Arrow-links, not button soup
Each editorial card ends in a "Read more →" link rather than its own button. Button soup is the named failure mode of the newsletter archetype — five buttons and the reader picks none.
Preview
What's inside
What's inside this newsletter email template, module by module.
Read off the file itself, not a spec sheet. This is the module order the download actually ships with, in the order a reader meets them.
- Greeting hero (founder note)
- Founder byline
- Feature block (alternate zone)
- Primary CTA
- Grid block (secondary stories)
- Story 1
- Story 2
Import
How to import this template into MailerLite, step by step.
The download is a single HTML file. Here is where it goes in MailerLite, what the platform expects, and which tags are already wired up.
- Create a campaign and choose the Custom HTML editor.
- Paste the downloaded HTML.
- Replace every placeholder before you send — image sources, link targets, body copy, the sender name and the footer address. There are no editable-region markers in MailerLite, so these edits happen in the code.
- Save, then send or schedule the campaign.
Plan The Custom HTML editor is an Advanced-plan feature. Lower MailerLite tiers do not expose it.
Editing MailerLite’s Custom HTML editor treats the whole document as raw HTML — there are no editable-region or repeatable-block markers, so edits happen in the code. Merge tags are the only dynamic substitution.
Watch for MailerLite requires a visible unsubscribe link and a physical mailing address in the footer. The template ships with {$unsubscribe} in place — swap the placeholder address for yours before the first send.
Swapping the placeholder images
Two routes. In the campaign editor you can usually click an image and swap it straight from the file manager, no code involved. If that option is not offered, open the code editor — clicking an image selects its block, and you replace the src with a URL from your MailerLite file manager, which start with storage.mlcdn.com.
How to use it
When to send this newsletter email, and what to change first.
When to send it
A founder letter is a campaign, and it runs on a slower rhythm than a roundup. Monthly is usually right, because a personal voice does not survive being padded out to fill a weekly slot. Hold whatever slot you pick, then judge it on click rate in your MailerLite reports rather than open rate, since Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates opens across every list.
What to change first
The opening three paragraphs are placeholder narrative: a Q3 production run, a deployment-time cut left as [XX]% and 40 open cohort spots. Rewrite that as one message in your own voice, then replace “Founder Name” and “Founder, Your brand name” beside the round avatar slot. The feature headline ships as “Ship [XX]% Faster With The New Studio”, so put a percentage you can prove there or drop the number. Below it sit two story cards, “Reclaim Your Weekends” and “Lock In Your Rate”, the second promising a price rise next Tuesday. Four image slots in all, and the usual example address in the footer.
The craft
What makes a newsletter email worth sending.
Single column, short blocks
One reading path, scannable blocks, alternating image-left and image-right between consecutive cards so the eye keeps moving without the layout repeating itself.
Structure as ritual
A fixed section order and a consistent send time turn a newsletter into something a reader can locate instantly, issue after issue. Morning Brew built a daily habit on exactly that predictability.
Or refine this
Make this email template yours.
Generate your own with this template as a starting point. Change the colors, the voice, the offer — describe what you want different and the studio recomposes it. Apply your brand kit and ship in your tone, not the template's.
The download is yours either way.
Open this template in the studio →
Questions
MailerLite template questions, answered.
Which MailerLite plan do I need for a custom HTML template?
Advanced. The Custom HTML editor is not exposed on MailerLite’s free or Growing Business tiers, so the paste-in path is only available once you are on Advanced.
Do I need MailerLite’s automatic CSS inlining turned on?
No. This template ships with its CSS already inlined, which is what Gmail’s webmail client needs anyway — it strips style blocks in several contexts, so inline styles are the only reliable carrier.
When should a newsletter go out?
Consistency beats any theoretical best hour. Pick a slot your audience already reads in, then hold it — the predictability is the point. Read your ESP reports to find it, and judge by clicks rather than opens, because Apple Mail Privacy Protection inflates open rates industry-wide.
Does Founder-led newsletter — MailerLite hold up in dark mode and Outlook?
Every zone sets its background twice — once as a bgcolor attribute and once as an inline background-color — which is the pattern that survives dark-mode inversion in clients that repaint backgrounds.
There is no VML fallback on the buttons, so Outlook on Windows will render them as styled text rather than a filled shape.
The layout is a 600px table backbone with a mobile breakpoint, and the CSS is already inlined for the clients that strip style blocks.
In the studio
Compose your own.
Describe what you want to send. Get a high-converting, dark-mode-safe template in seconds. Free tier, three generations a month, no card required.