Course description

Want customers to come back, but tired of shouting into social media? This course shows you, step by step, how to build an email list of people who actually want to hear from you, and write emails they open, read and act on. It's practical and plain English, made for small businesses, sole traders, charities, clubs and anyone starting out in marketing.

It's a full course, not a quick list of tips. There are 10 sections and 57 step-by-step written lessons, and every lesson ends with a practical task for your own business or club. Every section has a practice pack of templates, checklists and planners, and you follow a small Sheffield bakery as it goes from no email list to a welcome series, a monthly newsletter and its first sales campaign.

What you'll learn

• The rules: UK GDPR and PECR in plain English, consent, the soft opt-in and what every marketing email must include.
• Setting up: choosing an email platform, your sender details and email authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) explained simply.
• Growing your list: sign-up forms, free downloads, landing pages, double opt-in and in-person sign-ups.
• Writing: subject lines, preview text, clear body copy and calls to action people click.
• Design: simple templates that work on phones, images, alt text and accessible emails.
• Campaigns: a content calendar, newsletters, promotions and event emails that aren't pushy.
• Automations: welcome series, basket reminders, post-purchase and win-back emails.
• Results: the numbers that matter, A/B tests, segments and staying out of the spam folder.

Two final projects

You'll plan and write your own welcome series, then plan a full month of email with a newsletter and a campaign. You finish with a one-page email marketing plan you can keep using.

Who this course is for

• Small business owners and sole traders who want repeat customers.
• Charity, club and community volunteers who send updates.
• People starting out in a marketing or admin job.
• Anyone who has an email platform account but isn't sure what to send.

How the course works

Read each lesson, then do the Try it task. You don't need to pay for anything: the course works with the free plan of most well-known email platforms, and the planners open in Excel, Google Sheets or similar. This course gives a plain-English overview of the UK rules, not legal advice. You keep lifetime access, so you can come back whenever you plan a new campaign.

What will i learn?

• Understand UK GDPR and PECR basics, consent and the soft opt-in in plain English
• Choose and set up an email platform with the right sender details and authentication
• Grow a list with sign-up forms, free downloads, landing pages and in-person sign-ups
• Write subject lines, preview text and emails that people open, read and click
• Design simple, mobile-friendly and accessible emails and check them before sending
• Plan a content calendar, newsletters, promotions and event campaigns
• Set up a welcome series, basket reminders and other helpful automations
• Read your results, run A/B tests, segment your list and stay out of the spam folder

Frequently asked question