Julian's Playbook: Automate Your Newsletter with Notion + Beehiiv in 2025

Let's be real: As an indie hacker or digital solopreneur, your time is your most valuable asset. Every minute spent on repetitive tasks is a minute not spent building, strategizing, or, you know, enjoying life. One of the biggest time sinks I see folks grapple with is newsletter management. Drafting content, formatting, scheduling – it all adds up.

But what if I told you that in 2025, you could virtually set your newsletter content on autopilot, letting you focus on the ideas rather than the drudgery? I’ve personally leveraged no-code tools and smart automation to build multiple $2K/month income streams, and newsletter automation is a cornerstone of that efficiency. Today, we're diving deep into my favorite stack for this: Notion for content creation and Beehiiv for delivery. This isn't about being a "guru"; it's about sharing what genuinely works.

By the end of this article, you'll have a clear roadmap to automate newsletters with Notion + Beehiiv, freeing up your precious hours and ensuring your audience gets consistent, high-quality content without you losing your mind.

Why Automate Your Newsletter Workflow?

Before we dive into the "how," let's quickly touch on the "why." Why bother setting up this somewhat intricate dance between Notion and Beehiiv?

1. Reclaim Your Time (Seriously)

This is the big one. Imagine drafting your newsletter content directly in Notion – a tool you likely already use for brainstorming, project management, and daily notes. Once done, it automatically gets sent to your newsletter platform, formatted and ready to go. No more copying, pasting, or tedious reformatting. For me, this shaved off hours each week, letting me focus on building more products or optimizing existing ones.

2. Ensure Consistency and Quality

When the process is streamlined, it's easier to maintain a regular publishing schedule. Plus, having a dedicated content hub in Notion means your ideas are organized, easy to refine, and always accessible. Consistency is key for audience growth, and automation helps you achieve it effortlessly.

3. Scale Your Content Output

Once this system is in place, scaling becomes a breeze. Want to launch a second newsletter? Or publish more frequently? The foundational workflow is already there. You're simply feeding more content into an optimized machine. This scalability is crucial for any solopreneur aiming for multiple income streams.

Diagram showing automated newsletter workflow from Notion to Beehiiv
Figure 1: Visualizing the seamless flow from Notion content to automated Beehiiv delivery.

The Notion + Beehiiv Synergy: A Technical Deep Dive

At the heart of this system lies a powerful integration between a versatile content hub (Notion) and a robust newsletter platform (Beehiiv).

2.1. Notion as Your Content Command Center

Think of Notion as your primary content drafting and management workspace. You can create a dedicated database for your newsletters, complete with properties for:

  • Status: (Draft, Ready for Review, Published)
  • Publish Date: For scheduling
  • Topics/Tags: For categorization
  • Audience Segment: If you run multiple newsletters
  • Content: The actual body of your newsletter

This structure makes it incredibly easy to track your content pipeline, collaborate (if you ever delegate), and ensure everything is organized. The beauty of Notion is its flexibility; you can structure it exactly how your brain works.

2.2. Beehiiv for Smart Delivery

Beehiiv has quickly become a darling among creators for a reason. It's clean, offers excellent analytics, supports advanced segmentation, and has a fantastic native ad network. While Beehiiv is powerful for sending, its content creation interface, like most ESPs, isn't always ideal for long-form drafting or extensive ideation. This is where Notion steps in.

2.3. The Integration Point: No-Code Magic

The "magic" that connects Notion and Beehiiv typically comes through a no-code automation platform. Tools like Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), or even Pipedream are your best friends here. They act as the bridge, listening for changes in Notion and then triggering actions in Beehiiv.

This is where the real power of automation shines. When a new newsletter draft in Notion hits "Ready for Publish" status, your chosen automation tool kicks in.

Building Your Automation Workflow: A Step-by-Step Guide

Alright, let's get practical. Here's a simplified overview of how you'd set up this workflow.

3.1. Set Up Your Notion Newsletter Database

  1. Create a New Database: In Notion, make a new database (Table or Board view works well). Call it "Newsletter Content Calendar" or similar.
  2. Define Properties: Add properties like:
    • Name (Title of your newsletter edition)
    • Status (Select: Draft, Ready to Send, Sent)
    • Publish Date (Date property)
    • Content Body (Text property, or even better, keep the main content within the page itself)
    • Summary (Text property, for your email's preview text)
    • Tags (Multi-select)

3.2. Draft Your Newsletter Content in Notion

Write your newsletter content directly within each Notion page in the database. Use Notion's rich text editor for headings, bullet points, links, and even images. This is where you'd include your insights, links to your new products, or curated resources.

3.3. Choose Your Automation Tool (Zapier, Make, etc.)

For this example, let's assume you're using Zapier – it's widely adopted and has excellent Notion and Beehiiv integrations. If you haven't explored Zapier for your workflows, I highly recommend checking out Notion and Zapier workflows to get started.

3.4. Create the Zap (or Scenario in Make)

The core of your automation will be a multi-step Zap:

Step 1: Trigger – New Item in Notion Database

  • App: Notion
  • Event: New Database Item (or Updated Database Item, if you prefer to trigger on a "Status" change).
  • Set up Trigger: Select your "Newsletter Content Calendar" database. You'll likely want to add a filter to only trigger when the Status property is set to "Ready to Send" and the Publish Date is today or in the past. This ensures you control the release.
Screenshot of Zapier setting up a Notion trigger
Figure 2: Configuring your Zapier trigger to monitor changes in your Notion database.

Step 2: Action – Create or Update Draft in Beehiiv

  • App: Beehiiv
  • Event: Create Draft or Update Draft.
  • Set up Action:
    • Publication: Select your Beehiiv publication.
    • Title: Map this from your Notion database's Name property.
    • Body: This is crucial. You'll need to map the content from your Notion page. Zapier and Make are getting better at handling rich text from Notion, often converting it to HTML or Markdown. You might need to experiment with how Notion's content property is interpreted by your automation tool to ensure proper formatting in Beehiiv. Often, you'll select the rich text property that holds your newsletter's main content.
    • Draft Status: Set to 'draft' initially.
    • Audience Segments: If you use them, map any relevant tags or properties from Notion to Beehiiv segments.
    • Preview Text/Summary: Map this from your Notion Summary property.

Step 3 (Optional but Recommended): Send Draft or Schedule Send

You have a few options here:

  • Manual Review: The automation simply creates the draft in Beehiiv, and you go in to review and hit "Send" or "Schedule." This is safest, especially when starting out.
  • Automated Schedule: With more advanced setups (often requiring a premium Zapier plan or a more complex Make scenario), you can trigger a "Schedule Send" action in Beehiiv based on the Publish Date in Notion. This creates a truly hands-off experience. Ensure your Beehiiv plan supports API scheduling.

Real-World Case Studies (Simulated)

Let's look at how various indie hackers could leverage this.

Case Study 1: The Curated Content Wizard

Persona: Liam, a solopreneur who curates weekly links and insights for niche marketers.
Old Workflow: Spends 3 hours every Sunday collecting links, writing summaries in Google Docs, then copying/pasting into MailerLite, fixing formatting, and scheduling.
Automated Workflow (2025): Liam uses a Notion database to dump links throughout the week, adding quick notes. On Sunday morning, he reviews, fleshes out the notes into summaries within Notion, changes the status to "Ready to Send" and sets the Publish Date. A Zapier automation triggers, pulls all the "Ready to Send" entries, compiles them into a single Beehiiv draft, and pre-fills the title and summary. Liam just needs to open Beehiiv, do a quick final check, and hit schedule.
Result: Time saved: 2 hours/week. Newsletter consistency improved, allowing him to launch a premium research service faster.

Case Study 2: The SaaS Founder's Product Updates

Persona: Chloe, a SaaS founder sending monthly product updates and tutorials.
Old Workflow: Monthly internal meeting to discuss updates, then Chloe manually writes long-form content in Beehiiv, often losing track of previous features.
Automated Workflow (2025): Chloe has a Notion database for "Product Updates." Each new feature or bug fix gets its own page with a "Status" and "Release Date." When a feature is ready for the newsletter, she updates its status to "Included in Newsletter." Her Make scenario (more flexible for aggregating content) gathers all "Included in Newsletter" items from the past month, formats them into a pre-defined Beehiiv template, and creates a draft.
Result: Less ad-hoc content creation, more structured updates. Her integration ensures no feature is forgotten, and product-led content becomes a seamless extension of her development cycle.

Best Practices for a Smooth Automation Flow

Setting up the automation is just the beginning. To keep things running like a well-oiled machine, consider these best practices:

4.1. Standardize Your Notion Content

Consistency is key. Decide on a template for your newsletter content in Notion.

  • Headings: Use H2 for main sections, H3 for sub-sections.
  • Image Placeholders: If you use images, denote where they should go. You'll likely need to manually add images to Beehiiv, or integrate another step (like using public image URLs).
  • Link Formatting: Stick to a consistent way of embedding links.

4.2. Test, Test, and Test Again

Before going live, run your automation multiple times. Create dummy newsletter entries in Notion, trigger the Zap/Make scenario, and check the draft in Beehiiv. Pay close attention to:

  • Formatting: Does it transfer correctly?
  • Links: Are they clickable?
  • Images: Do placeholders work, or do you need manual intervention?
  • Audience Segmentation: Is the correct segment applied?

4.3. Monitor Your Automation

Set up notifications for successful runs and, more importantly, for failures. Zapier and Make both offer email alerts or notifications if a Zap or scenario fails. Address issues promptly to avoid missing newsletter sends. This automation needs regular check-ups, especially after Beehiiv or Notion updates their APIs.

4.4. Iterate and Refine

Your initial setup might not be perfect. That's okay. As you use the system, you'll find ways to optimize. Maybe you need an extra property in Notion, or a different trigger in Zapier. The beauty of no-code is how easily you can adapt and refine your workflows.

Screenshot of Notion page with newsletter content
Figure 3: Crafting compelling content directly within your Notion newsletter database.

Conclusion: Your Automated Newsletter Future Starts Now

The era of manual, painstaking newsletter management is over for smart solopreneurs. By strategically combining Notion's robust content organization with Beehiiv's powerful delivery, and bridging them with a no-code automation tool like Zapier or Make, you can build a system that saves you countless hours in 2025 and beyond.

I've seen firsthand how this kind of setup transforms the mundane into the magical, freeing up mental bandwidth to focus on what truly matters: creating value, connecting with your audience, and building more income streams. This isn't just about sending emails; it's about scaling your impact without scaling your effort. So, go forth, experiment, and start building your own automated newsletter powerhouse today. Your future self (and your subscribers) will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much technical expertise do I need to set up this automation?

You don't need to be a developer, but a basic understanding of how Notion databases work and a willingness to learn a no-code tool like Zapier or Make is essential. These platforms are designed for non-coders, often using visual interfaces to connect apps. The most "technical" part is often mapping data fields correctly between Notion and Beehiiv.

Can I use other newsletter platforms besides Beehiiv with Notion?

Yes, absolutely! While Beehiiv is a fantastic option, many other email service providers (ESPs) like ConvertKit, Mailchimp, Substack, or Ghost have integrations with Zapier or Make. The core principle of using Notion as your content hub and an automation tool as the bridge remains the same, regardless of your chosen ESP. Just check if your preferred platform has the necessary API access for your chosen automation tool.