Master the email-based course.
Not all lead magnets are created equal. Set your audience up to be customers with something that exceeds expectations.
5 years of experimentation across 3,000 customers distilled into 19 hard-hitting lessons that top creators have used for lead magnets, standalone products, agency work, and more.
"Actionable takeaways within five minutes of digging into it. Huge value." ā Dickie Bush, Ship30for30
Email-based courses have all the ingredients to be exceptional lead magnetsā¦ Why are so many of them so bad ?
Because there are levels to this.
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Five upsells over five days
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Information you wouldāve learned faster from Google or ChatGPT
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Good ideas in a coherent structure, communicated with clear writing
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Learning experience design that creates the sensation of improvement
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Transformation, autonomy, and moments of surprise that keep them coming back for more
Good lead magnets get leads. Great lead magnets get conversions.
āBite-sized, highly actionable, and engaging. Whether youāre looking to create an evergreen lead gen machine or a profitable digital product, Willās course is a no-brainer. Iāve created almost a dozen email courses over the past 2 yearsāand Iāve used many of his tactics in all of them.ā ā Daniel Bustamente, sellmoreworkless.com
This course is good shit. Maybe the best I've ever seen at this price point.I had a half-written EBC that I am totally redoing based on the content so far. [ā¦]
Moving forward I'm going to regularly promote it as an affiliate. This is something I'd be proud to recommend to anyone I meet.
ā Greg Johnson, Email Magic
I took Will Steiner's course and it was very helpful last year. I highly recommend everyone creating email-based courses to tap into his expertise. ā Gareth B. Davies
If youāre thinking about creating a course (or already have one), then this one is for you. Iāve done his course myself and implemented the lessons both for Khe Hy over at RadReads and in the onboarding for this newsletter. Besides being really valuable, itās also theĀ funniest series of emails Iāve ever received. ā Matthias Frank
I launched my email course a couple of weeks after taking Willās course. 600+ subscribers now. ā Richard C.
I'm extremely proud of the final product, as is Will. I had the same reaction to [my] email course as Vincent Vega did to this $5 milkshake: https://youtu.be/lZzai6at_xA ā Andrew Barry
Itās very meta. But it has motivated me so much that Iām creating a bunch of email courses that Iāll send next year.ā ā Ramses Oudt
Will knows how to make a person reading emails laugh! But that's not all, he really makes email based course sound like a treasure and a secret marketing weapon every business should have. I am now convinced that making a living online is more accessible mastering an EBC. ā Aleksandar Dimitrov
I just wanted to say that the course is its own best advertisement. Itās like Apple packaging - youāre already looking forward to whatās inside because itās so smooth and sturdy and everything just fits really wellā¦ ā Jill M.
You have done a fabulous job of putting together your program and taking me from someone who had literally next to no idea what you were banging on about to being really excited about the idea of creating an EBC as a top option for my own teaching work. Really impressive work. ā Sir Steven Wilkinson
I'm having a great experience with @BigWillieStein's course on making an EBC. Key feature for email is the option for the creator to respond and interact. When you're simultaneously producing a product, this is invaluable. ā Chris W.
Super actionable and got a bunch of ideas. @BigWillieStein is the GOAT of email courses. ā Alex Llull
āWait, whatās an email-based course?ā
- Typically a free or low-cost lead magnet
- Delivered autonomously via email
- Containing an impactful learning experience
- In a digestible format (~500-800 words per day)
- Over a meaningful period of time (5+ days)
- With a CTA that feels anything but sales-y
1. Start fast.
Avoid the hassle of paying for another app, learning a new tool, or dealing with algorithms.
2. Automate.
Unlike a newsletter, cohort-based course, or webinar, an email course runs on its own.
3. Optimize.
Collect, analyze, and integrate feedback and engagement data on the fly.
Student Spotlight
Nate Kadlac, Approachable Design
Nate recently launched āThe 80/20 Design Challengeā. Itās a fantastic 20-day journey that provides a surprisingly deep exploration into the fundamentals of design and dual purposes as a crash course in Figma! Check it out here.
1 course. 19 emails. Everything you need.
Hereās a small sample of the ideas that have helped hundreds of customers.
- A simple, unexpected way to guarantee that all emails land in the primary inbox.
- A simple framework to architect a course that tells a compelling story.
- A dozen principles of learning experience design that create the sensation of learning.
- The quickest, easiest way to write emails that people want to read (and keep reading).
- People want to feel progression ā give it to them with simple but powerful design and visuals.
- Where email automation tools create opportunities to surprise and delight.
- Utilize quick-to-implement templates within a Notion-based course builder tool.
- Detailed video walkthroughs to get you through the technical parts a lot faster.
- Offer something email courses rarely do: self-pacing (using an ingenious email automation hack).
- A whole lot more (including my weird sense of humor sprinkled throughout).
Give your prospects a low-risk, high-impact experience.
A well-designed email course puts your expertise into the perfect, scalable package.
Who are you learning from?
Hello, Iām Will ā hereās my schtick.
- Iāve built a lot of email-based courses. In fact, my first company, Big Laterāone of the internetās earliest and most successful email coursesāwas acquired in 2022.
- I am a professional marketer. My main gig is Head of Brand & Content at Series D fintech, Altruist.
- Iāve experimented a lot with this format. With Over 3,000 EBC customers across multiple courses and a 79% open rate, Iāve learned what works and why.
- I care about value and results. For my customers and myself, I put a premium on education, entertainment, and the constant refinement of my own craft.
- Iām sorry. About the absolute studmuffin mustache (Iām a dad, itās okay).
Is this you?
ā I want to convert more customers to a higher-ticket offering
ā I am looking to get a new concept out the door, fast
ā I want to create a cost-effective demand-gen experience
ā I want to add a lower-tier paid product to their portfolio
ā I want to rapidly increase their subscriber count
ā I simply want to write better emails
Get back the days youād spend figuring this out on your own.
30-day money-back guarantee if you donāt love it (but everyone has so far). If you have any issues or if you are in a developing nation and are looking for parity pricing, shoot me a note šĀ will@emailbasedcourse.com