This is the most epic post I've ever written.

It's designed to hand you a full blown marketing strategy for your Ecommerce business that you can implement in less than 7 days.

It's highly actionable, which means you will have to do some work. Work yields results.

You want results.

To help assist you, I've put together a fill-in-the-blank document that can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

If this post fails to help you, it's because you didn't try.

The results you receive are 100% in your hands.

Let's get started.

The Master Plan

This is the master blueprint we'll be following to build your Ecommerce marketing strategy.

I urge you not to skip ahead to the “cool” stuff that involves automation, tracking, and other nifty tools. Yes, that stuff is fun; however, if you don't have the groundwork laid, you'll wind up spinning in circles and produce minimal results.

So, please, take the 60 minutes to define your customer and your business before moving forward!

Scenarios

I'll be using a couple model businesses in order to provide examples.

• Ecommerce Store #1 – sells cordless power tools like drills, circular saws, blowers, etc. [example site]
• Ecommerce Store #2 – sells women's clothing and accessories [example site]

Note: I have not worked for the example sites, they're simply to give you a visual.

Define Your Customer

There are many ways to define your customer. You can spend days developing the “perfect” customer avatar by conducting research, interviews, and brainstorm sessions, all while filling out a “map”.

Taking the time to do all this stuff is incredibly valuable; however, I know you … and you're not going to do it, so here are a few questions you NEED to answer before moving on:

• What's your ideal customer's name? You need to give them a name!
  • James
  • Meghan
• Where do they hangout? / How can you get in front of them? Online, offline, certain websites, forums, Facebook groups, etc.
  • Google, news websites (CNN, Fox News), direct mail
  • Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook
• Where are they in the journey that is life? Baseline demographics, thoughts, desires, fears, etc.
  • Middle aged, established career (mid-level), has a house to maintain, a couple of kids, spends free-time with family and playing tennis.
  • Just graduated college, attempting to land dream job, single, wants to contribute to society, loves hanging out with friends on the weekends, enjoys adventure.
• How do they see themselves? / How do they present themselves?
  • The provider and protector for his family. Dedicated family man. Knows what's going on in the world and has ideas how to fix it. Well read, smartest person in the room.
  • One cool, motivated, and forward thinking gal. Self disciplined, hardworking, and able to handle herself. Stylish and on trend. Successful.
• How well do they know your products and industry? Do they “live” it, are they “new” to this world, etc.?
  • Knows about tools and which does what; however, doesn't know what makes one model “better” than the other.
  • This is her innate style. She knows the products like the back of her hand because she's shopped here many times.

That was easy, right?

All I'm looking for is a simple stream of thought about your ideal customer, that's it!

Customer FAQ:

Q: I have more than one ideal customer, how should I handle this?

A: Yes, you likely do have more than one ideal customer which is great, you'll ask yourself the same questions. I have two recommendations:

1) Make sure they're uniquely different. Make sure where they hangout is different, where they are in the journey of life is different, and how they see themselves is different.

2) Start with your top 1 or 2 ideal customers. The ones that are 80% of your business. You can always add more “ideal customers” later on, and I recommend getting the low hanging, obvious fruit first.

To Do

Answer the questions above.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Define Your Business

While we're about to talk extensively about the products and services your business offers, there's more to your business than what you sell.

You likely have a reason for being, a “why”, a mission, a purpose … something that made you launch your business.

Even if you originally started your business for the sole purpose of making money, after having customers and serving people, you've likely started to develop a purpose or mission – and that's OK.

Examples:

• We make tool buying simpler. Our customers don't have to worry if X battery fits with Y tool, they'll be able to easily identify what goes with what.
• We offer women unique, fashionable, and fun clothing that can't be found anywhere else.

Your Business's Personality

Unless you're a massive, global brand that's openly traded on the stock market and has hundreds of thousands of people to keep happy, you have the opportunity to stand out by injecting personality into your business.

In fact, in this day and age with competitors like Amazon, you're going to need personality to stand out from the crowd.

You can't simply be a generic Ecommerce business; you'll eventually starve.

Tips For Figuring Out Your Business's Personality

• You be the personality. This one is pretty simple and obvious, especially if you're operating as a solopreneur. Let your personality shine!

That first one was a “gimme” as it's the easiest; however, if you have multiple people creating content for your business, you really need to take the time to figure out your business's personality so it stays consistent. Here are a few ways:

• 1 or 2 steps ahead. Remember when you defined, “How your ideal customer sees themselves”? Be that person, but one or two levels ahead so you're positioned as the authority.
  • For example, I'm a dedicated family man and provider for my family, just like you; however, I'm also an independent contractor so I know these tools like the back of my hand
  • Another example, I'm a cool, motivated, and forward thinking gal that's self-disciplined, just like you; however, I've moved up the career path and am now a manager that's responsible for hiring, so I know what employers want to see.
• Be just like your ideal customer. It's a fact, people like people like themselves. Be like your ideal customer on every level, “where they are in the journey that is life” and “how they see themselves”.

Your Products And Services

This step is important.

With Ecommerce businesses, there are two ways to think about your products and services:

1. At the point of sale
2. As a whole

Every Ecommerce business NEEDS to have the point of sale “stuff” figured out because it's the fastest and easiest way to increase order size.

The “as a whole” concept may or may not apply to your business in its current form. It's the holistic, high level strategy that encompasses your entire business.

At The Point Of Sale

You're going to have to map out your products, services, and how they're interconnected sooner or later and if you don't take the time to map them out now, you'll likely do a half-assed job later while you're piecing your funnel together.

So, for your sake, take the 30 minutes to get these pieces down!

Steps:

1. Write down your top selling product across 3 different categories
   • Example, the “Journeyman Drill” in drills, the “Apprentice Saw” in circular saws, and the “Master Blower” in blowers
   • Example, the “Blue Dress” in dresses, the “Black Yoga Pants” in active wear, and the “Floral Print” in tops
2. Write down the next level product up and/or down from the top selling product (up-sells and down-sells)
   • Example, for the drills, there's also the “Apprentice Drill” (cheaper than the “Journeyman Drill”) and the “Master Drill” (more expensive than the “Journeyman Drill”)
   • Example, for the active wear, there's also “Black Yoga Pants With A Stripe Down The Leg” (more expensive than regular ol' yoga pants)

Note: Sometimes it's hard to identify a “clear” up-sell and/or down-sell for a particular product, and that's okay. Sometimes the product is what the product is – there aren't higher or lower quality versions of it, it happens. Don't fret over not having up-sells and/or down-sells, as there will still likely be cross-sells!

Idea: Sometimes, more or less of a product can be the up-sell/down-sell.

3. Write down all the products that complement the 3 product categories (cross-sells)
   • Example, drills (category) – drill bits, extra batteries, eye protection, hearing protection, stud finder
     • circular saws – saw blades, extra batteries, eye protection, level, ruler, etc.
   • Example, active wear (category) – shoes, watches, hair bands, sports bras
     • dresses – shoes, watches, purses, belts, sunglasses

WARNING: You can get too into the weeds here, especially if you offer a lot of products. I highly recommend keeping complementary products at the category level unless it makes absolute sense to go down to the product level. For example, let's say there's a magical drill bit that only works with one specific drill, and you really want to sell those drill bits, then OK. Otherwise, keep it at the category level or you'll drive yourself insane.

At this point, you should have 3 to 9 products written down from 3 different categories as well as a handful of complementary products for the 3 categories.

As A Whole

As I alluded to earlier, the Value Ladder concept I'm about to explain may not align with your business in its current form.

If your business doesn't “fit” this concept right now, it's fine. You should still take the time to develop a vague idea of what you “think” you want. You'll still have some direction this way.

Other businesses may already embody this concept, which is awesome! However, I still want you to read this section and write down what you have in place.

The concept of a Value Ladder, is simply your products and services mapped in ascending order of value and price that is normally delivered over the customer's lifetime with you.

Think of it like this:

I'll address Lead Magnets in greater detail later in this post; however, for the time being, think of them as a “freebie” (like a coupon) you give to prospective leads and customers in exchange for their contact information.

Initial Offers are lower priced products that are supposed to be irresistible and “get people in the door” and give people a “taste” of what's to come. Normally, the goal is to break even on initial offer products.

1st Tier Offers are the first set of products that will net you a profit. They're probably less than $200 and likely bring in 80% of the sales.

2nd Tier Offers are the “next” level products to the 1st Tier. They're normally “what people need” after the 1st tier has been completed.

Top Tier Offers are the “end all, be all” of what you have to offer. They're the kitchen sink and the best you've got.

Examples:

Cordless Power Tools Store

• Lead Magnet: 20% off coupon
• Initial Offer(s): House Maintenance For Dummies book, simple project kits to build with kids (like a birdhouse kit)
• 1st Tier Offer(s): Cordless power tools (drills, circular saws, blowers, etc)
• 2nd Tier Offer(s): High end toolboxes, work benches, etc.
• Top Tier Offer(s): Custom built workshop sheds

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

• Lead Magnet: 20% off coupon
• Initial Offer(s): Sunglasses, T-Shirts
• 1st Tier Offer(s): Sun dresses, swim suits
• 2nd Tier Offer(s): Business attire (suits, dresses)
• Top Tier Offer(s): Formal wear, wedding dresses, etc

I want to clarify something, people do not have to ascend in this fashion. Some people will show up and want the Top Tier product right away – that's awesome, sell it to them! Other people will only buy 1st Tier Offers, while others will only buy the Initial Offer and then vanish. It happens.

However, in an ideal situation, you'll want to be able to provide value to your customers at every level you possibly can. If there's going to be something else they need from your type of business, you might as well be the one to give it to them, or they'll wind up going elsewhere!

To Do

• Write down your business's “why” (why do you exist?).
• Write down, “who” your business is going to be (its persona).
• Write down your Point Of Sale products (you should have 3 to 9 products [top seller + up-sell/down-sell] written down from 3 different categories as well as a handful of complementary products for the 3 categories.)
• Write down what your Value Ladder is, what you “think” it is, or where you want it to go.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Delivery

As an Ecommerce business, your “delivery system” is already setup, ie. your store.

However, there's a couple things you should do RIGHT NOW that'll directly increase revenue:

1) Add Up-Sells, Cross-Sells, Down-Sells, And Bonuses To Orders

“People who bought this also purchased this.”

“Don’t Miss This Limited Time Offer!”

“Spend $3.37 more to qualify for free shipping.”

You’ve seen these lines used many times in many places. Why? Because they work. Are you using them?

If you mapped out your “Point Of Sale” products (the top selling products in 3 different categories and their up-sell/down-sell versions, plus the cross-sell products for the 3 categories) like you were supposed to 😉 , this part should be a piece of cake!

Depending on your business, how it’s setup, and the platforms you use – the implementation method will change; however, it’s certainly worth figuring out!

Fortunately, many shopping cart platforms have this functionality built in or have plugins that make this a piece of cake:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• SamCart
• MemberMouse
• ClickFunnels
• ClickBank

2) Add A Cart Abandonment Email Series

According to the Baymard Institute, 67.19% of shopping carts are abandoned.

67.19%!!!!!

While there are a hundred reasons a person doesn’t finish checking out – their credit card is upstairs and they’re downstairs, they’re at work and don’t want to enter their credit card info on a work computer, etc … one thing remains true, you’re missing out on sales.

After reading through about 15 case studies on cart abandonment recovery, it appears roughly 10% or more abandoned carts can be “won back” by simply sending a few reminder emails. A plugin can handle this automatically.

Like the up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, and bonus options, the “how” will change depending on your system; however, being able to recover 10%+ of your lost sales makes it well worth figuring out!

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• ClickFunnels

To Do

• Add up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells, and bonuses to your store
• Add a cart abandonment email series to your store

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Meat”

The “Meat” represents all the content your sales system consists of. This includes …

• Sales Pages / Product Listings
• Squeeze Pages / Landing Pages / LeadPages (whatever you want to call them)
• Emails
• Blog Posts
• Social Media Posts
• Everything…

All content needs to have a purpose. Whether the purpose is to sell a product or service, capture contact information, position yourself and your business as the authority, make someone laugh, whatever … it needs a reason for being.

If you're doing things to “check the box” or putting out bland, generic content – STOP! You're wasting your time.

I see too many businesses start blogs and write utterly useless, uninteresting crap. Or, even worse, they pay some guy or gal in the Philippines $6 for 1,000 words of pure, unintelligible garbage to try and “please” the almighty Google.

You're not going to please Google and you're not going to please people (which are more important than Google as they have the cash).

Everything you do and create needs to have a purpose.

The best way to understand this “purpose” is by studying the art and science of copywriting.

In simple terms, copywriting is a form of written or spoken word that convinces people to take action – ie. buy stuff.

It's very intentional and purposeful.

You Need Copywriting Skills

While you will not develop great copywriting skills overnight, or possibly ever if you don't work at it, it's still a concept you need to understand.

Knowing how to spur action with written word is critical to your Ecommerce store's success.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now and get to some actionable stuff you can apply today!

Copywriting Tip #1

Write to your ideal customer.

Always consider where they are in life, what they're going through, how they see themselves, and how well they know your products and industry.

If your ideal customer is someone that's brand new to your business and industry, you'll likely need to be more educational and descriptive in your content, as opposed to someone who “knows” your business and industry. If your ideal customer “knows” you, you can be more entertaining, share inside jokes, etc.

Copywriting Tip #2

Write from your business's persona (you should have figured this out earlier 😉 ) – write how they talk.

This means using pronouns like I, me, you, we, he, she, etc.

This means using slang, jargon, and emotion like … (ellipses), YOLO!, naw, etc. (Of course, use what makes sense for your ideal customer. If you sell life saving medical supplies, being “goofy” probably isn't the best idea)

This means asking questions of the reader like, “Do you understand this copywriting “stuff”?”

People like doing business with people, so, be a person!

Don't be a generic machine. You're not a news source, you don't need to be some “better than thou” figure that doesn't have emotion.

Copywriting Tip #3

Remember when you defined where your ideal customer is in the journey of life and how they see, or present, themselves? (I hope so!)

What you need to do is take “where they are now”, “how they see themselves”, and bridge that gap with your product or service.

This is a marketing formula, aptly called, the Before-After-Bridge.

And, just because it's called the “Before-After-Bridge” formula doesn't mean you necessarily have to structure your words in that manner. Ultimately, you want to connect your product to how people see themselves.

Examples:

• You may be tired after a long day at work; however, your kids are going to love building this birdhouse kit with you!
• We know you're one hardworking, successful gal. But, do you look it? Show up to the office in our Blue Dress and look the part!

Copywriting Tip #4

Another marketing formula that works wonders and is easy to understand is the Problem-Agitate-Solve formula.

It first defines the problem, then addresses the pain/feelings/emotions caused by that problem, and then solves the problem with your product.

Examples:

• Is your wife nagging you about hanging pictures on the wall? Grab our Journeyman Drill with a free level and ensure your pictures are straight! No more nagging!
• Tired of job interview after job interview? That can really hurt your confidence going into future interviews, but there's good news! If you look good, you feel good – our Black Pant Suit will give you the confidence you need to really nail your next interview!

Copywriting Tip #5

List the features of your product, then say “which means”, and write that answer down. Ask “which means” again. And again. Pick the best one and list it as a bullet on your sales page, product listing, etc.

Examples:

Cordless Power Drill

• “Lightweight and compact design” which means “it's easy to maneuver” which means “it easily fits into narrow spaces” which means “there's nowhere too small or narrow for you to drill a precise hole”.
• “Lithium Ion Technology & 20V MAX” which means “the battery lasts 10 hours on a single charge” which means “you don't have to worry about charging it every time you want to use it” which means “it's ready when you are”.

Yoga Pants

• “87% Nylon 13% Spandex” which means “they feel nice and stretchy” which means “you'll be comfortable when you workout” which means “you'll get in a good workout and reach your fitness goals quicker”
• “Moisture wicking” which means “you won't be basting in your own sweat” which means “you won't smell bad” which means “people will appreciate you”

Ok, sorry about that last one … I feel weird talking about women's yoga pants and should have chosen another product, alas I did not! However, I believe the concept was still clear.

The “Other” Stuff

If you understand copywriting, or at least the concept of producing content with purpose – the “other” stuff is technical.

How to create opt-in forms, pages, design emails, etc. is all technical. Sure, it takes time to learn and understand; however, it's not what's truly important because tools will come and go.

There will always be a new social media platform, or a new way to contact your customers, or a better Ecommerce platform, but copywriting and having a purpose behind your content is what truly matters. It's the meat and potatoes.

Learn everything you need to about the “other” stuff by joining The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

To Do

Armed with your newly found copywriting skills I want you to review the 3-9 products you identified earlier (the top selling products in 3 different categories and their up-sell/down-sell versions) and, if they're lacking on copy – update them!

As time permits, do the same for the complementary products you identified earlier.

Ultimately, you should review and update all product listings and sales pages.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Simple” Sales Funnel

The “Simple” Sales Funnel or “Straight Line Sales Funnel” is simply a fancy way of saying “email autoresponder series.”

An email autoresponder series is a series of emails automatically sent to a subscriber.

While email autoresponder series and automations can be very complex, as we'll discuss later with the “Advanced” Sales Funnels section, in this “Simple” section we're only going to talk about sending emails in a straight line.

Think of it like this:

What's The Point?

I'm glad you asked! We're building this email series for a few reasons:

• This email series will automatically build and maintain a relationship with your leads and customers while simultaneously converting them to your way of thinking
• This will serve as the backbone for more complex email automations we'll later build on
• Your personal understanding. If you have trouble making emails trigger in a straight line, when we get into more advanced topics you'll really struggle

How Many “Simple” Sales Funnels Should You Have?

Most of the time, you will only need one. The type of content you send in this funnel will be interesting to people interested in your type of business or industry.

For example:

• People who are interested in home repairs
• People who are interested in women's fashion

There are a few instances where you may need 2 or more, for example if you sell nutritional supplements, your customers are tremendously different. One half of your market may only be interested in losing weight while the other half is interested in gaining weight and putting on muscle (complete opposites). In this case, you would likely want 2 different “simple” sales funnels.

If you have more than one “simple” sales funnel, you'll need to segment individuals at the very beginning by asking them “who” they are.

What Type Of Content Should You Send?

Remember, the point of this particular sales funnel is to build and maintain a relationship and convert them to your way of thinking.

To accomplish this, send 3 types of emails:

1. Educational – emails that teach people how to do something, about the market, about what's happening, etc.
2. Entertaining – emails that are “fun” like inside jokes, critiques, testimonials, events, etc.
3. Earning – emails that remind people you sell stuff like deals, top selling products, etc.

I've aptly named these emails the “3 E Emails”.

Now, this doesn't mean an email can only be 1 of the Es at a time. Like, you can only send a boring how-to tutorial, or only send a silly cat video. That's not what I mean. Your how-to tutorial should be entertaining and can even sell your product at the end. That's like killing 3 birds with one stone!

However, each email should have 1 core focus.

Is the primary aim of the email to educate, entertain, or earn?

• Educational emails tend to build relationships while converting people to your way of thinking
• Entertaining emails tend to build and maintain relationships
• Earn emails tend to ring the cash register

Examples:

Cordless Power Tools Store

• Educational: Send a link to a video on how to properly find a stud in the wall. Have an entertaining host and sell a stud finder at the end of the video.
• Entertaining: Share a success story where a father and his son built a birdhouse together with one of the kits you sell; they then enjoyed watching the birds build their nest and watching the babies learn to fly.
• Earn: Here's a 10% off coupon available for the next 48 hours.

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

• Educational: Talk about what's “in fashion” this season. Be entertaining in the process while also selling the latest fashion.
• Entertaining: Send a “who wore it better” with side by side comparisons of people wearing your clothes. Depending on your brand and personality, this could be really silly like comparing a female in a dress compared to a male in a dress.
• Earn: Here are our top selling items across 3 different categories.

Where Do You Get Content?

Ideally, your emails will bring people back to your website and your store. Of course, this requires a blog or pages setup to present the content.

If you lack your own content, I recommend you change that ASAP.

And remember, content doesn't necessarily mean blogging. While you still want to display the content on your site to “bring people back”, it can mean, video, audio (podcasts), images, etc.

For example, if my brother is your target audience, blogging is a terrible idea. He doesn't read anything and you need to draw him in with video.

HOWEVER, and it's a pretty big one – Google can't really “watch” videos. It won't matter how good your video content is from a search engine perspective. Blogging is still the #1 way to rank in the search results.

The Most Epic Blogging Strategy Of All Time

1. Write the most epic post for your ideal customer, as it relates to how they see themselves and how it relates to your business/industry. If that is too esoteric, think of it as, “How does your business help people go from point A (where they are now) to point B (where they want to be/how they see themselves).” (3,000+ words)
   • 101 Home Improvements You Can Do With Just A Few Tools
   • Your Complete Summer 2016 Fashion Guide
2. Write more in-depth articles for each individual section of your “epic” post. (500-1,000 words)
   • 9 Steps To Fixing A Leaking Faucet
   • Why Bright Colors Are “In” This Summer
3. Write case studies, testimonials, reviews, etc. and/or create videos and/or pdf checklists for each of the “more in-depth” articles. (500-1,000 words and/or 3-5 minute video and/or a 1 page checklist)
   • A video tutorial that shows how to fix a leaky faucet
   • An article and picture gallery of 10 “hot” celebrities wearing bright colors

Of course, you link your products as they “fit” the particular articles.

How Often Should You Email?

As often as is necessary.

Wow, Nathan – that's helpful.

This answer varies from industry to industry; however, normally – two to four times a week. The first 3-5 emails are sent daily, no matter what, because this is when the lead is “hot”.

During the “Advanced” Sales Funnel portion, there will be more instances where you email daily because the lead will “tell” you they're “hot” again.

To Do

• Write down 3 EPIC blog post ideas

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Lead Magnets

A Lead Magnet can best be thought of as the freebie or offer that motivates individuals to give you their contact information.

Many times, in the Ecommerce world, a coupon or discount works well as a Lead Magnet.

A few more Lead Magnet examples include videos, guides, checklists, and webinars.

There are two types of Lead Magnets:

1. General
2. Specific

General Lead Magnets

A General Lead Magnet is attractive to anyone who visits your Ecommerce store and is usually presented as a form on most pages of your site. The form can be a lightbox, bar/ribbon, landing mat, sidebar, slide-in, etc.

For example:

Anyone that visits this particular store will likely be interested in 10% off their order.

Specific Lead Magnets

A Specific Lead Magnet is attractive to individuals interested in a certain product or category of products and many times is presented as a Squeeze Page (although, this isn't always the case).

What's a “Squeeze Page”?

A Squeeze Page is a page dedicated to one thing and one thing only – “squeezing” the email address (and possibly other contact info) out of a visitor, turning them into a lead.

Here's an example:

That's an entire page. The only option is to click the “Get The Coupon” button which opens an opt-in form and requests an individual's first name and email.

Only people interested in receiving that specific flashlight would be interested in requesting the coupon.

99% of the time, paid traffic should be sent to dedicated Squeeze Pages like the example

You can follow up with emails that “push” the particular item to individuals that don't buy right away.

In addition to Squeeze Pages, you can present opt-in forms that present Specific Lead Magnets.

For example, if someone is looking at cordless drills, you can present a lightbox opt-in form with a Specific Lead Magnet for 20% off the purchase of a cordless drill.

Coupons Aren't Always The Best Option

I know I just mentioned 2 different Lead Magnets – 1 general, 1 specific that were both coupons; however, coupons may not be the best Lead Magnet.

The only time a coupon is needed is when someone is about to checkout. Not everyone wants to checkout right away. Sometimes, people just want more information. If you offered a coupon to those just looking for information, you'd miss out on collecting their contact information, building a relationship, and making a sale.

The point is, sometimes a video or checklist lead magnet will perform better in the long run than a coupon.

To Do

• Write down 3 General Lead Magnet ideas
• Write down 3 Specific Lead Magnet ideas (probably for your top selling products)

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel is driven by interests, hence, it's other name the “Interest Driven Sales Funnel.”

Essentially, people join your email list and based upon which links they click, pages they view, and lead magnets they request – you'll send relevant emails in order to try and sell a product.

Here's what an Interest Driven Sales Funnel looks like:

As you see on the left hand side you have your “Simple” or “Straight Line” Sales Funnel (also called the “Main Series”).

As previously mentioned, this autoresponder series acts as the backbone for your Interest Driven Sales Funnel. As it sends emails that follow the 3 E strategy, it automatically pays attention to how people respond to certain emails.

If people respond a certain way (show interest), a “Micro Sales Funnel” (Product / Service Sales Funnel) will automatically trigger. The point of the Micro Sales Funnel is to sell a product or service.

You will likely have lots of Micro Sales Funnels. Ideally, one for each category of products you offer and in some instances, individual products will have their own.

Here's an example of one:

A Micro Sales Funnel may differ from the above example based upon what you're attempting to sell, your Value Ladder, and your approach.

Quick Explanation

No matter what the Micro Sales Funnel looks like, the start and end will look the same.

The Start

The Start occurs when an individual shows interest in a product you offer or a topic you talk about. We can gauge interest by tracking their link clicks, Specific Lead Magnet requests, page views, and via points (if you use a CRM).

The End

The End occurs when an individual has gone through the entire Micro Sales Funnel. If the individual went straight into the Micro Sales Funnel by requesting a Specific Lead Magnet and they have yet to enter the “Main Series” (Straight Line Sales Funnel) – they'll now enter the Main Series starting at the beginning.

If the individual was in the Main Series, showed interest in a product by clicking a link, and entered a Micro Sales Funnel – upon entering the Micro Sales Funnel, their “trip” down the Main Series would have been paused, and upon exiting the Micro Sales Funnel, they'd resume their “trip” down the Main Series.

The Rest

Action Series

A few emails that attempt to drive action, ie. a purchase of the product or category of products the individual has shown interest in.

Did Action Happen?

If the desired action was taken, go to the Upsell Series.

If the desired action was not taken, go to The End.

Upsell Series

An email or two that attempts to sell more, usually complementary, products.

Examples

Cordless Power Tools Store

An individual joins the email list by opting in for a Specific Lead Magnet that offers 10% off all cordless drills. Being that the coupon is only for cordless drills, we know they're interested in them.

We then send 3 emails that talk exclusively about cordless drills.

• Email 1: Features of a “good” cordless drill
• Email 2: The differences between our top 3 selling drills
• Email 3: Reminder that the 10% off coupon will expire in 24 hours

Let's pretend that on Email 2 they purchase one of our drills. We then end that series (we won't send email 3) and launch into our Upsell Series where we send 2 emails that attempt to sell complementary products.

• Email 1: 3 pieces of gear you need to get the most out of your drill (sell drill bits, safety goggles, and a level)
• Email 2: Offer a 10% off any complementary pieces of gear

After completing the Upsell Series, they enter our Main Series from the beginning where we begin to build and maintain a relationship and gauge more interest(s).

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

An individual has been on our email list and in our Main Series for a few weeks when they receive a 3 E email about “how to dress for a job interview.” They click the link contained in the email.

By clicking the link, we know they're interested in “how to dress for a job interview.” We pause the Main Series and trigger 3 emails that talk about that topic, while promoting our products.

• Email 1: Dresses vs Suits – which lands you the job? (turns out, dresses land jobs more often than suits)
• Email 2: 3 Dresses that'll help you land a job
• Email 3: 10% off any of our dresses

Let's pretend our 3rd email results in the sale of a dress. The individual is then sent the Upsell Series for dresses:

• Email 1: How to decide what accessories to wear in order to make your dress “pop”
• Email 2: 3 accessories to make your dress “pop” (hand bag, earrings, belt)

To Do

• Write down 3 Action Series ideas, 1 for each category of your top 3 selling products (defined earlier in this article)
• Write down 3 Upsell Series ideas, 1 for each category of your top 3 selling products (the complementary products you defined earlier)

Note: Many of these emails will likely link to blog posts and other content you've created, fitting nicely within your Epic Blogging Strategy.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Traffic

There are over 1,645,444 ways to drive traffic to your Ecommerce store.

Maybe there's not quite that many ways to drive traffic; however, there are still A LOT.

There are online and offline methods. “Free” and paid methods.

There are so many options and so many people “pushing” the one they think is best.

I get it – it all sounds super attractive …

HOWEVER … do you remember the second question I asked you to answer?

“Where does your ideal customer hangout?”

Wherever they hangout is where, and how, you'll advertise.

It doesn't matter if someone just made a million dollars by advertising on LinkedIn. If your customers aren't on LinkedIn, you will never find success.

So what if someone is getting leads for 2 cents from Twitter ads. If your customers aren't on Twitter, you will never find success.

All that being said, and given the fact that you're an Ecommerce business, and you need people comfortable with shopping online … there are 2 sources of traffic that at least some of your ideal customers hangout on:

• Google
• Facebook

While I can't possibly run through everything you need to know about these two platforms in this post, I'll at least point you in the right direction.

Google

No matter your niche, the almighty Google will always be a source of traffic.

While Google provides a number of ways to drive traffic, I'm going to break it down into two: “free” and paid.

“Free” Google Traffic (SEO)

While SEO (organic) traffic might not cost you money, it's going to cost you time – which is why I place “free” in quotes.

Ecommerce stores tend to have a lot of pages. Thousands in some instances, depending on the number of products you offer.

However, product listings normally contain “thin” content (a few hundred words max that aren't interesting or unique).

It is difficult for “thin” content to rank well in the search results, especially when you're up against behemoths like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.

Ideally, you'll go through your top listings, follow some of the copywriting tricks I outlined above and “beef” up your product listings. This will help your listings standout a little more and gain a competitive advantage over the behemoths.

The other advantage your Ecommerce store may have is its blog.

In following the Epic Blogging Strategy, you'll likely gain attention from Google in ways big stores won't.

Paid Google Traffic (Adwords)

Google has an advertising platform called Adwords that essentially allows you to pay money in order to “bump up” your listing in the search results for given keywords.

I won't go further in depth on Adwords. I'll give you some paid advertising tips after I talk about Facebook.

Facebook

Nearly everyone has a Facebook account which means at least a subset of your audience can be found on the platform.

“Free” Facebook Traffic

By creating a page for your Ecommerce store, sharing great content (like stuff from your blog), and by promoting your page, you can gain a following on Facebook that leads to “free” (organic) traffic.

Plus, there's built in social proof, sharing, and possibilities of virality by being present on Facebook.

Paid Facebook Traffic

Facebook's Ads Manager is an incredibly powerful tool.

It allows you to target your ideal customer in every way imaginable from demographic information to interests and likes.

Rules For Paid Traffic

#1: ALWAYS TRACK EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

The most important rule – yet, every client I've ever worked with on paid advertising has failed to do this from the start.

Google, Facebook, and most reputable advertising companies allow you to track everything – cost per lead, cost per purchase, average order size, and much more.

If you're not tracking your results, you will make poor decisions and throw money away.

#2: Always Send People To A Dedicated Page

When paying for traffic, you need to send people to a dedicated landing page whether it's a Squeeze Page where you're trying to capture contact information or a Sales Page where you're trying to make a sale.

Like the content you produce, everything needs a clear purpose and objective.

#3: Have A Reasonable Budget

There will be a learning curve with paid advertising.

Expect 9 out of 10 of your ads to fail.

You'll likely spend $1k+ before you start seeing real success. Consider it an education.

Point is, if you don't have $1k+ to spend on an education in paid advertising – don't start. Do the “free” stuff first.

#4: Have Patience

When you're learning and losing money, it isn't fun.

You'll likely want to change things very quickly (pause ads, launch new ads, etc). You can't do this.

Generally, you need a few thousand people to see your ad before you can determine if it's bad and a few hundred people to land on your Squeeze Page or Sales Page to determine if it's bad.

You need to collect the data. It's part of learning what does and does not work.

Point is, if you change everything every 10 minutes, you're not going to learn anything and you'll likely fail.

To Do

You're not going to send paid traffic until you have a Straight Line Sales Funnel in place, at a minimum. Ideally, have an Interest Driven Sales Funnel setup before you spend a dime on traffic.

Having said that, only focus on “free” traffic for the time being.

• Implement the Epic Blogging Strategy.
• Start a Facebook Page and share your blog posts on it.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Optimization

Unfortunately, you cannot optimize something you don't have – so, you will need to implement the Ecommerce marketing strategy you drafted with the help of this post.

However, when you begin optimizing your sales funnel, there's a certain way to think about it on a macro and micro level.

Macro Level

Your entire sales system is an integrated system.

Who your customers are, where they hangout, how you present your business, how you deliver your products, your product listings, your pages, your emails, your ads … it's all integrated and how well one part performs affects the other parts.

For example, if you're advertising to the wrong people, it doesn't matter how good everything else is, your entire system will fail.

If you're unable to match your products to your customers needs, your entire system will fail.

The Golden Rule

Start at the beginning.

If you're having trouble with your sales system, start at the beginning – with your customers. If you're absolutely positive you're trying to attract the correct customers, move onto your business – how you portray yourself, what you sell and how you sell it (Value Ladder).

Does everything make sense? Is the “flow” of the Value Ladder natural? Is your business's persona coming across as sincere or as a douche-bag?

How are your products listed on your sales pages? Do you have high quality photos? Good copy that's attractive to your ideal customer? Is the checkout process easy?

Work your way through the entire system, piece by piece.

If the early stuff isn't right, it won't matter how good the later stuff is as no one will ever get to it.

Micro Level

Beyond optimizing at the Macro Level, you have the Micro Level – and, to be honest, this is what most people focus on already.

These are things like email subject lines, page titles, calls-to-actions (CTA), ads, etc.

The good part is, a few % increases here and there can increase the performance of the entire system very quickly.

For example:

A few minor tweaks (all 5% increases or less) to the ad, squeeze page, thank you page, action series, and upsell series resulted in 10 more customers than before and 2 additional upsells.

Imagine if only the ad's CTR increased … what would happen …

We'd still add 4 more customers!

It's amazing what even a half-percent change can do!

To Do

Implement.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

How To Implement

This post should have your Ecommerce business on a path for success; however, there's still a lot of work and technical understanding that needs to happen.

There's still …

• Email marketing automation configuration
• Landing page and opt-in form integration
• Advertising campaign launches and optimization
• Tracking tools and pixels to implement
• Various other areas that'll need tweaking

Of course, you can piecemeal all this together from various sources, or you can save a bunch of time, effort, and energy by joining The Vault!

The Vault includes all the training, resources, and support you'll need to implement everything you planned above!

Click here to see how The Vault can help your Ecommerce Business!

Last week I wrote a post about how most eCommerce stores suck at email marketing where the biggest thing that shocked me was the lack of Welcome Emails.

Out of the 20 email lists I joined, I received Welcome Emails from only 4 of the businesses (20%).

This is unacceptable.

Every email list, eCommerce or otherwise, needs to welcome the user to their list.

In this post, I will examine the 4 Welcome Emails I received telling you what I like/don't like about them and pointing out what you can learn from them.

Holstee

I like this email for a few reasons.

I like that it's from a person – Helen Williams. This makes it much more personal and I really like her title, “Community Love Director”! Ha, that's awesome!

I like that it's fairly short and to the point. Helen introduces me to their mission, gives me a few links to get started, asks me to contact her if I have issues, and then she signs off. Excellent.

I like that she links me to her social media pages and tells me that her company shares “daily doses of what inspires us” – I know what to expect when I follow them.

I like that she linked me to her blog's most popular posts. That's great! A great way to learn more about the company.

What I may, or may not like … depending how it's used … is the third bullet, “Looking for a new Desktop or iPhone background?” If they're using it to segment their list (to see who's on a desktop and/or iPhone) then awesome! If not, then they're alienating a portion of their audience for no apparent reason (Android anyone?).

I would also like some clearer expectations as to what I'm to receive by being subscribed to this email list and how often. For example, when will I receive discounts? When will I receive updates on blog posts? How many emails a week should I expect? It's just something nice to know.

All in all, I really like this Welcome Email – good job Holstee!

Flatspot

I like this email for a few reasons. First, it's very attractive! Look at all the pretty pictures!

I like that the Lead Magnet (Free Shipping Code) I requested was delivered to me immediately. They kept their promise.

I like that they have links to their social media profiles. This helps me easily locate them in order to Like and Follow.

I kind of like that they have one clear objective on this email – “Follow Us On Instagram”. However, I don't know that I necessarily agree with “one clear objective” in regards to a Welcome Series. I believe Welcome Series should be used to segment subscribers and by having “one clear objective”, it makes it a little harder to segment. But, this is also the first email, there's still time!

I don't like that they don't share any expectations of me being on their list. When are you going to send me stuff? How often? What are you going to send me? etc.

I'd also prefer this email to come from a person. Being that this is an eCommerce store, a personal touch is always nice in order to remind the lead/customer that they're working with actual people, not just machines.

All in all, I think it's a decent email; however, I would test a few things … and maybe they already did, and if it's working for them – great!

Shwood

I like this email because it's pretty, it's simple, it's short, it sets expectation, it introduces their social media pages, and it lets me know that if I have an issue that I can email or call them.

My issue is … who do I call? Who do I email? Where's that personal touch?

So, for the most part – I like it, but I think they need to make it more personal.

Skinny Teatox

This isn't really a Welcome Email – instead, they automatically sent me their last broadcast email.

This is an “OK” thing to do, as long as no context is required in order to understand what's going on. It's almost like jumping right into the middle of a conversation, maybe I can figure out what they're saying … but, maybe I can't. You never want to confuse a new subscriber.

So, I'd definitely recommend adding a “true” Welcome Email, and then follow up an hour or two later with your latest broadcast.

Anyway, what I really like about this email is that they have obvious, descriptive, buttons. For example, there's a big, pink button that says “Get A 14 Day Skinny Teatox (Free Shipping)” … and it takes me straight to that product. Great!

I also like that they're sharing their latest blog post so I can read more about what the business represents.

I'm going to stop critiquing it here as this isn't a “real” Welcome Email per se (even tho they sent it as one).

Again, I highly recommend adding a “true” Welcome Email.

6 Things All Welcome Emails Should Include

I'll leave you with a list of things every Welcome Email should include:

1. Say thank you, Welcome!, etc.
2. Include the Lead Magnet
3. Short introduction to the business (maybe a link to the latest blog post)
4. Set expectations for the email list (perks of being subscribed)
5. Include links to Social Media profiles
6. Be personal

I visited 32, top rated, eCommerce stores in an attempt to enter their email marketing campaigns … these are my findings.

The reason this all started is because I've been working with a few eCommerce stores in regards to their email marketing campaigns and I've seen quite a few similarities in regards to how eCommerce businesses are “using” their email marketing platforms.

Most suck at it.

In this post, I will take you through what I found vs what I expected.

Had Optin Present

While I believe ALL eCommerce stores need to have an optin, only about two-thirds of this sample actually did.

Email marketing is used to build relationships, turn potential customers into actual customers, and keep actual customers coming back again, and again, and again.

By not having an email optin form on your site, you're hurting your business.

Lead Magnet

Of the stores that had optin forms, I took a few minutes to note their Lead Magnet. If you're unfamiliar with that term, a Lead Magnet is an offer that helps persuade individuals to join your email list – like a discount, a checklist, an eBook, a video, etc.

80% were offering a “Newsletter.” While most stated that they would send discounts and promotions, it was unclear as to when I would receive anything.

As a visitor to your eCommerce store, I want instant gratification – which is what a Lead Magnet should provide. Having to sit around, waiting for my discount … that's no fun … and spurs no action.

10% offered entry into a monthly contest for either a free product or a gift card. This isn't too bad, at least once a month I have a chance to win something!

5% offered nothing. Their optin form was literally a text box that said “Enter your email here” and a button that said “Subscribe”. I don't know about you, but normally I don't just pass my email address around for no apparent reason!

5% wanted me to “Join The Movement”. Whoa! I'm just shopping here … not signing up for a revolution. Tone it down, make it clear as to what I'm about to receive.

Double Optin

Double optin is where an individual inputs their email address, then has to go check their email and click a link in order to confirm their subscription. So, there are two steps – input email address, confirm email address (double).

While I personally do not like double optin forms, I get it … especially for eCommerce stores that get a lot of low quality subscribers and also take a lot of heat themselves as users report them as sending spam more frequently than most businesses.

Ultimately, in regards to eCommerce, I think double optin is the way to go in order to ensure higher quality subscribers and less spam reports.

Welcome Emails

This is what really surprised me.

Only 20% of the businesses I gave my contact information actually said “Thank You”.

The other 80% – I don't even know if they got my information. It's just floating out there and if I get an email from one of those businesses, I'll probably forget that I gave them my information and report it as spam. Sad. (I won't really do this)

A Welcome Email is absolutely critical.

You need to thank people for giving you their contact information. You need to welcome people to your email list and your business. You need to set expectations. You need to start building that relationship and give people a reason to buy from you.

Not having a welcome email is severely disappointing.

If you don't have one – go write on now … or scroll to the end of this post.

Email Service Used

MailChimp was the “top dog” at 55%. And, I kind of expected this. MailChimp is a quality email autoresponder service that interacts well with eCommerce.

For 35% of the eCommerce stores, I couldn't tell what service they were using. They may have been “in-house” services or something else. Either way, I couldn't identify them.

5% were using CreateSend.

And the remaining 5% were using Klaviyo. I've been hearing a lot of good stuff about Klaviyo recently in regards to how well they work with eCommerce stores. I haven't personally got my hands on it yet; however, it may be worth checking out!

Where To Go From Here

For those eCommerce stores that lack an optin and email marketing in general – here's a short video tutorial on how to get started:

• ActiveCampaign

For those that lack a Welcome Email … well, I'm going to give you one:

 

That should help!

We've all heard that most businesses fail in the first few years…

The thing is, this statistic accounts for ALL businesses…

From businesses that are started from some hair-brained idea or because the owner likes to bake/fish/collect stamps/etc. These businesses are typically doomed to fail because they're building a hobby, opposed to an actual business.

Compare that to businesses that are well thought out, planned, and follow proven business models and strategies. For obvious reasons, these businesses have a much higher success rate.

Going into 2019, my question to you is…

Do you want to build a hobby or a business?

This post is going to give you a proven system for starting a successful business in 2019 and beyond!

Step 1: Pick Your Market/Niche/Avatar

This first step is probably the most important step; however, it's often overlooked as people typically jump to Step 2.

But, here's the deal, you're going to be spending A LOT of time thinking about this topic and working with this group of people… you want to make sure it's something you like and that these are people you actually want to hang around with!

I've seen too many people try to chase the money and wind up miserable because they wind up hating the topic and/or their customer.

There Are 3 Profitable Markets

I'll be referencing Russell Brunson's book, Expert Secrets in this section.

Russell states there are 3 profitable markets:

1. Health – everyone wants to be healthier, live longer, etc.
2. Wealth – everyone wants enough money to be secure, some people want more than that.
3. Relationships – everyone wants to have great relationships; marriage, love, friends, etc.

These 3 markets have dozens of sub-markets:

1. Health – diet, nutrition, strength training, weight loss, etc.
2. Wealth – business, investing, real estate, sales, etc.
3. Relationships – love, dating advice, marriage, parenting, etc.

Then, if you go another level deeper, you have niches… and, this is what you want to figure out.

• Health –> Nutrition –> High Fat Diets
• Health –> Weight Loss –> Weight Loss For College Students
• Wealth –> Real Estate –> Flipping Houses On eBay
• Wealth –> Online Business –> Facebook Traffic For eCommerce Stores
• Relationships –> Parenting –> Dealing With Teenagers
• Relationships –> Dating –> How To Recover After A Breakup

Got a niche?

Cool, now let's figure out who your customers are!

Construct Your Customer Avatar

Your objective is to answer all of the questions below. Doing so will help with targeting your audience and with your messaging.

Some of these questions are pulled from the Customer Avatar Worksheet available from DigitalMarketer.com.

Demographics

• Name
• Age
• Gender
• Marital Status
• #/Ages Of Children
• Location
• Occupation
• Job Title
• Annual Income
• Level Of Education

Interests

• Celebrities/Gurus
• Causes
• Organizations
• Websites
• Apps
• TV Shows
• Clothing
• Musicians
• Books
• Magazines
• Movies

The 3 Whys

Go through the Demographics and Interests you came up with, asking “why” three times to uncover the individual's psyche.

Once you understand their psyche, you'll be better able to answer these questions as they pertain to your market/niche/business:

• Goals and Values
• Challenges and Pain Points
• Objections and Roles

How To Create Your Customer Avatar Quickly With Facebook's Audience Insights Tool

• Audience Insights Tool
• Avatar Sheet, Blank (file, make a copy)
• Avatar Sheet, Filled Out Example
• Expert Secrets Book
• Digital Marketer's Avatar Worksheet

Step 2: Figure Out What To Sell Them

Hopefully you've completed Step 1 and have a Niche and a Customer Avatar. If not, go do that first!

Now that you have your customer and you know their goals and values, challenges and pain points, and objections and roles… it's time to figure out how to help them!

Help them?

Yes! What you sell to people should help them… otherwise, why would they buy it?

So, with your helpful and caring mindset, it's time to go looking for products and services to sell.

But, where do you start?

5 Types Of Products You Can Start Selling Online TODAY!

Alternatively, if you don't want to watch another video, you can check out this blog post here.

To recap the video and blog post, here are the 5 types of products:

1. Dropshipping
2. Print on Demand
3. PLR/MRR
4. Productized Services
5. Sell Other Businesses' Products

Finally, you don't have to use one of aforementioned product types if you don't want to. If you want to create something from scratch or you already have products you want to sell – that's great, do that!

This list is simply for those that are stuck and don't know what to do.

Come Up With 3-5 Things To Sell

Your goal now is to come up with 3-5 products or services to sell.

JUST 3-5!

Yes, you can probably find thousands of options, but we want to get some momentum first. You can always expand your product line later.

If you try too many products at once, you'll spread yourself too thin and nothing will work out for you…

And, believe it or not, customers don't want a million options either…

Ever been to a restaurant that has a million items on the menu? How long did it take you or your significant other to make a decision? I bet one of you took “forever”!

Start simple. Give your products/services a fair shot. Adjust from there.

Uncover The Features & Benefits Of Your Product/Service

You've probably hard the saying, “people don't want a drill, they want a hole.”

You can take it a step further, “people don't want holes, they want to hang their shelves.”

And, further… “people don't want shelves, they want a place to store their extra stuff.”

(the 3 why's ringing any bells here?!)

The point is, people aren't buying a product/service… they're buying the result.

You need to take the 3-5 products/services you've come up with and merge the result they produce with the goals and values, challenges and pain points, and objections and roles your customers are facing.

An easy way to merge all of this is with feature/benefit bullet points.

Which feature of your product/service helps with…

• The goal(s) they're trying to accomplish
• The value(s) they hold dear
• The challenge(s) they're facing
• The pain(s) they're feeling
• The objection(s) they have
• The role(s) they play

What you may find, after doing this, is that the product/service you're selling is underwhelming.

Or, maybe there are too many objections or you're not directly addressing the decision maker.

This happens, and it's OK.

Everything you sell isn't going to change someone's life…

But, everything you sell can (and should) be of great perceived value!

“Offeratize” Your Products And Services

Your products and services are NOT offers…

While an offer includes a product/service and its features, benefits, and advantages… it also includes all the other bells and whistles:

• Bonuses (HUGE!)
  • This is how you increase the perceived value of your regular ol' product!
• Money Back Guarantees
• Pricing Terms (payment plans)
• Risk Reversal (how are you going to ensure they don’t waste time, money, etc. this includes your money back guarantee)

I recommend listening to Todd Brown’s “The Marketer’s Mind” episode 20 for this, click here for it.

Also, take a look at what your competition is offering. Are they selling products and services or are they selling offers? How can you offer more?!

The point is, you can take your underwhelming product/service that's facing too many objections and “soup it up” to make it irresistible!

An Example

Let's take Josh from our avatar example discussed in the video above – 35 year old male, interested in Keto Diets, in the military, etc.

After asking the 3 why questions, we know he's interested in enhancing his performance, in order to perform his job well. He's willing to workout hard, eat right, and even take supplements. (note: we've uncovered 3 categories of products we can sell our avatar: exercise stuff, nutrition stuff, and supplement stuff)

We decide to work with a white label supplement manufacturer to produce a performance enhancing supplement…

Pretty cool looking container, right?!

Of course, I'm being sarcastic… it's a lame looking container, but you get the idea. It's a performance enhancing supplement designed specifically for our customer avatar!

Now, let's extract the features and benefits of our product by comparing it to…

• Goals: Optimal performance on the job
  • Get Some! has a sustained release, ensuring you're performing your best all day without any ups, downs, or crashes!
• Values: Eating healthy foods, ketosis
  • Get Some! contains 100% organic ingredients and is the only FDA approved performance enhancer on the market!
  • Get Some! contains no sugars or fillers that hinder ketosis!
• Challenges: Works a lot, limited time, sometimes has to eat MREs (unhealthy Army food)
  • You'll feel the power of Get Some! within 5 minutes of ingestion! Our fast action formula makes sure you feel good when you need it most!
  • Get Some! contains Exogenous Ketones which have been proven to offset the negative effects of sugar and other high carb foods!
• Pains: Worried about being off his game when it's time to make hard, on-the-job decisions
  • After 2 years and 10,000 scientific tests, Get Some! is proven 100% effective for maximizing the decision making part of the brain! (lateral frontal cortex)
  • Doctors and scientist everywhere are calling it “The Limitless Pill” because it unlocks your whole brain!
• Objections: Has tried performance enhancing supplements before, they don't work
  • Get Some! contains a brand new, proprietary blend of ingredients never before released on the market, until today!
• Roles: Key decision maker
  • Take control of your performance with Get Some!

We now have some features and benefit bullets for our product that align with our Customer Avatar.

Now, it's time to offeratize our product!

• Bonuses
  • Waterproof pill container so they are with you on the go
  • Mobile app with 5 minute puzzles that activate certain parts of your brain so you can prepare for what's ahead
  • 31 day workout program for increasing day-to-day performance (PDF and Video)
  • 31 quick recipes for increasing day-to-day performance (PDF and Video)
• Money Back Guarantee
  • If you don't feel a significant difference in your performance within 30 days, you let us know and we'll refund your payment AND give you a $100 Amazon Gift Card for wasting your time!
• Pricing Terms (payment plans)
  • Free Shipping on all orders
  • Buy 2, save 10%
  • Buy 3, save 20%

Step 3: Build Micro Sales Funnels To Sell Your Offers

You should have a couple offers created for your customer avatar.

Now you need a way to display your offer and collect money from your customer.

The best way to do this is with a Micro Sales Funnel.

What is a Micro Sales Funnel?

It's a collection of web pages, engagements (email, text messages, phone calls, etc.), and retargeting ads that act like a digital sales rep that works for you 24/7/365!

Think about ordering food at McDonalds. You order a burger, then the cashier asks, “Would you like fries with that?” Then, they offer a drink, the chance to Super Size it, etc. Instead of spending $4, you've spent $14. That's a Micro Sales Funnel.

Here's an example:

Micro Sales Funnels come in all shapes and sizes, depending on what you're trying to sell and who you're trying to sell it to. If you'd like to learn more about the various models, I recommend checking out this post: What Kind Of Sales Funnel Should I Build?

The example funnel above is what I call a “Classic” Micro Sales Funnel. Here's a breakdown of the funnel:

• Opt-in: An individual enters their contact information in exchange for a Lead Magnet. A Lead Magnet is simply a freebie offer someone wants, like a coupon, checklist, video training, trial, etc.
• Welcome & Pre-sell: After the individual has given you their contact information, they land on a Welcome & Pre-sell page that tells them the Lead Magnet they requested is on its way and while they wait, here's some info about our company and how we can best serve them!
• Sales Page: This is the page that's selling one of your offers.
• OTO #: Stands for One-Time-Offer. These are typically 1-click upsell offers, where the individual can add additional offers to their order with 1-click.
• Downsell: These are pages shown to individuals that turn down the OTO. Usually, you try to sell your OTO again; however, this time you incentivize it by including some bonuses, a discount, or payment plan.
• Order Confirmation: This is the final page of the Micro Sales Funnel that confirms the individuals order and may also link to other, complementary offer funnels.
• Engagements: These are emails, text messages, Facebook Messages, ringless voicemails, phone calls, direct mail, etc. that is typically automated and designed to help pull your customers through your funnel.
• Retargeting Ads: These are advertisements that follow individuals around the web, advertising your business and offers again and again, in an effort to drive more sales.

All of the pages, engagements, and ads are specifically designed to help you sell your offers.

You're not simply building a random website with some products on it and hoping someone buys something.

Everything you do with a funnel needs to be calculated and methodical.

Of course, it's going to take you some time to understand how these things work. It's going to take time to understand psychology and marketing…

But, it's all worth it because as Russell Brunson, founder of ClickFunnels, always says, “You're only one funnel away!”

Your goal: Build a Micro Sales Funnel for every. single. offer.

Watch Me Build A Micro Sales Funnel Quickly

• Get the Micro Sales Funnel I built off of in the video

Step 4: Connect Your Micro Sales Funnels With Marketing Automation

Let's recap everything you should have right now:

1. Your niche and a customer avatar
2. 3-5 different offers
3. 3-5 Micro Sales Funnels (1 for each offer)

For step 4, you want to connect all of your Micros Sales Funnels with marketing automation.

What's marketing automation?

Emails, text messages, ringless voicemail, direct mail, Facebook Messenger… any type of communication and engagement that can be automated, leaving you with something that looks like this…

Pretty cool, right?

Note: Even though the diagram above only shows emails, you can use other mediums like text messages, Facebook Messenger, ringless voicemail, direct mail, and more to connect your Micro Sales Funnels together.

What Do You Send To People?

We could spend months, if not years discussing this topic, so I'm going to keep it pretty high level for this post.

Your audience and customers go through a journey, right?

The “Customer Journey”:

1. Awareness: of pain, of need, of solution, of your business
2. Interest: they start conducting research
3. Evaluation: they’re going to buy something, but they want to make sure they get the “best” one
4. Decision: they buy
5. Retention: keep them happy, sell more
6. Advocacy: they tell everyone about your business

Depending on where they are in this journey will dictate the type of content you send them.

With that said, there's two types of content you will need to send to people:

1. Relationship Content
2. Action Content

Relationship Content

Relationship content, you guessed it… builds a relationship!

It's content that's educational and/or entertaining. Content people enjoy consuming.

This can include helpful how-to tutorials, funny stories, deep data analysis, back & forth communication, and so on.

You're also using this content to gauge your audience members' interests… what topics are they clicking on and viewing?

Are they interested in Keto recipes? Keto supps? Lifting heavy weights? All of the above?

While you're building a relationship, you're figuring out what the person is interested in so when it's time to sell them something, you can recommend a product or service they're most likely to actually buy!

Action Content

Action content drives the person to take action, ie. buy something, come visit your store, give you a call, etc.

You've spent time building a relationship while simultaneously figuring out their interests…

Now, it's time to recommend a product or service to them!

One of the simplest action pieces you can deliver to someone is one that highlights a sale or special promotion: “1 day only, get 30% off our Get Some! supplement… click here!”

Simple enough, right?!

Of course, you can get fancier by using copywriting formulas like the Problem-Agitate-Solve formula, or the Before-After-Bridge formula… but, typically, what I've found is that if you've spent the time establishing the relationship FIRST and then place a really attractive offer in front of them… you don't need to try and mind-hack them or anything!

You can be a normal person (a friend or trusted adviser) recommending a product/service to another normal person!

This is why it's critically important to take the time to understand your audience's needs, wants, and desires AND to craft super-awesome-amazing offers! It saves you so much time later on.

Watch Me Integrate My Micro Sales Funnel With Marketing Automation

• Get ClickFunnels
• Get ActiveCampaign

Step 5: Fill Your Sales Funnel With Traffic

By now, you should have…

1. Your audience/niche figured out. You know where they hangout and you're ready to approach them!
2. Your irresistible offers developed for your audience members.
3. A few Micro Sales Funnels setup to actually sell your irresistible offers.
4. Those Micro Sales Funnels interconnected with Marketing Automation that builds a relationship, gauges interests, and then promotes your irresistible offers.

Got all that?

Great! Now, lets fill your system up!

Introducing “The Triple Threat Strategy”

The Triple Threat Strategy is comprised of three parts:

• Acquisition: Convert cold traffic (people that don't know about you or your business) into warm traffic (people that know about you and/or your business)
• Direct: Convert cold traffic into hot traffic (leads and buyers)
• Retarget: Convert warm traffic into hot traffic

Also, notice how it's a funnel a giant funnel, just like the Customer Journey funnel displayed above… same exact concept here!

Acquisition Campaign

The main goal of the Acquisition Campaign is to convert cold traffic into warm traffic. (ie. grow your Custom Audiences [retargeting audiences])

This is accomplished by producing great pieces of content that connect with your prospects and helps them establish rapport with your business.

You want the prospect to know, like, and trust you at this stage.

Here are a couple Acquisition Ad examples…

This first one is a video. Videos work great as acquisition ads because you can build Custom Audiences (used for retargeting later) based upon how much of a video an individual watches. For example, 3 seconds, 10 seconds, 25%, 50%, etc.

It's typically a lot easier to get someone to watch 10 seconds to 25% of a video on Facebook than it is to get them to click away from Facebook to visit your site. Thus, you're able to grow your Custom Audiences for pennies on the dollar!

The second ad is an image ad that links to a high quality blog post…

Those are examples of Acquisition Ads.

As you can see, they're pure content and goodwill. Nothing for sale (at least not directly) in either of them!

Direct Campaign

There are two goals for the Direct Campaigns:

1. Convert cold traffic directly into a lead or customer. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't… but, it's usually worth giving it a shot.
2. Convert cold traffic into warm traffic. Introduce your business and what you have to offer.

Here are a couple Direct Ad examples…

This first one is a “direct to offer” ad where I'm trying to convince cold traffic to claim a “free” dog training clicker.

The tactic behind this ad is to make the offer soooo good, it's impossible to refuse. Basically, I'm looking for impulse buys…

The second Direct Ad brings people to an opt-in page where they can request my Lead Magnet: 100 Dog Training Tips.

The purpose is to convert cold traffic into leads that I can follow up later with email and retargeting.

Those are a couple Direct Ad examples.

As you can see, they bring people directly from Facebook to an offer… whether it's for a product or a just a lead magnet.

Retargeting Campaign

The main goal of the Retargeting Campaign is to take your warm traffic and convert them into leads, customers, and repeat buyers.

By this time, you will have warm audiences either from people engaging with your Acquisition or Direct Ads…

They know about your business and what you offer…

It's now time to promote offers to convert individuals into leads, customers, and repeat buyers!

Here's an example Retargeting Ad…

Since Retargeting Ads are used on warm audiences, you can make “bigger” offers. Basically, you don't have to try and sell some cheap product in order to attract impulse buyers.

Often, you'll lose money on the Direct Ads, but make up for it 10 fold during the retargeting phase!

How To Execute The Triple Threat Strategy

We've uncovered the Triple Threat Strategy and the 3 core campaigns…

But, how do you actually execute it?

How do you know when an ad is working? How do you know when it's not?

Don't worry, I have a flowchart to answer all of these questions and more!

Yup, she's a doozy!

Now, I'm not going to explain this whole thing right now since it would take hours…

But, hopefully it gives you some perspective of how that funnel diagram translates into real life actions you can take to execute the strategy!

Here's How To Launch A Facebook Ad

Links Mentioned:

• FB Pixel on WordPress
• FB Pixel on ClickFunnels
• FB Pixel on Kartra
• Facebook Ad Copy 101
• Facebook Campaign Objectives

Are You Ready To Make 2019 YOUR Year?!

This post has outlined an ENTIRE game plan for you from start to finish!

You now know what you have to do…

• Identify your audience/niche
• Develop your offers
• Build Micro Sales Funnels to sell your offers
• Connect your Micro Sales Funnels with Marketing Automation
• Fill your entire sales system with traffic

This is your chance to start that side hustle to get some extra cash flow or to even replace your 9-5!

People are making money every day with sales funnels, marketing automation, and traffic generation… why shouldn't you be able to make it work?

2 Reasons These 5 Steps Won't Work For You

1. You don't actually do anything with them. You keep doing what you're doing.
2. You do them halfway. Maybe you get overwhelmed by the technical stuff, so you quit. Or maybe you bounce over to some shiny object. Whatever the reason, you do things half-assed (excuse my french!)

The point is, if you do everything outlined in this post…

You avoid excuses…

And, you put in the time to make it happen…

I guarantee you'll be successful!

Finally…

I have a full blown training program that teaches you the nitty-gritty details of EVERYTHING outlined in this post.

Click here if you're ready to DOMINATE 2019!

NOTICE: I've come to realize most people are just here to checkout the $632 in bonuses they'll receive when they signup for ClickFunnels through my link… so, click here to see what ya get!

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What Is ClickFunnels?

If you ask 10 different people what a “sales funnel” is, you'll get 10 different answers.

For our purposes, a sales funnel is a series of web pages, engagements (emails, text messages, ringless voicemails, etc.), and advertisements that convince an individual to buy something from your business.

There are many sales funnel models and the one you choose will depend on what you're trying to sell and who you're trying to sell it to.

For example, if you're trying to sell a $10 flashlight, your sales funnel would probably look like this…

Compared to a $1,997 digital course…

Compared to a $10,000 service…

The point of ClickFunnels is to provide an all-in-one solution to help you build these various sales funnels.

Also, here's the official “what is ClickFunnels” video if you'd like to watch it:

The BIG ClickFunnels Lie

ClickFunnels gets positioned as something “magical” that's just going to make you tons of cash…

This is NOT true.

ClickFunnels isn't going to make you any money.

It's a tool. That's it.

A hammer is also a tool and you probably don't expect it to “magically” start building stuff for you, right?

Don't expect ClickFunnels to be the magic pill.

You still need the business fundamentals. You still need to have a great offer and you need to get that offer in front of the right audience.

Now, ClickFunnels can certainly make doing that much easier; however, it's not going to do it for you.

Clear?

#1 Question: Is ClickFunnels Easy To Use?

“Ease” is relative.

Is it easier than hand coding everything? Yes.

Will you have a fully functional funnel up and running in 10 minutes? No, not even if you're a seasoned pro.

Will you have a fully functional funnel up and running in 1 day? No, not if you're new to the platform.

Will you have a fully functional funnel up and running in 7 days? Maybe.

How about 14 days? Yes, probably! (hence, the 14 day free trial)

There is a steep learning curve with ClickFunnels and it's going to take 7-14 days to become comfortable with it.

You need to ask yourself… Am I willing to spend 7-14 days to master a tool that can potentially provide a massive upside to my business?

Of course, once you master the tool, you'll be able to build full funnels within a day and the world will be your oyster; however, the first 2 weeks will be rough.

Pros and Cons of ClickFunnels

In no particular order, here's a breakdown of the pros and cons of ClickFunnels…

Pros

• It does A LOT. You can build pages, funnels (1-click upsell/downsell), membership sites, automations, affiliate portals, and more. It's a very powerful tool.
• Intuitive page builder. You can become a “master” of the page builder in about 30 minutes. Once you understand Sections, Rows, Columns, and Elements – you'll be able to design beautiful pages in no time!
• Hundreds of pre-built templates & funnels. Create professional looking pages in minutes!
• No Coding. You don't have to be technically savvy to master ClickFunnels, ie. you don't need a background in code and web development to build amazing sales funnels. All you need to do is spend the 7-14 days learning the system.
• Shared/Import Funnels. You can share funnels with friends and clients. Alternatively, you can import other people's funnels into your account which can save you a tremendous amount of time! (note, if you join CF through my link, you're going to get access to 11 shared funnels!)
• Split Tests. It's very easy to split test your pages. Basically, click a button, make your changes, and click save.
• Has a lot of integrations. ClickFunnels makes it easy to integrate with autoresponder tools like ActiveCampaign, Aweber, Constant Contact, Drip, etc. As well as other tools like GoToWebinar, Kajabi, PushCrew, Twilio, ShipStation, Sly Broadcast, and more!
• Has several payment gateways. ClickFunnels integrates with Stripe, PayPal, BlueSnap, ClickBank, JVZoo, NMI, and more! No matter where you're located, there will be a way to integrate ClickFunnels with a payment gateway.
• Zapier Integration. ClickFunnels integrates both-ways with Zapier, ie. you can push info from ClickFunnels to another platform or from another platform directly into ClickFunnels! Therefore, the total number of integrations is 900+!
• Evergreen Webinar Funnels. You're able to host evergeen webinars inside of ClickFunnels which can easily save you $400/year.
• Desktop & Mobile Modes. The page builder allows you to build desktop and mobile versions so you're confident your funnel looks great no matter the device.
• Massive network of users. I believe ClickFunnels has over 60,000 users.  They have a massive Facebook group and 3rd party businesses dedicated to supporting the tool.
• Incredibly passionate founders. Russell Brunson and Todd Dickerson are tremendously passionate about marketing and building/programming tools. They're not in it just to make money, they're in it because they love it.

Cons

• It does a lot. Since it does so much, it can be very overwhelming and takes 7-14 days to actually learn how to use it.
• Some basic integrations. Some of their integrations are so basic, they do more harm than good. For instance, the Shopify integration is completely pointless because it doesn't combine all products into one order and it doesn't handle quantities.
• Doesn't easily support variants. If you offer products with several variants, think clothing with different colors and sizes, ClickFunnels does not support this well. You'll have to “hack” things together with a 3rd party tool called CF Pro Tools to make it work.
• Sometimes buggy. Being that it's a massive tool with a lot of moving parts, you can expect some bugs every now and again. It is what it is.
• 3mb limit on file storage. If you have large files you're trying to deliver to your customers, you're going to have to store them elsewhere as ClickFunnels only lets you upload files that are 3mb or less.
• No undo button. There's been at least 10 time when I've unintentionally deleted an entire section of my page. An undo button would prevent a lot of headaches!

Neutral

• Decent support. Support typically replies in about 4-12 hours and they're usually quit helpful. However, I have had instances where there's a bug/glitch and it does not get fixed… ever.
• It's “expensive”. The basic package, which only includes the page/funnel builder and 20 funnels, costs $97/mo. If you want to take advantage of Actionetics (marketing automation), Backpack (affiliate platform), and more funnels, you'll need the $297/mo package. Of course, the word “expensive” is relative. In theory, you should be using ClickFunnels to save you money (they host most everything, so you can ditch other services) and/or to help you make more money (funnels)… so, it should more than pay for itself. It's up to you to ensure ClickFunnels is an asset instead of a liability.

ClickFunnels Tour

Will ClickFunnels Work For My Business?

After everything you've read and seen above, you may still be wondering if ClickFunnels will actually work for your business…

Fortunately, ClickFunnels has put together a bunch of industry specific case studies that show you how different businesses are using ClickFunnels to find massive success…

• Agency/Freelancer
• Info Products
• Ecommerce
• Affiliate Marketing
• Blogger
• Coaching/Consulting
• Network Marketing
• Local Business
• B2B
• Non Profit

If you have a few minutes, I recommend checking them out!

Do I Recommend ClickFunnels?

I believe that ClickFunnels is THE BEST sales funnel building tool on the market today!

If you're wanting to build sales funnels for your business, then I HIGHLY recommend it… assuming you understand it's just a tool and it's going to take 7-14 days to master.

Finally, right now I'm offering $632 in bonuses when you join ClickFunnels via my link! 

Real quick – you're going to get…

• The Ultimate ClickFunnels Training Course + 7 Premium Funnels ($197 value)
• The AliExpress Sales Funnel Course ($97 value)
• The Shopify Sales Funnel Course ($97 value)
• The Get Clients Now Funnel & Training Course ($97 value)
• The 2-Step Lead Gen Funnel Course ($97 value)
• 28 Fill-In-The-Blank Email Templates ($47 value)
• Premium Support – Ask questions on the lessons or in the Private Facebook Group

To claim the bonuses:

1. Register for ClickFunnels by clicking here. (either plan is fine)
2. Forward your welcome email to support@crazyeyemarketing.com and let us know you want all of the bonuses!
3. We'll verify your order in the system and grant you access to everything within 24 hours!

 

As you may, or may not know… I have courses on both ClickFunnels and Kartra, plus I use both platforms across an array of businesses… so, I'm intimately familiar with both.

Which is why, on a nearly daily basis, I'm asked, “Should I use ClickFunnels or Kartra?”

It's an important question.

It's like asking, “Where should I live?”

You don't want to mess this up because it can impact your livelihood!

This post will give you my perspective on the two tools and which one is better.

Disclaimer

Let me clear the air real quick, while I'm an affiliate for both tools, I am not an employee nor do I have any undisclosed reason to choose one tool over the other.

I believe in using the least amount of tools possible in order to multiply your business with marketing automation.

Basically, I don't personally care what tool you decide to use. It makes zero difference to me and my life….

Which is why, this comparison will be truly unbiased.

I am tool agnostic.

Let's get into it.

ClickFunnels vs. Kartra

Bottom line up front:

• Both tools are very good. Compare either tool to any other way to build a funnel, and these tools make life sooo much easier.
• Both tools have their own quirks. Neither is perfect.
• Both tools have a fairly steep learning curve. Expect to spend a couple weeks mastering the tool before you have a functional funnel.

Differences

I'm not going to include a full breakdown of all the features as you can go to the different products' sales pages and see what they have, but I will try and point out all of the differences.

There's no real organization here because what's important to one person might not be important to another:

• Kartra is all-inclusive from the start. You get funnels, marketing automation, an affiliate platform, etc. with even the most basic plan ($89/mo). With ClickFunnels, you need their more expensive plan if you want all of the features ($297/mo).
• ClickFunnels integrates with other autoresponders. You can integrate with ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Aweber, Infusionsoft, etc. without using Zapier. With Kartra, you're “stuck” using their automation software or making connections with Zapier.
• ClickFunnels lets you run multiple businesses out of one account. If you have a bunch of different domains and business ideas, ClickFunnels will support you. Kartra, on the other hand, only wants one business per account.
• Kartra's page builder has pre-built sections. Instead of selecting whole page templates (which Kartra also offers), Kartra's page builder comes stacked with dozens, if not hundreds of pre-built sections that you can drag and drop onto  your page. This can help you create beautiful, custom pages in minutes.
• Kartra offers “dynamic” OTOs. You can take people to different pages/offers based off their purchases whereas with ClickFunnels, they will see all of your OTOs no matter what they previously purchased.
• Kartra offers Behavioral Marketing. You can show different elements to different people based on previous actions, ie. purchases. ClickFunnels doesn't offer anything like this.
• Kartra hosts your videos and files. You get a certain amount of bandwidth with each plan, and if you go over that amount, you will pay for it. It looks to be about $0.19 per gig compared to Amazon S3, which starts at $0.09 per gig. So, it is kind of expensive, but nice to have everything in one place. With ClickFunnels, you'll need to host your videos and files elsewhere.
• ClickFunnels offers evergreen webinar functionality. While it's not “the best” evergreen webinar technology, it's often “good enough” especially if you already have ClickFunnels and you want to run an evergreen webinar. Kartra does not have evergreen webinar functionality.
• ClickFunnels has been around longer. They've been around since 2014 and have developed an extensive support network. There's a massive Facebook group and even entire companies that support ClickFunnels. Kartra is very new and lacks a lot of this 3rd party support.
• Kartra has a help desk feature. No need to integrate with Zendesk or anything like that, Kartra has you covered. ClickFunnels doesn't offer anything like this.
• Kartra's timers are better. If you like running evergreen promotions, Kartra's timer system is much better since it's connected to people's account and can be tracked more closely. ClickFunnels' timers are only tracked with cookies.

While it's not necessarily an all-inclusive list, those are some of the big differences between the two platforms.

Which Tool Is Right For Me?

The million dollar question, “Which tool is right for me?”

Again, both tools are very good. I'm a fan of both and have successful funnels running on both platforms, so there's no definitive answer here… instead, it depends on what YOU need/want to do.

There are only a few instances I would recommend one tool over the other:

• Ecommerce: ClickFunnels
  • It offers more flexibility around your products and variations, especially when using CF Pro Tools.
  • It natively integrates with ShipStation.
  • There are 3rd party integrations like AppTrends and Orderlytics which integrate with Shopify and even AliExpress.
• Lead Gen: ClickFunnels
  • You can have multiple domains in your account which you need when you're generating leads for different businesses.
  • It integrates with 3rd party autoresponder tools more easily than Kartra.
• Evergreen Webinars: ClickFunnels
  • While it's not the best evergreen webinar platform available, it's often good enough and Kartra doesn't have this function.

If the above scenarios aren't relevant, it may come down to budget. Kartra's all-inclusive starter plan is only $89/mo, which is cheaper than ClickFunnels' starter plan which doesn't include marketing automation or an affiliate platform. If your budget is tight Kartra may be the better option for you.

Finally, beyond the reasons above, it really comes down to personal preference. Both tools offer trials. ClickFunnels' trial is free and Kartra's is only $1. Try both and see which feels better to you!

What Is Your Situation?

I know I did not cover every single situation or all the differences between the two platforms. If you have any specific questions for your particular needs, please post them in the comments below!

It happens a few times a week…

Some poor guy or gal sends me an email because they've heard of the magical power of Sales Funnels and they want to start building them, but…

They don't have anything to sell.

I then spend about 10 minutes writing them a reply on the various ways they could start selling products and services TODAY.

And, well – I'm tired of spending 10 minutes, 3-5 times a week, writing essentially the same thing…

Plus, I know if I'm getting that many emails with the `same question, there are probably 10X that number of people who aren't emailing me.

This post is to serve you.

5 Ways To Start Making Money Online TODAY Even If You Have Nothing To Sell

First things first, this is not an “end all, be all list” – there are more than these 5 ways to start selling something today.

So, if you don't like what I'm about to show you – that's fine. Try something else, it won't hurt my feelings.

However, I've used these 5 methods MANY times and know from personal experience they work and can prove to be incredibly lucrative.

1) Start Drop Shipping

Drop shipping is a model where you don't have to hold any inventory, yet you're able to offer hundreds to thousands of products.

How? Here's an example:

• You go to a site like AliExpress or work directly with a manufacturer
• You find a product you think people will like
• You list that product on an ecommerce store, or within a sales funnel 😉 and markup the price
• When someone buys the product, you take that money, buy it from the manufacturer, and ship it directly to your customer – pocketing the difference

Pros Of Drop Shipping

• Low startup costs – You can literally list products for free
• Low risk – Since there aren't many costs associated with it, you don't have much to lose
• You keep the customers – When someone buys a product, they buy it from you/your business. You get their information and can form a rapport with them

Cons Of Drop Shipping

• Highly competitive – Since there aren't any real costs associated with it, anyone can do it. But, don't let this discourage you, simply do it better!
• Low margins – Comes back to competition. You're not offering anything unique, anyone can offer the same product you are. It can wind up as a race to the bottom unless you're careful, strategic, and make yourself the best option
• Inventory syncing & management – It can be a massive headache to keep track of what is/isn't in stock and when prices change

The Drop Shipping Sales Funnel Model

The sales funnel model you will likely use to offer drop shipping products is what I call the “Front End” or “Classic” sales funnel model, and it looks like this:

Finally, I've written an extensive post on how to start drop shipping with AliExpress that can be found by clicking here.

2) Design Clothes And Other Items

In this day and age, you can print anything you want onto shirts, jackets, hats, socks, pillows, phone cases, shoes, dresses, towels, mouse pads, purses, backpacks, and more!

You also don't need to keep any inventory on hand. Simply upload your graphic to a print-on-demand website like Printful or Pillow Profits and violà, you have yourself a product to sell!

Pros Of Print-On-Demand

• Reasonably low startup costs – All you really need are designs and a website to sell them through
• Low risk – Since there aren't many costs associated with it, you don't have much to lose
• Upsells are pretty easy – Place the graphic on different items. For example, if they buy a shirt, they may also want a hat with that same design

Cons Of Print-On-Demand

• Coming up with a winning design can be difficult, especially when you don't have an audience/list available to poll
• Unless you're a designer, expect to spend a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to get high quality designs
• It's very easy for people to rip off your designs and then undercut you

The Print-On-Demand Sales Funnel Model

You'll likely use the same sales funnel model that's outlined in the drop shipping section above.

3) Take Advantage Of PLR And MRR

PLR stands for Private Label Rights and MRR stands for Master Resell Rights.

These are white label digital products like eBooks, guides, video training, and even software that you're able to slap your name on and sell as your own.

That's right! One minute you don't have anything to sell and the next, you've “published” an eBook!

Pros & Cons Of PLR And MRR

The pros and cons list for PLR and MRR are pretty much the same as drop shipping with a couple exceptions… incredibly high margins and no inventory management.

Since PLR/MRR are digital products, there's no cost of goods, which means it's pretty much 100% pure profit! Then, of course, since it's digital, you don't have to worry about inventory, selling out, or anything like that… there's an “infinite” amount.

Beyond that, selling PLR/MRR is incredibly competitive because it's easy, quick, and very low cost to get started. It's OK tho, that just means you need to find a way to stand out – and here are a few ways to do so:

• Changing the cover and title of the PLR/MRR product. This way, at least it looks different than what's out there
• Rewrite the PLR/MRR product and place your own spin on it. This can be a lot of work; however, it can pay off tremendously in the end
• Include other, complementary products and resources with the PLR/MRR you're selling

The PLR/MRR Sales Funnel Model

To sell your PLR/MRR products, you will likely use the same Front End sales funnel model that's outlined in the drop shipping section above.

Simply put, it's the best sales funnel model for selling “cheaper” products (<$50).

Find PLR/MRR To Sell

There are a TON of sites that sell PLR/MRR, but my favorite is MasterResellRights.com.

It offers a massive selection of PLR/MRR for only $19.97/month (hint: join for 1 month, download what you need, then cancel)

4) Offer Productized Services

A productized service is a set service that's sold for a set amount.

There's very little interaction and negotiation.

For example, I'll cut your grass for $40. You spend $40 and are left with a nice, freshly cut yard.

Need some productized service ideas? Checkout fiverr.com, there are hundreds of thousands of them! By browsing through fiverr, I'm confident you'll find a handful of productized services that you can also offer.

Pros Of Productized Services

• You can start offering a productized service this very second, there is nothing holding you back
• Repeat customers are quite easy, unless you mess up the first time
• It's easy to upsell. You can offer more of what they purchased, faster delivery speeds, enhancements, complementary productized services, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Cons Of Productized Services

• You're exchanging time for dollars… unless, you outsource the workload!
• It can be very competitive for simple tasks, so you need to have a unique value proposition (UVP). One of the simplest UVPs is to be the fastest. Most people who purchase productized services want that service accomplished yesterday. By being the fastest (while still providing quality, of course), you will stand out!

Tip To Getting Started

Most people will not purchase a productized service from you unless you have proof you can deliver what you promise.

When you're first getting started, you probably won't have much proof. To change this, offer your service for free in exchange for a review/testimonial and as work you can include in your portfolio.

Once you have proof, the sales will come much more easily!

The Productized Service Sales Funnel

The Front End sales funnel outlined in the drop shipping section above is the perfect funnel model for offering productized services because there are so many upsell opportunities.

However, if you don't want to get that complex, sticking with a simple sales page funnel can still yield amazing results:

5) Sell Other People's Products

If you don't have your own products to sell and you don't want to find one (drop shipping, PLR) or make one (productized service, clothing), you can always sell someone else's and earn a commission for making the sale.

Think about a car salesman for a second. He doesn't own the car he's trying to sell you, and he definitely didn't make the car. Yet, he's still trying to sell you the car and when he does, the car manufacturer “thanks” him by giving him a commission.

Why can't you do the same thing the car salesman is doing? Probably not with cars, but can't you help some other business try and sell their products?

Sure ya can! In Internet speak, it's called affiliate marketing.

Affiliate Marketing's Bad Rap

I want to address this real quick because I've seen people turn up their nose the second I mention “Affiliate Marketing”…

Affiliate marketing gets a bad rap because individuals blindly spam promotions for affiliate products without knowing a thing about the product or the customer they're trying to reach. They're selfish and chasing commissions which leads them to do sketchy things.

If you think about it, in any industry you'll find sleazy salesmen. It's just with affiliate marketing, it's so cheap to promote affiliate offers that sleazy salesman can spread the sleaze on a grand scale with ease…

But, you don't have to be a sleazy affiliate marketer.

You can be a good salesman that cares about the products you're offering and the customers you're offering them to.

It's your decision.

Pros Of Affiliate Marketing

• It's easy and costs nothing to start
• All you have to do is make the sale. You don't have to run customer support, deliver the product, or anything like that

Cons Of Affiliate Marketing

• While you may be the one to get the customer to purchase the product, they're not your customer… unless, you make them so! (read the sales funnel section below)
• You don't control the offer, commission, etc. If the seller decides to stop selling the product, or stops offering affiliate commissions, or changes your commission… there's nothing you can do about it. You're at the mercy of someone else. The key here is to promote multiple affiliate offers so you're diversified and not dependent upon one offer for your livelihood

The Affiliate Marketing Sales Funnel

When it comes to promoting affiliate offers, you probably don't want to send individuals directly to the sales page… instead you will want to use a Bridge Funnel:

A Bridge Funnel allows you to re-frame the affiliate offer and incentivize it with bonuses.

For example, let's say I want to promote ClickFunnels as an affiliate. It's a product I use, believe in, and feel good about recommending.

I could simply send you a link to register for ClickFunnels… and, maybe that works OK.

But, if I used a Bridge Funnel and incentivized you registering for ClickFunnels by offering you over $1,000 in free training and resources, you'd probably be more apt to sign up for a ClickFunnels account. Right?

Then, to claim your free training and resources,  you'll have to forward me your receipt and I can enter you into my database as one of MY customers. So, not only am I going to increase sales by offering bonuses, I'm able to turn people into MY customers too!

A Few Popular Affiliate Networks

Many companies offer an affiliate program, so if you have a product you want to be an affiliate for, simply Google: [product name] affiliate program. If that doesn't work, message the company to see if they offer one.

Here are a few of the most popular affiliate networks:

• Amazon Associates – sell any product on Amazon and earn a commission
• Clickbank & JVZoo – really big affiliate networks with mostly digital products and huge commissions. Some of the offers on these networks are spammy/scammy seeming, so use good judgement
• CJ & ShareASale – I find both of these platforms kind of hard to use; however, they offer a wide selection of products that you can promote

In Closing

There you have it…

1. Drop Shipping
2. Print-On-Demand
3. PLR & MRR
4. Productized Services
5. Affiliate Products

… 5 ways you can start making money online TODAY even if you have nothing to sell!

There's no reason why you can't get started!

We’ve made it to the part you’re probably most excited about – the Micro Sales Funnels!

(If you haven't already, please read WTF #1 & WTF #2 before getting into this article!)

These are the “typical” sales funnels you probably envision when you think of and read about sales funnels.

They’re the up-sell funnels, webinar funnels, product launch funnels, book funnels, call back funnels, and any other type of funnel you can think of.

Of course, every “guru” has their own take and twist on how these things can, and should, function; however, their goal remains the same – to sell something.

Now, let’s talk about these awesome funnels and how to use them!

Quick Overview

Above is an example of what a Micro Sales Funnel can look like.

No matter what the middle section contains, the Start and End will look the same.

The Start

The Start occurs when an individual shows interest.

But, what exactly does that mean?

Interest can be shown in a variety of ways:

• Click – Someone clicks a link in one of your emails or on one of your ads, showing they’re interested in a certain topic, product, service, etc.
• Pageview – When someone looks at a specific page on your website, it shows they’re interested in a certain topic, product, service, etc.
• Purchase – When an individual purchases a product or service from you, it’s a dead giveaway they’re interested in a certain topic, product, service, etc.
• Specific Lead Magnet – When someone opts-in to receive a Lead magnet for something related to what you want to sell. For example, a mini-guide called “5 ways we decreased Facebook Ad spending by 89%” – we know they’re interested in Facebook Ads.
  • Note: In WTF #5 you will find a Specific Lead Magnet plan that will blow your mind!
• Phone Call / Reply – If someone calls or replies to one of your emails, depending on the reasoning behind it, it could certainly show interest in a particular product, service, topic, etc.
• Survey – Similar to a phone call or reply in that someone is explicitly telling you what they’re interested in.
• Points (CRM) – More “advanced”; however, if you’re using a CRM tool you can use points to gauge interest and trigger Micro Sales Funnels based on points. For example, if someone looks at your sales page 5 times, you know they’re highly interested and may just need a tad more persuasion – exactly what a Micro Sales Funnel will provide.

As you can see, there are many ways an individual can enter one of your Micro Sales Funnels.

After The Start (The Funnel Part)

After the Start, you have the “funnel part.” Again, this can look like pretty much anything; however, in the example above we use an Action Series and an Upsell Series.

• Action Series – An email series that addresses the subscriber from different angles in order to try to “connect” with them and drive them to take action (make a purchase). For example, one email could be very logical and explain, by-the-numbers, why your deal is great. The next email could be a story about someone who found success with your product. Another email could be benefits driven and explain the results one can expect.
• Upsell Series – A series of emails triggered by an action (purchase) and attempts to move them to the next logical step. For example, they purchase a $7 guide to solve a problem and the upsell is a step-by-step video course for $97.

NOTICE! WARING! READ ME!

As I've stated in the previous WTF articles, email doesn't necessarily mean “email” – it means engagement – ie. email, retargeting ads, phone calls, Facebook messages, direct mail, etc. And, you can do more than one at a time!!!

• Send an email, use retargeting ads, send Facebook messages, and hell… if it's important enough… call them and/or send them direct mail! Got it?!
• I say “email” because it's easy to understand; however, there are many, many ways to interact with your audience so, please keep that in mind!
• Recommended Read: Email Marketing Is Dead! … and it's going to be ok

The End

Just like the Start, the End will be the same no matter what the “funnel part” looks like.

If the individual entered into your Micro Sales Funnel from your Main Series – they will re-enter the Main Series and pick up right where they left.

If the individual entered into your Micro Sales Funnel via another source, ie. Facebook Ad to a Specific Lead Magnet or they made a direct purchase, they’ll start the Main Series from the top.

The “Simplest” Sales Funnel

This first Micro Sales Funnel model is even more basic than the example I outlined above; however, don’t let its simplicity fool you – there’s beauty in simplicity.

As with all Micro Sales Funnels, the Start is when interest is shown.

After an interest is shown, an Action Series is triggered. While I’ll go into greater detail on Action Series later in this article series, for the time being – an Action Series is a series of emails (engagements) that try and motivate the audience member to take action (ie. buy something).

Whether the individual performs the action we want them to or not, the funnel will end just like any other Micro Sales Funnel. The individual will either be returned to their previous location within the Main Series or, in the instance of a new subscriber, they will start at the beginning of the Main Series.

If the idea of adding any of the next few Micro Sales Funnel models sounds too daunting, try adding a few of the “Simplest” Sales Funnels and you’ll start to see some amazing things happen!

For example, one of my students added seven of these funnels to his pre-established Main Series and here are his results:

The average open rate for his Main Series was 15.26%, Click-Through-Rate (CTR) was 3.58%, and Earnings-Per-Click (EPC) was $0.01.

While the open rate is a little low and he probably needs to address his subject lines, his emails have an above average CTR. This shows he’s able to gauge interest based on what links people are clicking.

Also, the EPC for his Main Series was only $0.01, which is perfectly fine. Remember, the intent of the Main Series is to gauge interest while continuing to build and maintain relationships.

The AS # represents the individual Action Series. In this case, each Action Series was triggered after an individual looked at one of his products’ sales pages. Each Action Series contained only three emails and most of the content was third party product reviews with a call-to-action (CTA) to visit the sales page and buy the product now!

Very simple.

However, as you can see, every Action Series outperformed the Main Series in open rate, CTR, and EPC by a landslide!

Again, all he did was add the “Simplest” Sales Funnels (Action Series).

He didn’t incorporate any up-sells or cross-sales. He kept everything really simple; however, his results have been tremendous!

Conclusion

The “Simplest” Sales Funnel is the starting point. This should be your first journey into the wild and crazy world of Micro Sales Funnels.

The good news is while they’re really easy to setup, they can make a massive impact to your bottom line!

The “Classic” Sales Funnel

The next Micro Sales Funnel is certainly the most popular and infamous; McDonalds built their empire based on it.

“Would you like fries with that?”

Yes, I’m talking about the “Classic” up-sell funnel.

This type of funnel is the true money maker because it directly increases customer order size, and thus, lifetime value.

Understand This…

I’m about to throw several different diagrams at you all named “Classic” Sales Funnels.

It may be overwhelming, especially if you’ve not seen something like this before.

Ultimately, I want you to understand the premise of the “Classic” Sales Funnel. If someone buys something, you try to sell them more. If they don’t buy it, you offer a down-sell or follow up and attempt to make the sale later.

No matter which of the fancy “Classic” Sales Funnel diagrams you’re looking at, remember – if your customer purchases something, sell more. If not, down-sell or follow up to sell later.

How To View This Type Of Funnel

Before getting into the fancy diagrams, I need to clarify how to view these “Classic” Sales Funnels as they can quickly become complex.

There are two perspectives to take into consideration when designing your “Classic” Sales Funnels:

• Long-term: Emails or engagements between offers
• Instant: Order flow (at checkout)

Due to these two different perspectives, these funnels can look very different depending on your business model, what you’re trying to accomplish, and your platform.

It doesn’t always make sense to include emails or other engagements between offers.

Maybe what you really want to sell is after the individual goes through this funnel.

For example, coaches will frequently use a “Classic” Sales Funnel to sell digital courses and training, in order to get people in the door. But, what they really want to sell is private coaching. Instead of really focusing on getting people through the “Classic” Sales Funnel, they just keep it really simple and place all their focus on a Product Launch Funnel, Webinar Funnel, or Call / Application Funnel.

Finally, in other instances, you may be limited by your particular platform and want to consider adding a 3^rd party tool like ClickFunnels.

The “Classic” Sales Funnel Models

I call this first one the “Mega Classic” Sales Funnel because it’s about as complex as “Classic” Sales Funnels can get.

Basically, the big idea is this:

If someone buys something, you make another offer right away (at checkout). If they buy it, you make another offer; however, if they don’t buy it, you either down-sell or send emails (engagements).

9 times out of 10, your funnels will not be this complex. There are a lot of moving parts, which means it can break easily. A broken funnel isn’t going to do you any good.

However, I wanted to open your eyes to what is possible.

Conversely, this is also a “Classic” Sales Funnel:

Very simple.

This version would likely occur at checkout and can be considered an “order flow”.

Basically, the big idea is this:

Regardless of whether someone buys the previous product, you’re going to make more offers. There won’t be any down-sells or follow up on previous offers – it’s either a yes or no on the spot, and that’s it.

This is essentially the McDonald’s funnel – the funnel starts when you purchase a burger, then they offer fries, then a drink, then to supersize it, then a sundae, and finally to opportunity to donate to a charity. Before you know it, you’ve spent $20 on a $1 burger!

More often than not, you’ll use a version between the “Mega Classic” and the simple funnel above.

One version that’s really popular in the Internet marketing world is the “Trip Wire Funnel”.

The theory behind this funnel is that as soon as you get someone to open their wallet and spend some money with you, they’re much more likely to continue spending.

It starts with offering a low priced product that’s too good to pass up called a “trip wire”. People buy this product like it’s going out of style and “trip” into your funnel where you sell your “Core Product” (what you really want to sell) and your “Profit Maximizer” (a high-end product or service that really rings the cash register).

A frequently seen trip wire is a free + shipping offer for a book. This works incredibly well because a physical book has a relatively high perceived value and opens the door to sell courses and coaching.

If you have a great complementary offer for the front-end, the “Classic” Sales Funnel model below may work well for you:

Basically, you work hard to sell your front-end offer (Offer #1) so they see Offer #2. Offer #2 is a complementary product to Offer #1, meaning it’s only really helpful if they’ve purchased Offer #1. Offer #3 is generally a stand-alone offer, meaning you don’t need Offer #1 or Offer #2 for it to be great, and it’s usually higher priced.

If they don’t purchase Offer #3 right away, they’ll be offered a down-sell and finally an Action Series in a last-ditch effort to make the sale.

Conclusion

The “Classic” Sales Funnel is the most popular Micro Sales Funnel because it works very well and can make a dramatic impact on the bottom line.

While the “Classic” Sales Funnel can look very different depending upon your unique setup, its purpose remains the same – to sell more. This, of course, can be accomplished across a wide timeframe through emails and other engagements and/or instantaneously at checkout.

The Product Launch Funnel

The Product Launch Funnel is wildly popular for more expensive products, like digital courses.

It’s typically three content based videos, that entertain and educate, and concludes with a fourth video that makes the offer.

The general flow is this:

Someone shows interest in your upcoming product launch by opting-in, clicking a link, viewing a page, etc. – all the normal “interest gauging” triggers.

From there, they receive a few emails (engagements, ie. retargeting ads, text messages, Facebook messages, etc.) directing them to video 1. After they watch the first video, they receive emails about video 2. They watch it, and then receive emails about video 3. They watch it and then receive emails to video 4, which is typically a Video Sales Letter (VSL).

The power behind this funnel comes from two key aspects:

First, this funnel provides insane value in videos 1-3 by giving away your “best stuff”. If you do these videos right, it will make your offer a no-brainer. People will think, “If his free stuff is this amazing … I can’t imagine how absolutely incredible his paid stuff is!”

The second source of this funnel’s power comes from the Launch / Cart Open phase.

During this phase scarcity is introduced because the cart will close.

There are a few ways to close the cart. The way you do it depends on whether your Product Launch Funnel is a true, one-time event or if it’s evergreen (always available).

If it’s a true, one-time event, then it’s easy to introduce scarcity because you’re going to take the offer off the table at a certain date and time. If the individual misses it, too bad.

If it’s an evergreen launch, you need to introduce scarcity in another manner because you won’t be removing the offer. You can do this by removing bonuses or by increasing the price, if they don’t purchase by a certain date.

The Video Pattern

Before I go any further, I want to address something – I keep saying “video”; however, you don’t necessarily need videos. You could use other resources like blog posts or PDFs to develop a product launch series.

Videos are often used because digital video courses are typically sold during a product launch funnel. It makes sense to keep everything in the same medium.

With that being said, you should follow a pattern or strategy for delivering the first three videos. There’s some psychology and positioning at play.

There’s a proven science behind this content and there are folks that make millions regularly from these product launch funnels.

While I’ll give you my particular formula in a moment, I want to share two other guys’ formulas … or at least where to get them. (It wouldn’t be ethical, and it’s probably illegal, to just paste their formulas here; however, you can get them straight from the books I’m about to recommend. Each book is less than $10, but contains invaluable information.)

• Jeff Walker’s “Launch”: http://www.thelaunchbook.com/
  • Pages 89-97
• Russel Brunson’s “DotCom Secrets”: https://dotcomsecretsbook.com/
  • Pages 222-227

My Formula: Teach, To-Do, & Tease

While I typically follow the aforementioned formulas because they know what they’re doing, I sometimes find them hard to follow. They require certain information to be presented, like success stories.

Success stories are important, and you need to have people find success with your product; however, there’s a chicken and egg situation here. You can’t really have success stories (besides your own) before your product exists, right?

While you can do a limited pre-launch to get feedback and success stories, doing so takes time and requires an audience.

If you’re short on time and/or lack an audience, what I’m about to explain may work very well for you!

I call it the “Teach, To-Do, & Tease” formula. In each video, you teach something, give the individual a simple task, and tease what’s to come.

I’ll explain this formula through an example.

Let’s pretend I’m selling an expensive course titled, “How to Become a World-Class Facebook Ads Guru”.

Across the Product Launch Funnel, I would teach a segment of the course.

Which segment? Either the “coolest” part or the beginning. Sometimes you can’t teach the “coolest” part because your course is progressive and you can’t do the “cool” stuff without having completed steps 1-5 first.

You also want to ensure the segment you teach provides a clear deliverable.

Think of it like a mini-course with a beginning, middle, and end.

Basically, whether or not they purchase the full course, I want them to receive at least one clear result from my training.

You never want to leave anyone feeling like they’ve been duped … like you’ve just dragged them along so you could sell them your product.

You want them to accomplish something, and if they want more – there’s a full course on the topic.

Back to the example, regarding Facebook Ads, I can’t start with the “cool” stuff because without having the proper groundwork in place, the “cool” stuff can’t happen.

The segment taught is the beginning and it’s titled, “How to build custom audiences that know, like, and trust you with Facebook’s advertising platform.”

In video 1, I’ll teach people how to install the Facebook tracking pixel on their website, tell them to go do it, and tease the conversion tracking training coming in video 2.

In video 2, I’ll teach them how to track conversions and create custom conversions which will help them create specific audiences … which is what is covered in video 3.

In video 3, I’ll teach them how to create custom audiences based on pages viewed, conversions made, and how to use this to create lookalike audiences of similar people that will know, like, and trust you!

Finally, in video 4, I’ll pitch the full course by explaining how what they just learned will help them tremendously moving forward; however, it’s only a small segment of becoming a World-Class Facebook Ads Guru!

See how it’s all a natural flow into selling the full product? It doesn’t require having testimonials and success stories because you’re helping them find success!

If you help someone solve a problem for free, they’re more likely to reciprocate when you’re trying to solve a bigger problem for money.

Conclusion

The Product Launch Funnel works great when selling high priced products, like digital courses, because it gives you the opportunity to “prove” yourself before asking for the sale.

You also want to follow a proven pattern for your videos because there is psychology and reasoning behind the content of each one.

Finally, you need to open and close the cart and make it a big deal by introducing some form of scarcity.

The Webinar Funnel

In the good ol’ days, people and businesses used to host seminars, but now they can get in front of more people faster and more easily via webinars.

These types of sales funnels have become wildly popular recently due to the fact they convert like gangbusters!

Here’s a common Webinar Sales Funnel:

Similar to the Product Launch Funnel, the Webinar Funnel is typically used for higher-priced products and services because you have people with you for 60+ minutes. This gives you enough time to convey your message fully, give the pitch, and answer questions.

While you can automate your webinar to make it evergreen, the live aspect gives these presentations their power.

When it’s live, everything comes across as fresh, new, and when you give your call-to-action, there’s an inherent sense of urgency. You’re ending the presentation at X time, and once it’s over, the deal is gone.

The general flow is this:

Someone shows interest in your webinar by opting-in via a webinar registration page. They’re then enrolled in your pre-webinar autoresponder series where you send a few videos and resources to prime and excite the individual for the upcoming webinar. Then, you host your webinar.

Ideally, the individual attends your webinar, sees your offer, purchases it, and ends the Micro Sales Funnel.

But, if they don’t attend your webinar, you can send a “replay autoresponder series” which consists of a few emails that present the individual the opportunity to watch a replay of the webinar.

Hopefully they watch the replay, see your offer, purchase it, and end the Micro Sales Funnel.

If they don’t watch the webinar or the replay, they won’t see the offer, so this particular Micro Sales Funnel is ended.

If the individual sees the offer, either during the live webinar or the replay, but doesn’t purchase it, you can follow up with an Action Series. The Action Series tries to sell them on it by answering more questions, handling objections, sharing more success stories, or even offering a discount in a last-ditch effort to make the sale.

Turning It Evergreen

While the great power of webinars comes from being live, you can still create the same live feel and automate the entire process.

By turning your webinar into an evergreen presentation, you’re able to give presentations 24/7/365!

There are a million different tools to help you do this; however, there are two elements a tool can’t provide that you must take into account before going the evergreen route.

First, the webinar you turn evergreen needs to be a recorded live webinar.

This means you can’t sit in your office, record yourself talking about some slides, editing the clip to cut out the “uhs”, and then launch your evergreen webinar.

Remember, the power of webinars comes from being live. People can tell in a heartbeat if something was scripted and performed alone or held live.

If someone attends your webinar and they’re presented with a scripted presentation, it will come across as unauthentic.

Don’t get me wrong, scripted, pre-recorded, and edited presentations are fine; however, call it a presentation or training – don’t call it a webinar.

A webinar has the connotation of being live and if you don’t fulfil that, people aren’t going to be as happy and excited.

Plus, there are benefits of performing live. You see what does and doesn’t work, what questions people have, etc. – it really helps to refine your presentation.

The strategy, then, is to hold a handful of live webinars, get some real time feedback, adjust your presentation, then record one and use it as your evergreen webinar.

The second element you need to provide is a way to contact you, the presenter. This can be something as simple as a chat box below the webinar.

As much as humanly possible, no matter if the webinar itself is pre-recorded, you want to be live in the chat room to field any questions.

Some people are ready to buy; however, they will have the simplest question stopping them from whipping out their credit card. If you’re able to answer their question immediately – you’ll get yourself a new customer!

Live chat may not always be possible, especially if you’re running webinars 24/7/365, so the second best option is to follow up via email; however, you lose the “in the moment” momentum, which may result in lost sales.

Either way, you need to make yourself present as much as possible, even if the webinar itself is recorded.

Other Webinar Blueprints

Just like with the “Classic” Sales Funnel, there are a bunch of ways to layout a Webinar Sales Funnel depending on your needs.

There are arguments for and against offering replays and follow up emails that pitch the offer.

Some webinars are live, four hour long events and only during those four hours can you purchase the offer.

While others are heavy on getting individuals to watch the replay and follow up intensely on the offer.

No one way works better than the other all the time, just figure out what works best for you!

Self-Liquidating Offer

This blueprint looks similar to the original with one exception, immediately after registering for the webinar, the individual is met with a Self-Liquidating Offer or SLO.

A SLO is similar to a Trip Wire, in fact, their names are often used interchangeably. It’s typically priced under $10 and is too good to refuse; however, a SLO doesn’t necessarily “trip” someone into the other offers.

Instead, its sole purpose is to recoup ad spend to acquire leads.

Offer Up!

This blueprint is similar to the SLO example above in that the subscriber is immediately greeted with an offer upon registering for the webinar; however, in this instance they’re met with the main offer.

There are a couple reasons you may want to try this:

In some instances, people will buy your offer right away without going through the entire webinar process. They get what they want faster and you don’t have to work as hard!

Another theory is that by seeing the offer first, they’re primed for when you make your official pitch. They say it takes 6-8 touches before you’ll make the sale, this is a simple way to add another touch.

No Pre-Webinar

In many instances, especially if your webinar is evergreen, you won’t have enough time to go through an entire pre-webinar series … and you don’t have to!

No Pre-Webinar, No Replay

If you don’t want to offer a replay, don’t!

The Webinar Presentation

Just like with the Product Launch Funnel, there’s an art and science behind the content you present in your webinar.

Before you launch your own webinar, make sure you attend a bunch of webinars – especially those in the same niche as you that you know are successful.

Since launching a webinar is a piece of cake, every small business on the planet has one. Unfortunately, not all are successful and you don’t want to emulate those.

Attend the successful ones. Take notes on how they open, present their content, and pitch their offer.

Understand how they engage with their audience and handle objections.

Pay attention and really study what they do. It’s going to help you tremendously.

Finally, I recommend grabbing Russel Brunson’s Perfect Webinar training from https://perfectwebinarsecrets.com/.

It costs less than $5 and contains about three hours of training. He outlines, step-by-step, how to structure your webinar presentation for maximum effectiveness.

Conclusion

The Webinar Sales Funnel is an effective way to sell higher end products and services. They give you enough time to go into detail on your offer plus the live aspect makes them really engaging.

Having the ability to answer questions and squash objections on the spot makes them incredibly powerful.

There’s also the opportunity to make them evergreen so they’re working for your 24/7/365. But, when you turn a webinar evergreen, make sure it’s a recorded live version and you make yourself available to answer questions.

Finally, before launching your own webinar, make sure you study other successful webinars to really get a good grasp on how to present yours.

The Call / Application Sales Funnel

While Product Launch and Webinar Funnels are great for selling many types of high-ticket products and services, sometimes you really need to talk to the individual before they feel comfortable making the purchase.

Other times, you need to feel comfortable selling them the product or service. You may want to qualify them before moving forward on a deal.

Naturally, these situations typically entail talking to the potential customer/client, which is why we have the Call / Application Sales Funnel:

The general flow is this:

An individual starts the funnel by clicking a “contact” or “application” link in an email or on your site. Or, they may opt-in to contact you (2-step, more on it later).

From there, the individual either schedules a call with you or fills out your application. Or they don’t.

Assuming they do, they receive the “Homework Or Pre-call Follow-up” autoresponder series.

• Homework: Works as both a qualifier and as a chance to sell yourself more. The homework is typically something simple, like watching a few videos so they are prepared for the upcoming call.

If they do the homework, great! You know they’re highly interested. If not, then maybe they’re not the right customer for you.

• Pre-call Follow-up: This follow-up series can be used similarly to the “Homework” setup outlined above in that you give some material to consume. It also serves to remind the individual they have an upcoming call with you.

People will forget they’ve scheduled a call with you. Fortunately, most scheduling tools have built-in functionality for sending reminder emails. You can set it up to send a call reminder 24 hours, 4 hours, and 20 minutes out.

Hopefully, the individual does the homework and/or you speak to them and they become a customer of yours. Now all you have to do is serve them!

If they don’t become a customer, they end this Micro Sales Funnel and either enter or resume the Main Series so you can begin gauging more interests.

Let’s go back to the beginning of this Micro Sales Funnel – “Did Individual Schedule Call Or Fill Out Application?”

A lot of people will land on your call scheduling and/or application forms without actually filling them out.

You don’t want to ignore these people because they’ve shown interest in your offer.

In this case, follow up via an Action Series with the CTA being to schedule the call or fill out the application.

Hopefully, they do what you want and will flow through the rest of the Micro Sales Funnel; however, if they don’t, they either enter or resume the Main Series.

The 2-Step Approach

While you’re able to easily track people’s actions and gauge their interests when they’re already on your list – you don’t want to miss out on people that aren’t on your list.

To capture these new people, I recommend the 2-Step Approach.

It works like this – before an individual even lands on your call scheduling or application form, they enter their email address.

For example:

An individual clicks on the “Schedule A Call” button in the top navigation menu:

Clicking that button pops up a lightbox opt-in form that requests their email address:

It makes perfect sense these steps would be required to schedule a call – ie. “Step 1: Enter Your Email Below” and “Continue To Step 2”.

Step 2 is simply the scheduling or application form:

Again, hopefully they go straight through the process; however, if they don’t – you collected their email address in “Step 1”, and are able to follow up with an Action Series that motivates them to finish the process.

Conclusion

The Call / Application Funnel is perfect for when you need to talk to someone or need them to fill out an application to prove they are a good fit.

If you offer personalized services, this funnel might be one to check out and implement!

Other Funnels

As I stated at the beginning of this section, every sales funnel “guru” has their own sales funnel model(s) they teach.

This is great! More people to learn from and more models to follow and implement.

Even greater, they all work with the Interest Driven Sales Funnel concept – they’re all [typically] Micro Sales Funnels.

You still incorporate your interest gauging Main Series and when an interest in a product or service is shown, instead of launching one of the Micro Sales Funnels outlined above, you simply launch that particular “guru’s” funnel.

After the individual has gone through that funnel, they hop back into the Main Series and continue their journey until they show interest in something else.

The Interest Driven Sales Funnel concept is very plug & play friendly. I want you to try other Micro Sales Funnels. If you come across one that sounds interesting, try it. If it doesn’t work, you can always cut that Micro Sales Funnel off and add in a new one for the same product or service.

Here are a few funnel “gurus” that you may find insightful:

• Russell Brunson – Founder of ClickFunnels. Has written several books on sales funnels. Has dozens of Micro Sales Funnel models, plus talks about stacking (combining) them for maximum effectiveness. He has too many products and resources to list and all of them are great, just Google him.
• Aaron Fletcher – Has the “Fletcher Method” and the “One Page Marketing Funnel”. The Fletcher Method is an ideology behind structuring your business and creating great offers. If you’re struggling with figuring out what to offer, I recommend checking out his method. His One Page Marketing Funnel is essentially a Product Launch Funnel; however, he incorporates retargeting, phone calls, and even snail mail which make it more effective. Learn more at http://fletchermethod.com/
• Ryan Deiss – Owns more companies than I can count and all are powered by very solid sales funnels. Like Russell Brunson, he has a lot of stuff to offer and is worth a Google search; however, what’s likely most interesting to you is his Follow Up Machine. It’s a similar concept to the Interest Driven Sales Funnel I teach in that it incorporates your entire business, gauges interest, etc., but he, of course, has his own spin on it. Learn more at http://followupmachine.com/backdoor
• Todd Brown – Another sales funnel “guru” worth checking out. He has a bunch of different Micro Sales Funnel models that he teaches, all with his unique spin. Learn more about Todd and his funnels at http://marketingfunnelautomation.com/
• Traffic and Funnels – A heavy focus on developing client acquisition systems, similar to the “Call / Application Funnel” I outlined above. If you offer higher end products or services that require conversation, you may find their training to be incredibly helpful. Learn more at http://trafficandfunnels.com/

Those are just some of the people I follow with regard to sales funnels. Of course, there are many others out there and if you find someone that really resonates with you, follow them!

Combining Funnels

As if the possibilities for Micro Sales Funnels weren’t already endless, in this final section, we’ll briefly discuss combining them to make them even more effective!

In general, the “Classic” Sales Funnel is the perfect addition to most Product Launch and Webinar Funnels because it makes perfect sense to combine the two:

Product Launch => The “Classic”

Webinar => The “Classic”

Makes sense, right? You’re already making an offer and if they buy it, you simply offer more.

The “Classic” => Call / Application Funnel

The Call / Application Funnel also fits nicely on the backend of most other funnels, especially when you’re trying to get someone on the phone and/or to qualify themselves for your higher end products and services.

At the end of the day, combine funnels in ways that makes sense for what you offer. Never lose sight of your customer, their needs, and the natural path they should take through your Micro Sales Funnels.

Detailed Micro Sales Funnel Strategies

I have a few complementary articles that go into great detail concerning several Micro Sales Funnel models and I wanted to share them with you here:

• The 2-Step Facebook Lead Gen Funnel
• The Digital Products Sales Funnel
• The Ecommerce / Amazon Sales Funnel
• The “Book” Sales Funnel

Ready For The Next Steps?

That was a lot of great info – wasn't it?!

You'll probably want to read through that section again; however, if you're ready to move on to the next steps…

Click here to go to WTF #4 where you'll learn about creating all the content that goes into sales funnels!