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MODULE 1 · LESSON 1.3
Install n8n and Build Your First Workflow
Lesson 1.3 of Module 1 · 12 min · Free
What you’ll learn
Get n8n running the free way and build, test, and activate a first real workflow — the New Lead Alert: form → spreadsheet → email alert.
After this lesson you can: run n8n (cloud or self-hosted Community Edition), create a workflow, and explain triggers, nodes, and executions — because yours just moved real data.
Step-by-step
1. Pick your route
n8n Cloud (fastest, nothing to install) or self-hosted Community Edition (free forever, unlimited executions — the full self-host walkthrough is Module 2). Everything here also works on Make’s free plan.
2. The 60-second tour
Canvas (where workflows live), node panel (search every action), credentials (keys live in n8n’s vault, never pasted into node fields), executions log (where the truth lives).
3. Create the workflow
New workflow, name it “Lead Alert — Demo”. Add an n8n Form Trigger with 3 fields: Name, Phone, Service needed. n8n generates the form URL.
4. Log the lead
Google Sheets node → Append Row. Connect your Google account via credentials, pick the Leads sheet, and map each form field to its column.
5. Send the alert
Gmail node → send to your inbox. Subject: “New lead:” + the service. Body: name, phone, need, time. Short, complete, impossible to misunderstand.
6. Test like a professional
Execute, submit a fake lead (“Test Tina”), watch the row appear and the email arrive — then read the execution log node by node.
7. Flip it active
Toggle Active, close the editor, submit again as a stranger. It runs by itself. Inactive workflows are demos; active workflows are assets.
8. Avoid the 3 beginner errors
Testing while inactive; pasting keys into fields instead of the vault; never opening the executions log. The checklist below has the fixes.
Key numbers in this lesson
- 1 execution = one full workflow run, however many steps it has (n8n’s billing unit)
- Demo stack cost: $0 on free tiers
Prices checked Oct 2026 from the vendors’ official pricing pages — verify current pricing before you buy anything.
Resources for this lesson
Import the exact workflow built on screen, and keep the checklist beside you for your first build.
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Keep going
← Lesson 1.2: The Business Model
Lesson 1.4: Anatomy of an Automation →
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