To hit my long-term goals, I realize that I'm going to need to start building email lists to send out newsletters and offers. I know that Aweber is the industry standard and cheaper overall, but Mailchimp caught my attention with the fact that it's free for up to 500 subscribers. Any thoughts?
Sorry I cant help with first hand information on the two email services you mentioned - but I work with a company that use Constant Contact it be also be worth investigating for you needs. Thanks.
I use both of them. Mailchimp for lists that are either new or small and Aweber for bigger lists or when it needs to integrated with other web services like shopping carts or landing page builders. If you are just starting your list, I think Mailchimp might be the way to go.
I'm very impressed with Aweber so I highly recommend it. Haven't used the other one but I'm sure you could do well with either one.
We have been using Mailchimp for more than a year now for sending newsletters and I don't have much idea about Aweber