150. How to Create a Simple Funnel to Get Leads ft. Michelle Ellis

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A funnel has many purposes, but the main one is to get leads! And leads are key to a successful health coaching business because leads can turn into clients, which is what we all want, right? But if you don’t know what you’re doing or what to include, creating a funnel can feel really overwhelming. But I am here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be!

Today Michelle and I are talking about a simple funnel that every coach needs, no matter what level you’re at. You can be a brand new coach or a coach looking to uplevel your business. Whoever you are, this is a funnel that has not failed anybody. 

Tune in to this episode to learn about what opt-ins work the best, why you should have an application for a discovery call, what questions you need to have on that application questionnaire, and what to include in this simple funnel for you to adopt so that you get leads and nurture your people. 

Connect with Michelle:Michelle’s website: https://michelleellisco.showit.site/#/
Michelle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theorganiccopywriter/


Hey guys, so excited for this episode, one of the questions that I constantly get is, how do I create my funnel to get leads? A funnel has many, many purposes and can feel really overwhelming. But think of it as dating, when you first see a guy at the bar, or maybe the guy first sees you, that’s your social media. That’s where they’re checking you out. When they actually come over and give you a number and say hello, that’s when they’ve actually opted in. 

So when you’re thinking about nurturing and thinking about going on those next dates to eventual marriage, that’s actually when that person buys from you and becomes a raving customer raving client. 

Today I want to talk about a simple funnel that every coach needs, no matter what level –whether you are beginner coach, brand new, feeling overwhelmed, or whether you are trying to uplevel your business and go to that next tier of financial success and success with your clients. This is a funnel that has not failed anybody. 

You might actually realize that this funnel has been promoted to you so many times, and you’ve actually gone through this specific funnel. Whether we’re signing up for an application or a discovery call, an application for a discovery call, we want to talk about what are those questions you need to have on that application or discovery call questionnaire? And then what exactly is this simple funnel for you to adopt so that you get leads and nurture those people?

Remember, a person just opting into your freebie isn’t going to secure that ideal client. You want to make sure that you wow them. One thing that I also hear is, Rachel, should I do this as a free funnel? Should I do this as a paid offer? I’m gonna say this, I always went from the avenue of –give a lot. 

Wow that person. Blow them away. Give more than other people. I always did free funnels. I do have a lot of low cost options in my offer suite. So that has always been extremely helpful for that new client that’s looking. But by the time they’ve gone through a training that I’ve put on a download page, they are usually blown away by the content. 

Inside the content I’m showing them the exact steps, providing a solution to their main problems, which for my ideal client is time and money. For your ideal client, there are going to be different problems and different solutions. But remember, that freebie is a mini solution. That training is a mini solution. So this person falls in love with you. 

All right, I’m going to take a break from talking. I’m going to introduce Michelle Ellis, who is here to talk about this funnel that she’s gone through and funnels that she’s put together. 

Which Is Better? A Free or Paid Opt In?

So Michelle, are you the kind of person that likes to go with the free or likes to go with the paid option? What do you see that works? And maybe for different scenarios?

Michelle: I think you should always have a free something that somebody can opt into. That’s really going to be the best way to build your list and get people to know who you are. It’s also a way for you to just have that information exchange of, this is what I’m an expert in. And here’s some proof. 

People are also quick-natured and looking for fast ways to learn something. So a free checklist or a free download, a free guide, a free PDF is the thing, and has actually been the thing for the last 10 years. It’s stood the test of time in the sense that nobody’s abandoned it. No matter how many other funnels like ClickFunnels or anyone else will create. It’s the one that people still always maintain and always use because it’s great for list building always

Rachel: Well, if we think about the types of freebies, a freebie could be a challenge, it could be a checklist. It could be a series of handouts. It could be a PDF, it could be a free training. There’s also a quiz. There’s so many different types of freebies and each one of these funnels is going to work for each one of those types of freebies.

When they opt-in with a freebie on your thank you page, you have a lot of room to play with what they’re interacting with it. They opt in, you hopefully have an email marketing system, they opt in, and they immediately get redirected to a thank you page. On that thank you page is the perfect real estate. Uplevel that experience that they’re having, so that they become wowed.

Michelle: So you can take that freebie to the next level, and offer a workshop on demand. So it’s right there with instant access. They don’t have to wait. The beauty of that is if you’re running ads, specifically, it’s going to cost you less to have someone opt in for a freebie, as opposed to a workshop webinar where you’re hitting sometimes $18 ahead just for someone to register. 

But when you lead in with a PDF, or a download of some freebie, even a free challenge. It’s nice to be able to take them from the freebie to a personalized thank you page with additional training that’s in sync and in alignment with the problem they had on why they downloaded the freebie to begin with. 

So as a health coach, if you’re talking about hormones, and your free guide was about hormones, then it would make sense that that training on that thank you page that’s instantly accessible is also on hormones.

Rachel: You can also do that freebie as a free training. For example, Dr. Body, who I interviewed on our podcast, she bought the 21-day hormone detox and uses it as her fertility program. She did a two minute preview of what that training would be like. Like a little sales video, a two-minute video, and she was really pushing to get people on YouTube and Instagram. So on Instagram, she was doing Reels that brought people to her training. That training was one of the power points within the program she used on endocrine disrupters. 

What You Can Include On Your Thank You Page

She did that training and on the thank you page, when they got that training right under she had a link to her discovery call. She said what was great about that training was that it prequalified her ideal client to get to know what type of training Dr. Body does, what type of coach she is, and what to expect when they get on that discovery call. 

She was like, if this resonates with you, I have a program that’s going to help you with your fertility issues. She’s got a concrete solution for them. So when she got on that discovery call, she was able to convert people easily because they had just been wowed by the training. They’ve just been taught by her. She said that 90% of the people who got on the phone call had watched that video.

Michelle: So in keeping in mind with that, on that thank you page, once they download it –let’s say you have the workshop on the top, you still have room on the bottom to have either an embedded application or a link that goes to an application like Acuity or whatever you use. You can even use Google Forms to qualify the people who are booking calls with you. I’ve also seen it where people just put their calendars directly below so they booked the appointment first and fill out the form. 

So really, it’s a matter of personal preference on that. No matter what, you want some questions answered before you get on the phone with them so that you have a brief understanding of their problem, what they’ve tried, and how it relates to what you’re offering and if you have a qualifying question. What are they about? What are they willing to invest?

Rachel: This was straight up the question that scared the bejesus out of me. Oh my god, how am I going to ask, Are you willing to invest? How much do you have to invest? Or my single session cost this much. Working with me for 90 days costs this much. I was super scared to ask them. I thought I was gonna lose them.

Michelle: What I did, and I still do, actually, on my questionnaire is I say, my base packages start at X, and I put that lower level and then I asked the question of Are you willing to get started at that price? It’s a yes or no. 

As long then I know I have some room to play with this if somebody comes in and they’re ready for at least my base package. So I want to get on the phone with them. From there, you see if there’s anything to upsell too. You can do it either way. So you don’t always have to start with the high price. I always personally felt a little uncomfortable starting at the high price.I just put my base packages and left room to play with and really talked with that person on the phone. Did they need the extra level of support? Or was the base package enough for them?

How To Understand Your People’s Problems & Create Packages That Solve Them

Rachel: One of the things that always helped me is I developed a system for understanding people’s problems. I wrote down three types of clients that I had, people who are coming to me with major autoimmune major food allergies, which took a lot of in-depth, individual work. I always knew that those people had issues for a long time, like back to childhood. I knew those issues did not happen overnight. They would qualify for a longer package to work with me. So I always said, these are like 7, 8, 9, 10 problems. 

Then if somebody had like a 1, 2, 3, 4 problem, that was somebody that maybe this started last year for them. Maybe this started two years ago with the onset of some stress, and they were having bloating, they were having nausea after eating. But there weren’t any glaring, major problems. 

I knew that most often, people were doing five things that were pretty harmful to their body without them knowing, or they were eating foods that were creating inflammatory responses. But maybe they didn’t even know that they were intolerant to that food. Then when I got into that middle level, I knew that that person usually was right for my middle package. 

I had three different packages to offer. I had a higher ticket to work with me at, a mid ticket, and I had a single session. So my mid ticket would be great for somebody who needed a 30 day jumpstart. I was able to understand those types of questions and answers from them because I had those really good questions on my discovery form. 

Now I will tell you guys straight up. I did none of this stuff when I first started coaching. Every single thing that I’m telling you today is what I wish I would have had. I did have a lot of freebies, a lot of challenges, a lot of summits. 

Honestly, though, I think that we did do it. But it wasn’t in this automated process. Because I remember asking people questions, there was a pre qualifying call and it was like, Okay, well, let’s run through these questions. But there was nothing there that offered this beauty of automation to get that information before the call. We didn’t have that back then. It wasn’t set up that way 9 to 10 years ago. 

Now, you can ask those questions in advance, and they come to your email automatically. 

Even back in the day when we were trying to figure it out as a beginning coach, my bloopers were that I couldn’t even figure out the automation. I had to do everything on the Thank you page. My thank you page became this amazing real estate. I was like, hey here’s your freebie. Book a session with me, here’s the latest blog. I gave them a few different calls to actions without using them. It was nurturing them. 

I knew that follow up sequence I would get to when I would figure out automation. Now, make sure that you get a virtual assistant. We talk about outsourcing the things that take you down.  What are things that pull out your energy? For me this was definitely one of them. If you don’t know how to set up your opt-in freebie with a thank you page that has the video and your questions, even if you don’t know how to use Acuity or another scheduler – there are so many different schedulers. If you’re brand new, use the one that’s free. Just as little overhead as you can go and do some testing because I always say the best platforms are the ones that we understand. We can actually figure it out. 

What To Include In Your Freebie Funnel

But just to go over this freebie funnel again. So you have the freebie and they opt in the freebie. If you’re doing Facebook ads, it’s going to be cheaper if they opt into a freebie, cheaper if they opt into a quiz. You can bring them to your Facebook group. That’s another cheap inexpensive way to do that. You could have your freebie in the Facebook group with that training. But you want to redirect them to a thank you page that has the freebie training. So imagine you have this training. Before you download your freebie, watch this training. Then you have the call application. 

So Michelle, I know we covered some of the questions we were having in conversation, what would be some questions that you would put there?

Michelle: Right off the bat, I would want to know exactly what they’re struggling with, how long they’ve been struggling with their issues, and how does it make them feel? I’m always one to really connect with people emotionally. So I don’t want to just know like, Okay, you’re dealing with bloating or whatever. I want to know how it really makes them feel no matter what problem they’re facing.

Rachel: What are a few examples? Because sometimes people get word stuck. I know when I’m signing up for an application like that, and I’m overwhelmed by all these different problems that are running through my head. 

Michelle: Sometimes it’s good to say like, does this take away from your intimacy with your partner? Does this take away from you traveling? Does this mean being present with your family? And have a yes or no question? Make it easier for them. Ask them what they’ve tried before. This way you can get a little bit of a background on the health world. 

Have they tried certain diets? Have they been to certain doctors? Have they tried certain pills? What have they tried that hasn’t worked for them? I think it’s really, really important. And also, have they ever hired a coach votable? 

And then what do they expect from the call? I’ve always asked questions, insinuating that they were signing up to work with me, but it would always be like, what do you expect from our working relationship together? Things like that. 

I kind of jumped the gun there. But I would do it in a way that it was like, Well, if you’re booking a call with me, you’ve done this, you’ve been to a workshop of mine, do you want to take that next step? So what are your expectations of me when we do talk so that I can fulfill those and also understand more about them? 

And then that investing question like, are they ready? You can really word that any way you want. It can be like, are you ready to take the next step? If you want to avoid asking for money. Are you ready to hire a health coach? Things like that to just get a background on them. Try to keep it to 7 to 10 questions maximum so that they don’t feel like they’re filling out an endless job application.

Where People Can Find You To Enter Into Your Funnel

Rachel: I want to actually pivot for a second because I think one of the biggest questions is, how do people find me? Because we’re talking about that funnel, but I want to talk about that showing up. I know there are so many people who make the mistake of spending so much time whether they’re buying a done-for-you freebie from us or a done-for-you workshop, you’re still investing your time to get it ready, and to get it up and going. That isn’t just where it stops. 

You have to be showing up to promote your freebie. You have to be talking about what the problems are and how the freebies solve that problem. You could do videos on YouTube, showcasing the freebie, talking about the benefits of the freebie, talking about who it’s for, talking about why you put this freebie together. 

The same can be done whether you’re doing TikTok or Instagram Rails. The same can be done in the Facebook group community where you’re actually diving in. You can do a poll on what are the biggest problems and you can do a training on that freebie. 

See how they’re kind of inter-matched where that training can be done on the thank you page, but you can also do some mini trainings around the problems so that you’re bringing them to that freebie? Don’t not do that portion of the list building because I think it’s so easy to get caught up in making a beautiful freebie, but we have to actually promote it. 

So write down five ways you’re going to promote your freebie, especially if you’re launching. Make sure that you’re doing that promotion of that freebie a solid month before you’re launching so that can get people to your list. Use that freebie as a catalyst to lead people into the pre-marketing of your program.

The Importance Of Sharing Your Story

Michelle: I think that’s so important and do some storytelling, share your story online, talk about it, do Reels. Just go out there. And don’t be afraid to reach the people who have these problems that really need your help. I think that’s the biggest thing. 

Rachel: I think too often, and this is such the mindset part of coaching, we feel that our story isn’t enough. So to go back and say, I have to tell these micro-stories about my problems, but what were the client’s problems? Do a little case study on a client. Have the call to action of, hey, head over to my site and download this freebie. It also comes with a training. 

Step into that place where you need to show up. You’re the only one that can tell your story in the way that it really needs to be told. And just remember that our clients are sitting there struggling. They’re on Google, they’re trying to figure out left and right, what do I need to do? Be that person that comes with that information and that solution.

Michelle: Yeah, and relatability is key. Once they can relate to you, they feel like there’s that sense of connection.

Rachel: Then you start to get raving clients and start to have people who are like, I need to follow this person because they just show up. It’s like they’re in my head all the time. Remember to focus on your funnel. Focus on the marketing of your funnel, make sure you start doing with imperfect action, and start messy. There’s no way to get started. 

I heard this amazing Reel the other day of this little girl and she was like, in order to be a superstar you have to start. You don’t have to make it perfect to be a superstar. You just need to start. And I just thought to myself, yeah, you have to start. You can’t create magic if you don’t start. 

Maybe it feels like you’re starting when you’re doing your freebie and you’re doing all of this action work. But that true action work comes in the showing up. So if you’re scared of doing video, get out of that fear of being judged, that fear of perfection, that introverted behavior, and start practicing so that you can attract your ideal client, make money doing what you love, and out there helping people. Michelle, do you want to add anything else before we close out?

Michelle: Don’t hesitate. Just go out there and do it. Just to echo what you said, don’t let those fears hold you back. Go out there and just start every day, do something small towards your goal.

Rachel: Isn’t that true? When I took my social media break from Adrenal Fatigue and just needed that time, I had to get back in the groove. But it took me a little while to really get my mindset right, because it had been a while since I really showed up and did lives and did videos. 

So it’s just about practice. No matter what level you’re at. It’s about practice. It’s about getting comfortable saying what you need to say. And if you’re not comfortable, go do something like Toastmasters. Go put yourself in a situation where you have to speak out, you have to share your story. You have to share steps or a little training, do something like that to get yourself in the groove. And trust me it will work.

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