How to make internet money

Key Concepts

• Self-Liquidating Funnel: A marketing funnel where the initial purchase (e.g., a book) covers the cost of advertising, allowing for profitable customer acquisition.
• Upsells: Additional products or services offered to customers during the checkout process to increase the average order value.
• One-Time Offers (OTOs): Exclusive offers presented to customers immediately after a purchase, designed to incentivize further spending.
• Lead Magnet: A free or low-cost item (e.g., an ebook) offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact information.
• Webinar Funnel: A marketing strategy that uses webinars (online seminars) to educate and engage potential customers, ultimately leading to sales.
• VSSL (Video Sales Sequence Letter): A pre-recorded version of a webinar used for automated lead generation and sales.
• Abandoned Cart Emails: Automated emails sent to customers who added items to their online shopping cart but did not complete the purchase.
• Urgency: A marketing tactic used to encourage immediate action by creating a sense of scarcity or limited-time availability.

Jonathan Courtney's $500,000/Month Funnel Breakdown

Overview

Jonathan Courtney (J Ice Cream) reveals the inner workings of a highly successful funnel that generated $280,000 upfront and an estimated $300,000 on the backend within two weeks of launch. This funnel is designed to sell high-ticket items like courses, software licenses, and coaching services. The key is to reverse engineer the customer journey, starting with a low-cost, easily accessible entry point and guiding them towards more expensive offerings.

The Book Funnel Example: Strategy Signal

1. Facebook Ads: The funnel starts with simple, authentic-looking Facebook ads (recorded on a phone) promoting Jonathan's book, "Strategy Signal," which teaches how to run strategy workshops. The ads emphasize the book's low price ($6.99).
2. Landing Page: Clicking the ad leads to a landing page built with ClickFunnels (or Framer). The page highlights the benefits of running strategy workshops and offers the book for $6.99. The landing page has a high conversion rate (around 58% from cold traffic to email signup) because the ad clearly states the price and the value proposition is clear.
3. Checkout Process: The checkout is split into two steps to capture the customer's email address for abandoned cart emails.
4. Upsells and One-Time Offers (OTOs): After the initial purchase, customers are presented with upsells, such as a video course and audiobook version of the book for $29, or a Miro board, slide deck, and assets for consultants. The average cart value increases significantly due to these upsells (e.g., from $6.99 to $68.85).
5. Conditional Split and Qualification: Depending on which upsells the customer purchases, they are directed to different thank-you pages. Customers who purchase specific upgrades are deemed "qualified" and are offered a free "roadmap call" with Jonathan's team.
6. Roadmap Call: The roadmap call is a career coaching session where the team helps the customer explore how to incorporate strategy workshops and facilitation into their career. If the customer is a good fit, the team will also present high-ticket offerings like in-person training ($14,300).
7. Alternative Path: If the customer doesn't qualify for a call, they are directed to a 1.5-hour pre-recorded webinar with a call to action to book a call at the end.

Key Metrics and Results

• Upfront Sales: $235,483 (at the time of recording).
• Average Cart Value: $68.85 (significantly higher than the initial book price).
• Call Bookings: 280 calls booked since the funnel launched.
• Conversion Rate (Cold Traffic to Email): 58% on the landing page.
• Book Purchase Conversion Rate: 18.49% from email signup to book purchase.

Applying the Funnel Strategy to Other Businesses

Jonathan discusses how to adapt the funnel strategy for different types of businesses, including software-as-a-service (SaaS), agencies, and AI agent businesses.

Case Study: Idea Browser

Jonathan analyzes ideabouser.com, a website that provides daily startup ideas, with the goal of increasing revenue for the "Pro" subscription (which includes AI strategy and idea analysis).

1. Website Assessment: Jonathan states that the website itself is well-designed and converting at 30% for email signups, so he wouldn't change it.
2. Webinar Funnel Recommendation: Jonathan recommends a live webinar funnel as the most effective strategy for selling the "Pro" subscription.
3. Webinar Hook: The webinar should focus on the transformation the ideal customer is seeking: escaping a 9-to-5 job and building a diversified holding company with multiple revenue streams. A compelling title could be "Behind the Scenes of How I Built a Zero to One Million MRR a Month Diversified Holding Company with Zero Dollars Raised."
4. Webinar Content: The webinar should tell a story about Jonathan's journey, highlight the "aha moment" that led to his success, and then transition into how the audience can achieve similar results.
5. Sales Pitch: Jonathan recommends being transparent about the sales pitch at the beginning of the webinar to avoid making attendees feel uncomfortable. He suggests presenting two options: the "free way" (doing it yourself) and the "headache-free way" (using Idea Browser).
6. Urgency and Scarcity: Instead of discounting the product, Jonathan suggests adding a bonus for those who join before a specific date, such as a one-day boot camp.
7. Follow-Up: Jonathan emphasizes the importance of sending multiple emails before and after the webinar, tailoring the content to those who attended and those who didn't.

Email Marketing Strategy

• Pre-Webinar Emails: 3 emails on the announcement day (announcement, details, Loom video), followed by daily emails with different angles.
• Day-of-Webinar Emails: Reminders and updates.
• Post-Webinar Emails: Summaries, breakdowns of key learnings, calls to action, and reminders about the closing date.
• Abandoned Cart Emails: A series of 6 emails sent over two weeks to those who started the purchase process but didn't complete it.

Book Funnel for Idea Browser

Jonathan suggests that Greg could create a book called "How to Generate Startup Ideas" and use a book funnel to sell it. The book funnel could self-liquidate with smaller products, and the Idea Browser subscription could be offered as a one-time offer (OTO).

Key Takeaways

• Reverse Engineer the Customer Journey: Start with the desired outcome and work backward to create a logical path for customers to discover and purchase your products.
• Use Low-Cost Entry Points: Offer a low-cost product or service to attract a wider audience and introduce them to your brand.
• Maximize Average Order Value: Implement upsells and one-time offers to increase the amount each customer spends.
• Qualify Leads: Identify the most promising leads and focus your sales efforts on them.
• Leverage Webinars: Use webinars to educate, engage, and sell to your audience.
• Create Urgency: Encourage immediate action by creating a sense of scarcity or limited-time availability.
• Email Marketing is Crucial: Send multiple emails before and after events to maximize engagement and conversions.
• Don't Be Afraid to Sell: Be transparent about your sales intentions and provide value at every step of the funnel.