How to Start a VSL & Funnel Agency

Hey, thanks for joining for another week of New Venture Weekly.

First up, here’s a little inspiration for your day.

So, I recently saw this video and it got me thinking.

Most businesses need to optimise their funnel and their sales process but most businesses don’t know how.

Based on the video above, there’s an incredible amount of money being left on the table.

This presents a business opportunity.

Let’s jump in!

🗞️ Things worth checking out

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💡 VSL & Funnel Agency

What is a VSL Funnel?

A VSL Funnel is a marketing strategy that uses video content to guide potential customers through a series of offers, ultimately leading to higher-value purchases.

The "upsell" component refers to the practice of offering additional, often more expensive products or services to customers who have already made an initial purchase.

The power of the Upsell VSL Funnel lies in its ability to:

1. Capture attention through engaging video content

2. Build trust and credibility quickly

3. Guide customers through a logical progression of offers

4. Increase average order value and customer lifetime value

What is a VSL Funnel Agency?

Video Sales Letter (VSL) and Funnel agencies specialize in creating targeted video content and structured sales funnels that guide potential customers through a buying journey, from initial awareness to the final sale.

These agencies blend marketing psychology, content creation, and data analytics to craft compelling narratives that resonate with viewers and convert them into customers.

⭐️ Examples:

• Click Funnels: Software that allows businesses to design and implement automated sales funnels, reportedly generating over $100 million in annual revenue.

• Pretty Funnels: Software that helps organise and optimise your digital funnels.

• Funnel Packs: Pre-built marketing funnels for different business needs.

• Funnel Architecture: Funnel agency run by Ryan Matthews 

🔧 Resources:

If you’re unfamiliar with marketing funnels and why they’re so important, watch the videos below:

• This $7 Sales Funnel Has Made $3,200,000 In 12 Months - watch here

• How To Build A $50K /Month SMMA VSL Funnel - watch here

• How Sabri Suby Made a $7.8B Sales Funnel - watch here (this also shows how Sabri sells pre-made funnels)

• How Matt Gray Built a $13.8M Sales Funnel - watch here

👎 Problems:

These are the problems that this type of agency can solve for clients:

• Low Conversion Rates: Enhances lead-to-customer conversions through compelling video content.

• Poor Customer Engagement: Creates engaging video content to capture and maintain audience attention.

• Difficulty Scaling Marketing Efforts: Implements automated funnel strategies for efficient scaling.

• Lack of Actionable Data: Provides analytics for data-driven decision-making.

• Ineffective Personalization: Delivers personalized video content to increase relevance and effectiveness.

• High Customer Acquisition Costs: Optimizes funnels to reduce acquisition expenses.

• Inability to Stand Out: Uses unique VSLs to differentiate businesses in competitive markets.

• High Dropout Rates in Sales Funnel: Designs engaging VSLs to reduce dropout rates and clarify value propositions.

📈 Stats:

• Sales Funnel Effectiveness: Including a video on your landing pages can potentially increase conversion rates by 60 to 80%. (source)

• Lead Conversion Challenges: A significant challenge in sales funnels is lead conversion, with approximately 79% of marketing leads never converting into sales. (source)

• Sales Funnel Measurement: 68% of companies have not yet identified, designed, or measured their sales funnel. (source)

• Upsell Revenue: On average, 70-95% of revenue comes from funnel upsells and renewals (for businesses that use them). (source)

• Personalization: Tailoring content for your audience can boost the effectiveness of your sales funnel by up to 20%. (source)

• Need for Nurturing: 96% of website visitors are not ready to buy and need nurturing through the sales funnel. (source)

🧐 Opportunities:

Opportunity #1: Start an Agency

Start an agency that helps businesses with:

1. VSL Production: Create engaging and persuasive videos that explain products or services, address customer pain points, and encourage actions.

2. Funnel Strategy: Design a step-by-step process that nurtures leads at each stage, from lead capture and nurturing to conversion and upselling.

3. A/B Testing and Analytics: Continuously test different elements of videos and funnels to optimize conversions and improve ROI.

4. Integration and Automation: Set up automated systems that ensure smooth progression through the sales funnel without constant manual intervention.

5. Retention Strategies: Develop post-purchase follow-ups through video content to increase customer loyalty and lifetime value.

6. Lead Magnets: Create compelling lead magnets that help bring people into the funnels.

Business models to explore:

Productized Service: This model involves offering standardized services with fixed scopes, timelines, and prices, turning customized solutions into standardized packages.

• Predictable Revenue: Clients know the cost upfront, making financial planning easier.

• Scalability: Easier to scale with standardized offerings.

• Efficiency: Simplifies operations and reduces complexity in service delivery.

Pay-Per-Outcome: In this model, your compensation is tied directly to the measurable results they achieve for the client, such as increased sales or leads.

• Aligned Interests: Your success is directly tied to client results, enhancing trust.

• Attractive to Clients: Lower upfront cost with payment contingent on performance.

• High Reward Potential: Successful campaigns can yield higher returns than flat rates.

Hybrid: A hybrid model combines fixed-rate services with additional performance-based compensation, providing a base revenue plus incentives for achieving specific results.

• Flexibility: Combines fixed rates for predictable income with bonuses for performance, appealing to a wider range of clients.

• Customization: Allows clients to start with a base service and add performance-based elements as needed.

Opportunity #2: Sell Pre-Made Funnels

Create a business similar to funnelpacks.com and sell pre-made funnels with landing page templates, email copy, landing page copy, SEO strategy, automation, etc.

Include tutorial videos and explain the why and how of each funnel element.

Funnelpacks sell their funnels for around $147 per pack or $588 for 5 packs.

The packs are rather general and aren’t specific to certain industries/types of services.

I would make packs specific for each niche (roofing, e-commerce, real estate, etc) and sell them as a course with all the tools to implement ready to go.

So the course teaches them the strategies and shows how to set up each funnel element (emails, landing pages, etc) and comes with the templates ready-to-go.

Things to include:

• Landing Page Templates (Shopify, Framer, Elementor, etc)

• Email Templates + Copy (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, etc)

• Lead Magnets (Downloadables, Calculators, Mini-Courses, etc)

• SEO + Content Guides

• VSL Scripts + How to Film Guides

• Paid Marketing Guides + Ad Templates

• How-to’s and Tutorials for Everything Included

• Private Group Access

• Upsell to a premium done-for-you service (agency idea above)

Opportunity #3: Combine & Conquer

You can definitely combine these two business opportunities or use the pre-made funnel templates as a lead magnet and sell the implementation.

Giving away as much value for free is oftentimes the best way to see rapid growth and build trust.

Alex Hormozi talks about it here.

Alternatively, you can use the funnel packs as a low-ticket offer, with a valuable newsletter being the free offer and then sell the implementation as the high-ticket offer.

🗂️ Niches:

• E-commerce

• Software as a Service (SaaS)

• Real Estate

• Health and Wellness

• Financial Services

• Online Education

• Legal Services

• Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery

• Automotive Sales

• Travel and Tourism

• Digital Marketing Services

• Event Planning

• Fitness Training

• Life Coaching

• Mental Health Therapy

• Pet Services

• Subscription Boxes

• Home Improvement Services

• Dental Practices

• Wedding Services

• Personal Finance Coaching

• IT and Technical Support

• Luxury Goods

• Catering and Food Services

• Fashion and Apparel

🛠 How to Build:

Define Your Services

• Agency Services: Focus on creating engaging VSLs, developing comprehensive funnel strategies, conducting A/B testing, implementing automated systems, and crafting retention strategies.

• Pre-Made Funnel Packs: Develop niche-specific funnel packs for select niches. These packs should include all necessary templates and a step-by-step guide on setup and execution.

  • Even if you don’t sell pre-made packs, have these ready-to-go so you can service clients more effectively.

Choose a Niche

• Select which niches you want to focus on and specialise in. Doing this is often a good way to show expertise and authority.

• With focused expertise, you can offer more insightful, effective, and innovative solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges of your niche market.

• If just selling pre-made packs, start with one niche and expand over time.

Develop Your Funnels

• Components of Each Pack: Include landing page templates, email marketing templates, lead magnets, SEO and content guides, VSL scripts, paid marketing guides, and comprehensive tutorials.

• Educational Content: Provide detailed videos explaining the 'why' and 'how' behind each element of the funnel, empowering customers to understand and implement strategies effectively.

• Support and Community: Offer access to a private group for ongoing support and community engagement.

Scale and Expand

• Feedback Loop: Regularly collect and analyze customer feedback to refine your offerings and improve customer satisfaction.

• Niche Expansion: Gradually expand your range of pre-made funnels to cover more industries and specific market needs.

• Technology Integration: Continuously integrate new technologies and strategies to keep your services and products at the cutting edge.

🚀 How to Grow:

• Content Marketing: Create blog posts and VSLs that showcase successful case studies and demonstrate the effectiveness of your services.

• SEO: Optimize content for high visibility in searches related to video marketing and VSL production.

• Social Media Marketing: Engage on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with snippets of work, testimonials, and useful insights.

• Paid Advertising: Conduct PPC campaigns on Google and retargeting ads to capture leads.

• Partnerships and Collaborations: Collaborate with digital marketing agencies for white-label services and host joint webinars.

• Email Marketing: Develop nurturing sequences that highlight the transformation achieved with your VSLs. Tell customer success stories and give valuable information.

• Buy a Theme Page: Purchase content on social media theme pages relevant to your niche for direct audience engagement. Example.

• Use Clay and Outscraper: Identify local businesses on Google Maps that could benefit from your services.

• Use Instantly, Clay, and Apollo: Find and email leads about how your services can solve their marketing challenges.

• Use Genpage: Create custom landing pages for each high-value prospect to increase conversion rates.

• Send Personalized Videos: Enhance email campaigns with personalized videos tailored to the recipient's needs. Watch here.

• Track Keywords: Use social listening tools like Ddevi or Syften to monitor niche-related discussions on Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook groups.

• Free Newsletter: Offer valuable content such as funnel hacks and VSL optimization tips to build trust and showcase expertise.

• Leverage Social Proof: Display testimonials and case studies prominently to validate your services.

🔥 Free Stuff

(Bookmark these)

• Want to grow your business? Here’s a database of tools that can help.

• Want to promote your startup for free? Here’s a database of free places to promote your startup.

• Want to turn your idea into a business? Check out this business idea checklist.

• Want to differentiate from your competitors? Check out this Differentiation Strategy Guide

• Want to run ads for your business? Use these proven psychological ad positioning strategies.

🤯 Recommendations

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