Sales Funnels for Beginners | How to Set Up a Sales Funnel in Order to Make Money

Here on Leslie W. Business Babes, I am always brainstorming ways to bring you valuable information that can help grow your blogging or social media business. I recently met a fellow blogger, Sarah, and was talking with her and decided that, because of her expertise on the subject of blogging, I would invite her to write about the topic that is sales funnels for you all.

Sales funnels are one of the most important strategies and functions to have in place in your business in order to make money, continue making money, and to make a passive income. They are vitally important in the world of blogging and social media.

Let me tell you a little about Sarah, before we get started: Sarah is a single parent of 6, from infancy to teenage, living in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. She works from home as a marketing strategist, virtual assistant and web designer. You can connect with her at www.XeraSupport.com, and on Facebook or Twitter with the handle @XeraSupport. Sarah also blogs at www.RaisingRoyalty.ca.

Sales Funnels for Beginners | How to Set Up a Sales Funnel in Order to Make Money

Typically, online business cycles work like this: the business owner spends weeks developing a new product and preparing to launch. When they launch their new product, if they have the targeted audience to launch to, they make a lot of money, quickly! But soon, the sales drop off and dry up, and the business owner now struggles again, spending weeks to develop a new product, while providing service and updates to the existing product. And they do this over and over again. 

This struggle of feasting on sales only to starve later is a common woe for many business owners. But there’s a much better way to generate sales: the sales funnel.

What is a Sales Funnel?

A sales funnel is a simple way to create a steady stream of happy customers and continual sales. They are meant to be used all the time, without requiring launches or any special promotion.

The Three Stages of Sales Funnels

Sales funnels have three stages to them: the “freemium”, the “trip wire” and the “main product”. These are the products that you will sell to your audience, at a variety of price points.  Sales funnels also require three key elements: the landing page, the email autoresponder and the sales page.

First let’s talk about the stages of a sales funnel.

The “Freemium”

Also known as a “lead magnet” or a “subscriber free gift”, this is a small product that is used to entice your audience to subscribe to your email list. Freemium products are usually digital printable products such as checklists, worksheets, planner pages or printable art. Sometimes, they could also be info-products like short ebooks, reports or case studies. Their value is usually less than $10, but still useful enough that people will give you their email address to get it.

The “Trip Wire”

A “trip wire” product is a small product that is used to get your audience in the habit of buying from you. It’s a little bigger than a freemium product, and it’s priced anywhere between $20 and $100, depending on the value of your main product. Common trip wire products are longer ebooks, workbooks, group coaching programs, or short self-paced e-courses.  Some sales funnels might have more than one trip wire product in them, at different price points.

The “Main Product”

The final destination of your sales funnel is your main product. Sometimes this is also called a “signature” product. This is your high-end, best-results, final solution product that gives your customer everything they can get from you in that area of your business. A main product could be one-to-one coaching, a mastermind program, or an all-encompassing interactive course.

How do You Create a Sales Funnel?

Step 1: Creating a Lead Magnet (aka “Freemium”)

First, you start with a landing page for your “freemium” product. This is where you’ll describe your product and what it will do for your new audience member. What problem does it solve for them? What will they get out of it? When creating your landing page, focus on what your audience needs, rather than what you want out of them.

Step 2: Creating an Email Sequence (aka “Trip Wire”)

When your new subscriber is added to your email list, they will be added to a special automatic email sequence, called an “autoresponder”. This is a series of emails that are sent out automatically over a period of time. Sometimes called a “nurture sequence” or “welcome sequence”, the purpose of these emails is to allow your new subscriber to get to know you and like you, learn to trust you and want more from you. Each email in the sequence has a specific purpose that moves your new subscriber down your funnel from freemium to trip wire product. You’ll have a similar sequence of emails for after someone buys your trip wire leading to your main product. Whichever your customer is on, at the end of the sequence, the final email or two asks your new subscriber to buy from you.

Step 3: Creating a Sales Page (aka “Main Product”)

This is where the sales page comes in. The sales page is the page that describes your product. In a sales funnel, you may have more than one sales page: one for the trip wire and one for the main product. The sales funnel is much like a landing page, except that instead of getting someone to subscribe, you’ll ask them to purchase your product.

Take Aways

Sales funnels can be small and simple or large and complex. You could have many steps or you could go straight from landing page to a thank you page offering your trip wire or main product. But sales funnels make it easy to generate sales, by starting with a free gift! 

-Sarah

Next Steps

First of all, I want to thank Sarah so much for writing this informative, valuable post for us here at Leslie W. Business Babes. She has so much expertise in the realm of business and blogging and working online, so please be sure to drop by and say hi to her or ask her questions you may have! Thanks again, Sarah!

Like I mentioned earlier, sales funnels are such a key part to your money-making business – so hopefully, if you didn’t already have one, after reading this article today, you will get going on creating your own.

I want to invite you to look at some of my recent posts that will help you make your business more profitable and well-known in the blogging and social media world: make sure you start by reading my 8 simple steps to starting and setting up a money making blog, then read the 7 reasons why you need an email list to make money blogging, and finally, read the 4 ways to actually make money blogging, with step-by-step instructions.

Leslie W. Business Babes has a wealth of information. Make sure you head over there now to check out all of my blog posts as well as a very long, valuable list of resources to help you start or maintain your blogging or social media business. You’ll be glad you visited. Bookmark the page for yourself, in the meantime, and also share with others by pinning it to Pinterest!

I should also mention – I write a lot of content for moms and stepmoms. If you are interested in reading some of my “mom” posts, go here. If you are a stepmom or know of one, head to The Stubborn Stepmom for help and support.

Thanks so much for reading, everyone – and as always, take care!

Resources to Start and/or Maintain Your Blogging or Social Media Business

• Leslie W. Business Babes | Resources
• Facebook Engagement & Roundup Group
• This Blog Post (the blog post you should read before starting your blog)
• WordPress (where I design and post my blog – aka my website site)
• Start a Blogging Business 5-Day Crash Course (course I took prior to the BBO course to launch my blog)
• Blogging Blastoff 2.0 (THE BEST course you can take prior to or right after launching your blog)
• SiteGround (my self-host platform)
• ShareASale (a great affiliate marketplace in which to get started)
• MailerLite (my email service)
• Canva (the graphic design site I use)
• Adobe (another graphic design program I use)
• Yoast (the SEO service I use)
• Ell’s Pinterest Course (must-do course for driving blog traffic through Pinterest – the number one way to drive blog traffic)
• Tailwind (how I automate my Pinterest pins)
• Tube Buddy (SEO for YouTube)
• Tailwind Tribes (I pay extra to be able to pin more)
• USM Premium (the best Social Media Plugin for your blog)