How to create an actionable email course that gets results

We’ve all been there.

You sign up for an email course with excitement. The first email arrives, and you open it eagerly. But after reading it, you go right back to your usual daily routine.

The same cycle repeats with all the remaining emails.

Before you know it, you’ve consumed a ton of information but haven’t actually learnt anything.

And that’s the problem.

I call it the Implementation Canyon

This is the massive gap between your students knowing what to do and actually doing it.

Your course might contain exactly what they need, but if they don’t take action, they’ll never experience the transformation. This matters because the more results you get them, the more trust you build, and the easier it is to convert them to your paid offers.

Think about it. Which testimonial is more powerful?

• “I learnt so much from this course!”

• “After applying just one tip from this course, I doubled my subscribers in just a week!”

I’m sure you’d pick the second one every time.

Most courses use strategies that miss the mark

They try to encourage more action from students, but often with the wrong approach.

Some fall into the information overload trap. They add more explanations and examples, thinking better understanding leads to implementation, when it actually overwhelms students.

Others provide action items for them to complete. But they’re often not easy to execute, causing them to postpone.

So what actually works?

After analysing dozens of email courses from top creator-educators and running countless experiments with my own, I’ve found these key approaches to be effective in making implementation a no-brainer.

That’s what I’m excited to share with you today.

5 proven approaches for a highly actionable email course

1. Position your course as a challenge

Instead of calling it a course, brand your email sequence as a challenge.

This simple shift changes how students perceive your emails. When someone joins a challenge, they’re mentally committing to active participation rather than passive consumption.

Pat Flynn’s 100 Emails Challenge literally has the word challenge in the course name. This frames the course as a mission that challenges you to go from 0 to 100 email subscribers in three days.

When positioned like this, you tap into natural competitive instincts to complete the given mission. This creates built-in accountability and momentum that traditional courses lack.

2. Start with the result, not the process

Most courses structure their emails in chronological teaching order. They start with the explanation first, then steps, with benefits mentioned as an afterthought.

Instead, start by selling the outcome of taking action first.

In my course, Email Course Blueprint, I start every email by stating Today’s challenge so students immediately know the result they can expect to achieve by the end of the lesson.

By sharing the destination upfront, you create a curiosity gap that gets them excited and eager to take the necessary steps to get there.

3. Specify the exact time to complete each task

Another big barrier to taking action is the fear of unknown time commitment.

When students don’t know how long it’ll take them to complete a certain task, they’ll most likely push it aside.

Ali Abdaal’s Part-Time YouTuber Crash Course does this brilliantly. He explicitly mentions the exact time commitment for the daily homework to set a clear time expectation.

A specific, manageable timeframe allows your students to mentally block off the exact amount of time needed and complete the task immediately rather than postponing it.

4. Build momentum with micro wins

Many courses start with complex, time-consuming assignments that intimidate students right from the beginning.

Instead, you want to give them a task that’s almost impossible to fail since your very first email.

In Day 1 email of Justin Welsh’s Your First $1 Online Challenge, the only homework he asks you to do is to sign up for a digital product platform, which takes just a few minutes to complete.

This ridiculously simple task gives your students a micro win that gets them into the habit of taking action. Each small success builds confidence and makes them more likely to follow through on future tasks until they complete the entire course.

5. Provide resources, not just instructions

Telling your students what to do is good, but what if you give them extra support to make it easier?

One thing you can do is share ready-made resources like a workbook, a template, or a swipe file alongside your instructions.

Amy Hoy’s Launch FTW provides an interactive workbook that walks you through and helps you complete every single step of the lesson.

This makes it super easy for them to execute all the tasks as you reduce the friction of taking action.

Final words

In a world where information is unlimited, your ability to get students to take action is your true competitive advantage.

Anyone can teach concepts. But only creator-educators who know how to drive implementation will create real transformations for their students.

So, start with one of these approaches first.

As your students experience transformation, they’ll become your most loyal customers and enthusiastic referral sources for your business.

It’s time to bridge the Implementation Canyon and turn passive readers into action takers.