نشرة أسبوعية تكتب نفسها: Zapier وClaude وMailchimp خطوة بخطوةA Weekly Newsletter That Writes Itself: Zapier, Claude and Mailchimp, Step by Step

Key terms

Zap

A workflow in Zapier. It starts with a trigger event, then runs its steps in order on its own.

RSS

A link most blogs and news sites offer that lists every new article they publish.

Digest by Zapier

A step that collects items into one list and releases them together at the time you set.

API key

A key from Anthropic that lets Zapier talk to Claude on your behalf. You pay for what you use.

The steps

1. 1

   Step 1

   Set up the accounts first

   You need three things: a Zapier account, a Mailchimp account and an Anthropic API key.

   This Zap has more than two steps, and Zapier's Free plan only allows two step Zaps. So you need Professional. New Zapier accounts get a 14 day trial.

   Mailchimp is free up to 250 contacts and 500 emails a month. That is enough to start.

   Tip: Check the pricing pages before you subscribe. Plans change.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Pick your news source

   In Zapier, create a new Zap. The trigger is RSS by Zapier, event New Item in Feed.

   Paste the RSS link of your blog or a news site in your field. Every new article there enters the Zap on its own.

   You can add more than one feed URL in the same field.

   

3. 3

   Step 3

   Hold the news until newsletter day

   Add a Digest by Zapier step, event Append Entry and Schedule Digest.

   Give it a fixed Title. In Entry, map the article title and link from the RSS step. In Frequency, pick weekly, then the day and time your newsletter goes out.

   The steps after it only run when the digest is released, once, with the whole week's news.

   

   Tip: Digest steps do not count as tasks in Zapier.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Let Claude write the draft in your voice

   Add an Anthropic (Claude) step, event Send Message. Connect it with your API key and pick a model.

   Put the editor instructions below in System. Map the digest output into User Message.

   The clearer you are about your audience and voice, the less you edit.

   

   PromptEditor instructions (System)

   Copy

   You are the editor of my weekly newsletter [newsletter name]. My readers: [who reads it]. From the news list you receive, pick the 3 most important items. For each, write a short headline and two lines: what happened, and why it matters to [your audience]. Put the source link under each item. My voice: [describe your style in two sentences]. Open with one line and end with one question for the reader. Never invent a number or a fact that is not in the news. Write the email subject alone on the first line, then the body.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Prepare the email in Mailchimp

   Add a Mailchimp step, event Create Campaign.

   Pick your newsletter Audience, and fill From Name and From Email Address. Map the subject line from Claude's reply into Email Subject, and the rest into the content.

   Every week a ready campaign waits for you in Mailchimp.

   

6. 6

   Step 6

   Review and send, then automate the send

   For the first month, send by hand. Open the campaign, read it for five minutes, fix anything, send.

   Once you trust it, add a final step: Mailchimp, event Send Campaign, and pick the campaign from the step before. From then on the newsletter goes out on its own.

   Tip: Even after automating, read one issue a month. Sources change.

7. 7

   Step 7

   Test, turn it on, and only email people who subscribed

   Test every step with the Test button in Zapier before you turn the Zap on, and send the first issue to yourself.

   Then turn it on. Only email people who subscribed themselves, through a Mailchimp form or a clear signup page, with an unsubscribe link in every email.

Ready prompts to copy

Here are 3 emails I wrote before: [paste emails]. Describe my writing voice in two sentences I can put in my newsletter editor instructions.