Funnels. Funnels. Funnels.
The first thing new online business owners must master is the power of the offer funnel.
Like most businesses, you invest in tech and time to build a sales funnel in hopes to bring in a regular stream of customers and growing revenues. You likely post on social a lot. You e-mail regularly. You make great offers and some even result in sales! But if your funnel isn’t bringing in a steady cash flow that grows month after month, then something is clearly wrong.
So, what's missing? I’m betting it’s because you lack consistency and cohesion.
Most of us have made this mistake (including me), so don’t beat yourself up! But do take the time to objectively look at your funnel, and ask yourself:
Does my offer satisfy a real need of my ideal client?
Too often we throw together a simple eBook or webinar without ever stopping to consider if our ideal client really needs or wants it. Unless your offer solves a pain point or problem for your client, she’s going to pass. (Or worse, she has already been sent an irrelevant offer in the past and opted out of your newsletter! Now she's gone, and getting her back will be even more difficult than it was to get her in the first place. But stay tuned on another article on how irrelevant content consistently costs us customers).
Does my follow-up continue to help resolve her issues?
This is where a lot of funnels go off the rails—in the follow up. In order to maintain cohesion and keep your readers’ interest, your follow-up emails should continue to address the issue that originally brought her to you. Unrelated products and random affiliate offers do little to build trust and can even lead to unsubscribes. (See, it's all about relevance)
Does my big offer follow naturally from the opt-in?
If your opt-in incentive is designed to help online businesses create better content, then your ultimate offer must include an element of content creation as well. Anything less and your loyal readers will feel as if you don’t know them at all, and very quickly, opt-out.
Just like a great sales page, all the pieces of your funnel need to flow naturally from one to the next, leading your readers toward bigger and better offers. It’s this cohesiveness that will help plug the leaks and keep your funnel filled with prospective clients who can’t wait to buy from you.
If you don't think you can be objective about your funnel, get in touch and set up a digital audit where me or my team can look at it for you. After the audit, we will try to match you with the right expert to help you get your specific business to the next level.