One-Line Summary: Configure Feedly to monitor 10-15 content sources in your niche, organize them into boards, and build a weekly curation workflow to flag the best articles.

Prerequisites: Completed Steps 1-2, a Feedly account (free tier), your niche topic defined

Why RSS-Based Curation

Relying on social media algorithms to find content is unreliable. Algorithms show you what gets engagement, not what is high quality. RSS feeds give you:

  • Complete coverage — you see every article from your chosen sources, not just the viral ones
  • No algorithmic filtering — you decide what is interesting, not an algorithm
  • One place to check — instead of visiting 15 websites, you check one dashboard
  • Historical consistency — your sources stay the same week to week

Set Up Feedly

Feedly is the most popular RSS reader and it works well for newsletter curation. The free plan supports up to 100 sources across 3 feeds — more than enough to start.

  1. Go to feedly.com and create a free account
  2. Skip any onboarding suggestions — we will set up sources manually
  3. You will land on an empty dashboard ready to be configured

Alternative tools: If you prefer a different RSS reader, Inoreader, NewsBlur, or The Old Reader all work. The workflow is the same — only the interface differs.

Find Your Sources

You need 10-15 high-quality sources in your niche. Here is where to find them:

Tier 1: Must-Follow Sources (Pick 3-5)

These are the authoritative voices in your niche — the publications your readers already trust.

Source TypeHow to Find ThemExample (for an AI newsletter)
Industry blogsGoogle "[your topic] blog"MIT Technology Review, The Verge AI section
Company blogsVisit major companies in your spaceOpenAI blog, Anthropic blog, Google AI blog
Expert newslettersSearch Substack for your topicThe Neuron, AI Tool Report

Tier 2: Community and Discussion Sources (Pick 3-5)

These surface what practitioners are actually talking about.

  • Subreddit RSS feeds — add .rss to any subreddit URL (e.g., reddit.com/r/artificial/.rss)
  • Hacker News searches — use hnrss.org to create RSS feeds for specific topics
  • Medium tags — Medium lets you follow topic-specific RSS feeds
  • YouTube channels — every YouTube channel has an RSS feed you can add to Feedly

Tier 3: Niche and Long-Tail Sources (Pick 3-5)

These give you content your competitors are not covering.

  • Independent bloggers and personal sites in your space
  • Academic preprint feeds (arXiv, SSRN) if relevant to your niche
  • Government or institutional publications
  • Podcast RSS feeds for show notes and episode summaries

Add Sources to Feedly

For each source, follow this process:

  1. Click the "+" button in Feedly's sidebar
  2. Paste the website URL or RSS feed URL into the search box
  3. Feedly will auto-detect the RSS feed — click "Follow"
  4. Assign it to a folder (we will set up folders next)

If Feedly cannot find a feed, try these tricks:

  • Add /feed or /rss to the end of the URL
  • Search for "[site name] RSS feed" on Google
  • Use a tool like rss.app to generate a feed from any webpage

Organize Into Folders

Create three folders in Feedly to organize your sources by priority:

FolderPurposeSources
Must ReadHigh-signal sources you check firstYour top 3-5 authoritative sources
ScanGood sources you skim for standout articlesCommunity sources, discussion forums
Deep DiveLong-form or niche sources for occasional gemsIndependent blogs, academic feeds

To create a folder, click the "+" next to "Feeds" in the sidebar and choose "New Folder." Then drag your sources into the appropriate folders.

Build Your Weekly Curation Workflow

Set aside 20-30 minutes at the same time each week (ideally 2-3 days before your send date) to curate. Here is the exact process:

The 20-Minute Curation Routine

  1. Open the "Must Read" folder (5 minutes) — Read headlines and first paragraphs. Save anything interesting by clicking the bookmark icon or using Feedly's "Read Later" board.

  2. Scan the "Scan" folder (8 minutes) — Skim headlines only. Open only the articles with headlines that would make your readers stop scrolling. Save the best ones.

  3. Check the "Deep Dive" folder (5 minutes) — Quickly scan for anything unusual, contrarian, or particularly insightful. These are your "hidden gem" picks.

  4. Review your saved articles (2 minutes) — Look at everything you saved. Pick the 5-8 best articles that together tell a coherent story about what happened in your niche this week.

Use Feedly Boards for Staging

Create a Feedly Board called "This Week's Issue" to collect your curated articles:

  1. Click "Create Board" in the Feedly sidebar
  2. Name it "This Week's Issue"
  3. As you curate, save articles to this board
  4. After each issue, clear the board and start fresh

This board becomes your staging area — everything on it will be summarized in the next step.

What Good Curation Looks Like

Aim for this mix in each issue:

  • 2-3 major news items — the big stories everyone should know about
  • 1-2 practical how-tos — tutorials, guides, or tool reviews your readers can act on
  • 1 opinion or analysis piece — something that offers a unique perspective
  • 1 hidden gem — a lesser-known article that adds unexpected value

This variety keeps your newsletter interesting and gives readers a reason to open it every week.

Your Checklist Before Moving On

Before you proceed to Step 4, confirm you have:

  • A Feedly account set up with 10-15 sources added
  • Sources organized into three folders by priority
  • A "This Week's Issue" board created for staging
  • Completed one practice curation session with 5-8 articles saved

You now have a content pipeline feeding you material every week. In the next step, we will use AI to turn those curated articles into concise summaries.

← Previous: Step 2 - Choose Your Niche and Tools | Next: Step 4 - AI-Powered Summarization →