The word "funnel" is used all over the place and my clients are constantly asking for advice about building a funnel...the only problem is that there's a lot of misconceptions about what a funnel is and what it does and more importantly how to build one.

These misconceptions are stopping a lot of you guys from making your own funnels are there's no reason that you can't build them yourselves (if you have the time to invest).

So today, we're going to look at exactly what goes into an effective sales funnel and how to create one for yourselves.

Misconception 01: You Need Fancy Technology

When it comes down to it, a funnel is just a process that takes someone from not engaging with you, to making a decision about your product or service (hopefully positive). The shops you see on the high street are great examples of how funnels work.

Imagine you're walking down the street and you see a poster offering "50% OFF, MEGA SALE!!!" on the window of a shop, you then walk into the shop and look around find a few items that you like AND then you see that if you sign-up for a loyalty card you'll get a further 25% off. So you take your items to the till, sign-up for the card, and pick-up a few of the chocolate bars that they have lining the queue.

You've just been through a funnel.

In the exact same way that a physical shop does it, your funnel can be similar.

Here's an example of the most basic funnel:

1. You create a document called, "Five Simple Steps to Unlimited [Whatever]"

2. You create a status on Facebook saying "Hey guys, I've just created something amazing that I'd like to share with you. Who's interested in having more [Whatever]?"

3. The people that reply to you, you send them the document

4. You write down their names in a spreadsheet

5. You ask them later how they enjoyed the document

6. You invite them to an event or a one-to-one consultation

All the fancy technology does is automate a lot of the systems that are in play in our example.

Misconception 02: People will Automatically Find it

My own personal misconception about having a funnel was that it was a "fire-and-forget" method. I figured all that I had to do was create an amazing funnel and people would flock to it, buy my service, and I could retire to the beaches of Thailand...not so.

Everyone that saw the funnel loved it...all 10 of them.

You still need to drive traffic to the funnel that you create. Now, this can be done used paid adverts on Facebook and Google but let's keep it simpler for now. Why not start using your social media profiles as the start of your funnel?

Why not have people enter your funnel as soon as you meet them? 

Most of you guys are meeting a number of fantastic potential clients at various events and when you're out and about...and not leveraging that value. Working with a client of mine, we built a piece of content that she found the majority of people she met at networking events were asking here and we created a piece of content that answered all those questions and more (if you'd like me and my team to create something similar send me a PM/Email).

Turning your social media profile into a funnel is as simple as the shop example we looked at earlier. All you need is:

1. A compelling offer

2. An end target

3. A way of tracking the people that go through your funnel

Misconception 03: Funnels Don't Require Human Interaction

So, at the events that I've started doing, we have built an amazing funnel. Mostly automated giving attendees great content, text updates about the event, and they get to interact with a real-life AI! However, even with all that technology in-built to the funnel, we still need to include a human touch.

Whenever we have an event we ensure that we're sending possible attendees invites via Facebook, showing people we meet at events the Eventbrite page, and giving our fans links to the lead page that they can share on their Social Media.

Similarly, I post one of these articles every day and send them to everyone that's signed-up and asked to receive these emails. I do this so that they know;

1. I'm dedicated

2. What I'm offering has as much value (if not more) as these posts.

Once you make your funnel, remember that the human touch will make all the difference.