Over two years earlier, I was reading among my favored email newsletters when I scrolled to the bottom of the e-mail and saw the beehiiv logo for the first time. I clicked on it and instantaneously started destroying Beehiiv Newsletter Directory.
I wasn’t sure why I felt so emotional.
Being a full time creator is difficult. I’m frequently getting pitched different devices and solutions that don’t seem to be worth my time.
I presume I was emotional because I spent the last six months experimenting with various e-mail and newsletter platforms to aid construct my newsletter. And to be fair, there are some fantastic choices for composing newsletters. But I could not locate one that made me provide a certain “yes”.
The concern with several existing e-newsletter systems is that they do not really feel creator-centered. I desire an e-newsletter platform that lets me totally personalize my newsletter designs, makes it super easy to create and send out e-mails, and gives me tools that help me evaluate metrics and obtain more subscribers.
I assume I have actually ultimately located the appropriate device.
However, I know beehiiv may not be for everybody. So let’s dive deep and see if it’s in fact appropriate for you.
What is beehiiv?
beehiiv is an all-in-one platform for e-newsletters. It’s a creator-friendly e-newsletter platform that makes it easy to layout, write, send, promote, monetize, and track the ROI of your e-newsletter.
Produced by former staff members at the renowned e-newsletter firm Morning Brew, beehiiv aims to help creators launch and monetize their very own e-newsletter– taking lots of development principles from taking Morning Brew to over 4M customers.
In this post, I’m mosting likely to clarify my personal experience with beehiiv, the important things I love (and hate) concerning it, all of it’s features, and why I chose to lastly select it as my newsletter platform of selection.
My personal experience with beehiiv
A few months back, I inadvertently came across beehiiv. The amusing story is that I’ve been on the lookout for a contemporary newsletter platform for fairly some time now. I have actually postponed hard when it involved finally releasing my e-newsletter.
Initially, I attempted Mailchimp. Then, a few other indie systems. Then, Substack. And lastly, I ended up using beehiiv.
I’m sure several e-newsletter developers appreciate prominent e-newsletters with numerous clients– I recognize I do. The Morning Brew newsletter is one I appreciated a whole lot. They have fantastic web content, tons of clients, and a smart referral program that enables them to get back at much more subscribers.
So, I went on a hunt to determine exactly how these huge e-newsletters set up their logistics. What system do they use? How do they track the ROI of their newsletters? How do they get even more subscribers? How do they produce an e-newsletter style that stays on-brand?
When I discovered beehiiv for the first time, it appeared to address all of my questions. I thought to myself, “damn the people that constructed this tool actually recognize e-newsletter creation and development.” I examined who these developers of beehiiv were.
So I mosted likely to LinkedIn, and saw that the founders were some of the initial marketing and growth workers at Morning Brew– my brain took off.
I knew this was mosting likely to be a different e-newsletter system. One that’s concentrated on creator growth.
Because, any designer knows, you need growth to be able to make a living off of an e-newsletter. And discovering the appropriate newsletter stack (that ranges) frequently suggests utilizing numerous different devices to aid achieve one objective– one platform for your e-newsletter, one system to generate income from, and one system to establish recommendations. It can get expensive.
So when I found out beehiiv did all of these points in one system, and it was cost-free to start utilizing, it was a no-brainer to give it a try.
Who is beehiiv for?
beehiiv is for the lean content maker that desires a platform that allows them to send custom-made e-newsletters with or without requiring to have an internet site.
The most successful newsletters have the right tools to construct and scale their newsletters. beehiiv focuses on giving you those devices.
If you’re an independent author, media business, startup, or material creator, you should seriously taking into consideration checking out beehiiv. It’s completely cost-free to get going and you just pay when you get to over 2,500 subscribers on your checklist.
If you actually wind up having to spend for beehiiv it’s most likely an excellent indication that individuals enjoy reading your things.
beehiiv vs Substack
You might be asking, “isn’t there currently a platform for authors called Substack?”.
Yes, indeed there is. Substack is a wonderful platform made use of by countless independent writers. With Substack you get your own internet site and utilize the platform as your all-in-one service for sending emails (while developing an archive of previous problems).
What sets beehiiv apart is it’s commitment to development. beehiiv permits you do to all the things Substack can do, with the benefit of much better analytics, even more style flexibilty, and a referral program to urge your existing clients to obtain the word out.
beehiiv additionally provides you a website comparable to Substack. Yet, if you have your very own website currently, you can additionally use beehiiv’s sign-up embeds (that’s what I utilize) to send your site subscribers directly to your beehiiv e-mail list. On the same token, you can integrate beehiiv with a device like Performance to enable people to subscribe to your newsletter directly from Twitter.
This offers you the adaptability to leverage various marketing channels to get your e-newsletter out right into the globe, making beehiiv a terrific Substack choice.
Just how to start utilizing beehiiv e-mail marketing software.
Register for a free plan
The first step is to enroll in a free plan. You can do this by clicking on the “Beginning trial” switch on beehiiv’s web site.
The free plan will certainly allow you to have up to 2,500 customers, offer you accessibility to website hosting, a newsletter CMS, breakthrough modification, analytics, outside embed forms, and more. It’s a very generous offering for those just starting (or for those looking for a new platform to move to).
Onboarding Beehiiv Newsletter Directory
After producing an account, you’ll go through an onboarding process that will ask things like, “is this your very first e-newsletter?”, “what other platforms have you utilized?”, “do you have any paying subscribers?”, and extra.
You’ll after that develop a name and link for your e-newsletter’s site. On the free plan, your e-newsletter will certainly reside on a beehiiv subdomain. So if your newsletter is called “Baking Cakes,” your website URL might be something like “baking-cakes. beehiiv.com”.
During the onboarding procedure, you’ll also pick your brand name colors and design to make sure your newsletter template looks right.
Navigating your control panel
As soon as you reach your main control panel, you’ll see all of your analytics and setups.
You will have outlined details on the amount of sign-ups you’re obtaining and where.
In the sidebar, you’ll see choices for “Beginning writing,” “Posts,” “Target market,” “Grow,” “Generate income from,” “Layout,” and” Assess.” And at the extremely bottom you’ll see the settings choice.
Control panel is your major nerve center (screenshot over), Start writing is where you create and release e-newsletters, Posts is where you can see every one of your previous newsletter editions, Audience is where you can watch who your clients are (and break them down right into sections), Grow is where you have accessibility to a referral program (and development tutorials) and boosts to run advertisements, Monetize is where you can access the beehiiv ad network and monetize your newsletter with ads, Layout is where you develop your newsletter landing page and message template, Evaluate is where you can see all your analytics, and Settings is where you can handle every one of your admin stuff.
Writing your newsletter
beehiiv makes it very easy to begin writing, with little to no rubbing. If you’re simply starting, and have a concept you intend to discuss, I advise just mosting likely to the “Write” area in the navbar and clicking on “Begin creating”.
You can modify your template and designing later– focus on the material initially.
As you can see, beehiiv’s editor provides a clean and straightforward interface for writing.
Once you start composing, you can maximize headings, include links, and design your web content how you like.
beehiiv offers you lots of choices for different sorts of content like videos, web links, pictures, and much more.
The group at beehiiv is likewise frequently launching product feature and updates so I make sure there will certainly be a whole lot more material features relying on when you’re reading this.
Enhancing your settings and templates
Once you have a newsletter that prepares to send out, it’s time to create your e-mail template and adjust some setups.
Below, you can upgrade the name of your newsletter, give it a summary, include your logo, activate or off a welcome email to first time clients, and extra.
Next off, you can head over to the “Email Template” tab to make your layout.
You can edit history colors, borders, spacing, typefaces, photo styles, and a lot more. I’m not going to experience ever before solitary thing you can optimize with your e-mail template due to the fact that it’s a great deal. Simply try out the system for free and see it for yourself!
Crucial beehiiv features
beehiiv has tons of incredible features that make it a fantastic posting platform for any type of newsletter creator.
Right here are a few of the essential features you can discover with beehiiv:.
E-newsletter builder
At its core, beehiiv is an e-newsletter publishing platform. It makes it incredibly very easy to create and send out emails. I stated above some of things you can do with your setups and email style so I’ll spare you some added analysis.
Things to note with beehiiv’s newsletter builder is that it has an actually modern-day and minimalistic feel. It’s most definitely among the better email editors I’ve ever written in.
Website hosting
When you develop a beehiiv e-newsletter, all of your newsletters (if you desire) reside on an internet site. Consider it as a site for your e-newsletter that’s a home to all of your previous issues of your e-newsletter, and a place where individuals can sign up for your newsletter.
If you’re familiar with Substack, it’s pretty much similar to that.
All plans, including the free one, offer you a site. Nonetheless, the free plan places your website on a beehiiv subdomain so if you want to include a custom domain to eliminate all the beehiiv branding you’ll need to update to a paid plan.
Subscribe forms
Obtaining clients is necessary. Besides, that’s why you have an e-newsletter right?
With beehiiv, people can register for your e-newsletter directly from your beehiiv site or through embed kinds.
If you already have an internet site, and desire individuals to sign up for your e-newsletter from your existing site, you’ll need to use an embed form. This is what I make use of on this web site (you can see the sign-up installed on the right hand column of this article if you scroll up).
With embed forms, you have 3 different options– a full width, a fixed width, and a slim installed. I directly make use of the slim installed.
You can find the code bit for these embeds in the “Subscribe Kinds” tab in your settings.
There’s also a choice for attribution tracking if you intend to forward UTM specifications for tracking purposes– rather neat.
However, there are a few features I wish beehiiv had when it came to subscribe features. I’m sure the team is working on updates for these, yet I pointed out a couple of issues I had in the advantages and disadvantages area listed below.
Referral program
Among the amazing things concerning beehiiv, that I have yet to see in any other newsletter system, is a service for producing a referral program.
You can urge existing clients on your checklist to onward your emails to buddies and associates and if they get other individuals to register for your list, you can award them. These rewards can be in whatever kind you desire. I have actually appear numerous newsletter firms provide benefits in the form of merch and sticker labels.
This can seriously turn your clients right into a word of mouth development engine for your e-newsletter– providing you another opportunity for expanding your e-mail checklist.
Nevertheless, to obtain accessibility to the referral program feature, you’ll have to upgrade to a more premium plan. I’ll discuss all the plans later on in this short article.
Premium memberships
They claim all you require to earn a living online is 1,000 true followers. Subscription earnings is absolutely a beast of its own. If you’re trying to find a platform to monetize your e-newsletter, this is it.
With beehiiv, you can develop “premium” concerns of your newsletter that are just sent out to paying subscribers. This can be very rewarding depending on what your e-newsletter needs to provide. For instance, Trends.co is a preferred costs newsletter that produces millions in revenue a year simply by having pay-only e-newsletter web content.
Data analytics
One of the important things I enjoy concerning beehiiv is just how tidy and easy the analytics are. You obtain real-time date on just how your e-newsletter is doing, with open/click prices and client count Beehiiv Newsletter Directory.
You obtain access to all the metrics you require to get a bird-eye sight on exactly how your newsletter is in fact doing. Logging into your dashboard and seeing that client matter increase is absolutely a dopamine booster.
beehiiv pricing plans
beehiiv uses 4 various pricing plans. You can check them out below.
The (free) Launch plan gives you everything you need to get started and expand your e-newsletter (as much as 2,500 customers).
The Scale plan ($ 49/month) gives you every little thing in the Launch plan with the addition the advertisement network, referral program, customized domain name, surveys, and access to costs memberships. This is the plan I get on.
The Max plan ($ 109/month) provides you whatever in the Grow plan with addition of concern assistance and eliminating the beehiiv branding.
All of these plans are fairly generous in my point of view.
For instance, if you have 100,000 customers you will pay around $329 per month. As opposed to some competitors, like Kit (previously ConvertKit), that would charge $679 monthly for the exact same quantity– making beehiiv a fantastic Kit choice for many users.
I’m uncertain just how the device economics service this, yet beehiiv is most definitely cheaper (currently) than what it can be.
beehiiv pros and cons
Naturally, with every platform, it has its benefits and drawbacks. Below are some of the advantages and disadvantages I have actually directly experienced while using beehiiv:
Pros of using beehiiv
Right here are several of the pros of using beehiiv as your e-newsletter system of choice:
Easy to establish and start sending e-newsletters absolutely free.
Tidy and modern-day subscriber analytics.
Lots of versatility with e-mail layouts.
Referral program feature.
Site hosting.
Create costs options to monetize.
Surveys.
To be truthful, I have not seen one more newsletter platform that has actually been able to package every one of these features with each other so well.
Yet certainly, I do not intend to be prejudiced so I’m mosting likely to mention some disadvantages.
Disadvantages of using beehiiv
Right here are some of the cons I have actually found while making use of beehiiv:.
Limitations around integrating Webflow and beehiiv.
Limitations around including customized typefaces.
I make use of Webflow as my internet site building system of selection (I graduated from WordPress and Squarespace a very long time ago). I’m not going to go in too much information why I like Webflow a lot yet you can review my Webflow testimonial if you would love to learn more.
Right now, there truly is no other way I can integrate beehiiv with my Webflow internet site other than utilizing an iframe embed. I directly do not like using iframe’s since they tend to slow down my internet site a bit. Every time a web page on my website (with a beehiiv embed) tons, the sign-up embed is the last point to pack on the web page. It’s really noticeable when you’re on a sluggish web connection. Yet I can get around that.
The primary complaint I have is that I can’t utilize a routine Webflow form (which I love utilizing). There are means around this by using a device like Zapier yet that would just include added prices that I don’t require. To be sincere, this is even more of a Webflow con over a beehiiv disadvantage but I believed I would certainly state it.
Besides that, I still believe the pros far exceed the disadvantages right here. I’m additionally hopeful that Webflow will at some point produce a far better means to integrate with beehiiv.
Conclusion
Generally, beehiiv is a terrific solution for anybody looking to dive into the globe of email marketing and e-newsletters.
The capability of this e-newsletter system far surpasses lots of that are currently on the market. And with a generous free plan, you actually have absolutely nothing to shed for trying it.
The paid plans are also fairly cheap of what they are. Paying only $329/month to have 100,000 subscribers on your listing is unheard of. If you were to have a newsletter with 100k subscribers, and all of these features beehiiv has, it could cost you well into the thousands monthly.
Anyways, I don’t create review articles frequently. I just do when I really utilize the tool myself and would certainly suggest it to a buddy.
I wish you discovered some quality on whether beehiiv is a good system for you.