In this solo episode, Shaun Whynacht addresses why many businesses attract traffic but fail to convert. He explains the difference between a traditional sales funnel and a broader customer journey, emphasizing that the key to conversion is a clear, single, actionable “first footprint” – the initial step a prospect must take toward a flagship program. Using examples like a scorecard leading to a virtual roundtable, Shaun illustrates how to identify and consistently promote this first step across all content (blogs, podcasts, presentations). He ties the concept to story‑branding principles from Donald Miller, arguing that a confused mind says no, so a concise, consistent call‑to‑action is essential. The episode ends with a challenge for listeners to define their own first footprint, followed by a motivational salute to small‑business owners from Blue Cow Marketing.
Chapters
Have you ever wondered why you got so many followers on your accounts, you got so much traffic coming to your website, but nobody is converting into your program or buying your product? It's probably because there's confusion going on. It's probably because they don't know what you want them to do. In today's episode, I want to talk exactly about that, and we're going to be talking about footprints. Stick with me, it'll make a lot of sense. Well, here we are. It is April 1st. That's no joke. And today's episode, I am flying solo. We don't have a guest today, mainly because our internet connection in our studio went down. So the guest we had lined up to record today, we couldn't do that. So here you have me. I want to talk to you about the customer journey, the funnel, the process. That you put people through. A lot of time when we're looking at content, we're looking around attraction. How do you attract more people to your business? How do you attract people to your, to your website? How do you attract people to your landing page? How do you attract people to your podcast? And then once you got them there, what's the ultimate goal? Well, the ultimate goal is to get them into your customer journey. Don't be confused, there is a place for a funnel, and there is a place for a customer journey. So let's think about it. If you are a service-based business, and I'm gonna use that example cuz that's mainly the type of business that, that I primarily have done work for myself, there is a sales process or a journey that people go to or go through. You know, there's an end program in most cases, whether you are, you know, a financial advisor or you are a, you know, a trainer or a coach or whatever. Usually you've got your, your flagship key program. I mean, that's your big ticket item, right? And that's the ultimate goal. You'd love to get everybody into that program, but they have to start somewhere. So your funnels are usually looking to get people to, you know, buy something, a low ticket offer, and then you might have a one-time offer or tripwire and all that kind of stuff, right? Following the method of ClickFunnels, which is a great process, it is a great product. It's something that, that I have as of, you know, this week started to, to leverage and started to build out for one of my brands. So when we look at this, what we want to do is identify what I'm calling the first footprint in the sand. This is the first actionable thing somebody needs to do on their way to your big ticket item or your big ticket program. You need to identify what that is. And you know, you heard Wendy's interview in a previous recent episode. It might have been last week. I'd have to look it up, but I think it was where we talked about how she has developed a quiz or a scorecard, right? That is the first step into her journey. It goes scorecard, then it goes into a virtual roundtable, and then from there converting into the program. That's not a funnel, that is a journey. That is the first step in the process of converting into that program. There could be funnels for free lead magnets. There could be funnels to purchase a book and then buy a mini course and all that kind of stuff. But the ultimate step in your process needs to be clear and defined because that is what you need to drive people to in your blogs. That's what you need to drive people to in your podcast, whether it's your own podcast or even if you're a guest appearing. If you're out asked to do a presentation at a chamber on a certain specific topic. That first step in the process, or first footprint, is what your call to action needs to be. And you need to be clear on that, you need to be concise on that, and you need to be consistent on that if you're going to grow your business. And that's where a lot of people don't take the time to identify or know where that is, right? They're saying, hey, go to my website or find me on social media, and then they're posting out some free things that are there. Maybe they've got some mini courses and stuff like that, but usually that's as far as it gets. And they hope just through the laws of having mass amount of people in there that when they do start to promote their program that they're just gonna be like, hey, yeah, me, I wanna do that. No, a confused mind always says no. I've heard this quote several times and I just recently heard it in another training and it makes complete sense. When somebody comes into your ecosystem, and they clearly do not know what you want them to do, they clearly do not understand what the first step they need to make to overcome the problem they have which brought them to you, they will say no, they will leave, guaranteed. When a brain has to think, it burns calories, and it does not want to do that. It needs to be clear. That's why if you followed the methodology of story branding, And what Donald Miller has put out about his landing pages and his websites is there's one single call to action. It is the ideal step you want them to take, that first step in the sand. So I challenge you today, look at your business and think about it. What is the first step you want somebody to take to start to move through your customer journey and your customer experience? If you don't know, that's okay. Now you know that you need to know that. So Think about it, write it down, spend some time, set some time aside, do it in the bath, do it on the drive, do it wherever. I don't care where you do it. The fact that you need to do it is the best part. If you don't, your clients, your prospects who will hopefully be clients, will not know what they need to do. So as I close, I'm going to ask you this Last thing, and reiterate this, what is that first footprint your prospects need to make?
Running your own business is hard. Those long hours, the doubt, the challenge to meet demands. But you're resilient, strong, dedicated. You do all of this for more than profits, success, or money. You do it because you care. You care about the people who shop here, eat there, drink here. You care about your community. You care about your team. Despite all else, you care. No matter what life throws throws your way, you power through it with grit and perseverance. You are the epitome of dedication. You are a small business owner. For this reason, Blue Cow Marketing salutes you.
