What's in YOUR (Marketing) Funnel?
Filling Your Marketing Funnel
by Alexandria K. Brown, "The Ezine Queen"
http://www.the-ezine-queen.com
A client of mine, whom I'll call "Mary," is a
financial planner. She'd had a Web site for a few
years that pretty much served as an online brochure
for her. When Mary came to me, she was looking for
other ways to generate income besides working directly
with clients.
During our first conversation I introduced her to the
marketing funnel. If you picture a funnel, you know
it's wide and open at the top, and tiny and narrow at
the bottom. At the top of the funnel is where you want
to get as MANY prospects in as possible. At the bottom
of the funnel is your HIGHEST PRICED service or
product. And in the middle are in-between levels of
services/products and prices.
So as you go down the funnel, the products are priced
higher and higher, and the idea is to keep people
flowing down from the top to the bottom.
First, Get Them IN the Funnel
Offering something for free is the ideal way to get
tons of people into your funnel. Most people collect
prospects by giving away something free, such as a
report, an e-zine, or a teleclass. When people sign
up for these goodies, you get their names and e-mail
addresses, allowing you to contact them again.
At the top of Mary's funnel was her e-zine. And at the
bottom was her pricey one-on-one services. But there
was nothing in the middle of her funnel.
I see this often with many solo professionals, such
as coaches and consultants. There's either free or
high-fee. This is the reason many of them have so
much trouble converting prospects --- people usually
aren't ready to make that big jump from $0 to several
thousand dollars!
So I helped Mary brainstorm several information
products ("info-products") she could quickly create
and begin to sell.
Info Products Are Your Solution
By packaging your knowledge into info products, you
give your prospects the chance to "sample" you at a
lower price, filling the middle of your funnel. Here
are a few ideas to get you started:
- Books
- E-Books
- Special Reports
- Manuals
- Workbooks
- Journals
- Audio (downloads, CDs, or cassettes)
- Video (downloads, DVDs, or VHS tapes)
- Home Study Courses or Tutorials (usually a mix of media)
Even better, selling these products on your Web site
gives you passive income. That is, it's money coming
in automatically. It didn't require your working X
hours for Y dollars. Sales can come in 24/7, even
while you're sleeping! (For help in getting started,
see my program "How to Create, Sell, and Profit from
E-books and Special Reports".)
And don't forget about teleclasses or teleseminars,
delivered over the phone, or even Webinars, taught
over the Internet. These require your direct
involvement, but allow you to teach many people at
once. These formats allow you to make much more money
per hour, and they give your prospects access to you
for a lower fee than hiring you one-on-one. (For help
in getting started, see my program "Insider Secrets
to Making Money With Teleseminars".)
Here's an example of my own product funnel:
TOP OF FUNNEL:
free e-zine
free teleclass
MIDDLE OF FUNNEL:
teleseminar ($47)
home study system ($197)
telebootcamp ($497)
BOTTOM OF FUNNEL:
one-on-one coaching/consulting ($350/hour)
Now, your funnel may look entirely different. For
example, here's what Mary's funnel now looks like:
TOP OF FUNNEL:
free e-zine
MIDDLE OF FUNNEL:
workbook ($29)
teleseminar ($49)
2-CD audio program ($69)
4-week tele-course ($149)
2-day live workshop ($599)
BOTTOM OF FUNNEL:
one-on-one services ($250/hour)
personal mentoring ($6,000/year)
Take a few minutes right now and sketch out YOUR
funnel. See where the holes are, and start thinking
about what products you can add to make it easier for
your prospects to sample your expertise and buy from
you.
© 2004 Alexandria K. Brown
|
Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine
Queen," is author of the award-winning 'Boost Business
With Your Own E-zine' system. To learn more about this
step-by-step program, and to sign up for FREE how-to
articles and FREE teleclasses, visit:
|
|
* * * * *
What if you had the same minute-by-minute thoughts as the
super successful? Mike Brescia has developed the ultimate
mental conditioning programs that can help anyone wipe out
intense fears and enjoy huge successes in all areas of life.
http://thinkrightnow.cjb.net
