What is a Sales Funnel And How Does it Work?
This is part 1 of 3 of the Sales Funnels series.
1. What is a Sales Funnel And How Does it Work?
2. The 7 Types Of Online Sales Funnels That Work Really Well In 2019
3. How to Build an Automated Webinar Sales Funnel For Your Online Business
Recently, I have been very obsessed with sales funnels.
Currently, my business runs 80% automatically via sales funnels.
I don’t have to rely on stress-inducing launches for my blog to survive, although I do run launches occasionally if I want to.
I thought I would do a blog post about what sales funnels are all about for those of you who are brand new to the world of funnels!
What is a Sales Funnel?
A sales funnel is the series of steps you take to lead a potential customer through to eventually purchase your product and to maximize the revenue you get from each customer.
What are some examples of sales funnels?
Actually, almost every business has a sales funnel already – they just don’t realize that they have one yet. Because of that, most sales funnels aren’t very good because the business owner isn’t even aware of its existence!
Some examples of sales funnels include:
Getting people to sign up for an automated webinar before pitching them a product:
Webinar registration page > Webinar thank you page > Webinar live page > Order Form > Success
Or perhaps an email course:
Blog post > Landing page for your free email course > Email course talks about product > Sales page > Order Form > Success
Remember that a sales funnel is simply the “ideal money making path” you want a lead to take to maximize the chance of them becoming a customer.
If you consciously build a good sales funnel, you will be able to see which step of the sales funnel needs to be improved upon, leading to a funnel that converts better over time.
For instance, you may realize that the landing page for your free email course converts really badly. By changing your landing page, you will get more sign-ups for the same amount of traffic, leading to more people participating in your free course and eventually signing up for your paid product.
What can a profitable sales funnel do for your business?
As I will mention in my post about the One Funnel Away Challenge, if you could just get ONE funnel to turn profitable, you could scale it up and it will completely change your life.
For instance, if you have a sales funnel where you could spend $1 to acquire a lead, take that potential customer through your sales funnel to eventually make you $2 per customer, you could theoretically spend a large ton of money and consistently bring in new leads and customers.
Needless to say, this will completely change your business.
What are the different stages in a sales funnel?
Typically, a sales funnel comes in 3 main phases:
Phase 1: Traffic.
This is the step in your sales funnel where the lead has just come to know about your existence. This could be a Facebook advertisement, a new visitor from Google that lands on your blog, or someone chancing upon your pin on Pinterest.
The next logical step for you will be to engage and attempt to turn this stranger into a subscriber via a landing page.
This could be via:
- Getting the lead to sign up for your freebie (this could be a free email course, checklist, cheatsheet, etc)
- A webinar registration page like my List Building webinar registration page.
Phase 2: Value-adding.
The next phase of your sales funnel will be to implement a mechanism for you to add value to your visitors. It is rare for someone to purchase from you right off the bat. People typically need at least 7 touchpoints before they trust you enough to purchase from you.
Hence, the next phase after getting someone to join your list is to add value to them.
This could be via:
- An email nurture sequence using an autoresponder like Convertkit
- A free email course
- A webinar
- A blog post / multiple blog posts
Phase 3: Proceed to pitch
After you’ve added value, you need to pitch your product. This gives the potential customers who are ready to be served on a deeper level the opportunity to work with you / learn from you more closely.
Many bloggers skip over this phase of the funnel because they don’t have the guts to sell something to their audience. However, if you want a sustainable business, you have to actually sell something.
This could be a pitch at the end of the webinar or a pitch at the end of your free email course.
Who will benefit from implementing sales funnels in their business?
Everyone needs to have a sales funnel from day 1. This will maximize the chances of getting a sale and also increase your profits!
You don’t have to be able to invest in paid ads in order to build a sales funnel. However, being able to invest in paid ads will allow you to quickly test if a sales funnel is converting at a profit or not.
What is the best tool to create profitable sales funnels with?
The best tool to create profitable sales funnels with is Clickfunnels. I have used Clickfunnels for a year and love it. It is THE tool you need if you want to create sales funnels that convert.
Check out my personal review of Clickfunnels and how Clickfunnels works here: My Personal Clickfunnels Review After 6 Months (+ My Affiliate Bonuses!)
Where can I find resources to build profitable sales funnels?
I have 2 more blog posts coming right up about how you can build profitable sales funnels, so stay tuned!
Aside from that, I highly recommend participating in the One Funnel Away Challenge.
You can check out my review as well as my affiliate bonuses here: My One Funnel Away Challenge Review (& My Affiliate Bonuses!)
The 30-day one funnel away challenge is hosted by Russell Brunson, 8-figure entrepreneur, and the CEO of Clickfunnels – aka the king of funnels.
In 30 days, you will learn all you need to know about funnel building and be able to create your very first sales funnel from the challenge.
In week 0, you will be given mindset training so that you actually believe that you CAN build a profitable funnel.
In week 1, it’s all about creating great offers – no matter how good your funnel is, you need a good product if you want to be able to sell it.
In week 2, you will learn the strategy behind the funnel (e.g. telling the right stories to grab attention)
In week 3, you will build the funnel itself.
In week 4, you will learn how to run traffic to your funnel.
If you ask me, being able to get access to all this funnel building knowledge at this price point is a steal.
And the best part is that you will be learning from Russell Brunson, the king of funnels himself!
Click here to check out my review of the One Funnel Away Challenge to learn more.
Proceed to part 2 of the series, The 7 Types Of Online Sales Funnels That Work Really Well In 2019.
This is part 1 of 3 of the Sales Funnels series.
1. What is a Sales Funnel And How Does it Work?
2. The 7 Types Of Online Sales Funnels That Work Really Well In 2019
3. How to Build an Automated Webinar Sales Funnel For Your Online Business
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