Catch up on some related episodes:

Today’s talking point:

This is the final episode in a three-part series all about generating consistent income so that you can live your most abundant life.

We’re going to explore income abundance, automation and sales. We’ll talk about how to set up your online business so that your free content is consistently bringing in abundance. Then we’ll explore how to create a sales strategy with confidence and ease that feels good for you and your customers.

Apply for the Abundant Boss Mastermind.

Build your sales funnel

A sales funnel might sound really technical and complicated. But we’re going to break all of that down today. I'm also going to go over the importance of creating freebies for lead generation, and then how to use a welcome sequence to sell for you.

Let’s start with your sales funnel.

I want you to think about an actual funnel where you pour liquid into the top, and then it would go all the way down into that tiny little point at the bottom. That's what we want to think about that we are setting up inside of our business.

We want to encourage lots of people into the top of this funnel. People are going to go through different stages, and then there's gonna be a percentage of people who are actually going to become your clients, your customers, your students.

So let's start at the top. This is your traffic – either organic or paid. Organic traffic could be your Instagram posts, blog posts, a podcast, or a YouTube video. Paid traffic is advertising. That's the first stage of the funnel. And that's the really cold audience who don't necessarily know you yet and what you sell.

Then we go to the middle of the funnel, the second stage. This is where your audience is a little bit warmer: they have experienced something from you, they've come in, and they're getting to know you. This is where people are seeking solutions and comparing options. They know they have a problem and they want to know who will be the best fit to provide the solutions. So what we then want to do is continue to nurture them and continue to show up.

Then at the bottom of the funnel, that's where people trust you enough to actually want to pay you. They've gone through and done their research, they've assessed their different options.

So here's what we do, and also what it looks like at every stage.

stage 1: top of funnel

At the top of the funnel, you need to be doing things to generate traffic. One of the ways to do this is with freebies and lead magnets to build an email list.

Use your social media to encourage people off that platform and onto a landing page where they sign up for your emails in exchange for a free resource or download.

So I want to give you a real example of how a lead magnet could work for you. Imagine you’re on your phone searching for a solution to something that’s bothering you. You’ve come across a blog post and it’s providing information, it’s providing value and some answers. And there’s something free in exchange for your email that’s going to help you take the next step.

Then you get that information plus you’re slowly receiving these emails that help you understand more about the person who was helping you in that blog post.

And we always want to automate these emails through an email service provider. So they're going to opt in for the lead magnet. And you are then going to enter them into an email sequence, not just one email, but a series of emails that's going to go through and nurture them. And that email sequence is then directing them to a sales page that you have, or your shop or something that you are selling.

Here are some ideas for lead magnets you can create…

An e-book (try to look for ways to package up content you’ve already created to save your time)
A masterclass
Audio download
Discount code (this is great for product-based businesses)
Phone or desktop wallpapers (perfect if you create artwork)
A 30-day challenge or bingo card

stage 2: middle of funnel

This is where we want to be looking at that low-to-medium price point. It's where we can also be doing things like webinars, masterclasses challenges courses, exactly what I'm giving you right now. And an email sequence that is building trust and a relationship.

stage 3: bottom of funnel

This is where we want to start focusing on those higher ticket offers. So this could be doing discovery or sales calls, encouraging people to fill in an application form. This is also where we’re launching, selling and promoting.

Build your email welcome sequence

We want our business to be this beautiful machine that is doing the selling for us. Because once you've got your freebie setup, you want to make sure that you automate an email sequence that is selling for you.

So I want to walk through what an email sequence could look like. This is a series of emails over a number of days that will continue to build that relationship.

And, no, you’re not being annoying by creating a welcome sequence. People are looking for a solution which is why they opted into your email.

You want to make sure that you are showing up and you're being the person that is building that relationship.

Here’s what that could look like:

Email 1: introduce yourself
Email 2: tell a story about your journey or the journey of one of your clients or customers
Email 3: share some of your biggest lessons
Email 4: Provide access to something like another freebie or low-ticket offer that will give them a quick win
Email 5: Invite them into your world and show them how to take the next steps to work with you
Email 6: Share some reviews, results, testimonials
Email 7: Offer a discount or extra value, direct them to a sales page

That's an example of a seven day welcome sequence that you could put together and have it set up today so it's selling for you we set it up once and then it works for us forever.

How to use a sales strategy to bring in sales

Now, a lot of the time, we think that we have to be constantly launching in order to make sales. I used to think this as well and I found it really exhausting. Launching 100% has its place. But you don't want it to be the only way that you are welcoming sales into your business because this relies on you.

So you need to set up your business in a way that works for you, with intention. Even if you're at the beginning of your journey, I love to talk about strategy and funnels and systems because I feel like whether you are further down the track or whether you are just getting started, this is something that you need to know.

Sometimes people think ‘I don't need to worry about this until later I need to get myself established first’. But that's when we fall into the trap and we never really allow ourselves to get to that point where we can set those things up because we’re too busy. So it's really good no matter where you're at, to be really looking at setting these systems up.

So how do we do this practically? (And this now is almost a recap of everything that you have learned in this series).

Step 1: Know your customer’s pain points and deep desires
Step 2: Build out your value ladder and your product suite
Step 3: Pay attention to all the stages of your funnel
Step 4: Set up systems to automate the sales process
Step 5: Focus on serving and watch the abundance flow

So I want to show you another real-life example of this. Let's say you have a mastermind that is constantly open to enrollments. You have launch periods, but outside of that you still want sales, you still want people coming in.

Your free lead magnet helps you drive traffic. Once people opt-in, they receive your nurture sequence. Then you can direct them toward the application form for the mastermind. If your mastermind is consistently open, that means you can then have sales calls getting booked in constantly because your nurture sequence is serving every single person that's coming into your world and building that relationship and then saying, ‘hey, come and check out the mastermind, here's where you apply’.

Now you can create something for free, that that builds value and establishes more of an authority with your audience. You could also have a free masterclass that is specific to your ideal client for the mastermind. And you're just focusing on teaching in that you're not focusing on launching and selling. You're just focusing on teaching the masterclass you teach it live and on the masterclass, you announce that applications are open.

The beauty of this is that you can make this evergreen if you want to so it's available all the time. Then you can add the masterclass into your welcome sequence, and make sure it's front and centre on your website as well.

This means you can then focus on all the other stuff. So we've done the hard work, we've done all the stuff behind the scenes.

And then this is what you can do. If you have a podcast, you can invite people to access the free training. You can do blog posts that link to the training, you can collaborate as a guest on other platforms and give them the free training as a free gift. And everything that you do is directing people to apply for the mastermind as this example because remember, in one of the previous episodes, we spoke about really having that key focus in order to hit that consistent income.

So to streamline and have sales being an always thing, this is all that you would focus on, you'd have your free lead magnet, you'd set up your welcome sequence, you'd run your free training, direct it to applications, turn it evergreen, let it work for you serve your clients, and then just keep creating new value that serves and sells without the sleaze.

You can see that your focus isn't on sell, sell, sell, it's on serve, serve, serve. Let that be your mantra, your focus is on serving, not just selling all the time. That can create anxiety and exhaustion, it just doesn't feel fun. We want it to feel fun, it should feel fun for you to show up in your business.

When you shift your focus to service, abundance flows as a side effect. I live by that mantra, it's never about me, it's about showing up and being of service.

So ask yourself this, how can you serve, knowing that you are building an evergreen asset that's going to work for you forever. Let it be simple and easy.

Let’s quickly recap

Assess your funnel: look at the top, the middle and the bottom and see what you need to make some tweaks
Create your free lead magnet and set up your welcome sequence to sell for you
Plan your sales strategy. What is your North Star? What is your driving light? What is it that you are focusing on and making sure that it's centred around serving, and then setting up a system that works forever?

Learning is one thing, but implementation is something completely different. It's so important that you don't just sit on this what I've shared with you, I want to support you in taking the action and you actually applying it to get the results that I know that you're here for.

If you have loved this episode today, and you found this series helpful, please make sure you check out the Abundant Boss Mastermind. This is my brand new six-month mastermind running from the start of June until the start of December.

This is for my passionate value lead online business owner who is ready to build a six-figure business that supports the lifestyle they want to have. They are ready to get off the feast and famine income cycle create consistent and predictable monthly income and truly be present with their family and be able to take time off without stress.