n8n for blogging is back, baby

I want to set up a n8n self hosting instance on my server and run a marketing funnel for this site. I want to present a pop up like substack to subscribe to a newsletter and build an audience. And at the end, turn some readers to paid members.

Part 1: Self-Host n8n on DigitalOcean

1.1 Create a Droplet

• Log into DigitalOcean → Create → Droplets
• Image: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• Plan: Basic, $6/mo (1 GB RAM, 25 GB SSD) — sufficient for n8n
• Region: NYC1 or closest to you (East Coast)
• Authentication: SSH key (recommended) or password
• Hostname: n8n-server

1.2 Install Docker + n8n

SSH into your droplet:

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ssh root@YOUR_DROPLET_IP

Install Docker:

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apt update && apt upgrade -y
apt install -y docker.io docker-compose
systemctl enable docker

Create n8n directory and docker-compose file:

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mkdir -p /opt/n8n && cd /opt/n8n

Create docker-compose.yml:

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version: '3.8'
services:
  n8n:
    image: n8nio/n8n
    restart: always
    ports:
      - "5678:5678"
    environment:
      - N8N_HOST=n8n.davidchicopham.com
      - N8N_PORT=5678
      - N8N_PROTOCOL=https
      - WEBHOOK_URL=https://n8n.davidchicopham.com/
      - GENERIC_TIMEZONE=America/New_York
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - n8n_data:/home/node/.n8n

volumes:
  n8n_data:

Start n8n:

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docker-compose up -d

1.3 Set Up Domain + SSL

Point a DNS A record for n8n.davidchicopham.com → your droplet IP.

Install Caddy as a reverse proxy (handles SSL automatically):

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apt install -y caddy

Edit /etc/caddy/Caddyfile:

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n8n.davidchicopham.com {
    reverse_proxy localhost:5678
}

Restart Caddy:

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systemctl restart caddy

Wait a few minutes for SSL provisioning. Visit https://n8n.davidchicopham.com — you should see the n8n login screen.

1.4 Verify

• Log in with the basic auth credentials you set
• Create a test workflow with a Webhook trigger node
• Copy the webhook URL — you'll need it in Part 3

What is n8n? It's like Zapier or Make, a canvas drag and drop flow chart that can build triggers, actions, and output stuff. It's source can be self hosted or through paid cloud account.

Master 80% of n8n in 36 Minutes - YouTube

There is a number of actions a trigger could attach to. Actions are apps like dropbox, google sheets, or airtable. It occurred to me that a level of automation could happen in organizing. For example, when we were recruiting for elected officials or stewards, we used a conversion logger that fed into a google sheet.

If that conversation was an assessment, e.g. how interested are you in becoming a steward, a scale from 1 to 5, 1 being LFG to 5 being don't ask me ever again -- a friend said politely to me that he was not interested in further involvement with the union and didn't want to be asked again -- that's a 5, then based on that assessment, follow up automated email is sent a couple days later with an ask for a 1 on 1.

Or how about an outreach plan triggers a text/phone bank.

I can imagine also a directional change could be tracked like when voters switch from republican to democrat, visualized with arrows on a map of congressional districts, but for assessment conversations.

Another example in n8n development and organizing is something like a virtual organizer. Imagine the system prompt had the role of someone like Jane McAlevey (rest in power) and you can ask how did a conversation go and what are next steps to organizing a person. Instead of a AI personal assistant, how about a personal co-organizer?

Structural tests can be signals to who is engaged. It reminds me of the like button by Facebook that sent a signal to the platform, or even the skip button on youtube is a signal. What about structural tests such as an emoji response?