Step 6: Design and Schedule

One-Line Summary: Format your newsletter draft in your email platform, add headers and images, configure send times, and schedule your first issue for delivery.

Prerequisites: Completed Steps 1-5, an edited newsletter draft ready to publish, your email platform account set up from Step 2

Design Principles for Email

Newsletter design is different from web design. Email clients are unpredictable — Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, and mobile apps all render things differently. Keep these principles in mind:

• Simple beats fancy — Plain text with clear formatting outperforms elaborate HTML layouts
• Mobile first — Over 60% of emails are read on phones. Single-column layout is safest.
• Scannable structure — Bold headlines, short paragraphs, bullet points. Readers skim before they read.
• Consistent branding — Use the same header, colors, and layout every issue so readers recognize you instantly

Format Your Newsletter by Platform

Substack Formatting

Substack uses a rich text editor that is intentionally simple. Here is how to format your issue:

1. Click "New post" in your Substack dashboard
2. Paste your edited draft — Substack preserves basic formatting (bold, italic, links)
3. Add section headers — Use Heading 2 (H2) for each major section like "Article Roundup" and "Quick Hits"
4. Add dividers — Use the horizontal rule (---) between sections for visual separation
5. Bold the article headlines within your roundup so readers can scan
6. Add hyperlinks — Select text and press Ctrl/Cmd+K to add your article links

Substack-specific tips:

• Add a subtitle under your post title — this shows in email previews and helps open rates
• Use the "Preview" button to see exactly what the email will look like
• Enable the "Email this to subscribers" toggle before publishing

Beehiiv Formatting

Beehiiv has a block-based editor with more layout options:

1. Create a new post and choose the "Email" format
2. Add a header block with your newsletter logo or name
3. Use text blocks for each section of your newsletter
4. Add divider blocks between sections
5. Use the button block for your call-to-action link
6. Preview on mobile and desktop using the toggle in the editor

Mailchimp Formatting

Mailchimp offers the most design flexibility but takes the longest to set up:

1. Create a new campaign → "Regular email"
2. Choose a template — Pick "Simple Text" or "1 Column" for newsletters
3. Edit content blocks — Paste your newsletter sections into text blocks
4. Customize styling — Set fonts, colors, and spacing in the design tab
5. Save your template — Reuse this template every issue to maintain consistency

Add Visual Elements

You do not need custom graphics for every issue, but a few visual touches make your newsletter more professional:

Newsletter Header

Create a simple, reusable header image with your newsletter name and logo. Free tools to make one:

Recommended header size: 600px wide by 100-150px tall. Keep it simple — your name, a small logo or icon, and maybe a tagline.

Section Dividers

Use horizontal rules or simple text dividers between sections. Examples:

---
 
or
 
───────────────────────
 
or
 
📬 ARTICLE ROUNDUP

Pick one style and use it consistently every issue.

Images in Articles

If one of your curated articles has a compelling chart, screenshot, or diagram, include it. But do not add images just to add images — they slow load times and many readers have images disabled by default.

Set Up Your Send Schedule

Best Send Times by Audience

Research from major email platforms suggests these windows perform well:

These are starting points. After 5-10 issues, your own open rate data will tell you what works best for your specific audience.

Schedule Your First Issue

On Substack

1. Write your post and enable "Email to subscribers"
2. Click the calendar icon next to the "Publish" button
3. Set the date and time
4. Click "Schedule"

On Beehiiv

1. Finish your post and click "Schedule"
2. Pick the date, time, and time zone
3. Confirm the schedule

On Mailchimp

1. Complete your campaign and click "Send"
2. Choose "Schedule" instead of "Send Now"
3. Set the delivery date and time
4. Click "Schedule Campaign"

Pre-Send Checklist

Run through this checklist before every issue. It takes 5 minutes and prevents embarrassing mistakes:

• Subject line — Is it specific, under 10 words, and compelling?
• Preview text — Have you set the preview text (the snippet shown after the subject line)?
• Links — Click every link in the preview. Do they all go to the right place?
• Formatting — Check the mobile preview. Is everything readable without horizontal scrolling?
• Spelling and names — Are company names, people's names, and product names spelled correctly?
• Unsubscribe link — Is it present? (Most platforms add this automatically, but verify.)
• Send a test email — Send yourself a test and read it on your phone before scheduling

Build a Reusable Template

After your first issue, save the structure as a template you can reuse:

1. Copy your formatted issue in your email platform
2. Remove all the content but keep the structure — header, section dividers, CTA block, footer
3. Save it as a template (Substack does not support templates natively — keep a copy of the post as a draft to duplicate each week)

Every week, duplicate the template, paste in your new content, and you are ready to go.

Your Checklist Before Moving On

Before you proceed to Step 7, confirm you have:

• Formatted your newsletter in your email platform
• Added a header image or text-based branding
• Set up section dividers for visual clarity
• Run through the pre-send checklist
• Sent yourself a test email and verified it on mobile
• Scheduled or published your first issue

Congratulations — you have sent your first AI-powered newsletter issue. In the final step, we will set up recurring workflows, growth tactics, and measurement so you can scale.

← Previous: Step 5 - Draft Your Newsletter | Next: Step 7 - Automate and Grow →