How to Plan the Concept of Your Free Email Course
Affiliate: All opinions are unaltered and my own.
Ok, so you decided that you’re ready to plan the concept of your free email course. Woot Woot! Major kudos to you for taking that big somewhat scary leap into the next stage of the blogging world.
If you’ve been around for a minute then you might remember when I stressed the importance of an email list in my 50+ blogging essentials list. That sentiment remains the same but when I haven’t spent as much time talking about is the fact that creating an email course is an excellent way to get more mileage out of the content you’ve already created.
This doesn’t mean that I’m giving you the green light to just pull a simple cut and paste job. There is a bit more work involved than just copying a pre-made blog post or two into a few emails. However, I am saying that you can use this as a launch pad for the new course you create.
I used that tactic for both of the free creative courses I currently have on offer. The 7Master Creative Consistency course and my new Clean Creation Challenge (Launching May 8th). In both scenarios, I pulled some of the content from my past work, expanded on it and added a few special elements that you can’t get anywhere else.
If you want to plan the concept of your free email course there are several different ways to go about it. However, no matter what direction you take you should always consider the five points below.
Decide Your Topic & Goal
Seems obvious, right? You have to settle on a topic and a goal. Depending on whether you have a strict niche or if you have a broader audience this might be fairly easy. Either way, just make sure that your audience actually wants what you’re selling. Don’t waste your time making a course that no one is searching for, that no one needs and that no one has asked for. (Click to Tweet)
If you can’t come up with a topic right off the bat don’t worry. Check the comments section your related posts. Straight up ask them on social media or conduct a reader survey. If you offer free downloads see which ones garner the most interest and if you sell products pick your top seller.
Once you have a topic decide on your goal. When someone completes your course what do you want the end result to be? Do you want them to buy something? Sign up for another incentive or event? Or do you simply want to add value to their life by teaching them something? Decide and keep this in mind as you move forward.
Discover Your Unique Angle
Okay, now you have your topic and goal settled. Cool. What’s your unique angle? Why should someone want to sign up for your exact course and another’s? There are probably thousands of free courses on “How to Start a Blog.” Find a way to make yours stand out either by infusing your brand persona, targeting a special subset of people, or going above and beyond in what you offer.
For example, when I made my Master Creative Consistency Course I wanted to add as much value as possible. So instead of keeping the course to a simple text only set of emails, I took the free offer to the next level. I made 8 audio lessons, 2 workbooks, a weekly spreadsheet, and schedule.
Often I would get into conversations with readers about not having the time to consistently create what they cared about and so I wanted to do my best to help that. I wanted to really give give give and that was the main goal.
Decide Your Timeframe
This one is so important! When you think about how to plan the concept of your free email course you have to consider the timeframe. How long do you want it to be? What timeframe will your audience respond to?
Remember that what you feel like doing and what your audience might want may not necessarily line up. (Click to Tweet) For instance, you may want to make a 7 part course, delivered over the course of 7 days but maybe your readers would prefer something more in depth. Or, maybe your audience has a shorter attention span and anything longer than 5 days is too much.
When I developed the Clean Creation Challenge I wanted to give people a chance to implement the things they learned from each lesson. My audience is made up of busy creatives who have a lot of balls in the air. They may not be able to get everything done each and every day all at once. So for this course, they’ll receive 5 emails over the course of 10 days. That way they have a day between each lesson to take action!
Determine Your Platform
Now is the time to make sure your service provider is the right fit. Not every email platform is created equal and some servicers don’t make it as seamless as possible for you to use advanced features.
For my free email courses, I use MailerLite. I like that their platform is extremely user-friendly and allows you to use automation, create landing pages and make popups. Other providers require that you pay a monthly fee for features like this but for up to 1,000 subscribers you get access to this for free.
Think about what’s important to you and decide which one works best for you. Most providers do offer automation but not all will suit your needs.
Decide Your Commitment Level
Earlier I mentioned that I threw in a bunch of new content like audio lessons and worksheets to my course. Make sure you’re only giving as much as you can actually commit to. (Click to Tweet) The worse thing you can do is overpromise and underdeliver. The second worse thing you can do is promise more than you have time to actually produce.
You don’t want to end up staying up late every night making the course content that’s due to go live the next morning. Most likely your work will come out subpar and you’re also bound to make more mistakes than you would if you had given yourself more time.
Decide how much you can actually commit to and how much time you’ll need to accomplish it. There is no point in mastering how to plan the concept of your free email course if you set unrealistic goals for yourself. Give yourself the grace to be able to produce stellar content. After all, your audience deserves quality work, not a rush job.
Stuck on the Technical Side of This?
I hope you’re all set to go! If you’ve got the content down and know how to plan the concept of your free email course but you’re struggling with the tech, I’ve got you. Next month I’ll walk you through the exact technical steps of how to take your course from idea to a list building automation machine!
I’ll break down how to create a landing page, subscriber group and an automation workflow using my platform of choice, MailerLite. Until then, grab your free workbook and develop a free course that both you and your audience will love!
What do you think of these tips on how to plan the concept of your free email course?