What’s the Best Length? (For an Email Course, What Did You Think I Meant?)

Inquiring minds want to know:

How long should my email course be?

I have an easy rule of thumb that I usually follow.

But before I just give you a rule to follow mindlessly, here’s the thought process behind it.

Now I’m going to assume for this discussion that you’re creating your course because you want to make sales.

If that’s true, then keep in mind that the main purpose of your email course is NOT to provide a comprehensive tutorial on a specific topic.

(This is a common mistake—many courses fail because they try to cover way too much ground and wind up overwhelming the subscriber.)

Instead, you’re looking to show your reader that they have a problem—a BIG problem that needs to be addressed pronto.

And, you’re looking to establish yourself as an expert who can help them solve that problem.

Part of establishing yourself as an expert is through the strategies, principles and techniques you teach in your course.

But if you whomp your subscribers over the head with an epic, multi-month tome of an email course, you’ll actually just get in your own way.

My approach with this is to keep the course tight and focused…

While also showing up frequently enough in your subscriber’s inbox that they start to recognize you as an authority on your topic.

So my rule of thumb for the length of an email course is:

Minimum of 5 days, maximum of 10, delivered daily.

Less than 5 and you won’t have enough exposure to “imprint” on your new subscriber.

More than that and it starts to sound overwhelming:

“Get my free, 41-day email course, ‘The Machine Learning Jumpstart Class.'”

Yikes.

Just remember that the real objective here is NOT to cover everything they could possibly want to know.

You’re looking to deliver some valuable concepts in a TIGHT timeframe and quickly imprint yourself on your new subscriber.

When you solve a problem quickly like this and give them a positive experience, they’ll be more than ready to take the next step with your paid product.

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