Workshop - Hands-on Guide to Transactional Email for Founders

What will I walk away with?

You’ll walk away with a working transactional email flow integrated into your app.

• A company-branded email address (not @gmail.com)
• A verified domain that’s authorized to send email
• A contact form built in Lovable, connected to a Supabase backend
• Emails that are automatically sent to both the user and your team
• A customizable email template you can tweak without writing code

See example - ReelyPro

This isn’t just a quick prototype — it’s a practical launchpad for real products, built using this same process.

The steps we'll take

1. Set Up Your Domain and Company Email
   
2. Connect Your App to Supabase
   
3. Verify Your Domain with Resend
   
4. Build a Working Contact Form (with email logic)
   
5. Improve the Email Template

You'll also find prompt examples, code snippets, and tool recommendations throughout.

All examples relate to ReelyPro, built using this process.

Phase 1: Set Up Your Domain and Company Email

If you’ve already purchased a domain in a previous session, skip ahead to the email setup below. Otherwise, follow this guide.

Create a free Zoho email account

1. Go to Zoho Mail Free Tier
2. Sign up and connect your domain (Zoho walks you through DNS verification)
3. Create an email like firstName.lastName@yourdomain.com

Polish your sender profile

• Add a professional profile photo
• Set your display name and company info
• Keep things clean and branded

Phase 2: Connect Your App to Supabase

Why Supabase?

We use Supabase to securely process form submissions and run server-side logic like sending emails.

Steps

1. Go to Supabase and sign up
2. Create a new project
3. In Lovable, click Supabase Connect and link the project you created

Phase 3: Verify Your Domain with Resend

Why Resend?

Resend lets you send transactional emails without managing your own mail server. It takes care of deliverability, formatting, and sender reputation.

Steps

1. Visit Resend
2. Sign up for an account
3. Create and save an API key
4. Follow their DNS verification process to verify your domain
5. Add a sender address like inquiries@yourdomain.com

Phase 4: Build a Working Contact Form (with email logic)

Lovable will automatically create a Supabase edge function for you.

Prompt Lovable to build your form

Test before sending live

Resend has a sandbox mode to preview emails without sending them. Use this to safely validate your setup.

(Optional) Prevent abuse

• Add rate limits to prevent spam
• Consider CAPTCHA if public
• Review logs inside Supabase for suspicious patterns

Phase 5: Improve the Email Template

Use ChatGPT to help polish your email copy and visuals.

Want to make changes later?

Once this is live, you may want to tweak your form or update email content. For help managing changes safely, check out: 👉 CI/CD for Non-Technical Founders

Need help?

Reach out to join a workshop where we walk through the above and more.