beehiiv Setup Guide: From Zero to First Newsletter in 60 Minutes

Step 1: Account Creation and Plan Selection (5 minutes)

Go to beehiiv.com and sign up. You need an email and a publication name. The publication name becomes your subdomain (yourname.beehiiv.com) and shows up in email “from” fields, so pick something you'd actually want readers to see.

Which Plan to Start On

Start on Launch (free) unless you have a specific reason not to. You get unlimited sends, a custom domain, a website, and the core editor. The free tier is genuinely functional, not a crippled demo. Upgrade when you need monetization features or outgrow 2,500 subscribers.

Step 2: Custom Domain Setup (15 minutes + DNS wait)

A custom domain (newsletter.yourdomain.com or just yourdomain.com) is free on all beehiiv plans. Set it up now — changing it later means broken links and confused subscribers.

1. Go to Settings → Website → Custom Domain.
2. Enter your domain. For a newsletter-specific subdomain, use something like newsletter.yourdomain.com. For a standalone newsletter brand, use the root domain.
3. Copy the DNS records beehiiv gives you. You'll get a CNAME record (and sometimes an A record or TXT record for verification).
4. Log in to your domain registrar (Namecheap, Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Google Domains, etc.).
5. Add the DNS records.Here's what it looks like:
   • CNAME record: Host/Name = the subdomain (e.g., “newsletter”), Value = the target beehiiv provides.
   • If using root domain: Some registrars need an A record or ALIAS record instead of CNAME. Cloudflare handles this automatically with CNAME flattening.
6. Set TTL to the lowest available (300 or “Automatic”). This speeds up propagation.
7. Go back to beehiiv and click “Verify.” DNS propagation takes 5 minutes to 48 hours, but usually resolves within 30 minutes. If verification fails, wait and retry — don't change the records.

Step 3: Design Your First Template (15 minutes)

beehiiv's editor is block-based, similar to Notion. You don't need design skills. What you need is a repeatable structure for your newsletters. Set that up once and reuse it.

1. Go to Write → New Post.
2. Set your header image (or skip it). Many successful newsletters don't use header images. If you do, keep it under 600px wide and under 200KB for fast loading.
3. Build a repeatable structure:
   • Brief intro (2–3 sentences, personal tone)
   • Main content section (your article, curated links, or analysis)
   • Optional secondary section (quick hits, links, recommendations)
   • Call to action (share, reply, upgrade)
4. Customize email settings. Settings → Writing → set default “From” name and preview text format. The “From” name matters more than the subject line for open rates — use your actual name or your newsletter brand, not a company name.
5. Save as a draft template. beehiiv doesn't have a formal “template” system like email marketing tools — the pattern is to duplicate a previous post and edit. Create your first post with the structure above and use it as your master template going forward.

Step 4: Import Subscribers (10 minutes)

If you have existing subscribers in Mailchimp, Substack, or a CSV, bring them over now. beehiiv counts active subscribers only, so importing a clean list matters.

From Mailchimp

1. In Mailchimp: Audience → All contacts → Export Audience. Download the CSV.
2. Clean the export. Mailchimp exports include unsubscribed, cleaned (bounced), and archived contacts. Delete every row where the status is not “subscribed.” Importing unsubscribed contacts violates CAN-SPAM and kills your deliverability.
3. In beehiiv: Settings → Import → Upload CSV.
4. Map the columns. At minimum: email, first name. Tags and subscriber date are optional but useful for segmentation later.
5. Select “Skip confirmation email.” These people already opted in. Making them re-confirm loses 30–50% of your list.

From Substack

1. In Substack: Settings → Exports → Export subscriber list.
2. The export includes email, subscription date, and paid status. Substack exports are already clean — they only include active subscribers.
3. Upload to beehiiv the same way. Map the email column and skip confirmation.
4. For paid subscribers: You'll need to manually recreate paid tiers in beehiiv (Step 5) and notify paid subscribers to resubscribe through beehiiv's payment system. Substack paid subscriptions don't transfer automatically.

Step 5: Set Up Monetization (10 minutes)

beehiiv has three built-in monetization channels. You don't need all three on day one, but understanding them now saves setup time later.

Boosts (Recommendation Network)

1. Go to Monetize → Boosts. Boosts let you earn money by recommending other newsletters to your subscribers (and pay to have other newsletters recommend you).
2. Browse the Boost marketplace. You'll see newsletters willing to pay $1–$5+ per subscriber you send them.
3. Enable Boosts as a recommender. When you're ready, beehiiv adds recommendation cards to your signup confirmation page. Subscribers who click through and subscribe to the partner newsletter earn you the Boost payout.
4. Requires Scale plan ($43/mo). Not available on Launch (free).

Paid Subscriptions

1. Go to Monetize → Premium.
2. Connect Stripe. beehiiv uses Stripe for payment processing. If you don't have a Stripe account, create one now (takes 5 minutes, instant approval for most countries).
3. Set your pricing tiers. Most newsletters start with $5–$10/month or $50–$100/year. Annual subscriptions have lower churn — offer a discount to push annual.
4. Create premium-only content. In the editor, you can lock sections behind the paywall. Free subscribers see a teaser; paid subscribers see everything.
5. Requires Scale plan or higher.

Ad Network

1. Go to Monetize → Ad Network.
2. Apply to the beehiiv Ad Network. Typically requires 1,000+ subscribers and consistent sending. Approval takes a few days.
3. Once approved, ads are automatically inserted into your newsletters. You control placement and frequency. Revenue is based on CPM (cost per thousand impressions).

Step 6: Connect Analytics (5 minutes)

1. beehiiv has built-in analytics for open rates, click rates, subscriber growth, and top-performing posts. These work out of the box — no setup required.
2. For website analytics: Settings → Integrations → add your Google Analytics 4 tracking ID or Plausible snippet. This tracks website visitors separately from email engagement.
3. UTM parameters are automatic. beehiiv adds UTM tags to links in your emails so Google Analytics can attribute traffic to specific newsletter issues.

First Send Checklist

Before hitting “Send,” run through this list:

• Send a test email to yourself. Check formatting on mobile (60%+ of email opens are mobile). Look for broken images, weird spacing, and cut-off subject lines.
• Check your “From” name and email address. Readers see this before the subject line. “Jane from The Morning Rundown” beats “noreply@beehiiv.com.”
• Write a subject line under 50 characters. Longer subject lines get truncated on mobile. Test it by looking at it on your phone.
• Set preview text. The gray text after the subject line in inbox view. If you leave it blank, email clients pull the first line of your email — which is often “View in browser.”
• Choose your audience. Send to all subscribers or a specific segment. For your first send, “All active subscribers” is fine.
• Pick your send time. Tuesday through Thursday, 8–10 AM in your audience's timezone performs best for most newsletters. But any consistent time beats an optimized time you don't stick to.
• Enable web hosting for the post. This publishes the newsletter as a web page on your domain, which helps SEO and gives you a shareable link.

Common Setup Mistakes

• Importing unsubscribed contacts from Mailchimp.Mailchimp exports everyone, including people who unsubscribed. Importing them violates their opt-out preference, triggers spam complaints, and can get your sending domain flagged. Filter for “subscribed” status only.
• Skipping custom domain setup. Sending from yourname@beehiiv.com or having your website at yourname.beehiiv.com looks unprofessional and makes migration harder later. Custom domains are free on all plans. Set it up on day one.
• Over-designing the first newsletter.beehiiv's best-performing newsletters are simple: text, a few links, maybe one image. Spending hours on custom CSS and complex layouts before you have 100 subscribers is wasted effort. Design follows audience — not the other way around.
• Paying for Scale before you need it.Launch (free) supports 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends. If you have under 2,500 subscribers and don't need Boosts or paid subscriptions, Scale is a premature expense. Upgrade when you hit the subscriber limit or want monetization features.
• Not sending within 48 hours of importing subscribers.Imported subscribers don't know you switched platforms. A gap in communication leads to “who is this?” spam reports. Import and send immediately.

What to Skip on Day 1

• Referral program setup. You need an active, engaged audience before referrals work. Get 10 issues sent and stable open rates before turning this on.
• A/B testing subject lines. You need statistically significant audience size (1,000+ subscribers minimum) for A/B tests to produce meaningful results.
• Advanced segmentation. You have no behavioral data on day one. Send to your full list for the first 4–6 issues, then segment based on what people actually click.
• Custom API integrations. Unless you're a developer with a specific need, the API is overkill on day one. Zapier covers most automation needs.
• Paid subscription tiers. Build a free audience first. Readers won't pay for a newsletter they've never read. Aim for at least 10–20 issues before launching paid content.