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Hi there {{first_name | EduCreator}},
I read a newsletter last night before going to bed that genuinely made me sad.
It was a new publication I had recently subscribed to after connecting in the comments with the writer on X. It was quickly becoming one of my favorite newsletters because each post featured a new startup idea and as a serial founder, this is great.
The subject line said something about him almost quitting his newsletter. Normally I would think this was clickbait but he had built a solid reputation in my mind quickly, so I opened.
He was burnt out. He spent 12 hours total to write 3 free articles and it only generated $7. So many of us have been through this.
My initial thoughts
Monetization expectations from free content often leads to disappointment
Free content only works if you are generating income from other sources so you aren't calculating the value you're getting from the time you spend on free content.
With the access we have to advanced technology and AI, the only thing we should be spending 12 hours on is our newsletter is to build the systems and knowledge base.
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A newsletter becomes 10x easier—and infinitely more strategic—when you build a home for your ideas, research, stories, and frameworks. Instead of starting from scratch every week, you’re training your AI tools to think with you, pulling from your insights, not random outputs. This turns AI from a shortcut into a force multiplier and makes your content infinitely more and more aligned to your brand.
When your content system is organized, AI helps you produce higher-quality work, faster—and your newsletter becomes more consistent, more original, and more monetizable. This is the backbone of building a real newsletter business, not just a publication.
Benefits of Having a Knowledge Base
Consistent voice + brand clarity AI pulls from your ideas and language, ensuring every draft feels like you wrote it.
Faster content creation Research, brainstorming, planning, and writing all accelerate because your AI has context.
Original, differentiated content Your stories, frameworks, lessons, and experiences become the source—not generic AI output.
Reusable assets forever Your content becomes a system you can build products, courses, and premium newsletters from later.
Stronger positioning + clearer niche By storing your best ideas, patterns emerge—and your unique category shows up more clearly.
Quick Tips to Build Your System
Create 4–6 evergreen content pillars that match your niche and audience (from your niche interview).
Store stories, lessons, and past posts in one place—Notion, Google Docs, or a simple folder works.
Document your frameworks and processes so AI can build on your internal logic, not guess.
Tag everything (pillar, theme, tone, CTA) so it’s searchable and easy to feed into AI.
Regularly refine it—your knowledge base should evolve with you.
Build AI agents with your voice. Automate in minutes.
With Lindy, you can build AI agents and apps simply by describing what you want, like:
"Create a booking platform for my business."
"Automate my sales outreach."
From inbound lead qualification to customer support, Lindy has tons of agents to streamline your workflows.
The Interview Prompt
The idea of building a knowledge base has always felt overwhelming to me. I spent last weekend coming up with a prompt system that makes building your knowledge base from scratch much faster, more enjoyable, and will get you great content quickly.
So there's good news… you don't have to build from scratch!
Try this powerful prompt:
[You are an expert writing coach and consultant. Generate a [desired outcome] based on the following topic: [insert topic]. To make this content as personalized to my unique brand and vision as possible, interview me by asking me [#] questions, one at a time. Use my answers to create the requested generation.]
Optional enhancement:
- Upload documents from previous generations
- Add more context about tone and style (ie. professional/casual/friendly/a little spicy)
- Upload an example that you want AI to use for inspiration
Example #1:
Generate a vision statement and brand profile for the following topic: my new online shop that sells custom socks. To make this content as personalized to my unique brand and vision as possible, interview me by asking me 4 questions, one at a time. Use my answers to create the requested generation.
Enhanced Example #2:
Generate a week’s worth of social media content based on the following topic: my new online shop that sells custom socks. To make this content as personalized to my unique brand and vision as possible, interview me by asking me 8 questions, one at a time. Use my answers to create the requested generation. Focus on being as personalized and aligned to my brand and vision as possible.
Refer to the attached document “vision statement and brand profile”
Tools for building a knowledge base
Notion
For years, Notion has been my go to second brain, content management and knowledge base system. It helps you visualize data beautifully, create powerful databases, pages, and so much more.
Google Drive
Once you have a custom domain for your brand or newsletter, which I highly recommend, you can sign up for Google’s Business plan and create an email for your custom domain (ie. [email protected]). This plan comes with Google Drive which is a great place to keep a knowledge base.
My new AI tool 👀
I had a problem I needed to solve for myself. So I created a knowledge base and writing assistant tool that is designed to work in collaboration with beehiiv. Stay tuned for more info, or join the 30 in 30 Challenge to become a beta tester.
Transform your writing, while building an engaged email list.
Send 30 emails to your list in 30 days. That’s the challenge.
I’ll walk you through the 4-week Transformation Framework via email. Whether you’re starting at 0 subscribers or many more, this system is meant for both growth and scaling.
If you want to join me and the other challenge participants, get support and resources along the way, simply fill out this survey and you’re in! FREE for subscribers.
That’s all for now,
Christel
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Ready to start your newsletter? Click here to sign up for a free trial and reply to any of my emails to let me know so I can help you set up.