When Amber Christian took over HandmadeSeller magazine—a niche publication for artisan entrepreneurs—she inherited a tangled web of tools. She added her own: WordPress, ThriveCart, Brevo, Elementor, 3D Flipbook, and over a dozen plugins were duct-taped together to keep the business running.

However, things kept breaking. Managing the tech was a full-time job, and it held the business back.

In early 2025, a critical failure finally forced Christian’s hand—and within six days, she migrated the entire operation to beehiiv.

The results:

This is the story of how one independent publisher modernized a 10-year-old media brand in under a week—and why she’s not looking back.

Meet the Publisher Behind Handmade Seller Magazine

Amber Christian didn’t start Handmade Seller magazine, but she brought it back to life.

Originally founded to support artisan entrepreneurs and crafters, the magazine had quietly shut down in 2022. 

But Christian saw an opportunity. With a background in enterprise tech and a passion for the creative world, she acquired the brand and relaunched it in 2023.

“I recognized that there was really an intense need for this type of small business advice. And so, I bought it, and I revitalized it,” Christian explained . 

Today, Handmade Seller magazine serves a global community of solo business owners by offering:

• A quarterly print and digital magazine

• A podcast exploring the business side of artisan work

• A growing library of articles and resources

• Live events and trade show appearances

“Handmade Seller is an artisan business publication, and we're focused on an army of one and small businesses. So we're trying to help the little guy/gal succeed in that,” Christian added.

“What we really do is we write a lot of pragmatic business advice. It's all about how we can help you get to where you need to go as quickly as possible because the small business owner is always very timepressed and is always trying to wear so many different hats.”

More than content, it’s a mission: empowering the “army of one” to build sustainable, profitable businesses doing what they love.

A 25-Tool Tech Stack Held Everything Together—Barely

When Amber Christian took over Handmade Seller magazine, she inherited a brittle, duct-taped tech stack built on WordPress.

“As a business owner, it can be hard to admit our businesses have issues. There are already so many situations where we may feel judged or be criticized for what we do or do not do. Opening up and saying ‘My baby is ugly’ can be very tough for many people,” wrote Christian.

Like many independent publishers, Amber Christian had to work with and extend what was already in place:

• WordPress for publishing

• Elementor and JNews for design and layout

• 3D Flipbook to display the magazine

• ThriveCart for selling subscriptions

• Brevo for email marketing

• Zapier and Google Sheets to make it all talk to each other

• Passionfroot to connect with prospective advertisers

• A “pile of plug-ins” to handle SEO, forms, image optimization, security, and more

It required several separate pieces just to manage the basic website, marketing, and magazine subscriptions, but it didn’t stop there. 

​​”I also use Zencastr for podcast recording, Google workspace and email, Canva, Publer for social media scheduling, and Cloudflare for DNS and domain hosting,” explained Christian.

Yikes. 

“It was a burning platform,” Christian remarked. “Every time something updated, something else broke. We were one problem away from collapse.”

Christian admits that her story is not unique. “Content creators or niche print and digital media companies need genuine solutions for their content challenges. A LOT of us were/are on old cobbled together infrastructures held together with duct tape, baling wire, and prayer.”

The Day It Broke

Eventually, a collapse happened. After a routine plugin update, 20% of paying subscribers lost access to the digital magazine—and there were no clear error logs or fixes. Christian was stuck.

There was no sales funnel, no clean reporting, no scalable infrastructure, and no room to grow.

It was the final straw.

Why Handmade Seller Switched to beehiiv

When 20% of subscribers couldn’t access their digital issues, Christian knew it was time. She’d been researching alternatives for months, but nothing seemed quite right. Most publishing tools were built for large media companies with big budgets—not independent operators like her.

“There isn't a lot to choose from if you're a small independent and just getting started, and you're not going to spend thousands of dollars, much less thousands and thousands of dollars a year on your tech. There are simply few choices when it comes to platforms that work for small independent media.,”Christian explained

Christian looked at a few platforms—including Substack—but kept hearing about beehiiv. At first, she thought beehiiv was just for newsletters. But as the platform added features like websites, ad tools, and subscriptions, she took a second look.

“I started digging into the help docs and realized—this might actually cover everything I need.”

And then, her infrastructure broke.

Instead of waiting, Christian and her husband—a semi-retired CTO—jumped into action. 

What was supposed to be a free trial turned into a full migration. Within six days, they moved the entire media operation over to beehiiv.

The Migration: From 25 Tools to 7 in Under a Week

With beehiiv’s import tool and native integrations, Christian replaced a sprawling patchwork of systems with a streamlined solution that covered the following tasks:

• Website hosting and publishing

• Email marketing and newsletters

• Paid subscriptions (via Stripe)

• Advertising tools

• Content gating

• Analytics and performance reports

“We went from 25 tools to 7, and we did it in 6 days. That would’ve been impossible without beehiiv’s built-in infrastructure.” Christian was shocked by her readers’ positive response. 

“I assured people I was going to handhold them through the process, and I didn't get a single question. Nobody really had an issue.”

Christian continued, “It was a really simple process of once we got everybody up onto the new site, it was a password reset and then they were off and running. And the initial feedback I got was that people loved it because now we have a progressive web app and it's mobile friendly.”

The Results: More Content, More Subscribers, Less Stress

Switching to beehiiv did more than quell the burning platform problem Christian faced on WordPress; it unlocked an entire new level of growth for her niche media company.

Before the migration, she could barely publish three articles per month. Now, she’s publishing three per week.

“It is actually an important part of the ROI that I didn't see coming,” Christian explained.

The increase in content led to higher engagement and more conversion opportunities. In the months following the switch, Christian observed the several positive results:

• Content output tripled: 3x articles per week instead of per month.

• Email frequency doubled from one to two newsletters a month.

• Paying subscribers grew by 34%.

• Readers responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback.

It's so easy for me to just get drafts out there, work through them,publish and then have them seamlessly integrate into my newsletter. My Ability to produce content is off the charts,” Christian added.

A Better Experience for Readers, Too

Before beehiiv, the magazine’s site had performance issues, clunky navigation, and didn’t play well on mobile. 

Now, Handmade Seller is hosted on a sleek, mobile-optimized site built directly within beehiiv.

“The old site was slow and outdated, but no one told me. After we launched the new one, the feedback was immediate — ‘This is so much easier to use,’” remarked Christian.

Plus, beehiiv’s progressive web app makes it simple for readers to engage with content from any device, a huge plus for an audience made up of busy small business owners on the go.

Favorite beehiiv Features That Made the Biggest Difference

The Editor, Content Gating, and Built-In Monetization Tools

While the migration process impressed Christian, what surprised her most was how much beehiiv improved her day-to-day workflow—especially the writing process.

“The editor is incredible. I even printed out the cheat sheets. It’s intuitive, fast, and lets me focus on what matters: the content.”

Christian credits the beehiiv editor as the single biggest factor behind her 300% increase in content production. 

Before, publishing was slow and clunky. Now, she can draft, edit, and publish articles directly from the same interface that handles email and web delivery.

Content Gating and Audience Control

With beehiiv, Christian gained full control over how her content is shared and monetized. That’s especially important in an era of AI scraping and content theft.

“I can choose to gate content by email or for paying subscribers, and I can change my mind anytime. That flexibility is powerful.”

This granular control allows her to protect high-value content, grow her email list, and experiment with paywall strategies—without relying on multiple external tools.

Built-In Ad Network and Subscriptions

The ability to run ads and manage subscriptions natively within beehiiv was a game-changer. Christian didn’t want to cobble together external tools again—and now she doesn’t have to.

Advice for Other Independent Publishers

“Try it, test it, and see what it unlocks for your business.”

Amber Christian knows firsthand how overwhelming it can be to run a small publication with limited time, budget, and team members. That’s why her biggest piece of advice for other creators and media founders is simple:

Unlike traditional platforms, beehiiv is built to be self-serve, intuitive, and fast to learn. Christian said that  the help documentation and tutorials made it easy to figure out what features were available—and how to use them to her advantage.

“Think holistically, not just tactically.”

As someone with years of experience in enterprise tech, Christian believes that part of beehiiv’s magic is how it invites founders to think differently about how their business operates.

For media brands juggling both digital and print, Christian also noted that with a few small tweaks (like address capture on signup and more robust exports), beehiiv could easily become a go-to platform for hybrid publishers.

The Bottom Line: A 6-Day Migration That Changed Everything

Amber Christian rebuilt a 10-year-old publication’s entire infrastructure in just 6 days—with no developer team, no expensive software stack, and no disruption to her readers.

The results speak for themselves:

• 300% increase in content output

• 34% growth in paid subscribers

• Faster workflows, stronger infrastructure, and better user experience (UX)

• A single platform to manage web, email, subscriptions, and ads

For small media brands, creative entrepreneurs, and niche content creators, Handmade Seller magazine proves that you don’t need a huge team or budget to run a modern publication—you just need the right tools.

Thinking of Switching to beehiiv?

Christian recommends starting with the free plan:

• Explore the editor.

• Watch the tutorials.

• Start imagining what your content business could look like with a simplified stack.

“This isn’t just a newsletter tool. It’s the future of indie publishing.”

Why trust me: I’m a freelance writer, content strategist, and storyteller with a focus on newsletters, entrepreneurship and the creator economy. You can follow my work on LinkedIn and through my newsletter Creator Diaries. 

Want To See How beehiiv Can Power Your Media Brand?

Whether you’re a solo creator or an independent publisher, beehiiv offers the infrastructure to help you do more—with fewer tools and fewer headaches.

Start beehiiv for free today or book a demo to learn more.