Last month we talked all about freebie items that you can use for yourself and your business.

But even with free stuff, there’s not much point in calling what you’re doing a “business” if you’re not making regular income with it.

Sure, you can call it a mission, a calling, a passion project, even a “nonprofit”. But until you’re actively trying to make an income with it, it’s not a business.

It becomes a business when you get that first client – someone that actually pays you to do something.
Whether they pay you a $10 on fiverr for your services, or $14.95 through Amazon, or $300 for help with a website, only then can you say you’ve started your business.

Have you made your first sale?

No?

Let’s get on that!

The Basics: Who?

In recent years, there’s been lots of talk about this thing called “an avatar”. An avatar is basically a figure of a person who is your ideal client, audience member, etc.

This is the person you’re looking to talk to or help when you’re making your content or products.

As an entrepreneur, it’s your job to get your products in front of people through marketing and then make the sale.

Remember that marketing is simply about getting the word out. It’s not the same thing as sales which is answering questions in a way that influences a final buy.

The better you can communicate how your product can help or add value to a certain group of people, the less problems you’re going to have selling it.

So spend plenty of time getting to know your audience, potential clients and customers.

Where?

Alright. Now that you have your ideal person figured out, here comes the next piece of the puzzle.

Where can you find these folks to help them? Because you have to get in front of them if they’re going to find out if you exist.

What channels can you find them using?

Are they online? If so, where can you find them? Do they use social media regularly? Do they respond to email marketing over social media marketing?

If they’re offline, where can you find them? Farmer’s markets? Art shows?

You’ll have to think of how to get in front of these folks so they know you exist.

Temperature of Prospect

The third thing we need to consider is the temperature of our prospect or leads. Meaning do they trust us enough to want to actually buy something?

A hot prospect does.

A hot prospect knows and trusts you enough that they believe that what you’re selling them is going to help them. They’re very easy to sell to as long as your product is somewhere in the ballpark of what they need.

Think of this group as your “A Listers”. Often times this might be friends and family when you’re first starting out.

However, before a prospect knows and likes you enough to be a hot lead, they’re in a zone where they’re called a “warm” prospect. These are folks who might be interested in what you’re offering to help them with, but because they don’t know who you are or exactly why they need your product, they’re merely curious.

Your job with warm leads is to simply educate them enough about what you’re offering a bit more to get either a yes or a no (by the way – this is sales).

These are “B Listers”. Acquaintances and everyone else you know besides close friends and family members usually go here.

Finally, you’ve probably heard of marketers “cold calling” prospects. They’re called cold calls because there is no relationship or trust built between the marketers and those prospects. Very rarely do those marketers get sales because, frankly, those prospects have to be in the right state of mind to buy right then and there.

These folks are your “C Listers” because you don’t know them yet.

Making C’s into A’s – Intro to Sales Funnels:

When you’re first starting out, it’s going to be hard to get more sales after you exhaust your beginning list of A listers and B listers. You’ll eventually have to rely on a steady flow of C listers into your business.

But how do you do that if they don’t even know you exist?

You create a system where they CAN get to know you.

That’s what a sales funnel is all about. It’s a system that’s put in place to have a C Lister eventually turn into an A Lister – making it easy for them to buy from you.

Interestingly, progressing your cold C Listers into A Listers who are ready and willing to buy from you is fairly straightforward. Many times this process is called a sales funnel. And, today, with the help of the internet, we can set it on automatic.

Here’s a simplified example of what that might look like in 10 steps:

1. You get in front of them in a channel, like Facebook, for the very first time.
2. They check out your content, realize they like it and want to know more about it.
3. They make it over to your website.
4. After awhile, they look at you as an authority and know what you’re talking about.
5. You offer a free something that piques their interest.
6. They provide email to get that free something.
7. They now get more regular updates from you in their email.
8. Eventually you offer them a product and/or deal that’s too good to pass up.
9. The benefits you give them match up with what their pain is.
10. Sale is made.
11. Optional, but good practice is a Followup – give them access to a community of other users using the product or yourself so they can build relationships.

From that group, you can get ideas for “spin-off” products and start the process all over again.

What’s great is that this group you have now is actually one that’s already bought from you. If they liked what you provided before, then they’re more likely to buy from you again.

Oh, and there’s the side perk that they’re probably going to tell other people about what you’re up to and about.

Action Steps:

The above model is overly simplified. But, really, that’s all there is to it. In the next post, I’ll give you a bit more about how to start hacking this system. But, in the meantime, I want you to start identifying your potential first clients from your A and B Listers.

If you’ve already had your first client, can you remember what it was that made them your client in the first place? Could you duplicate it you had to? If not, I want you to also think about how sales funnels can play a part in your business. What would that look like?