I've started this post at least 20 times over the last 6 months … it's long overdue.

Trying to explain how to find someone else's goals, values, challenges, fears, etc is hard to do. It's very “woo woo” / “out there” which can get complicated and confusing very quickly.

There is good news!

I came across a video from Frank Kern (he's a big time Internet marketer) that explains exactly how to do what I've been wanting to write about.

He does it in a way that's logical and still kind of “woo woo” – but sensible.

Here's the video…

It's Long

It is long. And the exercises presented in it take even longer … probably about 8 hours total.

So, unless you're Ironman, you probably won't be able to do it all in one sitting … which kind of sucks.

Try breaking it down to 3 days …

1. Watch the video (tip: watch it at 1.5X speed)
2. Do step 1 (Questions below)
3. Do step 2 (Questions below)

You'll come out the other end with a full understanding of not only your customer, but yourself as well.

By watching this video and doing the exercises you may literally change your life … it's that good.

My Notes & The Exercise Questions

Two Easy Steps

Step One: Know what you REALLY want and who you REALLY are.

Step Two: Know what your market REALLY wants and who they REALLY are.

People Have Two Identities

#1: The identity they walk around in every day (“I'm a banker”) – shell identity

#2: The identity they really WANT (“I'm a rock star”) – what you daydream about, “true/core identity” (who they REALLY are).

Goal: Relate To People's Core Identity

Formula: E + I = L

• E = Experience. We do not crave things. We crave the experience the things give us.
• I = Identity. Our experience, beliefs, and values create our identity. All communication actually comes from your identity.
• L = Life. Our experiences and identity work together to form our life.

Design all marketing so you're communicating with ONE person.

WHAT WE ALL REALLY WANT IS A NEW LIFE.

The One Question That Will Change Your Life Forever

If there were no limitations or consequences, what would your perfect average day look like?

• Limitations: Financial, geographic, health, limiting people, etc. (wake up on the beach every day)
• Consequences: Stuff that you could get “into trouble” for (for example, you can't say you want to do cocaine and drive your car recklessly, this is dumb and there are consequences for this)
• Average: You could do all this stuff every day and not die or get sick of it

These questions are all based on desired experience … not goals or things. Remember that our experiences help shape our identity.

Step 1 Questions

Be descriptive (colors, smells, thoughts, feelings) – it will take about 4 hours and you'll fill up like 10 to 12 pages of info)

• Where would you live?
• What would your house look like?
• What time would you wake up?
• What would you do in the morning? What would you think about? What would you say?
• What would you have for breakfast?
• What does the mundane stuff look like? (Taking kids to school)
• What would you spend the first half of your day doing?
• What would you have for lunch?
• Who would you eat with?
• What would your friends be like? What would you talk about? Gossip? Real, meaning conversation? Jokes?
• What would you do for personal fulfillment?
• What life purpose would you strive towards?
• What would your business be?
• What time would you start work?
• What would you actually DO at work?
• What are your clients like?
• What is your relationship like with your spouse and your family?
• What would you do for family time?
• What would you have for dinner? Where would you eat? Who would you eat with? What would you talk about?
• What would you do at night?
• Who would you do it with?
• Where would you be?
• What would your thoughts be as you went to sleep?

Step 2 Questions

Your Ideal Customer / Customer Avatar

• Name?
• Gender?
• Age?
• Married?
• Kids?
• If they're married, what is the spouse like?
• What does the spouse think of all this foolishness?
• What's the relationship with the children like?
• What would this person be wearing?
• What do they do for a living?
• What's their biggest frustration?
• What's their biggest SURFACE (Shell) desire?

Now that you know WHO you're writing to specifically, you can influence them on the surface level because you have empathy.

And, surface level is better than 99% of what most businesses do.

But…

Step 2.5 Become Your Ideal Customer

Pretend to be your ideal customer – answer all the questions in the “Step 1 Questions” section as your ideal customer.

This allows you to uncover who they REALLY are.

Now you can speak from your core to their core.

In Closing

Do yourself and your business a favor and at least watch the video.

At 1.5X speed it takes about 75 minutes to watch and I swear it can change your life.

You already know that having an email list is important otherwise you wouldn't be here, reading this article.

So, I'm going to get right into it …

Why These 3 Tools?

They Work Everywhere

WordPress sites get a lot of love and there are a million and one optin plugins available for that platform; however, not every site runs WordPress.

There are also Ecommerce stores, custom coded sites, and other content management systems that need tools to grow their email lists.

The 3 tools below work on any type of site – just add a small snippet of code to your header and you'll be good to go!

They Have Quality Free Versions

The free versions of these tools are more than enough to get you started growing your email list.

And, 9 times out of 10, the free version will do all you need it to and you'll never need to upgrade to the “pro” versions.

They Work With Most “Big” Autoresponder Tools

No matter what autoresponder tool you use, be it ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, Aweber, GetResponse, Constant Contact, and beyond … one of these tools will work.

The 3 Tools

1. SumoMe (https://sumome.com/)

SumoMe is a suite of free tools that can be used to grow your website’s traffic. Four of the tools inside SumoMe that work great for growing your email list are the List Builder, Welcome Mat, Smart Bar, and Scroll Box.

The SumoMe suite also includes a few other tools like Heat Maps, Social Sharing, Highlighter, and more … making it a “true” all-in-one solution.

I also really like that SumoMe works nicely with Zapier – a service that connects over 500 services together.

What I don't like about SumoMe is that the free version doesn't include split testing and the pro version is a lot more expensive than it's competitions' pro versions.

2. HelloBar (https://www.hellobar.com/)

Hello Bar offers similar tools as SumoMe with regards to list building, but they don't have any other tools like heat maps and social sharing.

They offer optins in the form of a bar, modal, slider, and page takeover. Unfortunately I can't link to these optins because you have to be logged in to Hello Bar to learn more about them.

What I like most about Hello Bar is their split testing functionality is available in their free version (unlike SumoMe).

What I don't like is that they don't work natively with ActiveCampaign and I have to “hack” it together to make it work.

3. MailMunch (http://www.mailmunch.co/)

MailMunch is the newest of these 3 tools and it brings similar forms – popup, top bar, and slide box.

But, what it has over the other services is the “embedded” form which enables you to place an optin form anywhere on your website. This way you're not “bothering” people with popups, bars, and boxes – so, that's pretty cool!

What I don't like about MailMunch is that their free optin forms are fairly plain and to unlock the “prettier” forms costs at least $13.30/mo. Which, at this point, you might as well go with something more powerful like OptinMonster.

Zero Excuses

Now that you know about these 3 tools, you have zero excuses for not growing your email list!

This is a guest post by Wes Towers. His mission is to empower a new breed of entrepreneurs with cutting-edge websites that attract more leads, graphic design that converts more sales, and systems that multiply results affordably and fast. He is also the owner of Omnific Design and author of: The Simple Manifesto – Marketing principles to save you time, increase profit and create your dream business in a SNAP!

Having a landing page that is professionally designed so it’s aesthetically pleasing and visually beautiful does not mean it will convert well.

As a graphic designer by training and now as a web designer, it pains me to say this but it’s true. I appreciate beautiful, creative design and all the design techniques I learnt at Uni, but I also understand the purpose is not to win design awards, but to win more business for the client. This is important for all website design and development, but it’s even more crucial for landing page design. General business websites may be for branding purposes, where they may not need to generate an immediate response. In these cases the visual appeal plays an important role; however, when it comes to landing pages, the primary purpose is to generate a response, typically to opt-in or buy immediately.

Landing Page Design

The common mistake clients make when briefing a designer for a landing page, is to focus on their own personal style preferences. A landing page is not a ‘branding’ exercise. While it’s important to feature your logo and use your visual branding elements in your business website, these are secondary for landing page design. Sure, there should be a level of consistency, maybe you use the fonts and colours from your brand; but then again, maybe it’s better to experiment with other options. Your logo doesn’t need to be featured at the top of a landing page. Your logo doesn’t need to be on the landing page at all. The key item that should hit you between the eyes is your core message, typically communicated by a strong headline.

When having a landing page designed, the style must be congruent with your offering more-so than your overall brand. For example, if you are selling a premium priced program, the design should have a premium feel. Likewise, if you are selling a quick and cheap “DIY” solution, the design should be suitable for that market. You might need to dirty up the design in this instance (something most designers hate to do). If you are selling “fast food” your website shouldn’t look like “fine-dining” and vice-versa. When your design is congruent with your offering, that’s when you will experience a higher conversion rate.

A/B Split Testing

All good marketing requires testing, measuring and tweaking so you can improve its performance. Landing pages are great for this process since there are limited variants, unlike your typical, multi-page website. Test different headlines, imagery, Calls-to-Action (CTA)… the list goes on.

Modelling

A/B split testing sounds like a long and cumbersome process of trial and error, right? There are ways to speed up the process. For instance, you don’t need to start from scratch; model from websites, particularly those in your niche. I know what you’re thinking – when I say model, I don’t mean directly copy a landing page (naughty you). Take a look at what others are doing successfully and make some educated guesses as to why they work. Leadpage.net has templates that you can sort by ‘conversion rate’. That’s a handy tool to see what’s working, even if you don’t sign up to Lead Pages. You can also check out Clickbank.com. They publish pages’ conversion rates for the benefit of affiliates who may want to promote these landing pages. We can use this information as a research tool to find what might work for our own landing pages.

Get Started

As I said before, with any landing page design, you’ll need to test, measure and tweak it to improve its performance. You will be making assumptions that may be incorrect. The trick is to get started and measure your assumptions, making further educated guesses as you go.

Here are a few quick and dirty tips to help get you started:

• Present your main benefits in bullet-points, preferably using a font that stands out. You can use facts if they reinforce your message, but focus on the benefits for your ideal customers.
• Use authentic, heartfelt video to communicate your offer. Videos on a landing page almost always increase conversion rates. Not at all surprising, since it’s easier to quickly communicate your message through video. Videos also give you the opportunity to build trust with customers by featuring a friendly person from your organization.
• Make sure the headline and the rest of your content work together. There should only be one core message communicated on your landing page and everything should support that one message.
• Only have one CTA per landing page. Having multiple CTAs on your landing page can confuse visitors, who will not know what to do first, and as a result end up doing nothing at all.
• Don’t use links to any other website or webpage. There should only be one option for visitors to respond to, your CTA.
• Don’t use social media sharing buttons on your landing page. Use them on a thank-you page when someone has just responded to your CTA. This will help spread the word about your offer without being a distraction featured on your landing page.
• Include testimonials. Whether they are short videos or written quotes from happy customers, testimonials help visitors trust your business and, as a result, buy from you.
• Increase the trust of the landing page by featuring partner logos and any other third-party endorsement relevant to your offer. The more, the better!

How many emails do you ignore every day?

Why are you ignoring them?

Is it because you don't care about what they say?

Why don't you care?

I know I don't care because 9 times out of 10 … the content of the email doesn't pertain to me.

So, it gets ignored.

What if …

What if every email you received pertained to your particular interests, desires, and goals?

Wouldn't you be more inclined to read them … or at least click a link or two to see what they're all about?

I know if I had X problem and someone sent me a solution for dealing with X problem … I'd at least check it out.

Wouldn't you?

And it's proven …

And it's proven … tailored content converts better than non-tailored content.

Just checkout some of the results from MailChimp's most recent study on how segmentation affects opens, clicks, bounces, abuse reports, and unsubscribers:

• Opens: 14.96% higher than non-segmented campaigns
• Clicks: 72.37% higher than non-segmented campaigns (huge!)
• Abuse Reports: 20.39% lower than non-segmented campaigns
• Unsubscribes: 22.09% lower than non-segmented campaigns

The big number I want to point out here is “Clicks”  because you need people to click-through your emails to land on your sales pages and checkout pages … no one can purchase anything straight from an email … you need clicks.

By sending tailored content to individuals, the click-through-rate almost doubles (72.37% higher) … and that's insane.

Alas, most businesses don't …

Alas, most businesses don't segment their list and they don't send out tailored content.

Why not?

Most small businesses think it's beyond their capabilities to do something like this.

They're seeing massive corporations like Amazon do it … if you even think about a product on Amazon they'll start showing you ads everywhere you go for that same product and of course, they'll start sending you emails about that product.

But, most businesses can …

The good news is that most businesses can setup something that automatically segments their list and sends out tailored content to individual subscribers.

Thanks to advances in email marketing automation this type of system is very possible to setup for most small businesses … as I'm about to explain …

• Related Course: The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course

Segment Based On Interests

Earlier we talked about why we're personally ignoring most emails (because they don't pertain to us).

So, if we're ignoring emails because they don't pertain to us, we have to expect our subscribers to ignore our emails if the content doesn't pertain to them, right?

How do we make sure we're sending emails that pertain to the particular subscriber?

My suggestion is to segment based on interests … let the subscriber show you what they're interested in based on the links they're clicking, the pages they're viewing, and the stuff they're buying. Then, tailor emails to fit those interests.

For example:

If a subscriber shows they're interested in X, send them more content about X, and recommend products and services that help with X.

If they're interested in Y, send more content about Y, and recommend products and services that help with Y.

The Interest Driven Sales Funnel

You need to develop a sales funnel that's driven by each subscriber's particular interest(s).

Stop sending the same thing to everyone … it's neither effective nor efficient.

You've seen the results from MailChimp's study – tailored content gets nearly twice as many click-throughs as non-tailored content.

Instead of 100 click-throughs, you'd get 172 click-throughs … insane.

Interesting, eh?

Overall Concept (Macro Level)

Think of it like this – an Interest Driven Sales Funnel is your business, it encompasses everything … all of your products, services, offerings, etc.

An Interest Driven Sales Funnel is made up of many small or “micro” sales funnels.

Being made up of many micro sales funnels makes it modular in nature – which makes it easy to add to and remove from.

One of the micro sales funnels is a Straight Line Sales Funnel which we'll call your “Main Series”. The Main Series is your way to maintain a relationship with your leads while gauging interest (more on it later).

The other micro sales funnels are for your individual products, services, and offerings. Some products, especially those that are expensive and/or complicated, are likely to need more explanation than various one-off emails can provide, which is why they need their own sales funnel.

Straight Line Sales Funnel (Main Series)

The Main Series is the “backbone” of your Interest Driven Sales Funnel.

It's responsible for building and maintaining the relationship with your subscribers, while simultaneously gauging interest.

This is accomplished through the sending of 3 E Emails:

• Entertain: These emails are meant to entertain. Videos, pictures, stories, etc provide great entertainment.
• Educate: Helpful emails that solve problems, answer questions, and provide guidance. How-to tutorials, white papers, case studies, etc provide great educational material.
• Earn: These emails drive sales by bringing customers back to your business. Coupons, discounts, bonuses, etc provide extra incentive to shop.

People enter your Main Series when they opt-in for a General Lead Magnet (one that doesn't show intent) or after an individual completes a Product/Service Sales Funnel.

You can learn more about Straight Lines Sales Funnels here.

Product/Service Sales Funnels (Micro Sales Funnels)

Product/Service Sales Funnels are your “money makers”.

Their sole purpose is to sell a product or service that your business offers.

These funnels have the ability to stand on their own (ie. you can send paid traffic to them) and can look very different based upon what you're trying to sell.

For example, they can have 1-100 emails, offer webinars, product launches, 3 video funnels, up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells … basically any “guru” funnel you want to follow can be plugged in here.

The ability to plug & play with these various type of Product/Service Sales Funnels is what makes the Interest Driven Sales Funnel so powerful!

You're not limited in what you can do and people will always come back to your Main Series where the relationship will be maintained, other interests gauged, and other Product/Service Sales Funnels triggered!

For Example …

The above is just a taste of a Product/Service Sales Funnel.

The Start

No matter what “guru” funnel you follow (or you can always do your own thing 😉 ) the start will most likely be based on 1 of 4 things:

• Click (Interest Shown) – Someone clicks a link in one of your emails showing they're interested in a certain topic, product, service, etc.
• Specific Lead Magnet – Someone opts in to receive a Lead Magnet for something related to what you want to sell. For example, a mini-guide called “5 ways we decreased Facebook Ad spending by 89%” could lead to a Facebook Ads course.
• Page View – Similar to the “click” mentioned above; however, in this instance the individual may navigate to a particular page on their own without going through a link provided in an email.
• Points (CRM) – More “advanced”; however, if you're using a CRM tool you can use points to gauge interest and trigger Product/Service Sales Funnels based on points. For example, if someone looks at your sales page 5 times, you know they're highly interested … they may just need a tad more persuasion … exactly what a Product/Service Sales Funnel will provide.

After The Start (The Funnel Part)

After the Start, you have the “funnel part.” Again, this can look like pretty much anything; however, in the example above we use an Action Series and an Upsell Series.

• Action Series – This is a series of emails that addresses the subscriber from different angles in order to try and “connect” with them and drive them to take action (make a purchase). For example, one email could be very logical and explain, by-the-numbers, why your deal is great. One email could be a story about someone who found success with your product. One email could be very benefits driven and explain the results one can expect.
• Upsell Series – This is a series of emails that triggers after an action (purchase) is taken and attempts to move them to the next logical step. For example, they purchase a $7 guide to solve a problem and the upsell is a step-by-step video course that's $97.

The Finish

Just like the Start, the Finish will be the same no matter what the “funnel part” looks like.

If the individual entered into your Product/Service Sales Funnel from your Main Series – they'll re-enter the Main Series and pick up where they left off.

If the individual entered into your Product/Service Sales Funnel via another source, ie. Facebook Ad to a Specific Lead Magnet – they'll start the Main Series from the top.

Let's Piece It Together

This is what an Interest Driven Sales Funnel can, hypothetically, look like: (remember, an Interest Driven Sales Funnel is modular in nature. Interest(s) can be shown at any time which means Product/Service (Micro) Sales Funnels can be triggered at any time!)

Simple Explanation

When a new subscriber joins your list, they're “welcomed” to your list and your business via a Welcome Series.

From there, interest(s) is/are gauged based upon general emails that are entertaining, educational, and/or sell (earn) (3 E Emails).

For example, if I run a fitness center and I send out an email with a link to an article titled, “7 steps to lose 7 pounds in 7 days” and a subscriber clicks the link to that article, I can tell they're interested in weight loss.

Or, if I send out an email with a link to video called, “3 biceps exercises that'll add 3 inches to your biceps in 3 weeks” and a subscriber clicks the link to that video, I can tell they're interested in building muscle.

From there, I'll launch my “Action Series” that sends content pertaining to each specific interest and that also sells related products and services to help individuals reach their goals.

For example, if the individual shows they're interested in weight loss, I'll send more helpful content about weight loss in the form of articles and videos, as well as links to sales pages and offers for things like courses, diet books, exercise plans, supplements, etc.

And, I'll do something similar for the person interested in building muscle.

When the individual purchases a product or service from me, I'll recommend complementary products/services or even “bigger” products/services. (Upsell Series)

For example, the individual buys a $7 eBook that contains recipes for healthy meals to lose weight. I then know they're interested in eating healthy and can recommend various meal delivery services to them, for which I'll earn a referral commission.

And it goes on, and on from there …

Gauge interest, send relevant content, recommend relevant products and services, repeat.

Businesses That Need An Interest Driven Sales Funnel

Really, the only “requirement” is that you have the ability to cater to various interests – ie. you have multiple products/services. Of course, these don't need to be your own products/services – you can recommend partner products as an affiliate in order to best serve  your customers.

Digital Businesses

Businesses that sell digital products like courses, resources, guides, ebooks, etc can greatly benefit from implementing an Interest Driven Sales Funnel!

Since everything is performed online, you're able to “watch” everything your subscribers and customers do within your business – making it incredibly easy to gauge interest, setup and implement product/services (micro) sales funnels, and measure/test everything!

An Interest Driven Sales Funnel is what drives Crazy Eye Marketing!

Ecommerce Businesses

Ecommerce businesses can benefit tremendously from implementing an Interest Driven Sales Funnel!

In a similar fashion to the Digital Businesses I mentioned above, ecommerce businesses are able to track how individuals interact with their store, the products people are viewing, the products that are purchased (upsell series!), the words they're searching for, and even if products have been added to a shopping cart … but not purchased! (hint: send a cart abandonment series)

The options and possibilities are seemingly endless when it comes to ecommerce businesses!

Brick & Mortar Businesses

Believe it or not – brick & mortar businesses can also benefit from implementing an Interest Driven Sales Funnel!

Sure, the tracking won't be as precise as it'll be harder to track which part(s) of your sales funnel results in “actual” action – ie. a purchase; however, most everything else will be the same! You are still able to gauge interest based on clicks and pages viewed, you are able to send tailored content, and you still strive to drive action (a shopping trip to your business)!

Don't count yourself out of this goodness, just because you're not based primarily online!

Summary

Sending emails that contain content people care about will always convert better than generic emails.

The best way to figure out what someone cares about is to see what links they click on, pages they view, and products they buy.

From there you're able to send relevant content, products, and services and then rinse and repeat the process.

How To Get Started

I know this post was more high level strategy than actual tactics you can apply today.

But, don't worry! I've got something for ya … the The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course.

In the last post we talked about what you should send to your email list – emails that are entertaining/educational AND that help you segment your subscribers based on their interests.

But, what do you send once you know their interests?

That's what this post is all about!

What To Send

Once you know an individual's interest(s) you'll be able to send tailored content that caters to what they want to learn about.

For example, if I know someone is interested in sales funnel development – I'll start to send more information about sales funnels to help the lead become more educated on the topic.

I'll also begin to send action producing emails that drive the lead to my various sales funnel courses and services.

Between providing value and presenting solutions in the form of courses and services – I'll be able to convert more leads into customers.

• Related Product: 28+ Pre-Written Emails

The Problem: Driving Action/Sales

The concept is pretty simple – right? When someone is interested in something, you send them more information on that topic and then try to sell your related products and services.

Sending helpful emails is easy. These normally link to things like blog posts and videos that are educational/entertaining and people tend to enjoy receiving them.

Sending actionable emails is a little harder. These normally link to things like sales pages and order forms for products and services that are helpful BUT cost money.

So, you have to send actionable emails because the whole point of running a business and implementing a sales funnel is to sell things … but what's the best way?

The Solution: Marketing Formulas

Marketing or copywriting formulas are blueprints that help guide your email writing and structure.

These formulas help you approach your subscribers from different angles so you can better connect.

For example, some individuals may be more logical in their purchasing behaviors so they compare features. Others are driven by what the product or service will do for them – ie. benefits. Some want to make sure they're getting the best bang for their buck and they're looking at what your product can do compared to your competition – ie. advantages.

The example given above is the Features-Advantages-Benefits formula – and here are a few others you can use in  your email marketing campaigns …

Before-After-Bridge

• Before – What life is like before your product/service enters it
• After – How great life is after your product/service in your subscriber's life
• Bridge – Your product/service … aka … How to get to the “after”

Problem-Agitate-Solve

• Problem – Identify the problem in your subscriber's life
• Agitate – Make the subscriber “angrier” about their problem
• Solve – Present your product/service as the solution to this aggravating problem

Attention-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA)

• Attention – Grab your subscriber's attention by being bold
• Interest – Give your subscriber interesting information on the problem your product/service solves
• Desire – Present the benefits of the product/service and provide proof it does what you say
• Action – Ask them to buy

More Formulas

The good news is there's a ton of information on these copywriting formulas … so, I don't need to cover them all here. Instead I'd rather show you how to implement the formulas into your emails.

By the way … here are a few more resources:

• Copywriting Formulas
• 27 Copywriting Formulas
• 21 Copywriting Formulas

• Related Product: 28+ Pre-Written Emails

How To Use The Formulas

How you'll apply these formulas to your email marketing campaigns will depend on your audience and what you're trying to sell.

Some audiences enjoy receiving long, thorough emails while others want a short blurb with a link to more information.

Complex/expensive products tend to take more “convincing” than simple/cheaper products and may require more emails and therefore, more angles.

1 Email, Short

In this scenario you would include the entire marketing formula in one email … in as few sentences as possible.

The goal is to get people to click through in order to get more information.

This scenario comes in handy when your audience doesn't read long emails and/or mainly checks their email on a mobile device and they don't want to have to sit there and scroll through a long winded email.

For example (AIDA): Missing out? 99% of small businesses don't have a sales funnel. Stop leaving money on the table! Click Here to learn more!

1 Email, Long

In this scenario, you would include the entire marketing formula in one email … but, it would be presented in several sentences/paragraphs – more like a sales page.

The goal is to really “sell” in the email. It can even link to the order form as opposed to a sales page.

This scenario comes in handy when you want to try a different angle than the normal sales page or if you're trying to sell an affiliate product. When you don't control the sales page, but want to provide as much information as possible to your subscriber in your own voice before sending them to someone else's sales page; this is a good method.

Email Series

In this scenario, you break up the marketing formula across several emails.

The goal is to introduce different angles to the subscriber in order to try and drive them to either your sales page or order form (if it makes sense to do so).

For example, with the features-advantages-benefits formula, the first email could identify the features of the product, the second email the benefits, and the third the advantages … selling your product/service from three different angles.

This scenario comes in handy when you're trying to sell something complicated and/or expensive and you need more time.

Summary

At the end of the day, the point of your email list is to increase sales of your products and services. By following marketing/copywriting formulas, you're able to write and structure your emails in a way that motivates your leads to take action and buy your stuff!

• Related Product: 28+ Pre-Written Emails

This isn't the easiest question to answer.

What you “should” send to your subscribers “should” bring them closer to the action you want them to take; however, that action “should” align with their goals.

For example, if I have a course on sales funnel development (which I do) that I want my subscribers to purchase, I “should” send emails that handle objections and create a desire for my course. However, if the subscriber's goal isn't to increase the value of their customer … then they're misaligned and the whole system is a moot point.

• Related Course: The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course

How To “Cure” Moot Points

As small businesses, we need our marketing efforts to count.

We can't willy nilly advertise and send emails to people that don't care about what we have to say.

We need to send email people actually want.

But how?

By gauging interest and then digging deeper into those interests!

We'll do this by sending “feeler” emails about topics our audience may be interested in. Then, once interest is shown – we'll begin to send more relevant information to the subscriber … giving them content they want to see, further building the relationship and driving more action.

Back to my sales funnel course – instead of sending everyone emails about sales funnels, I could send a “feeler” email with links to articles about social media marketing, website design, and sales funnels. Three uniquely different topics. Those that click on the sales funnel link would then be moved to my “interested in sales funnels” segment where I would begin to handle objections and create desire for my course.

Those that clicked on social media marketing or website design would learn more about those respective topics.

Finally, those that showed no interest would be sent more “feeler” emails.

• Related Course: The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course

3 E Emails aka “Feeler” Emails

It's about time I begin to address what these “feeler” emails are all about!

The best way to send “feeler” emails is by following the 3 E concept where your emails either …

• Entertain – Builds and maintains a relationship. The type of emails you'd send to a friend. Interesting/funny articles, videos, etc.
• Educate – Helps the subscriber solve a problem. Helps promote you as an authority on the topic. Tutorials, reviews, guides, etc.
• Earn – Makes you money. Cause the subscriber to take an action (ie. purchase). Sales, promotions, etc.

That's not to say emails can't do more than one “E” at the same time. They're simply something to think about before you click the send button.

If the email you're about to send isn't going to do any of the 3 Es, re-evaluate.

How They Work

You send out an email that contains links to various interests and you track what link the individual clicks. From there, you can gauge what the subscriber is interested in and can send more relevant information to them.

I think some examples will help …

Examples

The “Subtle” Method

3 links to uniquely different content that's educational/entertaining and can gauge interest.

Hey there!

I noticed that you're new around here and I wanted to make sure you saw our most liked posts!

• How to gain 1,000 Facebook Fans in 24 hours
• New HTML5 Markup that's going to change the way you design!
• How Nate's Company 10X'd their customer value with a sales funnel

Enjoy!

Nathan

The “Subtle” Method Example #2

You don't have to list out 3 random posts in an attempt to gauge interest like the example above. Your email can focus on one sole interest … for example the one below talks about sales funnels and links to a video that I don't even own! However, if my subscriber clicks on the link, I'll now know they're interested in sales funnels and are familiar with Russel Brunson and ClickFunnels (which I'm an affiliate for and can attempt to sell).

Hi there!

I just finished watching Russel Brunson's webinar on Sales Funnel Development and I really found the points he made about funnel optimization to be eye opening … so, I thought I'd share the video with you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7nAYTf6pm8

Let me know if you find it eye opening!

Nathan

Promotion Example

An “Earn” email where if they click the link, I'll know they're interested in sales funnels.

Hey there!

I just wanted to let you know that we're running a 50% off sale on our Sales Funnel course!

Click here to checkout our sales funnel course!

Nathan

2 Birds, 1 Stone

As you can tell from the examples above – this isn't a difficult task.

They don't have to be super long or involved emails … you're simply linking to entertaining and/or educational and/or promotional (earn) type content that both builds/maintains the relationship and helps gauge interest.

Follow Up

Now that you can tell what type of content interests that particular subscriber, you can follow up with relevant content that handles objections and builds desire for whatever product or service you're trying to sell.

• Related Course: The ActiveCampaign & Interest Driven Sales Funnels Course

Is what you're using the best lead magnet?

Probably not.

Most of my posts, courses, and tutorials recommend offering a discount or a coupon as a lead magnet.

Why?

A few reasons:

• It's easy to setup – you don't have to develop a checklist, write an eBook, or develop a course. All you have to do is send an email with a code.
• It drives sales – the only way to take advantage of a coupon is to use it.
• It works – people like to save money and will happily give away an email address in exchange for savings.

But is it the best?

Doubtful.

Why Coupons Suck As Lead Magnets

• They're easy to duplicate – just as they're “easy to setup” they're also easy to ripoff and duplicate. Nothing can really stop someone from using it multiple times.
• They cut into profit – that discount has to come from somewhere …
• And … the biggest reason …

They only apply to those that are about to buy.

Why is this a bad thing?

Don't we want people that are going to buy?

Yes. You want people that are going to buy and coupons help drive sales; however, in offering one as the lead magnet … anyone who is “just browsing” isn't going to care about a discount.

They're in the research phase, trying to learn more, and you're trying to “force” a sale.

Doing this will turn people off.

Instead … do this:

Give coupons to “warm” leads and helpful info to “cool” leads

• Warm leads – those that are already on your email list and know about your business and what it offers
• Cool leads – those that aren't on your email list and are learning about your business and what it offers

Makes sense … right?

What's The Best Lead Magnet?

The best lead magnet is one that moves the individual to the next step.

Sounds simple, but what does it mean?

Figure out the individual's problems and solve them.

The solution is then the lead magnet.

C'mon Nathan! You're not helping!

OK! Here are the steps:

Scenario: we sell tools.

1. Pretend like you're a visitor that just landed on your website. Why are you there? What are you looking for? What problems are you having that would cause you to find your site?
2. Write out the problem(s) – ie. I need to put a screw in my wall that will support a 20lb picture frame.
3. Solve that problem – ie. Checklist: 5 Essential Tools To Hang Heavy Pictures | Guide and/or Video: How To Properly Hang Heavy Pictures On Your Wall
4. The solution you provide involves a drill, a level, a stud finder, a measuring tape, and special picture frame screws that are exclusive to your business and are guaranteed to hold up to 100lbs each!

So … If I'm a guy that's trying to hang a big, heavy, picture on my wall that the in-laws gave my wife and this business was offering a “how to” video tutorial for hanging big, heavy, picture frames … I'd grab that up in a heartbeat! And, while watching the video, I'd learn that I need a stud finder and some special screws, and I'd purchase them.

Whereas, if I landed on that same site, but was only offered a 20% off coupon … I probably wouldn't grab it, because it wouldn't be helpful at that point in time … I'd still be trying to figure out how to solve my big, heavy, picture frame problem.

Make sense?

Test, Test, and Test!

The great part about all of this is that it's easily testable. You can offer multiple lead magnets various ways.

There's A/B testing where half the people that visit your site are offered one lead magnet, the other half is offered the other one, and you compare optin rates and sales (because this is what truly matters; however, it may be a little harder to track).

You can have different ads link to different optin forms that offer different lead magnets.

You can have different lead magnets for each blog post or page on your website, like Nick Loper does on SideHustleNation.com.

You have to test them all.

You do not simply “pick a lead magnet” on day 1 and that's it for years to come.

Try a coupon, a checklist, an eBook, a mini-course, a contest entry, etc. Try them all and on multiple topics … maybe the first checklist you create falls flat, it doesn't mean all checklists will … it simply means that first one did.

Try a coupon at 10% and one at 30%. Does it increase optin rates? Does it increase sales? You'd be surprised … more often than not, higher discounts don't result in more optins or sales and only result in smaller margins on the same number of orders.

Test!

Summary

Don't get me wrong. I still recommend offering coupons as lead magnets because, again … they're easy, they drive sales, and they work.

However, know that they're probably best served to “warm” leads who are on your email list already as opposed to “cooler” leads just learning about your business. These “cooler” folks are looking for more guidance and information, provide it in the form of a lead magnet that moves them to the next step.

At the end of the day … test, test, and test!

It can be confusing.

You've finally got a grasp on what a “Sales Funnel” is – it converts a member of your target audience into a paying customer …

… and it makes sense.

You start with advertising to a large number of people and through the rapport building stage some people “fall out” because they're not interested, not looking to buy, don't care, etc.

Eventually you're left with a handful of people that want to buy your product or service and the “shape” of the flow looks like a funnel.

But then, you're told that something that looks like this is a sales funnel too:

What?!?!?

It looks nothing like a funnel … it looks like some kind of crazy flow chart!

They're All Sales Funnels

The crazy looking flow chart thing is what the inside of a sales funnel looks like.

It's basically the “engine” or “system.”

Through that whole process, you're going to bring people in, you're going to build a relationship – some people are going to “fall out”, some people are going to buy, and some people are going to become repeat customers.

Picture it like this:

So, whether you hear sales funnel, sales system, automated sales system, or email marketing plan … they're all referring to the same concept.

Hopefully that clarifies things for you and helps you move forward with the implementation of a sales funnel for your business!