# Launch an email newsletter

> Pick a niche and a cadence you can keep, set up a compliant sending domain, write the first three issues before anyone subscribes, and grow from a landing page and cross-posting.

- **Section:** Career & skills · **Region:** Global · **Difficulty:** easy
- **Time:** 1 week to set up · then the cadence you choose (weekly or fortnightly)
- **Cost:** $0 on most platforms until ~1,000 subscribers; a domain if you want your own
- **You end up with:** A live newsletter with a subscribe page, three issues sent, and a growth loop in place
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-05 · **Canonical:** https://for.do/p/launch-a-newsletter/

## Before you start

- A topic you can write about every week for a year, and one sentence on who it is for
- A domain or subdomain for sending, or a platform-provided address to start

A newsletter is a promise about cadence more than a product, which is why the setup steps below spend as much time on what you will send in weeks two and three as on the platform.

## 1. Define the promise

- [ ] One sentence: who it is for and what they get each issue ("for indie developers: three tools and one lesson, every Tuesday").
- [ ] Choose the cadence you can keep for a year; fortnightly beats an abandoned weekly.
- [ ] Decide the format: a fixed template with recurring sections makes writing faster and reading predictable.

## 2. Set up the platform

- [ ] Pick a platform (Substack, beehiiv, Kit, Buttondown), create the publication, and set the name, description and a simple logo.
- [ ] Add a subscribe page with the promise in the headline and one sample issue linked.
- [ ] Configure the welcome email: what to expect, when, and a link to the best past issue.

## 3. Sending domain and compliance

- [ ] Use your own domain or subdomain for sending when the platform allows; publish SPF, DKIM and DMARC records.
- [ ] Make sure the footer has an unsubscribe link and a physical address (required by CAN-SPAM and similar laws).

## 4. Write three issues before launch

- [ ] Draft issues 1–3 in the fixed template; schedule 2 and 3 so the cadence holds while you are busy with the launch.
- [ ] Get two readers to review the first issue for clarity and length.

## 5. Launch and the first 100

- [ ] Send the first issue and post it as a thread or article on your two main channels with the subscribe link.
- [ ] Email or message the people who would genuinely want it; ask for one forward each.
- [ ] Add the subscribe box to your site, bio links and email signature.

## 6. Grow and measure

- [ ] Track clicks, replies and unsubscribes per issue; opens are unreliable.
- [ ] Cross-post every issue; ask a question at the end to prompt replies.
- [ ] After ten issues, review what got clicks and double down on that section.

## Where people get this wrong

- Weekly ambition, monthly reality. Missed issues kill newsletters; choose fortnightly if weekly is a stretch and be reliable.
- Launching with zero issues written. Subscribers who get nothing for three weeks forget they subscribed; write three before announcing.
- Sending from a shared platform domain forever. Once you have a few hundred subscribers, set up your own sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC so deliverability is yours.
- Measuring opens. Open rates are inflated by mail privacy features; measure clicks, replies and unsubscribes.

## Questions

**Which platform?**  
Substack for simplicity and a built-in discovery network; beehiiv or Kit for growth tools and referral programmes; Buttondown for minimalism. All are free at the start.

**How do I get the first 100 subscribers?**  
Your own network, a landing page shared on the channels where your readers are, and cross-posting each issue as a thread or post. The first 100 are hand-earned.

**Should I charge?**  
Not before you have a consistent free issue and readers asking for more. Paid tiers convert from an engaged free list, not from a launch.

## Tools used

- [Substack](https://find.do/t/substack/) — Newsletter publishing with a built-in discovery network and paid tiers.
- [beehiiv](https://find.do/t/beehiiv/) — Newsletter platform built around growth — referrals, recommendations, ad network.
- [Kit (formerly ConvertKit)](https://find.do/t/kit/) — Creator email with automations, landing pages and commerce.
- [Buttondown](https://find.do/t/buttondown/) — A minimal, developer-friendly newsletter tool with Markdown and an API.
- [MXToolbox](https://find.do/t/mxtoolbox/) — Checks SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX and blacklists for a domain.
- [Google email sender guidelines](https://find.do/t/google-email-sender-guidelines/) (official) — The rules Gmail applies to bulk senders — authentication, unsubscribe, spam rate.

## Sources

- [Google — Email sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126)
- [Substack — Start a newsletter](https://substack.com/go)