsletter permission. Explain what the subscriber will receive.
- Build the form: MailerLite documents embedded forms, landing pages and double opt-in. Use the current provider instructions for your account and plan.
- Deliver the welcome: link directly to the promised resource, explain the next email, identify the sender and include the required footer and unsubscribe options.
- Test before launch: use an address you control; verify confirmation, resource delivery, mobile layout, reply routing and unsubscribe behavior. Confirm that an unconfirmed address is handled as intended.
Welcome-message draft
Subject: Your website AI-controls checklist
Thanks for joining Let’s Go SMALL. Here’s your free website AI-controls checklist. Start by asking your website manager what is already set. We’ll send practical updates to help you start, run and grow your business. You can unsubscribe whenever you like.
Add your accurate sender identity, postal address and the provider’s working unsubscribe link before sending.
Verification status: This is a setup guide, not a claim that this particular MailerLite delivery workflow has been tested. Features were checked against official MailerLite documentation.
Affiliate disclosure: Let’s Go SMALL may earn a commission if you purchase through our MailerLite link. No purchase is required to use our resources. Compare your needs, current plan limits and total cost before choosing.
November 2026 planning resource
Get ready for Small Business Saturday.
November 28 is approaching. Use five practical checks covering your offer, mobile customer journey, fulfillment, promotion and contact details. Includes a free printable checklist and November action plan.
Use the free readiness checklist →