Before I get into the content of this blog post, you might want to check out this other one (where I show you how I create blog posts automatically, using ConvertKit) as it’ll make this one even more useful.

Create subscriber convenience with automation

You know what it’s like, with so much information buzzing around, especially on socials, things get missed.

Your subscribers may be looking at your website or Creator Profile (this is a feature of ConvertKit), and consuming your articles, but there’s an easy way to deliver even more convenience for them and enhance their experience of being part of your email list.

It’s using something called ‘RSS‘, inside ConvertKit.

Okay, okay… at this point, I can imagine you’re thinking something like – “Are you serious? I have no idea what you’re talking about!” – but fear not, it’s a doddle to set up and use, so there’s no need to worry!

And, don’t worry about what RSS means, it doesn’t matter… (although if you do want to know, it’s Really Simple Syndication)… anyway, back to the point – by using this feature, you can configure* ConvertKit to check which blog posts you have created during the last week, batch them up into a single email (a digest, if you will) and email them to your list (or a subset of your list).

How cool is that? 😬

*Just for completion, you can also choose to send an email after each single blog post is created, if you don’t want to batch them into a digest – this is a configuration choice during RSS feed setup inside ConvertKit.

I mean, think about what it does for you – it goes and checks your website, sees what blog posts you’ve created since the last time it checked, and crafts a broadcast email inside ConvertKit to include links to each blog post and then emails it (at your chosen day/time) directly into their inbox!

How does it work…?

Okay, so the first thing ConvertKit needs is the RSS feed’s URL for your blog post.

This sounds a bit techy and perhaps difficult to find, but it’s not – I promise you, it’s a 2-minute job! Let’s see where you can find yours…

Website RSS feeds

If your website is hosted on a WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix website (probably 3 of the most popular options), then your RSS feed URL is probably “https://yourdomainname.com/feed“.

For example, mine is “https://provenflows.com/feed“

Try yours out now and see what you get when you paste it into a browser; here’s an example of what mine looks like…

👇A screenshot of my browser when I type in https://provenflows.com/feed

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It kinda looks like gobbledygook, but it’s well-formed code that displays your content in the feed.

If you get a similar result (to the image above), you probably have the correct RSS feed URL – good job!

If you don’t find it there, do a quick Google search for “How to find my RSS feed URL in [website host name]” – inserting your host site, e.g. ‘Squarespace, Wix etc.

There will be a link that shows you how to access your particular RSS feed URL.

Once we have the RSS feed URL…

Okay, so now you have your RSS feed’s URL and we now need to share the details with ConvertKit so that it can do all the clever stuff behind the scenes.

1. Firstly, select the menu option ‘Automate’ -> ‘RSS’;

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2. Then click the red button entitled ‘+ Add feed’;

3. Now you need to enter your RSS feed’s URL (the one you found in the step above) – the example below is the feed from my website.

I configured it to send out the ‘digest’ format, and every Friday, around noon.

4. Once you have configured the feed and schedule, you need to filter the subset of your list you want to send it to (if you want your entire list to receive it, choose the default filter).

In the example below, I configured it to be sent to just one subscriber (as a test) – it was my email address.

And that’s pretty much that – you’ve configured all you need to automatically send your subscribers a weekly digest of your blog posts!

Below is a preview of what my RSS feed looks like inside an email;

The ‘blog post’ element repeats within your email as many times as required, to include each new blog post it found.

You see, I told you it was easy! 😊

⚡️What to do now…

Go find out what your RSS feed’s URL is (it’s probably https://yourdomainname.com/feed) and then create your first RSS feed inside ConvertKit.

Begin by sending it to yourself only and if after you receive the email, you’re happy with it – change the subscriber filter to include everyone you want to receive your automated RSS feed email.

If you get stuck or want more help, let me know.