Business and Entrepreneurship Archives

How to Create a Sales Funnel (For Beginners)

Digital marketing and lead generation isn’t exactly rocket science, but it needs to be data-driven and strategic. Lead magnets and sales funnels are pretty essential these days for any business—online or not.

If you want to create a successful marketing campaign or attract your customers, it helps to create a sales funnel.

What is a sales funnel?

A “Sales Funnel” is essentially a series of steps or the flow of the sales and lead generation process. It usually starts with an offer, valuable information, a giveaway or anything that attracts your target audience to your service, product or business.

For example, the food sampler at your grocery store is a type of live-action sales funnel. She attracts you with a yummy food enticement and you pay attention. You sample the food, maybe you’ll buy, maybe you won’t. But when you’ve entered her area to sample, you have basically entered phase 1 of a sales funnel, and the food sample is a “Lead Magnet.”

What happens next depends on how well she nurtures you, engages with you, or how much you like (or think you need) that breakfast sausage.

Creating a sales funnel online is an essential element in your digital marketing campaigns. Without it, you are likely missing out on reaching targeted customers and leads.

How to Create a Sales Funnel?

Step #1: Create your Lead Magnet. Depending on what you do, offer, or sell will determine your lead magnet. If you make products, a free sample is usually a good start. If you sell info, a free PDF download of valuable info is a good lead magnet. If you offer a service, a free estimate or evaluation is good. No matter what you give away, however, the most important aspect of your lead magnet (especially online) is gathering that potential customers’ email address. Without it, you are just giving away freebies with no real way to touch back or nurture those leads (potential customers) again. So make sure you are getting something in return when creating your lead magnet. Which brings me to step #2 of your sales funnel:

Step #2: Create an Opt-in Landing Page. For anyone who isn’t sure, an opt-in basically is that all-too-familiar page that kindly asks for our email address before letting us in, downloading, sending a free sample, taking advantage of a discount, etc. In any successful sales funnel, the opt-in landing page is crucial for your sales funnel. In order for your tempting lead magnet to convert, you need a landing page that gathers customers’ details.

Your opt-in landing page should address the following:

It should explain your lead magnet. What is it? What’s the value?
It should include why your prospective customers should request it, download it, etc. What they’ll learn, what they get, how it will improve their situation.
Your copy should be well-written and focused on advertising the RESULTS and benefits of the download, info, product or service they are getting.
Don’t ask for too many details if you can. You really need a first name and email address to reconnect. Too many steps or too much requested info may scare your potential customer away.
Use data or testimonials! Add credibility to your offer. Examples: “10,000 downloads can’t be wrong!” “Loved by over 1,000 women” “Featured in big-time Magazine” “Rated #1 by so and so.” (You get the idea. Just make sure the data, testimonials, PR and claims are REAL!)
Create an easy to read bullet list of all the benefits of your lead magnet
Including the problems it solves or how it improves their life or processes
Make your download button big, use a bright color (Red or Orange), and easy to find.

Once you have your lead magnet and an opt-in landing page (with minimal steps!), you’re ready to create your follow up emails.

Step #3 Create your E-mail Follow-ups Also known as drip emails or email campaigns. I have written another post on creating an easy email sequence if you need even more details. I recommend creating 3-4 follow up email sequences. This is where you nurture your customers. Remember the nice lady at the grocery store offering free samples? This is where you get to make a more lasting impression and create a personal touch with your potential clients. Your first email is engaging. Tell a story, offer even more free value, ideas or even another download. The second email creates authority and trust in your product or service and your third email hones in on a call to action (or your ask).

Step #4 Create a Service landing page with CTA. This will be your redirect page after they opt-in. This service page highlights or outlines your products or services with a clear CTA Call to Action such as Contact Us, Visit Us or Schedule an Appointment form).

Include more value proposition of your product/service as well as client testimonials on this page; what makes you better or different. Provide reviews (also known as social proof). If you don’t have social proof online just yet, ask some previous clients to write you a testimonial. There is no need to be too wordy. Bullet points are great and easy to read. But don’t forget: Client testimonials are key!

Step #5 Set up Data Insights and Track Conversions. You MUST know the data and stats behind your funnel system. How else will you know if it’s working?? You have to plug into Google Analytics and use insight tools to determine who is landing on your page, how they got there and what they do after they get there. Tracking can be set up in your Google Analytics account. Here you can set up conversion tracking and understand your visitor and customer behaviors better.

Step #6 Amp up your traffic game! At this stage, you have set the foundation of your funnel system. Now it’s time to get that traffic count up. We do this will PPC (Pay per Click) ads through Google Ads, Bing Ads or Facebook Ads, for example. You can choose to send your customers directly to your opt-in landing page or the Service page with CTA. Where you send the clicks will depend on your ad campaign search terms and the leads. Warm leads already looking for what you have to offer can be directed to the Service page while colder leads can be directed to the lead magnet.

I have even seen companies go a traditional route and send postal mailers out with a CTA to a website, so if you want to reach your target audience through a postcard, having that landing page online where they can opt-in, learn more or contact you can still be a winning combination. This works great for free giveaways!

Don’t forget (or be afraid) to try A/B testing with different ad campaigns and creatives to see what converts the best. The next weeks and months ahead will need to be monitored and adjusted accordingly to avoid overspending on ads that aren’t converting. If you see a lot of people landing but they just aren’t opting in or contacting you, you’ll need to figure out why.

I have written another article on what makes a customer buy. If you hop over there, it’ll offer useful insight into consumer buying behaviors.

What is Intentional Marketing?

What does Intentional Marketing mean, and how should you be doing it??
Well, intentional marketing is a lot like great branding. Intentional marketing embraces the highest level essence of your brand and continues to offer value for its customers at every turn. It’s like a 4-star resort where no details have been spared. Always.

To be intentional in your marketing strategy means this:

You’re very in touch with your brand and company mission
You’re very in tune with your customer’s wants and needs
You consider the needs of potential customers
Everything you do and say has a purpose and leaves a lasting impression. (Even in the business cards you use or product packaging)
You see outcomes, strategies, and foresight in all of your marketing efforts
You aren’t lazy in your efforts and you’re always thinking of ways to woo your clients (your office is 100%, your website is 100%, the experience is 100%, marketing materials are 100%, etc)
You believe in details, quality and always strive to be above average and consistent with these aspects.

Examples of Companies Who Use Intentional Marketing

Apple, Disney, Nike, Tiffany & Co., Whole Foods Market are all great examples of companies who are great with intentional marketing.

Have you ever stayed at a Four Seasons Resort or visited Disneyland park or even purchased an Apple product? Everything that you experience from beginning to end with each one of those companies uses intentional marketing.

How do you Deploy Intentional Marketing Tactics?

Plan ahead. Always be planning ahead with your marketing strategies and goals. Plan every move precisely and with a clear vision of the outcome you’re seeking and execute that plan with your best tactics.
Understand the scope, objectives, and goals you need to reach. Plan according to who you intend to reach and how you plan to reach them. Depending on how wide or narrow your target audience is will determine how much money needs to be budgeted to execute properly, and far in advance you’ll need to plan.
Make sure you and everyone on your team clearly understand your target customers like they know their own friends. In my Branding Course, I teach ways to get to know your target customer like a personal friend. Learn her, know her and make her happy. Create all of your copy, creative around this special target customer. Stop trying to speak to everyone.
Use a project management tool like Trello, Asana or Slack. Keep your team and tasks tight! Stay on track and with the schedule.
Again, there is no such thing as over-planning. Rushing to market with a half-ass/half-executed marketing plan = wasted time, wasted efforts and wasted dollars $$$$$.
Once launched, measure results. If there is time and room to make improvements or adjustments, do it.
Once the marketing efforts are complete, measure again. Read the results and analytics of each campaign and determine ROI.

Intentional marketing means having an eye for detail, knowing what you want to accomplish, knowing your audience and brand and having the patience, capital and tenacity to stick with it and follow through with tight execution.

How to Attract Better Clients & Earn More Money

If you’re a professional just starting out, or even an established consultant or business owner, your main gripe is probably this: How do I get my clients to pay for my services? Or, Why do I keep attracting clients who don’t want to pay me what I’m asking for?

For starters, you’re going to have to reassess what value you’re offering and then make a mindset shift. Secondly, you could just need a lesson on how to create better boundaries.

Or third, you could just be blowing all 5 of the “Business, Mindset, Money Mastery” rules, which are:

One: Integrity.

In ‘The Four Agreements‘, Don Miguel Ruiz speaks about being impeccable with your word. I am a pretty literal and precise when it comes to tasks, appointments and my outlined duties with a client. And I generally expect the same. You are the mirror for the current (or future) clients you’re attracting. If the customers you’re currently attracting aren’t ideal, it could be several factors, one of which begs the question, what kind of client are you? Be the mirror to your clients. If you operate out of integrity and consistency, you will attract the same kind of individuals. Attract what you want by being and reflecting the value you’re asking for.

Two: Command Premium Prices.

Are your services or products worth it? Here’s the thing: If you don’t think you’re worth the price you’re asking, everyone else will think it, too. We teach people how to treat us, whether in our business or personal lives. If your products or services are not yet worth what you’re asking, do what you need to do to raise the bar. If they are worth more but you’re not asking for more because you are afraid, you still aren’t telling the client that you’re worth it.

The first thing you’re going to have to do is remove the blocks that keep you from asking for what you’re worth. Find out whatever those blocks are and fix them, stat! They could be something as deep as inner emotional work or as superficial as creating a better website or program. Whatever they are, seek them out and fix it. You aren’t helping anyone, including yourself, by playing small.

Don’t worry about pleasing everyone. And don’t spend too much time with tire kickers or the ones who don’t want to pay for your worth. Spend your energy attracting the clients who will respect and value your time and talent. Smart clients who pay more for quality work generally get better results, and they know this.

As a freelancer, consultant or business owner, you also know that you will deliver a much higher quality product when you know your clients are paying you what you ask.

There is an expression I love and it states, “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur.”

Have you honed a skill so well you’re a master at it? Are you great at selling, speaking, writing, consulting, changing lives for the better? Don’t be afraid to ask for the price you deserve.

✅You are not just selling a service, you are selling VALUE and most importantly, RESULTS. Because let’s face it, positive outcomes are priceless.

What is the value of the results you can give that client? Is it $15,000 worth of sales, $9,000 worth of unnecessary fees or $50,000 worth of advertising exposure for only $2,000?

Three: Position Yourself as an Expert

When you’re first starting out, nobody knows a damn thing about you. Humans don’t generally like things that are too unfamiliar, either. But, that’s ok, I’m sure you’re not reinventing the wheel. Just find ways to show them what you do and how you can make their lives better.

Don’t spend so much time with ads trying to tell or convince everyone how much you know. Create freebies, video content or printable literature and give it away; show them what you know and do until your reputation supersedes you. Give value through free webinars, tutorials, lessons, samples, downloadable books, etc. Create social proof with the value you consistently offer. And THEN, bring in the ads to drive traffic to your value.

Four: Become a Master of Your Time

Time doesn’t always equal money. In other words, don’t be afraid to aim for low-hanging fruit and harness a ‘less effort for the highest reward’ strategy. The more time you spend on clients should not always equal the amount of money you make. For example, you could spend 30 minutes each, per day, with 5 clients at only $45 each ($1,125), OR, you could be reaching 50 clients in 1 week through a 1-hour group conference call or live webinar at $50/ea. ($2,500). Which one will utilize less time, emotional energy and offer a higher reward? Obviously, the once per week webinar or conference call.

And if a client requests 1-on-1 time, the price you set should be higher. Again, if you’re really good at what you do, s/he will understand and honor your prices. Yes, your time is valuable, but it should be priced accordingly.

Five: Don’t Try to Do Everything By Yourself

I realize when you’re just starting out it can be tough to find people to work with who you can afford and trust. But as a new business, you need assistance and help from people who are experts in their field. Whether graphic design, marketing, copywriting, billing, personal assistance, website design, videography, business consulting — whatever area you need that will help your business grow should be prioritized and delegated to someone else. Trying to do it all yourself can create delays, mistakes, overspend in unnecessary ways or poor brand positioning and creative visuals.

Don’t try to do everything on your own. Prioritize a budget for help and find the right people to assist. Build your tribe!

Bonus Tip: Stay away from Freelance Marketplace sites such as Fiverr, UpWork and CrowdSpring, unless it truly pays off big time. Sites like this take a huge chunk out of your pay and you have to spend an awful lot of time working upfront and writing proposals for clients who may waste your time or hire someone else simply based on a lower bid price. Don’t fight for scraps, or deal with low-ballers or tire kickers. A lot of clients on these platforms are looking for free consulting, discount rates and don’t want to pay anything for high-value services.

How to Create a Sales Funnel (For Beginners)﻿