Thanks for your question, Roy.

You do need a email to set up Mailchimp. Many people use it because it’s free until you hit 2,000 followers. The free plan allows you 10,000 emails a month. So if you have 2,000 you can send them 5 emails. It’s easy to set up.

A self-hosted website is good to have. You can get one fairly cheap through Bluehost or Hostgator. You can use the blog to keep in touch with your followers and give some of your content a home at a place you own.

If you get a website, you’ll probably get at least one email address with that domain. Use that on Mailchimp as your sender address.

Also, you might want to get a P.O. box so you don’t have your home address at the bottom of every email. If you have an office, use that address.

That should get you started. Best wishes!