Do you have your own website and want to make money with it? Do you have a product that you want to sell? Then you need to set up a sales funnel.
And this is even more important if you plan on selling a ‘big ticket’ item with a high asking price. Read on and let’s break down precisely what a sales funnel is and why it’s such a valuable tool…
A sales funnel is by far the most effective way to get any product – digital or otherwise – to sell. This way, you are attracting the right kinds of visitors, building their trust and engagement with their brand and then selling to them right at the point when they’re most likely to buy.
As a result, your audience is much more receptive and far more accepting of your marketing messages – which makes all the difference to your conversion rates.
This is the big mistake that so many internet marketers make; they don’t realize that it’s ineffective to simply try and sell something ‘cold’ to strangers in the street.
We can illustrate this point by imagining a watch salesman. Imagine that someone came up to you in the street and offered you a $5,000 watch. Would you buy it? Heck no! And here’s why:
Now try to understand that if you have a sales page that is trying to sell a make money ebook, you’re probably doing the exact same thing. It probably looks every bit as shady, and your visitors are just as likely to say ‘thanks but no thanks’.
Think about it: these people know nothing about you. They probably stumbled upon your website by accident, and they have no reason to believe you aren’t just going to collect their money and then run off into the sunset.
They also probably aren’t in the market to make a big purchase right now. And they probably have no particular interest in making money online/getting fitter – beyond the basic interest that everyone has in these topics.
And if that’s all that you’re offering on your site, then the vast majority of people who land on your page are simply going to leave and never come back. Hence, low conversion rates and very low profits.
So what do you do instead? Well, this is where the sales funnel comes in…
With a sales funnel, you are recognizing that you can’t just ‘go in for the kill’ as soon as someone lands on your site. Instead, your interest is going to be retaining them as customers and engaging with them in a meaningful way.
One way you might do this is by getting them to buy something much more inexpensive first – like a short ebook, or in the case of the watch salesman, perhaps a watch strap.
The idea of this is that it’s much easier to sell something small but when you do, you are demonstrating the kind of value you’re capable of delivering and you’re building engagement with the brand. You’ll also be collecting the details of that customer, such that you can market to them further in future.
Your hope then, is that your new customer is going to say ‘that was such a great watch strap, I wonder if they have any good watches?’. Or that they’ll read your free ebook and see mention of your ‘VIP Ultimate Course’ and be interested.
Now they have overcome the trust issue, they know who you are, they know what you represent, and they know that you make good products. So selling something a little more expensive is just a matter of getting them to take that leap.
A sales funnel can be thought of almost as a slide. It can be a series of purchases of increasing value, that inexorably build up momentum and take your visitor closer and closer to the final ‘big’ item.
But that’s not the only thing a sales funnel can be. At the same time, you may wish to include other free stages in your funnel. For example, this might mean that you have a blog, or a mailing list, or a free report. These items work even better because they allow you to capture the people who aren’t yet ready to spend any money with you.
Think of this like the free coffee or the free cake you get outside of Starbucks. You’re just walking past, you’re in a hurry and you’re not ready to buy anything at this point. But then you see a nice snack and it’s completely free, so you think why not? And perhaps while you’re there, you take a flier or a money-off voucher so that you can use those things later on.
For an internet marketer, this is basically what we mean when we talk about content marketing. The objective of content marketing is to get people to become interested in the content you’re sharing, to the point that they will regularly keep checking back of their own volition.
Then maybe they decide they like what you’re offering so much, that they want to subscribe and start hearing more.
Then, once they’re on your mailing list, you might offer them a free seminar. At each stage of the way, they’re becoming more engaged and more interested in your brand – more willing to be marketed to more in the future.
Finally, you then start to offer something a little bigger for a little cash. This might mean an ebook or it might mean a short course. Perhaps it’s an item of clothing! Either way, it’s a small purchase that you need to make as appealing as possible and that will benefit from the fact that your audience now knows you and knows you’re capable of delivering good value.
This is where the concept of the ‘free line’ comes in. The ‘free line’ is the point at which your offerings stop being free and start being charged.
Where you place this free line is in many ways going to define your sales funnel and have perhaps the biggest impact on how successful that funnel is. Some experts on the matter go as far as to suggest that the businesses with the most on offer for free will be the ones that are ultimately the most successful.
The best sales funnels will use the strategies that we just outlined in the previous chapter but will normally organize this into five separate steps (called ‘touches’). Research suggests that to make a sales costs five touches on average and thus, this should be what you aim for.
From the very first ‘touch’ you should be sowing the seeds of your big sale. And one way you can do this is by focussing on the ‘AIDA’ structure. AIDA stands for:
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
These are the stages that you need to guide a new visitor through whenever you try and sell a product, and ideally, they should be in this order! Notice how we once again have five steps – which perfectly fits with our five touches.
So to sell a product, you first simply mention it while providing value and not trying to sell. In your second interaction – perhaps a newsletter – you give a little more information but keep it coy. This should hopefully be enough to pique just a little interest.
Finally, in your follow up email or on your sales page, you are going to try and trigger ‘action’. This last action step is where you start to really sell and it’s where you’re going to ram home the idea and make sure that people really want what you’re offering.
This is where you need to understand the basics of persuasive writing and sales and there are a few things to consider here.
The first challenge?
Getting people to actually stop and listen to what you’re saying. These days, we are all constantly in a rush and we all constantly have a million things we need to be doing. This means that we really don’t have time to spend hours reading long passages of text about why X product is so amazing.
So how do you get your visitors to stick around and actually listen to you? One good suggestion is to use a ‘narrative’ structure. This means you’re going to frame your sales pitch like a story and start off by telling your visitors how your product changed your life.
This works well because we are naturally inclined to listen to stories, and we find it very difficult to stop reading them halfway through. That’s why you’ll often stay up all night watching bad quality TV, even though you’re not really enjoying it!
The next tip is to break your text up into lots of sections and to include long detailed headings. Ideally, your sales pitch should be designed such that someone just skimming straight through it would be able to get all the information they need reading the headlines alone.
Using bold or underlined text can help here too, as it allows readers to pick out the key details in any given sentence.
Then, once you’ve done all this, you need to encourage rapid action. You do this by introducing ‘urgency’ and ‘scarcity’ to increase the illusion that the deal is limited time only and that your audience needs to act NOW.
There’s much more to a successful sales funnel than just this and over time, you’ll learn that there’s much more you can do here. The more you tweak and perfect the funnel and the more you understand the psychology that drives sales, the better you’ll be able to increase your conversion rates and drive more traffic to your site.
Then there’s the matter of marketing and finding targeted customers, and the matter of actually building all of these stages using the best available tools.
If you want to learn more about sales funnels and how you can optimise them to convert better, then check out the featured resource below for a free detailed report; download, read it and take action 😊
This is possibly the biggest fear that can keep you tossing and turning at night because again, it’s linked to your survival. If financial fears get out of control, they can develop into an obsession with money or breed toxic emotions like envy or jealousy of people who are wealthier.
Financial fear takes on different forms and shapes depending on your circumstances. You might be living from paycheck to paycheck and barely able to make ends meet. You could be struggling to pay off a student loan or keep up with your mortgage payments.
Financial fears are very valid but again, we often tend to let them take over our minds and keep us in a perpetual state of worry and anxiety. Even people who are financially secure may develop an obsessive fear of losing all they have. In extreme cases, this type of fear can become a phobia.
How it holds you back
Financial fear is a major stressor because it usually plagues you most of the day (and night) rather than in a specific situation. So, its first impact is going to be on your health. High stress levels will keep you feeling fatigued, lifeless, and demotivated.
Your immune system becomes weakened, leaving you more open to illness and just poor health overall. Mentally, financial worries can lead to depression, chronic anxiety, and isolation.
When you’re not at your best physically and mentally, everything in your life suffers. What’s worse, financial fears can keep you trapped in a negative cycle where it’s very difficult to think clearly about solutions – much less act.
Here are 3 quick action steps you can take to stop financial fear from holding you back.
Financial experts recommend putting 10% of your income into a savings account. $10 out of every $100 is a negligible sum and you’ll hardly notice the deduction. However, in a savings account, those small sums very quickly accumulate and can become very substantial over time.
A great idea is to create a separate emergency fund and divide savings between that and your regular savings account. That way, you have something put aside for emergencies like appliances or cars breaking down and other unexpected expenses.
If you stick to a budget and cut down on unnecessary expenses (three cable TV subscriptions and gourmet ice cream are not essentials!) you should be able to live well within your income and put something towards your savings as well.
The thing with budgets is that people seem to think they’re made to be broken! So, be firm and keep a strict eye on overspending.
There are dozens of ways to make extra income online with no cost or very minimal investment. You can set up two or three of these income streams at once. This can easily be managed in your spare time and some have the potential for making very decent money.
Consider affiliate marketing, dropshipping, posting YouTube videos, or publishing an eBook on Kindle. None of these schemes require much experience and with dozens of tutorials on YouTube, you can easily set up your chosen income stream.
Note: These strategies are not going to make you rich overnight or solve all your financial problems. However, they’ll provide you with a small safety cushion that will significantly alleviate your financial fears and give you some peace of mind.
More importantly, these little security nets will relieve your financial anxieties, allowing you to focus on bigger solutions to improve your financial situation.
Closely linked to financial fear is the fear of security, so let’s take a look at that in this article too.
Emotional security, job security, health security, and financial security are extremely important for our mental wellbeing and productivity. Security fears also play on your inner sense of self-worth and, in severe cases, can lead to inferiority complexes and social isolation.
How it holds you back
When you’re insecure in a relationship or don’t feel accepted by your peers, your self-confidence plummets. It’s a no-brainer that low self-confidence will affect the way you think and act in your career, personal and social life.
Health insecurity may be a result of guilt because you know you drink too much, eat unhealthy food and are just careless with your health. It may be due to a history of family health issues as well. As for financial insecurity, we’ve discussed how it can drag you into a cycle of anxiety and worry that stifles your ability to be your best.
Here are 6 quick action steps you can take to stop fear of security from holding you back.
If financial security is preying on your fears, a financial advisor can help you in many ways. He’ll look at your income and expenses and help you create a suitable budget. He’ll suggest investments and other ways to generate more wealth.
A financial advisor will also guide you towards the best way to manage debts if you have them and suggest effective ways to curb overspending. If you’re feeling a bit lost and confused, an expert opinion can dispel many of your financial insecurities.
Financial advisors aren’t just for rich people! They’ll work with anyone including people who are struggling financially, as well as people who are feeling financially insecure. It’s an investment worth making if your insecurity is holding you back.
First and foremost, get out of abusive or destructive relationships immediately. They don’t just hold you back but drag you down to a very bad place – you deserve better. The same goes for exploitative friendships and associations with people who are overly negative and critical. Phase them out of your life.
Strong, healthy relationships greatly strengthen your emotional security. You know that these people can be counted on to give you support, encouragement, and love you for who you are.
In addition to your great relationships, having a strong peer network can be very effective in dispelling emotional insecurity. This can be a peer group related to your career, special interest, or causes you’re passionate about.
Exchanging ideas, sharing experience, and being part of an active peer network can provide you with immense support and encouragement when you need it.
No further explanations are needed here. You know what you’re doing right or wrong health-wise. Take care of yourself!
When you’re healthy, you feel it. In fact, you feel great.
Knowing you’re doing your part to stay fit boosts your confidence about your health.
Quell your job insecurity by staying at the top of your game. Keep growing and learning as much as you can to expand your scope of expertise.
In the case that you do lose your job, you know that you’re perfectly qualified to find a better one!
This can give you a real confidence boost as well as peace of mind, plus this may also help you to perform better in your current role as you are now more relaxed about the future.
Practice your faith or take up meditation to boost your emotional resilience and inner tranquility. Spiritual practices of all kinds are great for building strong emotional health.
When you’re emotionally strong, you’re better able to confront your fears and address them rather than let them take control of your life.
As you can appreciate, changing the way you think can have a huge impact on your life, and if you want to know more about developing an inspirational mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
Some days you may need to create a blog post, a newsletter article, or even a short social media post, and you come up empty.
Maybe you’re not sure what topic to write about. Or maybe you know the topic, but you’re not sure about how to approach the topic (what angle/perspective/slant).
That’s where this article comes in, as it serves as an “idea starter” to help you brainstorm and research fresh topics and angles for your next piece of content.
Ok, let’s jump in…
Defined: Idea starters are basically prompts to help you think about ideas and angles of what to write about.
To that end, go through the following idea starters and write down as many ideas as you can think of for your niche.
TIP: You can go through this list and write down ideas for your niche without having a specific topic in mind. Starting with only your niche will help you generate ideas for dozens of topics within the niche.
However, this list also works well when you do have a specific topic (such as “getting rid of aphids” or “replacing a classic car’s upholstery”), as then you’ll get dozens of ideas for ways to approach these specific topics.
Here are your idea starters – list as many ideas as you can think of for each one:
Next…
Your next step is to do some research to help generate even more ideas. The strategy here is to look at existing content and ideas and then reflect back on the idea-starter questions above to generate additional ideas.
I’ll first give you a list of existing content to review, and then I’ll provide you with examples of how to implement this strategy:
Let’s work through an example…
Let’s suppose you go to your competitor’s blog, and you find an article with 10 tips for losing weight. You can look at the article as a whole, as well as each individual tip, and run through your idea starters.
“X Commons Myths You’ve Heard About _______” becomes “Top Five Common Myths You’ve Heard About Losing Weight.” You can then turn a positive tip on the list into a negative myth (that you debunk).
Let me give you a specific example…
Let’s suppose one of the tips is on the topic of eating multiple smaller meals per day to boost metabolism and provide the body with a steady supply of food to fuel one’s activities.
You can turn this idea around to become a myth. E.G., “Eat Two or Three Big Meals Per Day” is the myth, and then you can share what to do instead (eat six small meals per day).
Need more ideas? Then your next step is to use a tool to generate additional ideas.
One of the best tools to use is BuzzSumo.com. Not only does this tool give you topic and angle ideas, it also presents ideas for content that’s already popular in your niche.
Start by entering your broad keywords into BuzzSumo, such as “gardening” or “dog training.” Then write down any ideas that spark your interest.
Then…
Enter broad keywords from OTHER niches.
For example, if your market is dog training, then enter completely different market and niche searches such as:
And similar big, evergreen markets and topics. For each market or topic you feed into the tool, you’ll get dozens of ideas. In turn, you can take these ideas and apply them to your own niche.
For example, let’s suppose you feed the keywords “weight loss” into the tool, and you get a result such as “It’s Never Too Late to Start Losing Weight.”
You can then take this topic and bring it to your niche (dog training). E.G., “It’s Never Too Late to Start Training Your German Shepherd.”
Or let’s suppose you enter “gardening” and get the result: “10 Gardening Ideas that Work Even If You Don’t Have a Green Thumb.”
You can brainstorm and apply that to your niche, like this: “10 Dog Training Ideas That Work Even If You’re a Complete Dog-Training Newbie.”
Let’s wrap this up…
Now that you have a list of idea starters and access to research and tools that can help you generate even more ideas, your next step is simple: start brainstorming 😊
By the way, if you really want to know more about the power of content marketing and blogging, you can take a look at the Rapid Blogging Blueprint training course or if you just want a few pointers for now you can grab the featured resource below for a free detailed blogging report; download, read it and take action 😊
Former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said in a speech, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” If you take the statement literally, it doesn’t really make sense because you can’t really be afraid of fear.
What Roosevelt was trying to say is that fear is a crippling emotion that can hold back nations and individuals from achieving greatness. In that sense, the consequences of fear can be terrifying.
Here are a couple of the most common fears and a few tips on how to overcome them.
Risk is related to a perceived loss resulting from an action. Oftentimes, there’s also a potential gain but we tend to magnify the loss while minimizing the gains. The fear of taking risks is a very strong primal fear related to our survival instinct where our prehistoric ancestors were surrounded by peril. Taking risks could mean getting eaten by wild animals or some other horrible death.
This fear remains very strong in us and is the first emotion that overcomes us when we think of taking important action.
How it holds you back
Let’s say you want to start your own business. You have a great idea for a useful product or service that’s scalable. There’s an audience for it and your initial market research tells you it will be in demand. You’re very excited. Then, the fear of risk kicks in and your mind starts bombarding you with ‘what if?’
What if the idea’s not so good after all? What if you take out a loan and can’t repay it? What if the product doesn’t sell? What if the market collapses? What if there’s a nuclear war and you lose everything?
Your fear ends up holding you back from, doing something that can have some real benefits for you. So, you ditch the idea and decide to stay on in a job you hate that’s stifling your potential and ambition. You convince yourself that being miserable is safer than failing miserably!
Now, consider the alternative: you realistically assess the risks involved, plan for them and start your own business. You embark on an exciting journey when you become your own boss, take control of your life, and grow a super successful business. This is just one example of how fear of risk can hold you back from great things.
Highly successful people have a unique mindset. They don’t shy away from risk but rather, they see it as a challenge that can always be overcome, and the reward always outweighs the risk. That’s what makes successful people great! You can develop this mindset and conquer your fear of taking risks with the following strategies:
Identify your desired outcome. Let’s stick with the example of starting your own business. Realistically and honestly assess the risks related to the outcome.
In this case, they could be using your savings for capital, taking out a loan and changing interest rates or liabilities or hazards related to your product. I would also include the risk of not making any income from the business for a few months until it’s up and running.
Weigh the desired outcome (establishing a successful business) against the risks involved and honestly assess the possibility of these risks really happening. You’ll most likely find that the outcome or goal is worth the risks.
Assessing possible risks and putting them into proportion usually shows you that they’re not as bad as you imagined, not likely to happen or if they do, can be managed.
When you’ve identified all the possible risks, create a risk management plan for each one. This will give you tremendous peace of mind and confidence because you’re mentally prepared and your back is covered.
Having a risk management plan or a plan B will arm you with the tools to immediately take action to mitigate or eliminate risks with the least possible losses. Oftentimes, many of the imagined risks never come to pass but having a plan B is one of the most powerful ways to break your fear of risk.
Always define your goal or goals clearly and factor in the potential risks. Include sub-goals of steps you need to take to avoid risk. Your goal map should include benchmarks or timeframes where you stop and assess your progress to ensure that all is on track and to make modifications if something seems to be heading towards a risk.
OK, let’s move onto the second fear that may be holding you back from the success you desire (and deserve).
Failure can have tangible repercussions such as material or financial loss as well as emotional consequences such as the loss of reputation, respect, and self-pride. In most cases, the emotional associations come into play more to hold us back.
Failure is associated with negative qualities like incompetence, inexperience, poor skills, low intelligence, and other qualities that cause emotional distress.
How it holds you back
Quite simply, nobody wants to be regarded as a loser. This is why the fear of failure leads to three negative and debilitating habits:
What’s more, the fear of failure saps your self-confidence. The more it keeps you stuck in place, the more you become convinced that you don’t have what it takes to do any better. It’s a vicious and very crippling cycle.
Highly successful people have a unique mindset. Firstly, they don’t acknowledge the word ‘failure’ but rather, refer to it as a setback. Secondly, they see setbacks as challenges that can always be overcome. That’s what makes successful people great! You can develop this mindset and conquer your fear of failure with the following strategies:
We’re often ashamed of our past failures and avoid reflecting on them. But reframing past failures can decrease your fears. Firstly, remind yourself that you may have made some very big mistakes in the past – but so has everyone else on the planet.
Secondly, reflect on how your mistakes are part of who you are today. For better or worse, they’ve shaped your character and they’ve made you wiser and stronger. Finally, reflect on the lessons learned and how they’ve helped you avoid making the same mistakes again.
Reframe and reflect on your past failures in this way and you’ll begin to see that failure can have a positive effect.
These can be skills related to your career, tech skills, or communication and listening skills to improve your relationships, leadership skills and so on. The goal is to give your self-confidence a big boost.
Having a varied toolset of skills and expertise gives you the confidence to be more proactive and eager to take initiatives to improve yourself and your life. This strategy is a huge fear of failure buster.
Reflect on your special skills and talents that make you unique from everyone else. This is a great exercise to engage in when you’re procrastinating or overthinking.
As you can appreciate, changing the way you think can have a huge impact on your life, and if you want to know more about developing an inspirational mindset for success, please click on the featured resource below for a free Strong Mindset report; download, read it and take action 😊
Since you’re someone who creates a lot of content, that means you also likely spend a fair amount of time brainstorming (or at least you should be doing this).
EXAMPLE: You need to brainstorm topic ideas. You need to brainstorm unique angles/approaches for your content. You need to brainstorm things like how to turn a step-by-step process into your own unique formula. And so on.
With that in mind, here’s a brainstorming checklist you can use to help you do all the brainstorming you need to develop content ideas, angles, talking points and more.
Many people think of going old school and taking pen to paper to do their brainstorming. You’ll want to experiment to see what works best for you, as some methods will open up your individual creativity better than others.
Here are different methods to try:
NOTE: While you may be brainstorming on your own (which is fine), many people find it more effective to brainstorm in groups. Even having just one other person helps the two of you think up ideas that neither of you would have thought of on your own.
To that end, consider brainstorming with a knowledgeable friend. You can brainstorm in the same room using a whiteboard. Or, if you’re not local to each other, then you can use an online chat to brainstorm. Ideas include:
… or use any other platform or messenger service that you prefer.
NOTE: Trello (and similar platforms) are specifically designed for helping teams brainstorm.
Next step…
Before you begin brainstorming, you need to get very clear on what exactly it is that you’ll be brainstorming. If you’re not clear, you’ll likely end up thinking about all sorts of things… but not thinking or brainstorming deeply about any one of them.
To that end, start with a focused question. E.G., “What topics should I write about for my blog?”
Next…
The next part of good brainstorming is to get rid of all distractions and potential interruptions. For example:
TIP: If you’re brainstorming using a device, and you’re prone to distraction, then you might use an app like GetColdTurkey.com. This app blocks your access to certain sites you find distracting, such as social media.
For example, walk the dog, feed the kids, feed yourself, get yourself a beverage and so on. You don’t want to get interrupted or distracted because you didn’t handle a task beforehand.
NOTE: If you live in a household where there’s a lot of noise and distraction, then you may want to leave the house in order to do your brainstorming. You can go to:
And similar places.
You may find that going to different locations helps unlock your creativity.
For example, maybe you find yourself distracted at a coffee shop because you’re too busy people-watching. But perhaps an outdoor setting – such as a secluded, quiet park – keeps you focused and really unlocks your creativity.
Next…
Now that all those preliminary steps are out of the way, you can start brainstorming. Keep in mind that you’re just generating ideas at this point, and in no way should you be judging the ideas while brainstorming.
Write everything down that comes to mind – later you can judge the ideas to see if they’re good or viable.
Let’s work through an example…
For the purpose of this checklist, let’s suppose you’re brainstorming topic ideas in your niche. You can start by asking a generic question such as, “What topics should I write about?” Then write down every answer that comes to mind.
You can then ask yourself a series of more targeted questions to help you uncover even more ideas. For example:
Be sure to set aside individual brainstorming time for each targeted question you ask.
NOTE: As you can see, a brainstorming session can get quite lengthy, so be sure you schedule enough time to go through all the questions.
Now, let’s wrap this up…
If you’re creating a lot of content, then you’re going to need to do plenty of brainstorming. Be sure to keep this 4 step process handy so you can follow the steps and tips that you just learned for effective brainstorming.
By the way, if you really want to know more about the power of content marketing and blogging, you can take a look at the Rapid Blogging Blueprint training course or if you just want a few pointers for now you can grab the featured resource below for a free detailed blogging report; download, read it and take action 🙂
