For the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about all the ways online business people can make their launches a success.
Launches are one of my favorite parts of doing business online. There’s just something about them! For one, the best launches push you to the limit. For two, it’s one of the best paydays you can get when it goes well.
This week, I want to share a strategy that I found with my business partner Nick, called the “Funnels Inside Funnels” strategy.
By the way, if you want to listen to this lesson in podcast form, follow this link.
The Secret to Launch Frequency
One common misconception I hear from new entrepreneurs is that a high launch volume is required to make it in online business. They feel like they have to come up with a new product every month or two and host a big launch for it to stay afloat.
This leads to neverending product research, marketing, hype, launches, and follow-ups. Must be tiring!
Nick and I found out (after a few bumps in the road) that the secret to online business is not the frequency of launches, but the quality.
Believe it or not, launches are not about making a ton of money and then running yourself ragged to do it again. They’re not about living “paycheck to paycheck,” hoping your business survives until you can release your next course, promotion, or product.
Launches are about customer acquisition, plain and simple. The goal is to get more people into your funnel so that they generate revenue for you even when it isn’t launch season.
In this modality, you only need a few launches per year. The money they provide is nice, but the real win comes when they bring in more customers for you. You want to have plenty of time between your launches to onboard your new customers, and give them time to browse your catalog.
In this way, your launch funnel is actually just the first step within a much larger customer funnel.
This method also gives you plenty of time to perform market research, and come up with your next product idea. These are some of the key steps in my signature strategy, the M.I.L.K. It Method. Give it a read to turn your next product, skill, or idea into a major cash cow.
The Funnels Inside Funnels Playbook
Here’s how to make sure your launch customers turn into long term customers:
- Get As Many People Inside The Launch Funnel As Possible
For the “Funnels Inside Funnels” strategy, your first funnel is the launch product. This isn’t any different from a normal launch. However, the better your front-end product is, the better.
This is another reason we tend to launch only three times per year. We want to make sure our products are well researched and developed. The more customers you attract with your launch, the more customers will be attracted to the subsequent steps.
Make sure that you clear your schedule during the week of the launch. Do everything you can to ensure customer success during this week. Answer every email and social media inquiry. When you help customers through problems, it often inspires them to become more engaged with your other products.
- Create An Irresistible Back-End Offer
Next, you must create a bridge between your launch funnel and your main funnel. We like to do this with a back-end offer that the customer can’t refuse. I mean, they can technically say no, but they have no reason to do so.
This could include something like free training on the product, a private coaching session, or something valuable that makes the customer want to opt into it.
Nick and I most frequently use a back-end webinar. We actually decide on the content of the webinar during the development of the product itself; that’s how important this step is. Sometimes we even reverse engineer our launch to fit with the webinar. In this way, we start with the end in mind.
- Make an Offer at the End Solving the Same Pain Point
As we’ve mentioned before, knowing your audience’s pain points is most of the battle when it comes to developing strong products. At the end of your back-end presentation, invite your audience to look at another product of yours, preferably one that answers similar concerns to what they’ve already bought.
This transplants them from your “inside” funnel of the launch and fast-tracks them into your “outside” main funnel.
For best results, make a limited-time, discounted offer. This puts your customer in a position where they must make a decision, or risk missing out on the deal. It also saves them money on something they’re likely already interested in.
The best back-end products take what your customer already wants to do with your launch product, and sets it ablaze. For example, if we launch a product related to growing our customer’s audience, then our back-end product should be called something like “Audience Growth Exploder.” No matter what, you’re adding fuel to their fire.
When you make a solid front-end product, an irresistible back-end offer, and link it to a product that expands on what the customer has already said “yes” to… then you have a “Funnels Inside Funnels” approach.
For more secrets the so-called “gurus” won’t tell you about making money online, take a look at my podcast:
