Working with Make.com as a newbie: I'm so excited I created my first automation!

Creating automations with Notion and Gmail for weekly email updates for customers and clients

I've literally had this task on my to-do list for the past year. My one goal is to just automate the weekly emails using my Notion database for Project Hub so that I can take steps to automate my administrative assistant out of a job. Believe me I don't mean to fire her. She's amazing but we can definitely eliminate some of the stupid tasks she spends hours a week on. Now she'll be able to do higher-level work with me.

ok I'm going to attach the link for this automation. My biggest word of advice is to use Claude for your troubleshooting to get this to work for you. There are a few things ahead of time you may need to set up but I use Notion and Gmail for this automation. I'm super stoked to have it working.

be sure to sign up for our newsletter to get any new updates on super basic how to use AI. I'm gonna keep rolling through this spreadsheet of automations and applications and websites and give you use cases and hopefully you can use them in your business or whatever you like to do.

Click here to see the full set of AI tools I am encountering and trying out, creating use cases for my design business and for this one.

Click Me To Start My AI Journey

How to Automate

Weekly Client Update Emails

Using Make.com, Notion, and Gmail

Every click. Every save. Every gotcha. Nothing left out.

This guide walks you through building an automation that sends weekly project update emails to your clients. You write the update in Notion, check a box, and the email sends automatically. No coding required. Estimated setup time: 30–45 minutes.

| MODULE 1 Notion Finds rows with “Ready to Send” checked | → | MODULE 2 Gmail Sends the update email to client | → | MODULE 3 Notion Unchecks “Ready to Send” | → | MODULE 4 Notion Stamps today’s date in “sent at” | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |

What You Need	Details
Make.com account	Free at make.com. The free tier gives you 1,000 operations/month — plenty for this automation.
Notion workspace	With a Projects database containing: Project Name, Email Address, Weekly Update (text), Ready to Send (checkbox), sent at (date), and Project Hub Link (URL).
Notion integration	An internal API integration. We’ll create this in Part 1.
Gmail account	The Gmail address you want emails sent from.

Part 1: Create Your Notion Integration

This gives Make.com permission to read and update your Notion database. You only do this once.

Create the Integration

1. Open your browser and go to notion.so/my-integrations.

2. Click “+ New integration.”

3. Name it “Make Weekly Updates” (or any name you’ll remember).

4. Select the workspace where your Projects database lives.

5. Under Capabilities, check all three boxes: Read content, Update content, and Insert content.

6. Click Submit.

7. You’ll see a secret key starting with ntn_. Copy it and save it somewhere safe.

Connect It to Your Database

1. Open your Projects database in Notion.

2. Click the “…” menu (three dots) in the top right.

3. Click “Connections.”

4. Search for “Make Weekly Updates” and click it to connect.

⚠️  Keep Your Secret Key Private

Your integration key is like a password. Never share it publicly. Only paste it into Make.com.

Part 2: Create a New Scenario in Make.com

A “scenario” is Make’s word for an automation workflow.

1. Log into make.com.

2. Click “Scenarios” in the left sidebar.

3. Click “+ Create a new scenario” in the top right.

4. You’ll see a blank canvas with a big plus (+) icon in the center.

Part 3: Add Module 1 — Notion (Search Objects)

This module searches your database for rows where “Ready to Send” is checked.

Add and Connect the Module

1. Click the big plus (+) in the center of the canvas.

2. Type “Notion” in the search box and select it.

3. Choose “Search Objects.”

4. Click “Add” to create a connection.

5. Name it “My Notion Internal connection.”

6. Paste your integration secret key (the ntn_ key from Part 1).

7. Click Save on the connection.

Configure the Search

1. For Search Objects, select “Data Source Items” from the dropdown.

2. For Data Source ID, click the “Search” Select your Projects database from the list.

3. For Limit, leave it at 10.

4. In the Filter section, set Property to “Ready to Send”, Checkbox equals true.

5. Click the red “Save” button on this module.

6. Click the 💾 floppy disk icon in the bottom toolbar to save the entire scenario.

💡  Two Saves Every Time!

From this point forward, EVERY time you finish configuring a module, you must: (1) Click Save on the module itself, and (2) Click the floppy disk icon in the bottom toolbar to save the whole scenario. If you skip the second save and close your browser, your changes will be lost.

Part 4: Add Module 2 — Gmail (Send an Email)

This module sends the actual email to your client.

Add and Connect the Module

1. Hover over the right side of the Notion module. A small “+” appears. Click it.

2. Type “Gmail” and select it.

3. Choose “Send an Email.”

4. Click “Add” to create a Gmail connection.

5. A Google sign-in window opens. Sign in with the Gmail account you want to send from.

6. Click “Allow” on every permission screen (there may be several).

Set Up the “To” Field

1. Turn the Map toggle ON (right side of the To field).

2. Click inside the To field.

3. A dropdown appears showing data from your Notion module. Find your email column (e.g., “Email Address” or “Email 1”).

4. Click on it. A colored tag will appear in the field.

⚠️  Critical: Raw Fields vs. Plain Text Fields

This is the #1 gotcha in Make. Many Notion fields have two versions: the raw version (contains ugly JSON code) and a Plain Text version (clean, readable text). You MUST use the Plain Text version. To find it: look for a small triangle/arrow next to the field name in the dropdown. Click the arrow to expand it. Inside you’ll see “Plain Text.” Click that. If a field has no arrow (like email fields), the raw version is fine.

Set Up the Subject

1. Click inside the Subject field.

2. Type: Weekly Design Update

3. Open the Notion dropdown, find Project name[], click the arrow to expand it, and click “Plain Text.”

Set Up the Body

1. Change Body type to “Raw HTML” using the dropdown.

2. Clear the Content field completely.

3. Type your email template using <br> for line breaks and <br><br> for blank lines between paragraphs. Map Notion fields using their Plain Text versions.

Here is the email template. Where you see [brackets], insert the mapped Notion Plain Text field instead of typing:

Hey there!<br><br>Here is your semi-weekly

update on the [Project name: Plain Text]:

<br><br>[Weekly Update: Plain Text]<br><br>

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with

any questions.<br><br>Here is your link to

your Project Hub. Scroll down and click

the links to see meeting notes and schedule

updates on our progress.<br>

[Project Hub Link]<br><br>

Shoot us a message back if you have any

questions or concerns.<br><br>

Thanks, Jen and the Team<br><br>

Jennifer Kerr-Marsch, ASID Allied, ALA &

AIBD<br>Residential Building Design &

Interior Design & Lighting Design<br>

145 Canal St., Ste 9 New Smyrna Beach,

FL 32168<br>386-847-0373<br>

www.mangrovebaydesign.com

1. Click the red “Save” button on the Gmail module.

2. Click the 💾 floppy disk icon in the bottom toolbar to save the scenario.

Part 5: Add Module 3 — Notion (Uncheck “Ready to Send”)

This module automatically unchecks the box after the email sends, so the same email never goes out twice.

Add the Module

1. Hover over the right side of the Gmail module. Click the “+” that appears.

2. Type “Notion” and select it.

3. Choose “Update a Data Source Item.”

4. Select your existing “My Notion Internal connection” from the dropdown.

Configure Each Field

Fill in each field exactly as described below. This is the part where precision matters most.

Field	What to Set It To
Update By	Make sure Map toggle is OFF. Select “Data Source” from the dropdown.
Enter a Data Source ID	Select “Select from the list” from the dropdown.
Data Source ID	Click “Search.” Select your Projects database from the list.
Data Source Item ID (or Page ID)	This is the critical field. Turn the Map toggle ON. Click inside the field. From the dropdown, look under “Notion 3 - Search Objects.” Find “Page ID” — it shows a long string like 2bd9cfda-9b56-... Click it. Do NOT click anything that says “Properties Value.”
Fields — Ready to send	Scroll down through the Fields section. Find “Ready to send.” Set it to “No.”
All other Fields	Leave EVERY other field completely blank. Do not type or map anything in Project name, Engineer, Email, etc.

1. Click the red “Save” button on this module.

2. Click the 💾 floppy disk icon in the bottom toolbar to save the scenario.

❌  Common Error: “Is not a property that exists”

This means the name you typed in the Key field doesn’t exactly match your Notion column name. Check capitalization, spacing, and any extra spaces. It must match perfectly: “Ready to send” is different from “ready to send” or “Ready to Send.” Go to Notion, look at the exact column name, and type it identically.

❌  Common Error: “page_id should be a valid uuid”

This means you typed something in the Page ID field instead of mapping it. The Page ID must be a mapped field (a colored pill/tag), not typed text. Clear the field, click inside it, and select “Page ID” from the Notion 3 dropdown.

Part 6: Add Module 4 — Notion (Stamp “Sent At” Date)

This module writes today’s date into the “sent at” column so you can track when each update was sent.

Add the Module

1. Hover over the right side of the Uncheck module. Click the “+” that appears.

2. Type “Notion” and select it.

3. Choose “Update a Data Source Item.”

4. Select your existing “My Notion Internal connection.”

Configure Each Field

Field	What to Set It To
Update By	Map toggle OFF. Select “Data Source.”
Enter a Data Source ID	Select “Select from the list.”
Data Source ID	Click “Search.” Select your Projects database.
Data Source Item ID (or Page ID)	Map toggle ON. Click inside. From dropdown, under “Notion 3 - Search Objects,” click “Page ID” (the long string). NOT “Properties Value.”
Fields — sent at — Start Time	Type: {{now}} — This inserts the current date and time.
Fields — sent at — End Time	Leave blank.
All other Fields	Leave EVERY other field completely blank.

1. Click the red “Save” button on this module.

2. Click the 💾 floppy disk icon in the bottom toolbar to save the scenario.

Part 7: Test Everything

Always test with your own email before sending to real clients.

1. Go to your Notion Projects database.

2. On a test row, make sure it has: your own email address in the Email column, a Project Name, some text in Weekly Update, and the “Ready to Send” checkbox checked.

3. Go back to Make.com.

4. Click the blue “Run once” button at the bottom left.

5. Watch all four modules. They should all turn green, one after another.

6. Check your email inbox — you should have the update email.

7. Check your Notion database — “Ready to Send” should be unchecked and “sent at” should show today’s date.

💡  If a Module Turns Red

Click on the red module to see the error message. The most common issues are: (1) wrong field name capitalization, (2) using raw Notion fields instead of Plain Text, (3) Page ID mapped to wrong field. See the Common Errors section at the end of this guide.

Part 8: Turn It On

1. Click the toggle switch next to “Every 15 minutes” at the bottom left of your scenario. It changes from gray to blue/purple.

2. Click the 💾 floppy disk icon to save.

3. Your automation is now live. You never need to open Make.com again unless something breaks.

Your Weekly Workflow from Now On

1. Write your updates in Notion

2. Check the “Ready to Send” boxes

3. Walk away — Make handles the rest

Within 15 minutes: emails send, boxes uncheck, dates stamp.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

Here are every error you might encounter and exactly how to fix them.

Error Message	What It Means and How to Fix It
“Missing value of required parameter ‘to’”	The Gmail “To” field is empty or the email field mapping was lost. Open Gmail module, check the To field, re-map your email column from the Notion dropdown.
“Invalid email address in parameter ‘to’”	You’re using the raw version of the email field instead of plain text, or there are extra spaces in the email address in Notion. Check both.
“[field] is not a property that exists”	The field name you typed doesn’t match the Notion column name exactly. Check capitalization and spacing. Go to Notion, copy the exact column name, and type it identically in Make.
“page_id should be a valid uuid”	You typed text in the Page ID field instead of mapping it. Clear the field, click inside it, and select “Page ID” from the Notion 3 - Search Objects dropdown. It should be a colored pill, not typed text.
Email contains ugly JSON code	You used the raw Notion field instead of the Plain Text version. Open Gmail module, clear the field, re-map it by expanding the field (click the arrow) and selecting “Plain Text.”
Email has no line breaks	Body type is not set to “Raw HTML” or you’re missing <br> tags. Change Body type to Raw HTML and add <br> for line breaks and <br><br> for blank lines.
Settings disappear after closing browser	You forgot to save the scenario. Always: (1) Save the module, (2) Click the floppy disk icon in the bottom toolbar. Both saves are required every time.
New Notion columns don’t show up in Make	Make needs to refresh your database structure. Open the first Notion module, click “Search” next to Data Source ID, re-select your database, and Save. Then refresh your browser.

The 5 Golden Rules of Make.com

1. Always save TWICE. Save the module, then save the scenario with the floppy disk icon.

2. Always use Plain Text fields. Expand fields with the arrow and select Plain Text. Never use the raw version.

3. Page ID must be mapped, never typed. It should be a colored pill from the Notion 3 dropdown, not text you type.

4. Field names must match Notion exactly. Capitalization, spacing, everything. One wrong letter breaks it.

5. Test before going live. Always use your own email first. Click “Run once” and verify everything works.

Created by Mangrove Bay Design & Lighting  |  February 2026

www.mangrovebaydesign.com