John Ainsworth is the founder of Data-Driven Marketing and runs a group coaching course for online creators. He’s an expert on sales funnels and shares a wealth of knowledge on this episode of the Tropical MBA podcast.

“Sales funnel is everything from a visitor getting to your website to an email list until they buy something, and then ultimately buy something expensive.”

MAIN TAKEAWAYS

How to build an audience

Learn how to create content that will make you famous. The only way to do this is by creating high-quality user-orientated content. You need to create value for people, and to know what people value, you need to talk to them. It’s too easy to see people as numbers on a screen and forget that they are really, just like you and me.

Freedom is not the only value of life.

• If you talk to people about what they value the most, nearly everybody will say freedom.
• Freedom is most people’s driving force and gives people the motivation to push through enormous pain to attain a certain lifestyle.
• The problem is that most people don’t know what they value after freedom. Once they get enough money and choose how to spend their time, they aren’t motivated to work more to get to the next level.
• If you want to stay motivated, you need to find more values than just freedom. A useful one is self-actualisation, i.e. becoming the best you can be in a particular area of life.

Sales Funnels are super important.

Creating a perfect sales funnel can help increase your revenue massively. Understand the steps to create an effective funnel, and stick to them religiously.

INTERESTING QUOTES

Most people think that improving the offer means improving the product or making it cheaper. Improving your offer means identifying the transformations someone will get from your products and telling them about that.

If you talk to people about what they value the most, nearly everybody says freedom.

You need to know what your values are. What is it that matters most to you in life? What is it you’re after? What kind of life do you want to have?

HOW TO BUILD AN EFFECTIVE SALES FUNNEL

1. Order Bumps

 • You can get results from orders bumps in less than a day
 • The concept is to offer cheap products that supplement what your customers are already buying
 • Add order bumps to your order page. Order bumps should be a tick box and two lines of text.
 • They should be ~ one-third of the price of the main product you’re selling.
 • Order bumps work well as bundles like you’ll see on Amazon with their suggested products.
 • We’ve seen order bumps increase revenue by 20+%.

2. Upsell

 • Offer additional products or services after checkout.
 • 15% to 30% of your customers will buy through up-sells.
 • Upsells generally increase the purchase value rather than adding an extra product, e.g. same-day deliveries, order another one and get 50% off, ‘get the hardcover version’ etc.

3. Email Promotions

 • People usually send three emails a year because they don’t want to be spammy, and content takes time to create.
 • John suggests sending nine emails per promotion over two weeks to encourage click-through rates and increase conversion.

4. Improving your sales pages

 • There are 15 crucial elements you should have on your sales page. You don’t have to be an excellent copywriter. You only have to ensure the sales pages have the fifteen elements. Some of these elements are compelling headlines, bonuses, guarantees, scarcity, and urgency.

Here are the 15 elements you must have on every optimised particular page.

5. Improve checkout pages

 • The checkout page is the same page where you should have the order bump.
 • Make checkout pages as straightforward as possible. Don’t make them work hard to give you their money.
 • Usually, people are nervous at checkout. Add social proofs, testimonials, and trust badges. Summarise what’s Included in their order so that they can see the value.

6. Increase your opt-in rate

 • The opt-in rate is the number of email opt-ins per month, divided by monthly website visitors multiplied by 100%
 • Ensure you have a good lead magnet. Don’t ask people to sign-up for your newsletter. Instead, offer value like a freebie, a guide, or a helpful and easy-to-use resource.
 • Put that opt-in in different places on your website. Add it to your blog articles, use pop-ups, add claim boxes and so on.

7. Improve your offers

 • Most people think that improving the offer means improving the product or making it cheaper.
 • Improving your offer means figuring out the transformations someone will get from the products and telling them about that. Give them a guarantee or bonus to address their fears.

Relevant Links

John Ainsworth | LinkedIn
Before the Exit – New Book
The Dynamite Circle
Tropical MBA on YouTube
Data-Driven Marketing
15 Elements Every Optimized Sales Page Must Have
Values – the undercurrent of your life