✍ So you’re planning on starting a newsletter
I know a lot of people sitting on the same idea. The one where you finally start a paid newsletter or subscription series so your audience can actually support your work instead of just liking your posts.
Cool. Now it’s been six months and you’re still “figuring out the best platform.”
Let’s make this the last week you say that!
Below is a checklist for actually getting the thing up and running.
I’m not talking about your content strategy (that’s also really important), I’m just talking about the tactical things to technically build it and get going.
The checklist also works for a free newsletter as well! If you don’t already have a newsletter I highly suggest starting one so that YOU own your contact list, not some big mega corp or algorithm.
⚠ WARNING: There is nothing stopping you from doing this but your own consistency. Lots of people think a paid newsletter is a great idea until they try to commit to a ton of additional content and realize it’s a royal pain in the a**. Don’t be that guy. Think about what you can reasonably do each week or month and start there.
✅ This is your MVP (minimum viable product) launch checklist!
☑ Decide Your “Why”
Before you hit “publish,” ask yourself one question: Why am I doing this?
To build community around your work/business?
To share your behind-the-scenes process with existing subscribers?
To provide value and create an additional revenue stream?
Your “why” determines your format. If you want to just send emails, there are great platforms for that. If you want more community aspects or podcasting, you might need a different one! Answer this question before anything else.
☑ Claim Your Corner of the Internet
If you already have a domain for your business, you’re all set! If not, you’re going to need somewhere to point people.
Buy a domain and get something short and memorable from Porkbun or Namecheap. ($9–$15/year)
Example: todaytoday.co → clean, professional, easy to remember 😆
You should be able to set up free email forwarding to your existing email inbox for free (check before you buy!) but you can also pay for email hosting so you have a dedicated inbox.
Can you use your existing Gmail/Proton/whatever email address? Sure! But it can hurt open rates and not look as “professional.” Totally up to you!
☑ Choose Your Platform
There are a ton of options but here are a few of my top picks:
Beehiiv → Meant mostly for traditional email newsletters. Clean design, free plan until 2,500 subs, great analytics, easy setup.
Ghost → Open source, built-in comments section, great support, and if you want to self-host, you can. It looks great and they take a flat fee rather than per-subscriber. I’m a big Ghost fan! Good for the tech savvy.
Kit → Great for email newsletters and ideal if you already use it for marketing or freebies.
Patreon → Common platform for podcasts, videos, behind-the-scenes, or early access content. Great for content creators.
I know that a lot of people suggest Substack for discoverability, but I actively advise against it. If you want to find out why, you can read my rant here.
Remember: you can always migrate to another platform later. It’s typically pretty easy. I suggest choosing a platform with either a free trial or a monthly option so it’s easy to switch if you need to. Don’t let this step stop you!
☑ Set Up Payments
You can’t get paid if there’s nowhere for the money to go. I would wait until you pick your platform to set this up, because each platform does it a little differently. Odds are, you’ll end up needing a Stripe account, which is free. They take a small percentage of your sales, but the account itself costs nothing.
You don’t have to have a formal business entity to use it, either. Just a bank account. This part takes ten minutes.
☑ Set Pricing Tiers
Start simple: one tier is fine. You can always expand later. Here’s an example of pricing options:
$3-5/month (low barrier, impulse-friendly)
$12-15/month (if you’re offering more value or content)
$30-50/year (pick a nice round number for annual supporters)
☑ Set Up a Simple Landing Page
The newsletter platform you choose should have a built in homepage where you can direct people to sign up. Be sure to customize it and make it your own! Tell people a bit about your business and why they should sign up.
☑ Write a Killer Welcome Email
Your subscribers shouldn’t just get a receipt. Send them a warm welcome from you with what to expect next!
Most platforms give you the option to automate a confirmation or welcome email when someone signs up. If it doesn’t (as of right now Ghost does not), you can typically automate it with a service like Zapier.
Pro tip: Ask folks to reply to the welcome email - it helps establish more personal relationships with your subscribers AND helps with open rates.
Thank them for joining.
Tell them what they’ll get (frequency, format, vibe).
Link to your website, a way to work with you, other resources you offer.
☑ Plan Your First 4 Weeks of Content
Don’t overthink this! You just want a baseline idea of what your first few posts are going to look like. This will help avoid stalling out after the first post or two. Be prepared to write the first month or two!
Create a simple Notion calendar or other spreadsheet with your planned content and when you want to send it.
A reliable cadence builds trust!
☑ Promote It Like You Mean It
When you think it’s getting annoying… post again. Post about it 3x as much as you think you should. People miss things. Algorithms bury posts. I promise you, you are not annoying yet.
Add your signup link everywhere: website, social bios, email footer.
DM or email your best supporters
Offer a founding member discount: “First 20 signups get locked in at $4/month forever.”
Adjust your pricing or cadence if needed, but don’t quit after three posts. Most paid newsletters take a few months to find rhythm. It’s totally normal!
☑ Other Bells and Whistles
Here are some things you can, in my opinion, save for version 2:
A custom logo
Embedded signup form on your website (pointing people to a separate landing page with a link is fine for now!)
A separate “About” page (your homepage can do the heavy lifting at first)
Digital tip jar
Copy and paste this list somewhere you can come back to it:
Paid Newsletter MVP Checklist:
☑ Decide Your “Why”
☑ Claim Your Corner of the Internet
☑ Choose Your Platform
☑ Set Up Payments
☑ Set pricing tiers
☑ Set Up a Simple Landing Page
☑ Write a Killer Welcome Email
☑ Plan Your First 4 Weeks of Content
☑ Promote It Like You Mean It
☑ Other Bells and Whistles
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