Beginner ⏱ 30-45 min

Start a Newsletter

Launch your newsletter with built-in growth tools and monetization

BeehiivNewsletter Platform

ConvertKitAlternative

What You'll Build

A branded newsletter with a subscribe page, welcome email sequence, and growth tools - ready for your first send.

Custom-branded newsletter publication
Embeddable subscribe form
Automated welcome email sequence
Referral program for organic growth

Prerequisites

A Beehiiv account (free up to 2,500 subscribers)
Your newsletter name and positioning decided
A custom domain (optional but recommended)

Architecture

Beehiiv handles everything: writing, sending, landing pages, subscriber management, analytics, and monetization. It's an all-in-one newsletter platform built by the Morning Brew team.

You (write in Beehiiv) → Beehiiv (sends & hosts) → Subscribers (email + web)

5 Steps

1Create your publication 2Set up your subscribe page 3Create a welcome email sequence 4Write and send your first newsletter 5Enable growth tools

Create your publication

~5 min

Set up your Beehiiv account and configure your publication basics.

Sign up at beehiiv.com and create a new publication
Set your publication name, handle, and description
Upload your logo and set brand colors
Choose your default sending schedule (weekly, daily, etc.)

💡

Tip: Pick a publication name that works as both an email sender name and a brand. Keep it short and memorable.

Create a welcome email sequence

~15 min

Set up automated emails that go out when someone subscribes.

Go to Automations → New Automation
Create a "New Subscriber" trigger
Write your welcome email: introduce yourself, set expectations, link to your best content
Optionally add a second email 2-3 days later with your most popular posts
Activate the automation

💡

Tip: Your welcome email gets the highest open rate of any email you'll ever send. Make it count - include your single best piece of content.

Write and send your first newsletter

~20 min

Create your first newsletter post and send it (even if it's just to yourself).

Click "New Post" in Beehiiv
Write your first edition - keep it short (500-800 words) for the first one
Add a compelling subject line (aim for curiosity or clear value)
Preview in both desktop and mobile views
Send a test email to yourself first
Schedule or send immediately

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Tip: Don't wait for perfection. The best newsletters improve over time. Ship your first edition this week.

Enable growth tools

~10 min

Turn on Beehiiv's built-in referral program and embed forms on your website.

Go to Grow → Referral Program and enable it
Set up milestone rewards (e.g. 3 referrals = bonus content)
Go to Grow → Embed and grab your embeddable subscribe form HTML
Add the embed code to your website, blog, or landing page
Share your subscribe link on social media

Embed code (add to your site)

<iframe src="https://embeds.beehiiv.com/your-embed-id"
  data-test-id="beehiiv-embed"
  width="100%" height="320"
  frameborder="0" scrolling="no"
  style="border-radius:12px; margin:0 auto; max-width:480px;">
</iframe>

💡

Tip: The referral program is Beehiiv's secret weapon. Morning Brew grew to millions of subscribers using this exact mechanic.

🎉 You're Done!

A branded newsletter with a subscribe page, welcome email sequence, and growth tools - ready for your first send.

Done for you

Want this built for you?

Get a step-by-step checklist, setup order, and the exact config for every tool in this guide. Or let me build it for you.

Get the checklist → Want this built for you?

Start a Newsletter - Step-by-Step Guide