I’ve been doing lots of research on email systems to see what is best for my clients. This has been a focus since I’m undertaking a big transition in my own business – I’m switching from InfusionSoft to Ontraport.
Why did I make the switch?
Rumor is that Infusionsoft is getting ready to go public. Nothing wrong with going public, just something wondering if their focus is going to be all about their board members and numbers, rather than the real people running businesses.
Energetically, my experience has been that their focus on getting ANY business to use their system. I don’t believe brand new coaches and service-based businesses should be using Infusionsoft. UNLESS you are selling a bunch of products online and need automation for that, Infusionsoft and Ontraport can be overkill for what you need.
There are quirks in Infusionsoft that drive me crazy:
- To create a product, then create a promotional coupon, then to make a payment plan for the product, you have to go to three separate places in the system for ONE product.
- When inserting images into a newsletter, there is no thumbnail image, just the name so you have to remember what you name every image if you want to use it again.
- And the spellcheck function while writing a newsletter…don’t even get me started.
Overall, the ENERGY of every vendor I work with and every system I use in my business needs to be in alignment with who I am. I rarely refer clients and colleagues to use the system and so if it’s not something I would happily refer, why is it something I would use for my business?
So I made the decision to switch. I found an OBM who is doing the transition for me.
What’s the difference between Infusionsoft and Ontraport?
This all depends on who you talk to. Here is just my take on it – you get to make your own decision and do your own due diligence.
Both Infusionsoft and Ontraport are about $300 a month. So if you are only sending out a newsletter twice a month to 20 people on your email list, that’s a lot of money when you are starting out.
Infusionsoft also has a start-up fee of $1,000+. If you sign up for Infusionsoft at an event, which is one of their top marketing strategies (a very smart one), you can usually get your start up fee to be $1,000 and your monthly cost to be $199 to $249.
Ontraport is $297 a month and it is your shopping cart, affiliate manager, email system, contact database, online marketing automation in one system (same as Infusionsoft).
I like the vibe of Ontraport, their system is easier to use and I feel that they really want to take care of their customers. They are focused on your business, not just getting you in the door. Plus you get two free hours with one of their specialists to get things set up and take you through their system. That’s a nice perk. There are other features of their system I really like and I recommend that you take your own look and make the decision that is best for your business.
What system do you really need?
You are just starting out and you only need email with no need to grow, consider Mailchimp.
My official suggestion for your email manager (how you send out newsletters): If you do not plan on having online products for sale other than an occasional something you can use PayPal for, my tech folks recommend MailChimp. It’s super affordable and easy to use.
This program will ONLY send emails. So it’s great for autoresponders and newsletters. There is a plugin that connects PayPal to Mailchimp so when someone buys something from your website and you have them pay through a PayPal button, that contact will be imported into Mailchimp.
If you are just starting out but you will grow, consider SendPepper.
Let’s say that you are starting out but you know your business growth includes selling products online and growing an email list to over 1,000 people. Then I recommend SendPepper.
Send Pepper is the “little sister” of Ontraport. So why I love this is you can use SendPepper to simply send your emails each month, newsletters and autoresponders. THEN when you have built up your revenue a little more and your email list and you need a more robust system, you simply upgrade to Ontraport. You don’t need to transition systems, or risk losing all of your list history by having your list opt in to a new system.
If you’re already fairly or really established and you see growth in your immediate future with online marketing systems, consider Ontraport:
If you have a bigger list (over 500 people) and you have online products for sale and want to create automatic sales funnels to sell those products, really Infusionsoft or Ontraport is the only way to go. I of course recommend Ontraport.
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This is just my opinion based on personal experience and asking several VAs (Virtual Assistants) and OBMs (Online Business Managers).
