For an online business owner, a sales funnel is probably the most essential marketing tool you have. And yet, many of us—both new and established entrepreneurs—have no clear understanding of what a funnel is or how it works.
As you can imagine, failing to understand this critical part of your business fully means fewer sales, lower profits, and ultimately, an unstable business.
A Simple Sales Funnel For Your Handmade Business
A sales funnel consists of free content at its most basic, which typically requires nothing of your audience. Many sales funnels begin with blog posts, YouTube videos, Facebook content, and other information readers can access at no cost. This is the “top” of your funnel.
Next, you’ll have an attractive offer that requires a micro “payment” of sorts—typically an email address. You’ll have seen this kind of offer on websites all over the internet and probably even signed up for some.
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This micro offer is usually a free ebook or guide, video series, checklist, workbook, or other content that adds value and can solve a single problem and is available in exchange for “opting in” to an email list.
Once on your mailing list, you’ll then present your audience with a series of get-to-know-you emails and perhaps even an entry-level and low-priced purchase offer.
Customers who purchase your low-priced product move further down the funnel and are presented with higher-priced products. As they continue to buy, they move closer and closer to your top-end offers, which make up the bottom of your funnel.
How Your Funnel Works
If you imagine your funnel as looking like, well, a funnel, it’s easy to see that your free content—at the top—is consumed by the largest number of readers. Below that, your extreme low-cost item (available only for the cost of an email address) attracts a smaller subset of the true freebie seekers. Next, your low-priced products bring in yet a smaller group.
Finally, as you near the tip of the funnel, only the most loyal fans and customers will purchase your highest-priced offers.
As the business owner, your job is to ensure that your funnel leads buyers naturally from the top, free offers to the higher-priced offers at the bottom. The more buyers you can keep in your funnel, the more money you will make.
Most new—and even established—business owners can easily envision the top of the funnel. Still, if you genuinely want your business to grow, you must master the entire process, and that starts with understanding what a funnel is and how it works.
How Well Do You Know Your Customer?
Creating an effective sales funnel is part of your overall pricing strategy so read our post “Why Your Pricing Strategy Starts with Knowing Your Customer Like A Bestie” where you’ll find out everything you need to know to plan the perfect pricing strategy and create the perfect sales funnel.
Thanks for dropping by Handmade Life. We look forward to seeing you again soon.
