How To Build A Newsletter For Beginners (Using Beehiiv)

Summary

In this tutorial, Josh guides beginners on creating a newsletter using Beehive, emphasizing the importance of identifying the target audience and offering value. He reviews Beehive's pricing plans, starting from a free tier to paid options, and demonstrates how to import subscribers and customize newsletters. Josh also shares tips for engaging subject lines and utilizing Beehive's design tools, analytics, and referral programs. He concludes by encouraging viewers to start their own newsletter, highlighting the potential for growth and profitability.

Takeaways

• 📰 Newsletters are a great way to reach a new audience, whether for personal branding or business purposes.
• 📋 The first step to creating a newsletter is identifying your target audience and setting clear goals.
• 🎯 If you try to target everyone, you'll end up reaching no one, so focus on a specific group and purpose.
• 💻 Beehive is a popular platform for creating newsletters, offering free and paid plans with various features like custom domains and referral programs.
• 💰 The free plan on Beehive supports up to 2,500 subscribers, with paid plans offering additional features as you scale.
• 📥 Importing subscribers is easy on Beehive, whether through CSV uploads or copy-pasting emails. It also offers sign-up options via custom websites or magic links.
• 🎨 Beehive allows for extensive customization of your newsletter, including colors, text, and images to fit your brand.
• 📈 Beehive provides analytics tools to track who opens and engages with your newsletter, helping you optimize your content.
• 🛠 Customization options include embedded links, bulleted lists, headers, and more, similar to tools like Notion or ClickUp.
• 📊 Building a successful newsletter can take time, usually 8-12 months, but with consistent, valuable content, you can achieve long-term growth.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the tutorial presented by Josh?

The tutorial focuses on providing a step-by-step guide for beginners on how to create their own newsletter.

Why are newsletters considered a great way to reach a new audience?

Newsletters are considered a great way to reach a new audience because they allow for direct communication with people interested in one's services or products, and they can be personalized and targeted.

What is the most important step when creating a newsletter according to Josh?

The most important step when creating a newsletter is choosing the right idea, which includes understanding who the newsletter is for, what the goals are, and what the creator is passionate about.

What are some common mistakes people make when starting a newsletter?

Common mistakes include trying to target everyone, not setting clear goals, and not understanding who the newsletter is for, which can lead to no growth.

What is Beehive and how does it relate to newsletter creation?

Beehive is a platform used to create and grow newsletters. It was used to grow the newsletter 'The Milk Road' and offers various features and pricing plans for different levels of users.

What are the different pricing plans offered by Beehive?

Beehive offers a Launch plan which is free, a Grow plan for $42/month billed annually, and a Scale plan for $84/month billed annually, with different features and subscriber limits for each plan.

How can one import subscribers into their newsletter using Beehive?

Users can import subscribers into their newsletter by going to the 'Audience' tab and clicking on 'Subscribers', where they can upload a CSV file or copy and paste a list of email addresses.

What customization options are available in Beehive's Design Lab?

Beehive's Design Lab allows users to customize colors, borders, body text, email headers, buttons, content breaks, images, and more before creating the first newsletter.

Can you provide an example of a successful newsletter created using Beehive?

An example of a successful newsletter created using Beehive is 'The Daily Bite', a tech newsletter with over 200,000 AI professionals, engineers, enthusiasts, and creators.

What are some tips for creating an engaging subject line for a newsletter?

Tips for creating an engaging subject line include making it relevant, intriguing, and something that the reader would want to click on and read.

How does Beehive assist with analytics for newsletters?

Beehive offers analytics features that allow users to see who is opening their newsletters, who is clicking on links, and other important metrics to gauge the success and engagement of the newsletter.

Outlines

00:00

📢 Starting a Newsletter: Choosing the Right Idea

Josh introduces a tutorial on creating a newsletter, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right concept. He discusses the potential of newsletters for personal branding or business and the common mistake of targeting too broad an audience. The key is to understand the newsletter's purpose, the creator's goals, and the target audience. Josh suggests that clarity on these points will facilitate subscriber growth. He also mentions Beehive as a strong platform for newsletter creation, highlighting its features and pricing plans, including a free launch plan and paid grow and scale plans. The tutorial aims to guide beginners through the process of starting their own newsletter.

05:01

🛠️ Customizing and Growing Your Newsletter with Beehive

The paragraph explains how to import subscribers into a Beehive newsletter and the various options for sign-ups, such as custom websites, magic links, and referral programs. It also touches on the customization capabilities of Beehive's Design Lab, allowing users to personalize their newsletters before writing content. Josh showcases the Daily Bite newsletter as an example of a successful Beehive-created newsletter, discussing its design and appeal to AI professionals. The summary also covers the process of writing the first newsletter post, including setting up post settings, crafting engaging subject lines, and utilizing Beehive's built-in tools for content creation and customization.

10:02

🔍 Previewing and Refining Your Newsletter for Maximum Impact

This section guides on previewing the newsletter to ensure it appeals to the target audience, both on desktop and mobile. It encourages creators to customize their newsletters to answer the question of why their audience should be interested. Tips for creating a successful newsletter include providing value, understanding the audience, and designing the newsletter around the identified niche. The paragraph also warns of the time investment required to grow a newsletter and the importance of consistent, valuable content. It concludes with a call to action for viewers to try Beehive and start their newsletter journey.

15:03

🌟 Final Thoughts on Creating a Newsletter with Beehive

The final paragraph serves as a conclusion, encouraging viewers to create their first newsletter using Beehive and to explore its features. It suggests that with the right approach and value proposition, a newsletter can grow an audience and potentially become profitable, as exemplified by the Milk Road's acquisition. The paragraph invites viewers to share their interest in more advanced tutorials and to use the provided link in the description to start their newsletter journey.

Keywords

💡Newsletter

A newsletter is a regularly distributed publication that is typically used to communicate information on a variety of topics to an audience. In the context of the video, newsletters are presented as a tool for reaching new audiences, whether for personal branding, business, or informational purposes. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the target audience and providing value through the newsletter's content.

💡Personal Brand

Personal branding refers to the practice of people marketing themselves and their careers as brands. In the video, creating a newsletter is suggested as a method to enhance one's personal brand by reaching new audiences and sharing expertise or updates. It's about establishing a professional identity that resonates with the intended audience.

💡Target Audience

The target audience refers to the specific group of people for whom a product, service, or in this case, a newsletter, is intended. The video script stresses the importance of identifying and understanding the target audience to create a newsletter that resonates with their needs and interests, ensuring that the content is relevant and engaging.

💡Platform

In the context of the video, a platform refers to the tools or services used to create and distribute the newsletter. The video mentions platforms like Kajabi, MailChimp, and Beehive, which are used to manage and grow the newsletter's subscriber base. The choice of platform can significantly impact the newsletter's effectiveness and the ease of managing it.

💡Beehive

Beehive is a newsletter platform highlighted in the video as a strong contender for creating and managing newsletters. It is noted for its scalability and features that range from free plans to more advanced, paid options. The video uses Beehive as an example to demonstrate how to import subscribers, customize newsletters, and track analytics.

💡Subscribers

Subscribers are individuals who have opted to receive a newsletter. The video discusses strategies for importing subscribers into a newsletter platform and emphasizes the importance of providing value to attract and retain subscribers. It also touches on the use of referral programs to incentivize existing subscribers to invite new ones.

💡Customization

Customization in the video refers to the ability to tailor the appearance and content of a newsletter to fit the brand and audience. It includes choosing colors, fonts, and layouts that align with the creator's vision and the audience's preferences. The video showcases how Beehive allows for extensive customization to create a unique and appealing newsletter experience.

💡Engagement

Engagement, in the context of the video, refers to the interaction and interest that subscribers show towards the content of a newsletter. The video suggests creating engaging subject lines and content to encourage readers to open and interact with the newsletter, which is crucial for maintaining subscriber interest and growing the audience.

💡Analytics

Analytics in the video pertains to the data and metrics collected to understand the performance of a newsletter, such as open rates, click-through rates, and subscriber growth. The video mentions that Beehive provides analytics features, which are essential for tracking the effectiveness of a newsletter and making informed decisions to improve it.

💡Referral Program

A referral program is a marketing strategy where existing subscribers are incentivized to invite new subscribers. The video script discusses the use of referral programs within the newsletter platform to grow the subscriber base by rewarding current subscribers for sharing the newsletter with others, thus expanding the reach and impact of the newsletter.

💡Content Creation

Content creation refers to the process of producing the material that will be included in the newsletter. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the audience and their interests to create content that provides value and encourages engagement. It also touches on the use of various media, such as images and links, to enhance the newsletter's appeal.

Highlights

Step-by-step guide on how to create your own newsletter, covering important tools and tips for beginners.

The first and most important step is choosing the right idea for your newsletter, knowing your audience and goals.

Avoid targeting everyone; instead, focus on a niche audience to see better growth.

Beehive is a recommended platform for creating newsletters, with success stories like 'The Milk Road.'

Beehive offers different plans including a free launch plan, Grow plan at $42/month, and Scale plan at $84/month.

Import subscribers to your newsletter via CSV files or manually adding email addresses.

Customization options in Beehive, including design elements like colors, text, and themes, are easy to set up for beginners.

The Daily Bite is a successful example of a newsletter created using Beehive, with over 200,000 AI professionals as subscribers.

Beehive provides analytics to track who receives and clicks on your newsletters.

Customization features allow you to add images, lists, block quotes, and more, making it user-friendly like Notion or Monday.com.

Use Beehive's Magic Link feature to allow subscribers to easily sign up with one click.

Beehive supports referral programs, which incentivize subscribers to share the newsletter in exchange for perks.

Start with a blank template in Beehive and build a newsletter that fits your target audience's expectations.

Consistency is key: it may take 8 to 12 months to grow a newsletter, but providing value in each issue will help retain subscribers.

The Milk Road newsletter, built with Beehive, was sold for an eight-figure sum after only 10 months, showcasing the platform's potential for rapid growth.

Transcripts

hey everyone it's Josh here in today's

tutorial we're going to be going over a

step-by-step beginner's guide on how to

create your own newsletter newsletters

can be a great way to reach a new

audience whether you're doing it for

yourself your personal brand or even a

new business you may be starting and

there are plenty of tools and tactics

out there that help you get going but

which one should you choose well in

today's video we're going to be going

over the step-by-step tips and tricks on

how to create and start your own

newsletter whether you're just trying to

reach a new audience for information

purposes introduce them to your new

product offerings or are just doing this

for fun this video should give you

everything you need to get started with

your own newsletter now the first and

quite frankly the most important step

when it comes to creating your

newsletter is choosing the right idea

I've seen so many people create

newsletters where they try and just

Target everybody they don't understand

who their newsletter is for they haven't

really set any goals and their real goal

is just to get as many subscribers as

possible which ends up leading to no

growth because again if you're targeting

everyone you're targeting no one so the

first great step to creating a great

newsletter is understanding who you are

what your goals are what you're

passionate about and why you're creating

this newsletter are you wanting to reach

people with new information or are you

wanting to sell products of your

newsletter are you wanting to just do a

little bit of an experiment where you

want to see how this goes now all these

goals would be valid but if you don't

actually know who you're going to be

marketing to and who's going to be

getting to sign up on your newsletter it

may be a bit difficult in the beginning

to actually go through and get people to

sign on because if people don't

understand what your newsletter is about

then why would they sign up with you so

if you can understand who you are what

you're passionate about and why people

should subscribe to your newsletter and

most importantly understanding who your

newsletter is for it's going to make it

very very easy to actually get people in

your newsletter especially if you don't

understand all three of those things and

when it comes to picking the right

platform for your newsletter there are a

lot of options that you can choose from

here things like kajabi MailChimp but

which one's the best well certainly one

of the strongest contenders is beehive

beehive if you didn't know was the

platform that actually was used to grow

the newsletter the milk road which ended

up selling for an undisclosed amount

although it was reportedly in the eight

figure Mark a few years ago after

growing to a massive following and that

could be you now for beehives pricing

there are a couple plans available to us

starting out with the the launch plan

which is completely free it's a no

commitment Z plan that includes up to

2500 subscribers and a couple other

features here and it has a 30-day free

trial of scale features their most

expensive model and then it's free

forever moving up to the grow plan which

is $42 a month build annually everything

in launch plus up to 10,000 subscribers

along with a whole bunch of other

features like custom domains premium

subscriptions audience polls Etc and

then finally the scale plan $84 a month

when build annually has up to 100,000

subscribers an advanced web Builder ad

Network published to segments referral

program and much much more and it should

be noted when put to monthly grow

becomes $49 a month and scale becomes

$99 a month you obviously get a deal for

paying annually but with access to

different features for both which one is

the right option for you well I always

encourage everyone to start out the

launch plan just to make sure that it's

the right choice for you so we're going

to move right into how to actually

import people into your mail list now if

you actually want to get started

importing people into your newsletter

all you have to do here is go down to

the audience Tab and just click on that

and go to subscribers now from in here

you can begin starting to to import

subscribers now for this plan currently

because I'm on the free plan I can

import up to 10 subscribers and this is

different from as it mentions the actual

number of people who are able to

subscribe to your newsletter so if I

click on the start new import here you

can see I can upload a CSV file or I can

actually copy and paste a list of email

addresses so if I have a couple people

who want to get started on my newsletter

already that I have the name of we can

simply import them here otherwise there

are a ton of different options for

people to actually sign up onto your

newsletter things like a custom website

designed within beehive a magic link

that people automatically sign up when

they click through to it and hit okay

and the actual referral program which we

won't get into in this video but

basically allows people to actually get

rewards for sharing your newsletter with

other people that's right if you want to

actually incentivize people to grow your

newsletter and share you you can

actually reward them with benefits in

the form of custom information whether

that be in a newsletter or on the

website itself or just different perks

that they get access to now while we're

also here in settings we can actually go

over to the Design Lab Tab and actually

start to customize things before we've

even got our first newsletter written

and built if we go and click into this

we can see things like the colors in

this case it's my name we can check our

post border border thickness and we can

begin to actually go through and

completely customize things all the way

from the body text email header buttons

content breaks images and more before

we've even got our first newsletter

build the actual theme or template for

what we're actually going to do in our

newsletter can already be customized by

us and this makes it very easy

especially if you have no newsletter

experience to low newsletter experience

to actually get started because you just

have to write the content that you want

to have in each newsletter each time and

not focus so much on The Branding set up

your branding once and use it in every

newsletter or have different styled and

branded targeted emails that's entirely

up to you the customization here is

really really good and I'm quite a fan

of how I can actually go and set this up

the first time and then not have to

worry about all the branding for myself

later down the line I can just write

what I want to write in my particular

email now if you're actually wondering

what a successful newsletter looks like

that's been created using beehive look

no further than the daily bite the daily

bite is one of the fastest growing Tech

newsletters with over 200,000 AI

professionals engineers enthusiasts and

creators and as an AI professional

engineer Enthusiast and Creator I

thoroughly enjoy reading the daily bite

and everything that it has to offer and

this page was actually created using

beehive yes that's right this really

cool designed page was actually created

using beehive and as we can see here we

have things like the featured posts we

have things like meta to start labeling

all AI content chat gbt is bigger than

Netflix and dating app fights romance

scams what what's that about well if we

click into it here we can actually see

what the newsletter for this looks like

created designed using beehive we have

things like you know the different

designs headers etc etc and logos and

all that and this would actually be a

really cool thing choose the real image

is the top one or the bottom one I'm

going to say the top one it looks a

little too shiny for me and I guess

we'll see more at the bottom but this is

actually how you can start to design and

create your own newsletter using

beehives platform and the daily bite is

just one of the many examples of the

successful newsletters that have been

grown using beehive and we're excited to

look into this further so we're going to

jump right into how to actually design

your own newsletter starting off with

basically a blank template and getting

to something that looks as nice as this

now all we have to do to get started

writing our very first newsletter post

is actually just go to the dashboard and

actually hit start writing in the top

right hand corner and immediately we're

put into all the information and details

about our newsletter now while it

doesn't look like much in the beginning

believe me the tools that exist with

inside beehive make it really really

easy to actually go and start creating

your very first newsletter we have

things like the post settings subtitle

authors and if we go into the email tab

we can actually see the subject line now

what does it take to make a really

engaging subject line what is going to

be something that makes somebody who

receives your newsletter actually say

that is something that I would want to

read these are the questions that you

need to be asking yourself as you're

designing your newsletter in beehive

because not only does it matter if you

actually have really engaging newsletter

but you also have to get people to click

on it now beehive also offers analytics

so that you can actually see all the

information like who actually gets your

newsletter and who actually clicks and

reads your newsletter two very important

analytics when it comes to actually

creating your own newsletter for the

very first time and here we can see

things like display social share icons

website Etc what your search engine

optimization looks like who it's being

delivered to what audiences are you

choosing and we can just simply click

here to start writing now if we hit the

slash key we can actually see there are

a ton of features innately built in

things like bulleted lists images block

quotes number lists all the headers you

could possibly want embedding links from

Twitter Tik Tok YouTube Etc and in the

actual premium tab we have things like

advertisements referral programs HTML

snippet and more it really makes it easy

to actually go and customize this to

your liking so let's get started doing

just that in my case here I want to call

it Josh's newsletter I know very

original and if we go and hit header one

I can say you know Josh's newsletter and

well what do I want my newsletter to be

about now as we talked about at the

beginning of this video we want to

actually be sure about who we're writing

this for now if I'm designing this email

for somebody like myself what would I be

actually interested in reading about

well if I was reading and writing about

something that was like Ai and improving

the different things things using AI in

our lives that would be interesting but

of course this is going to vary from

person to person because what may

interest me and be interesting in a

newsletter that gets sent to me may not

be interesting for your audience so as

always it's important to think about who

is reading your newsletter and why they

would actually open it so in my case for

Josh's newsletter I want to have at the

top of the page you know the title

Josh's newsletter but I want to have a

really good hook that entices somebody

to read the rest of the newsletter kind

of like the hook in a video you want to

get in the first five lines immediately

somebody to say yes this is interesting

and I'm going to take the time out of my

day to read this now in just a few

seconds here I was actually able to set

up the very basic beginner intro of my

actual newsletter have you ever wanted

to build your own newsletter but we're

too scared to and then I was actually

able to bring in this of SpongeBob and I

just say me too and this is all just

from doing as we discussed just doing

the slash command and selecting image if

I want to do another image here I could

do from library and we'll go from this

and we'll say yeah we'll do uh we'll do

another Meme and we'll we'll put another

meme in there if we want to have another

header here maybe a block list um well

what if we said the reasons to actually

create your newsletter reasons to create

a newsletter and we have options here

very much like notion or clickup or

monday.com or any other CRM that you

might have used in the past we can

actually just say things like reasons to

create a newsletter reach a bigger

audience and we actually have the

ability to customize our text if we just

double click on that here we can see we

make it bold underlined we can increase

the size do subscript all these

different things and now let's make this

uh let's make an H2 reason to create a

newsletter reach a bigger audience

number one now there are tons of

customization options here but I want

you to actually go and play with this

now give it a try see for yourself how

you do with this and if you aren't

already following along in real time I

highly encourage you to go down to the

description below and actually click

through to see how you can customize

this and start playing around with it

get a feel for beehive see how it is

it's free after all and you get access

to the scale features so if you really

want to try and push all of the

boundaries that beehive has to offer you

can do it for the first 30 days for free

of course now if we want to actually see

what our newsletter looks like so far on

desktop and mobile all we have to do is

go down to the bottom right hand corner

here and hit this I icon that says

preview we click on that we can see look

at that Josh's newsletter have you ever

wanted to build your own newsletter but

we're too scared to all the information

here and at the very below we can see

Josh's newsletter and this madeup

address that it automatically put on and

it says update your email preferences or

unsubscribe here powered by beehive you

can actually start to see and customize

this to your own liking whether you're

viewing it on web email whatever that

was like desktop mobile it actually well

doesn't actually appeal to too many

people but that's because I've just done

a generic idea of what this newsletter

will look like but again I highly

encourage you to go down and customize

it and try it out for yourself see what

makes your newsletter tick think about

who it's actually going to be reaching

and why would they want to open and read

your newsletter that's the biggest

question you should be asking yourself

right now and now all you have to do is

actually customize it using beehive to

make it fit that as the answer to that

question why is this newsletter going to

be interesting to to your audience and

once you've answered that question all

you have to do is take that answer and

put it in the form of this newsletter

and offer that value to your audience

and beehive offers a simple and

customized way that you can actually go

and do that so give it a try for

yourself great now you're excited and

want to create your own very good

newsletter but there are a couple tips

and tricks that you should keep in mind

the first one being before you actually

go and create your newsletter figuring

out again who your newsletter is for you

want to ask yourself the question why

would somebody want to read my

newsletter what is it doing to them is

it providing them educational

information value in the form of

entertainment is it offering just a Spam

of products and links that I want them

to purchase because if the only thing

people are seeing when they're opening

your newsletter is just 10 different

links spammed on top of each other

telling them to buy whatever product has

sponsored your actual newsletter that's

not going to be very enticing for them

to come back and quite frankly you're

going to have to get a lot of people to

subscribe for the long term to actually

grow your newsletter so offer some sort

of value to them give them something

that they could latch on to to say yes

that was a great read and I can't wait

to come back next week and once you've

answered that question actually go and

design the newsletter around that idea

once you figured out your Niche you

should figure out your target audience

and what the newsletter is actually

about and the value that it's providing

to that audience and if you could figure

all those things out have an audience

who's receiving value from your

newsletter have a cool nicely designed

newsletter that matches that audience's

expectations and provides that

information in a nice clean and

appealing way designed through beehive

you actually can make a pretty good news

but I should warn you it does take a

little bit of time it can take anywhere

from 8 to 12 months to just get your

newsletter off the ground often times in

the beginning you might not have any

subscribers but it's the ability to

actually build up your content build up

the amount of emails that you're sending

out with consistent good information

that actually will get people to come in

the long term and beehive can help you

do just that they have the ability like

I showed you earlier to have a custom

website where people can sign up for

your newsletter directly magic links

where all someone has to do is click on

that link and hit okay and they're

signed up for the newsletter and a

referral system where you can actually

incentivize people to refer their

friends and that is exactly what you

need to do to get people to sign up for

the newsletter actually have something

that offers value and if you can get

them to do that I highly encourage you

to put some sort of Link in there

something that encourages them to take

action whether it's an interesting

article that you're sharing with them a

cool video that you want them to check

out or a new post that you've made on

another Channel or platform that you

have something that the viewer can latch

on to so that they know the newsletter

is not the Final Destination it is

merely a stepping stone to more

important pieces of information that are

relevant to them whether it may be for

your business or for your brand you can

actually use newsletters to reach people

in a way that you may not have ever been

able to do before because you can

directly contact the people who are

interested in your service and unlike

subscribers on YouTube it's actually

really hard to get people to sign up for

your newsletter because they are going

to be consistently getting emails from

you so if you actually manage to offer

something of value and get people to

sign up for the long term you can

actually grow a profitable business just

like the milk road which only 10 months

after it was created on beehive sold for

eight figures now while the official

amount was undisclosed it's absolutely

crazy that you can build a newsletter

from complete scratch and in under a

year actually get it acquired of course

beehive was just a stepping stone to

actually making that happen they had to

provide that value and they had to

provide something that people could

share but in the case of a company like

the milk Road they were able to do just

that and get acquired in such a short

time frame now unless you have crazy

newsletter skills it is going to take

you potentially a bit longer but I High

encourage you to go on to beehive check

it out for yourself see if you can

actually go and play around with it and

create your very own newsletter and

answer all those questions and there you

go you should now be equipped with all

the tools to actually get started

creating your first newsletter on

beehive now let me know down in the

comments below if you want to see an

in-depth tutorial exploring beehives

features deeper many of the things I

talked about today were just for

beginners but that's where we want to

start things off with so if you're ready

to get started go down into the

description below click on the link and

create your very first newsletter design

it play around with it have fun with it

grow your audience threw away that you

haven't before newsletters as always

everyone thank you so much for watching

this video and we'll see you in the next

one