Are you familiar with the term “product funnel?” The likelihood is you've been inside a product funnel yourself.
Usually the first, and least expensive, product at the widest part of the funnel is a free offer – typically a pdf or webinar training. The products get more and more expensive – and more and more in-depth – as the funnel narrows, until finally you're at the most expensive product of all, your personal one-on-one products.
But most coaches – especially service providers – aren't using the product funnel to its fullest advantage. Instead, they lead with what should be their most expensive product: TIME. But what if you were to lead with on or two or three digital products or automated programs? These are things you create once, but keep earning you income and keep helping clients WITHOUT taking more of your time.
Leading with items that constitute passive or semi passive income, you can earn more income without having to dedicate time for every dollar you bring in. Plus you'll have the opportunity to devote what time you do spend with clients on those who , you'll find that you not only have more time in your day, but that when you do spend time with a client it's more productive since only the most serious minded clients will get to experience it.
Lead Generation Offers
These can be freebies, short reports, or even live events and workshops. But the focus here should be on creating something that's, concise, easy to consume, and can can make money for you over and over again. A live event can't do that, so focus on giving away things like reports or access to video trainings instead. But if you must do a live event, be sure to use the email addresses you've collected when people signed up. Because once they are on your list you can market other passive income products to them.
Monthly Membership Clubs
Some call them masterminds, inner circles, or insiders clubs. Usually the number that can join is limited in some way to increase the likelihood that people will join for worry of missing out. The cost is usually small, perhaps $27 to $97 a month.
Maybe the first hundred could get in for $27 then the next hundred must pay $97. The only thing you have to do for the membership club is to insert content, give special exclusive access to something such as a weekly Google Q&A Hangout, Workshop, Private Forum, and “How To” manuals.
• Email Coaching — This is another membership that you can add on exclusively to the Monthly Membership. For a premium price the client can get answers to a specific number of questions per week or day.
• Phone Coaching — Another idea added on to the membership club is to offer for a premium price a limited number of phone coaching to select members who have purchased email coaching. While they have to pay more for the phone coaching it's treated as a membership benefit, thus enacting the idea of scarcity.
• Annual Weekend Retreats — This is added on for those who have received phone coaching only. For a premium price, upwards of 10K per person, you could do a weekend retreat with only very special clients.
As you see, from the initial lead generation offers, and the passive monthly membership club, you now have pulled people into your product funnel to become personal clients. You can arrange this however you want, these are just ideas to get your creative juices flowing. But the thing that drew the person into your product funnel to start with should be a passive income stream, which is where most of your money can and should be generated so that you can have a freer life that you always dreamed about.
The Product Funnel Starts With A Product
Creating your first product might seem like a daunting task. It doesn't have to be. In fact, you probably have all the knowledge and resources you need to create your first products right now. Want to see how? Come join me for a brief training on 5 simple steps to creating profitable digital products, which I created specifically for professional coaches.
