Well I have been battling Mailchimp for a couple days and it looks like I lost the battle. Here is how you get kicked from using Mailchimp in 5 easy steps for no apparent reason.

1) Load in contacts that you have spoken to in the past. Sources include conferences, opt in forms, and emails back and forth around businesses they have been associated with in the past (mix of brokers, intermediaries, and service providers)

2) Try to send an email to them reminding them that you are still searching for a business and what types you are looking for

3) Add all the necessary details like your personal cell phone, email address, even address of your business

4) Get an email from Mailchimp saying they are freezing your account because you violated their terms of use (note - no reference to which terms)

5) Go back and forth with their customer support trying to figure out which terms you violated to no avail. First it was the fact these contacts didn't opt in (I have interacted with all of them), then it was something about a malicious email (I included content about the types of businesses I am interested) and then I was just told that I can no longer use their platform.

Well that's the story in 5 easy steps. I am now using another service with no issues. I guess Ill chalk it up to the learnings from being a searcher.

Happy searching!