The Freelance Digital Marketer’s Guide to Notion

The Freelance Digital Marketer’s Guide to Notion

Publication Date
May 22, 2025
Summary

In this guide, I’m breaking down exactly how to use Notion as a freelance digital marketer—from the basics to my favorite templates, free learning resources, and how to make it all feel a little less... confusing.

Tags
notionproductivityorganizationcrmworking ON your business
Author

Rachel Meltzer

Notion feels like a second brain to me now. The keyboard shortcuts just speak my language, the layouts and blocks fit with how I think, I love the structured way the pages get laid out – and I can create a system, website, or dashboard in notion like that snaps fingers!

But, I’ll admit, Notion has a learning curve. It’s like thge tech version of IKEA furniture: full of potential, but overwhelming without an instruction manual.

The first time I opened it, I knew it could do what I wanted and needed, but learning how to make databases work the way I wanted and what each little element was called felt… overwhelming.

So how’d I get from beginner to badass in just 1 month? In this guide, I’ll share all my secrets along with the basics you need to get started.

Here’s what’s in this guide:

What is Notion?

If Google Docs, Trello, and Airtable had a baby – and gave it superpowers – it’d be Notion. It’s like a Lego set for your brain and your business.

It’s a customizable all-in-one workspace where you can write, plan, organize, track, and build just about anything—your way. Notes, databases, to-do lists, websites—it’s all there, and it’s all connected.

What can Notion do?

Short answer: almost anything.

Here’s how solo freelance digital marketers can use Notion to run their business without a million tabs or tools:

  • Client & Lead Tracking

    • Keep a simple CRM to track inquiries, proposals sent, discovery calls booked, and follow-ups—all in one place.

  • Project & Task Management

    • Plan out client work, personal projects, and recurring marketing tasks with customizable boards, calendars, or lists.

  • Content Strategy & Planning

    • Build a content calendar for blog posts, newsletters, or social media. Track ideas, deadlines, drafts, and repurposing workflows.

  • Proposal & Onboarding Templates

    • Create reusable templates for proposals, onboarding guides, and welcome packets so every new client gets a seamless experience.

  • Client Dashboards

    • Set up personalized portals for each client with links to shared documents, meeting notes, project timelines, and deliverables.

  • Website Hosting

    • Yep, you can even build and host a simple portfolio website or sales page with Notion (especially when paired with a tool like Super).

  • Collaboration With a Virtual Assistant or client

    • Share selected pages or dashboards with your virtual assistant to delegate admin, track shared tasks, or manage systems together.

  • Weekly Planning & Goal Setting

    • Keep your big-picture goals and daily to-dos in sync so you’re working smarter, not just harder.

  • Brain Dumps & Idea Libraries

    • Capture random ideas, content inspiration, swipe files, and notes so they’re all searchable and organized when you need them.

  • Finance & Metrics Tracking

    • Log expenses, income, and KPIs (like email growth or content performance) in simple dashboards that actually make sense.

You don’t need all of these to start. Just one or two Notion pages can make your business feel a whole lot more streamlined—and a whole lot less scattered.

Understanding Notion’s Building Blocks

Notion looks minimal on the surface, but under the hood, it’s made of just a few core pieces. Once you understand how these work, the whole system starts to click.

Pages

🗂 Think of these like digital notebooks.

Every workspace starts with a page. You can use pages for anything – like a client dashboard, a sales page, writing a blog post, or a weekly to-do list. Pages can nest inside other pages (hello, organization!) and they can hold all kinds of content.

Here are a bunch of pages I’ve got nested in my main Dashboard:

image

Blocks

📦 These are the basic building units of Notion.

Every piece of content – a paragraph, a checklist, an image, a toggle – is a block. You can move them around, duplicate them, turn them into other block types… it’s like drag-and-drop magic.

Notion Block Types: The Building Blocks of Your Workspace:

✏️

Basic Content Blocks

  • Text – Write notes, outlines, ideas—anything.
  • Headings (H1, H2, H3) – Organize content with visual hierarchy.
  • Bulleted List – Great for non-linear ideas or reminders.
  • Numbered List – Ideal for step-by-step instructions.
  • To-do List (Checkboxes) – Simple task tracking.
  • Toggle List – Collapsible sections to hide/reveal info.
  • Quote – Pull out key points or inspiration.
  • Divider – A horizontal line to separate sections.
  • Callout – Highlight important info with a colored box and icon.
  • Page – Create sub-pages to organize your content further.
↗️

Advanced Blocks

  • Table of Contents – Auto-generated list of page headings.
  • Breadcrumb – Shows the path of nested pages at the top.
  • Math Equation – Use LaTeX for advanced math (if that’s your thing).
  • Button (Beta) – Run preset actions like creating new pages or duplicating templates.
📊

Database Views

  • Table – Spreadsheet-style layout for structured info.
  • Board – Kanban-style view (like Trello).
  • Calendar – See items organized by date.
  • Gallery – Visual card-style layout—great for portfolios or client profiles.
  • List – A minimalist, linear list of items.
🖼️

Media Blocks

  • Image – Upload or embed visuals.
  • Video – Embed content from YouTube, Loom, etc.
  • Audio – Embed recordings or music.
  • File – Upload PDFs, docs, etc.
  • Code – Format code snippets with syntax highlighting.
  • Web Bookmark – Preview of a link with image and description.
  • Embeds – Embed any media or iframe from nearly any app or site.

Databases

📊 Where your info gets organized.

Databases are like spreadsheets—but way more powerful. You can view them as a table, board, calendar, gallery, or list. Use them to track clients, plan content, organize ideas, and more.

I use a database to organize my client work:

image

Linked Databases

🔗 Custom views of your existing databases.

Instead of recreating the same table five times, you can link to one database and filter or sort it however you want. Perfect for dashboards or pages that only show what’s relevant.

I have a view of that same client work database that let’s me see just what’s due today in order of priority:

image

Templates

📋 Pre-built pages or databases to save you time.

Templates help you skip the setup. Whether it’s a new client dashboard or a weekly review page, you can duplicate a template and tweak it to fit your workflow.

You can also get templates from other Notion users that are entire dashboards, websites, databases, etc. so you can skip the building and just get to using.

I use these to make a checklist for my podcast:

image

Once you understand these pieces, building in Notion feels a lot less overwhelming—and way more fun.

Navigating and Customizing Notion Templates

Templates are your shortcut to a smarter, simpler workspace.

You don’t need to build everything from scratch in Notion. Templates are pre-built pages or databases you can duplicate and tweak to fit your needs—like grabbing a meal prep kit instead of cooking entirely from scratch.

Here’s how to work with them:

1. Accessing Templates

  • Inside Notion: When you create a new page, you’ll see the option to start from a template. Notion offers a built-in template gallery with examples for everything from meeting notes to job applications.
  • Online: You can also find free and paid templates from creators (like me!), shared via Notion links. These can be duplicated into your own workspace with one click.

➕ Duplicating Templates

Once you’ve found a template you like, click the “Duplicate” button (usually in the top right corner of the shared page). It’ll be copied into your Notion workspace, where you can edit it freely.

Pro tip: Make a copy of your copy if you plan to test changes—just in case you want to revert.

image

🛠️ Customizing Templates

Here’s where you make it yours:

  • Change the layout: Rearrange or delete blocks you don’t need.
  • Update database properties: Rename columns, add new ones (like tags, dates, or checkboxes), or adjust filters/sorting to fit your workflow.
  • Switch views: Most databases can be viewed as tables, boards, calendars, or galleries—choose what helps you see things clearly.
  • Add personal flair: Change icons, cover images, or color accents to make it feel like your space.

Start small. Customize just one part, like changing labels or deleting extra views. You don’t need to “finish” the setup in one sitting.

⚠️ Common Pitfalls (And How to Avoid Them)

  • Over-editing linked databases: Be careful when editing templates with linked views of a database. Changes here might affect the original.
  • Deleting properties you don’t understand yet: Hide them instead, until you’re sure you don’t need them.
  • Trying to customize everything at once: Build as you go. Let your workflow evolve naturally.

Give Yourself Permission to Tinker

Notion isn’t about getting it perfect on the first try. It’s about experimenting, adapting, and building a system that actually supports you. Make mistakes. Break things. Start again. You’re not doing it wrong—you’re just learning what works.

My Top Notion Templates for Freelance Digital Marketers

Here are the templates I’ve personally created for Freelance Digital Marketers!

Learn Notion: Your Go-To Resources for Mastering the Platform

Embarking on your Notion journey can feel overwhelming, but with the right resources, you'll be building efficient workflows in no time. Here's a curated list of experts, tutorials, and newsletters to guide you:

YouTube Creators to Follow

Thomas Frank

Offers beginner-friendly tutorials and productivity tips, making complex concepts digestible.

📺 Thomas Frank's YouTube Channel

Marie Poulin

Delivers deep dives into advanced Notion setups and workflows, ideal for business owners seeking customization.

📺 Marie Poulin's YouTube Channel

Red Gregory

Shares creative and unconventional uses of Notion, perfect for those looking to push the platform's boundaries.

📺 Red Gregory's YouTube Channel

August Bradley

Focuses on building comprehensive life and business systems, introducing structured methodologies like the "Life Operating System."

📺 August Bradley's YouTube Channel

Newsletters for Ongoing Learning

Notion VIP

Provides expert tips, templates, and updates directly from Notion specialists.

📰 Subscribe to Notion VIP

Notionery

A monthly roundup of the latest Notion templates, tools, and tips, catering to a wide audience.

📰 Subscribe to Notionery

Tools for Thought

Explores broader insights into productivity tools, including Notion, helping you think better and work happier.

📰 Explore Tools for Thought

Must-Watch Tutorials for Digital Marketers

4 Marketing Templates That Save Me Hours Every Week

Discover practical templates to streamline your marketing tasks.

📺 Watch the Tutorial

Create a Marketing Dashboard in Notion

A step-by-step guide to building a customized dashboard tailored to your marketing needs.

📺 Watch the Tutorial

Learn Notion in 46 Minutes

This beginner-friendly video tutorial covers all the fundamental aspects of Notion, including pages, blocks, databases, and more. It's designed to help you understand how each component works and how to use them effectively.

📺 Watch the tutorial here

Personalized Notion Support

The Build Your Website Course

Learn how to build a website with Notion + Super in as little as 6 hours from visual branding, to copywriting, to the website itself. All taught by me with examples and templates for every page.

👩🏻‍🏫 Get the course

Sue-Jan Noreiga

My friend, a Notion consultant specializing in helping neurodivergent and chronically ill entrepreneurs. Sue-Jan offers tailored services to build systems that align with your unique brain and business needs.

🌐 Explore Sue-Jan's Services

🎧 Listen to Sue-Jan on my podcast

Official Notion Guides

Notion's Help Center offers a series of guides that delve into various features and functionalities of the platform. These guides provide step-by-step instructions and best practices for using Notion effectively.

📖 Explore Notion's official guides

Start Simple, Stay Scrappy

You don’t have to master every Notion block, build the perfect dashboard, or create a beautifully organized system right away. You just have to start.

Start with one template. One page. One tiny tweak that makes your day feel a little more streamlined. From there, the rest builds itself—because the best systems evolve alongside you.

Notion isn’t about being perfectly productive. It’s about creating a space that supports how you think, plan, and grow your business. And the more you use it, the more it becomes second nature.

If you’re ready to experiment, explore, and finally build a freelance business that works for your life (not the other way around), I’ve got free templates to get you started, and more resources coming soon.

You don’t need to be a tech whiz. You just need to be willing to tinker. You’ve got this.