One Funnel Only

Alex Becker has talked about this as well. I think it's one of those things like "You are not your customer" that you need to hear over and over a thousand times and finally it sticks because this person said it or it resonated at that very moment.

Consider how half-assed people are with everything they do. Consider how half-assed the things you do are. The things I do certainly are, and I know better! It's so easy to lose focus as a visionary, and run off chasing the next idea. At that point the last idea is left in the lurch, half-done, not figured out. And what did you learn? Not much.

Understanding ONE traffic source sent to ONE conversion tool...that's a huge deal. You can achieve sales and not know why. I got 10 years into a sales career before it occurred to me to ask the question: Why do I get some orders and not others? Many salespeople never ask that question. Then I went and invested the time and the money to find out. Again, beyond what most people will ever do.

People grab what is honestly a sloppy, muddy traffic source--multiple traffic sources, really, of whatever they can get--and hook it up to some kind of conversion tool. A sales letter or a video on a sales page, with a buy button at the bottom. They "give it their best go" and figure that must be the only shot they had to shoot. Then, if they think to adjust something later (if they don't jump on to the next idea, that is) instead of changing ONE element as we've recently talked about in another thread, and waiting to see the impact of that, they change a HUNDRED things. Again, muddied waters and no understanding of what's happening.

Knowing precisely what you're doing and what the results are is an excellent goal.

ONE funnel. Understand it. ONE traffic source, ONE conversion tool. Not giving up on it because "it didn't work" (the first time you tried something). Truly know, when you make an adjustment to the converson tool, what the result was from this traffic source.

Having been contributing here for 10 years, I am constantly irritated by the typical newbie's refusal to even try to understand the concepts of traffic & conversion, just those two words, and how a funnel structurally works. Imagine wanting to be a plumber but not wanting to learn anything about angles, PVC, or glue--or wanting to be a welder but refusing to look at gas mixtures, torch heads and what consumables bond to what materials. Thankfully there are a few people who put in some effort.

This is a good reminder for me as well to focus on one thing.

I hear also that this its a key for succes and the big problem with me its that i cannot focus in just one thing ,in fact i work with 10 things at once

I'm looking into starting the reseller arbitrage (*eBay/Amazon) and still have 17 other projects" in my head... and even though MOST the people doing well on those platforms run 'general merchandise' and randomly test products and markets... there are a few teaching the process who INSIST that you should 'SPECIALIZE' in one category like women's clothing, electronics, or source the same items until you can really dominate that particular market.

Looking back at Russell before Click Funnels (Rippln) - I damn sure should've taken CF more seriously, I like what he teaches, what they've accomplished, and even then I've been too stubborn to actually use his platform (thinking) I can stich it all together cheaper with my hosting, WP Themes, etc...

I think Jason said it best... LEARN ONE aspect at a time and enough to see results. I've learned 7+ trades offline - none of them were familiar when I started out in those trades.

BUT one thing I have learned, the PROCESS for learning requires DOING - I have not done much online - I always end up back here when the offline gigs go south... and start thinking; if I had just wrote an article (or a product review) per day for 10 years - or - finished one online project and stuck with it, I can almost guarantee - there would be more reward than the offline gigs I choose to either "go back to" or "explore".

I think the reason is evident, FOCUS is the KEY... if a person cannot stay focused - or - they do no get results right away - that instant gratification mindset of having a check within a week or two - definitely cripples people online.

Even the person recommending people do the 'seller's arbitrage challenge' here on the Warrior Path - recommends "DO NOT" touch your initial investment for 1 YEAR.

That ideology NO PAY UNTIL 'X' is achieved -vs- I need money right now I'm behind the 8-Ball (so to speak) - it definitely factors into the equation as most people (*myself included) generally do not (or cannot) wait 1 YEAR to start taking money away from our WORK or BUSINESS... but, that is a LIE we tell ourselves. Do the ONE thing offline, live humble, invest 1 YEAR ONLINE but take no pay... like Napoleon Hill, and the rewards can be HUGE. (But, with no guarantee they will produce a 2 Comma-Club award either!)

I've run small local businesses in multiple service-based industries and have the disciplines to saty focused on the multitude of hats one must where to succeed as an independent (self-employed) service-provider, but never realized the amount of dependency I placed on other people to make that work. The internet is the same way, you need to know a FEW things (*not just ONE) even a funnel built on a SaaS network requires a sense of...

- Communicative and Marketing ability (*copywriting, content, pitching offers, etc..)
- Lead generation (*landing pages, confirmation pages, thank-you pages, download or access to offer)
- Upsells - premium offerings - sales
- Tracking - A/B split-testing - fixing a chink in the armor (weak links)
- Most people start affiliate/jv/3rd party products, (*plr, white label, or outside services, etc)
- There's psychology, pursuasion, rhetoric, and more to sales (in my opinion) unless you sell your used lawnmower or the wife's size 8 designer clothes...
- Add in - web design, graphics, branding, etc...
- If you are savvy - you likely establish email lists or subs to nurture buyers (repeat business)

I could go on and on with other facets and technical skills required... as I have been in/out of this forum since 2011 - 99% of the time I wind up frustrated and quit the whole damn thing and wind up renovating someone's pool or bathroom again.

All-the-while...

I know, whatever I build online will require targeted traffic sources and an if you cannot afford to buy traffic or bribe people with your product or service offering (like pay commissions on the backend to get jv traffic to your funnel) - it takes time and energy... which still COSTS MONEY...

TIME is MONEY, right?

That's how I rolled for most of my working life... so, I think normal people (those who lack long-term or are used to a paycheck to paycheck) struggle to understand, if they invested ONE YEAR into ONE thing, ONE Funnel, ONE niche, ONE skill at a time... it would serve most well enough to escape the habitual routine of I need that next check.

I sincerely agree, the success rates online would definitely be a lot higher!

And... I am straight-up frustrated, that even my mind cannot conceive waiting a year to draw the first rewards (money) from that venture.

If you tried to tell me YOU WON'T GET PAID for a year... I guarantee you I would think you were INSANE a few years ago.

But... what is really INSANE is that could be the difference between selling *10,000 units a year at $97 -vs- working all year for $2000 per month!

Now, it's a matter of teaching oneself (and the majority seeking opportunity) to THINK - would you sacrifice 2-3 years of CONSISTENT study, practice, and learn as you go (DOING) to be financially secure? - or do you prefer that $500 paycheck for LIFE?

Even $100K per year TODAY (offline) does not TOUCH what one could do *25-30 years ago with that same income.

I think there are several reasons this is good advice. The main one being that most people trying to start online businesses are hopping from one project to another, or juggling multiple projects hoping to hit the jackpot.

I've been guilty of this myself on account of having too many interests.

In fact, I've seen three of my past clients become multi-millionaires since I started writing copy in 2009. ALL of them did it by focusing 100% their attention on one product and one landing page. Ironically, they have since diversified into multiple niches because they have the capital and the knowledge to do so.

PS: I admit that this post exposes me as a dumbass for not having followed their examples...yet.

oh here we go...

There are roughly 5 steps to online success

1. Find an offer
2. Build a website
3. Create / copy something to trade for an e-mail
4. Build a funnel
5. Traffic and convert

this makes it REAL easy to apply the 80/20 rule right? ONLY 1 of those 5 things actually makes you money - people are spending 20% of their time ( on a good day ) on the one step that actual determines success.

I am going to go off the deep end here and make a statement... there is NO SUCH THING as a bad product - there is ONLY poor execution.

And that poor execution takes place in the last of 5 items that need to be done to make money... Traffic and Convert.

If you really think about this with all the other things someone can be doing - what exactly is someone doing when the site is complete the funnel is complete the offer has been chosen and the little freeby trade piece is complete? There is literally nothing left BUT 100% of your time figuring out traffic and conversion.

In MY perfect world... my team can throw a site together in about 10 hours...and from that point... the traffic and conversion aspect of the project is easily at 40+ hours. If we are going at a commerce site... 40 hours is childs play... MONTHS can be spent in getting traffic and conversion right.

The idea of the entire endeavor is to make money right? Then why exactly do most spend more time picking a theme vs the actual activities ( Traffic and conversion ) that make money?

Jack Palance, great actor, in the movie City Slickers said to do the ONE thing. That was his secret.
That is if you want to get the cattle drive to the market, and make some moolah.

First, how do you define underperforming, what were the metrics going into it? How was/is the performance being measured? And NO, if you have 17 other distractions, one is not following the advice. I think you have hit a sore spot with Warriors, as we see many of them have multiple balls in the air, and most are bowling balls which, when dropped will break their toes.





And Jason has been repeating himself, his GREAT advice about Traffic/Conversion, and how this gets ignored by so many at the start. It is the reason we have Warriors here struggling for YEARS.


I would add a given TIME frame.

My experience tells me, ONE funnel, one traffic source, one conversion tool ONE YEAR.

But from the WF, I KNOW one year of time is just too long to focus in on the one thing, and that is the reason why,

we see daily, that Warriors are spending FIVE years tinkering, multi-tasking, starting and stopping, and they just CAN'T do one thing at a time.

For those who understand the power of focus, one year, 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days of staying with a "well thought out and researched" project, will take them across the bridge into greener pastures.

But, this is the WF, feel free to complicate and tell us you just CAN'T, OK?

GordonJ

I do think it's best to work on 1 project at a time - until it reaches a certain threshold where another project warrants being started. We can compare this to PPC advertising.

If you're running Google ads, and are getting clicks at $1.00/click, and you realize that anything above that doesn't make you as profitable anymore - it's safe to stay at $1.00/click, tap that out, and move on to another paid advertising method.

Then the same can be applied to the next paid traffic strategy. Running 5 paid traffic strategies at the same time where none of them are tapped out confuses things. Why run 5 different sources when the top main source hasn't even been tapped out yet?

I think this example is similar to Russell's line of reasoning.

RB says (and I know he's not God but I was surprised to learn he started ClickFunnels just 6 years ago and so he is someone that might be worth listening to) says to start with a bigger ticket offer so that you get to a million faster. I would say that the great majority of 1,667,000 forum members have never gotten close to a million in sales.

I think if nothing else, the genius of his statement is in that it raises the bar. Not just on the importance of focus but on having a big goal. The great majority of members that haven't gotten close to a million probably wouldn't have that as a realistic goal. They'd be more like, based on many posts over the years, $500 a month consistently, $1000 a month, etc. They aren't even in the same ballpark as RB which may be why they never get close.

The other thing it never says but is built in is the importance of marketing. If you want to sell a million of anything, you better not just focus, but 10x your effort, and start spending time on the things that matter - effective marketing. You have to believe in yourself and believe in your product and be able to get that message out there.

Mark

I think there are few people who are so disciplined that they can focus on several funnels/ projects at the same time.


Theoretically, if you're disciplined, you can divide your time into slots for each project / funnel and, given enough time (longer than if you focused on one only), you'd get all of them doing great.


A lot more people, but not all, can do 2 or 3 at the time.


Think of elementary school: you did not do only Math, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week.



But you were forced into assigning each subject a number of hours a week.


And, if you studied at home too, and paid attention, you did good.


We all know that not all who graduate high school have 12-grade comprehension/knowledge of what they were supposed to learn.


So, even when forced to focus on your subject, the results are not always there.



But it is possible: some finish high school at the right level or ahead in every subject.


The trick with funnels: can you make yourself do all the things you need to do, with sufficient attention, if you have more than one funnel to mind?


Most people cannot: so, one project (funnel, etc.) till you master it seems like the best shortcut to success.

It is great to see this article! 1 at a time. Timeless truth!!

[QUOTE=Mark Singletary;11710221

If you adopted this approach, would you abandon underperforming projects? I mean if you focus on one funnel, but you have your other 17 things you've already kinda sorta started, you really aren't following the advice, right?

Thoughts?

Mark[/QUOTE]

You will usually focus on one funnel if you want to become a mini celebrity in that particular niche. That would then possibly include hosting live events where you're selling from the stage and recoding the live events to later add as upsells in that one funnel. How else would you reach the million dallars in sales mark without high priced products and services.

You'd have to be the leader in that niche in order for you to do a million dollars in sales in your niche. It's not impossible, but it does require focus and discipline, that most average people don't possess.

So definitely high priced/ticket one on one coaching would be required by a gentleman like Russell Brunson himself, in order for the average coaching client to hit the $1 million dollars in online sales mark with 1 funnel.

He is strict until they hit a Million?

The person that hits half a a mill for first time good luck with telling them what to do. Even for their own good. They would be on Fastlane forum talking about new Lambos in no time.

Plus the people that approach them for angel investing. And will not even mention Crypto.
Alot of distractions.


Also there is an epic post by Jason Kanigan above, I hope people read it then read it again.

But that "one traffic source" is like being shut down because of a Google Algo change. Your audience switching to something new like when there was no Tik Tok. Nothing wrong being online and offline testing SMS, even call centers.

But we are talking about someone getting into the hundreds of thousands they can branch out. As you mentioned juggling is not for everyone especially newbies.

There are some people that outsource everything anyway.