We recently took on a client that wanted to transition their robust eBay store over to their own website.

While this is not the first eCommerce store we’ve ever built – it is the first one that we transitioned from eBay, so we learned a few things that we’d like to share with you (and for us to refer back to should we receive another job like this!)

Before and After

I’ll start off describing the before and after, and then we’ll get into the details on how we made it happen!

The eBay Store

Below you’ll see a picture of the eBay store our client wanted transferred to her own website – and the eBay store still exist if you want to check it out

It’s probably best to define what a landing page is before we get into learning about the elements of a successful landing page!

A landing page is exactly what it sounds like – the page a visitor lands on after clicking a link (search results, advertisement, tweet, etc).

If that page is the homepage, then that’s the landing page. If the visitor lands on a blog article, then that is the landing page.

Now, with regular old search traffic, a blog article can be a fine landing page, especially if it answers the question the visitor is trying to solve. Of course, you want to try and optimize your blog articles for conversions as well, but that’s a topic for another day.

With any paid or promoted traffic, you want to send the visitor to a dedicated landing page.

A dedicated landing page serves only one purpose – to drive an action.

In most cases, and the in the case of this article, the action a landing page seeks is to collect contact information.

Just know, some landing pages attempt to sell products, others act as “click through” pages to keep the marketing message the same, and others aim to drive people to a physical location.

The Main Thing To Remember

This part is incredibly important, because without it, it won’t matter how great your landing page is – it will never perform well.

The message that you promote (advertisement), must match what the landing page says.

For example; you cannot have an ad that says “Get 10% off your next bike purchase!” and have a landing page that mentions nothing about a 10% off coupon.

The marketing message must remain consistent!

Elements Of A Successful Landing Page

Of course, some landing pages have all of these elements – some have one or two of these elements.

Main Headline

This is the big, bold, headline across the top of the page that promotes the marketing message received in the advertisement. It is arguably the most important aspect of a landing page because if people can’t get past the main headline, they’re unlikely to perform any action.

Supporting Headline

You guessed it, this headline supports the main headline!

Hero Shot

A nice, clean, pretty picture of what you’re “giving away”. Note: this does not always need to be a picture – videos can work well too.

Benefits

List some of the benefits people will gain after giving up their contact information. Remember, it’s all about benefits to the individual – it’s not about the features of what you’re giving away.

Opt-in Box

This is the form where a visitor enters their contact information.

CTA (Call-To-Action)

This is the button a visitor will press to submit their information in exchange for the promised lead magnet. Believe it or not, the CTA is the second most (and in some instances, the most)  important aspect of your landing page. The CTA should match the Main Headline and not be something generic like “Signup Now”.

Social Proof

Include a testimonial or two, or an “as seen on” section to give proof that what you’re offering is socially acceptable.

You've heard of affiliate marketing…

Maybe you've dabbled with it…

But, success has likely alluded you…

Which is why you're researching other ways to “do” affiliate marketing…

This post outlines how I do it successfully.

By the way, I have a 100% FREE Affiliate Marketing Course you can join by Clicking Here!

The Affiliate Marketing Funnel

This is it, the successful affiliate marketing strategy I follow…

Traffic

It doesn't really matter where your traffic comes from… assuming you're advertising where your audience actually hangs out.

For simplicity's sake, most people can find a portion of their audience on Facebook, so that's a good place to start.

Hook vs Offer

There are two elements to consider when creating your ads…

1. Hook: Main benefit, simplified
2. Offer: What you're actually offering (article, lead magnet, product, etc.)

Some examples:

• 4 Hour Work Week; Book
• 1,000 Songs In Your Pocket; iPod
• Big Profits From Small Stocks; Penny Stock Newsletter
• Eat More, Weigh Less; Training Program
• #MAGA; President

Ad Setup

• Text Copy: Short, uncover the hook and lead into the offer with a Call To Action (CTA)
• Image/Video: Typically reflects the Hook
• Headline Copy: Typically reflects the Offer
• Description Copy: Either hits on Hook again, or gives details about the Offer

Want more info on ads?

Click Here to join the FULL Affiliate Marketing Course for FREE!

Squeeze Page & Lead Magnet

I'm sure you already know what a Squeeze Page and Lead Magnet is, so I'm not going to waste time defining them…

Instead, we'll get straight into it.

Here are a few Lead Magnet ideas…

• Make a short PDF: Checklist, Cheat Sheet, Mind Map, Resource List, etc.

Here's how you can make a Lead Magnet in 20 minutes!

• Run a Contest/Drawing: Give away a product YOUR audience will like. It needs to be a specific product that ONLY YOUR audience will like. Don't give away an iPad or an Amazon gift card since everyone wants that and you'll attract people that don't actually care about the products/services you're going to offer them.
  • Side note: I've never had much success on turning Contest/Drawing subscribers into profitable customers. That doesn't mean you can't, just know that while they're “cheap” leads… you tend to get what you pay for.

Want more Squeeze Page & Lead Magnet ideas?

Click Here to join the FULL Affiliate Marketing Course for FREE!

Thank You Page

Most people aren't going to consume your Lead Magnet, even if it is only one page.

This kind of sucks because you want them to consume it as it establishes you and your business in their mind… so, when they see your emails and ads later on, they'll remember who you are.

So, on the Thank You page, you will want to include a video that introduces yourself,  your business, and walks the individual through the Lead Magnet they requested.

It can be a short, 3 minute video all the way to 90+ minutes. Just do what makes sense.

Finally, on this Thank You page, you will want to tell them what to do next…

• Go to this affiliate product
• Checkout this blog post
• Access more training
• etc.

Want more details on creating a successful Thank You Page?

Click Here to join the FULL Affiliate Marketing Course for FREE!

Series #

The Series represents both…

1. Emails
2. Retargeting Ads

You're going to “attack” people from multiple angles!

I recommend following the “Weekly Pushes Framework” for these series. Basically, you spend one week promoting one product, then move onto another affiliate product the next week.

• Step 1: Pick the affiliate product you want to promote for the week
• Step 2: Follow the pattern 3 and 2 for message delivery (ie. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday)
  • Bridge/Email 1: Fun/personal/customer story/testimonial/experience
  • Bridge/Email 2: Promotion of Product
  • Bridges/Emails 3-4: Content on topic of Product
  • Bridge/Email 5: Content or Promotion

Want to learn more about the “Weekly Pushes Framework” and how to incorporate Retargeting Ads?

Click Here to join the FULL Affiliate Marketing Course for FREE!

Bridges

This is how you connect YOUR audience to the affiliate offers you're promoting.

These bridges include the emails and ads you create…

But, they can be more complex than that…

They can also include standalone pages, videos, and even webinars if you REALLY want to promote the heck out of an affiliate offer!

Here's some common bridge type content:

• Reviews
• Training
• Behind the scenes/unboxing
• Stories
• Content
• Incentives

Want more Bridge ideas and to see a few examples?

Click Here to join the FULL Affiliate Marketing Course for FREE!

Affiliate Products

Finding affiliate products to promote is very easy since there are literally millions of products you can sell as an affiliate.

Two ways to find products to sell are:

1) Sell What You Already Use

• Take products you already use and believe your audience will also like.
• Head over to Google and search for that product while including the word “affiliate” in your search.
• See if they have an affiliate program.
• Register for it and begin promoting the product!

2) Browse Affiliate Network Directories

There are a bunch of affiliate networks to choose from. Here are a few of the bigger, more popular ones:

• ClickBank
• JVZoo
• CJ
• ShareASale
• Amazon Associates

Simply head over to one of those directories and browse around until you find something you believe your audience will like.

Side note: I recommend actually buying what you're promoting so you can ensure its quality is up to par… you never want to disappoint your audience!

Join The FREE Affiliate Marketing Funnel Training!

That's the strategy behind the Affiliate Marketing Funnel!

Now, if you want more details and want to learn how to actually build it…

Click Here to join the FULL Affiliate Marketing Course for FREE!

 

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!

This post is the second in a series of posts entitled, “Digital Marketing Strategy For Startups, Small Businesses, and Entrepreneurs“.

In part 1 we discussed mastering two sources for traffic: 1 organic “free” source and 1 paid source.

In part 2 here, we're going to discuss what to actually do with the traffic once you have it … you're going to start building your listS!

There's MORE Than 1 List!

You've likely heard the saying, “The money is in the list.”

99% of the time, the “list” people are referring to is an email list. And, this post is primarily about email lists, however…

I'm going to let you in on a little secret … there are more list types than just email.

Of course, there's physical address lists for things like direct mail and phone lists so you can call your leads and customers.

But, there are also audience lists. (sometimes called retargeting or remarketing lists)

Audience lists are built within advertising platforms, ie. Facebook's Ad Manager and Google Adwords. (if you haven't read part 1, do that now … in particular, the section on paid traffic, pixels, and audiences)

Individuals are added to your audience lists when they perform a particular action, such as, visit your site, view specific pages, purchase a product or service, watch a video, among other reasons.

You're then able to place ads in front of individuals on your audience lists, which keeps them in your funnel and aware of your business.

My point is, before you read the rest of this post, which mainly concerns email lists, I want you to realize and understand there are other list types out there because it's going to open a whole world of opportunity for you.

Also, in part 4 we're going to go into more detail on advertising to (or retargeting) these audience lists.

Let's Talk About Your Email List

Having a list of email addresses is important.

It's an asset.

It grants you the power to reach out and communicate with your audience.

It's permission based marketing.

This means people have given you permission to contact them.

They've asked you to send them emails.

You're not “annoying” people with ads as they browse Facebook or the web, trying to get them to buy your stuff.

They want to hear from you.

At least, this is the goal. Of course, you can treat a list poorly, burn bridges, harass people, etc., but, you're not going to do that because you're a good person and a responsible business owner!

You can change its medium.

You can do more with a list of email addresses than just send emails to it…

You can upload it into advertising platforms like Facebook and Google Adwords to create audience lists.

Yes! Let's say you have a list of 10,000 email addresses, you can upload that list straight into Facebook and they'll automatically pair those email addresses with the associated profiles, giving you the power to target people on your email list! (insanely powerful!)

You control it.

Unlike the “audience lists” I mentioned above that technically belong to whatever advertising platform you built them on – ie. Facebook Ads Manager or Google Adwords … an email list is yours.

You can move it from one marketing automation tool to the next.

You can manually send emails.

You can upload it into the audience list tools to build custom audiences.

You can do a lot with an email list.

Having a QUALITY email list is one of the keys to success in digital marketing.

Quality? Yes, although it should go without saying … the size of the list isn't as important as who's actually on it.

If you have a list of 100,000 people, but they all live in India or Pakistan and you're trying to get them to visit your ecommerce store that only ships products in the US … those 100,000 people aren't worth a dime.

Whereas, if you have 10,000 raving fans on your list and every time you send an email with an offer, a good percent jumps on it (~5%) … you're golden. Unstoppable!

Ok, So How Do You Grow An Email List?

Side note: There are businesses and individuals that will sell you lists of email addresses. Depending on where you live, this is illegal and at the very least, unethical. Remember the permission based marketing remarks above? Yeah, you're definitely violating that relationship if you buy a random list from someone.

There are many different strategies, tactics, tricks, hacks, etc. for growing your email list … but, they all follow one core principle: Give an individual something of value in exchange for their contact information.

In the digital marketing world, the “something” you give to an individual is called a “Lead Magnet”.

A few example Lead Magnets are:

• Coupons/Discounts
• Checklists
• eBooks
• Contest/Raffle Entry
• Free Trial
• Course Access
• Webinars
• Flowcharts/Frameworks
• Mind Maps

You've likely seen most of these offered in one form or another as you've browsed the Internet.

It's a pretty simple concept, but it works across all niches and markets.

If you want more information on Lead Magnets, please click here to read a complementary article.

Growing Your Email List With Traffic You DON'T Control

As long as you have a website with something of value on it and you do a little bit of promotion through your organic “free” traffic source … people will eventually visit it.

Sometimes, you can control what page they're going to land on. If you've grown your Facebook page audience and you post a link to a blog post … you're pre-framing that traffic and controlling where they land.

In other instances, you won't have any control over what page someone visits. Like, if someone finds your site through a Google search … you can't control what page they're going to land on. They're going to land wherever they're going to land!

My point is, people are going to find your stuff in some of the most random of ways and you need to be prepared to capture their contact information.

The best way to grow your email list with traffic you don't control is with opt-in forms.

Grow Your Email List With Opt-in Forms

There are many types and triggers for opt-in forms; however, for the sake of an example – an opt-in form is a form that pops-up when an individual lands on a website that asks for their contact information in exchange for a Lead Magnet.

Opt-in forms provide the benefit of being able to placed anywhere on your site; ie. if a visitor lands on a random blog post, you can present an opt-in form.

For example:

Most people have a love/hate relationship with opt-in forms.

As a visitor to a website, they can be incredibly annoying … especially when they keep popping over what you're trying to read.

But, as the site owner, we know those pop-up opt-in forms tend to work. So, we keep showing them.

This creates an interesting dichotomy, but that's beyond the scope of this particular article.

The point is, they work and you should use them to capture traffic you don't control.

For more information on opt-in forms and tools to use, click here.

Growing Your Email List With Traffic You DO Control

There are many instances when you control where your audience lands, ie. you're paying for it, you send a link in an email, you post a link on your social media profile, etc.

In this section, I'm mainly referring to the traffic you're paying for.

If you're paying for people to visit your site, you better have a plan!

I've seen far too many small business owners sending paid traffic to their homepage to “raise awareness” … which, if you read the Intro post, you know isn't specific or measurable and therefore, wasted effort.

When you're spending money on traffic, think of it like fishing.

You're fishing in Facebook's/Google's lake for your ideal prospects. What bait (Lead Magnet) are you going to use to draw them in? How are you going to catch them so you can place them in your lake (ie. your email list)?

#1 Goal, Grow Your Email List

Make the #1 goal of your paid advertising campaigns growing your email list!

* Side note: There are other reasons why you will pay for traffic. For example, when we discuss retargeting in part 4 you will pay to attract those that are already on your list; however, for all intents and purposes, your #1 goal for paid traffic is to grow that email list!

One of the best ways to grow your email list with paid traffic is to send people directly to a landing page, sometimes called a squeeze page because it “squeezes” the contact information out of the individual.

Simply put, it's one page with one objective/goal, offer a Lead Magnet in exchange for contact info. That's it.

Here's an example:

And another:

Simple enough, right?

It's not complicated.

Create an ad that says, “Want this super awesome [Lead Magnet]? Click here!”, which takes them to a squeeze page asking for name, email, etc. so you can send [Lead Magnet] right over.

The individual opts-in (joins your email list) and now they're on your email list!

Don't forget, make sure you're tracking conversions and using pixels PROPERLY when sending paid traffic to your squeeze pages! (read part 1 if you haven't already!)

Note: These squeeze pages are typically the first step in a Micro Sales Funnel (part 6)

In Closing…

You need to grow your listS!

You need to grow your audience lists within the advertising platforms (ie. Facebook and Google Adwords) by using conversion tracking and pixels.

And, more importantly, you need to grow your email list because you own it.

The best way to grow your email list is by offering a Lead Magnet in exchange for contact information. The best way to offer your Lead Magnets depends upon where the traffic is coming from:

• For organic “free” traffic, use different types of opt-in forms
• For paid traffic, use squeeze pages

Remember, this is not meant to be overly complicated. It's a simple process that you can see examples of everywhere.

It's just a matter of doing it and growing your various listS!

Click here to continue to Part 3: How To Use Marketing Automation To Generate Sales

A lead magnet is an incentive, or “bribe”, to convince an individual to give you their contact information.

You see lead magnets everywhere online in the form of discounts, contests, eBooks, checklists, video courses, etc.

But, lead magnets don’t exist solely online. Think about all of those “member” cards you have on your keyring for grocery stores, gas stations, and department stores. They offer you “points” in exchange for your contact information.

Think about store specific credit cards. Every time I walk into a Target, I’m offered one of their credit cards in exchange for 5% off all of my purchases.

Obviously, as a business owner / marketer – having either a points card or credit card that tracks your customers’ purchasing behavior would be phenomenal. You could tailor your marketing efforts incredibly effectively.

Some kind of card that tracks purchases would be an ideal lead magnet; however, those options might not be practical for your business. In this article I’ll address several lead magnet ideas you can use in your business.

• Related Course: How To Create Lead magnets That SELL While Growing Your Email List

A Lead Magnet Has Three Parts

I’m not going to go into too much detail in this section, I just want to point out the fact that a lead magnet is more than having a simple little giveaway.

You will also need a page, or a section on your page that does a great job promoting your lead magnet and collecting the contact information. This type of page is often referred to as a landing page.

• Related Article: What Is A Landing Page?

You will also need traffic to your landing page and lead magnet. Traffic can be generated any number of ways and without it, your lead magnet will not be successful.

To summarize, a lead magnet is made up of:

• The giveaway (coupon, eBook, checklist, course, trial, etc)
• The landing page (to promote the giveaway and collect the contact info)
• The traffic (from advertising)

These Days…

Back in the good ‘ol days (like 2 years ago), the bigger your lead magnet – the better. It used to be that a 200 page eBook was better than a 100 page eBook, which was obviously better than a measly 50 page eBook.

However, over time, people came to realize that they weren't even reading a 10 page eBook, much less a 200 page one. So, they stopped giving up their contact information in exchange for such massive eBooks.

These days, “quick answers” work best.

A single coupon, a 1 page checklist, and a 5 minute video tend to outperform a 200 page eBook.

This is great news for you, the lead magnet creator! Now, you don’t have to worry about compiling a massive lead magnet!

7 Lead Magnet Examples

Below are 7 lead magnet examples. Of course this list is not all inclusive, but it should help you get started.

1. Coupon / Discount

A coupon can drive people to your store, and/or to make a purchase. A coupon can be the deciding factor between someone going to your store or one of your competitors.

For example, if someone searches “ecig coupon chester va” – and you have a coupon readily available – you’ll get that customer AND their contact info.

I recommend every physical store, that sells a commodity, to have a coupon available and don’t hesitate to pay to advertise that lead magnet in order to get ahead of your competitors.

2. Checklist / Step-list

A checklist can be a great lead magnet, if there is some sort of process that can by systematized and helpful to your audience.

For example, if listing a product on Amazon, there are certain steps one has to go through every time to list their product. There’s the title, description, pictures, etc.

Offering people a checklist or step-by-step instructions can help them accomplish the task they set out to perform.

3. eBook

Even though I “bashed” eBooks a few paragraphs ago – they can still work as lead magnets. It simply depends on what your audience wants.

One tip, if you decide to go the eBook route – break it into small sections, and make each section independent of the others.

For example, if you have an eBook about fly fishing – one section could be about flies, one about equipment, and one about locations. This way, a reader can quickly find the answer they're looking for without having to read a massive eBook.

4. Contest / Raffle Entry

You see these all the time and they’re self explanatory, so I won’t go into much detail here.

The good part about these; however, is they can go viral. For example, in order to enter the contest, you must give up your contact information AND share the contest!

5. Free Trial

Free trials can work wonderfully.

For example, many SaaS companies give free month long trials to their software.

Also, gyms are another prime example of a business giving a free month long membership – heck, I just had one!

6. Video Course

Video courses and the online learning market are booming right now. If you’re able to offer a video course that teaches someone, something to make their job easier – it can be a successful lead magnet.

7. Notification of Future Products

Some people enjoy being on the cutting edge and having the latest and greatest. They’re more than willing to give up their contact information in exchange for being notified when a product is launched.

For example, my wife wants a FitBit. However, the color she wants has not been released – guess what – we’re on their email list waiting to be notified when the color is launched.

Bonus Examples! (Updated 28JUN2016)

This post was first published 10 FEB 2015 and it's become one of the more popular posts on my site.

Being that's it's old in Internet years and popular, I felt it was due for a bit of an update … here goes!

8. Webinars

Webinars are essentially online seminars that both teach and sell to its attendants. This make them a great choice – the attendants learn something and you make money!

You can also automate webinars which enables you to record them once to be used again and again.

While there are many webinar strategies out there, one of the best ones is the Perfect Webinar by Russell Brunson. You can learn more about it here; however, the full version costs a few bucks.

9. Flowcharts / Frameworks

I hate to say this, but people are lazy and if something's hard – they won't do it.

If you're able to give an individual step-by-step directions in a logical flow, they'll eat it up!

My favorite flowchart software is draw.io. It's free, web based, and syncs nicely with Google Drive.

10. Mind Maps

Similar to flowcharts, mind maps are a simple way to visually organize information.

They tend to be 1-page and loaded with great information that can be quickly and easily consumed.

Below you'll find a video on how to make one from scratch in about 20 minutes!

How To Create A Great Lead Magnet FAST (from scratch!)

Tools Used:

• Pinterest
• Coggle

Closing Tips:

Developing a lead magnet doesn't have to be too time consuming or difficult. It’s not a “the bigger the better” type of thing. For example, a 100 page eBook – might not do as well as a one page checklist.

So, here are a few tips to set you up for success:

• Be specific. This is referring to both the lead magnet and the results.
  • Bad Example: 50 page eBook called, “Learn To Be A Champion Cyclist”
  • Good Example: 1 page checklist called, “8 Steps To Breaking 60 Minutes In The 40k”
• Delivers immediate gratification. People want answers to their problems now. They don’t want to have to wait for the answer. Think of a way to keep it short and sweet, so they’re immediately fulfilled and have a direction to go in.
  • Obviously, breaking 60 minutes in a 40k bike race will require months of hard training; however, the 1 page checklist will immediately provide the direction for someone to go in.
• One Promise. Keep it simple. This follows with the previous bullets – you don’t have to create the bible on bike racing. You don’t have to address nutrition, clothing, training plans, bike setups, etc.
  • The lead magnet should provide one answer to one problem.

• Related Course: How To Create Lead magnets That SELL While Growing Your Email List

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!

As advertising on Facebook gets more expensive due to increased competition…

We simply can't send cold traffic directly to offers anymore…

We need to adapt and become more proficient in acquiring new leads and customers…

We need to take advantage of the tools Facebook gives us to get ahead of our competition and lower our costs!

Introducing…

The “Triple Threat” Facebook Ad Campaign Strategy

This Facebook Ad Campaign Strategy consists of 3 core campaigns:

• Acquisition
• Direct
• Retargeting

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 connects 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…

And, in fact… I break it down with step-by-step video instruction in my new course…

How To Increase Leads & Sales On Facebook With The Triple Threat Strategy