How to Set up Freshbooks Intregration with Mailchimp

March 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

As business owners we’ve all heard about how important it is to keep a list of our customers’ contact information so that we can stay in touch with them.  It’s simple, if we stay in front of our customers, then they’ll think about us more often and they will be more likely to work with us again… so newsletters featuring promotions and updates are necessary for any business (whether you have an online presence or not)

Saying this, there are a lot of web-based platforms that can help any business manage their email contacts… and by far, the most popular is Mailchimp, which I’ve been using for a few years.  But it wasn’t until recently that I began utilizing it better by integrating it with another very important part of my online business… our invoicing software.

About 3 years ago I found Freshbooks, an online invoicing company that has simplified my Invoicing, Accounts Payables and Accounts Receivables… by using them instead of an accounting firm to do the same tasks, I’ve actually saved between $800-1,200/month!  Which is huge for a small business!

Well, after using Freshbooks for a while, I realized that all of my customers’ info is right there, email & all… right in my Freshbooks account, so it got me thinking…

“Is there an easy way to integrate my Freshbooks contacts with Mailchimp Account?”

And the answer is, “Yes!”… I found these instructions for how to set up Freshbooks integration with Mailchimp on the Freshbooks Integration Page:

Click on the Get Started link to sign-up for a MailChimp account. Once you have your account, you can connect to your FreshBooks account by taking the following steps:

  1. Login to your MailChimp account.
  2. Click on the lists tab.
  3. On the left side of the screen, click on the orange Create New List.
  4. Fill in the details of your list and click the save button.
  5. Under your new list, click on the import link.
  6. In the import screen, select the FreshBooks button.
  7. Enter your FreshBooks URL and API Authentication Token to complete your setup.

From there it’s as easy as getting your first email formatted and sent out, so let the emailing begin!

Now wasn’t that simple?

Filed Under: Accounting, Time Saving Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Bloated: Saving $800-$1200/month

July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Freshbooks- How I saved $800-$1,200 per month on Accounting


About 2 years ago my business (CoedMonkey.com) was paying about $800-$1,200 per month to an accounting firm to handle the Accounts Receivable/Payables.  The overhead in my business was slowly killing me and I felt financially bloated with bills each month to maintain everything.  I hated to look at how much I was spending… that was until I found something that changed my entire business.

I don’t want to over-dramatize the story, but I vividly remember the day I walked into Borders bookstore in Roseville, MN.  I picked up the latest edition of Entrepreneur Magazine and browsed through the articles until one caught my attention.  I honestly don’t remember what attracted me to the article… maybe it was my level of boredom, but for some reason I read it.  By the end of the quick 10 minute-read, I was sold on Freshbooks.com, a revolutionary new way to invoice customers and manage client payments.

When I got home I quickly went online and signed up for a Free Trial and within a day I was sold on switching over to a small Canadian startup to handle my books.  For less than I spend in coffee each month, I have an all-access payment system that integrates with my payment gateway and merchant account, while creating/sending invoices and automating notifcation emails to clients upon receiving payments or exceeding payment terms.  Now, nearly 2 years later, I’ve manipulated Freshbooks to fit my growing business by connecting it’s API to integrate with the backend of my site for easy, one-button clicks for invoicing our customers.  It made my life easy again… like before I owned my business.

If you own a small business and can’t afford a full-time accountant or if you are an independent contractor/consultant, this could revolutionize your business too.

Try it free to begin, then bump it up to $19.95/month.  I guarantee you’ll love it, even if you don’t save $800-$1,200 per month like me.

Filed Under: Accounting, Money-Saving Tips Tagged With: , , ,