Books are the new business card.

Having a book helps you establish your expertise, makes you appear credible, sets you apart from your competition, and can bring you new business (if used properly).

Thanks to self publishing services, anyone can write a book and have it professionally printed within weeks.

For this reason many coaches, consultants, service providers, and educators have started using books in their efforts to bring in new business.

If you have, or are planning to have, your own book … I've got a free sales funnel for you to bring in new business!

• Click here for the free funnel!

Why Is A Book A Great Front-End Offer?

Beyond the whole “business card” concept, a book makes a great front-end offer because it's usually a low barrier to entry (less than $10), qualifies leads, educates them on what you do, and it's physical.

Physical products carry more weight (both literally and figuratively) than digital products.

People can actually hold it, feel it, touch it, smell it … and, it takes up space on their desk, coffee table, toilet, etc.

A piece of you will be with them, in their house/office, serving as a constant reminder that you're the guy/gal they want to do business with!

Plus, since it's a physical product, you have to ship it to them. This is a great excuse to get them to give you all of their “real” contact information which allows you to add them to various lists (retargeting, email, text, direct mail, etc.) for continued marketing.

If you're a coach, consultant, service provider, or educator and you're wondering what you should offer to get people in the door, a book is a great place to start.

The Coaching/Consulting “Book” Sales Funnel

Here is an overview of the sales funnel:

>> CLICK HERE TO GET THIS SALES FUNNEL <<

Squeeze Page [see page]

The first page in this sales funnel is what's called a Squeeze Page.

It's name is derived from the fact it “squeezes” the contact information out of the visitor.

This is typically accomplished by offering an incentive called a Lead Magnet. [read more about Lead Magnets]

Once you have the individual's contact information, you're able to engage with them to help move them through the funnel.

The Squeeze Page included with this funnel is my top converting squeeze page of all time.

Yes, it's plain, but I constantly test it against prettier pages and it always wins.

Give Away A Part Of The Book …

For your Lead Magnet, you will likely want to give away part of the book because this can help setup the sale of the book itself.

Which part?

A Chapter

If it makes sense to give away a chapter – you can do that, but make sure it's a great one and draws them into the rest of the book!

Unfortunately, giving out a chapter can hinder conversions because people will figure they'll read the free chapter first, then go buy the book. The problem here is they'll never read the free chapter and never buy your book. So, that's something to be mindful of and you may want to test your free chapter against another Lead Magnet.

A Chart/Graph/Table/Story

If applicable, yank out the sexiest chart/graph/table/story you have in your book, shoot a short 3-5 minute explainer video about it, and give that away.

This way, your lead will get a piece of content that's easily consumable and can decide then and there to go and buy your book.

Book Offer [see page]

This is the sales page for your book.

It's setup as a Free + Shipping offer. This means, the individual gets a free book – all they have to do is cover the shipping costs.

Tip: Include the cost of the book in the price of shipping, this way you're breaking even on the book.

The page itself is pretty self-explanatory:

• Include a picture/video of the book
• Add some reviews and testimonials, whether video or text
• Tell them what they'll learn in the book
• Include a note/bio from the author and/or a little pitch on why you're giving it away for free

Whether you decide to present it as a Free + Shipping offer or not, do your best to keep the total cost under $10.

The Order Bump

On step two of the order form, there's the option for an order bump.

An order bump gives the visitor a chance to add something to their order before they submit their payment information. (and a chance for you to sell something!)

Some great order bumps for books are:

• An audio version
• Complementary training/course
• Coaching call
• Video exclusive

These bumps typically convert best between $27 and $37.

OTO #1 (One-Time-Offer) [see page]

Yay! Someone purchased your book! Their wallet is now open and they're in buying mode!

OTO stands for One-Time-Offer and it’s essentially a special offer presented to an individual, only one time, which is right now! If they don’t act now, they miss out on this exclusive offer forever. This added element of scarcity increases conversions.

Typically, OTO #1 is your core offer.

This can be the digital course you really want to sell, or one that at least complements the book they just purchased.

OTO #1 could also be a coaching plan or service you offer.

Whatever it is, it's typically the reason you wrote the book in the first place – to sell this particular product/service.

The Video

The video included in the funnel example is just a placeholder. You need to shoot your own video or you can make a text based offer if you’d rather; however, video typically converts better.

The video should only be 3-5 minutes in length and hit on a few key points:

• Tell them the book they just grabbed is awesome and you'll ship it to them within 24 hours. Reiterate a key benefit or two.
• Introduce the OTO as a special offer that’s going to make what they just purchased even better.
  • Also, hit on the fact that this offer is not for everyone. It’s only for individuals that have grabbed the Initial Offer.
• Tell them what the OTO is and how it will benefit them.
• Tell them to click the “orange” button below to accept the offer.
• If you offer a guarantee, mention it.
• Share a review/testimonial or two. Or at least snippets with the key points.
• Tell them to again click the “orange” button below to accept the offer.

If you hit on all of those points, you’ll easily fill the 3-5 minutes!

Downsell [see page]

Unfortunately, not everyone is going to accept your OTO #1, no matter how awesome it is.

For the people that say “no” to OTO #1, offer them a downsell.

A few downsell ideas include:

• A payment plan: Offer them the chance to join your course or acquire your services for a few, monthly, installment payments.
• A bonus: Offer an additional resource, training, coaching call, or service to motivate them to take you up on your offer
• A discount: Offer a straight up discount on OTO #1.
• A modified OTO #1: Offer a “stripped down” or modified version of OTO #1. For example, instead of getting all the video tutorials, they'll only get the PDF documents.
• An entirely different offer: Offer something else, but along the same topic. For example, OTO #1 is about advertising on Facebook, and the downsell is about advertising on Google Adwords. Both offers deal with traffic, but they're different.

OTO #2 [see page]

Whether or not your new customer purchases OTO #1 or the Downsell, they are presented with OTO #2.

OTO #2 is usually one of three things:

1. A Profit Maximizer – A really expensive course, membership, service, or coaching package. We're looking at the $1,000 range.
2. Another complementary course or resource – If you don't have a Profit Maximizer to offer, maybe you can offer another product/resource that also complements your book. Even if it's cheaper than OTO #1, that's OK. You can still increase cart order size!
3. A Continuity Offer – Some form of recurring membership.

Like OTO #1, you probably want to use a 3-5 minute video to sell it. You can follow a similar script as the one outlined above.

Order Confirmation [see page]

The Order Confirmation page is simply that, a page that confirms the individual’s order.

It simply thanks them for their order, breaks it down for them, and tells them how to get in touch, what to expect, and what to do next.

Offer Wall

An Offer Wall is what it sounds like, a wall of offers. Essentially, you’ll display 3-6 more products and/or services with links to them and possibly some exclusive discounts. If your new customer wants to buy more from you, they know where to look!

I didn’t include one of these with the sales funnel I’m giving away. However, it’s relatively simple to add and something you may want to consider doing!

Take Action!

Now is the time for you to make a decision.

Are you going to use a book to explode your business or are you going to keep passing out lame business cards?!

I've given you a sales funnel for free and outlined the entire strategy for it.

All you need to do is execute.

For more training on execution, check out The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

Imagine owning a machine that prints money.

Every time you put in $1, you get that $1 plus back.

Whether it's spitting out $1.01 or $6, you'd run that machine all day.

And, that's the dream, right?

To have a reliable system that generates a consistent ROI?

The problem is, it's not easy to do.

Plus, you're constantly pushed in a million different directions.

Should you …

• Start a blog?
• Focus on social media?
• Build backlinks?
• Setup email automation?
• Guest blog?
• Start a podcast?
• Run Facebook Ads?
• Run Adwords?
• Make YouTube videos?
• And the list continues …

Unfortunately, these activities aren't the machine; however, they're what most small businesses and entrepreneurs focus on.

Instead, these activities are the machine's fuel.

The point?

You need a machine before you need the fuel.

And, I want to give you a machine for FREE!

• Click here for the free funnel!

The Digital Product(s) Sales Funnel (The Machine)

The sales funnel I'm about to describe is perfect for businesses that sell digital goods like courses, ebooks, resources, memberships, etc.

• Related Video: How To Build A Membership Area In ClickFunnels

Here's an overview of the sales funnel:

>> CLICK HERE TO GET THIS SALES FUNNEL <<

Squeeze Page [see page]

The first page in this sales funnel is what's called a Squeeze Page.

It's name is derived from the fact it “squeezes” the contact information out of the visitor.

This is typically accomplished by offering an incentive called a Lead Magnet. [read more about Lead Magnets]

Once you have the individual's contact information, you're able to engage with them to help move them through the funnel.

The Squeeze Page included with this funnel is my top converting squeeze page of all time.

Yes, it's plain, but I constantly test it against prettier pages and it always wins.

Video Sales Letter (VSL) [see page]

The Video Sales Letter (VSL) is exactly like it sounds … a video that acts as a sales letter.

Instead of writing a long form sales page that takes hours and possibly days, you can shoot a 3-6 minute video in less than an hour.

Customers typically prefer video over the long sales pages. Or, you can always kill two birds with one stone and include a video plus a little write-up that outlines what you talk about in the video.

Win-win, you do less time consuming work and customers like it more!

What should you say in your VSL? I recommend starting with Jim Edwards' “How To Write Great Video Sales Letter Script” Formula.

What Should You Sell?

There are several schools of thought here and I'll explain a couple, but it's by no means all inclusive.

Tripwire / Self-Liquidating Offer (SLO)

A Tripwire or Self-Liquidating Offer is a cheap product (usually under $10) that's so amazing people can't NOT buy it.

The idea behind it is to get the individual to open their wallet, qualify themselves as a buyer, and once you make this initial sale – the next should be easier.

Tripwires and SLOs can help you recoup ad spend.

However, they may attract low quality leads that are “bargain hunters” who will never buy any OTOs or upsells.

Your Core Product (Reversed Value Ladder)

Instead of going the whole Tripwire/SLO route, why not try and sell what you actually want to sell?

If they don't take your offer, you can then recommend lower priced versions of it.

Maybe they don't want your full blown Facebook Ads course for $197, but they'll take your ads cheat sheet & walkthrough for $27, or just the cheat sheet for $7.

There are many ways to structure this portion and the bulk of your time will likely be placed on testing which structure works best for your business, product, and audience.

Timed Price/Button Reveal

If you look at the example page, you wont see a button or order form until 15 seconds have passed. (you can adjust this to any amount of time)

The idea behind this tactic is that you draw the person in, make them crave your product, and have them thinking it's going to be super expensive. Then, when you mention the price, you also display the “Order Now” button and the corresponding order form.

By the time you show them the price, they're already sold and they buy it right away!

That's the idea at least, but does this tactic work?

Run a split test inside ClickFunnels – one variation with the delay, one without, and see which wins! Different audiences behave differently so the only way to be sure what's best for yours is to test.

OTO #1 (One-Time-Offer) [see page]

Hurray! Someone purchased your initial offer from the VSL page, and whether it was a Tripwire or your Core Offer … their wallet is open and they're in buying mode!

OTO stands for One-Time-Offer and it’s essentially a special offer presented to an individual, only one time, which is right now! If they don’t act now, they miss out on this exclusive offer forever. This added element of scarcity increases conversions.

Typically, OTO #1 is one of two things:

1. Your Core Offer, if you offered a Tripwire or SLO. This is the course or resource that you “really” want to sell.
2. A Continuity Offer, if you offered your core offer as the initial offer. For example, some type of membership site, community, or additional support that's recurring.

Either way, it should complement what they just purchased.

The Video

The video included in the funnel example is just a placeholder. You need to shoot your own video or you can make a text based offer if you’d rather; however, video typically converts better.

The video should only be 3-5 minutes in length and hit on a few key points:

• Tell them the Tripwire/SLO or Core Offer they just grabbed is awesome and they'll have instant access to it in just a minute. Reiterate a key benefit or two.
• Introduce the OTO as a special offer that’s going to make what they just purchased even better.
  • Also, hit on the fact that this offer is not for everyone. It’s only for individuals that have grabbed the Initial Offer.
• Tell them what the OTO is and how it will benefit them.
• Tell them to click the “orange” button below to accept the offer.
• If you offer a guarantee, mention it.
• Share a review/testimonial or two. Or at least snippets with the key points.
• Tell them to again click the “orange” button below to accept the offer.

If you hit on all of those points, you’ll easily fill the 3-5 minutes!

Downsell [see page]

Sadly, not everyone is going to accept your OTO #1, no matter how awesome it is.

For the people that say “no” to OTO #1, offer them a downsell.

If OTO #1 was …

… your Core Offer, you can:

• Offer a payment plan. Instead of $197 today, they can join for 3 monthly payments of $67.
• Add a bonus. ie. Additional training, a complementary course, coaching, etc.
• Offer a straight-up discount.

… a Continuity Offer, you can:

• Offer them to join the first month for only $1. (or as low as is practical)

OTO #2 [see page]

Whether or not your new customer purchases OTO #1 or the Downsell, they are presented with OTO #2.

OTO #2 is usually one of three things:

1. A Profit Maximizer – A really expensive course, membership, or coaching package. We're looking at the $1,000 dollar range.
2. Another complementary course or resource – If you don't have a Profit Maximizer to offer, maybe you can offer another product/resource that complements the initial offer. Even if it's cheaper than OTO #1, that's OK. You can still increase cart order size!
3. A Continuity Offer (if not already offered) – If you didn't make a continuity offer in OTO #1, OTO #2 may be a great place to present one.

Like OTO #1, you probably want to use a 3-5 minute video to sell it. You can follow a similar script as the one outlined above.

Order Confirmation [see page]

The Order Confirmation page is simply that, a page that confirms the individual’s order.

It simply thanks them for their order, breaks it down for them, and tells them how to get in touch, what to expect, and what to do next.

Offer Wall

An Offer Wall is what it sounds like, a wall of offers. Essentially, you’ll display 3-6 more products and/or services with links to them and possibly some exclusive discounts. If your new customer wants to buy more from you, they know where to look!

I didn’t include one of these with the sales funnel I’m giving away. However, it’s relatively simple to add and something you may want to consider doing!

Take Action!

Now is the time for you to make a decision.

Are you going to continue to focus on “the fuel” or are you going to build the machine?!

In this post, I've given you a sales funnel for free and outlined the entire strategy for it.

All you need to do is execute.

For more training on execution, check out The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

Selling on Amazon has some MASSIVE benefits …

• They give you traffic
• High conversion rates
• They handle the logistics

But, it has some MASSIVE downsides as well …

• You don't “own” your customers
• Insane competition
• And, what if they ban you? You're screwed.

Of course, you already know this – these are the reasons you're here, reading this article.

What you've probably done thus far is setup a half-hearted ecommerce store on Shopify “in case” Amazon changes something that disrupts your business.

While your intentions are good, really … ask yourself … “How screwed would I be if Amazon shut me down today?”

If your answer is anything other than, “I wouldn't even notice it” – you're in the right place!

I'm about to give you a FREE Sales Funnel with the full blown strategy, specifically designed for people like you!

• [thrive_2step id='7377′]Click here for the free funnel![/thrive_2step]

An Ecommerce Store vs A Sales Funnel

An ecommerce store probably sounds like the right solution to you.

You sell on Amazon which is an ecommerce store, so it seems to make sense that if you make something similar, it should work.

I'm here to tell you, you're wrong.

Try it, you'll see.

Running an ecommerce store is hard.

Beyond the technical aspects of building it, automating it, and maintaining it (that's actually the easy part) …

The BIGGEST challenge you're going to have is to CONVINCE someone to buy off your store when there's Amazon.

You will have to build trust.

Building trust takes time and/or money.

You'll probably have to …

• write great, compelling, trust building copy
• develop a social media presence
• start a blog
• post videos on YouTube
• run paid ads
• handle customer inquiries
• and manage it all

Building trust is hard when you're competing against Amazon.

They already have the trust and you inherit it when you sell on their platform.

But, if you're off their platform … you're on your own.

You Need To Do Something Different

While an ecommerce store may sound like the logical solution, it's not.

It's too hard to compete with Amazon.

You need to do something different.

But, what?

Imagine having a system …

Imagine having a system where you could put a dollar in and receive at least a dollar in return.

How many dollars would you put into it?

That's the sole purpose of a sales funnel – you put money in, it spits more money back out.

Yeah, you're kind of doing it on Amazon already … it's generating more money than you're putting into it.

But, try running a Facebook ad to your ecommerce store … let me know how that works out for ya.

Unless you really know what you're doing and have your ducks in a row, I'd be willing to bet big money you will not even break even on paid traffic to your ecommerce store.

It's the nature of the beast.

You need a sales funnel

A Sales Funnel is your answer to the ecommerce store “problem”.

With a few working funnels you won't have to worry about Amazon anymore.

The good news is, you already have the products. You already know who your customers are. You already know what sells. You can even use Amazon's Fulfillment Centers.

You already have everything you need. Now, you just need to “funnel-ize” it!

The Amazon Seller's Sales Funnel

>> [thrive_2step id='7377′]CLICK HERE TO GET THIS SALES FUNNEL[/thrive_2step] <<

Free + Shipping [see page]

Grow Your List With Buyers

The first page in this sales funnel is a Free + Shipping offer.

What does that mean? It means you give something away for free, all they have to do is pay shipping & handling!

This is a great way to get BUYERS on your list – people that have proven they'll spend money with you.

There's no reason you can't create a Free + Shipping offer for your business. There must be a product you can acquire for under $2 that your audience will love (if you don't have one already).

Tip: incorporate the cost of the product in the shipping & handling price.

Cart Abandonment

Another cool feature of the Free + Shipping page is the 2-step form.

If someone inputs their contact info and goes to Step #2 (billing info), but doesn't pay, you will still capture their contact information. You can then re-engage them via email, phone, and/or snail mail. Think of it like a cart abandonment feature. (Really powerful!)

Order Bumps

Finally, on Step #2, right before the individual clicks the “Complete Order” button, there's an option to add a bonus to their order.

This bonus option is called an “Order Bump; it's a fantastic way to increase order size.

What you want to offer here is a product that complements the free one they're ordering and is usually incentivized with a discount.

For example, with my Crazy Mug, I could include some Crazy Coffee Beans for 30% off.

Another option that works really well is to ask if the individual would like to double or even triple their order!

I'm about to run some numbers; if you hate numbers – skip to the next section.

Let's say my Crazy Mug costs me $1.50 to get in the Amazon warehouse. Amazon charges me $5.95 to ship it. However, to ship a second one, they only charge $1.20. So, to give away 2 mugs, it costs me $10.15 ($3 for 2 mugs + shipping & handling). If I charge $5.99 shipping & handling per mug, that brings in $11.98 and I'm able to net $1.83. Yes, not much in this particular example; however, what if my product cost was closer to $0.50? What if people were tripling their orders? There are lots of things to try!

OTO #1 (One-Time-Offer) [see page]

Obviously, you'll go out of business if you only give away free stuff.

You're going to have to make money somewhere in this funnel, and the first place to really make it is with OTO #1!

OTO stands for One-Time-Offer and it's essentially a special offer presented to an individual, only one time, which is right now! If they don't act now, they miss out on this exclusive offer forever. This added element of scarcity increases conversions.

Typically, OTO #1 should be around $50; however, depending on your market, it could be more. It's typically less than OTO #2. (This is just what's “typical” – heck, try selling some really expensive stuff in OTO #1 and see what happens!)

While there are several strategies and tactics for OTOs – the main objective of your OTO in this sales funnel is to sell something that has an incredibly high margin. This will allow you to recoup ad spend and turn a profit.

Hopefully you already have some incredibly high margin products in your inventory that even when paired with an irresistible discount, you're still able to reap a nice profit.

However, what if you don't have an incredibly high margin product to offer? Here are some ideas that work well:

• Create a bundle – combine a few products so the OTO, as a whole, has a higher value
• Add digital assets – courses, training, documents, membership
  • Video Training: How to build a membership portal in ClickFunnels
• Introduce continuity (recurring) – membership, community
• Add a subscription (recurring) – consumable products typically need to be replaced, can you offer a subscription service?

The Video

The video included in the funnel is just a placeholder. You need to shoot your own video or you can make a text based offer if you'd rather; however, video typically converts better.

The video should only be 3-5 minutes in length and hit on a few key points:

• Tell them the free product they just grabbed is freakin' awesome and will be on its way to them shortly. Reiterate a key benefit or two.
• Introduce the OTO as a special offer that's going to make that free product even better.
  • Also, hit on the fact that this offer is not for everyone. It's only for individuals that have grabbed the free product.
• Tell them what the OTO is and how it will benefit them.
• Tell them to click the “orange” button below to accept the offer.
• If you offer a guarantee, mention it.
• Share a review or two. Or at least snippets with the key points.
• Tell them to again click the “orange” button below to accept the offer.

If you hit on all of those points, you'll easily fill the 3-5 minutes!

What An OTO Is Not

An OTO should not be an upgrade of the free product they just grabbed.

For example, if I'm giving away coffee mugs, my OTO should not be a really expensive coffee mug because they already requested a mug … why would they need another one?

Instead, what you offer needs to complement what they just purchased, not replace it.

Downsell [see page]

Unfortunately, not everyone is going to accept your OTO #1, no matter how awesome it is.

For the people that say “no” to OTO #1, offer them a downsell.

There are a few ways to handle this:

1. Offer a discount on the OTO #1 – Like in the funnel I'm giving away, the downsell is a discount on OTO #1. This option can work incredibly well; however, bear in mind your margins as well as how you want to be perceived. Are you sure you want to “reward” people for saying “no”? However, if it's more of a “churn and burn” play as opposed to brand building – this option may work well for you.
2. Add a bonus – Add another product to OTO #1, physical or digital to sweeten the deal. Note: similar to providing a discount, this option may inadvertently “train” people to say “no” so they can see what bonuses they'll receive.
3. Break up OTO #1 – If your OTO #1 is a bundle, break it up and allow people to purchase pieces of it individually. This works well because your customer may not want all of the items included in the bundle; however, if offered a discount on one of the products, they'll take it.
4. Offer a payment plan – Instead of one payment of $47, can you make it 2 payments of $23.50? This may entice your customer to make the purchase, but make sure you're not going to lose money if they only pay one payment. (Tip: include a “just charge me the onetime payment of $47” option in addition to the payment plan option.).
5. “Are you sure?” – Offer the exact same OTO #1 again. Reiterate the fact that it really is a one-time offer and they won't see it again.

OTO #2 [see page]

Whether or not your new customer purchases OTO #1 or the Downsell, they are presented with OTO #2.

OTO #2 is usually one of three things:

1. A higher-end, more expensive product – While OTO #1 is typically cheaper at around $50, and more “reasonable” to purchase, OTO #2 is typically one of your more expensive products. One where you're celebrating if it sells (as long as it's in line with everything else you're selling in your funnel).
2. Another product that complements the Free + Shipping product – If you don't have any expensive products to offer, that's OK. You can still recommend another complementary product that helps your customer while simultaneously increasing order size.
3. A continuity offer (if not included with OTO #1) – A membership or subscription that provides recurring revenue is the holy grail. It provides consistency and predictability to your business. If you can fit one in somewhere, do it.

Like OTO #1, you want to use a 3-5 minute video to sell it. You can follow a similar script as the one outlined above.

Order Confirmation [see page]

The Order Confirmation page is simply that, a page that confirms the individual's order.

It simply thanks them for their order, breaks it down for them, and tells them how to get in touch, what to expect, and what to do next.

Offer Wall

An Offer Wall is what it sounds like, a wall of offers. Essentially, you'll display 3-6 products with links to them and possibly some exclusive discounts. If your new customer wants to buy more from you, they know where to look!

I didn't include one of these with the sales funnel I'm giving away. However, it's relatively simple to add and something you may want to consider doing!

ClickFunnels to Amazon FBA

Since you're already selling on Amazon, I'm sure you're taking advantage of their fulfillment centers.

This is the best way I know how to do it:

Take Action!

Now is the time for you to make a decision.

Are you going to stay dependent on Amazon while running a half-hearted ecommerce store or are you going to take control, build a few funnels, and dominate?!

In this post, [thrive_2step id='7377′]I've given you a sales funnel for free[/thrive_2step] and outlined the entire strategy for it.

All you need to do is execute.

For more training on execution, check out The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

ClickFunnels is, hands down, the best Micro Sales Funnel building tool I've ever used.

Of course, with all nifty marketing tools – there's a learning curve.

In an effort to help you overcome this learning curve faster, I've put together a step-by-step video tutorial on how to build a “Classic” Sales Funnel in ClickFunnels.

>> Try ClickFunnels, FREE For 14 Days! <<

Links:

1. The Ultimate ClickFunnels Training Course
2. Shared Funnel – sorry, I deleted it :/
3. ClickFunnels Support
4. How To Handle Stripe Subscriptions

Key Takeaway:

The key takeaway from this training is to make sure choose the correct page type – ie. OTO Page vs OTO Downsale Page.

Each page type has a very specific purpose.

Back to the OTO Page vs OTO Downsale page – the OTO Downsale Page is only shown AFTER the OTO Page IF they didn't purchase the OTO. If the person purchased to OTO, they'll move onto the next OTO Page.

Here's the correct order for the Funnel Steps for this particular tutorial:

I served in the Army for four years, and the ingredients for success were simple: be in the proper place, at the proper time, and in the proper uniform.

If I did those three things (plus my job of course) … I would stand out from my peers. Believe it or not – most people can't do those three simple things.

Anyway, to bring this around to marketing, here's a quote by Jim Yu, CEO BrightEdge:

“The key is to present the right content to the right users at the time they need it in an engaging manner.”

Same freakin' concept as my Army days: right content, right users, and at the right time.

Three simple ingredients to standing out from the crowd and being successful.

And, you guessed it – most people and businesses can't do those three simple things.

You'll be able to after reading this article!

Where Does This Email Autoresponder Sequence Go?

The overall concept for this autoresponder sequence is to send a variety of content to our list in an attempt to figure out what each individual is interested in.

Everyone on our list is different. Some are young, some are old, some are single, some are married, some are employees, some are employers, some want to learn and do, while others want you to do it for them.

If you offer a variety of products and services, your list is going to be an even larger hodgepodge; having a system, like I'm about to show you, in place is a requirement.

By gauging interests, we're able to send more relevant and engaging content that ultimately results in more sales.

The left hand side (Straight Line Sales Funnel / Main Series) of the diagram below shows you where this autoresponder series resides:

As you see, it goes in a straight line, one email after the other, while simultaneously tracking how individuals interact with particular emails.

For example, if I send an email on the topic of Facebook ads, and the individual clicks the link to the article, I can assume they're interested in Facebook ads. From there, I can pause the “Straight Line Sales Funnel” (interest gauging series), and automatically enter the subscriber into a Micro Sales Funnel (Product/Service Sales Funnel) where I go into more detail about Facebook ads and make an offer or two.

• Related Course: The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course

Email Autoresponder Sequence: Weekly “Pushes”

While there are many ways to structure your interest gauging autoresponder series, I'm going to give you a framework that works very well.

I call this framework “Weekly ‘Pushes'”.

Why? Because every week you're trying to sell (push) a different product or service to your list.

Instead of making random offers and sending random emails depending on your mood, you spend an entire week on the same topic. This gives people more opportunity to see what you're offering and act, while not being overbearing and “burning” them out.

The Weekly “Pushes” Framework

The goal of this framework is to get the person on the sales page. If the individual views the sales page, we know they're interested in what we have to offer.

Step 1: Pick a widget to sell.

Step 2: Follow the pattern below for that single widget.

• Pattern: 3 and 2 (M, T, W, F, S)

Send 4 to 5 emails on the same topic, for the same widget, during each “push”. In general, it's good to break up these emails to give people a little time to react, rather than bombarding them every day. For this reason, I recommend sending 3 daily emails, take a day off, send 2 more daily emails, take a day off, and then repeat with a new “push”.

• Email 1: Fun/personal story
  • Relate to widget
  • PS goes to sales page

People connect with stories. People enjoy stories. We want people to both connect with us and enjoy hearing from us, which is why we must share a story! Now, it doesn't necessarily have to be a personal story; you can share a success story from a client or customer or even a well known individual, like a celebrity, just shared in a different light.

At the end of the story, close out (soft sell) with a simple PS line that takes them to the sales page where they can learn more, if they wish.

• Email 2: Promotion of widget
  • Use a marketing formula: Problem-Agitate-Solve, Feature-Benefits-Advantages, Before-After-Bridge
  • CTA goes directly to the sales page – “Click Here To Buy”

While stories are great and help us connect, sometimes a good old fashioned sales letter converts best … especially when they have the story from the previous email rolling around in their head! In this 2nd email, pitch your widget. You can use a marketing formula to help structure your message or do whatever you think is best.

The call-to-action should be straight forward and to the point with no mystery behind it, “If you're interested in this widget, click here”. (How much more “interest gauging” can you get?! If the person clicks that link, we know they're interested in our offer and they'll enter one of our Micro Sales Funnels.)

• Emails 3-4: Content on topic of widget
  • Link to a blog post that's entertaining and/or educational
  • Include CTAs in both the PS line of the email and within the article itself which go to your widget's sales page

After sharing a story and a “hard” pitch, it's time to ease back a little bit and just share some more information with them. Send links to articles, videos, and other resources they'll find helpful, interesting, and entertaining on the same topic as the widget you're trying to sell.

Include links to your widget's sales page in your email PS line and throughout the particular article so they can easily navigate to the sales page, if they're interested in learning more.

• Email 5: Content OR Promotion (discount)

Email 5 is optional. If the individual hasn't visited your sales page after 4 emails on the same topic for the same widget … they may simply not be interested in that offer. So, use some discretion here. If you feel like this 5th email is “too much”, don't use it.

If you do use Email 5, you can send another piece of content like emails 3 & 4 OR you can make a last-ditch effort to sell your widget by sending another “hard” sales email and/or by offering a discount.

That is the Weekly “Pushes” framework! Rinse and repeat with a new product the following week!

Getting Content To Send

The Weekly “Pushes” framework requires you to send a fair amount of content, sometimes 3 pieces a week.

This can be a lot, especially for a small business or a new business that hasn't started producing copious amounts of content.

It's OK, there's a way you can share other people's content and STILL bring people back to your site.

You can do this by using a tool that adds a bar, bubble, slide-in, popup, etc. to any link you recommend.

There are a handful of tools that allow you to do this, but my favorite is snip.ly.

And, here's an example.

They teach you how to use the tool on their site. It's certainly handy and can make up those content “gaps” until you get your own stuff produced!

Conclusion

The way to stand out to your subscribers, leads, and customers is simple…

“The key is to present the right content to the right users at the time they need it in an engaging manner.” – Jim Yu, CEO BrightEdge

By using frameworks like the Weekly “Pushes” outlined above, figuring out what people are interested in becomes a piece of cake that can be automated!

Ready to take it to the next level and learn several other frameworks for gauging interest?

Click here to check out The Vault!

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.

In this article we'll talk about opt-in form tools, triggers, and types.

Related Course: How To Build Opt-in Forms And Landing Pages That Convert

Opt-in Form Tools

You really only need one opt-in form tool and the one you use is determined by your platform.

WordPress | Thrive Leads

If your website is powered by WordPress, the best opt-in form plugin you can grab is Thrive Leads.

Why? It's incredibly powerful.

It allows you to build any type of opt-in form you can imagine, conduct split tests, page targeting, and beyond.

Click here to check out their sales page and to learn more about their features.

Any Other Platform | OptinMonster

If your website is powered by anything other than WordPress (ie. Shopify, Big Commerce, custom coded, etc.), the best opt-in form tool you can grab is OptinMonster.

It's essentially just like ThriveLeads; however, it can work anywhere … which is great for sites that aren't powered by WordPress!

Click here to check out their sales page and to learn more about their features.

Note: Since OptinMonster works anywhere, it will work on WordPress too. If you run sites on multiple platforms, it would be best to just get OptinMonster.

Display Triggers

Both, Thrive Leads and OptinMonster have very similar triggers. While the particular name of the trigger may change – SmartExit+ vs. Exit Intent Technology – the general function of the trigger remains the same (ie. display upon exit).

Below are the four triggers functions both opt-in tools offer.

Timed Triggers

From immediately to 30 seconds or more, you can choose when your opt-in form shows itself.

If you don't have a reason to have your opt-in form display immediately, a good rule of thumb is to give the visitor about 10 seconds to get into your material before greeting them with the opt-in form.

Exit Triggers

An exit trigger can only occur on desktop and it's when a visitor's cursor leaves the browser window.

Typically, the only reason the cursor would leave the browser window is because they're about to hit the “back” button or navigate off your site.

As a last-ditch effort, you can display an opt-in form to try and collect the visitor's contact information.

Click Triggers

Click triggers are really popular because they show intent, which typically leads to much higher conversion rates.

Instead of blindly displaying an opt-in form after 10 seconds, a click triggered opt-in form is displayed after an individual clicks a link, button, or image.

Scroll Triggers

Scroll triggers are used to display opt-in forms after an individual has scrolled down a percentage of a page or past a certain point.

For example, you could have an opt-in form display after the visitor has scrolled down 75% of the page. Ideally, this means they've read 75% of the page, are therefore highly interested in what you're talking about, and more apt to opt-in.

Types Of Opt-In Forms

Pop-up LightBox

The “classic” opt-in form.

Although they're kind of annoying, you see this type of opt-in form everywhere … because they work!

Example From Charles NGO

In-Line / After Post

These opt-in forms “blend” in with the content.

They're nice because they don't hinder the visitor's experience, yet they still provide an easy way to opt-in for your lead magnet.

Example From Side Hustle Nation

Widgets / Side Bar

Very similar to in-line opt-in forms because they're “just there.” They don't pop-in or slide, but are “just there” in the sidebar or widget area of a site.

Example From My Wife Quit Her Job

Ribbons/Bar

These opt-in bars or ribbons go across the top or bottom of the page and are typically “locked in place” (they scroll with the page).

These are great because they allow you to share your Lead Magnet without being obnoxious by popping up a lightbox or a screen overlay.

Example From ProBlogger

Slide-In

This type of opt-in form “slides” into view. They're typically in the corners of pages; however, they can take over an entire side too!

These are great because they can be fairly unobtrusive while still catching people's attention.

Example From ConversionXL

Screen Overlays/Takeovers

This type of opt-in form takes over the entire page, leaving the individual two options – to opt-in or to close it.

These tend to work very well because you can't miss 'em.

Example From BACKLINKO

Scroll/Welcome Mats

This type of opt-in form is similar to a screen overlay/takeover in that it consumes the entire page; however, it's different because you can either opt-in or scroll down (as opposed to close it).

Scroll/welcome mats give visitors the ability to scroll down which makes the opt-in form a little less obtrusive; they don't have to “hunt” around for a close button … they just have to scroll down.

Example From Matthew Woodward

Content Locks

This type of opt-in form is pretty cool because it allows you to protect a piece of content until the individual enters their email address.

This is a great way to offer “content upgrades” to blog posts.

Example From OptinMonster

Conclusion

Now that you know the tools, triggers, and types of opt-in forms … what's stopping you from getting started?

Related Course: How To Build Opt-in Forms And Landing Pages That Convert

A sales funnel is a complex beast with lots of moving parts. Strategy, tactics, and technical expertise are required in order to “make it work” well.

1. You have to get the right people into your sales funnel, at the lowest possible cost, through advertising and copious amounts of split tests.
2. You have to convert those leads into paying customers by forming some kind of relationship or making offers in a way that really “connects” with them.
3. You then have to focus on keeping your customers coming back again, and again, and again.

Obviously, a lot goes into all three of those areas …

However, don't let the complexity scare you because there are things you can do TODAY to dramatically improve your revenue.

Imagine making a few tweaks to your checkout process that could 2X, 3X, 4X+ your customers' order size!

That would be nice, wouldn't it?

So, what are these tweaks?

Well, that's what this article is all about!

1) Pricing Tiers, Packages, & Bundles

Pricing tiers, packages, and bundles are great ways to increase a customers' order size.

By using a bit of pricing psychology, you're able to present offers in a way that appear “too good to be true” while simultaneously increasing the amount of money a customer is about to hand you.

Take a look at this example from a2Hosting:

The “Swift” package is a no-brainer … for less than a $1/mo more you get unlimited everything.

Why would anyone turn that down? No one would.

How about the “Turbo” package? It's nearly twice as much as the “Swift” package; however, it offers 20X faster speeds and the A2 Site Accelerator!

We all know speed is important and it's still less than $10/mo … so, I might as well swing it, right?

Here's an example of a bundle of physical products:

If you're doing laundry, you typically need detergent, dryer sheets, and maybe a little fabric softener every now and then!

Plus, if you purchased these items individually, it would cost roughly 30% more which makes the bundle a no-brainer!

2) 1-Click Up-Sells

A 1-click up-sell is an offer presented immediately AFTER the customer has purchased something.

This makes the 1-click up-sell incredibly powerful because the individual has already inserted their payment information and all it takes is “1 click” to add another product/service to their order.

Here's an example:

This is the page and offer an individual is presented with immediately after purchasing a survival folding knife.

The individual is already in the mindset of “I need survival gear” and has already purchased one item, so when they're presented with another item that's discounted no-less, it's a no-brainer!

• Related Course: The Ultimate ClickFunnels Course

3) Order Bump

The infamous “order bump” has risen in popularity over the last year or so due to the fact it works!

It's so simple too, which makes it a no-brainer to implement.

Here's an example of an order bump:

It's simply an additional, complementary offer made at checkout.

That's it!

The customer only has to tick a little box to add the product or service to their order.

It's actually quite similar to the 1-click up-sell; however, it's made right before the purchase as opposed to immediately after … but, they're both 1-click!

The Order Bump is typically easier to implement than the 1-click up-sell. If you're having a hard time figuring out a way to do the 1-click up-sell, try searching for a way to add an order bump to your checkout process!

4) Subscriptions

If you offer a product or service that needs to be replenished – offering a subscription can be a great way to increase order size because it will automatically keep the customer coming back for more!

Here's an example of a subscription from the Youpreneur membership site:

In order to stay a member of the community, you're charged $59/mo or $599/yr (a bundle!).

Also note that the yearly subscription is incentivized by offering the equivalent of 3 months free, a free t-shirt, and discounted rates to live events!

Here's another subscription example:

Each container of the supplement contains 30 servings, which makes the “Repeat Delivery Every 30 Days” option incredibly tempting because I won't have to remember to go order more and by offering an extra 5% off, it becomes a no-brainer.

5) Order Bonuses & Rewards

Ever been shopping online and seen a message like this:

“Spend just $5.91 more and get free shipping!”

Or …

These are order bonuses/rewards used to entice customers to increase their order size in order to receive the incentive!

These are typically super simple to implement and freakin' work!

How To Implement

Implementing these various tweaks is not as hard as you might think.

For example, offering a package/bundle is as simple as bundling products/services you already offer.

Other options, like the 1-click up-sell, will depend on your platform. A quick Google search will likely yield some answers.

Conduct searches like

If you offer free consultations, or want to, this post is for you.

It'll give you an airtight strategy for scheduling more consultations and closing more sales.

Let's get into it – I present to you The Free Consultation / High End Sales Funnel ~

Scenarios

I'll use a few scenarios throughout this post to help better illustrate the funnel:

• Dental Surgeon (DS) – Dental implants
• Financial Advisor (FA) – Full wealth management
• Marketing Services (MS) – Sales funnel service

Traffic

While there are a million and one ways to drive traffic to your sales funnel, I'm only going to focus on three categories for this particular funnel:

“House” Traffic

People that are currently on your email/contact list. They already have a general idea of who you are and what you do.

Search PPC / Organic

People searching for the service/solution you provide and arriving on your site in the process. This includes both paid traffic and organic (“free”/SEO).

• DS – Dental implants near Richmond VA
• FA – Financial advisor near Richmond VA
• MS – Sales funnel service

Facebook Ads / Other

People that don't know you, but likely have a problem you can solve.

• DS – People with dentures
• FA – Physicians in the “fellow” stage
• MS – Ecommerce businesses

Collecting Contact Info

The particular traffic source will set the stage for “how” you'll collect an individual's contact information and/or get them to schedule a consultation.

“House” & Search Traffic

Since these people know you and/or know they have a problem, you're able to ask them to schedule a consultation right away. There's little point in waiting.

For this reason, you will direct them to a dedicated landing page where they can schedule a consultation with you; however, I recommend giving the option to request to only receive more info as they may not be ready for a consultation.

For example:

Upon entering their email, checking the “To schedule my FREE consultation” box, and clicking the submit button … two things happen:

1. They'll be greeted with a form to fill out in order to schedule their consultation (I personally use and recommend https://youcanbook.me; however, there are a ton of similar services and I'm sure you'll find one that works for you).
   1. Note: Instead of going straight into the scheduling of a consultation you could instead implement an application process where you'll ask for more pertinent information to make sure they're the right candidate before scheduling a call.
2. They'll be added to the autoresponder tool where they'll be tagged as “Wants a consultation”; however, this tag will trigger the “Don't Forget” Email Series in 24 hours, if they do not schedule their consultation. If they schedule their consultation within 24 hours, the “Wants a consultation” tag will be replaced with a “Scheduled consultation” tag, which will trigger the the “Consultation Prep” Email Series.

If the individual checks the “More information” box, they're added to the autoresponder tool with the tag ” Wants more information”. This will trigger the “Education” Email Series.

Facebook Ads / Other Traffic

You need to treat people that arrive on your site via Facebook and other traffic sources (other than your contact list and search traffic) differently for two main reasons:

1. They probably don't know you, unless you're targeting your fans and/or are “recognized”
2. They're not actively trying to solve their problem unlike when they are conducting searches on Google

Instead of hitting them with a “free consultation” offer, give them something else that re-iterates the fact they have a problem, to qualify them, and to establish yourself as an authority.

I'm talking about a Lead Magnet. Here are a few examples:

• DS – Dentures vs Dental Implants – The definitive comparison.
• FA – About to make the big bucks? Here are 5 investments you'll want in place before the cash starts rolling in!
• MS – 7 sales funnel leaks 98% of Ecommerce stores have … and how to fix them!

Lead Magnet Tactics

There are two main ways you can handle the delivery of these Lead Magnets:

1. Traditional – Make the Lead Magnet into a PDF or video, setup a squeeze page, and give it out in exchange for their email address
2. Retargeting – Make the Lead Magnet a regular blog post or page on your site and run ads to your post. Then, retarget individuals that have seen your post with an offer to register for a free consultation and/or to receive more information (like the landing page example above). This method works because now they have a better idea of who you are, what you do, and the problem(s) they have.

Schedule On The Spot

As you see in the example Landing Page above, we only ask for their email and for them to check a box.

We don't ask them to schedule their consultation until after they've taken that first step.

Why?

Asking someone to schedule a call is a bigger “ask” than simply asking for their email. The individual will need to check their calendar to see when they're available, compare it to your calendar, then fill out a more in-depth form in order to schedule the consultation.

Because of all the extra “stuff” involved with scheduling a call, a lot of people won't set up the consultation right away.

They'll think to themselves, “I'll just do it later” … but, they wont … unless you remind them!

So, if someone says they want to schedule a consultation, but doesn't – follow up with a few reminder emails (“Don't Forget” Series) that direct them straight to the scheduling form.

Remember to re-iterate the benefits of the consultation, what they'll receive from the consultation, and how they have a problem that needs to be fixed.

While many people won't schedule the consultation right away – some will. Prep them with the “Consultation Prep” Series.

“Consultation Prep” Series

The “Consultation Prep” Series is a series of emails sent to an individual after they register for their consultation that “preps” them for the call.

You can give them something to read, ask them to fill out a survey that requests more information than what they gave when they scheduled the call, a read-ahead of questions you'll ask so they can have answers prepared, etc. Basically, whatever you need to send in order to make the consultation run smoothly.

“Consultation” List

The “Consultation” List is the list of individuals that have had a consultation with you. Ideally, the majority of these individuals will also be “buyers” and you'll have an established relationship with them. In this case, you'll have a normal client relationship that you'll need to maintain.

For the individuals that don't become “buyers” – treat them a little differently than the general public. They certainly know they want help in an area, but maybe they just weren't ready or maybe they didn't feel like YOU were the right person for them. Whatever the reason – they didn't commit.

And, while not everyone will be a perfect fit for YOU, they're serious enough to schedule a consultation and you can still help them get pointed in the right direction. Who knows, maybe that particular service wasn't a good fit for them; it doesn't mean the next problem they face wont require your services. Or, they may refer someone else to you if you help them the best you can.

“Education” Series / Article

The Education Series is a series of emails for the individuals that don't know you, what you offer, or their problems as well – the intent of the series is to educate them on those points.

This is accomplished by sending content that makes them aware of the problem(s) they're facing, the result of fixing those problems, handling objections like time and money, case studies, and other educational material that's helpful, informative, and motivates them to think the same way you do.

The point is to show the person they have a problem and you're the solution.

The call-to-action (CTA) is then to schedule a free consultation with you where you'll close the deal.

“House” List

No matter how hard you try, even with all the fancy email series and autoresponders, most people will not schedule a consultation with you. (If you happen to prove this wrong, let me know!)

It's OK, don't take it personally.

It doesn't mean they never want your help.

People are busy. People forget. People get distracted.

The ultimate point here is they've at least shown some interest in you, your business, the service(s) you offer, the problem they have … something … and you don't want to just let them wander off into the sunset.

For this reason, add them to your “House” List where you send more generalized content, recommend other products/services you offer, and continue building and maintaining a relationship with them.

Who knows, maybe six months down the road they will finally decide to fix the problem and schedule that free consultation!

Want More?

Do you want more awesome sales funnels like this one? Check out the Sales Funnel Training Vault!