Great advice. If you're just starting this, don't get hung up on the automation steps at the end; just change your welcome email, and go from there. If you have such a big list that you need to automate the scheduling etc., then deal with it when it's a problem. Don't let fiddling with that get in the way of acting now.
Good point. The first step should always be to implement the process. Automating it from the get go can result in more effort than it's worth, when you decide to change and iterate on the process as you move forward.