I remember sitting down to send out my weekly email and walking away because I didn't want to have to deal with the drag and drop design elements.

Or the changing of font sizes, inserting picture blocks and more. I just wanted to write an email and send it.

For me, newsletters were a PAIN.

I had to design a visually appealing email to send to my email friends every week that took way too much time formatting than writing.

As appreciative as I was with my free account with Mailchimp, sending emails was something I dreaded.

Mailchimp was too clunky and too focused on design. And while the drag and drop feature sounds perfect, all I really wanted to do was send emails that my email friends wanted to open.

So, when I originally heard about the simplicity of Convert Kit I knew I wanted IN but, at the time I was adamant about not spending the $29 USD/mo.

Because who doesn't like free?

I'll wait...

Free feels good.

But I was missing an important factor that I cherish in my business today.

Connecting with my community beyond social media and blog commenting and allowing my business to flourish with email marketing.

Plus, 20 more obsessions that make the $29/mo investment seem small and why ConvertKit is the best email marketing provider for new or seasoned entrepreneurs.

*some links are affiliates links only because I find them cool enough to share with you since I paid for or have used myself*

UPDATE: I have personally switched to ActiveCampaign for a more robust email marketing experience. However, this article still stands true as I still recommend ConvertKit and all of its simple email marketing glory! ;)

1. Create simple text based emails without focusing on design

Literally, I type and send. No drag and dropping text, image, and social fields. This is as simple as it's going to get.

2. Tags, are you best friend.

Y'all, when I found out about tags and how easy it is to 'tag' someone with their interest so you can send emails that matter to them, I was SOLD. The power of tags are endless and can really be a game changer in your email marketing.

Example: Say you wanted to send an email to someone who was interested in learning how to skydive and have shown interest in your coaching packages but haven't purchased. You can create a tag for those group of people to follow up with later to determine what's holding them back from working with you.

3. Easily filter audience

Want to send an email to your 'cold' subscribers - those who haven't opened your recent emails to check-in? Easy as 1, 2, 3.

Thinking about sending an email to those who are tagged 'beginner skydivers', in your 'beginner skydiver sequence' but have not bought your 'skydiver for beginners dvd'? You're only a few clicks away.

4. Basic forms and landing pages

If you need to create a way for your audience to enter your email list through your many channels (freebies, content upgrades, offers, coupons, etc) then, a form or landing page is what you need to collect those emails.

ConvertKit made it easy to create a form, assign it to a sequence (we'll get to that later), send your freebie, and redirect to a thank you page or tripwire page.

And for those who have already subscribed to your form or landing page, can be shown new content. (see #13)

5. Got HTML & css skills? Flaunt 'em

Seriously, ConvertKit makes it easy for you to use your skills to design and format your own email templates, forms and landing pages. If you got the skills, flaunt 'em! No limits on what you can accomplish.

6. Resend to those who haven't opened your email and easily duplicate an email

This is an email lifesaver. With the average open rate in each industry at around 21%-27%, all of your email subscribers aren't reading your emails.

It could be the subject line, the time it was sent, the emails you sent before and so much more, which is why sending your email to the subscribers who have not opened your email is vital.

Normally, I change the subject line and adjust the time and day it is being sent and schedule it out.

The important reminder is to be sure to ONLY send to those who did not open your email.

7. The sequences

Tags may be your best friend but, sequences are your soul mate. This feature gives your business life.

From creating email courses, welcome sequence (you can steal my welcome sequence, find out by clicking here), sales sequence, on-boarding sequence, forever sequence, product sequence, services sequence...do I need to say more?

You can make an unlimited amount of sequences for everything you do.

8. Integrations

Sell some products on Gumroad? Have a course on Teachable? Using Webinar Ninja to deliver your webinars? What about Twitter cards? Wordpress? Squarespace? Again, so many integrations for all areas of your business.

9. Automation

Endless possibilities. So, let's say you wanted every subscriber to enter an email sequence once they download your freebie. DONE!

Or maybe you want to remove a tag from a subscriber who have bought your product or service? DONE!

Or every time someone clicks a specific link you want to unsubscribe them from a sequence, remove the associated tag, subscribe them to a new sequence, then add the associated tag. Done Done & DONE!

10. Easy funnel setup

My love for funnels run deep. I love figuring it out, finding ways to make funnels work together and setting them up. Convert Kit makes it easy to set up your funnel.

You can grab my 7 Step Checklist To Cash Flow Funnels where I share how to set up your sales funnel. Be sure to take a look at the bonus offer.

But here's a quick "how-to": freebie sent > page redirected > tripwire presented > email follow-up with tripwire reminder > email sequence activated!

11. Link triggers

If you thought tags, sequences and automation was the beez-neez, link triggers will blow up your world!

So here's the quickie version to link triggers, let's say you want to segment your list into 3 categories:

Beginner skydivers
Intermediate skydivers
Advanced skydivers

You can create 3 basic pages on your website or landing page provider (ConvertKit has landing pages as well) for each category saying something like, "Hey, great choice. I have some great information coming to you in the coming weeks all about (insert topic). Tomorrow you get your first email on (insert topic). Chat with you soon"

Next, you will create 3 tags inside of ConvertKit. One for each category.

Then, you'll create an automation for each category/page you created that says, "every time someone clicks this link they will be tagged (insert category) and entered into (insert category) sequence.

And you're done.

Now, every time someone receives that email, they are automatically segmented based on their most important need at the time.

This makes email marketing a breeze since you know have a focused group of people who are looking forward to your content based on their preference.

12. Double Opt-in or no double opt-in?

I bet you're thinking, huh? Is this possible? Uh, YES!

Disclaimer: Depending on your location you may not have the option to not allow double opt-ins. I would definitely double check before you decide to 'auto confirm' subscribers.

For instance, if someone signs up for a freebie, I can check the box that says, 'auto confirm new members'. Now, once someone subscribers they are a confirmed subscriber and do not have to confirm their subscription via email.

This definitely cuts down on those who forget to confirm or the confirmation email never made it to their inbox.

13. You have the Option to show different content to those who've subscribed to your offer

Have you ever subscribed for an offer then found yourself subscribing for it again by accident? Yep, me too. ConvertKit gives us the option to show different information to those who have already seen the form or landing page.

This can be a link to another offer of yours, more information on what you offer or to join your community. It can be anything. Its a great opportunity to seize every moment.

Side note: Every time I think of 'seizing every moment' I always think of Eminem. Comment below if you know what song that reference. :)

14. Stats

Easy-peasy stats whether its open rates, click rates, conversion rates, visitors, subscribers, % of conversions based on referrers and more, ConvertKit got ya covered.

15. Easy Twitter cards

I mentioned these in #7 but, if you are on Twitter and use it for your business, creating Twitter cards is a great way to increase engagement. ConvertKit tells you exactly how to sync your Twitter card with a specific form or landing page so you don't have to do any manual labor importing subscribers.

16. Choosing specific days and times for sequences to send

This may not seem like a HUGE deal but, I like to send certain emails on certain days at certain times. Not only for single broadcast emails but, you can schedule sequences as well.

A Friday afternoon email may not get opened compared to a Saturday morning email. You'll have the flexibility to try out what best fits your audience.

17. Subscriber history

I spy...

Yes, you can 'spy' on your subscribers history since they joined your email list. It is quite neat to see and can easily be edited or updated as needed.

18. On-boarding

One word. Flawless.

ConvertKit can do this for you or you can do it yourself. I did it myself (switching from Mailchimp) with zero complications.

Plus, their support team is...

19. Super support team

I am a HUGE believer of finding and figuring things that I can figure out on my own without asking for help. Sometimes that's not always the best and other times it works in my favor (that's how I built my first business).

But when I am all kind of confused (usually because I confused myself) I send support a message and they always respond timely and with exactly what I need to move forward.

Plus, they are a pretty awesome team who values making relationships so an occasional "Hey, just making sure you're having a good day" has happened.

20. Integrates with Memberpress

Oh, how I adore this feature! I use Memberpress to run my mastermind academy, Spark To Launch and this integration has really allowed me to make my member experience worthwhile. As of today (8/15/16) you can use the forms and landing pages, add a tag to the different membership levels and add members to sequences.

This makes my on-boarding sequence that much easier to incorporate because of this integration. Smart move, ConvertKit. Smart move.

Whew. This one was a mouth full to digest. Aren't you ready to get your hands on ConvertKit?

If you aren't utilizing the power of email marketing in your business yet, ConvertKit is a great way to maximize your potential.

Tell me in the comments, what your biggest email marketing concern is so we can be sure to tackle it.

20 Reasons Why Convert Kit Is The Best Email Marketing Platform