Step 10 - Launch Your Marketing & Sales Funnel

You’re a golf fanatic and someone tells you about Alexander Technique. You go to the site and the first thing you see is a testimonial from a golfer talking about how his “yips” has completely gone, his drive has increased in both distance and accuracy, and his handicap is lower. Even if you disbelieve it, you can’t resist finding out more - what if it is true?

You’re a golf fanatic and someone tells you about Alexander Technique. You go to the site and the first thing you see is a middle aged woman sitting in a chair with a tall, thin man wrapping his hands around her neck. The headline reads: “The Alexander Technique is a method of reducing unnecessary tension by consciously learning to re-educate your habits of use.” Lower down on the left you catch a black and white picture of an Edwardian looking man smiling, and next to that something about the British Medical Journal. Huh?

Which website is most likely to develop a relationship with the golfer? This is the powerful reason to niche your message. It takes time to build trust, so for someone who comes to your website via a search, usually with a short attention span, first impressions really matter. The power of niching is to capture their fickle attention by dangling the possibility of... Your Headline (catch-copy in Japanese) speaks to their need. What is the purpose of your Headline? To get the person to read the next line. What is the purpose of the next line? To get the person to read the next line. Are you getting the idea?

To successfully get your potential students to come to you, you then need to build a pathway for them. Putting this in Alexander terms - you want to design the means whereby a person will be encouraged to continue engaging with you. Are you now assuming unreasonable outcomes for casual visitors to your website? The few websites I have looked at seem to have as their primary outcome: Please come and have a lesson with me…

Whao!!! WAIT A SECOND. That’s is a bit like me - after being casually introduced to a girl at a friend’s party - coming straight out and asking: “Please come over to my place for dinner tonight.” Why bother with her name? Yeah, that’s really going to work, NOT. I’m shooting for the final result, without putting in a few charming steps along the way. Simple steps like:

1. Hi! I feel we can get along… (niche matching)

2. Let me tell you about me… (niche-affirming story)

3. I’d like to give you something… (niche advice download)

4. Hey - we've got the same friends! (niche testimonials)

5. Can I have your email? (niche list building)

You ask the girl for her email/cell number once some bonding has started to happen. If it works in personal relations, it will work on your website too. The difference of course is that you don’t see this person - so the only way to bond with them is to know their interest, hence your website is niching. It’s the only way I know to accurately guess what an individual is wanting.

So then what happens? You give them a good time! Now you’ve captured their email, it’s time to roll out the auto-responders I explained in a previous blog. This is your journey - a process where you slowly, with each email…

1. establish empathy;

2. build interest and stir emotions;

3. let them know the unique benefit of what you do;

4. compare your service favorable to others;

5. rationalize your price structure;

6. take away any risks they might be feeling;

7. offer more free content if they join;

8. give them a frame within which to act;

9. instruct them clearly on how to act;

10. reward decisive action…

What you are asking them to do may differ according to your business model - but the logical step is to invite them to a paid or unpaid personal trial session with you. Alexander Technique is a sensation as much as it is an idea - so your final pitch for lessons effectively occurs belly-to-belly with you.

We all want to get our hands on them - but please, be delicate about it!