So, you’ve been toying with the concept of transforming your e-mail checklist into a profits stream, but you’re overwhelmed by all the options out there. Audio acquainted? You’re not the only one. If you have actually been utilizing a fundamental e-mail solution and scratching your head concerning sponsorships, ads, and paid registrations, it may be time to take a look at beehiiv. In this guide, I’ll walk you through everything you require to know about making use of beehiiv to turn your newsletter right into cash money– all from my own experience. Ready? Let’s dive in How To Set Up Beehiiv
Why You May be Stuck with Your Present Email System
You have actually most likely attempted the normal suspects: Mailchimp, ConvertKit (currently Kit), Substack, or something comparable. And if you resemble most small material makers, below’s what likely occurred:
- Limited Money Making Alternatives
You have a handful of devoted subscribers– possibly 500 to 1,000 people– however no simple means to make money. Sponsorships seem like a foreign language, and you’re not keen on cold-emailing brands on a monthly basis.
- DIY Automation Headaches
You want to drip campaign brand-new clients, send out a welcome collection, and sector individuals for targeted e-mails … yet setting up those automations seems like you need a computer science degree.
- System Costs Draw
Whenever you think of paid memberships, the system takes a significant portion, and the settlement arrangement is extra complicated than it deserves.
- Development Delays
Development hacks seem to benefit everyone else– yet not for you. You wish there was an easy means to locate new subscribers without manually chasing them down.
I remained in your footwear at the start of 2024. I ‘d been utilizing Kit (formerly ConvertKit), however it felt like a stumbling block for monetization. Don’t get me wrong– Kit is great for constructing funnels and establishing basic automations. However when it concerned making even a couple of hundred bucks a month from a little list, there wasn’t a noticeable “on” button.
Go into beehiiv.
My Switch over to beehiiv: A Fact Examine
In January 2024, I lastly shot and moved my e-newsletter from Kit to beehiiv. Here’s the honest truth: I really did not have time to hound enrollers, discuss rates, or build complex paid funnels. I run a search engine optimization creating service permanent, so my newsletter was constantly going to be a side project. I required something that almost ran itself.
The “Sell Me” Minute
What sold me on beehiiv was simple:
- Integrated Money making: Right from the beginning, beehiiv yells, “Hey, you can make money here!” It had not been an afterthought or a third-party add-on.
- Low-Effort Sponsorships: Instead of me searching LinkedIn for enrollers, beehiiv brings deals right to my dashboard. All I need to do is click “approve,” decrease in the ad copy, and hit send.
- Passive Revenue Boosts: By advertising other newsletters in my weekly e-mail, I gain $1–$ 3 per referred customer. No hefty lifting, no difficult analytics– just consistent, incremental income.
Spoiler alert: It repaid. In my initial full year on beehiiv (2024 ), I pulled in $940 from ad sponsorships and boosts alone– on a list that never ever covered 1,000 subscribers. I really did not create a paid program. I really did not release a product and I just let beehiiv do its point.
My Partner Program Windfall
As if that had not been sufficient, I additionally joined the beehiiv Partner Program– generally an affiliate program. By writing about beehiiv on my blog and sharing my experience with buddies, I filched $5,108 in referral compensations through completion of 2024. Yep, you check out that right: over five grand, just by discussing the system.
So if you’re questioning whether beehiiv deserves it for little designers or newbies, take my word: It’s a game-changer. But, of course, it isn’t perfect. Let’s break down the great, the bad, and the amazing stuff you require to recognize.
The Upside of Using beehiiv
1. Monetization Made Ridiculously Basic
What I enjoy best about beehiiv is how very easy it is to make money on autopilot. You don’t require a big audience. Right here’s how it works:
- Advertisement Network Sponsorships: As soon as you strike just 1,000 energetic subscribers, brands begin aligning. You obtain 3– 6 ad requests monthly on average. You select the ones you like, put the duplicate, and you’re done. They ppc or see– no challenging invoicing. And because beehiiv matches you with relevant brands, your clients are more likely to click.
- Boosts Referral Earnings: Don’t have enrollers yet? No problem. Promote other maker e-newsletters for $1–$ 3 per customer. It’s like Amazon’s affiliate program, but for email lists. I made a number of hundred dollars by doing this without breaking a sweat.
- Paid Subscriptions (When You prepare): Down the line, if you choose to bill for superior content, beehiiv takes a marginal cost (2.9% + $0.30 per deal using Stripe). You can establish multiple pricing tiers, run complimentary trials, and even let customers “call their price.”.
- Partner Program Payments: Not in it for the short haul? Sign up for the affiliate program. Make 60% compensation on beehiiv’s regular monthly or yearly plans when someone signs up with your code. It’s literally extra money for sharing something you already like.
In other words, beehiiv transforms monetization right into an integrated feature, rather than a task you fear.
2. Analytics That Don’t Make Your Head Explode
If you’ve ever before looked at a control panel reasoning, “What does any of this actually mean?”, you’ll value beehiiv’s strategy:.
- Clear Customer Development Graphs: See precisely the number of brand-new people joined, the number of handed over, and why your listing diminished (a lot more on that in a sec).
- Open Up and Click Rates: Beehiiv breaks down performance over the last 1 month, so you can spot patterns as soon as possible. For instance, I kept an eye on my open rate (hovering around 64%– not bad) and my click-through (around 3.5%). If either statistics dips, I fine-tune my subject lines or calls-to-action.
- Monetization Dashboards: Sponsorship profits, boosts income, partner referral profits– you understand. Revenue streams are neatly separated so nothing obtains lost in the shuffle.
It’s like having a partner who tells you, “Hey, your January email killed it– here’s why,” or “Uh oh, your February open prices are tanking– let’s repair this.”.
3. Growing Your List Without Marketing Your Spirit
The majority of newsletter systems will bill you for each added client after a threshold. Not so with beehiiv– for up to 2,500 customers, it’s free. You get:.
- Unlimited e-mail sends out.
- Access to the boosts network (grow your audience by advertising your newsletter on various other beehiiv newsletters).
- Standard analytics and kinds.
If you’re a newbie or have a tiny target market, this is substantial. You can explore subject lines, send regularity, and various lead magnets without bothering with striking a paywall.
4. Built-In Website & Custom Pages
Picture ditching WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace altogether because your newsletter platform doubles as a website builder. That’s beehiiv in a nutshell:.
- E-newsletter Archive Pages: All your past emails survive on a blog-like page that’s immediately SEO-optimized.
- Custom Landing Pages: Need a lead magnet page? A thank-you page? A web page to market a product? You can construct it right in beehiiv’s website builder.
- Mobile-Friendly Templates: Whatever looks fantastic on phones– essential given that a ton of folks check out e-mails on mobile.
Sure, you won’t obtain every fancy drag-and-drop that a devoted website builder provides, but also for the majority of designers, it’s more than enough.
5. Referral Program to Turbo Charge Growth
Beehiiv’s referral program is awesome if you want to use a community of like-minded makers. When your client clicks “Recommend This Newsletter” and signs up with, both you and the referring designer obtain credit score. It’s a clever method to expand your checklist without spamming.
The Downsides: What to Look out for
No product is perfect– and beehiiv has its missteps. Before you dive in, below’s what could trip you up:.
Feature Overload in the beginning
When you log in, there are a lot of options– Forms, Boosts, Ads, Partner Program, Analytics, Website Builder– that it can really feel frustrating. If you’ve only utilized a straightforward solution that sends out one-off e-mails, you might require a couple of days to get comfy.
Irrelevant Advertisement Requests
Often the sponsors beehiiv matches you with have nothing to do with your particular niche. A video gaming e-newsletter could get offered a code-review tool for designers. See to it to decrease anything that does not jive with your audience, or you’ll storage tank your click-throughs.
No Time Zone– Based Sends
If your list is international, you can’t automatically schedule emails based upon each client’s time zone. All sends out head out simultaneously, so you may wake up to reduced open prices if half your checklist is asleep.
Custom Page Builder Isn’t Extremely Instinctive
Producing a landing page is possible, however the UI could be smoother. I invested a couple of hours (and a practical conversation with assistance) obtaining a free offer opt-in page perfect. If you’re impatient or design-averse, you may discover it cumbersome.
Restricted Integrations
If you make use of Gumroad to sell items, you run out good luck– no straight integration yet. You’ll need to utilize embed codes or a Zapier workaround.
All that said, beehiiv’s group is continuously rolling out updates– and those cons are gradually yet certainly being attended to.
Who Should Think about beehiiv?
Not every person requires a fully featured e-newsletter platform. However if any of the following describes you, beehiiv might be a match made in heaven:.
- Outright Beginners: You have actually never ever sent out an e-mail blast, you do not wish to invest money in advance, and you require a free, simple way to experiment. Beehiiv allows you start for free, send out endless e-mails to up to 2,500 customers, and expand naturally with the boosts network.
- Small-List Creators: If you already have a few hundred or a pair thousand clients however no idea exactly how to transform that into income, beehiiv’s ad and boost programs are tailor-made for you. In my initial 10 months, I was making concerning $92/month with a ~ 1k checklist. Tolerable for coffee cash, right?
- Developers Who Despise “Salesy” Things: You do not wish to pitch products nonstop or sling digital courses. You prefer to share worth, develop depend on, and let the cash come in on autopilot. Beehiiv’s ad network and boosts let you make without crafting a four-part sales funnel.
- Switchers Who Do Not Intend To Rebuild Whatever: Maybe you’re on Substack, Ghost, or Mailchimp, and your e-mail automations are a twisted mess. Beehiiv promises a smooth movement from those platforms. And also, if you have a large checklist (claim 10k+), you can get aid from beehiiv’s assistance group to relocate everything over without shedding your automations.
Getting Started: A Detailed Walkthrough
Subscribe and Explore the Control panel
When you create an account, beehiiv drops you right into a control panel where you see your client matter, open prices, click-through prices, and any pending advertisement deals. Think of it as your mission control– whatever you require is simply a click away.
Build Your First Subscribe Kind
Navigate to Target Market ’ Subscribe Forms ’ Produce Brand-new Type. You’ll require:
- A headline that hooks visitors
- A short blurb discussing what your e-newsletter has to do with
- A call-to-action switch (e.g., “Join My E-newsletter”)
- Your logo or a relevant image
- A post-subscribe message or redirect (e.g., “Many thanks for signing up with! Check your inbox in a sec.”)
You can select from various form designs: full-width, fixed-width, slim embed (just the e-mail area), or progressed (with monitoring codes). The modification choices are fundamental– colors for buttons and history photos– however it’s remarkably effective for recording emails.
Set Up Your Site and Personalized Pages
If you desire more than simply a type, jump right into Design ’ Website Builder ’ Custom-made Pages ’ Internal Page. Utilize this to:
Host your e-newsletter archive (all previous issues, searchable and SEO-friendly).
Produce a landing page for a free offer (e.g., “Download my search engine optimization cheat sheet”).
Construct a thank-you web page that goes real-time after somebody subscribes.
I spent a couple of hours tweaking my initial landing page, but once I mastered it, I recognized exactly how effective it is to have every little thing under one roofing system. Rather than juggling Leadpages, WordPress, and Mailchimp, beehiiv does it all.
Draft Your Very First Newsletter
Click the big “Beginning Composing” switch in the top-right edge. You’ll see a clean, distraction-free editor where you can:
- Compose your email duplicate How To Set Up Beehiiv
- Put pictures, headers, and custom HTML blocks
- Preview exactly how it’ll search in inboxes and on your site
- Set up or send immediately
One catch: Customization is restricted. Every subscriber sees “Hey there” as opposed to “Hello [Given name]” If you require hyper-personalization, you might miss out on that. But for many people, a friendly, conversational intro suffices.
Turn On Money making
As soon as you strike 1,000 active customers, beehiiv will certainly invite you to:.
- Join the Ad Network: Instantly get sponsorship requests that match your particular niche. Choose which ones to accept, place the ad duplicate right into your e-newsletter, and earn money per click/view.
- Set Up Boosts: Put on advertise other e-newsletters. If a person signs up with via your link, you earn $1–$ 3 per subscriber.
For paid newsletters, navigate to Monetization ’ Paid Subscriptions. You’ll attach your Stripe account (beehiiv doesn’t bill added fees past Stripe’s processing), set your pricing plans (monthly, annual, or “Call Your Price”), and decide what material goes behind the paywall.
Monitor and Maximize
Examine your analytics weekly. If open rates drop listed below 40%, reassess your subject lines. If a sponsorship gets zero clicks, it may be irrelevant to your target market– decrease similar future advertisements. When a boost transforms well, submit more boost requests or fine-tune your offer.
It may seem like a great deal at first, yet I promise you’ll master it within a couple of days. And the benefits– both economic and in terms of your target market’s growth– deserve the preliminary curve.
Deep Dive: beehiiv’s Money making Options
If you’re serious about turning your e-newsletter right into an economic machine, let’s break down each revenue stream carefully.
1. beehiiv Partner Program (Affiliate Incomes)
Think about this as beehiiv’s affiliate program. Right here’s the lowdown:.
- How It Functions: You sign up for the Partner Program, order your distinct referral link, and share it on your blog site, Twitter, LinkedIn, any place. When a person clicks, enroll in a paid plan (Range or Max), you make a payment.
- Commission Fees: Up to 60% of their first-year repayment. If they pay $100, you may see $60. Cha-ching.
- Payment: Beehiiv pays monthly using PayPal. No minimum limit, no hoops to leap via.
In my case, I released a Medium message strolling people through my beehiiv experience (spoiler: this overview right here belongs to that initiative). Through a combination of blog website traffic and word-of-mouth, I made over $5,000 in associate commissions by December 2024. All I did was share my real experience.
2. Boosts: Make by Assisting Others Grow
Boosts are generally funded promos– beehiiv’s spin on a “send for pay” version. Below’s the scoop:.
- Come To Be a Boost Sponsor: If you assume your e-newsletter can aid others grow, use in the Boosts dashboard. You’ll describe why your audience is a great fit and set a price you would certainly spend for a new client.
- Relate to Boost Others: If you want fast clients, you can pay to boost your newsletter on various other developers’ listings. Yet what most tiny creators love is the opposite: you put on be a boost companion for various other newsletters. When a person register through your boost, you get $1–$ 3
- Limits:
- You can send up to 25 boost provides each month, yet beehiiv just surface areas 3 deals each time to prospective companions.
- If a boost is doing well, various other creators will pick it up swiftly.
Here’s a fast example: In October 2024, I promoted a fellow search engine optimization designer’s e-newsletter for $1.75 per customer. Over 2 weeks, I generated 200 new clients for them– and earned about $350 in the process. Win-win.
3. beehiiv Ad Network (Sponsored Ads)
This is where the large dollars can be available in, even if your checklist is “tiny.” Below’s how it goes:
- Qualification: You require at least 1,000 energetic subscribers and a regular send out schedule (at least one email per month, though weekly is ideal).
- Automation: As soon as approved, you’ll begin receiving 3– 5 sponsorship requests monthly. Beehiiv matches you with brand names based on your target market’s rate of interests– so a marketing SaaS firm might approach an SEO-focused newsletter, as an example.
- Settlement Design:
- Expense Per Click (CPC): You earn money each time a person clicks the ad in your email.
- Cost Per Mille (CPM): You make based on a thousand perceptions.
- Reduce of Use: You can approve or decrease each offer right from your control panel. Beehiiv deals with all the invoicing. All you do is copy-paste the ad into your newsletter.
In 2024, I ran 37 funded advertisements, consisting of a couple of top-level brand names like HubSpot. I made $632 from ads alone, with my leading campaign creating $112 from 35 clicks (4.5% click-through). Remember: importance is king. Unimportant ads storage tank click-through prices, so be careful.
4. Paid Subscriptions (” Premium Content”)
If you develop truly special material– deep dive reports, unique tutorials, or insider evaluations– you might take into consideration a paid tier. Here’s the 101:
- Configuration: Go to Money Making ’ Paid Subscriptions, connect Stripe, and choose your pricing:
- Month-to-month
- Annual (usually marked down)
- Single settlement (for a single overview or program)
- Name Your Price (your subscribers choose what they can manage)
- Earnings Split: Beehiiv doesn’t bill you a platform cost; they just pass Stripe’s handling cost (2.9% + $0.30) on to you.
- Examples: If you have 100 customers paying $7/month, that’s $700/month = $8,400/ year (minus Stripe charges). Tolerable, right? Obviously, reaching 100 paid subscribers implies you require a loyal, involved base.
Now, be realistic: Paid memberships are a work. You need constant, high-value web content that makes people comfortable taking out their wallets. If you’re simply starting, the advertisement network and boosts might be quicker victories.
Pricing Plans: What You’ll Pay (and Get)
I understand pricing is a big question mark when you’re thinking about changing systems. Here’s the failure since mid-2025:.
- Free Plan (up to 2,500 subscribers): Great for pet projects or if you’re checking the waters. You still get boosts for listing growth, basic analytics, and limitless sends– just no advertisement network or paid subscriptions yet.
- Scale ($ 39.20/ month): Perfect if you’re serious about generating income from. You get ad network accessibility, boosts, paid registrations, and the AI Creating Assistant to accelerate your newsletter creation.
- Max ($ 87.29/ month): If AI devices (image generation, grammar repairing, translation) matter to you, and you desire priority support, this is the pleasant area. Plus, you can release a mobile application for your customers.
- Enterprise (100k+ clients): For brands and mega-creators who require custom-made migrations, service-level agreements, and progressed security. Few small designers need this.
My recommendation? Start on the Free plan. Get a feel for the dashboard, expand your list to 1,000, then update to Scale once you know you want ad profits and boosts.
Unique Features How To Set Up Beehiiv
You could be thinking, “Okay, ads and boosts are awesome. Yet what else can beehiiv do that can’t?” Let me highlight a few standout features:.
1. Sound E-newsletters
Ever thought about turning your email into a podcast-like experience? Beehiiv’s built-in sound newsletter feature immediately converts your emails right into spoken-word audio. No additional editing software, no outsourcing to Fiverr– just toggle it on, and your subscribers can listen on the move. For hectic target markets who drive or exercise, this is a useful way to stay connected.
2. Custom-made Mobile Application for Visitors
A lot of platforms offer you a “mobile-optimized web site.” Beehiiv goes one step better: you can release a custom mobile app for your clients. Once they add it to their home display, your newsletter comes to be a one-tap experience– no inbox mess. Envision awakening and seeing app notices when you drop a new concern. Discuss interaction.
3. “Call Your Rate” Subscriptions
Instead of compeling everybody into $5 or $7 tiers, let your most devoted followers determine what to pay. It’s a trust-building step and can result in higher lifetime worth. I haven’t checked this feature directly yet, but also for makers who really feel a bit uneasy about price factors, it’s a pleasant choice to explore.
4. beehiiv AI Suite
For those on Scale and Max plans, beehiiv’s AI tools are a blessing:
- AI Writing Aide: Create newsletter drafts based upon bullet factors or topics. For days when you’re looking at a blank web page, this boosts your creativity.
- AI Text Device: Grammar, punctuation, tone checks– no need for Grammarly. You obtain a clean, sleek draft that really feels human How To Set Up Beehiiv.
- AI Picture Tool: Develop customized header pictures or illustrations without purchasing stock pictures. Just type a timely, and voila.
- AI Translator: Want to send your e-newsletter in several languages? Convert your material right into Spanish, French, German, Italian, or Portuguese promptly.
These features can shave hours off material creation and aid you trying out brand-new layouts.
Pro Tips For Succeeding on beehiiv
Now that you understand what beehiiv can do, here are some insider hacks to maximize it:
Tidy Your Checklist for Better Efficiency
In August 2024, I cut my customer count in half (from regarding 2,400 down to 1,200) by getting rid of inactive emails– people who hadn’t opened up anything in six months. My open prices leapt from ~ 45% to over 60%, which indicated marketers paid more per click. It hurt to lose subscribers, however a lean, involved listing deserves more than a puffed up, easy one.
Trying Out Subject Lines Like a Pro
Subject lines make or burst rates. Do A/B tests on tiny sectors prior to sending to your entire checklist. Brief, punchy, question-based subjects (” Ready to increase your website traffic?”) typically outperform common ones (” April Newsletter”).
Be Pickier with Advertisement Offers
If an advertisement doesn’t resonate with your particular niche, say no. Unnecessary ads frustrate readers and tank click metrics. With time, beehiiv’s algorithm will certainly discover what fits your audience– decline sufficient off-topic deals, and they’ll quit sending them.
Use Boosts to Check New Audiences
Obtained a brand-new category you want to discover? Try improving your newsletter in a related niche. The cost per customer averages $1.63– however if those customers stick around, it deserves it. I once increased a SEO newsletter in a digital marketing target market and obtained an unusual uptick in retention.
Utilize AI for Faster Production
On nights when I’m worn out, I ask the AI Writing Aide to draft a rough outline: introductory, 3 bottom lines, verdict. After that I flesh it out with my very own stories and style tweaks. It’s not perfect, however it’s a solid foundation that conserves me 30– 45 mins per e-mail.
Capitalize on the Mobile App
Motivate customers to mount your e-newsletter’s mobile application. In your following email, create a fast “Just how to Add Our Newsletter to Your Home Screen” tutorial. More application sets up suggest more presence, and press notifications defeat inbox sound.
Deal Periodic Paid-Only Content
Rather than making every issue complimentary, tease a “bonus offer record” once a quarter behind a paywall ($ 5–$ 7). Promote it greatly to your checklist. Even if you just market 20 copies, that’s $100–$ 140 that offsets your regular monthly beehiiv bill.
Finishing up: Is beehiiv Right for You?
If you have actually stuck to me this far, you most likely come under among these camps:
- You have actually never ever sent an e-newsletter, however you’re itching to start– beehiiv’s free plan and instinctive devices are best for learning the ropes.
- You have a little list (< 2,500) and intend to monetize without frustrations-- beehiiv's advertisement network and boosts pay you for doing virtually absolutely nothing added.
- You’re a mid-sized creator (1k+ subscribers) aiming to scale– beehiiv’s analytics, AI devices, and referral program aid you expand quicker and make much more.
- You dislike intricate e-mail systems– beehiiv strikes a balance in between effective features and user-friendly design.
Sure, the feature collection can really feel daunting at first, and you could obtain a few unimportant ad demands. But consider this: in under a year, I made virtually $1,000 on a small list and over $5,000 in associate commissions just by sharing my experience. I’ve seen sufficient to understand that if you spend a little bit of time learning the system, the returns can be substantial.
So, what are you awaiting? Sign up for beehiiv, discover the control panel, and let the money making engines turn. Your future self will thank you when the checks roll in.