ElevenLabs + Google Drive: blog posts to podcast
Your blog is publishing on schedule. Your podcast feed isn’t. The annoying part is you already have the content, but turning posts into audio means rewriting, recording, exporting MP3s, uploading files, updating an RSS entry, then telling the team it’s ready.
This blog to podcast automation hits content marketers first, but agency leads and founders feel it too. You get new episodes produced and filed automatically, which usually means a few hours back each week and a lot fewer “did anyone upload the audio?” messages.
Below is the workflow, what it fixes, what changes after you switch it on, and the practical details you’ll want before you implement it.
How This Automation Works
See how this solves the problem:
n8n Workflow Template: ElevenLabs + Google Drive: blog posts to podcast
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The Challenge: Turning Posts Into Episodes Without Losing a Day
Repurposing a blog post into a podcast episode sounds simple until you do it twice a week. First you paste the article into something that can rewrite it for audio, because blog writing doesn’t read well out loud. Then you generate narration, download the MP3, name the file correctly, upload it somewhere the team can access, and update the podcast feed entry so it’s actually publishable. Somewhere in that chain, titles get mismatched, links point to the wrong file, or the “final_final.mp3” version becomes the one that ships. Honestly, it’s death by tiny steps.
It adds up fast. Here’s where it usually breaks down.
- You rewrite the same kind of script over and over, and it still doesn’t sound like a human conversation.
- Audio generation is easy to start but annoying to finish because downloads, file naming, and uploads are manual.
- Your RSS entry creation turns into a fragile copy-paste job, so one small mistake can invalidate the feed item.
- Teams lose momentum when nobody is sure the episode is ready, where it lives, or what link to use.
The Fix: Auto-Produce MP3 Episodes From Your RSS Feed
This workflow runs on a daily schedule and checks your blog’s RSS feed for newly published posts. For each new item, it pulls in the article content and sends it to an AI script rewriter that transforms “blog style” into “spoken style” (shorter sentences, cleaner transitions, fewer awkward headings). The output is forced into a structured format so you don’t get messy responses that need hand-editing. Then the workflow calls ElevenLabs through an HTTP request to generate a high-quality narrated MP3 from that script. Finally, it uploads the MP3 to a Google Drive folder, builds an RSS-compatible episode entry with the right metadata and audio link, refreshes the feed file, and sends your team a Slack message that it’s ready.
The flow starts with a scheduled trigger at 10 AM. Next, it reads your RSS feed and loops through any new posts, rewriting the content and generating narration. At the end, Google Drive stores the MP3 and Slack gets the “episode ready” alert so nobody has to chase status.
What Changes: Before vs. After
| What This Eliminates | Impact You’ll See |
|---|---|
|
|
Real-World Impact
Say you publish 5 blog posts a week and want each one as an audio episode. Manually, you might spend about 20 minutes rewriting for spoken delivery, another 10 minutes generating and downloading audio, then 10 more uploading to Drive and updating the RSS entry. That’s roughly 3 hours a week, and it’s boring work. With this workflow: you spend maybe 10 minutes total skimming outputs and tweaking the occasional script, while the MP3 upload, RSS item build, and Slack alert happen automatically.
Requirements
- n8n instance (try n8n Cloud free)
- Self-hosting option if you prefer (Hostinger works well)
- ElevenLabs for text-to-speech MP3 narration.
- Google Drive to store and share MP3 files.
- Slack to notify your team when episodes are ready.
- Azure OpenAI API credentials (get them from your Azure OpenAI resource in the Azure Portal).
- ElevenLabs API key (get it from your ElevenLabs account settings).
Skill level: Intermediate. You’ll connect accounts, paste API keys, and adjust a few fields like RSS URL and Drive folder.
Need help implementing this? Talk to an automation expert (free 15-minute consultation).
The Workflow Flow
A daily schedule triggers the run. At 10 AM, n8n wakes up and checks your RSS feed for anything newly published since the last run.
New posts are pulled in and processed in batches. If multiple articles dropped, the workflow loops through them so you don’t need to kick off separate jobs. It also makes the system predictable when your editorial calendar gets busy.
AI rewrites the article into a podcast-ready script. The Azure OpenAI chat model generates a conversational version, and a structured parser cleans the output into reliable fields (title, script body, and the metadata you want to keep consistent).
ElevenLabs narration is generated and saved. An HTTP request sends the script to ElevenLabs, returns an MP3, then Google Drive receives the file in the folder you picked. From there, the workflow assembles RSS XML markup and posts a Slack message to your team with the key details.
You can easily modify the script style to match your brand voice based on your needs. See the full implementation guide below for customization options.
Step-by-Step Implementation Guide
Step 1: Configure the Scheduled Automation Trigger
Set the workflow schedule so it regularly checks your blog feed for new posts.
- Add and open Scheduled Automation Trigger.
- Choose the schedule frequency that matches your publishing cadence.
- Connect Scheduled Automation Trigger to Retrieve New Blog Posts.
Step 2: Connect the Blog Feed Ingestion Flow
Pull new posts from your RSS feed and process them in batches before AI rewriting.
- Open Retrieve New Blog Posts and set the RSS feed URL for your blog.
- Connect Retrieve New Blog Posts to Iterate Blog Items to batch each post.
- Verify Iterate Blog Items is connected to AI Script Rewriter on the second output (batch loop).
Step 3: Set Up the AI Script Rewriter
Configure the AI agent and parsing so each blog post is rewritten into a script-ready format.
- Open AI Script Rewriter and configure the prompt/instructions to rewrite blog posts for audio narration.
- Ensure Azure Chat Model is connected as the language model for AI Script Rewriter.
- Ensure Structured Result Parser is connected as the output parser for AI Script Rewriter.
- Connect AI Script Rewriter to Map Audio Fields.
Credential Required: Connect your Azure OpenAI credentials in Azure Chat Model.
Step 4: Configure Audio Creation and File Storage
Map the AI output to audio API parameters, generate audio, and upload files to Drive.
- Open Map Audio Fields and map the AI output fields to your audio API payload.
- Configure Create Audio via API with the correct endpoint, method, and headers for your TTS provider.
- Connect Create Audio via API to Upload to Drive.
- In Upload to Drive, set the destination folder and file naming convention for the generated audio files.
Credential Required: Connect your Google Drive credentials in Upload to Drive.
Step 5: Assemble and Publish the Podcast RSS
Prepare RSS fields, assemble the feed, and refresh the published RSS file.
- Open Prepare RSS Fields and map the audio file URL and metadata for the feed items.
- Ensure Upload to Drive flows into Prepare RSS Fields.
- Open Assemble Podcast Feed and confirm it builds the RSS XML structure from the prepared fields.
- Connect Assemble Podcast Feed to Refresh RSS File.
- Verify Refresh RSS File outputs to Slack Team Alert for status updates.
Credential Required: Connect your Slack credentials in Slack Team Alert.
Step 6: Add Error Handling
Notify your team automatically when any node fails.
- Open Utility: Error Monitor Trigger to confirm it is present and connected.
- Connect Utility: Error Monitor Trigger to Utility: Dispatch Error Email.
- In Utility: Dispatch Error Email, set the recipient address and subject line for error alerts.
Credential Required: Connect your Gmail credentials in Utility: Dispatch Error Email.
Step 7: Test and Activate Your Workflow
Run a full test to validate the feed processing, audio generation, and RSS refresh before enabling production mode.
- Click Execute Workflow to run the workflow manually from Scheduled Automation Trigger.
- Confirm that Retrieve New Blog Posts returns items and Iterate Blog Items loops through them.
- Verify that Create Audio via API returns audio data and Upload to Drive uploads a file.
- Check that Assemble Podcast Feed and Refresh RSS File update your feed and that Slack Team Alert posts a success message.
- Enable the workflow by toggling Active to run on schedule.
Watch Out For
- Google Drive credentials can expire or need specific permissions. If things break, check the Google Drive node’s credential status in n8n first and confirm the target folder is still accessible.
- If you’re using external audio generation via ElevenLabs, processing times vary. Bump up any wait/timeout settings in the HTTP request if downstream nodes fail on empty responses.
- Default prompts in the AI Script Rewriter can be generic. Add your brand voice early (intro style, sponsor blocks, CTA wording) or you will be editing outputs forever.
Common Questions
About an hour if your accounts and keys are ready.
Yes, but someone needs to be comfortable connecting accounts and testing a run. No coding is required, though you will edit prompts and a few fields like the RSS URL and the Drive folder.
Yes. n8n has a free self-hosted option and a free trial on n8n Cloud. Cloud plans start at $20/month for higher volume. You’ll also need to factor in Azure OpenAI and ElevenLabs usage, which varies with script length and how many episodes you generate.
Two options: n8n Cloud (managed, easiest setup) or self-hosting on a VPS. For self-hosting, Hostinger VPS is affordable and handles n8n well. Self-hosting gives you unlimited executions but requires basic server management.
You can. The easiest place to customize is the AI Script Rewriter prompt (tone, length, intro/outro, sponsor reads) and the Map Audio Fields/Prepare RSS Fields steps where you control titles, filenames, and episode metadata. Some teams add a short approval gate by sending the draft script to Slack first, then only generating audio after a quick “yes.” You can also swap storage from Google Drive to another destination by replacing the Upload to Drive step with your preferred file store.
Usually it’s an invalid or expired ElevenLabs API key, or the HTTP request is pointing at the wrong voice/model for your account. Check the API response inside the Create Audio via API step in n8n, because it typically tells you exactly what’s wrong. Rate limits can also show up when you generate several episodes back-to-back.
If you self-host n8n, there’s no execution cap (your server is the limit). On n8n Cloud, plan limits depend on the tier, so check your account’s execution allowance. Practically, this workflow can handle multiple posts per run because it processes RSS items in batches, but your real constraints are AI cost, audio generation time, and how quickly Google Drive uploads complete.
Often, yes. This workflow benefits from n8n’s flexibility with looping through multiple RSS items, structured AI output parsing, and handling custom HTTP requests to ElevenLabs without bolting on extra paid steps. Self-hosting is a big deal too, because high-volume runs don’t force you into per-task pricing. Zapier or Make can still be fine for a lightweight “one post to one file” setup. If you’re unsure, Talk to an automation expert and we’ll map the cheapest reliable option.
Once this is set up, your blog quietly feeds your podcast pipeline in the background. The workflow handles the repetitive stuff so you can spend your time on ideas, distribution, and actually growing the audience.
Need Help Setting This Up?
Our automation experts can build and customize this workflow for your specific needs. Free 15-minute consultation—no commitment required.
