Funnels are an essential part of any online business. Building your funnels doesn't have to be highly complicated, and when you have them in place, your business will grow faster and easier than ever before. Now, if you are a newbie to funnels, you might be thinking, "what funnels really are?" Let me show you how easy and uncomplicated funnels can be and how they can support any growing business: 

The Beginner’s Guide to Building Sales Funnels

When you create your funnels, you are actually moving your sales processes on autopilot. The process is simple: you initiate conversations with your existing and potential clients through automated messages/emails/content. Initially, this means that you can share a lot of valuable information with your target audience without you having to be involved every step of the way. Once your funnels are set, you don't have to do anything, thanks to your digital sales engine that acts on autopilot - building relationships and continuing to sell!

Do you Really Need to Build a Funnel? 

If you are unconvinced about having funnels working for your business, let me walk you through some of the reasons to have them: 

Time Saver

• When your funnels work in your business, you get to work on your business. Funnels enable you to create something once and have the same message, email and offer delivered to your readers time after time without you having to write anything or even press a button.
• You save precious time that you can spend on something else. Be it working on other parts of your business or simply going for a run, taking a yoga class or taking your kid to the park. 

It Works Like a Clockwork 

• Running any business takes a lot of time and energy. Sometimes we have to juggle marketing, sales, production, customer service, content management and social media - just to name a few of the hats we get to wear as business owners.
• Having funnels in place means less worrying because they are set, in place and ready to deliver whatever content you've created there. 

Additional Revenue 

• I am a big believer in having multiple streams of revenue. When running live coaching programs, you launch your packages and services regularly, by having funnels in the right place allows you to have regular income from a source that requires you to do it only once. 

When to create a funnel

• When you have a product or service you are selling, it is a perfect opportunity to create a funnel to support your efforts. You don't have to start it off with a perfect grand plan. Just set up a simple funnel and adjust it as you go. Check your analytics, monitor how people react and tweak your funnel from time to time. 

What Technology is Needed to Build Your Funnels

• First of all, you don't have to be a highly experienced tech person to build your funnels. There are many different automation software and platforms that you can use. I use Kajabi, and I absolutely love it. I experimented with many different options, and Kajabi, hands down, won my vote. However, I am not here to tell you that you need to use Kajabi.
• I suggest doing some research, checking out the benefits, costs, and functionalities, and choosing the one that fits your needs the best. However, there is one thing I recommend. Choose a platform that will allow you to grow. When you check out the pricing and the technology part, ensure that the system will grow with you.
• Some platforms start cheap, but when your business and, with it, your list grows, the prices go significantly up. And because your list is deeply entwined in that platform by that time, it would be complicated and stressful to move to another provider - you stay and pay unnecessarily high prices. So choose wisely and ambitiously. 

What you Actually Need to Set Up your Funnels: 

An Email Automation Software

• As I mentioned, I use Kajabi, but you can check out MailChimp, Active Campaign, Convertkit, or a reasonably new arrival that I think is pretty great called Flodesk. You need software that you can use for setting up sequences, creating tags according to what actions your readers take, and then moving them to the next stages of your sequence. 

A Page Builder

• Create landing pages so your audience can opt-in to different activities, watch a video, access your latest podcast, and hear or read about your latest promotion or offer ( buy from you). 

Patience 

•  There is a strong chance that your funnel won't start working perfectly immediately. You need patience and awareness to experiment with what is working and what needs to be adjusted. When you create a funnel, give it some time before you start modifying it or running paid ads. If you don't have experience with funnels, you are better off getting some help from a professional.

In summary, keeping things simple and keeping an eye on the performance of your funnels is the first and most important thing to keep in mind. As your business grows, you can choose to outsource your funnels while, in the meantime, you have to dedicate some time and attention. If you want to learn more about building funnels and creating email sequences, check out this recent post about The Beginners Guide to Building Email Sequences that Convert. 

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