If you're a coach, consultant, and/or service-based business – this post is for you!

Likewise, speakers, authors, teachers, and entrepreneurs in the business of selling themselves can also glean insights from this post!

Finally, if you sell digital or info products and professional services – this post will show you how to make the most of what you offer!

It's the most comprehensive marketing strategy post you'll find on the Internet, I guarantee it.

Whether you're trying to develop your marketing strategy or you feel like you've got things figured out, I recommend giving this post a gander. I'm sure I'll shed some light on areas you haven't even considered.

To help assist you, I've put together a fill-in-the-blank document that can be downloaded by clicking the link below:

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Let's get started.

The Master Plan

This is the master blueprint we'll be following to build your marketing strategy.

I urge you not to skip ahead to the “cool” stuff that involves automation, tracking, and other nifty tools. Yes, that stuff is fun; however, if you don’t build a solid foundation, you’ll wind up spinning in circles and produce minimal results.

So, please, take the 60 minutes to define your customer and your business before moving forward!

Scenarios

I'll be using a couple model businesses in order to provide examples:

• Business #1 – Offers digital products, coaching, consulting, and services – ie. Crazy Eye Marketing
• Business #2 – Offers digital products and services – ie. a financial advisor
• Business #3 – Only offers services – ie. a dentist

As we get into the “Business” section, I'll discuss the particular offerings of each model business.

Customers

If you've read anything on marketing strategy in the past, you've likely come across articles about your customer and the importance of “defining” your customer.

This makes sense. If you're not sure who your business is for … then, what are you doing?

More than likely, you already know who your ideal customer is; however, you probably haven't truly defined them.

I understand, it can take a lot of time to develop a full fledged customer avatar or marketing persona … and, quite frankly, it sounds kinda boring, especially when there are a bunch of tools and fancy automations to get to!

But, here's the deal – having a more defined ideal customer does two things:

1. Helps you find them
2. Helps you connect with them

Two really important factors that help alleviate potentially HUGE problems!

If you can't find your ideal customer, you won't be able to attract them.

If you can't connect with your ideal customer, you won't be able to do business with them. People they know, like, and trust. If you can't get people to know, like, and trust you – your business will struggle.

To save you the time of going and filling out a customer avatar worksheet, simply answer these 5 questions:

• What’s your ideal customer’s name? You need to give them a name!
  • Dave
  • Marshall
  • Jenna
• Where do they hangout? / How can you get in front of them? Online, offline, particular websites, forums, Facebook groups, etc.
  • Facebook groups, forums, marketing/small business websites
  • Newspaper, home, travel websites
  • 15 mile radius, schools, libraries, grocery stores
• Where are they in the journey of life? Baseline demographics, thoughts, desires, fears, etc.
  • 30ish years old, young family, starting a small service-based business, trying to make things work, wants to support their family.
  • Retirement age, ready to stop working, wants to travel the world, wants to maximize time with family and friends.
  • Stay at home mom with young children, wants to take care of her kid's health.
• How do they see themselves? / How do they present themselves?
  • I'm relatively smart and hardworking – more so than the average Joe. Can do anything I put my mind to, sky's the limit!
  • I've done my time, I'm now a world renowned adventurer ready to conquer anything!
  • A good mother, first and foremost. I'm the caretaker of my family.
• How well do they know your products and industry? Do they “live” it, are they “new” to this world, etc.?
  • Semi-new to the business of digital marketing (~ 6 months). Has some basic concepts down, but hasn't quite pieced it all together yet.
  • Understands the very basics of wealth management. Put money into their 401k their whole life, has invested some on their own.
  • They know about teeth cleaning and basic dentistry work as they've been going to the dentist their whole life.

See, it doesn't have to be too difficult! Your answers should simply be a stream of thought.

Just by going through this process you'll develop a new frame to look through as you produce your content and message.

Customer FAQ:

Q: I have more than one ideal customer, how should I handle this?

A: Yes, you likely do have more than one ideal customer which is great. Ask yourself the same questions for each customer. However, I have two recommendations:

1) Make sure they’re uniquely different. Make sure where they hangout is different, where they are in the journey of life is different, and how they see themselves is different.

2) Start with your top 1 or 2 ideal customers – 80% of your business. You can always add more “ideal customers” later on, and I recommend getting the low hanging, obvious fruit first.

To Do

Answer the questions above.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Business

There are three core aspects of your business to define before moving forward:

1. Why you do what you do
2. Who you/your business are/is
3. How you help your customers (products and/or services) / What you do

If you're well-established, you can likely easily answer these questions; however, you probably haven't really “defined” them and mapped them out. I urge you to take the time to do this as it'll make the sales funnel development much simpler.

Why You Do What You Do

Why do you do what you do?

What's your mission?

Most people don't start a coaching, consulting, or service-based business accidentally.

What makes you leap out of bed in the morning? Is it to talk to clients? Help people? Make money? Is it creating or building?

What is it?

This doesn't have to be an official statement that you're going to put on your website. No one else is ever going to see it (unless you want them to).

It simply serves as a reminder when times get tough and helps you make decisions that align with your purpose.

It makes life easier.

Who You/Your Business Are/Is

There are other people and businesses that do what you do.

This is a good thing. If other people are having success doing what you're doing – that means you can too.

It also means you have competition and need to figure out a way to stand out.

The best way to stand out? Your personality or persona.

Being generic will not work in this day and age.

“Different is BETTER than better” – Sally Hogshead

Where Will This Persona Be Used?

This persona will be used in the content you produce, the correspondence you send, and across your entire business.

If your persona is fun and outgoing – everything about your business should be fun and outgoing.

This persona will be the “face” of your business.

How To Figure Out Your Business's Persona

If you're a solopreneur, this is an easy one – you are the persona.

Being a coach, consultant, service-based business, speaker, author, etc. – people need to know, like, and trust you.

Let your freak flag fly! You'll attract those that connect with you and repel those that don't.

If you're a business with multiple employees, there are a few ways to decide on your business's persona:

1. Assume the personality of the owner/founder/CEO
2. Develop a business persona that will connect with your ideal customer
3. Have multiple personas. It's certainly acceptable to have multiple personalities, especially if you operate with a large team. The overall “feel” should be similar; however, each team could have their own persona for how they connect with customers.

Your Products And Services

The products and services you sell essentially translate to, “How you help people”.

Knowing what products and services come next in your customers' lifetime will help you deliver more value, which means increased revenue for your business.

Most of the time, coaches, consultants, and service-based businesses offer a wide array of products and services. This is great because you have a lot to choose from; however, so do your customers and if they don't have a clear path toward success – they'll get confused and choose nothing.

You need to take the time to map out your products and services to give your customers a clear path to success.

The Value Ladder (“The Map”)

The concept and implementation of a Value Ladder is what propelled my personal coaching, consulting, and service-based business from break-even to profitable.

It's simple, but powerful.

The idea is to offer products and services at varying levels of price and value while having each tier lead into the next one. Thus, over the lifetime of a customer, they're “ascending” your Value Ladder and you always have something to sell them.

The break down:

• Lead Magnets are usually freebies (coupons, videos, checklists, etc.) that attract and qualify leads
• Initial Offers are lower-end products/services that are ideally “too good to refuse” and get people in the door
• 1st Tier Offers are usually your core product or service and bring in about 80% of your sales
• 2nd Tier Offers are the “next” level up from the 1st tier
• Top Tier Offers are the best you have to offer, the full shebang!

Being that most coaches, consultants, and service-based businesses offer a wide array of products and services – the Value Ladder will be a bit more “advanced”:

Yup, Value Ladders inside of Value Ladders!

This will be explained through several examples.

Crazy Eye Marketing (digital products, coaching, consulting, services)

• Digital Products
  • Lead Magnets: Checklists, videos, trials, discounts
  • Initial Offers: “Cheaper” products and courses
  • Top Tier: The Sales Funnel Training Vault
• Coaching (Group Setting, Recurring)
  • Initial Offer: Monthly package
  • 1st Tier: 6 month package
  • Top Tier: Lifetime coaching package
• Consulting (Private)
  • Initial Offer: 1 hour
  • 1st Tier: 4 hours
  • Top Tier: Custom
• Services (Done For You)
  • Initial Offer: Small, simple, one-off jobs
  • Top Tier: Custom

Financial Advisor (digital products, services)

• Digital Products (SaaS service similar to Mint and/or Wealthfront)
  • Lead Magnets: Trial
  • Initial Offer: Self managed
  • Top Tier: Professionally managed
• Services
  • Lead Magnet: 7 Questions To Ask Before Hiring A Financial Advisor
  • Initial Offer: Free 15 minute Q&A
  • Top Tier: Investment management, retirement planning, college planning, estate planning, debt reduction strategy

Dentist (services)

• Services
  • Lead Magnet: Free teeth cleaning
  • Initial Offer: Teeth whitening
  • 1st Tier: Cavities, fillings, and other minor fixes
  • Top Tier: Braces
  • Recurring: 6 month appointments

As you can see in the examples above, some Value Ladders have several tiers while others only have a few.

The take away is you offer different products and services at different price points and value that ideally “ascend” individuals to the next thing you offer. However, there are instances where they may skip a tier or two in the process, for example with the dentist – a person doesn't need a cavity before they can get braces. Likewise, with Crazy Eye Marketing – someone doesn't need to hire me for coaching before I will do a custom job for them. That would be silly!

To Do

• Write down why you do what you do
• Write down Who you/your business are/is
• Map out your Value Ladder(s) – How you help your customers (products and/or services) / What you do

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Delivery

The “Delivery” simply represents the way in which you deliver your products and services.

This obviously depends upon what you offer. For example, the dentist will need a place to see clients – he can't offer virtual root canals.

However, in this day and age, most coaching and consulting can be achieved over the Internet from the comfort of one's home.

So, it really depends – but you're an adult and I'm sure you know what you need in order to deliver what you offer.

Make Sure You Own It

I will say this – make sure you own your method of delivery.

For example, you wouldn't want to run your entire business off Facebook. What if Facebook decides you broke their terms of service and locks your account? What would you do then?

Another example, a lot of coaches run their business on Udemy. I'll agree, Udemy is convenient and brings in new customers; however, Udemy controls pricing and how you can engage with your customers. You can't email them whatever or whenever you want. You're at the mercy of the Udemy gods … which isn't a place you want to be.

A final example, many businesses are dependent upon Google and SEO to deliver their traffic. But, what happens if Google changes their algorithm and your business falls off the front page? Could you survive? Do you have a backup plan? If you own an email list, know how to grow it, and know how to sell to it – you won't need Google.

You need to have your own website, your own email list, your own setup. Something no one can take away from you.

Of course, use the other platforms and tools available in order to build your platform, but never be dependent upon them.

My Coaching, Consulting, and Services Setup

To give you an idea of how my business is setup, I've listed the key components below so you have some direction. If you'd like more details or specifics, please let me know.

• NameCheap: Domain registrar.
• a2Hosting: Managed VPS, Prestige+ package. Hosts my website.
• WordPress: Content Management System. “Is” my website. [/fusion_builder_column]
  [course]
• Avada Theme: Page builder and general look of my site.
• MemberMouse: Membership plugin that handles digital product delivery and coaching packages.
• Gravity Forms: “One off” payments and contact forms.
• ActiveCampaign: Email automation.
• Thrive Leads: Opt-in forms and lead capture.
• Stripe: Payment processing.
• Vimeo: Private, members only video hosting.

To Do

If you do not already have a method of delivery or you're too dependent on a 3rd party, take 10 minutes to think about your business and what you need to take control over how it's handled.

Write down your thoughts.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Meat”

The “Meat” is simply a fancy name I came up with to define all the content within your sales funnel. This includes everything:

• Sales pages to landing pages
• Ads to emails
• Blog posts to YouTube videos
• Social media shares to podcast interviews
• and beyond!

It's how you communicate with your customers.

While there are a million and one ways to strategize and handle all these aspects – they all have one thing in common, they need to drive action.

What do I mean by “action”? Mainly purchases, but this also includes things that lead up to the purchases like clicks, phone calls, foot traffic, etc.

All the things you need for your business to be successful.

Now for the question, “How does one drive action through their content?”

Copywriting.

You Must Learn Copywriting

What's copywriting? Well, this is probably the “most fun” explanation; however, it's a combination of art and science paired with the written word, video, images, etc. that motivates an individual to take action.

Being that it's both an art and a science, it takes years of dedicated study to fully master.

Having said that, I know you're a business owner and entrepreneur and likely lack the time required to fully master this skill; however, you should pursue every avenue possible to become a better copywriter.

Here are 4 tips that will make your copy better, instantly:

1) Write As Your Business's Persona

We talked about your business's persona above and hopefully you took the time to define it. That exercise will come in handy here.

Use pronouns like I, me, you, we, he, she, etc.

Use slang, jargon, market specific terminology, and inside jokes that your audience will connect with.

Write like you talk. Use bold, italic, and underline.

Remember, people do business with people they know, like, and trust. If you don't write like yourself, they'll never get to know you.

2) Write To Your Customer

Inline with tip #1 above – write to your customer.

Consider your writing a private letter to your ideal customer … a dear friend.

What would you tell them? How would you explain things?

Write like that.

3) Use Bullets and “Which Means”

People don't read on the web – they skim.

Bullets are easily skimmed and are therefore consumed much more easily and readily than paragraph content.

So, how do you write great bullets?

Simple, follow these steps:

1. Write down a feature of your product or service
2. Write the phrase “which means” directly after the feature
3. Tell the reader what that feature means to them
4. Repeat steps 2-3 until you have a few alternative definitions
5. Consolidate into 1 quickly consumable bullet

Example:

• Includes 9 fill-in-the-blank email series which means your email writing is essentially done for you which means you can implement autoresponder series faster which means you can make more money which means you'll live a great life!
• You'll start living the good life faster than ever before after implementing our 9 fill-in-the-blank email series!

4) Use Copywriting Formulas And Frameworks

There are a lot of copywriting formulas and frameworks that can help you focus your efforts. Here are a few popular ones:

• PAS (Problem, Agitate, Solve): The problem defined. The feelings, emotions, pain, and agitation caused by the problem. How to solve the problem (your product/service).
• BAB (Before, After, Bridge): The individual's life before your product or service enters the picture. How great their life is after your product or service. The bridge (your product/service) that connects the before to the after.
• AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action): Grab the reader's attention, usually via the headline. Pull the reader in with an interesting story and connect with them on a deeper level, show them what's possible. Make them desire what you presented as the moral of your story by showing them they're capable of the same thing. Give them a place to take action and fulfill their desire (ie. a sales page or order form).
• Want more? Click here for 27 copywriting formulas.

The “Other” Stuff

If you learn how to write great copy, the “other” stuff (pages, forms, ads, emails, etc.) becomes technical constraints that can be easily overcome.

There are tools for everything imaginable with new ones coming all the time.

As long as you can master the creation of action driving content and develop a baseline understanding of the tools to facilitate the spread of that content – your business will thrive.

Learn everything you need to know about the “other” stuff by joining The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

To Do

Focus your efforts on developing great content that follows the art and science of copywriting.

Revisit your sales pages and offers. Are you using paragraphs in places you could be using bullets? Are you writing to your customers as yourself? Are you utilizing sound copywriting formulas and frameworks in your writing?

If not, launch a split test with your old page vs. your new one utilizing the copywriting techniques outlined above.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Simple” Sales Funnel

The “Simple” Sales Funnel, sometimes referred to as the “Straight Line Sales Funnel”, is simply a fancy way of saying email autoresponder series.

An email autoresponder series is a series of emails automatically sent to a subscriber.

While email autoresponder series and automations can be very complex, as you'll see in the “Advanced” Sales Funnel section, we're only going to talk about sending emails in a straight line, in this “Simple” section.

Here's an example:

The Purpose Of A “Simple” Sales Funnel

There are a few reasons for this “Simple” Sales Funnel's existence:

• This email series automatically builds and maintains a relationship with your leads and customers while simultaneously converting them to your way of thinking
• This serves as the backbone for more complex email automations we’ll later build on
• Your personal understanding. If you have trouble making emails trigger in a straight line, when we get into more advanced topics you’ll really struggle

How Many “Simple” Sales Funnels Should You Have?

Most of the time, you only need one. The type of content you send in this funnel is interesting to people interested in your type of business or industry.

For example:

• People who are interested digital marketing and sales funnels
• People who are interested in taking care of their personal finances
• People who are interested in maintaining their family's dental health

There are a few instances where you may need 2 or more, for example if you're a lawyer and you have two facets to your business: legal counsel for clients and consulting for other lawyers.

In this case, your customers are tremendously different. People seeking legal counsel have very different interests than other lawyers seeking advice. In this case, you would likely want 2 different “simple” sales funnels.

If you have more than one “Simple” Sales Funnel, you need to segment individuals at the very beginning by asking them “who” they are.

What Type Of Content Should You Send?

Remember, the point of this particular sales funnel is to build and maintain a relationship and convert them to your way of thinking.

To accomplish this, send 3 types of emails:

1. Educational – emails that teach people how to do something, about the market, about what’s happening, case studies, etc.
2. Entertaining – emails that are “fun” like stories, case studies, testimonials, inside jokes, critiques, events, etc.
3. Earning – emails that remind people you offer various products and services.

I’ve aptly named these emails the “3 E Emails”.

Now, this doesn’t mean an email can only be 1 of the Es at a time. Like, you can only send a boring how-to tutorial, or only send a silly cat video. That’s not what I mean. Your how-to tutorial should be entertaining and can even sell your product at the end. That’s like killing 3 birds with one stone!

However, each email should have 1 core focus.

Is the primary aim of the email to educate, entertain, or earn?

• Educational emails tend to build relationships while converting people to your way of thinking
• Entertaining emails tend to build and maintain relationships
• Earn emails tend to ring the cash register

Examples:

Crazy Eye Marketing

• Educational: Send a link to a video showing how to add an opt-in form to a website.
• Entertaining: Share a case study where we split tested several opt-in forms and were able to increase the conversion rate by 57%.
• Earn: Send a 10% off coupon for our optimization course tteaching, step-by-step, how to split test and optimize your opt-in forms.

Financial Advisor

• Educational: Explain the differences and how to get the most out of the various retirement income streams: annuities, social security, pensions, etc.
• Entertaining: Share the story of a successful client that has been with you for the last 10 years, gone through multiple trials and tribulations; however, finally retired and is now traveling the world!
• Earn: Click here to schedule a free consultation with me!

Dentist

• Educational: Share a list of 7 strategies for getting your children to brush their teeth for the appropriate amount of time.
• Entertaining: Send a cute video that shows various animals getting their teeth brushed and enjoying it (my son would love this!).
• Earn: Did you know? We offer free checkups for walk-ins? We do! Visit us today and make sure your mouth is in good shape!

Where Do You Get Content?

Being that you're a coach, consultant, or service-based business and people need to know, like, and trust you – you need to create your own content.

You can't outsource this.

Sure, there are people and businesses that can help you come up with a plan, piece it together, and write the “connecting” material (that's what I do 😉 ); however, the “real” content has to come from you and/or your business.

There's no other way around it.

Of course, this requires a blog or pages setup to present the content.

And remember, content doesn’t necessarily mean blogging. While you still want to display the content on your site to “bring people back”, it could be video, audio (podcasts), images, etc.

For example, if my brother is your target audience, blogging is a terrible idea. He doesn’t read anything and you need to draw him in with video.

HOWEVER, and it’s a pretty big one – Google can’t really “watch” videos. It won’t matter how good your video content is from a search engine perspective. Blogging is still the #1 way to rank in the search results.

The Most Epic Blogging Strategy Of All Time

Here's the best way I've found to approach your content creation strategy:

1. Write the most epic post for your ideal customer, as it relates to how they see themselves and how it relates to your business/industry. If that is too esoteric, think of it as, “How does your business help people go from point A (where they are now) to point B (where they want to be/how they see themselves).” (3,000+ words)
   • The Ultimate Guide To Marketing Strategy For Coaches, Consultants, & Service-Based Businesses
   • The Ultimate Guide To Retiring “Right” So You Can Travel The World
   • From Baby To Adult, How To Care For Your Child's Teeth
2. Write more in-depth articles for each individual section of your “epic” post. (500-1,000 words)
   • 3 Sales Page Formulas That Will Increase Your Conversion Rates
   • 5 Things To Do 3 Years Before You Retire
   • How To Get Your 2 Year Old To Brush All His Teeth (I need this one!)
3. Write case studies, testimonials, reviews, etc. and/or create videos and/or pdf checklists for each of the “more in-depth” articles. (500-1,000 words and/or 3-5 minute video and/or a 1 page checklist)
   • Share case studies of the sales page formulas
   • Go into even more depth on the 5 things you spoke about in the last article
   • 3 Toothbrushes That'll Make Your 2 Year Old Want To Brush Their Teeth!

Of course, you link your products and services as they “fit” the particular articles.

How Often Should You Email?

This answer varies from industry to industry; however, normally – two to four times a week. The first 3-5 emails are sent daily, no matter what, because this is when the lead is “hot”.

During the “Advanced” Sales Funnel portion, there will be more instances where you email daily because the lead will “tell” you they’re “hot” again.

To Do

• Write down 3 EPIC blog post ideas

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Lead Magnets

A Lead Magnet can be best thought of as a freebie that motivates individuals to give you their contact information.

Upon receiving the individual's contact information, they're transformed into a lead and begin the journey down your sales funnel.

A few example Lead Magnets formats include coupons, checklists, videos, eBooks, webinars, mini-courses, trial, and other resources.

Beyond the format of the Lead Magnet, there's also the type:

1. General
2. Specific

General Lead Magnets

A General Lead Magnet is attractive to anyone who visits your website and is usually presented as a form on most pages of your site. The form can be a lightbox, landing mat, sidebar, bar/ribbon, slide-in, etc.

For example, this General Lead Magnet can be found in the side bar of most blog posts on Crazy Eye Marketing:

It's “general” in that nearly anyone that visits Crazy Eye Marketing for any reason will be interested in email marketing.

Specific Lead Magnets

A Specific Lead Magnet is attractive to individuals interested in a certain product/service or topic and many times is presented as a Squeeze Page (although, this isn't always the case).

What's a “Squeeze Page”?

A Squeeze Page is a page dedicated to one thing and one thing only – “squeezing” the contact information out of a visitor, turning them into a lead.

Here's an example:

That's an entire page with only two options:

1. Click the yellow button to receive the nine steps
2. Leave

It's also “specific” in that only people interested in creating information products would be interested in this.

Specific Lead Magnets Should Also…

1. Pre-qualify leads (ie. individuals only interested in creating information products)
2. Setup the sale of the “next step” ie. the Initial Offer as defined in your Value Ladder

Anton of Performance Marketer does both of these wonderfully … check out the Thank You page after opting in for the “9 Steps”:

Spectacular! A course on creating info products!

I imagine, if I don't buy his course right away, his autoresponder series will work its magic and sell me on it!

The good news? You can do this type of thing, too!

To Do

Think about what the average visitor to your website would be interested in. Write down 3 ideas for your General Lead Magnet.

Think about your products and services. What could you offer individuals to pre-qualify them AND move them to purchase that particular product or service. Write down 3 ideas for each product/service you offer.

Eventually, you'll actually turn these ideas into Lead Magnets.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel is driven by interests, hence why I coined it the “Interest Driven Sales Funnel”.

In essence, people join your email list and based on the links they click, pages they view, and lead magnets they request – you send relevant emails in order to try and sell a product.

Here's what an Interest Driven Sales Funnel looks like:

The left hand side shows the “Simple” or “Straight Line” Sales Funnel (also called the “Main Series”).

As previously mentioned, this autoresponder series acts as the backbone for your Interest Driven Sales Funnel. As it sends emails that follow the 3 E strategy (entertain, educate, earn), it automatically pays attention to how people respond to certain emails.

If people respond a certain way (show interest), a “Micro Sales Funnel” (Product / Service Sales Funnel) will automatically trigger. The point of the Micro Sales Funnel is to sell a product or service.

You will likely have lots of Micro Sales Funnels. Ideally, one for each product and/or service you offer.

Here’s an example:

Note: A Micro Sales Funnel may differ from the above example based upon what you’re attempting to sell, your Value Ladder, and your approach.

Quick Explanation

No matter what the Micro Sales Funnel looks like, the start and end will look the same.

The Start

The Start occurs when an individual shows interest in a product/service you offer or a topic you talk about. We can gauge interest by tracking their link clicks, Specific Lead Magnet requests, page views, and via points (if you use a CRM).

The End

The End occurs when an individual has gone through the entire Micro Sales Funnel. If the individual went straight into the Micro Sales Funnel by requesting a Specific Lead Magnet and they have yet to enter the “Main Series” (Straight Line Sales Funnel) – they’ll now enter the Main Series starting at the beginning.

If the individual was in the Main Series, showed interest in a product/service by clicking a link, and entered a Micro Sales Funnel – upon entering the Micro Sales Funnel, their “trip” down the Main Series is paused, and upon exiting the Micro Sales Funnel, they resume their “trip” down the Main Series.

The Rest

Action Series

A few emails that attempt to drive action, ie. a purchase of the product or service the individual has shown interest in.

Did Action Happen?

If the desired action was taken, go to the Upsell Series.

If the desired action was not taken, go to The End.

Upsell Series

An email or two that attempt(s) to either sell more or the next product/service.

Examples

Crazy Eye Marketing

An individual joins the email list by opting in for a Specific Lead Magnet that offers a “Lead Magnet Essentials Checklist”. It's specific, I know the individual is interested in creating Lead Magnets.

We then send 3 emails about Lead Magnets and attempt to sell the corresponding Lead Magnet course.

• Email 1: Case study, show differences between good vs bad Lead Magnets. Include link to course, as the final thought of the email (PS line).
• Email 2: Explain how a good Lead Magnet lowers ad spend, increases authority, etc. While a bad Lead Magnet will cost a lot more to advertise, may attract the wrong people, may hurt your business in the long run. PS line includes a link to the course.
• Email 3: Sell course, maybe offer discount, last time you'll hear me talk about it.

Let’s pretend on Email 2 they purchase the course. We then end that series (we won’t send email 3) and launch into our Upsell Series where we send 2 emails that attempt to sell the Sales Funnel Training Vault.

• Email 1: Explain how Lead Magnets are just 1 piece of a much larger puzzle.
• Email 2: Share a “Before-After-Bridge” story of my life before I fully grasped sales funnels, my life after I understood sales funnels, and show how I got to this point; you can too with The Sales Funnel Training Vault.

After completing the Upsell Series, they enter our Main Series from the beginning where we begin to build and maintain a relationship and gauge interest(s).

Financial Advisor

An individual has been on our email list and in our Main Series for a few weeks when they receive a 3 E email about “how to make sure your money lasts while in retirement”. They click the link contained in the email.

By clicking the link, we know they’re interested in “how to make sure your money lasts while in retirement”. We pause the Main Series and trigger 3 emails (Action Series) about that topic, while promoting our products/services.

Goal of these emails: Get individual to schedule a call

• Email 1: 5 Strategies For Controlling Your Spending, So You'll Never Run Out Of Money
• Email 2: Should You Handle Your Own Money In Retirement?
• Email 3: The True Story Of Sarah And John. Tell a story of a couple that retired and traveled the world without worry because their finances were handled by a professional.

No Upsell Series here. Due to the fact financial investment is a very personal topic and event, we only need to get them to give us their money once, becoming their “financial guy/gal”.

After the Action Series, the individual resumes the Main Series exactly where they left off.

Dentist

An individual registers for their 6 month checkup. On the checkout page, we ask if they also want to get their teeth whitened at a discounted rate. If they say no, we ask again on the Thank You Page (1-click upsell). If they say no again, we send 1 email – “Last Chance: Teeth Whitening” where we offer them one last chance to get the teeth whitened at the discounted rate.

More On Interest Driven Sales Funnels

Providing tailored content to your audience increases conversions. You have to provide content people are interested in or they leave without buying. An Interest Driven Sales Funnel automatically adjusts to peoples' interests based on their actions and sends content they actually want.

It's an incredibly powerful strategy that any business can benefit from.

Click here to learn more and checkout more Product/Service Sales Funnels!

To Do

• Pick a product or service that has a Specific Lead Magnet or piece of content (blog post, video, etc.) tied to it. Write 3-5  Action Series ideas (like I did above) on how to convert those leads (individuals who showed interest in that topic or product/service) into customers.
• Write down 1-3 Upsell Series ideas if they purchase that product/service from you (if applicable).

Note: Many of these emails will likely link to blog posts and other content you’ve created, fitting nicely within the Epic Blogging Strategy I outlined above.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Traffic

There are as many ways to drive traffic as there are people on this planet, so it's impossible to discuss them all in detail in one blog post; however, I'll share several strategies that'll frame how you should look at traffic generation.

Before I get to the rules, I want you to know that I break advertising into two categories that incorporate both online and offline methods:

1. “Free” Advertising: A form of advertising that costs time. Examples include SEO, Social Media, Podcasts, and Cold Calling.
2. Paid Advertising: A form of advertising that costs money. Examples include Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, Newspaper and Radio Ads.

#1 Advertise Where Your Audience Hangs Out

Makes sense, right?

Make sure you're abiding by this rule, otherwise all other actions are futile.

#2 Have Multiple Streams

You never, ever, want to be dependent upon one single source of traffic. Platforms change, algorithms change, new platforms emerge, people move – things change.

You never want to have your entire business dry up overnight, trust me. I was solely dependent on Google, one little algorithm change and my business had to shut its doors.

The ideal situation is to have a mixture of “free” and paid traffic coming to your business.

#3 Patience

Whether you're dealing with “free” or paid traffic, it's going to take time and/or money to get platforms figured out.

In 2016, SEO typically takes between 9-12 months before it starts to show.

Social media, unless you gain some virality, typically takes a long time to grow a following. Even if you “go viral” you still have to capture and maintain that relationship (ideally by adding them to your sales funnel) – or you're just a flash in the pan.

Paid traffic comes with a learning curve. Most of your ad campaigns will fail at first. It will take time and money to figure out what does and doesn't work with regard to your particular market and business.

Basically, you can't spend $10 and expect magical results. Expect to spend over $1,000 before you start figuring out a particular paid traffic source.

#4 Measure Everything

You have to measure your results, otherwise you'll make bad decisions.

Google Analytics is a great, free tool that can help with tracking.

Most paid advertising platforms have the advantage of built in tracking.

You have to track your numbers.

Think about Shark Tank for a second. If anyone walks into “The Tank” and doesn't know their numbers … they're eaten alive!

Don't get eaten alive!

Know your numbers.

To Do

Consider your audience. Think about where they hangout, whether online or offline. Write down a mixture of 5 “free” and paid traffic sources to reach your audience in these locations.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Optimization

Unfortunately, you cannot optimize something you don’t have – so, you need to implement the marketing strategy you drafted with the help of this post.

However, when you begin optimizing your sales funnel, there are ways to think about it on macro and micro levels.

Macro Level

Your entire sales system is an integrated system.

Who your customers are, where they hangout, how you present your business, how you deliver your products, your product listings, your pages, your emails, your ads … it’s all integrated and how well one part performs affects the other parts.

For example, if you’re advertising to the wrong people, it doesn’t matter how good everything else is, your entire system will fail.

If you’re unable to match your products to your customers' needs, your entire system will fail.

The Golden Rule

Start at the beginning.

If you’re having trouble with your sales system, start at the beginning – with your customers. If you’re absolutely positive you’re attracting the correct customers, move on to your business – how you portray yourself, what you sell and how you sell it (Value Ladder).

Does everything make sense? Is the “flow” of the Value Ladder natural? Is your business’s persona coming across as sincere or insincere?

How are your products listed on your sales pages? Do you have high quality photos? Good copy that’s attractive to your ideal customer? Is the checkout process easy?

Work your way through the entire system, piece by piece.

If the early stuff isn’t right, it won’t matter how good the later stuff is, no one will ever get to it.

Micro Level

Beyond optimizing at the Macro Level, you have the Micro Level – and, to be honest, this is what most people focus on already.

These are things like email subject lines, page titles, calls-to-actions (CTA), ads, etc.

The good part is, a few % increases here and there can increase the performance of the entire system very quickly.

For example:

A few minor tweaks (all 5% increases or less) to the ad, squeeze page, thank you page, action series, and upsell series resulted in 10 more customers than before and 2 additional upsells.

Imagine if only the ad’s CTR increased … what would happen …

We’d still add 4 more customers!

It’s amazing what even a half-percent change can do!

To Do

Implement.

>> Click here to download the Marketing Strategy for Coaches, Consultants, and Service-Based Businesses Worksheet & this post in PDF format

How To Implement

This post should have your Coaching, Consulting, or Service-Based Business on a path for success; however, there’s still a lot of work and technical understanding that needs to happen.

There’s still …

• Email marketing automation configuration
• Landing page and opt-in form integration
• Advertising campaign launches and optimization
• Tracking tools and pixels to implement
• Various other areas that’ll need tweaking

Of course, you can piecemeal all this together from various sources, or you can save a bunch of time, effort, and energy by joining The Vault!

The Vault includes all the training, resources, and support you need to implement everything you planned above!

Click here to see how The Vault can help your business!

There are many sales funnel models.

Some models are fairly general while others serve specific purposes like launching a product or conducting a webinar.

The model you use will depend on the product or service you're selling and you'll likely have many different sales funnels within your business.

For example, you may have a “Classic” sales funnel for selling your day-to-day products and a “webinar” sales funnel for your high-priced services.

The particular model we're going to explain today is what I call “The Classic”.

• Related Course: The Ultimate ClickFunnels Course

The “Classic” Sales Funnel Model

The Classic sales funnel model can be applied a number of ways and its design is dependent upon how and where it's applied.

However, the general idea remains the same: after the initial offer, there's another offer, and possibly a third follow-up offer.

The Classic sales funnel can be spread out and incorporate email automation OR it can be at the point of sale and function as a “checkout flow”.

Through the post, I'll walk through several examples and provide everything you need to know about “The Classic” Sales Funnel!

The “Mega Classic” Sales Funnel

Below is what I consider the “Mega Classic” sales funnel; it incorporates all the possible bells and whistles:

Let's walk through it, shall we?

• Lead Magnet: A freebie like a coupon, checklist, cheat sheet, video, etc. that incentivizes people to enter their contact information, like an email address.
• Offer #1: Immediately after someone opts-in for the Lead Magnet, they're presented with Offer #1. Sometimes this offer is referred to as a Trip Wire, Initial Offer, Self Liquidating Offer, or One-Time-Offer. I don't personally care what you decide to call it; however, it's usually a lower priced product that's too good to refuse and gets people to whip out their credit cards and hand you money.
  • Down-Sell: If Offer #1 is refused, the individual is presented with a down-sell. This could be a completely different product, or a payment plan or discount on Offer #1.
    • Email Series: If both Offer #1 and the Down-Sell are refused, the individual enters into an email series that focuses on selling Offer #1.
• Offer #2: If the individual purchases Offer #1 at any point (initially, during the down-sell, or while in the email series), they're immediately met with Offer #2. Offer #2 is usually referred to as the “Core Offer” – it's usually your main product. It normally costs more than Offer #1; however, it doesn't necessarily have to – it could also be a complementary product.
  • Down-Sell: Just like the Down-Sell with Offer #1; however, it focuses on Offer #2.
    • Email Series: Just like the Email Series with Offer #1; only, it focuses on Offer #2.
• Offer #3: If the individual purchases Offer #2 at any point (initially, during the down-sell, or while in the email series), they're immediately met with Offer #3. Offer #3 is usually referred to as the “Profit Maximizer” – it's usually the best product/service you offer. It normally costs more than Offer #2; however, it doesn't necessarily have to – it could also be a complementary product.
  • Down-Sell: Just like the Down-Sell with Offer #2; however, it focuses on Offer #3.
    • Email Series: Just like the Email Series with Offer #2; only, it focuses on Offer #3.
• End: The funnel is complete and the individual returns to the Main Series (what's a Main Series?)

The “Core Offer Classic” Sales Funnel

As I stated above, the “Mega Classic” sales funnel I showed you is essentially everything you can do with a “Classic” sales funnel.

You won't likely need or want to do everything in the “Mega Classic”; it would be overkill.

Remember, the core concept of the “Classic” sales funnel is that after the initial offer, there's another offer, and possibly a third follow-up offer.

Here's what I call the “Core Offer Classic” sales funnel:

Ah, much cleaner!

Let's walk through an example and I'll use Crazy Eye Marketing as the scenario:

• Lead Magnet: Our Top Converting Email Series – a PDF of our top converting email series for turning leads into paying customers.
• Offer #1: The step-by-step course on how to implement the top converting email series we taught in the guide they just requested.
• Offer #2: The Sales Funnel Training Vault, which is shown whether or not they buy Offer #1.
  • Down-Sell: If Offer #2  is refused, we offer a payment plan.
    • Email Series: If the Down-Sell is refused, we send 3 emails which provide an overview of The Sales Funnel Training Vault and a few case studies.
• Offer #3: Sales funnel consulting/coaching services. This offer is shown whether or not someone purchases Offer #2 because, either way, people usually want assistance.

The “Trip Wire Classic” Sales Funnel

This next “Classic” sales funnel example is one that's really common and you've probably seen it outlined before.

I call it, the “Trip Wire Classic” sales funnel.

I believe the sales funnel model is relatively self explanatory at this point with the exception of Offer #1.

Essentially, there are two Offer #1s – A & B. Both are “cheaper” products that are hopefully too good to refuse, but may attract different types of people.

For example, someone requests the Lead Magnet and they're greeted with Offer #1A, but – they don't “need” what Offer #1A has to offer even though it looks like a really good deal, so they decline it. They're then presented with Offer #1B, which is also an amazing deal AND something they absolutely need, so they purchase it!

Whether or not they buy either Offer #1, they'll still flow to Offers #2 and #3.

• Related Course: The Ultimate ClickFunnels Course

The “POS Classic” Sales Funnel

Nope, I'm not referring to Piece Of [expletive] – I'm talking Point Of Sale, the “checkout flow”, I hinted at earlier.

It's relatively similar to the “Trip Wire Classic” sales funnel, but I want to present it another way.

Look familiar?

McDonalds and most fast food restaurants are the kings of the POS sales funnel.

You walk in and order a burger, they ask if you want fries and a drink with that. You say yes; you don't want to be thirsty and fries are delicious. They then ask if you'd like to double your order size for only 30 cents. You don't need that much food because you know it'll make you sick,; you say yes anyway because it's such a good deal. Then they offer you some cookies, how can you say no to cookies? A hint of sweet to top off your meal – why not?! Finally, just as you think you're about done they ask if you want to round up to the nearest dollar and donate the difference to charity. You're not going to be the guy that doesn't support impoverished children's education … are you?! No.

Within about 10 seconds you've made your way through an entire sales funnel, ordered way too much food, and donated to a worthy cause.

Incredible!

Conclusion

There are many sales funnel models designed for various reasons.

“The Classic” sales funnel is one of the most popular models because it can be used in many situations to sell almost anything.

Just remember, the general concept is – after the initial offer, there's another offer, and possibly a third follow-up offer.

How you “move” people through, whether via email, at the POS or a combination of the two is up to you!

Are you ready to start building sales funnels? Checkout The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

This is the most epic post I've ever written.

It's designed to hand you a full blown marketing strategy for your Ecommerce business that you can implement in less than 7 days.

It's highly actionable, which means you will have to do some work. Work yields results.

You want results.

To help assist you, I've put together a fill-in-the-blank document that can be downloaded by clicking the link below.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

If this post fails to help you, it's because you didn't try.

The results you receive are 100% in your hands.

Let's get started.

The Master Plan

This is the master blueprint we'll be following to build your Ecommerce marketing strategy.

I urge you not to skip ahead to the “cool” stuff that involves automation, tracking, and other nifty tools. Yes, that stuff is fun; however, if you don't have the groundwork laid, you'll wind up spinning in circles and produce minimal results.

So, please, take the 60 minutes to define your customer and your business before moving forward!

Scenarios

I'll be using a couple model businesses in order to provide examples.

• Ecommerce Store #1 – sells cordless power tools like drills, circular saws, blowers, etc. [example site]
• Ecommerce Store #2 – sells women's clothing and accessories [example site]

Note: I have not worked for the example sites, they're simply to give you a visual.

Define Your Customer

There are many ways to define your customer. You can spend days developing the “perfect” customer avatar by conducting research, interviews, and brainstorm sessions, all while filling out a “map”.

Taking the time to do all this stuff is incredibly valuable; however, I know you … and you're not going to do it, so here are a few questions you NEED to answer before moving on:

• What's your ideal customer's name? You need to give them a name!
  • James
  • Meghan
• Where do they hangout? / How can you get in front of them? Online, offline, certain websites, forums, Facebook groups, etc.
  • Google, news websites (CNN, Fox News), direct mail
  • Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook
• Where are they in the journey that is life? Baseline demographics, thoughts, desires, fears, etc.
  • Middle aged, established career (mid-level), has a house to maintain, a couple of kids, spends free-time with family and playing tennis.
  • Just graduated college, attempting to land dream job, single, wants to contribute to society, loves hanging out with friends on the weekends, enjoys adventure.
• How do they see themselves? / How do they present themselves?
  • The provider and protector for his family. Dedicated family man. Knows what's going on in the world and has ideas how to fix it. Well read, smartest person in the room.
  • One cool, motivated, and forward thinking gal. Self disciplined, hardworking, and able to handle herself. Stylish and on trend. Successful.
• How well do they know your products and industry? Do they “live” it, are they “new” to this world, etc.?
  • Knows about tools and which does what; however, doesn't know what makes one model “better” than the other.
  • This is her innate style. She knows the products like the back of her hand because she's shopped here many times.

That was easy, right?

All I'm looking for is a simple stream of thought about your ideal customer, that's it!

Customer FAQ:

Q: I have more than one ideal customer, how should I handle this?

A: Yes, you likely do have more than one ideal customer which is great, you'll ask yourself the same questions. I have two recommendations:

1) Make sure they're uniquely different. Make sure where they hangout is different, where they are in the journey of life is different, and how they see themselves is different.

2) Start with your top 1 or 2 ideal customers. The ones that are 80% of your business. You can always add more “ideal customers” later on, and I recommend getting the low hanging, obvious fruit first.

To Do

Answer the questions above.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Define Your Business

While we're about to talk extensively about the products and services your business offers, there's more to your business than what you sell.

You likely have a reason for being, a “why”, a mission, a purpose … something that made you launch your business.

Even if you originally started your business for the sole purpose of making money, after having customers and serving people, you've likely started to develop a purpose or mission – and that's OK.

Examples:

• We make tool buying simpler. Our customers don't have to worry if X battery fits with Y tool, they'll be able to easily identify what goes with what.
• We offer women unique, fashionable, and fun clothing that can't be found anywhere else.

Your Business's Personality

Unless you're a massive, global brand that's openly traded on the stock market and has hundreds of thousands of people to keep happy, you have the opportunity to stand out by injecting personality into your business.

In fact, in this day and age with competitors like Amazon, you're going to need personality to stand out from the crowd.

You can't simply be a generic Ecommerce business; you'll eventually starve.

Tips For Figuring Out Your Business's Personality

• You be the personality. This one is pretty simple and obvious, especially if you're operating as a solopreneur. Let your personality shine!

That first one was a “gimme” as it's the easiest; however, if you have multiple people creating content for your business, you really need to take the time to figure out your business's personality so it stays consistent. Here are a few ways:

• 1 or 2 steps ahead. Remember when you defined, “How your ideal customer sees themselves”? Be that person, but one or two levels ahead so you're positioned as the authority.
  • For example, I'm a dedicated family man and provider for my family, just like you; however, I'm also an independent contractor so I know these tools like the back of my hand
  • Another example, I'm a cool, motivated, and forward thinking gal that's self-disciplined, just like you; however, I've moved up the career path and am now a manager that's responsible for hiring, so I know what employers want to see.
• Be just like your ideal customer. It's a fact, people like people like themselves. Be like your ideal customer on every level, “where they are in the journey that is life” and “how they see themselves”.

Your Products And Services

This step is important.

With Ecommerce businesses, there are two ways to think about your products and services:

1. At the point of sale
2. As a whole

Every Ecommerce business NEEDS to have the point of sale “stuff” figured out because it's the fastest and easiest way to increase order size.

The “as a whole” concept may or may not apply to your business in its current form. It's the holistic, high level strategy that encompasses your entire business.

At The Point Of Sale

You're going to have to map out your products, services, and how they're interconnected sooner or later and if you don't take the time to map them out now, you'll likely do a half-assed job later while you're piecing your funnel together.

So, for your sake, take the 30 minutes to get these pieces down!

Steps:

1. Write down your top selling product across 3 different categories
   • Example, the “Journeyman Drill” in drills, the “Apprentice Saw” in circular saws, and the “Master Blower” in blowers
   • Example, the “Blue Dress” in dresses, the “Black Yoga Pants” in active wear, and the “Floral Print” in tops
2. Write down the next level product up and/or down from the top selling product (up-sells and down-sells)
   • Example, for the drills, there's also the “Apprentice Drill” (cheaper than the “Journeyman Drill”) and the “Master Drill” (more expensive than the “Journeyman Drill”)
   • Example, for the active wear, there's also “Black Yoga Pants With A Stripe Down The Leg” (more expensive than regular ol' yoga pants)

Note: Sometimes it's hard to identify a “clear” up-sell and/or down-sell for a particular product, and that's okay. Sometimes the product is what the product is – there aren't higher or lower quality versions of it, it happens. Don't fret over not having up-sells and/or down-sells, as there will still likely be cross-sells!

Idea: Sometimes, more or less of a product can be the up-sell/down-sell.

3. Write down all the products that complement the 3 product categories (cross-sells)
   • Example, drills (category) – drill bits, extra batteries, eye protection, hearing protection, stud finder
     • circular saws – saw blades, extra batteries, eye protection, level, ruler, etc.
   • Example, active wear (category) – shoes, watches, hair bands, sports bras
     • dresses – shoes, watches, purses, belts, sunglasses

WARNING: You can get too into the weeds here, especially if you offer a lot of products. I highly recommend keeping complementary products at the category level unless it makes absolute sense to go down to the product level. For example, let's say there's a magical drill bit that only works with one specific drill, and you really want to sell those drill bits, then OK. Otherwise, keep it at the category level or you'll drive yourself insane.

At this point, you should have 3 to 9 products written down from 3 different categories as well as a handful of complementary products for the 3 categories.

As A Whole

As I alluded to earlier, the Value Ladder concept I'm about to explain may not align with your business in its current form.

If your business doesn't “fit” this concept right now, it's fine. You should still take the time to develop a vague idea of what you “think” you want. You'll still have some direction this way.

Other businesses may already embody this concept, which is awesome! However, I still want you to read this section and write down what you have in place.

The concept of a Value Ladder, is simply your products and services mapped in ascending order of value and price that is normally delivered over the customer's lifetime with you.

Think of it like this:

I'll address Lead Magnets in greater detail later in this post; however, for the time being, think of them as a “freebie” (like a coupon) you give to prospective leads and customers in exchange for their contact information.

Initial Offers are lower priced products that are supposed to be irresistible and “get people in the door” and give people a “taste” of what's to come. Normally, the goal is to break even on initial offer products.

1st Tier Offers are the first set of products that will net you a profit. They're probably less than $200 and likely bring in 80% of the sales.

2nd Tier Offers are the “next” level products to the 1st Tier. They're normally “what people need” after the 1st tier has been completed.

Top Tier Offers are the “end all, be all” of what you have to offer. They're the kitchen sink and the best you've got.

Examples:

Cordless Power Tools Store

• Lead Magnet: 20% off coupon
• Initial Offer(s): House Maintenance For Dummies book, simple project kits to build with kids (like a birdhouse kit)
• 1st Tier Offer(s): Cordless power tools (drills, circular saws, blowers, etc)
• 2nd Tier Offer(s): High end toolboxes, work benches, etc.
• Top Tier Offer(s): Custom built workshop sheds

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

• Lead Magnet: 20% off coupon
• Initial Offer(s): Sunglasses, T-Shirts
• 1st Tier Offer(s): Sun dresses, swim suits
• 2nd Tier Offer(s): Business attire (suits, dresses)
• Top Tier Offer(s): Formal wear, wedding dresses, etc

I want to clarify something, people do not have to ascend in this fashion. Some people will show up and want the Top Tier product right away – that's awesome, sell it to them! Other people will only buy 1st Tier Offers, while others will only buy the Initial Offer and then vanish. It happens.

However, in an ideal situation, you'll want to be able to provide value to your customers at every level you possibly can. If there's going to be something else they need from your type of business, you might as well be the one to give it to them, or they'll wind up going elsewhere!

To Do

• Write down your business's “why” (why do you exist?).
• Write down, “who” your business is going to be (its persona).
• Write down your Point Of Sale products (you should have 3 to 9 products [top seller + up-sell/down-sell] written down from 3 different categories as well as a handful of complementary products for the 3 categories.)
• Write down what your Value Ladder is, what you “think” it is, or where you want it to go.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Delivery

As an Ecommerce business, your “delivery system” is already setup, ie. your store.

However, there's a couple things you should do RIGHT NOW that'll directly increase revenue:

1) Add Up-Sells, Cross-Sells, Down-Sells, And Bonuses To Orders

“People who bought this also purchased this.”

“Don’t Miss This Limited Time Offer!”

“Spend $3.37 more to qualify for free shipping.”

You’ve seen these lines used many times in many places. Why? Because they work. Are you using them?

If you mapped out your “Point Of Sale” products (the top selling products in 3 different categories and their up-sell/down-sell versions, plus the cross-sell products for the 3 categories) like you were supposed to 😉 , this part should be a piece of cake!

Depending on your business, how it’s setup, and the platforms you use – the implementation method will change; however, it’s certainly worth figuring out!

Fortunately, many shopping cart platforms have this functionality built in or have plugins that make this a piece of cake:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• SamCart
• MemberMouse
• ClickFunnels
• ClickBank

2) Add A Cart Abandonment Email Series

According to the Baymard Institute, 67.19% of shopping carts are abandoned.

67.19%!!!!!

While there are a hundred reasons a person doesn’t finish checking out – their credit card is upstairs and they’re downstairs, they’re at work and don’t want to enter their credit card info on a work computer, etc … one thing remains true, you’re missing out on sales.

After reading through about 15 case studies on cart abandonment recovery, it appears roughly 10% or more abandoned carts can be “won back” by simply sending a few reminder emails. A plugin can handle this automatically.

Like the up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, and bonus options, the “how” will change depending on your system; however, being able to recover 10%+ of your lost sales makes it well worth figuring out!

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• ClickFunnels

To Do

• Add up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells, and bonuses to your store
• Add a cart abandonment email series to your store

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Meat”

The “Meat” represents all the content your sales system consists of. This includes …

• Sales Pages / Product Listings
• Squeeze Pages / Landing Pages / LeadPages (whatever you want to call them)
• Emails
• Blog Posts
• Social Media Posts
• Everything…

All content needs to have a purpose. Whether the purpose is to sell a product or service, capture contact information, position yourself and your business as the authority, make someone laugh, whatever … it needs a reason for being.

If you're doing things to “check the box” or putting out bland, generic content – STOP! You're wasting your time.

I see too many businesses start blogs and write utterly useless, uninteresting crap. Or, even worse, they pay some guy or gal in the Philippines $6 for 1,000 words of pure, unintelligible garbage to try and “please” the almighty Google.

You're not going to please Google and you're not going to please people (which are more important than Google as they have the cash).

Everything you do and create needs to have a purpose.

The best way to understand this “purpose” is by studying the art and science of copywriting.

In simple terms, copywriting is a form of written or spoken word that convinces people to take action – ie. buy stuff.

It's very intentional and purposeful.

You Need Copywriting Skills

While you will not develop great copywriting skills overnight, or possibly ever if you don't work at it, it's still a concept you need to understand.

Knowing how to spur action with written word is critical to your Ecommerce store's success.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now and get to some actionable stuff you can apply today!

Copywriting Tip #1

Write to your ideal customer.

Always consider where they are in life, what they're going through, how they see themselves, and how well they know your products and industry.

If your ideal customer is someone that's brand new to your business and industry, you'll likely need to be more educational and descriptive in your content, as opposed to someone who “knows” your business and industry. If your ideal customer “knows” you, you can be more entertaining, share inside jokes, etc.

Copywriting Tip #2

Write from your business's persona (you should have figured this out earlier 😉 ) – write how they talk.

This means using pronouns like I, me, you, we, he, she, etc.

This means using slang, jargon, and emotion like … (ellipses), YOLO!, naw, etc. (Of course, use what makes sense for your ideal customer. If you sell life saving medical supplies, being “goofy” probably isn't the best idea)

This means asking questions of the reader like, “Do you understand this copywriting “stuff”?”

People like doing business with people, so, be a person!

Don't be a generic machine. You're not a news source, you don't need to be some “better than thou” figure that doesn't have emotion.

Copywriting Tip #3

Remember when you defined where your ideal customer is in the journey of life and how they see, or present, themselves? (I hope so!)

What you need to do is take “where they are now”, “how they see themselves”, and bridge that gap with your product or service.

This is a marketing formula, aptly called, the Before-After-Bridge.

And, just because it's called the “Before-After-Bridge” formula doesn't mean you necessarily have to structure your words in that manner. Ultimately, you want to connect your product to how people see themselves.

Examples:

• You may be tired after a long day at work; however, your kids are going to love building this birdhouse kit with you!
• We know you're one hardworking, successful gal. But, do you look it? Show up to the office in our Blue Dress and look the part!

Copywriting Tip #4

Another marketing formula that works wonders and is easy to understand is the Problem-Agitate-Solve formula.

It first defines the problem, then addresses the pain/feelings/emotions caused by that problem, and then solves the problem with your product.

Examples:

• Is your wife nagging you about hanging pictures on the wall? Grab our Journeyman Drill with a free level and ensure your pictures are straight! No more nagging!
• Tired of job interview after job interview? That can really hurt your confidence going into future interviews, but there's good news! If you look good, you feel good – our Black Pant Suit will give you the confidence you need to really nail your next interview!

Copywriting Tip #5

List the features of your product, then say “which means”, and write that answer down. Ask “which means” again. And again. Pick the best one and list it as a bullet on your sales page, product listing, etc.

Examples:

Cordless Power Drill

• “Lightweight and compact design” which means “it's easy to maneuver” which means “it easily fits into narrow spaces” which means “there's nowhere too small or narrow for you to drill a precise hole”.
• “Lithium Ion Technology & 20V MAX” which means “the battery lasts 10 hours on a single charge” which means “you don't have to worry about charging it every time you want to use it” which means “it's ready when you are”.

Yoga Pants

• “87% Nylon 13% Spandex” which means “they feel nice and stretchy” which means “you'll be comfortable when you workout” which means “you'll get in a good workout and reach your fitness goals quicker”
• “Moisture wicking” which means “you won't be basting in your own sweat” which means “you won't smell bad” which means “people will appreciate you”

Ok, sorry about that last one … I feel weird talking about women's yoga pants and should have chosen another product, alas I did not! However, I believe the concept was still clear.

The “Other” Stuff

If you understand copywriting, or at least the concept of producing content with purpose – the “other” stuff is technical.

How to create opt-in forms, pages, design emails, etc. is all technical. Sure, it takes time to learn and understand; however, it's not what's truly important because tools will come and go.

There will always be a new social media platform, or a new way to contact your customers, or a better Ecommerce platform, but copywriting and having a purpose behind your content is what truly matters. It's the meat and potatoes.

Learn everything you need to about the “other” stuff by joining The Sales Funnel Training Vault!

To Do

Armed with your newly found copywriting skills I want you to review the 3-9 products you identified earlier (the top selling products in 3 different categories and their up-sell/down-sell versions) and, if they're lacking on copy – update them!

As time permits, do the same for the complementary products you identified earlier.

Ultimately, you should review and update all product listings and sales pages.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Simple” Sales Funnel

The “Simple” Sales Funnel or “Straight Line Sales Funnel” is simply a fancy way of saying “email autoresponder series.”

An email autoresponder series is a series of emails automatically sent to a subscriber.

While email autoresponder series and automations can be very complex, as we'll discuss later with the “Advanced” Sales Funnels section, in this “Simple” section we're only going to talk about sending emails in a straight line.

Think of it like this:

What's The Point?

I'm glad you asked! We're building this email series for a few reasons:

• This email series will automatically build and maintain a relationship with your leads and customers while simultaneously converting them to your way of thinking
• This will serve as the backbone for more complex email automations we'll later build on
• Your personal understanding. If you have trouble making emails trigger in a straight line, when we get into more advanced topics you'll really struggle

How Many “Simple” Sales Funnels Should You Have?

Most of the time, you will only need one. The type of content you send in this funnel will be interesting to people interested in your type of business or industry.

For example:

• People who are interested in home repairs
• People who are interested in women's fashion

There are a few instances where you may need 2 or more, for example if you sell nutritional supplements, your customers are tremendously different. One half of your market may only be interested in losing weight while the other half is interested in gaining weight and putting on muscle (complete opposites). In this case, you would likely want 2 different “simple” sales funnels.

If you have more than one “simple” sales funnel, you'll need to segment individuals at the very beginning by asking them “who” they are.

What Type Of Content Should You Send?

Remember, the point of this particular sales funnel is to build and maintain a relationship and convert them to your way of thinking.

To accomplish this, send 3 types of emails:

1. Educational – emails that teach people how to do something, about the market, about what's happening, etc.
2. Entertaining – emails that are “fun” like inside jokes, critiques, testimonials, events, etc.
3. Earning – emails that remind people you sell stuff like deals, top selling products, etc.

I've aptly named these emails the “3 E Emails”.

Now, this doesn't mean an email can only be 1 of the Es at a time. Like, you can only send a boring how-to tutorial, or only send a silly cat video. That's not what I mean. Your how-to tutorial should be entertaining and can even sell your product at the end. That's like killing 3 birds with one stone!

However, each email should have 1 core focus.

Is the primary aim of the email to educate, entertain, or earn?

• Educational emails tend to build relationships while converting people to your way of thinking
• Entertaining emails tend to build and maintain relationships
• Earn emails tend to ring the cash register

Examples:

Cordless Power Tools Store

• Educational: Send a link to a video on how to properly find a stud in the wall. Have an entertaining host and sell a stud finder at the end of the video.
• Entertaining: Share a success story where a father and his son built a birdhouse together with one of the kits you sell; they then enjoyed watching the birds build their nest and watching the babies learn to fly.
• Earn: Here's a 10% off coupon available for the next 48 hours.

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

• Educational: Talk about what's “in fashion” this season. Be entertaining in the process while also selling the latest fashion.
• Entertaining: Send a “who wore it better” with side by side comparisons of people wearing your clothes. Depending on your brand and personality, this could be really silly like comparing a female in a dress compared to a male in a dress.
• Earn: Here are our top selling items across 3 different categories.

Where Do You Get Content?

Ideally, your emails will bring people back to your website and your store. Of course, this requires a blog or pages setup to present the content.

If you lack your own content, I recommend you change that ASAP.

And remember, content doesn't necessarily mean blogging. While you still want to display the content on your site to “bring people back”, it can mean, video, audio (podcasts), images, etc.

For example, if my brother is your target audience, blogging is a terrible idea. He doesn't read anything and you need to draw him in with video.

HOWEVER, and it's a pretty big one – Google can't really “watch” videos. It won't matter how good your video content is from a search engine perspective. Blogging is still the #1 way to rank in the search results.

The Most Epic Blogging Strategy Of All Time

1. Write the most epic post for your ideal customer, as it relates to how they see themselves and how it relates to your business/industry. If that is too esoteric, think of it as, “How does your business help people go from point A (where they are now) to point B (where they want to be/how they see themselves).” (3,000+ words)
   • 101 Home Improvements You Can Do With Just A Few Tools
   • Your Complete Summer 2016 Fashion Guide
2. Write more in-depth articles for each individual section of your “epic” post. (500-1,000 words)
   • 9 Steps To Fixing A Leaking Faucet
   • Why Bright Colors Are “In” This Summer
3. Write case studies, testimonials, reviews, etc. and/or create videos and/or pdf checklists for each of the “more in-depth” articles. (500-1,000 words and/or 3-5 minute video and/or a 1 page checklist)
   • A video tutorial that shows how to fix a leaky faucet
   • An article and picture gallery of 10 “hot” celebrities wearing bright colors

Of course, you link your products as they “fit” the particular articles.

How Often Should You Email?

As often as is necessary.

Wow, Nathan – that's helpful.

This answer varies from industry to industry; however, normally – two to four times a week. The first 3-5 emails are sent daily, no matter what, because this is when the lead is “hot”.

During the “Advanced” Sales Funnel portion, there will be more instances where you email daily because the lead will “tell” you they're “hot” again.

To Do

• Write down 3 EPIC blog post ideas

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Lead Magnets

A Lead Magnet can best be thought of as the freebie or offer that motivates individuals to give you their contact information.

Many times, in the Ecommerce world, a coupon or discount works well as a Lead Magnet.

A few more Lead Magnet examples include videos, guides, checklists, and webinars.

There are two types of Lead Magnets:

1. General
2. Specific

General Lead Magnets

A General Lead Magnet is attractive to anyone who visits your Ecommerce store and is usually presented as a form on most pages of your site. The form can be a lightbox, bar/ribbon, landing mat, sidebar, slide-in, etc.

For example:

Anyone that visits this particular store will likely be interested in 10% off their order.

Specific Lead Magnets

A Specific Lead Magnet is attractive to individuals interested in a certain product or category of products and many times is presented as a Squeeze Page (although, this isn't always the case).

What's a “Squeeze Page”?

A Squeeze Page is a page dedicated to one thing and one thing only – “squeezing” the email address (and possibly other contact info) out of a visitor, turning them into a lead.

Here's an example:

That's an entire page. The only option is to click the “Get The Coupon” button which opens an opt-in form and requests an individual's first name and email.

Only people interested in receiving that specific flashlight would be interested in requesting the coupon.

99% of the time, paid traffic should be sent to dedicated Squeeze Pages like the example

You can follow up with emails that “push” the particular item to individuals that don't buy right away.

In addition to Squeeze Pages, you can present opt-in forms that present Specific Lead Magnets.

For example, if someone is looking at cordless drills, you can present a lightbox opt-in form with a Specific Lead Magnet for 20% off the purchase of a cordless drill.

Coupons Aren't Always The Best Option

I know I just mentioned 2 different Lead Magnets – 1 general, 1 specific that were both coupons; however, coupons may not be the best Lead Magnet.

The only time a coupon is needed is when someone is about to checkout. Not everyone wants to checkout right away. Sometimes, people just want more information. If you offered a coupon to those just looking for information, you'd miss out on collecting their contact information, building a relationship, and making a sale.

The point is, sometimes a video or checklist lead magnet will perform better in the long run than a coupon.

To Do

• Write down 3 General Lead Magnet ideas
• Write down 3 Specific Lead Magnet ideas (probably for your top selling products)

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel

The “Advanced” Sales Funnel is driven by interests, hence, it's other name the “Interest Driven Sales Funnel.”

Essentially, people join your email list and based upon which links they click, pages they view, and lead magnets they request – you'll send relevant emails in order to try and sell a product.

Here's what an Interest Driven Sales Funnel looks like:

As you see on the left hand side you have your “Simple” or “Straight Line” Sales Funnel (also called the “Main Series”).

As previously mentioned, this autoresponder series acts as the backbone for your Interest Driven Sales Funnel. As it sends emails that follow the 3 E strategy, it automatically pays attention to how people respond to certain emails.

If people respond a certain way (show interest), a “Micro Sales Funnel” (Product / Service Sales Funnel) will automatically trigger. The point of the Micro Sales Funnel is to sell a product or service.

You will likely have lots of Micro Sales Funnels. Ideally, one for each category of products you offer and in some instances, individual products will have their own.

Here's an example of one:

A Micro Sales Funnel may differ from the above example based upon what you're attempting to sell, your Value Ladder, and your approach.

Quick Explanation

No matter what the Micro Sales Funnel looks like, the start and end will look the same.

The Start

The Start occurs when an individual shows interest in a product you offer or a topic you talk about. We can gauge interest by tracking their link clicks, Specific Lead Magnet requests, page views, and via points (if you use a CRM).

The End

The End occurs when an individual has gone through the entire Micro Sales Funnel. If the individual went straight into the Micro Sales Funnel by requesting a Specific Lead Magnet and they have yet to enter the “Main Series” (Straight Line Sales Funnel) – they'll now enter the Main Series starting at the beginning.

If the individual was in the Main Series, showed interest in a product by clicking a link, and entered a Micro Sales Funnel – upon entering the Micro Sales Funnel, their “trip” down the Main Series would have been paused, and upon exiting the Micro Sales Funnel, they'd resume their “trip” down the Main Series.

The Rest

Action Series

A few emails that attempt to drive action, ie. a purchase of the product or category of products the individual has shown interest in.

Did Action Happen?

If the desired action was taken, go to the Upsell Series.

If the desired action was not taken, go to The End.

Upsell Series

An email or two that attempts to sell more, usually complementary, products.

Examples

Cordless Power Tools Store

An individual joins the email list by opting in for a Specific Lead Magnet that offers 10% off all cordless drills. Being that the coupon is only for cordless drills, we know they're interested in them.

We then send 3 emails that talk exclusively about cordless drills.

• Email 1: Features of a “good” cordless drill
• Email 2: The differences between our top 3 selling drills
• Email 3: Reminder that the 10% off coupon will expire in 24 hours

Let's pretend that on Email 2 they purchase one of our drills. We then end that series (we won't send email 3) and launch into our Upsell Series where we send 2 emails that attempt to sell complementary products.

• Email 1: 3 pieces of gear you need to get the most out of your drill (sell drill bits, safety goggles, and a level)
• Email 2: Offer a 10% off any complementary pieces of gear

After completing the Upsell Series, they enter our Main Series from the beginning where we begin to build and maintain a relationship and gauge more interest(s).

Women's Clothing And Accessories Store

An individual has been on our email list and in our Main Series for a few weeks when they receive a 3 E email about “how to dress for a job interview.” They click the link contained in the email.

By clicking the link, we know they're interested in “how to dress for a job interview.” We pause the Main Series and trigger 3 emails that talk about that topic, while promoting our products.

• Email 1: Dresses vs Suits – which lands you the job? (turns out, dresses land jobs more often than suits)
• Email 2: 3 Dresses that'll help you land a job
• Email 3: 10% off any of our dresses

Let's pretend our 3rd email results in the sale of a dress. The individual is then sent the Upsell Series for dresses:

• Email 1: How to decide what accessories to wear in order to make your dress “pop”
• Email 2: 3 accessories to make your dress “pop” (hand bag, earrings, belt)

To Do

• Write down 3 Action Series ideas, 1 for each category of your top 3 selling products (defined earlier in this article)
• Write down 3 Upsell Series ideas, 1 for each category of your top 3 selling products (the complementary products you defined earlier)

Note: Many of these emails will likely link to blog posts and other content you've created, fitting nicely within your Epic Blogging Strategy.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Traffic

There are over 1,645,444 ways to drive traffic to your Ecommerce store.

Maybe there's not quite that many ways to drive traffic; however, there are still A LOT.

There are online and offline methods. “Free” and paid methods.

There are so many options and so many people “pushing” the one they think is best.

I get it – it all sounds super attractive …

HOWEVER … do you remember the second question I asked you to answer?

“Where does your ideal customer hangout?”

Wherever they hangout is where, and how, you'll advertise.

It doesn't matter if someone just made a million dollars by advertising on LinkedIn. If your customers aren't on LinkedIn, you will never find success.

So what if someone is getting leads for 2 cents from Twitter ads. If your customers aren't on Twitter, you will never find success.

All that being said, and given the fact that you're an Ecommerce business, and you need people comfortable with shopping online … there are 2 sources of traffic that at least some of your ideal customers hangout on:

• Google
• Facebook

While I can't possibly run through everything you need to know about these two platforms in this post, I'll at least point you in the right direction.

Google

No matter your niche, the almighty Google will always be a source of traffic.

While Google provides a number of ways to drive traffic, I'm going to break it down into two: “free” and paid.

“Free” Google Traffic (SEO)

While SEO (organic) traffic might not cost you money, it's going to cost you time – which is why I place “free” in quotes.

Ecommerce stores tend to have a lot of pages. Thousands in some instances, depending on the number of products you offer.

However, product listings normally contain “thin” content (a few hundred words max that aren't interesting or unique).

It is difficult for “thin” content to rank well in the search results, especially when you're up against behemoths like Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc.

Ideally, you'll go through your top listings, follow some of the copywriting tricks I outlined above and “beef” up your product listings. This will help your listings standout a little more and gain a competitive advantage over the behemoths.

The other advantage your Ecommerce store may have is its blog.

In following the Epic Blogging Strategy, you'll likely gain attention from Google in ways big stores won't.

Paid Google Traffic (Adwords)

Google has an advertising platform called Adwords that essentially allows you to pay money in order to “bump up” your listing in the search results for given keywords.

I won't go further in depth on Adwords. I'll give you some paid advertising tips after I talk about Facebook.

Facebook

Nearly everyone has a Facebook account which means at least a subset of your audience can be found on the platform.

“Free” Facebook Traffic

By creating a page for your Ecommerce store, sharing great content (like stuff from your blog), and by promoting your page, you can gain a following on Facebook that leads to “free” (organic) traffic.

Plus, there's built in social proof, sharing, and possibilities of virality by being present on Facebook.

Paid Facebook Traffic

Facebook's Ads Manager is an incredibly powerful tool.

It allows you to target your ideal customer in every way imaginable from demographic information to interests and likes.

Rules For Paid Traffic

#1: ALWAYS TRACK EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!

The most important rule – yet, every client I've ever worked with on paid advertising has failed to do this from the start.

Google, Facebook, and most reputable advertising companies allow you to track everything – cost per lead, cost per purchase, average order size, and much more.

If you're not tracking your results, you will make poor decisions and throw money away.

#2: Always Send People To A Dedicated Page

When paying for traffic, you need to send people to a dedicated landing page whether it's a Squeeze Page where you're trying to capture contact information or a Sales Page where you're trying to make a sale.

Like the content you produce, everything needs a clear purpose and objective.

#3: Have A Reasonable Budget

There will be a learning curve with paid advertising.

Expect 9 out of 10 of your ads to fail.

You'll likely spend $1k+ before you start seeing real success. Consider it an education.

Point is, if you don't have $1k+ to spend on an education in paid advertising – don't start. Do the “free” stuff first.

#4: Have Patience

When you're learning and losing money, it isn't fun.

You'll likely want to change things very quickly (pause ads, launch new ads, etc). You can't do this.

Generally, you need a few thousand people to see your ad before you can determine if it's bad and a few hundred people to land on your Squeeze Page or Sales Page to determine if it's bad.

You need to collect the data. It's part of learning what does and does not work.

Point is, if you change everything every 10 minutes, you're not going to learn anything and you'll likely fail.

To Do

You're not going to send paid traffic until you have a Straight Line Sales Funnel in place, at a minimum. Ideally, have an Interest Driven Sales Funnel setup before you spend a dime on traffic.

Having said that, only focus on “free” traffic for the time being.

• Implement the Epic Blogging Strategy.
• Start a Facebook Page and share your blog posts on it.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

Optimization

Unfortunately, you cannot optimize something you don't have – so, you will need to implement the Ecommerce marketing strategy you drafted with the help of this post.

However, when you begin optimizing your sales funnel, there's a certain way to think about it on a macro and micro level.

Macro Level

Your entire sales system is an integrated system.

Who your customers are, where they hangout, how you present your business, how you deliver your products, your product listings, your pages, your emails, your ads … it's all integrated and how well one part performs affects the other parts.

For example, if you're advertising to the wrong people, it doesn't matter how good everything else is, your entire system will fail.

If you're unable to match your products to your customers needs, your entire system will fail.

The Golden Rule

Start at the beginning.

If you're having trouble with your sales system, start at the beginning – with your customers. If you're absolutely positive you're trying to attract the correct customers, move onto your business – how you portray yourself, what you sell and how you sell it (Value Ladder).

Does everything make sense? Is the “flow” of the Value Ladder natural? Is your business's persona coming across as sincere or as a douche-bag?

How are your products listed on your sales pages? Do you have high quality photos? Good copy that's attractive to your ideal customer? Is the checkout process easy?

Work your way through the entire system, piece by piece.

If the early stuff isn't right, it won't matter how good the later stuff is as no one will ever get to it.

Micro Level

Beyond optimizing at the Macro Level, you have the Micro Level – and, to be honest, this is what most people focus on already.

These are things like email subject lines, page titles, calls-to-actions (CTA), ads, etc.

The good part is, a few % increases here and there can increase the performance of the entire system very quickly.

For example:

A few minor tweaks (all 5% increases or less) to the ad, squeeze page, thank you page, action series, and upsell series resulted in 10 more customers than before and 2 additional upsells.

Imagine if only the ad's CTR increased … what would happen …

We'd still add 4 more customers!

It's amazing what even a half-percent change can do!

To Do

Implement.

>> Click here to download the Ecommerce Marketing Strategy Worksheet & this post in PDF format

How To Implement

This post should have your Ecommerce business on a path for success; however, there's still a lot of work and technical understanding that needs to happen.

There's still …

• Email marketing automation configuration
• Landing page and opt-in form integration
• Advertising campaign launches and optimization
• Tracking tools and pixels to implement
• Various other areas that'll need tweaking

Of course, you can piecemeal all this together from various sources, or you can save a bunch of time, effort, and energy by joining The Vault!

The Vault includes all the training, resources, and support you'll need to implement everything you planned above!

Click here to see how The Vault can help your Ecommerce Business!

The other day, I was having a really great 8 mile run and around mile 3 a thought popped into my head.

I studied marketing in college and now I “do” marketing, so I thought, “Hmm, do I actually use anything I learned in college?”

For the next 5 miles of my run I thought about how college has helped/hurt me in my pursuit of marketing greatness!

What I realized was I may have learned some base level marketing terms and concepts; however, college trained me to be a marketer at a massive corporation like Nike or Microsoft. They taught me about how to be part of a massive marketing team that has a multi-million dollar marketing budget.

Which, I guess, is fine … if that's what you want.

However, they didn't even touch on ground floor marketing. Where the rubber meets the road. The type of marketing small businesses and entrepreneurs NEED to focus on.

What I know about ground floor marketing has all been learned after college, through reading and studying other people's work and LOTS of trial and error.

Ultimately I thought, “How could I best impart what I know about marketing to small businesses and entrepreneurs? What concepts could I explain to help them understand where to focus their energy? How could I show them a formal education in marketing isn't what they need?”

After my run, I stretched, showered, put together a calculator, and hopped on a live stream … this is the result …

* Efficiency Tip: Click the gear in the bottom right hand corner of the video, select “Speed” and “1.5” … now you'll get a $40,000+ education in about 30 minutes!

• Get the super awesome calculator! (You'll have to either add it to your Drive or “Download As” an Excel spreadsheet in order to use it)
• Send me money via PayPal 😉 ha … still waiting on you, Peter and Jason!
• Check out The Vault!
• Send an email OR Schedule a call

Sales funnels are awesome.

By following the right strategies and taking advantage of some automation tools – you can grow your business on autopilot (pretty much – it still takes work as you have to optimize and expand … but, I digress).

Building sales funnels takes time. You need to plan, write copy, setup automations, install tracking … you need to do a bunch of “stuff”.

Most businesses see the value in all of this; HOWEVER, most don't have the time or resources to do it all and they need “instant” results.

I get that.

Especially if they can use the revenue from these “instant” results to fund the development of the rest of their funnel *cough-cough* OR to invest in some training *wink-wink*

Alright, let's get into it!

1) Sell On The Thank You Page

One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was NOT selling on my thank you pages. (the page someone lands on after subscribing to an email list)

I used to say the usual, “Thanks for joining my email list! Check your email for the lead magnet!” … yeah, I literally told people to leave my site.

Dumb.

Then, one day, I saw someone was selling a low-end offer on their thank you page. I copied their idea and found, on average, between 3% to 10% of the people that land on my thank you page purchase the corresponding low-end offer (normally under $10).

Example

2) Modify Your Checkout Page

The checkout page is one of the most overlooked pages on a website – it's taken for granted.

One would assume that if someone winds up on the checkout page, they're there to checkout; however, this is not always the case.

There are several things you can quickly and easily do to increase conversions:

• Remove unnecessary fields. With more and more people purchasing via mobile devices, and the tediousness that comes with filling out a form while on a mobile device – you only want to ask for the essentials. Do you really need the person's birth date to complete the order? Unlikely. Ask for it later in a follow up email.
• Add testimonials. Instill one last lit bit of confidence; this can go a long way when it comes to your order form conversion rates.
• Remind people what they're ordering. Don't only mention the name of the product/service they're about to receive, but list some of the features and benefits to remind them of the greatness they're about to receive!
• Include your guarantee. Remind people that, should something go wrong, they're safe and have nothing to worry about.

As of posting this article, SamCart has a webinar that describes how modifying the checkout form can boost sales by up to 400%, it's worth checking out … at least the first 30 minutes or so.

Example

3) Add Up-Sells, Cross-Sells, Down-Sells, And Bonuses To Orders

“People who bought this also purchased this.”

“Don't Miss This Limited Time Offer!”

“Spend $3.37 more to qualify for free shipping.”

You've seen these lines used many times in many places. Why? Because they work … are you using them?

Depending on your business, how it's setup, and the platforms you use – the implementation method will change; however, it's certainly worth figuring out!

Fortunately, many shopping cart platforms have this functionality built in or have plugins that make this a piece of cake:

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• SamCart
• MemberMouse
• ClickFunnels
• ClickBank

Down-Sell Mega Tip!

It can be hard to sell a $200+ product online as not everyone has a few hundred bucks lying around.

So, after making the initial offer for the $200+ product, if it's turned down, offer a down-sell by offering a payment plan!

Example

The page itself looks similar to the thank you page example I showed you above (there's a video and write-up explaining the payment plan).

4) Cart Abandonment Email Series

According to the Baymard Institute, 67.19% of shopping carts are abandoned.

67.19%!!!!!

While there are a hundred reasons a person doesn't finish checking out … their credit card is upstairs and they're downstairs, they're at work and don't want to enter their credit card info on a work computer, etc … one thing remains true, you're missing out on sales.

After reading through about 15 case studies on cart abandonment recovery, it appears roughly 10% or more abandoned carts can be “won back” by simply sending a few reminder emails. A plugin can handle this automatically.

Like the up-sells, cross-sells, down-sells, and bonus options … the “how” will change depending on your system; however, being able to recover 10%+ of your lost sales makes it well worth figuring out!

• Shopify
• WooCommerce
• ClickFunnels

5) Collect Email Addresses

While collecting email addresses won't add to your revenue “instantly” – you can start collecting addresses in less than an hour.

Having a list of people that are interested in what you and your business do is indispensable.

Email remains the #1 way businesses keep in touch with their customers, and if you don't believe it, read this page: http://www.emailisnotdead.com/

Anyway, collecting email addresses doesn't have to be difficult, I mean … how long do you think it took me to setup this page? (it converts at over 50%)

Plus, there are a ton of tools that make adding an opt-in form to any website a piece of cake. Here are a few:

• Sumome
• Hello Bar
• MailMunch
• OptinMonster

Most of these offer a free version and even include options to store the email addresses within the tools themselves. You won't have to signup for an autoresponder service or anything like that. You could literally take the list of emails, plug them all into the BCC line of your email client and email your list straight from your personal email account.

It's literally that easy.

Final thoughts

Taking the time to setup and implement a full fledged sales funnel is certainly worth it. It will pay dividends for years to come. You can even boost revenue while you build your sales funnel with a few minor tweaks.

This Is Important!

Before charging head first into sales funnel creation, you need to take the time to map out your value ladder – your products and services mapped in ascending order of value and price.

The Value Ladder

General Concept

As people “ascend” your value ladder, they're offered more value; however, this value comes at a price ($).

Note: Value doesn't necessarily mean “more”. You can also provide greater value by saving people time.

Tiers

Your value ladder doesn't necessarily need 5 tiers as the diagram above shows, but offering multiple value tiers at various price points gives you more opportunity to give your customers exactly what they need.

Lead Magnet

The freebies you give away to grow your list and get people in the door.

• Price: Free
• Goals: Qualify & Capture Leads
• Examples: Checklist, Guide, Video, Free Sample, Trial, Coupon

Initial Offer

The low-end products you offer that ideally cover the cost of advertising and “prove” the lead has enough “pain” that they're willing to spend money to resolve it. Many times you'll see “Free plus Shipping” offers.

• Price: < $10
• Goals: Re-Capture Ad Spend & Qualify Customers
• Examples: Book, Course, Product

1st Tier

The low-mid range products and services you offer generate profit while simultaneously building trust with the customer as they receive more value from you and your business.

• Price: < $100
• Goals: Increase Profits & Build Trust
• Examples: Course, Productized Service, Product

2nd Tier

The high-mid range products and services you offer generate profit, ideally recurring revenue, from membership and continuity programs.

• Price: < $1,000
• Goals: Increase Profits & Recurring
• Examples: Course, Membership, Custom Service, Product

Top Tier

The biggest and best product/service you have!

• Price: > $1,000
• Goals: Increase Profits & Recurring
• Examples: Done For You Service, Masterminds

Product Based Businesses

I know what you're thinking, “A value ladder sounds nice, especially for digital and service based businesses, but I sell physical products … and things just aren't “fitting”.”

Don't worry, I've got you covered!

Incorporate The Hub And Spoke Model

The “hub” is the core product and the “spokes” are all the accessories and peripherals that “enhance” the core product.

Many times, businesses that sell physical products can't “ascend” customers the same way as digital and service-based businesses can.

For example, if you sell cars, you can develop and give away a lead magnet and you can likely come up with an initial offer for under $10 (ie. a car buying guide). However, after those first two steps … there's not much … you gotta sell a car!

You're not going to try and sell a motorized bicycle, then a scooter, then a motorcycle, then a car, then a nicer car, then an even nicer car (at least not in one sitting). It simply doesn't work that way; however, after the individual purchases a car they're going to need a lot more stuff – accessories, maintenance, insurance, credit, etc. for years to come.

The car is the “hub” and the additive products/services are the “spokes”.

Eventually, ideally, when the individual is ready for a new car, they'll ascend to the next level, get a new car (hub), and start buying more stuff (spokes).

Another Example (Retail)

A few years ago, when I first came across the value ladder concept, I tried to apply it to an ecommerce business that also had a brick & mortar location. This particular retailer sold women's clothing – dresses, to be exact.

They offered many different types of dresses from seasonal, to work, to formal, to wedding … what “appeared” to be a natural ladder … and it kinda was.

Many times, women would come in for a seasonal dress and leave with two or more dresses – for work and for play. However, there were many occasions where women would only need one type of dress for one specific occasion – ie. a formal occasion.

This was where the hub and spoke model came into play as there are a TON of accessories with formal wear – shoes, bags, jewelry, makeup, etc.

Let's stick with the woman that came in and purchased a formal dress. In this case, a wedding dress, even though it's “technically” the next step in the value ladder, doesn't have to be the next step … especially if she's not engaged and/or doesn't have a boyfriend (or girlfriend, whatever floats your boat – not the point).

The point is, there are likely many seasons and occasions for more dresses (hubs) and accessories (spokes) between now and then that can be capitalized upon, if done correctly.

If it makes sense to ascend people up your ladder, ascend them. If not, be sure to incorporate enough spokes!

Offer Continuity

Often, customers will not ascend your entire value ladder ever, much less in one sitting. For those that do ascend, it can take weeks, months, or even years to ascend to the next level.

This is where offering a continuity program or recurring offer comes into play because it'll help accelerate ascension while increasing capitalization.

For example:

• A car dealership can offer oil changes. Cars need oil changes, making this is a natural offer.
• A dress shop can offer a subscription service where every month or season they send out the appropriate style of sunglasses for maybe $10/mo. Not only will this sell more sunglasses, but it'll serve as a reminder to the customer that they need a new dress for the new season!
• Digital products businesses can offer a community and/or premium support as a recurring offer.
• Dentists offer 6 month check-ups.

Bundles & Down-sells

Bundles and down-sells come in handy, especially if you're stuck or are truly limited in what you have to offer.

Let's say you sell 10 different products, that all cost $30, and don't have any additional accessories, even ones you could offer as an affiliate. (unlikely, but this is a hypothetical!)

Could you create bundles of these products? Maybe a 3 pack, 5 pack, and 10 pack? There's your ladder!

For example:

• This concept can be applied to businesses that only offer one thing, for example, a soft serve ice cream shop. Beyond up-selling more ice cream, they can offer a punch card for $X that grants the holder 5 cups, 10 cups, 20 cups, etc. at various price breaks.
• Barber shops can also take advantage of the bundling concept. While many offer other services like shaves, dyeing, massages, etc., that can bundle into packages, they can also bundle visits onto punch cards in a similar fashion to the ice cream shops.
• Here at Crazy Eye Marketing, we offer courses and resources individually and as a bundle we call The Vault.

Down-Sell Mega Tip!

One of the best ways to help people ascend your value ladder quickly is to reduce the entry price to the next tier.

How?

Payment plans!

Let's say your 1st Tier product costs $97 and your 2nd Tier product costs $247, you can split your 2nd Tier product into 3 easy payments of $93.67!

Doing this makes the 2nd Tier product a no-brainer as it costs less than the 1st Tier product (at least for today – which is what the mind tends to focus on

“Hurry!”

“Act Now!”

“Limited Time!”

Urgency Increases Conversions

Everyone knows that adding a sense of urgency to your marketing efforts increases conversions.

Adding a sense of urgency based on broad availability is fairly easy: “There's only 3 left in stock!”, “The sale ends at midnight!”, “The course closes today!”, etc.

Many times, this is handled by broadcast emails being manually sent prior to the deadline.

The problem is, what happens when you want to introduce a sense of urgency to products and services to individuals, not just the broad market?

And, how do you do it in an automated fashion?

How do you get the click, now?

Introducing expiring.click!

https://expiring.click is a tool we developed that helps you generate expiring links!

It makes adding a sense of urgency to your automated emails a piece of cake!

Example

Here's an automated email I send to individuals that have requested to try our Facebook Ads course:

The link titled, “Click here to get the course at the discounted rate” is a special link that expires the day after the individual joins the trial … basically, giving the subscriber between 24 and 48 hours to click the link in order to get the discounted rate.

If they click the link after the expiration date, they'll receive this message, “Sorry, this link has expired.”

If they see that message, you can bet your bottom dollar the next time I send a link and state that it'll expire … they're going to click ASAP!

How It Works

https://expiring.click works by receiving and processing 2 or 3 parameters. These parameters are:

• d = date the link is good through. Formatted m/d/Y (ie. 04/20/2017) and can be generated by an autoresponder merge tag (ie. %TODAY+1%)
• g = good URL (if clicked before expired)
• e = expired URL (if clicked after expired)
  • This parameter is optional. If no link is specified, the message “Sorry, this link has expired” will be displayed.

Examples:

• https://expiring.click/?d=%TODAY+1%&g=https://www.crazyeyemarketing.com/deal/
  • This is the link from the example above. As you can see, I'm using the ActiveCampaign merge tag to generate a date that's 1 day after today's date. If the link is clicked on or before %TODAY+1%, the individual will be forwarded to https://www.crazyeyemarketing.com/deal/. If the link is clicked after %TODAY+1%, the individual will see the message “Sorry, this link has expired.”
• https://expiring.click/?d=04/21/2017&g=https://www.crazyeyemarketing.com/deal/&e=https://www.crazyeyemarketing.com/no-deal/
  • If the link is clicked on or before 04/21/2017, the individual will be forwarded to https://www.crazyeyemarketing.com/deal/. If the link is clicked after 04/21/2017, the individual will be forwarded to https://www.crazyeyemarketing.com/no-deal/

Expiring Link Generator

EDIT: I had a pretty link generator here; however, a theme update broke it and I couldn't put it back.

But, it's no big deal, the one on https://expiring.click still works!

Let Us Know!

Leave a comment if you used https://expiring.click telling us how it went!

I'm excited to share the results of our latest Facebook Ads case study because I believe the approach we used to decrease cost-per-lead can be applied to everyone's Facebook ad campaigns!

You may wonder how big a decrease of 88% is …. well, it allows you to acquire nearly 7 times the number of leads for the same price you were paying for a single lead.

Imagine, instead of spending $1 and getting 1 lead, you spend that same dollar and get 7 leads!

So … it's freakin' huge!

I'll walk you through the data first; I'll then discuss the changes we made so you can apply them to your Facebook ad campaigns.

• Related Course: How To Increase Leads & Sales On Facebook With The Triple Threat Strategy

The Data

Overall

Above are the “overall” results for the Before and After campaigns.

We'll get into the ad sets of each campaign in just a second; however, I want to point out a few things first:

• Amount Spent: Each campaign has spent over $500; these results are consistent and accurate. It's not like we spent $5 and got lucky.
• Cost per Lead: $0.32 vs $2.67 = 88% decrease in cost per lead!
• Purchase: These “cheaper” leads were quality leads – they were still buyers. Finding “cheap” leads isn't hard; however, if they don't buy then there's no point in collecting their data … the point of a lead is to eventually turn that person into a paying customer.
• Cost per Purchase: $12.91 vs $72.69 = 82% decrease in cost per purchase (also insane!)

Note: The “Purchase” data needs to be taken with a grain of salt. These numbers reflect sales made directly off the Thank You page (front end sales) and do not reflect sales that resulted in the back end. So, technically, the number of purchases is higher, cost per purchase is lower, and purchase volume is higher.

Before

The image above shows all of the ad sets in the “Before” campaign. Each ad set targeted a different audience and/or device/placement. They used the same ad (a boosted post) for all of their ad sets.

These ad sets were essentially a hodgepodge of various audiences and placements as opposed to a systematic setup – ie. testing desktop vs. mobile.

After

The image above shows all of the ad sets in the “After” campaign. Each ad set targeted a different audience and/or device/placement. We used the same ad (a boosted post [however, it was different than the ad used in the “Before” Campaign]) for all of our ad sets.

As you can see, we have two Lookalike audiences running – one that looks like our customers (people that have paid money) and one that looks like our leads (people that have joined the email list). These two ad sets have the lowest cost per lead at $0.24 and $0.25; however, you'll notice the front end purchase conversions are not as good as the first ad set (Audience 1 [mobile]) which is targeting a specific audience we created.

Alas, the point of these campaigns is to generate leads because the bulk of the money is to be made on the back end. We're simply tracking front end sales to make sure some purchases are happening!

Finally, I also want to draw attention to the fact that not all of our ad sets performed well. Look at the last two (Audience 2), we were spending between $0.89 and $3.60 per lead … of course, those ad sets were eventually shut off. It just goes to show that an “ad” isn't everything, targeting and placement are huge factors as well!

3 Changes We Made To Decrease Cost Per Lead By 88%

Time to get into the good stuff – the changes we made to the ads, presented in a way that will help you make similar changes!

1. Changed The Offer

I believe this change had the single biggest impact on our advertising.

The original offer presented people the opportunity to receive a product for free, as long as they covered the cost of shipping and handling. For example, we'll ship you this book for free, but you pay the $7 shipping and handling.

Instead, we bundled several products together and offered people the opportunity to participate in a monthly drawing for the bundle of products valued at around $100.

Now, people can opt-in for “free-free” as opposed to an opt-in for a “free plus shipping & handling”.

Takeaway: Instead of offering your audience a coupon or something where they still have to spend money to receive the benefit – what can you offer for “free-free”? (a chance to win a gift card or a product?)

Mega Tip!

We moved the “free plus shipping & handling” offer to the Thank You page which allowed us to make money on the front end!

2. Systematized Audience Targeting

Before we began helping this business with their Facebook marketing, their audiences were a random hodgepodge of interests, age groups, placements, etc.

There wasn't a consistent strategy.

We systematized it …

• We kept the same demographic information (age, gender, religion, income, etc) across all ad sets.
• We tested one interest at a time.
• We tested that interest on mobile news feed and desktop news feed.
• We spent roughly $20 before deciding to “kill” or keep an ad set – our criteria was 20% better/worse. For example, if Audience 1 on mobile performed 20% better than Audience 1 on desktop – we'd “kill” the desktop ad set.

By following this systematized strategy, we've stuck with 3 ad sets that have a cost per lead between $0.24 and $0.31.

3. Used Lookalike Audiences

Facebook offers some pretty nifty tools in their ads platform. One of these tools is their custom audience feature. This enables marketers the opportunity to create audiences, based on what pages people have viewed, whether they've purchased a product or not, and more! [Learn more]

For example, we created two custom audiences – one that contained all of our Leads (if they landed on our Thank You page, they were automatically added to our Leads audience) and one that contained all of our paying customers (we uploaded a list of email addresses for people that had purchased products from the store).

We then used the “Lookalike” function to create audiences that “looked like” our Leads audience and our Customers audience (ie. they had similar demographics, interests, etc as the people who were “proven” to convert!). We then targeted those lookalike audiences with our ads!

As you can see above, these two audiences have the lowest cost per lead and you can likely use Lookalike audiences in a similar way!

Other Key Takeaways

Below are a few other key takeaways that I want to point out that … if you're not doing already … will help you tremendously.

Optimize For Conversions

You HAVE to optimize your ads for conversions.

Ok, technically, you don't have to; however, Facebook gives you the option to do so and they do an excellent job in getting you the “cheapest” conversions possible. It's to your benefit to allow Facebook to do its job!

For more info, checkout my Case Study called Facebook Ads: Optimize for Conversions or Clicks or Engagment.

If you don't know how to set up conversion tracking, check out my Facebook Ads course by clicking here!

Test Different Ads

While I did not test different ads in the case study above, I highly recommend doing so because the ad is a HUGE factor with regard to getting clicks and, therefore, conversions.

Why didn't I test different ads? The company I was running the tests for spent a good chunk of change to have a “pretty” graphic developed and they wanted to use it. Thankfully, it was a great image and yielded great results – normally, I'd test multiple ads.

Step-By-Step

Did you grasp the ideas and concepts delivered in this post, but need help with the “how”?

No problem! I've got you covered!

I have a course called How To Increase Leads & Sales On Facebook With The Triple Threat Strategy to walk you step-by-step through the exact process I used in the case study above!