In this article, we'll walk you through what an email course is, why it's important, and show you how you can create your own to build an email list full of people who are ready to purchase your training.
The million dollar question: Why an email course?
Brennan Dunn of Double Your Freelancing says, “An email course is just an auto-responder, in a series of emails that are sent over a period of time.” And that’s true. But an email course is much more than that. It also teaches something real, necessary, and related to your area of expertise, delivering lessons through a series of automatically generated emails.
In the image below, notice how Nat Eliason and Justin Mares of Programming for Marketers sent me daily emails for a week to deliver their content.
email course
Each of these emails contained a mini-lesson, and at the end of the series, subscribers were given an invitation to join the full Programming for Marketers course . This is something that can be applied to virtually any topic.
Creating impact.
So what exactly can email courses do for your business? Well, actually, a lot. Email courses can:
1. Collect email addresses
You've probably read this before, but your email list can be the backbone of your business. You launch your course and make money by sending emails to your list about your course. The bigger your list, the greater the number of potential customers.
Offering a free email course is exactly the kind of lead magnet (aka opt-in or freebie) that attracts new subscribers, who also happen to be the right subscribers.
But why are these the right people? It's simple, the audience is qualified. These are people who want a course, they want to learn, and they want to learn what you teach. Naturally, you'll want to make your email course about a topic related to that full course you've already created, but more on that later.
Take them forward
Because you're rapidly growing your list of the right people, we often refer to an email course as the perfect lead magnet.
Check out this checklist for that “perfect lead magnet.”
Does your target audience really want it?
Can it provide a tangible result and instant gratification?
Is there real and perceived value?
Does it solve a specific problem?
Does it establish you as a trusted authority figure?
Do you communicate your benefits through a results-driven headline?
2. Establish a relationship of trust
Although it may not seem like it, selling an online course is often comparable to selling fruit at a farmers market. Except… you’re not at a farmers market. What we mean is that you have to give people a way to see you at your booth, try the product, and trust you before they buy.
And an email course does all of these things. Your email course is a good taste of your product. It's not enough to be a full meal, but it's enough to excite, to spark the senses, especially interest. When you create your course, you need to give away valuable content, the best of the best, so that people know exactly what they're getting from you.
Hello, my name is…
Your email course should also present you as an authority that students want to learn from. It should exemplify your teaching style and show why people might want to choose you over another sensei. It also highlights your authority on the subject, your wealth of knowledge, and what you have to offer.
Remember: you don't have to be an expert in every aspect of your topic, as long as you can demonstrate that you know and can teach the topic in question.
3. Generate demand for your product
As students progress through your email course, they will become more aware of the topic of your training and what they don't know yet but want to learn. This will create more demand for your full course.
Many professionals today use the same techniques in their webinars before presenting their offer for someone to purchase a full course.
4. Save time
All of this will take time to build up. But for the number of subscribers you have the potential to gain and the rate at which they convert, it's a nice margin.
There are a couple of ways you can leverage existing content you have into a great email course. For example, maybe you have a meaty blog post you can repurpose, or you can take the first section of your full course and turn it into that powerful lead magnet.
Delivering smaller chunks of valuable content will give you time to focus on developing your course content while still nurturing your business.
The anatomy of an email course
Creating and launching a successful email course doesn’t have to be complicated. Here, in these five steps, we’ll show you how to narrow down your topic, plan your emails, and get to the sales floor.
Step 1: Decide what to teach
Before you create anything, first decide what to teach. Naturally, you'll want to choose a topic that offers value, showcases your teaching/professional skills, and also generates demand for a full course or your services.
Let’s say for example that your entire course is titled “Planning a Trip to Italy.” You can take the first section of the course, “How to Pack for Europe” or “Best Places to Travel in Italy,” to repurpose as your email course.
Both ideas are valuable in their own right, but they also create demand for a larger course on a comprehensive trip to Italy. You’ve attracted your target audience, solved pain points, and generated gambling data india demand for how to plan a trip to Italy.
Step 2: Give structure to your email course
Most email courses are sent out over a week or two. But the key is to send the content quickly and consistently enough to “warm up” potential new customers. This will let them know who you are and what you do quickly enough to keep them intrigued.
Just remember the ideal ratio : Keep the emails spaced out and with enough value. This only increases the desire for your full course even more.
Brennan Dunn gives some really powerful advice when he talks about email “digestion” time. When spacing out your course, consider how long it might take someone to complete the tasks. If it’s not a one-day thing, opt for a longer course rather than a short one.
Don’t forget that the course is an opportunity to convert your funnel leads into subscribers, excited and ready to buy your course/product or service. You can achieve this by first selling readers on your idea. Move them through valuable content that builds trust in you and the demand, and then use the final emails to provide the solution.
Example #1 of an email course structure:
Confirmation: Confirm your course registration by email
Welcome email: Let people know what they will receive and why it is important (sells the idea of your course and the transformation)
Email 1: Content
Email 2: Content
Email 3: Content
Email 4: Sell your course directly
Email 5: Mention your course again and where people can contact you.
Example #2 of an email course structure:
Confirmation: Confirm your course registration by email
Welcome email: Let people know what they're getting and why it's important, plus give a sneak peek of what's coming next
Mail 1: Content
Mail 2: Content
Mail 3: Content
Mail 4: Content
Mail 5: Content
Email 6: Hard sell your course
Email 7: Mention your course again + invite people to join a community page or Facebook group that you manage.
It is possible to sell a course within this free course, but not all email courses do this. Some follow up the day after the email course closes with a hard sell to join an online training. There is really a lot of room to customize this experience for your audience.
Above all, if you build trust with them and provide real value from the start, they are more likely to make a monetary investment in the future.
Step 3: Create the content for your email course
You know the saying “reduce and reuse.” This certainly applies to more than just your eco-friendly habits. Reducing your work and repurposing your content is strategic for email courses.
If you have content…
Repurpose your blog posts to help build your email course. If there are specific blog posts that have performed well, focus on this information in your email course. For example, take your five most popular blog posts and turn them into your email course. Then, go deeper throughout your full course.
If you don't have content...
Create it using the advice above about what builds trust by providing value and generating demand.
Some email marketing professionals suggest five emails with 1,000 words of content. However, what really matters is tailoring this experience to your audience. Write as much as necessary to lead your audience toward the end goal.
Remember: Know how much support your audience will need and give them exactly what they want.
Step 4: Automate your workflow
An email course relies on one key element: automation. When a new reader finds your content, they can sign up and request your course and get it automatically.
This type of instant gratification makes all the difference. When people get something they want instantly, they get a digital dopamine rush. For potential customers, this helps create an immediate sense of value.
To create a positive experience for your new potential customers, set up your autoresponders. You can do this, for example, with Mailrelay, a powerful tool for creating email automations. And it doesn't require you to have any technical knowledge to do it.
Step 5: Make the sale
As much as an email course is focused on value, you'll eventually want to make the sale. That means thinking about how to take people from interested to highly interested throughout your email series.
Remember how we said you need to sell people on your course idea first? You can do that in your first email.
After you send the automatic registration confirmation, send a welcome email that begins by introducing your topic and why you can help them.
You'll also want to promote your full course within your email course. You can do this by mentioning it at the end of the flow or by sending an email the day after the email course has ended.
Pro Tip : If you're mentioning it in the email course, integrate it naturally into the second email before the last one and add a quick-action bonus—something someone can only get now if they “buy here”—to create a sense of urgency.
Remember: Email courses tend to convert very well, so a higher than normal percentage of your list will purchase than if you had just run a giveaway or discount offer.
Now it's your turn.
What do you think of the steps below? If they sound right, then you're ready to set up your email course, promote it, and spread the word about your free training. You can start by linking it to your blog's main page, as this is a quick way to collect email addresses from any new leads who visit it.
You can also run a social media campaign via Instagram Live, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook.
Remember:
Map out several ideal paths or routes that your audience members can follow to get to your free email challenge landing page. Will they hear about it during your online workshop? Will they see a Facebook ad? Will they receive a link in an email? Will you write multiple blog posts about the topic and tell your audience to “click here for an email challenge that goes into more depth on this” or something along those lines?
At the end of the day, developing multiple funnel options to attract students and potential customers to your course is the ideal way to grow your list and groom your audience. And of course, improve conversion.
