EP 28: What are Funnels?

00:01:35 [Alison]
Think about the kitchen funnel.
00:01:36 [Alison]
It is the same thing.
00:01:37 [Alison]
We are taking upside down triangle, wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, and it is all about how we get clients.
00:01:45 [Alison]
Hey, I’m Allison, military spouse and family photographer.

00:01:48 [Melissa]
Hey, I’m Melissa, also a military spouse, lifestyle newborn photographer, and SEO expert for photographers.
00:01:53 [Melissa]
Between the

00:01:54 [Melissa]
two of us, we have

00:01:54 [Melissa]
a combined ten years in photography and have lived through nine business relocations.

00:01:58 [Alison]
We’ve coached each other through all these challenges, and now we want to share our experience with you.
00:02:02 [Alison]
On this podcast, we’ll give you actionable steps to help you keep it moving.

00:02:08 [Melissa]
Hey, guys.
00:02:09 [Melissa]
You’re listening to the Keep It Moving podcast.
00:02:11 [Melissa]
Today’s episode was submitted by a listener.
00:02:13 [Melissa]
We are gonna talk about the basics of marketing funnels.
00:02:16 [Melissa]
What the heck is a funnel?

00:02:18 [Melissa]
That’s what we’re gonna dive into today.
00:02:19 [Melissa]
Before we get in there, if you guys have questions and stuff, we’re planning out season two on what we wanna talk about, and we wanna hear what you want.
00:02:27 [Melissa]
So reach out to us on Instagram.
00:02:28 [Melissa]
Let us know.
00:02:29 [Melissa]
You can reach out to Allison or myself.

00:02:31 [Melissa]
We’ve got our personal accounts.
00:02:32 [Melissa]
We’ll link everything, keep it moving pod account.
00:02:35 [Melissa]
But drop us a line and send us your burning questions on marketing your business when you’re moving.
00:02:40 [Melissa]
Even if you’re not moving, a lot of this stuff applies too.
00:02:42 [Melissa]
But especially if you’re moving and if you know someone who is moving, be sure to send them our way.

00:02:47 [Melissa]
Absolutely.

00:02:48 [Alison]
Okay.
00:02:48 [Alison]
So what is a funnel?
00:02:51 [Alison]
Think about the kitchen funnel.
00:02:52 [Alison]
It is the same thing.
00:02:53 [Alison]
We are taking upside down triangle, wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, and it is all about how we get clients.

00:03:00 [Alison]
Right?
00:03:01 [Alison]
We were talking about kitchen funnels like putting a large amount of liquid in a small container, like, after you’re done having soup or something and you’re putting in the fridge.
00:03:08 [Alison]
I’m always stuffing that star.
00:03:09 [Alison]
But also, think about sand art.
00:03:10 [Alison]
I don’t know if anybody else did sand art when they were younger.

00:03:13 [Alison]
Getting the sand in a narrow opening.
00:03:15 [Alison]
We are going from getting lots of people to just be aware of us, and then how do we make them and convert them into clients.
00:03:21 [Alison]
And not just one off clients, but loyal repeat clients.
00:03:25 [Alison]
So a marketing funnel is that.
00:03:27 [Alison]
It is just getting people aware of your services, then considering being interested in those services, and then converting them into repeat clients.

00:03:35 [Alison]
So how people flow through a funnel can get pretty complicated.
00:03:40 [Alison]
There are tools, there are so many automations, there are so many methodologies and strategies.
00:03:45 [Alison]
Some organizational charts for this and that can get overwhelming.
00:03:48 [Alison]
But we’re not here for that part.
00:03:49 [Alison]
We’re not here to overwhelm anybody.

00:03:51 [Alison]
We’re here to talk about the basics of keeping it simple of what is a funnel, why should we think about it this way, and then maybe that will help strategize why we do what we do.
00:03:59 [Alison]
And then other episodes will get more into the nitty gritty of some of those tools.
00:04:03 [Alison]
So get people aware of you, consider interest, and then convert it into repeat clients.
00:04:08 [Alison]
Okay.
00:04:09 [Alison]
So stage one.

00:04:10 [Alison]
So it’s funny.
00:04:11 [Alison]
Alice and I were talking about

00:04:12 [Melissa]
it, and I was like, I understand what a funnel is.
00:04:14 [Melissa]
I get it.
00:04:15 [Melissa]
I was like, but the actual, like, parts of it, I wasn’t sure.
00:04:17 [Melissa]
So we actually did we asked our friend chat GPT for a little assistance, and I was like, oh, yeah.
00:04:21 [Melissa]
This makes sense.

00:04:22 [Melissa]
So the first stage is awareness, which I think we all get.
00:04:25 [Melissa]
It’s like just showing up in front of someone, getting noticed by a potential client.
00:04:29 [Melissa]
So you’re talking social media, blogging with your SEO, paid ads might be something, but just getting in front of them.
00:04:37 [Melissa]
That’s the first thing.
00:04:38 [Melissa]
They have to know that you’re out there, and those are some of the ways they’re gonna figure it out.

00:04:42 [Alison]
Hey.
00:04:43 [Alison]
Yes.
00:04:44 [Alison]
How are you feeling about this move?
00:04:46 [Alison]
It’s a lot to process, but I’ve got something for you.
00:04:49 [Alison]
I want you to grab my pre move checklist to make things a little easier.

00:04:53 [Alison]
Even if you’re not sure where you’re going yet, it’s not too early to start.
00:04:56 [Alison]
But you could be losing time on that SEO juice if you dilly dally.
00:04:59 [Alison]
So head over to alisonbell.co, that’s alisonwith1l,bell.co, to get your pre move checklist.
00:05:07 [Alison]
You got this.
00:05:09 [Alison]
For me, I rely heavily on SEO.

00:05:12 [Alison]
So my clients are not local to me.
00:05:15 [Alison]
They’re they don’t live on Oahu.
00:05:17 [Alison]
They are coming here on a trip, and so they’re ready to buy.
00:05:19 [Alison]
They’re searching.
00:05:20 [Alison]
They wanna do this.

00:05:21 [Alison]
It’s very planned out and premeditated.
00:05:23 [Alison]
So I do social media.
00:05:24 [Alison]
I enjoy Instagram, but a lot of my clients are not coming directly from Instagram, which if y’all look at your numbers on search console or insights about how many people are clicking your link in bio for all the time and effort I put into Instagram, it is very little return on my money.
00:05:43 [Alison]
Very little return.

00:05:45 [Melissa]
And not even

00:05:45 [Alison]
money, return on my time.

00:05:46 [Melissa]
But Yeah.
00:05:46 [Melissa]
And that’d be different for somebody else though.
00:05:48 [Melissa]
Like, it could be especially if if your SEO is not set up yet, you haven’t tackled that yet.
00:05:53 [Melissa]
Maybe you are bringing in most of your clients through social media and stuff like that.

00:05:57 [Alison]
So Pinterest can be a huge referral.
00:05:59 [Alison]
It takes a really long lead time.
00:06:01 [Alison]
I get some clients from Pinterest.
00:06:02 [Alison]
It’s one of those things I did when I first moved out to Hawaii, and I had somebody recently say, oh, I found you on Pinterest.
00:06:07 [Alison]
I was like, I forgot about that.

00:06:09 [Alison]
That was one of those set it and forget it and never touched it again and Yeah.
00:06:12 [Alison]
Totally forgot about it in my blogging workflow, haven’t pinned anything in, I don’t know, maybe six or nine months.
00:06:17 [Alison]
Those pins are not there.
00:06:18 [Alison]
That all is part of that awareness.
00:06:20 [Alison]
And then retargeting ads, not just paid ads, but hey, once you’ve been on my website, showing up on Facebook again.

00:06:27 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:06:27 [Melissa]
And I think that may even fall further down into the funnel kind of thing.
00:06:30 [Melissa]
If they found you through something and maybe they found you initially through a paid ad, it wasn’t a retargeting ad, but it was just a straight cold ad that you had out there and got their attention that way.

00:06:40 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:06:41 [Alison]
All that is just awareness, getting people to know that you exist, your services exist, and just getting in front of them.

00:06:47 [Melissa]
Yes.
00:06:48 [Melissa]
And in that awareness phase, valuable content, tips, obviously, all the blog post stuff we talk about, behind the scenes videos, photos, and stuff like that.
00:06:55 [Melissa]
It’s just you whatever you can to attract attention to you.
00:06:58 [Melissa]
So whether it’s through helpful tips on your blog, behind the scenes and, like, final products and stuff on your Instagram, pins on Pinterest that are gonna catch their attention and stuff like that.
00:07:07 [Melissa]
Those are some of the different things you can use at that top of the funnel to start attracting them in.

00:07:11 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:07:11 [Alison]
At the widest part.
00:07:13 [Alison]
So after the awareness stage, at the widest part of that upside down triangle, that funnel, we go down just a smidge to the interest stage.
00:07:20 [Alison]
And this people are starting to engage with you.
00:07:24 [Alison]
You might be educating them on something.

00:07:26 [Alison]
They may have found a particular blog post that was serving a problem they were trying to solve.
00:07:30 [Alison]
And they’ve either downloaded a freebie, they’ve joined a wait list, they’re following you on social media, They have done something to interact with your realm.
00:07:40 [Alison]
Whatever content that you have out there on whatever platform they’re interested, they’re leaning in.
00:07:45 [Alison]
They’re going, not only am I aware of this person in services, but now I’m lea they’re leaning in a little closer.
00:07:50 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:07:51 [Melissa]
You caught their attention.
00:07:52 [Melissa]
So you’ve got

00:07:53 [Alison]
a few freebies.
00:07:53 [Alison]
What are you using as freebies right now?

00:07:55 [Melissa]
My most popular freebie in South Florida was it was about the best birth pros in South Florida.
00:07:59 [Melissa]
And I always pitch this one for blogging clients and stuff of, well, you’re creating all these great blog posts that are geared towards your ideal client.
00:08:06 [Melissa]
Why not package them up together and reuse them?
00:08:09 [Melissa]
Because somebody who lands on one blog post isn’t necessarily gonna find the six others I have that also are meant to catch their attention and get them aware

00:08:16 [Alison]
of me.

00:08:16 [Melissa]
So this way, they land on a blog post.
00:08:18 [Melissa]
Maybe it’s about the best doulas in the area.
00:08:20 [Melissa]
Then they get to the bottom, and I’ve got, like, a big banner that used to say, do you wanna know who the pros in South Florida are?
00:08:25 [Melissa]
I’ve got the list for you.
00:08:27 [Melissa]
And so then they would click on that, and now I’m getting their email, and they’re getting this here.

00:08:32 [Melissa]
So now they’re in that interest stage because they’ve made a commitment.
00:08:34 [Melissa]
They’ve given over their email to me.
00:08:36 [Melissa]
Maybe they’ve even like you said, like, they’ve we’ve talked about they commented on your social media post or something.
00:08:40 [Melissa]
And or if you’re using, like, a ManyChat automation, like, maybe they’ve commented, like, yes.
00:08:44 [Melissa]
DM me that guide that you have.

00:08:46 [Melissa]
I’m interested in it.
00:08:47 [Melissa]
So it’s just to me, it’s getting them onto that list, whether it’s a wait list or downloading that freebie, but just taking them into that next step of the funnel.
00:08:56 [Melissa]
And then on the SEO side, obviously, I’ve got where to share your blog posts.
00:09:00 [Melissa]
I’ve got how to pick the perfect home page.
00:09:02 [Melissa]
I got, like, six

00:09:02 [Alison]
or eight on the SEO side when it comes to freebies.
00:09:05 [Alison]
That gets really complicated.
00:09:06 [Alison]
So for me, I have a travel guide, mom’s travel guide to traveling Oahu with kids, like Mhmm.
00:09:12 [Alison]
From a mom.

00:09:12 [Melissa]
And that’s a good point.
00:09:13 [Melissa]
You could have multiple freebies that are geared towards your different things.
00:09:16 [Melissa]
So I can hit maternity and newborn with the birth pros, but I would need a different one for family.
00:09:21 [Melissa]
So you’ve got one for families.

00:09:22 [Alison]
I have both.
00:09:23 [Alison]
Yep.
00:09:23 [Alison]
So I have I don’t shoot a whole lot of newborns, but I do them.

00:09:26 [Melissa]
Hey there, photographers.
00:09:27 [Melissa]
Struggling with what to blog about?
00:09:29 [Melissa]
Tired of staring at that blinky cursor, waiting for inspiration to strike?
00:09:33 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:09:33 [Melissa]
We’ve all been there.

00:09:34 [Melissa]
That is why I created the blogging club.
00:09:36 [Melissa]
Imagine this.
00:09:38 [Melissa]
You know exactly what to blog.
00:09:39 [Melissa]
No more guessing games or frantic Googling.
00:09:42 [Melissa]
Each month, I’ll walk you through SEO friendly blog post outlines with examples, teach you the latest SEO and marketing tips in a master class, and support you live in a monthly q and a to answer all your blogging questions.

00:09:54 [Melissa]
Plus, we’ve got a community to cheer you on after every post.
00:09:57 [Melissa]
Let’s take the guesswork out of blogging and start driving those dream clients to your site.
00:10:02 [Melissa]
Head to the bloggingclub.com and use code t b c trial to get 50% off your first month and join us.
00:10:09 [Melissa]
And I have

00:10:10 [Alison]
a similar download to which you’ve got some of the best, I think they’re the best baby stores in Oahu or Yeah.
00:10:16 [Alison]
Places to buy maternity clothes.
00:10:18 [Alison]
It’s been a while since I’ve looked at it.
00:10:19 [Alison]
Oh, yeah.
00:10:19 [Alison]
So that’s the newborn side.

00:10:21 [Alison]
And then for the family side, it’s traveling Oahu with kids with the most interest like, highest performing blog post is about where to snorkel for beginners.
00:10:29 [Alison]
And it’s usually those kids, like where do I take my kids that’s safe?
00:10:32 [Alison]
Because y’all water safety is a big deal out here.
00:10:35 [Alison]
I did not understand or respect the currents and the waves and the power of water until we moved out here.
00:10:40 [Alison]
So So that’s a big That’s the interest stage.

00:10:42 [Alison]
That is like just one underneath the awareness stage.

00:10:45 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:45 [Melissa]
And then I think the next To me, you get into that consideration stage where now, you know, I’m showing more of my expertise.
00:10:53 [Melissa]
Because at this point now, I got their email, they’ve got my freebie, and now I start showing up in their inbox.
00:11:00 [Melissa]
And I’m not talking about, like, flood them with a million emails.
00:11:02 [Melissa]
If they’ve downloaded a birth pros thing, then the next email they might be interested in is when should you be scheduling a maternity session?

00:11:09 [Melissa]
When should you be scheduling your newborn session?
00:11:11 [Melissa]
What should you wear for maternity?
00:11:12 [Melissa]
The best places to get your photos done.
00:11:13 [Melissa]
Like, then all these other blog posts that I have, I can start condensing them or giving them part of the post, sending them out.
00:11:19 [Melissa]
I could just narrow it in on what the post would say and just be showing up in their inbox and reminding them of, hey.

00:11:25 [Melissa]
This is the next step.
00:11:26 [Melissa]
If you’re obviously pregnant because you downloaded this, then you gotta start thinking about photography.
00:11:31 [Melissa]
And that’s the thing I liked about the birth pros is I was getting people before they were even at that stage, very much like with weddings.
00:11:37 [Melissa]
Like, I my aim was to get them as soon as they were looking at venues, they were already getting exposed to me.
00:11:42 [Melissa]
So they just found out they’re pregnant.

00:11:43 [Melissa]
They’re shopping clothes.
00:11:44 [Melissa]
I want them to get exposed to me.
00:11:45 [Melissa]
I want them to already know that I’m out there, and then I just keep showing up.
00:11:48 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:11:49 [Melissa]
And retargeting ads could come from this too in the consideration stage.

00:11:52 [Alison]
And I would even say that this could be an inquiry form as well.
00:11:56 [Alison]
It depends on your workflow.
00:11:57 [Alison]
But, like, for me, I think this could be somebody submitting an inquiry and then possibly getting on the phone with me.
00:12:02 [Alison]
Because that for me, the discovery, I require all my clients to because I work so differently.
00:12:07 [Alison]
I don’t let anybody book without talking to me on the phone first because I wanna make sure they truly understand how my process works as a full service at work experience because it is so different.

00:12:18 [Alison]
And I own that and I don’t want anybody being confused via email.
00:12:21 [Alison]
So we talk I talk to everybody.
00:12:23 [Alison]
So the consideration stage is, for me, is not only what you were talking about getting those emails from me, being educated on my process and why it is fabulous, but it’s also them submitting that inquiry form to say, okay, I wanna see if you’re available.
00:12:36 [Alison]
I wanna see what your prices are like.
00:12:37 [Alison]
I wanna know more about this.

00:12:39 [Melissa]
Feel like that might fall a little bit into the conversion stage.

00:12:42 [Alison]
So I would think that would be, for me, for my process, I’m trying to convert them on the phone.
00:12:46 [Alison]
It’s admitting an inquiry they’re considering me to be.
00:12:49 [Alison]
And I all this floods together.
00:12:51 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:12:51 [Alison]
The lines are not black and white here.

00:12:53 [Alison]
And it all depends on how your workflow flows.
00:12:55 [Alison]
But for me, I think the consideration stage is, hey.
00:12:57 [Alison]
You’re not only just listening and reading my content, but you’ve submitted an inquiry form too, and you really are considering probably submitted three or four inquiries.

00:13:06 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:13:06 [Melissa]
Because they’re submitting to multiple people at one time.
00:13:08 [Melissa]
I think that consideration and conversion, as you can see with what Alice is talking about, it’s very much a blurry line.
00:13:12 [Melissa]
It’s a gray line that kind of where did they fall.
00:13:14 [Melissa]
But once you get into conversion and stuff, the idea then is they’ve submitted that form.
00:13:18 [Melissa]
Now you’re trying to get them to sign on the dotted line and book the session that you are the person they want and closing the deal.

00:13:24 [Melissa]
That’s the big thing there is closing the deal.

00:13:26 [Alison]
Yep.
00:13:27 [Alison]
Saying, yes, we pick you, you’re a perfect fit.
00:13:29 [Alison]
We want you to we wanna do this.
00:13:31 [Alison]
So that would be the conversion stage where you’ve converted a very cold lead, warmly down through that triangle all the way to the bottom, and they’re in.
00:13:40 [Alison]
They’ve secured.

00:13:40 [Alison]
You’ve got dates.
00:13:41 [Alison]
You’ve got locations, and it’s gonna happen.
00:13:44 [Alison]
So that’s your conversion.
00:13:45 [Alison]
That’s pretty simple and straightforward.
00:13:46 [Alison]
And then after that, I don’t have much to say after that because I have all one

00:13:50 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:13:51 [Melissa]
So this last one, it was actually interesting.
00:13:53 [Melissa]
Allison and I were both like, oh, that’s a good one.
00:13:54 [Melissa]
We were like we always say, oh, you convert.
00:13:56 [Melissa]
That’s good.

00:13:57 [Melissa]
But the last stage that ChatGPT gave us actually was loyalty and advocacy stage, which I was like, oh, I love that.
00:14:03 [Melissa]
That’s where you’re getting referrals.
00:14:04 [Melissa]
That’s where you’re getting them talking about you to other people.
00:14:07 [Melissa]
That’s where, for me, I’ve got them in a membership.
00:14:10 [Melissa]
So I have yet knock on wood.

00:14:12 [Melissa]
I don’t know if I have any wood around here.
00:14:14 [Melissa]
Have yet to shoot a session, the first one of a membership, and then they’re like, yeah.
00:14:17 [Melissa]
We don’t wanna work with you anymore.
00:14:18 [Melissa]
That hasn’t happened.
00:14:19 [Melissa]
They’re sticking around in that membership with me.

00:14:21 [Melissa]
And, typically, I will see them for family sessions year after year on that kind of thing.
00:14:25 [Melissa]
And then they’re referring others to me, that kind of stuff.
00:14:28 [Melissa]
Leaving reviews and things like that, that’s all for that.

00:14:31 [Alison]
So that’s loyalty and Yeah.
00:14:32 [Alison]
That’s about all I get as far as loyalty and advocacy in the form of reviews.
00:14:36 [Alison]
People that were so delighted with the experience I provided that they leave a Google review or a Yelp review because my people don’t live here.
00:14:43 [Alison]
But I will say say I do get repeats mini sessions.
00:14:46 [Alison]
So I only do mini sessions twice a year, and I will have people come back twice a year or every year to do that updated Christmas card or before they move off island.

00:14:55 [Alison]
They just wanna work with somebody they know and trust because they’re personal friends or we’re in the same circles or something like that.
00:15:00 [Alison]
And so that’s about as far as for my model that it goes.
00:15:02 [Alison]
So you can see it is a funnel.
00:15:05 [Alison]
It’s very much an upside down triangle going from a lot of people.
00:15:08 [Alison]
And of course, as you go lower from interest to consideration and conversion and then loyalty, it gets smaller and smaller.

00:15:15 [Alison]
So that is a marketing funnel.
00:15:18 [Alison]
If you have any questions about it, feel free to reach out to us.
00:15:21 [Alison]
Again, we’re gonna have other episodes at later dates about different ways.
00:15:24 [Alison]
We’ve already done stuff about blogging, SEO, email marketing, all that stuff to come about how to get people through those funnels.
00:15:30 [Alison]
But now when you’re listening to future episodes and other episodes or in other shows, you don’t listen to many other shows than ours.

00:15:36 [Alison]
Right?
00:15:37 [Alison]
I’m just kidding.
00:15:37 [Alison]
You’ll understand what a funnel is.
00:15:39 [Alison]
So again, if this was a listener submitted topic, so if you have questions, if we’re talking about things that might be over your head confusing you or you’re not sure about, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
00:15:49 [Alison]
Give us some feedback.

00:15:50 [Alison]
Reach out to us on Instagram.

00:15:52 [Melissa]
And I would say too, when it comes to funnels, don’t get overwhelmed by Yeah.
00:15:55 [Melissa]
Trying to do everything.
00:15:56 [Melissa]
Just pick one.
00:15:57 [Melissa]
Even if it’s social media, pick your social media and say, how am I gonna get them getting exposed to me on social media, maybe through a hashtag, to getting them to like my content, to getting them Mhmm.
00:16:06 [Melissa]
Overnight.

00:16:07 [Melissa]
So just look at it that way.
00:16:08 [Melissa]
Take it one piece at a time and don’t think, oh, I gotta do this and this and this.
00:16:11 [Melissa]
Just start with them.

00:16:13 [Alison]
Especially if you’re just building a business in a new place or you’re pivoting to a new thing, one at a time.
00:16:19 [Alison]
Don’t let the way Melissa and I are rattling off some things that we’ve got going on.
00:16:23 [Alison]
This has taken years.
00:16:24 [Alison]
We’ve been doing this for I think I’m at thirteen years.
00:16:27 [Alison]
Right?

00:16:28 [Alison]
With seven

00:16:28 [Melissa]
moves?
00:16:29 [Melissa]
Sixteen.
00:16:29 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:16:30 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:16:30 [Alison]
With seven moves, I’ve done and redone freebies and downloads and workflows to match every location I’ve been in.
00:16:36 [Alison]
We can do this in our sleep.
00:16:37 [Alison]
So don’t be overwhelmed.
00:16:39 [Alison]
If you have questions about how this could work better for you, we’re happy to help answer your questions.
00:16:43 [Alison]
Check the show notes for links to reach out to us.

00:16:46 [Alison]
Alright.
00:16:46 [Alison]
Thanks, guys.
00:16:47 [Alison]
Bye bye.

00:16:50 [Melissa]
Thank you so much for listening.
00:16:52 [Melissa]
If you’re enjoying the show, would you do two things for us?
00:16:54 [Melissa]
First, leave a review.
00:16:56 [Melissa]
Just stars would be awesome.
00:16:57 [Melissa]
And two, forward this episode to a biz bestie, no spouse, or anyone facing moving their business.

00:17:03 [Melissa]
We’d love it if you shared this episode with even just one person.
00:17:06 [Melissa]
If you have questions, you can reach out to Allison on Instagram at alphotog, or you can find me, Melissa, in my Facebook group, Picture Perfect Rankings.
00:17:15 [Melissa]
Check the show notes for links, and we’re so excited to have you guys here.