#168 - 5 reasons you need a funnel in 2023

Hello, hello guys, it is Kate here from hello Funnels and welcome to the Donate Online podcast. I hope you're having an awesome and super nerdy day and today I am looking forward to talking with you about my favorite topic as always, funnels and actually the five reasons why you need to have a funnel for your online course business in 2023. So if you're ready, let's dive right on in.

This is the Doing It Online podcast with your host, serial entrepreneur and seven figure funnel strategist and super nerd Kate McKibben where every week we're here talking nerdy and sharing the things that actually work to help you do what you do online. But better, easier and with a ton more profit too. Are you ready? Let's do it.

Alrighty guys, as I mentioned, today we're going to be talking funnels, which I am super thrilled about because that's one of my favorite topics to talk about next to Ted Lasso, which sadly we no longer able to discuss as frequently. So let's today I want to talk about not, not so much about a different type of funnel or how to create a funnel, but the reasons why and this is for all of you listening who don't have one yet or perhaps don't have one that's working as well as it should, why you need to have a funnel for your online course business, like why particularly right now in 2023, they are so, so important. So before we dive into the why, I want to quickly cover off for anyone who's new to this space who's like what even is a funnel? I want you what my definition of a funnel is. And a funnel basically is it's a mostly automated process that takes a lead or someone who's interested in what you do through the like the best steps possible to get to educate them, engage them, connect with them and then make them an offer. So it's automating that, that whole process of providing great value, of getting that, letting them get to know you, making sure they have all the information they need and then right at the right time serving them up a totally irresistible offer and doing this all and you know, a 90% or more automated way. So this is just something a little system, a little engine that you can build using a couple of tool, most of which aren't even that expensive. In fact they're really, really quite affordable and it runs in the back of your business. And the goal of these funnels, when you do them in the way that we do them, is that they're going to be set up to make you sales of your online courses and programs. Not just every quarter when you run a launch, but every month, every week, even every day. So with all that in mind, if that's not reason enough, let's talk about the five really, really top reasons why you need to have a funnel in your business right now. So reason number one, and I think this is something that a lot of people either unaware of or just really discount the value of, is that when you think about the reason why somebody would get onto your email list, right, it's usually they are out in the world, they have a couple of problems that currently sitting in the back of their mind that they're trying to solve or that they'd like to be rid of. And then something of your pops up, whether it's a podcast episode, a video, a piece of content, an ad to an opt in bribe or lead magnet that you have. And they're like, oh, that sounds interesting, that sounds like it might help me with this problem that I'm trying to solve. And so they click and then, you know, through whatever mechanism you have set up, they end up giving you their email address and getting onto your email list. And all of those interested people who are currently actively out in the market searching for a problem, sorry, a solution to their problem of which you have, there is a percentage of them that are so ready to buy. They are ready to buy right now. So. And the funnel allows them to do that. It allows them. And again, the way that we set up funnels, we have funnels set up in sort of three phases to cover off those different levels of buyer readiness. But the truth of it is is there's a certain percentage of people who are jumping on your email list right now who are ready to buy from you today, who would happily hand over their credit card for the offer that you have if you told them about it and gave them a reason to like allowed them to. But what happens when you don't have a funnel is usually they get onto your email list, let's be real, maybe they get a couple of days of introduction if you're, you know, if you have set up some kind of warmup sequence, but for most people, they get into your email list, they just start getting your weekly random emails and then maybe in a couple of months time you, you'll do your launch and they get a chance to buy then problem is they're ready to buy today. And if you're not launching for another two, three months, you've lost them they are going to go elsewhere. Someone else's thing, which is interesting, is going to pop up and that someone else will have a funnel and they will purchase their thing, not yours. So you're losing those ready now buyers because they are actively looking for a solution and you're not letting them have them. So. And it's not the same. It's not okay. It doesn't have the same effect and impact to just have a program that has a sales page on your website with a button that they can buy. Now that's not the same thing. Because where the funnel sort of is above and beyond that is that it has those extra pieces of connection, that it has a few more strategic things that happen rather than just you can buy this at any time page. So those are not comparable. Don't think you're solving that problem by just allowing people to buy on your page at any time. I think your numbers, if you looked at them, would kind of show you that that's not the case. So that's number one. Number two, and I think this one is really, really applicable at the moment, not to everybody, but to a lot of people is you just can't rely on launches anymore. Launches are changing the way that we market is changing. What is and isn't working is in flux. Things happen in the world which can have a, you know, you might have something planned, you might have spent months setting it up. It might be the, the best possible, you know, marketing and sales system that you could, you know, launch. Like it might just be amazing. Everything's perfect. You're so excited about it. And then something happens in the world and you cannot, you know, you will get no sale or your sales are half because there's all of these external things going on of which you have no control over. I mean, it could be simple as the, the power go your neighborhood and your webinar bombs, or it could be something much, much bigger. And those much, much bigger things seem to be happening more and more frequently. So you cannot have all your eggs in one basket. Not just because of the fact that the world is unstable, but because some of those baskets are now unstable and are not, you know, something that might have worked brilliantly for you last year, the year before, is not going to be working the same right now. And to spend the same amount of time and effort preparing for that and investing in ads and all of that stu a much less exciting result. That's not how you grow your business. It's not how you stay sane. So I'm not saying you don't have to do, you know, not to launch at all anymore. If it makes sense for you, if it's the right strategy for you, go for it. But where the funnel fits in is that it is running in between and making new sales the months that you're not launching and giving you that extra however much percentage in sales already. So that even if your launches only do 50% of what they used to do, it's okay because your funnels filled in the gaps and made up the difference. So yeah, that, that's number reason number two, you just can't rely on launches anymore. Well, mostly number three is it's really the only way that you can have and plan to have some proper time off. And I think again, so important at the moment that we are able do this like after the last three plus years of things just getting more and more stressful and people having to take on so much more and so many like talk about external factors, but so much more going on in the world, which is just going to be sitting heavily with you. You need to be able to disconnect. But we're all getting, but instead we're actually spending more and more time on our phones, more and more time in our businesses. So where do you get the downtime? Where do you get the recharge time? Like just for your own sanity, for you to be able spend time with your family, for you to be able to, you know, be able to refuel and become creative again. If you can't do that, if you can't plan for that, if you take a holiday but you take your laptop with you each time, that's not real recharge time, that's just doing business somewhere less convenient time. So you need to be able to have those breaks, you need to be able to plan for those breaks, you need to be able to feel supported and safe and like you're not going to come back to a complete fire. Your business being on fire after those breaks and a funnel and having regular reliable sales coming in every month, every week, every day, that is one of the only real ways you can do that. I know the old school way of doing it was all right, well, I'll just plan my break in between my launches and because and then for the launches before have to go so well that it's. You can have that break and stretch out that gap a bit longer before the next one. But as I already mentioned, that's not really happening anymore or not for everybody. Some people's launches are still killing it and for those people, you know, if that strategy is working, keep doing it, but for a lot of people, that's not the case. And instead what we end up doing is just working harder and harder and harder and having less and less opportunity for any kind of rest. And that is going to lead to a huge number of people being burnt out and having much bigger issues which are much more important than your business. Like, if you are not well, you cannot do your business. So you need to be able to have breaks. And you. And having a funnel working is one of the only real ways to do that. Number four, and we talked about this in an episode a couple of weeks ago, but having the right funnel in place, and particularly when it's the kind of ecosystem that we teach inside Ecourse Empire, but it actually allows you to make your ads pay for themselves, and that allows you to then be able to afford to do more things like more paid traffic, to be able to grow with more stability, to be able to grow more profitably and be able to grow much faster than you would if again, you were only doing launches every few months and instead having to go through that horrible, stressful situation of saying, okay, well, I've got a launch coming up in 60 days. I need a list build before then. So I'm going to spend like 20 grand on ads and hope I get it back in my launch. With a funnel, you might spend the same on ads, you might spend more, but you know you're gonna get those sales back that week. So it helps you to be able to do those ads, grow your list, and then it also helps therefore, to make those launches better because you've got more people on your list. They've already gone through this amazing warmup sequence. If they didn't purchase already, they feel so engaged and connected with you that they're really excited for whatever you have next. So it's all a win, win, win. Number five. And this is one of my preferred, or one of my favorite reasons is it actually allows you to launch much less. So, I mean, one of the systems that we teach inside our ecosysempire program is what I call lazy launches. Because as we've seen over the last few years, the big launches, they are not necessarily working as well anymore. And they take up way too much time, they're way too stressful, they're way too unreliable, they take up all your resources, all your budget, all your team's time, and you don't have any time to do anything else. And then you're getting a fraction of the results that you used to do. So we help people to switch from relying on these big launches to having what we call lazy launches, which is much smaller, repeatable little mini promotions that can run more frequently. Yes, they're going to get a, be a smaller bump in sales each time, but you're not, you're having more of them. So they, they add up to usually be the same, if not more sales, but they require you to only do a fraction of the setup time and a fraction of the running time and energy, which has such a much bigger impact on the rest of your business. And then if you want to still have a big event, launch like once or twice a year, which again, you know, they can be fun, particularly when the stress and the pressure is off because you've made the sales you need to make with your funnels and with your lazy launches. And this now becomes the icing on the cake rather than the actual cake. They can be more enjoyable, they can be a great thing to do and just can be a way for you to give value and connect with your audience. So those are my top five reasons, guys. There's actually way more. I could talk about this for days, but seriously, right now more than ever, having some kind of stability, having additional revenue streams, having things in your business that are designed to support you as the world's craziness goes up and down, as ad costs go up and down, it's never going to be a bad thing. And I think it really is like now or never, so crucial to have that, to be able to have a profitable, scalable business. And as I said, guys, if you, if you want our help with that, this is exactly what we do inside our ACOS Empire program. It's super hands on. You get myself, you get my team. We're in there, you know, sleeves rolled up, helping you to implement this piece by doable piece into your business so you can start to enjoy regular, reliable sales in your business. If you want more information on that, head on over to HelloFunnels Co or grab the link below. Otherwise, guys, I will see you next week, same time, same place for another nerdy update. Have an amazing week and we'll see you then. Bye.

Thanks so much for listening to the Doing it online podcast. If you love this episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. And if you're ready to take your online course sales to the next level with your own six or seven figure funnel, let Kate show you exactly how today@Stealmyfunnel.com.