Hi Reader,
Kit can now talk (more easily) to your other software
Kit has launched Webhooks 2.0.
I can hear you now... "...they launched what?"
It sounds techy, but a webhook is simply a message that Kit sends to another piece of software when something happens inside your Kit account.
For example:
- “John has just joined the email list.”
- “Sarah has clicked this link.”
- “David has completed this email sequence.”
- "Mo just bought this course"
The other software platform (i.e. the one Kit sends the webhook to) can then respond automatically. It could give someone access to a course, update a customer record, create a task or send a notification.
The exciting part is that Kit can now send these messages for many more actions, with more useful information included.
Kit can send the message directly if the other platform has a compatible webhook endpoint, which is essentially a special web address designed to receive and understand Kit’s message.
If the platform doesn’t have a compatible endpoint, you'd need an intermediary such as Zapier or Make to receive Kit’s message and pass it on.
This gives Kit far more power to connect with the other tools you use and act as the starting point for useful things happening throughout your business.
*BTW, if you’d like me to create an over-the-shoulder video showing you how to use webhooks in Kit, let me know. If you have a real use case, I could use it as the example in the video.
Kit has changed its free plan
Until last week, Kit offered two different free plans.
Its most generous option, called the Newsletter plan, allowed you to manage up to 10,000 subscribers. Unusually for a free plan, it also included one email sequence and one Visual Automation.
Kit has now simplified its pricing to three plans:
- Free
- Creator
- Pro
The new Free plan still supports up to 10,000 subscribers, along with unlimited forms, landing pages and email broadcasts. However, it no longer includes an email sequence or Visual Automation.
☝️ That last sentence is the key difference.
You can still collect subscribers and send newsletters without paying, but you can’t automatically send a welcome sequence or move subscribers through a marketing journey. You’ll need the paid Creator plan for those features.
If you already have Kit’s original Newsletter plan, then nothing changes for you. You’ll keep your existing sequence and Visual Automation. The new limitation only applies to people opening a new free account.
The free plan is still fairly generous, IMO, but it’s now limited to sending broadcast newsletters and not designed for building a complete automated email-first system.
Even though Kit has removed automation from its free plan, I actually like that it has simplified its offering from four plans to three. Having two different free plans was confusing to most people.
My personal thoughts on free software... 💭 🤔
I’ve worked in and around software for the best part of 30 years, and I always try to support the platforms that give me genuine value.
I understand why free plans exist. They give people an opportunity to get started before they can afford to invest.
However, once a piece of software becomes an important part of my business, I don’t expect it to remain free. The company behind it needs paying customers if it’s going to keep improving the product and, crucially, still be around when I need it.
For me, paying for useful business software isn’t simply another cost. It’s an investment in the tools that help my business operate.
What do you think? Do you expect software to remain free, or are you happy to pay when it becomes valuable to your business?
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What do you think about Apple's new offering?
Unless you've been on an Antarctic expedition for the last week or so, you'll undoubtedly have seen the much-hyped launch of Apple's new device, the iPhone Duo.
As someone who is easily excited by tech and new stuff in general, I find the product pretty underwhelming. 🤷🏻♂️
I'm not sure why, but that form factor just doesn't feel right to me. It fits into no logical space - neither 9:16, nor 16:9.... Hmmm.
I'm sure under the chassis, it probably has all the gubbings of its siblings, but somehow it comes across as a bit gimmicky.
It kinda feels like the Samsung 3D TV I bought in 2010, including those weird glasses we had to wear to watch one of the two 3D DVDs that came with it (I watched the Colorado River for weeks! 😵💫).
For fun, I checked how much of the global smartphone market is currently made up of foldables. They account for only around 2% of annual smartphone shipments, which is roughly what I expected.
Maybe one day I'll see its value... but for today, it's a folding mini-iPad.
*For context, I should make it clear that I've been an avid Applephile since the mid-2000s.
"Monkey see, monkey do..."
I came across this image recently, on LinkedIn, and it made me chuckle.
It kinda typifies the AI-focused world we’re now living in.
The man paints the fence and hands the brush to the robot. The robot copies exactly what it has seen... painting two full boards and half of the third board. 😁
Using Claude and ChatGPT (or any other AI tool) pretty much feels the same.
AI doesn't automatically understand what we mean or recognise which parts of an example shouldn’t be copied. It simply follows the patterns and instructions we give it, sometimes more literally than we expect.
It’s a useful reminder that AI can copy what we give it remarkably well, but we still need to provide the judgement, context and common sense.
Hang on a minute... this is how my wife regularly describes me. 🤔
F1® heads somewhere new…
You may not be an F1 fan (yet), but if you're considering getting into it - this weekend could be a good time to start, because something new is happening...
Formula 1® visits Madrid’s new Madring circuit for the first time, with its inaugural race taking place on Sunday (13 Sep).
I'll be comfortably ensconced, with a bag of salted popcorn and my laptop for lap-by-lap data tracking... 🏁🏎️ (I know... I'm a data-bore! 🤷🏻♂️)
Whatever you're up to this weekend, have a great one!
Cheers,
John
John Bellingham
Kit Certified Expert
Email-First Business Architect
Founder at the Hub Community
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