From choosing a platform to your first 100 subscribers | April 2026 | 16 min read

Disclosure: PassiveKit earns commissions on Beehiiv and Kit referrals. Substack is included editorially.

How to Start a Newsletter in 2026

Step 1 – Choose Your Platform (5 minutes)

The platform choice determines your growth tools and monetization options. Here is the honest breakdown:

Platform	Choose if…	Free plan	Paid from
Beehiiv	You want to monetize with ads and paid subscriptions	2,500 subscribers	$49/mo (Scale)
Kit	You want to sell digital products alongside your newsletter	10,000 subscribers	$33/mo (Creator)
Substack	You want built-in reader discovery and zero setup	Unlimited (10% on paid subs)	$0 (fee model)
MailerLite	Budget is the primary constraint	500 subscribers	$10/mo

Recommendation for most beginners: start on Beehiiv Launch (free, 2,500 subscribers) or Kit Newsletter (free, 10,000 subscribers). Both are free, both have growth tools, and both can be monetized immediately. You can always migrate later – your subscriber list goes with you.

Step 2 – Define Your Newsletter (30 minutes)

Answer three questions before writing your first issue:

• Who is it for? Be specific. “Marketing professionals at SaaS startups” is better than “marketers.”
• What problem does it solve? Every issue should help your reader with something specific.
• How often will you publish? Weekly is the sweet spot – often enough to stay top of mind, infrequent enough to maintain quality.

Write these down. When you are not sure what to send, come back to these answers. Your newsletter should be the same person, talking about the same topics, on the same schedule – every time.

Step 3 – Set Up Your Newsletter (30 minutes)

On Beehiiv:

• Sign up at beehiiv.com – no credit card required
• Connect a custom domain if you have one (free on all plans)
• Set your newsletter name, description, and logo in Settings
• Create a simple landing page using Beehiiv’s website builder
• Enable Recommendations in Growth settings to join the recommendation network

On Kit:

• Sign up at kit.com – no credit card required
• Create your first landing page using Kit’s template library
• Set up a welcome email – your first automated message to new subscribers
• Connect your custom domain in Settings if you have one

Step 4 – Get Your First 100 Subscribers (2-4 weeks)

Most beginners overthink this. Your first 100 subscribers come from your existing network – not from SEO or viral content. Do this in order:

• Email your personal and professional network: “I started a newsletter about [topic]. Here is the link if you are interested.”
• Share on LinkedIn: post about why you started the newsletter and what it covers
• Share on Twitter/X: pin a tweet linking to your signup page
• Join relevant communities (Slack groups, Discord servers, Reddit) and mention your newsletter when relevant – not as spam, as a genuine resource

Target: 100 subscribers in the first 30 days. If you cannot get 100 people who know you to subscribe to something you are excited about, the topic or positioning needs revisiting before investing more time.

Step 5 – Write Your First Issues (Ongoing)

The format that works for most solopreneur newsletters: one main insight, one practical application, and one thing to read or try. Under 600 words. The email that takes you 4 hours to write is rarely 4 times better than the one that takes 1 hour.

Send your first issue before you feel ready. The first issue is always the hardest. Issue 10 will be better. Issue 50 will be significantly better. The only path to a good newsletter is writing a lot of newsletters.

Step 6 – Monetize (After 500-1,000 Subscribers)

Do not try to monetize before you have an engaged audience. Once you have 500-1,000 subscribers who open your emails consistently:

• Paid subscriptions – offer a paid tier with exclusive content or access
• Beehiiv Ad Network – enable the ad network in Beehiiv (requires ~1,000 engaged subscribers)
• Affiliate income – review tools your audience uses and earn commissions on referrals
• Digital products – create an ebook, template, or guide and sell it to your list

FAQ