Guide · Get found & promote
Start a small-business newsletter without an expensive marketing suite
Choose for your real list size, record permission, test signup and unsubscribe, and send a useful first update.
Updated 2026-10-04
A newsletter is useful when people have a reason to hear from you again: seasonal availability, an upcoming workshop, new stock, or a genuinely useful tip. If you cannot name that reason, finish your enquiry and follow-up process first.
You need a signup form, a record of permission, and a tool that sends marketing email with an unsubscribe link. Your ordinary mailbox and a newsletter service do different jobs. Sending a message by blind-copying your entire customer list is a poor substitute for managing subscriptions.
Choose for list size and sending volume
Count the subscribers you expect to contact and the messages each will receive. Include welcome emails, resends, and automations. Also check daily limits: a large monthly allowance does not mean you can contact everyone on the same day.
These verified free-plan allowances are useful to owners serving Canada or the United States. They do not establish local paid prices, taxes, account approval, or data-storage terms. Plans can change; follow the linked provider pages before signing up.
| Service | Free audience | Free sends | What matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevo Free · CA/US Checked 2026-10-04 | Storage for 100,000 stored contacts | 300 emails daily | Brevo branding; campaigns above the daily quota need manual requeue. Stored contacts are not same-day capacity; unused sends do not carry over. |
| Sender Free Forever · CA/US Checked 2026-10-04 | Up to 2,500 subscribers | 15,000 emails monthly | Sender branding and one user. Test the editor, integrations, approval process, and export before relying on it. |
| MailerLite Free · CA/US Checked 2026-10-04 | Up to 250 active subscribers | 2,500 emails monthly | Sending is locked if active subscribers exceed the free audience allowance. Test signup, export, and the features you need. |
| Mailchimp Free · CA/US Checked 2026-10-04 | Up to 250 contacts | 500 emails monthly; 250 emails daily | Both monthly and daily limits apply. Allow headroom for welcome messages and other sends; check which contacts count toward billing. |
These examples assume 2 full-list updates in a 30-day month, before welcome emails, resends, or other messages. The conclusions use the verified allowances above; fitting the numbers does not guarantee account approval, inbox delivery, or a working signup process.
| Audience | Sends needed | What the free limits allow |
|---|---|---|
| 250 | 500 |
|
| 1,000 | 2,000 |
|
| 2,500 | 5,000 |
|
| 5,000 | 10,000 |
|
For the middle audience examples, Sender is a reasonable first free-plan trial based on the verified allowances and daily caps. That does not establish the best paid plan or the right workflow for your business.
If you already pay for a suitable service, include migration time before switching. Compare the payable billing term, contact-count rules, branding, automation, and export at your next expected audience size. For a paid quote, record the actual billing currency: CAD for a Canadian-dollar quote or USD for a US-dollar quote. Check checkout taxes and any currency conversion separately; an unlabelled dollar amount is not a local price.
Ask clearly and keep proof
Canada: establish the consent basis
CASL, Canada’s anti-spam law, generally requires consent, sender identification, and an unsubscribe mechanism for commercial electronic messages, subject to exceptions. Express consent continues until withdrawn; implied consent must meet a recognized condition and may expire. A customer enquiry is not permission for an indefinite newsletter. Record the basis and relevant dates if relying on implied consent. Canada’s consent guidance explains these distinctions.
In the message, include the business name, anyone on whose behalf you send, a current mailing address, and a phone number, email address, or website. Contact details must remain valid for at least 60 days after sending. Process an unsubscribe without delay and within 10 business days, at no cost to the recipient. These requirements also come from Canada’s consent guidance.
United States: follow the commercial-email rules
CAN-SPAM generally does not require prior opt-in consent for commercial email. It still requires truthful sender and subject information, a valid physical postal address, and a clear opt-out. Prior affirmative consent removes the ad-identification requirement, not the other requirements. A correctly registered USPS post-office box or private mailbox can satisfy the postal-address rule. Honor opt-outs within 10 business days and keep the mechanism working for at least 30 days after sending. See the FTC compliance guide and its consent clarification.
This guide recommends permission-based subscriptions for both markets. That is a practical operating choice, not a claim that US federal law universally requires opt-in. A provider can also set stricter acceptable-use terms.
Serving both countries
Do not select the applicable law from a country dropdown alone. CASL can apply to commercial messages sent using a computer system in Canada or accessed in Canada, including messages from a US sender. Its exemption for some foreign destinations has conditions; a US customer address alone does not establish it. See section 12 of CASL, the conditional foreign-destination exemption, and CRTC’s cross-border FAQ.
A requested reply, a receipt, and a promotional newsletter are different messages. Under CASL, a requested response to an enquiry has a specific exemption. Under CAN-SPAM, narrow transactional categories and a message’s primary purpose determine which requirements apply. Do not insert a sales campaign into a receipt and assume its label settles the question. See Canada’s requested-response exemption and the FTC’s transactional-message guidance. Keep this newsletter workflow separate from routine customer service.
A clear signup that works in either market
Use an optional, unchecked signup box with a specific promise:
Send me [Business]’s monthly availability and practical tips by email. I can unsubscribe at any time.
Identify who is collecting consent and provide the required contact information alongside the request. Link privacy information that accurately describes the form and newsletter service. Keep the wording/version, signup source, date, and evidence of the action. Leave newsletter signup optional when someone requests a quote. CRTC’s consent guidance explains why a preselected box does not establish express consent.
Under CASL, an email requesting permission to send commercial messages is itself a commercial message. Do not email an old contact list to “get consent” without first establishing a valid basis for that request. See CASL’s definition in section 1.
Double opt-in asks the person to confirm through a second email. It is a useful evidence and address-quality step, not a universal statement of what every law requires. If enabled, confirm that an unconfirmed signup cannot receive the newsletter. Brevo’s signup documentation describes its confirmation process and associated records.
Connect the sender without breaking your mailbox
Use your business domain as the sending identity and follow the newsletter provider’s current authentication instructions. These add proof that the service is allowed to send for you. Brevo’s domain-authentication guide is one example; other services supply their own records.
Do not replace your mailbox’s MX records merely to send a newsletter. MX records direct incoming mail. Do not create a second SPF record for the same domain or copy another business’s DKIM value. If a DMARC record already exists, understand it before changing it. Test normal incoming mail, ordinary outgoing mail, and the newsletter after the change. Use the business-email guide for troubleshooting.
Send a welcome message and one useful update
Keep the welcome message short:
You signed up for [Business]’s [topic] updates. Expect [honest frequency]. Here is [promised resource or practical tip]. Reply if you have a question about [relevant subject]. You can unsubscribe using the link below.
For the first update:
Subject: [Season] appointments are now open
We are taking bookings for [specific service/date range]. If [customer need] is on your list, here is what to prepare: [two useful points]. Request an appointment here: [link].
Use a monitored reply address. Include the tool’s working unsubscribe mechanism and your required identity/contact details. Do not turn every useful update into several unrelated sales pitches.
Test the exit as carefully as the signup
Use a test address to sign up, confirm, receive the welcome email, reply, and unsubscribe. Verify that the unsubscribe takes effect and the address stays suppressed on the next import. Configure the tool to act promptly rather than working to the legal deadline. Monitor unsubscribe requests arriving by reply or another channel too. See CRTC’s recordkeeping and unsubscribe guidance.
Use the downloadable workbook’s Consent tab to identify missing evidence and record withdrawal. Its status checks support this guide’s permission-based workflow; they do not determine the law, prove legal compliance, or validate a Canadian implied-consent exception. Keep any implied-consent basis and expiry/review date in the records where you manage it. Do not buy a list or use a completed tracker row as permission to send.
Export a small sample. Check that consent evidence and suppression records can be preserved, not just names and email addresses. Document where the signup wording, confirmation history, and unsubscribe records live if they need separate exports.
You are finished when: one test subscriber can join, receive the promised message, reply, leave, and remain excluded from future marketing. Pay for more capacity only when the audience or workflow requires it.