Create a Sales Funnel – Step 4
Planning Your Ideal Business
Step 4
Create a sales funnel of related products, rather than treating each new offering as a completely separate entity with no relation to any other past or future products. Do not think like or operate as a consultant, selling one service or several individual services. It is critical that your planning includes selling related goods or services and adding passive income from digital products to your services.
When planning your Sales Funnel take the time to develop products and ways to create passive income that achieve specific purposes at specific stages. The ultimate objective is to attract new subscribers and turn them into loyal, repeat customers for the life cycle of your business.
As Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers once said: “Plan your work and work your plan.” The Sales Funnel will not “just happen” and be effective because you want it to – it takes careful planning.
Each product or offering should build on the previous one
For example: Susan is offered a free report from a Copywriter Coach explaining how that business model works. She shares her contact information (email and name) and becomes a subscriber to the author’s list so she can get the report, which has caught her interest. This is Level 1 – the mouth of the funnel (the widest part).
Let’s use this example to walk your through all the levels of the funnel.
1. Susan is excited about the free report and reads through it that night. She finds the report very convincing and decides that she really wants to do this. The free report not only explained how the copywriter’s business model worked, it also offered an invitation to purchase one or both of two additional products for only $7.00 each.
Susan feels she can easily manage the $7.00 for a guide on “How to Write Blog Posts and Articles” so she orders it She has now been swept into Level 2 of the Copywriting Coach’s funnel . . . and sliding down
2. She reads the guide and sends several articles successfully to directories over the next few days, which BTW she did not know how to do before the $7.00 guide. The guide also introduces her to more lucrative types of copywriting and invites her to purchase an eBook: Charging Megabucks for Sales Letters for $27.00. She reads the “sneak preview” and decides this is even more exciting than writing blog posts; plus, it is an opportunity to learn a lot more. She orders the book and starts working her way through it. She just entered Level 3 of the author’s funnel.
3. By following the steps outlined in the book, she engages a couple of clients, and is soon very busy writing sales letters. But, that is not the end of the story. She was also introduced to additional types of copywriting and starts wondering how to expand her business. She is particularly struggling with exactly what type of site to set up to do that. She picked up her first clients through the forum she belongs to, but knows that she has to find a better, more sustainable strategy for developing a solid client base.
A few days later she receives an email from the Copywriting Coach announcing a CD set: “The Complete Copywriter, from A to Z: A System That Works”. The price ($97.00) is considerably more than her original investments of $7.00 and $27.00, which is worrisome. But . . . she is convinced that she has to have this system – so, she buys it. Bam – she’s at Level 4, well over half way down the Copywriter Coach’s Sales Funnel.
4. She is finally enjoying some success. It is beginning to feel real, and her long-term goal seems very doable. She has been diligent in her efforts to follow the instructions given in “The Complete Copywriter” and has put the worksheets, charts, and systems into place. As a result, she has doubled her earnings from what she was making when she was just writing sales letters.
The next question is – where to go from here? The workload has become heavy, and she must make some decisions. Should she outsource the sales letters and focus only on direct response ads, which she really loves? And/or should she focus on adding some streams of passive income; and, if so, what?
She has not yet clearly defined her brand, and is in fact, confused about what it is. She needs to determine exactly what business she is in. Since writing is easy for her and her interests are varied, she is aware that her blog posts often stray into topics not connected to copywriting; but, they get a good response. How does she resolve that.
5. It is becoming clear that she needs help. After exploring her options she thinks a business coach would be the best way to go; but, the asking price of $1,200 for the four one-on-one coaching sessions with the Copywriting Coach is way outside her budget. He also offers an Annual Copywriting Retreat in the Rockies for $3,700, which has great appeal; but, just thinking about spending that amount boggles her mind.
As a compromise, she joins the “Insider’s Circle” Platinum Coaching Forum for $147/month, which is limited to ten members with only two openings left. It sounds quite promising, and she is happy with her decision. You are right – Level 5 has been reached.
6. The best part about this story is that the Platinum Coaching “Insider’s Circle” is so helpful, her excitement begins to grow. Her goal of developing her dream business seems even closer than before; but, she is frustrated because she has to share the weekly “live chat” with the other Insider Circle members. After a serious financial audit, she decides that she is now making enough money that spending $1,200 for those four one-on-one coaching sessions is finally a viable option. In fact, the decision to take the leap seems like a no-brainer! (Level 6)
7. She uses money from her “personal growth investment fund” to go for it – finishes the four coaching sessions and “graduates” – leaving the copywriter’s sales funnel behind her.
8. Her business expands quickly. She now has copywriting and marketing tricks up her sleeve that she could teach the Copywriting Coach and becomes his competitor. As a result, they both win because that they have built a solid relationship, and her continuing success is proof of the value of the Copywriter’s Sales Funnel.
9. It is very likely that mutually beneficial JV partnerships will develop in the future; and as a first step, both sign up as affiliates for each other’s business. She regularly sends the Copywriting Coach new clients – and he reciprocates. She happily exited that particular funnel, and has a thriving business with new customers and clients smoothly sliding down her Sales Funnel.
Notice in our sample funnel the Copywriting Coach has only one sales funnel: In reality, most marketers have several funnels running all the time, with exit points for people at various levels of each funnel, with options to move into a different sales funnel. For example:
More to come in a few days . . . see you soon!
Read the entire series beginning with Section I: Building an Online Business.
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