Effortless Newsletters with RSS Feeds: Automate Your Email Content

Not *just* for blog content now — Part Four of the Blogging for Authors Series

So, we’ve covered the magic of RSS feeds for distributing content across platforms—whether that’s sharing your latest blog post, updating readers on events, or even notifying your paid subscribers about exclusive audio content. Now, let’s dive a little deeper and turn this RSS feed into your newsletter BFF. Because let’s be real—nobody’s got time to write a completely custom newsletter each week when you could just automate it and focus on the good stuff.

This week, we’re going all-in on how to automate your newsletter content using RSS. Set it up once, and let your latest posts, events, or things you’ve found out on the interwebs that you think your readers will find interesting flow seamlessly into your subscribers’ inboxes. By the end of this guide, you’ll have a fully automated, hands-free newsletter system—and I’ll throw in a few advanced tips for those of you ready to take this to “next level” status.

Here’s what we’re covering:

1. Why Automate Newsletters with RSS?

2. Setting Up a Basic RSS Newsletter in Mailchimp

3. Using ConvertKit, Mailerlite, and Other ESPs with RSS

4. Customizing Your RSS Feed for a Polished Newsletter

5. Creating Custom RSS Feeds with Zapier for Unique Newsletter Content

6. Advanced Automation Ideas for Power Users

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Why Automate Newsletters with RSS?

If you’re not already sold on the power of RSS feeds, let me break it down: automating your newsletter content with an RSS feed is like having a tiny assistant who gathers up all your latest posts, events, good news, interesting images, and other things you save, and packages them neatly into an email—all without you lifting a finger.

Here’s what you get:

• Consistent, Hands-Free Content: Set your newsletter template up, choose the content you want to include (in a batch for months at a time, or week-by-week if you like more control) and it’s magically sent.

• Dynamically Updated Newsletters: Your email content will always be up-to-date and in sync with your latest content.

• Flexible Content Options: Whether it’s sending only blog posts or combining posts, event updates, and audio content, RSS feeds let you mix and match as needed.

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Setting Up a Basic RSS Newsletter in Mailchimp

Let’s start with the basics: setting up a simple RSS-driven campaign in Mailchimp. This one’s pretty straightforward and will work perfectly if you just want your blog posts to go out to your readers automatically.

Here’s how:

1. Find Your Feed URL: If you’re using WordPress, Squarespace, or Substack, you likely have an RSS feed already. Just add /feed to the end of your blog URL, and that’s it.

2. Create an RSS Campaign in Mailchimp:

   • Go to Mailchimp and start a new campaign.

   • Choose “RSS Campaign,” and paste in your feed URL.

3. Set the Frequency: You can decide whether the email goes out daily, weekly, or monthly. Weekly is usually the sweet spot for keeping your audience engaged without overwhelming them.

4. Customize Your Template: Tweak the layout, colors, and any intro text so the emails reflect your branding. You can choose to include full posts, summaries, or just headlines to keep things clean.

Pro Tip: Consider adding a personalized intro each week, even if it’s just a quick hello. Keeps it feeling less like a robot and more like you.

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Using ConvertKit, Mailerlite, MailPoet, and Other ESPs with RSS

Now, Mailchimp is just one of the tools that’ll handle RSS campaigns. Other popular ESPs—like ConvertKit, Mailerlite, MailPoet, SendFox, and even BeeHiiv—are all on board with this setup. (And yes, we’ve got tutorials on each over on IndieAuthorTraining.com if you need step-by-step guides.)

Here’s a quick overview for a few of the most common platforms:

• ConvertKit: Head to the RSS Feed option under Automations, add your feed URL, and customize the template. You can include images, summaries, and links back to the full posts.

• Mailerlite: This is a fantastic option for simple, visual email layouts. Use Mailerlite’s RSS feature to pull in content and add it to any newsletter layout. Plus, it’s beginner-friendly and offers lots of flexibility with timing.

• SendFox and BeeHiiv: These newer tools offer lightweight options for creators focused on frequent, easy newsletters. The setup here is minimal, but perfect if you’re looking to stay consistent without overcomplicating things.

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Customizing Your WordPress Feed to Include Images

I’m still baffled by this one, but out of the box, WordPress feeds aren’t exactly email-ready (no images, no frills). The big sticking point here is the feed doesn’t include images. Like, what, it’s 2006? Get it together, WordPress.

But there’s a workaround:

• Use Plugins for WordPress: Add the Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More or RSS with Images plugins to include images and format content. (I’m not linking to these since you should use the “add plugins” feature and search for them. Don’t do that goofy download/upload thing.

• Category & Tag Feeds: If you only want certain posts to be included (like “events” or “blog highlights”), set up category or tag-specific feeds. This way, you can pick exactly what goes into your newsletter. Remember, you can just add /feed to the end of pretty much any WordPress URL and get a feed you can use.

Advanced RSS Automation Ideas for Power Users

Once you’ve got the basics, let’s consider some cool advanced ideas. Are they hard? Yes, but you can do hard things. Let’s talk possibilities:

• Combine Multiple Feeds in One Email: Pull content from multiple feeds, like blog posts, event updates, Posts on Instagram tagged with something (like “#goodnews, or #ChellesPerfectLatte, for example) and featured quotes, into a single, dynamic newsletter.

• Create Cool Quotes with ChatGPT: Set up a workflow in Zapier to have ChatGPT generate quotes from your manuscript, add them to a Google Sheet, and then pull them into a custom RSS feed to include in your newsletter for readers to share.

• Create Audio : Use tools like ElevenLabs with Zaps or Make.com Scenarios to generate audio from text or scripts. Send a personalized audio welcome to your subscribers! (Note: This can be a game-changer for creating “faceless TikToks” automatically — stay tuned for more on this in an upcoming post!).

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Creating Custom RSS Feeds with Zapier for Unique Newsletter Content

Now, if you’re itching for something custom, here’s where things get interesting. With Zapier, you can create a totally custom RSS feed from sources beyond just blog posts—think Airtable, Google Sheets, or even specific social media content. This approach gives you complete control over what goes out in your newsletters, and lets you mix and match content sources so your email feels dynamic and uniquely yours.

Here’s how:

1. Set Up Your Data Source: Start with a Google Sheet, Airtable, or Notion database where you’ve organized content like “Title,” “Link,” “Description,” and “Image URL.” This will be the master repository that holds everything you want to pull into your feed.

2. Create a Zap for Custom RSS: In Zapier, configure a Zap that watches for new entries in your spreadsheet and turns each new row into a new item in your custom RSS feed. This allows you to add content manually or pull it from other sources for complete flexibility.

3. Link It to Your ESP: Once your custom feed is live, connect it to Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or whichever ESP you’re using. Your newsletter can now pull in exactly the content you want, formatted the way you like, with no manual effort.

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How-To Example: Build a Curated Newsletter with Good News, Events, and Deals

Let’s say you want your newsletter to feature a blend of inspiring content from social media, updates on your own upcoming events, and some exclusive deals on your backlist. Here’s how you can set that up to run smoothly each week:

1. Create a Zap to Pull in “Good News” from Instagram or Twitter: Set up a Zap that watches for posts under a specific hashtag (like #goodnews) or by certain accounts you follow. Each time it finds a relevant post, it automatically adds the post link, image, and description to your spreadsheet. On the spreadsheet, add a checkbox labeled “Include This”—you can use it to mark which posts you want in the newsletter.

   • Pro Tip: If you prefer more control, use Notion’s web clipper to save pages, news, or anything else you want to share. You can then use Zapier to pull from Notion instead of a spreadsheet. This lets you curate as you browse.

2. Bring in Your Own Content Automatically: Create a Zap that adds items from your blog, events calendar, or content library (like book deals or announcements) to the same spreadsheet. You can even categorize these entries to keep everything organized.

3. Create a Custom RSS Feed from Your Spreadsheet: Now, set up another Zap that generates a custom RSS feed from the spreadsheet items you’ve marked “Include This.” The RSS feed will contain a curated mix of social media highlights, event updates, and deal links—all ready for your newsletter.

4. Link the Custom RSS Feed to Your ESP: Finally, connect this custom feed to your ESP like Mailchimp or ConvertKit. Every week, your newsletter will pull in fresh content from your curated sources, so all you have to do is review and hit send.

By combining Zapier’s automation with custom RSS feeds, you can create a newsletter that pulls in content from multiple sources, keeps your readers engaged, and frees you up from endless copy-pasting.

Bonus for Paid Subscribers: I’ll share a downloadable “Custom RSS Recipe” with step-by-step visuals, a sample spreadsheet, and my own Zap template to make this setup easy.

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Quick Recap & What’s Next

So, here’s the takeaway: RSS feeds are your no-effort solution to staying in touch with readers through automated, always-updated newsletters. Set it up once, and let your content distribute itself.

Next week, we’ll be diving into Make.com, your soon-to-be-favorite tool for automating your author business. It’s like Zapier’s powerful cousin with flowcharts—perfect for connecting every piece of your process. I’ll walk you through what it does, how it’s different from Zapier, and why it’ll become your new best friend in the automation game.