5 Best Lead Generation Courses (Free and Premium) For Beginners

Are you struggling to generate leads consistently enough to sustain your business? Or maybe you have enough leads, but you know your processes could be optimized.

We all know that building a successful business takes time. That’s why it’s critical to invest in one of the best lead generation courses as early as possible.

These online courses teach you how to generate quality leads using optimized lead funnels and a variety of marketing methods. Keep reading to learn about the top-rated courses and which is best for you.

This article contains affiliate links. If you follow them and then make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional expense to you. Thanks for reading!

First Things First – Get Your Free Lead Gen Funnel

Since you’re reading this, I figure there’s a good chance you don’t have your own opt-in funnel yet. Follow this link to get a free copy of my high-converting lead generation funnel.

All you have to do is follow the link and sign up for a free-for-life account with Systeme.io, and the funnel will be loaded into your dashboard.

What is a Lead Generation Funnel?

A lead gen funnel (also called an optin funnel) is a cornerstone in most successful lead generation systems.

It is a landing page or multiple pages equipped with the ability to capture leads. They usually do this by offering lead magnet – a free resource or training in exchange for the visitor’s email address and other information.

Here’s an example of a mockup of one of my lead magnets. It might seem simple, but lots of people have signed up for my list because of it.

best copywriting tools 2022

What is a Lead Generation Course?

A lead generation course is an online training program designed to help entrepreneurs build their businesses. The goal of these programs is to teach you how to use certain tools and techniques to get more people into the top of your sales funnel.

These courses teach lead generation strategy and are frequently offered by companies that provide the software necessary for gathering leads. ClickFunnels, Hubspot, and GetResponse are perfect examples, and their courses are on this list.

What are the two types of lead generation for businesses?

While there are many ways to create a lead generation machine, they can all be boiled down to two strategies; outbound and inbound.

Outbound is when you reach out to prospects using methods like advertising, cold email, and social media networking. Inbound is when you use marketing strategies to make leads reach out to you or give you permission to market to them.

A good lead generation plan can focus exclusively on outbound or inbound or involve both. If you’re a beginner, I recommend picking a single strategy to focus on.

lead generation machine

What is lead generation in simple words?

A Lead generation process means generating new sales opportunities by finding potential customers who are ready to buy from you. It’s a broad term that includes everything from cold calling to advertising to social media campaigns.

While many businesses think they already have plenty of leads, the truth is that most companies aren’t generating enough leads to keep up with demand. Almost everyone needs more leads.

That’s where lead generation comes in. Once you build a list of qualified leads, you can nurture them into paying clients.

Here are the top lead generation courses you should consider taking to grow your business.

The Best Lead Generation Courses for Digital Beginners

Here they are in all of their splendor!

5 Day Lead Challenge by ClickFunnels

The 5 Day Lead Challenge is ideal for anyone looking to make money through affiliate marketing or selling products or services online. It even works for brick and mortar businesses, although it’s most popular among digital entrepreneurs.

You’ll learn how to set up an optin funnel that converts visitors into leads and how to drive traffic into it through content creation. You’ll also discover how to leverage simple videos and familiar tools like Google search.

Most importantly, you’ll learn how to scale your business using sales funnels. This course will show you the exact step-by-step process you need to do to start generating leads today.

Each day in the lead challenge has a singular focus:

  • Day one introduces the overall strategy to build an optin funnel, drive traffic into it with social media marketing, and follow up with email marketing.
  • Day two is all about creating a lead magnet – a free giveaway you can use to tempt your ideal customers to join your email list.
  • Day three gets you building a lead funnel (also called an optin funnel). You can sign up for a free trial of Clickfunnels to do this or use a free-for-life funnel builder like Systeme.io.
  • Day four teaches how to write a follow-up sequence that you can use to generate sales calls or send people directly to your offer.
  • Day five explores free methods for launching your funnel by driving free traffic to your lead magnet.

There is a 40+ minute strategy session for each of the five days and one or more tactical training videos and homework assignments.

Follow this link to sign up for the free 5 Day Lead Challenge now!

Email Marketing Certification by HubSpot

While the lead challenge is an amazing course, it doesn’t have enough time to take an in-depth look at the scientific art of email marketing. If you want to dive deeper into the #1 means of communicating with your leads, I highly HubSpot’s email marketing certification.

This marketing certification covers everything from developing a concrete strategy to the fundamentals of implementing your plans. It includes:

  • The basics of email marketing
  • Understanding your audience and crafting an appropriate plan
  • Practical application using HubSpot’s free software

And more. There are nine lessons, each with a quiz, and nearly four hours of video content broken into 28 easy-to-consume pieces.

Upgrade your email game with HubSpot’s certification today!

One Funnel Away Challenge by ClickFunnels

This is the first paid course on the list, but at $100 it is quite affordable (and worth more than 10x its ticket price). The funnel challenge builds upon the base established in the 5 Day Lead Challenge and expands upon the methods it teaches.

I’ll say this about the funnel challenge; make sure you have at least 1.5-2 hours of free time for each of the 30 days over which it takes place. If you don’t have at least 1.5 hours, you will struggle to watch all the training, let alone keep up with the homework.

This 30-day challenge course includes:

  • Daily strategy videos, tactical training, and homework assignments
  • A free trial to Clickfunnels and free access to FunnelScripts
  • Lifetime access to a Facebook group, including all of the videos

And much more. As usual, Russell Brunson and the team at ClickFunnels completely over-delivers with this course. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on digital courses and training programs, and I’ve never found one that is better than the funnel challenge for teaching how to build a successful sales funnel.

Follow this link to see when the next round of the One Funnel Away Challenge starts!

lead generation network

Inbound Marketing Certification by HubSpot

I much prefer inbound marketing compared to outbound. I love creating content such as blog posts and YouTube video tutorials and using them to drive prospects into my value ladder. 

If you prefer inbound vs. outbound like me, then HubSpot’s free inbound certification is worth a look. It teaches:

  • The foundations of inbound
  • HubSpot’s “flywheel” method of inbound marketing
  • How to get started

This course is a quick one, with a total duration of less than 2 hours spread across 6 lessons and 15 videos. It might be short, but it is definitely worth your time. It’s one of the first high-quality free digital marketing courses I ever took, and it changed my perspective on the quality of free education.

Go here to sign up for HubSpot’s free inbound certification!

More Great Lead Generation Courses (SkillShare)

SkillShare is another company that offers a lot of great online training resources. They provide a range of different courses, ranging from web design and development to business management and leadership.

While SkillShare’s core offer is a premium membership with access to all of their content, you can get a month or two for free by signing up using my link.

While the quality of SkillShare’s courses isn’t quite as high as the others on the list, it is the most versatile education platform because of the variety of instructors who publish on it regularly.

Whether you want to learn lead generation via blogging, ads, social media, or something else, SkillShare almost certainly has something that will help.

Go here to secure your free trial to SkillShare premium!

Conclusion: Optin Funnels Are Among the Best Ways to Grow a Business

Very few businesses won’t benefit massively from a steady flow of high-quality leads. Once you have that, it removes the stress from other processes such as sales and marketing. 

Ready to get started with one of these lead generation programs? First, get your copy of my free optin funnel along with a free-for-life Systeme.io account by following this link.

Frequently Asked Questions About Lead Gen (FAQ)

Here are some frequently asked questions, along with my answers.

Where can I learn lead generation?

The best place to learn lead gen is using the courses outlined in this article. I recommend starting with the 5 Day Lead Challenge and moving on to whatever seems logical from there.

What is lead generation used for?

It is used for bringing more fresh prospects into the top of a business’ marketing funnel.

How do I start lead gen?

Get your copy of my free optin funnel, customize it in your Systeme.io account, and then create a lead magnet you know your ideal customers will love.

Join my community!

best affiliate programs for content creators

Want first access to my content and free additional resources? Tap the button to join my online community.

Join Now

About Alex

Copywizard and AI whisperer, digital and affiliate marketer - helping you build the business in your brain.