Funnel Series #19

Are you making these funnel-building mistakes? If you’ve ever built a sales funnel you know how many moving pieces there are…and how many places it can go wrong.

That’s why I’m bringing in funnel strategist Angela Kiszka, founder of Crystal Clear Funnels, and one of my UDMA School grads. She helps coaches, course creators, and spiritual entrepreneurs build high-converting funnels that drive more leads, sales, and impact. With expertise in tech, implementation, and strategy, Angela makes the funnel-building process seamless for online business owners. She’s seen it all—so she’s breaking down the five biggest funnel-building mistakes and how you can avoid them.

Listen to learn more about:

• The #1 mistake most clients make with their funnels—and how you can be the expert who fixes it
• Why overcomplicating funnels can kill your conversions (and what to do instead)
• A simple tracking tool Angela gives her clients to measure funnel success
• How to confidently step into a strategic role, even if you’re new to funnel building
• Why every business owner needs a funnel builder and how you can position yourself as the one they hire

Funnels are the key to unlocking higher project rates so tune in to this episode and let’s make sure you’re building them the RIGHT way.

Sponsored by The Digital Marketer’s Workgroup

Are you already doing marketing work but need more clients and a stronger referral network? Join a tight-knit community of freelancers and get access to behind-the-scenes conversations, support, and troubleshooting that every solo marketer needs. Plus, you'll benefit from advanced trainings, networking opportunities, and exclusive job leads. Apply here!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

• Grab Angela’s Freebie: Inbox to Impact list building funnel toolkit. This is your shortcut to creating a list building funnel that strategically attracts, nurtures, and converts your ideal audience into paying customers.
• Diary of a CEO Podcast episode with Daniel Priestly

Connect with Angela:

• Instagram: @angelakiszka
• Facebook: Crystal Clear Funnels
• Website: https://crystalclearfunnels.com/ 

Connect with Emily:

• Facebook Community: Emily’s Unicorn Digital Marketing Assistant Lab
• Instagram: @emilyreaganpr 
• Facebook: @emilyreaganpr

3 ways we can work together: 

1. Get on the waitlist for the Live Unicorn Digital Marketing Assistant School. My signature course on digital marketing implementation will give you the confidence and teach you HOW to do the work that’s in demand and highly marketable. This is the secret weapon to getting booked out. Or get started now with the Self-Study version of UDMA School here.
2. Got the skills but need help getting your digital marketing services business to take off? I’ve got an advanced tight-knit referral and networking community that can help and I would love for you to apply here for The Digital Marketer's Workgroup. You’ll get the latest updates and trainings, networking opps and job leads from online business owners who are looking to hire digital marketing implementers and assistants.
3. Looking for a fast way to get your foot in the door with up-to-date skills? Take my 2-hour Quickstart to Facebook Community Management workshop and learn how to help online business owners like course creators and membership site owners manage and engage their community

  >>> Download my Top Ten Most Requested Digital Marketing Tasks & Services 

And at the end of the day, I wanted a skill that was going to take me out of the generalist work,

and something that I knew would be useful across a wide variety of niches. I ended up niching

down. I work mainly with coaches and course creators and spiritual entrepreneurs, but

honestly, funnel builders are needed in every aspect.

Hey, there. I'm Emily Reagan, and you found the marketing freelancer. This podcast is for

marketing freelancers and service providers who are already making an impact behind the

scenes and want to take their skills, income and business to the next level. Here we're all about

embracing the unicorn title, a full stack marketer who can do it all, strategy, implementation,

creativity and everything in between. We're the magic makers who know how to deliver real

results for clients, and we're ready to rise as sought after marketing specialist. We're linking

arms with Sister service providers, geeking out over marketing strategies and learning how to

position ourselves as trusted experts who clients value and rely on. This podcast is about

building a business we're proud of working with Dream clients with impact and charging rates

that reflect our work's worth. Unicorns. Unite. Hello. Did you see our fancy new podcast cover

arts. Did you see my new and improved podcast title? That's right, unicorns. Unite is changing. We are now called the marketing freelancer. So first of all, if you're new, hello, hey. I am a

business owners write press releases, I had a full time job and a bleeding heart, and wanted to

help some of these Mom and Pop museums in my area get the attention of newspapers and get

more traffic. And I loved using my skills to help others. Eventually, I would be a stay at home

mom. The military would force us to move and I would quit my job, and I started freelancing,

and I have not looked back. So I created this podcast, this community to help other smart,

underemployed over educated women, especially women who took a baby break, military

spouses, anyone going through a career change, get into this digital freelancing world, and I

have had quite the journey the last four years, getting very clear in who I am and what I stand

for and and how I'm different than the rest of the VA coaches out there. And it has been an

evolution, and it's time for this podcast to evolve as well. We are so much more than virtual

assistants. Virtual Assistant is getting more and more synonymous with me, with the little

button inside my Kia carnival that is going to call the insurance for me, help me with issues with

my car, maybe change my flat tire. We need to get more specific when it comes to the type of

freelancing and contracting work we're doing, there's a range out there, from hourly doing task

to fractional cmo and COO services. And so this podcast is really a reflection on the changing

times. We've outgrown the term virtual assistant, and a lot of us are really climbing up this

ladder, owning the term as marketer, even if maybe you're like me, you don't have a four year

marketing degree, but you are smart, you love learning, and you're just eating it up, and you're

able to implement for your clients and and do the work. So this podcast is really for those of us

behind the scenes, whether you're an assistant, a specialist, a coordinator, a manager, a

strategist, a creative specialist, a consultant, a CMO. If you are doing the work behind the

scenes of businesses, if you're learning and applying advanced strategies, then you're in the

right place. And so it's time that the podcasts match it. And there's also Hello, a new Emily 5.0

who's released, especially post divorce, a new look, shorter hair. It's time to update the title. It's

time to update everything. It's time for all of us to step into this next level of our business, as

business owners, ourselves and as the experts, the professionals that we are owning our

power. So welcome to the new unicorns. Unite. We're still uniting. We're still rallying around

this common cause and empowering each other to charge appropriately, to put ourselves out

there, to be visible, to make bold, asks to own our titles, especially if we're unicorns and full

stack marketers, we're strategic, we implement, we're creative, we're organized, and we get

shit done. Okay, so this is the final episode of our funnel series, so it was a perfect time to

announce this change. We've purposely dived into behind the scenes of marketing funnels so

you can level up and be. Unicorn, 5.0 yourself. Congratulations. This last episode is very special

to me. I've invited our own work group member, our own unicorn, Angela Kiska, back to the

show. She shared her story about a year and a half ago about how she went from E com

business owner to this funnel expert who's building the funnels behind the scenes. So I thought, What a great episode to follow up some of the solo episodes we've had about client work,

pricing, how we can insert ourselves into the process, all these amazing guests, sharing

everything from the customer journey to webinars to messaging to high end funnels to

Facebook groups to chat bots and quizzes and lead magnets and pitch sequences, gated

content forms, all of that is coming together, and Angela is going to share her experience of

doing the work and the mistakes that she sees a lot of clients making within their funnel so you

can prevent it, so you can really step into this next level without needing to go into a big,

expensive course to have the confidence in yourself after listening to these episodes, to offer

this work. And there's always tech to learn. There's always nuances. And we continue these

conversations over in our digital marketers work group, where I've curated a community of

marketing freelancers and admin assistants and project managers over there, and we keep

going with these conversations. So let's jump into this episode with Angela. She's a funnel and

tech strategist. She helps online business owners grow with funnel strategies that create more

leads, more sales and more impact. And why you should listen. You're gonna learn the number

one mistake most clients make with funnels, and how you can be the expert who saves them

from it. You're going to understand why over complicating funnels can kill your results and

what you should do instead. We're going to be talking about the simple tracking tool Angela

gives clients to prove ROI just steal this for your own funnel projects. You're going to learn how

to confidently step into the strategic role when you're new to funnels, and why every business

owner needs a funnel builder, and how you can be the one that they hire. This is how we get

out of hourly rates, my friend, we get into project rates. Funnels are the key. All right, let's jump

in. Hey, Angela, welcome to the show. I am so excited to have you here, wrapping up our

funnel series talking about mistakes you see, especially because you are one of the people

doing the work behind the scenes. So welcome to the show and tell everyone a little bit about

you and how you started doing this work.

Yes, hello. I am so excited to be here and really excited for the topic that we're going to talk

about, because, you know, I am nerdy about funnels. I'm all about funnels. So that is what I do

in my freelance work. I am a funnel builder. But more than that, I work a lot with people on the

strategy behind their funnels, so I sort of bring together both the tech, the implementation and

the strategy to make sure they're building the right funnels at the right time for them. So I am

excited to dive into the topic that we're going to talk about today, which is like the mistakes.

How do we avoid the mistakes, and what can we do to optimize the experience for our clients,

but for ourselves as well?

You can see why I invited you to this episode, because you are a unicorn. You've come through

udmay school, you're in the work group, but you just said you do strategy and you do tech, and

you are the one behind the scenes doing the work, but I know you didn't always do this, so tell

everyone where you started, because I love those pivot stories to show how your background

can translate into where you are now, and how it's not always this straight and clear line. Yeah,

it's so not is it? Well, you know, originally I was an artist and an E commerce person. I moved to

the UK from the US about 14 years ago, and the art fair scene here wasn't quite the same as it

was in the US, and so I had to learn how to sell online. And much to my surprise, my E

commerce business really thrived, and it thrived so much that I found myself a bit, not even a

bit, a lot overwhelmed. I was sort of a prisoner to my business, really, and life stuff happened. It

happens for us all. My my dad was in a car accident. We had some, some really, some tough

life stuff where I had to drop everything in a moment. And it was these moments that I thought

I cannot do this anymore, like I needed a career that was going to allow me to be able to be

there for people that I loved when I needed them. And it was a really odd coincidence, because

it wasn't long after that, like this has got to change moment that you came into my into my

world. You know, I first heard you on a podcast, and then even tried hiring one of your unicorns,

originally for my own business, because I was drowning so much, and then I just made the

decision, right? I was like, I can, you know, I can do this freelance work. I knew enough about

the tech, and I was confident that what I didn't know I could learn. And took UDMA that. And

here I am, right, but going on three years, two and a half, three years later, I think. And the

more I did the work, the more I realized I loved funnels, the puzzle pieces behind the scenes,

like helping people get over those tech hurdles, because so many people have fantastic gifts to

share online or wonderful businesses. But that doesn't mean that they're great at the Tech.

They need somebody that can help them put those pieces together. So in a nutshell, longer,

longer answer than you might have needed, but that's how I ended up creating funnels.

Yeah, and we've actually had you on the show before. I think it was about a year and a half, maybe two years ago. At this point, I don't know, I'm in a little bit of a time warp sharing your

free answer story, and so it's fun to have this catch up with you, especially because we've gone

through this funnel series like sharing pieces and parts of the work. And you know why we're

doing this? It really combines all the unicorn skills, and it's something that clients will pay well

for. Don't you agree? Because you you've sampled the different kinds of work, you've done the

work in your own business. Like, why do you love funnels? Oh,

yeah, there's so many reasons. I think. You know, I did try. When I first started, after I came

through your program, I was the say yes to everything. Girl, like, like, I was sure social media,

yes, you want Pinterest, yes, I was doing it all. And that experience really taught me that I

loved the beginning and end of a funnel project for one thing, but I also felt like it was one of

the most impactful ways to help someone in their business. Like, you know, it's one of those

skills everyone, I shouldn't say everyone, but so many struggle with tech, and at the end of the

day, I wanted a skill that was going to take me out of the generalist work and something that I

knew would be useful across a wide variety of niches, I ended up niching down. I work mainly

with coaches and course creators and spiritual entrepreneurs, but honestly, funnel builders are

needed in every aspect, and I just have to add that with the rise of AI and all of the things that

we're seeing right AI, isn't anytime soon going to be replacing people who do tech. Like Tech is

one of these things that when you learn the skills, when you learn the platforms, and figure out

how to help people with that, you're you're not going to be out of a job anytime soon.

Oh, I like that. I like that. You said that. I think about that when it comes to even my blogs or

my emails. Like, even as a business owner, who knows how to do it, I still need someone to

load it, QC it, make sure it looks right, like that's nothing I would trust any kind of bot to do. I

mean, look at how AI is doing images like it's still hit or miss, and maybe it'll get better. But,

yeah, that's absolutely something, a task, a realm, an area in my business I want somebody to

manage in QC, because you can't afford to mess up. Yeah, absolutely,

absolutely. And like I said, so many people get stuck there. I mean, you know, most people

have amazing ideas and vision for their business, and then they jump in and realize, Oh, wow. I

didn't realize I was going to need to wear 50 hats and learn, you know, Kajabi or thrive card or

lead pages, or, how does it all work together? So, yeah, I just, I love putting those pieces

together for people. There's

also something about hiring somebody like you who's been through it a few times, set up a few

different funnels so you know what they're missing, or what's possible, or what the

opportunities for customization are. And I think back like those first couple lead magnet funnels

opportunities for customization are. And I think back like those first couple lead magnet funnels

I built for clients, they were quite simple, and knowing what I know now and about people's

offers and businesses and freebies and webinars and masterclass all these different

possibilities with segmenting and conditions. It's just a way different field, you know. So it's a

way different offer, a way different service that I can offer now. And so there's such an

advantage to hiring someone like you who's been in the businesses, seen the opportunities.

And I think a lot of business owners when they're starting, they get stuck on the check, but

they're not realizing, like, like, the missed opportunities. Does that make sense?

Oh no, you know. It totally makes sense. And one of the things that comes to mind when you're

talking about that is, I think, aside from any other area of freelancing that I've done, right,

because I've dabbled with lots of different things, is that when you're building people's funnels,

you're really getting a bird's eye view at what's happening behind the scenes in the online

space. And so like you said, when you first start out, it might be a simple lead magnet funnel. It

might be something that's very tech related, but flash forward, 20 funnels in 30 funnels in,

you're really starting to see where the success is coming for people in their business, or what's

not working, which is even more important, and you almost can't help but start to begin to

develop your own sense of strategy around that. Because it's just a matter of you're seeing

what's happening, and people need you to speak up. That's one of the things. Like. I'm hoping

we chat about that today, because I think sometimes as tech freelancers, we think of it in very

linear terms, like we're here to connect dot, a to top, you know, B to Z, whatever. But really,

what people actually need is for you to be able to just take a step back, look at the overall

picture and help guide them. Because sometimes what they think they need might not be

exactly what they need in that moment, and they will really appreciate you if you can point that

out and help, you know, help them avoid those pit bulls.

Oh, my God. I'm so glad you brought that up. I was thinking, do you remember that moment

where you started bringing your ideas to the table, or where you started to turn on your

strategy brain, because I think at the beginning it's very intimidating. You feel like you have to

be perfect at Tech, perfect at copyright. Know, someone's business really good be a marketer,

but yeah, it almost like creeped in for me, with me just absent mindedly making a suggestion in

an email that's missing, or a thank you page that could be optimized. Or do you remember

what it was for you when you kind of, you know, started getting out of that, like tech only?

Yeah, yeah, you

know, I'm trying to remember the exact moment, and I I can't remember the exact moment. I

just know that really early on, and it could be because of some of the experience that I had

before, but I really always went into my calls with clients with a sense of confidence, and I did a

bit of homework beforehand and tried to come to the table with at least a general sense of

what their goals were, you know, a little bit about what their businesses were, what they were

trying to do. And I think it was pretty early on. I mean, I'm not saying I'm like bossy sassy pants, right? Yeah, I think that, you know, if I see somebody heading in 60 miles an hour into a

brick wall, I'm going to say, hold up. Let's like, hey, you know, you might want to put the brakes

on, because here's what I'm seeing work well for others. And when you start to say things to

your clients like, here's what I'm seeing working all of a sudden, oh, they want to pick your

brain. They want to know what are you seeing with others, or they start leaning into you for

that advice and the strategy. And so I know it can feel uncomfortable when you're first starting

out, but I would just say, like, Don't be afraid. Like, if you've been in the business for any length

of time, you know what's happening behind the scenes, and just lean into that and Trust

yourself, trust your instincts, really.

Yeah, and I think one thing I didn't realize starting I was very naive. Granted, it was a different

day and age when I first started freelancing, but I didn't realize it could be so collaborative. You

know, like in the beginning, I was like, Oh, I am doing everything. I need to do everything, but

actually I can make suggestions to the clients, and they can team up with me, and we can

make it happen. Can make it happen together. Like, I never positioned myself as a copywriter

or promise to be a copywriter, but like, I found that if I just told the client what I needed, they

were willing to do it if they were a good client,

yeah, yeah, absolutely. And now, when I when I quote funnel projects now and I work mainly on

a, you know, on a project basis, that strategy piece is absolutely a piece of that project. In fact,

I tend to avoid projects where people just want a plug and play situation. I mean, they're nice

and they can be quick, and, you know, I'm not saying anyone shouldn't use people shouldn't do

that, but for me, I get the most reward, and I find I get the most referrals, and it grow. Has

grown my business the most when I am including that in my package as a strategy call

beforehand, really figuring out what, what is the goal, what's the end goal? What's the

customer journey? What are they trying to do with this funnel, rather than just, Okay, here's

your tech, and I'm done, because sometimes that can be the wrong the wrong step.

Yeah, I think that's always been my secret to booking out is this element of coming in like a

partner, not just doing the bare minimum, making suggestions, but not being like a jerk about

it, not being, you know, high and mighty in a, know it all, in Bossy Pants, but like them, seeing

that you care about your business, and you're thinking about what works best for them, and

what's fun is one of my top Gallup strengths is a maximizer and so like that comes so natural to

me. I think, did you say you had that one too?

Yes, yeah, yeah, you know what? It's been a while. I need to actually go back and look at it. But

no, that makes perfect, perfect sense. Yeah,

yeah. So I remember working on a funnel project once with a client, and I was really bored with

us because we were doing, like, a templated this and this and this, and then at the end of the

project, I had found the ways to make it more customized, and I ended the project feeling really

happy, and it was really interesting that, like, that's just how my brain worked, and that's how,

just like you, I liked Having the impact I like, I don't know, is it like doing something a little bit

more than what is normally offered?

Yeah, absolutely. I think. I mean, it's a fine line to walk, isn't it, right? Because some of us, we

care, we really care, like, when you're waking up at 2am in the morning and you're strategizing

for your client versus. Strategizing how to grow your own business, right? I mean, that that is

the thing, but I think so many business owners really need those strategic partners, and so as

long as you can keep your boundaries, try to keep your boundaries, that's a whole other

conversation, right? But set boundaries, but also let them know that you are a cheerleader in

your business. You're not, you're not just because they, you know, they can get somebody to

just plug those dots together, right? Like, you know, connect the dots, is what I'm trying to say.

But when you are that cheerleader and that person who actually cares how the launch goes, or

cares after the weekend, how many people did we get that signed up, you know, for the lead

magnet over the weekend? You know, these sorts of things will endear you to them, and you

feel good. It just makes the whole working relationship better. And then when you end they're

like, Okay, I'm referring you to five people. And, you know, put me on your calendar for the

next one sort of thing. It's, it just is the way to set yourself apart? I think,

yeah, I mean, it is that fine line of like, scope creep and boundaries, but it sounds like you do a

good job setting the relationship from the beginning that strategy call is probably everything

for you. Can you walk me through a little bit of your process before we get into the mistakes

that you see clients making on those so for me,

I have a really open, friendly, no pressure chat with people. I just want to hear in that first call,

what is it that you need? Where are you struggling? Where are you stuck? And I never asked for

a yes during the first call. I just That's not how I work. Generally. It's really a conversation

where they're getting an opportunity to chat with me. I'm seeing if it feels like a fit, like does

this feel like good energy? Do they feel? Let's just feel like it will be a respectful relationship on

both sides. This is going to work, right? Because we all know there's red flags, you know? And

so then if I'm feeling like it's a good fit, most of the time it is like most people are fantastic,

right? Then I just say, Hey, I will follow up with you tomorrow morning in your inbox. You will

have a recap for me with a proposal, and then you can let me know if you want to move

forward with next steps. And so then I go and, you know, create a little custom proposal for

them based on what it is they need. I don't necessarily always have set standard packages. I do

have them in theory, but so often, when you actually talk to someone, you find out they might

need a little something extra, you know, something that wouldn't necessarily fit within the

confines of, oh, a straightforward lead magnet funnel, you know what I mean. So, and then I

follow up with a nice, pretty PDF proposal afterwards. And, you know, usually they're, they're

saying, yeah, yes, what do we do next? Let's, let's get started. So it's pretty casual. I know I

should probably set like, you know, but that's how I roll. It's pretty casual and friendly well, and

you're working with

a lot of newer business owners or spiritual entrepreneurs like, who is your your typical client?

Interestingly

enough, I started out with a lot of course, creators and coaches I had come through DCA and

the momentum, like the Amy Porterfield world. So I had quite a few clients coming from there.

But it has evolved. It's really interesting. It's evolved that I work with a lot of therapists, healers,

readers, holistic coaches, and so it's very much like the mind, body, spirit of sorts of

entrepreneurs. So that's, that's sort of where I've landed, and that just evolved naturally. And

that's really fun. And it

sounds like those are the type of people who don't need a hard selling tactics, who are going to

trust their intuition, like that. Like, low low key first conversation. I mean, that's how I run them,

too. Like, are we a good fit? And then I'll come back to you with what I think we should do. So

that way I'm not on the call, like coming up with a number. That's wrong.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think coming to the call with confidence is key, you know, I mean this,

you're just two humans having a conversation, and this is an even exchange. If you're doing

something for them and they're paying you for it, then that is a good exchange, right? And so it

just has to feel good. So

where does that confidence come from with you? Like, how did you build it up? I was thinking of

like a beginning marketing assistant who's like, I haven't quite done this yet, or I haven't

offered this as a project yet.

Yeah, well, I can't really answer that, except that it might come because I've been, I was in

business for myself before. I've worked for myself in one way or another since I was like 22 business for myself before. I've worked for myself in one way or another since I was like 22

right? And I'm also a little bit older, right? I'm not 22 I'm not fresh off the press, right? So I

don't, I don't look at any call as make or break. If this call isn't the right fit, if this person isn't

the right fit, then that's okay, because there's going to be lots of other ones. And so I just try

not to get too in my head. We all do, right? But you know, you just talk yourself through it and

just think of it as just having a conversation with another person, no one is above or below. You

know, you just have to respect yourself, and then others will respect you too. I think that's sort

of part of it.

Yeah. So for. Somebody who's newer. I know I'm going off on a little bit of a tangent, but what

would you suggest they started like, knowing what your journey is and how you learn to build,

like, more complex funnels. Like, where should somebody start?

Do you mean in terms of funnels?

Yeah, our services are like, what path do you see? Like, if you could redo it right and start over

and get to where you are right now with your services as quickly as possible. What would you

do first?

Well, one of the first things I would do would be getting into a group, which is kind of what I did,

which was I got into your work group. And I have joked with people about the number of people

that I can connect directly to your work group or my my network around you, right, right. No

pressure, I believe or anything, but I mean getting to know people networking and I like, I am

an introvert, believe it or not, right? Most people don't know that, but I actually am. And I'm not

one to go out and stand on stages and network and big events and all of that. But it really is.

The online space is so much smaller than we actually think. And so just speaking up in groups,

getting in with a good work group, like you have quality job leads coming through the work

group. My first handful, my first five jobs all came through that work group, I mean, and then

from them, though, you know, those people referred me, and then it's just grows from there.

And so it can feel kind of scary when you're out there working on your own, trying to find

people in groups. And so anyway, that's a longer answer.

Well, I thank you. I didn't know where you were going to go with that answer. I wasn't sure what

you're going to say. I wasn't expecting that. But yeah. And like, I'm on this podcast, it's the

networking. Like, no one's going to hire you to do a funnel, a complex funnel, if nobody knows who you are,

yes, yes. And the other thing I would say is, is, honestly, like, educate yourself a little bit. Like,

even if you're not taking courses, I'm not suggesting you go out and take every course going,

you know, don't you don't have to go sign up for everybody's course. But get good training. Get

familiar with what is it that people are doing out there like it, you know, you can, you can

research so that when someone says, are you familiar with this person or that person, or are

you familiar with a particular method, I can't tell you how many of the first people I interviewed

through the group that you have, they had come through, you know, a particular course. And

so when I mentioned that I was familiar with it or that I had been through it, instant credibility.

You know, it's just they want to know that you know what you're talking about. So educate

yourself. Be open to networking, you know, get involved in whatever way you're most

comfortable with. But you know, that's where I would say to start.

Well, it's like, I've never taken Jeff Walker's course, but I know it's like the PLF method. I know

it's like three videos in the beginning of a funnel, and so I can tell, still talk the talk, find out

what the client is trying to replicate, and then do more research. But if I show up at a call and

I'm like, Jeff boo, you know, I will not get hired, like I said that. So I'm glad you mentioned that,

because it is a little bit of the game. And I always laugh at myself because I say in the work

group all the time, like, I'm helping you look smart. And I actually mean, I mean it like that is

part of the game. I'm like, need to find a more way to say that. But like, you gotta speak this

week. Yeah,

you absolutely do. And it's not hard to, like, sign up for people's email lists, see what kind of

emails they're sending, give them people's webinars like, start to consume what's going online.

If you're going to be part of that world, you really do have to immerse yourself in it a bit. And I

know your stuff, and

that's why we're doing a funnel series. So okay, you said something at the beginning of your

process, and you were talking about figuring out a good fit. I couldn't help but think about this. What would be the red flag deal breaker if you heard it now that we could pass that insight on

to maybe a newer listener who hasn't done this yet, like, what would be the red flag that you

would not move forward with a project with a funnel? Oh So

right away, one big one would be if someone, first of all, said, Can you guarantee me sales or

results, or wanted to pay me based on commission, based on sales or results? Right? Because, results, or wanted to pay me based on commission, based on sales or results? Right? Because,

no. I mean, yeah, that would probably be one of my biggest red flags, because

you can't guarantee traffic. You're building the pipeline, but you're not in charge of traffic. So

that is completely separate for anyone listening. Not the same thing? Yeah,

it's really not. There are so many intricate reasons why someone's offer does well or doesn't do

well, and we can do our best even when we're even more needed deep in the strategy with

them, if their offer or product isn't on point or the messaging isn't on point, there's so many

pieces to that puzzle, so all that you can do is, you know, provide the very best service

strategy, make sure you're doing your job, but when someone is saying, Can you guarantee

that I'll have 500 you know, new sign ups on my email list by next. Month, or, you know, they

have these unrealistic expectations about what they think they can achieve, then I tend to back

away. I want people who are realistic, who let's set big goals. Yes, let's set massive goals, but

also know that a big part of the getting to that goal is probably going to be some tweaks and

some optimization and sometimes just outright pivots. So, you know, that's a red flag. And I

suppose someone who asks for, I'm not a big fan of like trials. I don't do trials. I mean, I know

that's a personal thing, but if someone says, Well, can you just build this one little thing for me,

and then I can decide if I like your work, I come at it like you either value what you know, what

I'm doing from the start, or perhaps it's not a fit, and I'm okay if some people, you know, I have

tests. We all want testimonials. We have to be able to prove that we can walk the walk, right,

walk the dog, talk, the walk, whatever it is. But it's all about setting those expectations. And so

oftentimes it's more about those, like, little personality micromanagement things that are the

red flags for me.

Yeah, the clients who are hiring you do, they usually have a team or a tech VA, or, like, what

kind of situation are they in where they need outside help and want your expertise? Well,

you know, that has evolved over time, like when I first started, it's mainly solopreneurs. And I'm

not even sure, should I admit this or we, like, we're totally like, you know, spill into here. I

actually prefer work. I love working with solopreneurs. I think that for people who have massive

teams, it can start to be a case of one hand doesn't always know what the other is doing, and

that can be a little bit more challenging. So it just depends on the situation. But most people I

find who are looking for, you know, a good funnel builder, they're in that maybe one team

member, like they're a solopreneur, they've got maybe somebody helping with admin, or

they've got a social media manager, but they need that tech funnel strategy piece to come in and help them, you know, get to the next level like they've probably had some measure of

success. They know they've gotten there on to something, but now they need help figuring it

out and making it more successful.

Oh my gosh, thank you. I think you save people a lot of heartache when it comes to figuring out

which client you move forward with. Is there a time where you would say to a client like, you're

not quite ready for me? And maybe this is getting into your mistakes list. Is there a time where

you might say like, not quite yet, do this in this first Yes.

I mean, I think when you hop on a call and someone doesn't necessarily have an offer or a

product in mind, or their website is a hot mess, or, we all know there's lots of pieces, right? So

you can have someone that has zero social media followers but has an amazing, amazing

product. They've got the expertise their website is fantastic. They're ready to roll. Doesn't

matter that, you know, because you can have amazing success without being on social at all. It

just depends. If you talk to someone and they're just, they have no idea, like, maybe they've

just taken a course, or they know they should be building a list, but don't really have any idea

why. You know. So I think most of the time, most people, you can start them with, at the very

least, you can help them with a list building funnel. Because almost everybody, almost

everybody should be doing that, you know. But occasionally you get someone who's so new

that they just need to take a step back and like, Okay, what is my goal here? What am I

actually trying to do? Because then otherwise, you can end up in this merry go round of

someone who's changing their mind, like every two weeks about I think I want a course. I think

I want a membership. I think I want you know, and they're they just don't know what they want

yet, and then it's hard to help them. How do you help someone who doesn't quite know what

they need?

Yeah, I have a client right now who's hasn't built the course yet, and there, there's some clarity

and messaging that needs to be figured out. But we were able to build the list, building lead

magnet funnel, and then kind of leave it open ended at the end, knowing, and I've had to say

this so many times, we're going to go back and update it, fix it, like, for now, phase one, yeah,

like, yeah, that's a good thing to put it. And he doesn't have a paid offer, but he's successful in

his realm. Like he's an expert, and it's just like we're trying to do, like, overlap what we're

working on, but that's exactly what we started with. But I think that's okay too, to not have it

like perfectly flushed out phase one phase two, by then you'll have made a decision, and then

we can implement Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely agree. Yes. Well, let's get into the

mistakes that you see with funnels and how you can help your clients avoid them. Where do

you want to start?

Okay, all right. I'm trying like, should I go for the number one or start at number five? I'm Okay, all right. I'm trying like, should I go for the number one or start at number five? I'm

gonna, I'm gonna start with number one. Some of these we've already sort of touched on right

number one is something that we were literally just talking about, which is focusing to. Much on

tactics and not on strategy. And so that is really, I think, important, both as a funnel builder, but

also certainly something you can help your client with. And so, like we were just talking about,

if you get on a call and someone doesn't have any idea of what that customer journey is

supposed to be, they're not sure what the outcome is, even if it's as simple as I want to grow

my email list, because I know at the end of the year I'm going to create a product. Great. Let's

start building your audience. Do you know who your audience is? Right? So, you know, I think

when people, when business owners, come in to the online space, they can be overwhelmed

with a lot of terms, a lot of you know, we hear trip wires, low, ticket, high, ticket, membership,

all of these things. And so oftentimes they don't quite know the difference between them. And

so number one would be, make sure you're clear on what it is they want, and that they're clear

on what they want and the reason behind it. And just to give you a super fast example of that, I

had a call with someone, fantastic person, wonderful business. And she said, I need you to build

me a tripwire funnel. And I said, Great. And so we really it was like a 15 minute call, because I

thought it was a pretty straightforward thing, but after I quoted, got the login information

checking out, what it really was was a series of, like, several lead magnets that didn't actually

lead to a product. So my mistake was not clarifying what was her understanding of what a

tripwire funnel was? I didn't ask. So I found myself in this, oh, this is not what I thought it was.

What did she think a trip wire funnel was to this

day? I'm not exactly sure, because I just had to, like, pivot say, Okay, well, what we're talking

about here is you've got a couple of different lead magnets that you want to roll out. Okay,

fantastic. And so we never really chatted about trip wire again, because it wasn't a trip but

anyway, just making sure,

okay, for anyone listening, can you tell us what a trip wire is?

Sure. Yeah. So a trip wire, I know funny little phrase, isn't it? But essentially, in its simplest

terms, you've got a lead magnet, a free thing on ebook, or whatever it might be, templates,

something that you're offering for free. And then when someone is signed up, up on the thank

you page, pops up an offer, and we've all seen them. You sign up for something free, and up

comes the yay. It's on its way to your email inbox. And while you're here, you might want to

take a look at this. So that's that's like one version of a straightforward tripwire, and oftentimes

people use it just sort of try and make a bit of money to recoup ad spend, or just to get a little

bit of, you know, you know, money coming in on on a small ticket item,

yeah, it is kind of like vetting whether someone's willing to put it's just the very low cost, like, a

little money down. I think the first time I saw one was the the free book, and you only pay

shipping and handling like that would be a good example, because it's us, yeah, exactly,

covering the cost, necessarily, of getting a lead, but you are getting someone to part with a

little bit of money and just showing that they're like, going to be a better purchaser for

something else in the future, like you want that lead on your email list, as opposed to just a

freebie seeker. So I had to throw that out there for, oh

yeah, absolutely, whenever we can get buyers on the list even if it's low ticket items, then,

yeah, people who who buy even little things will be more likely to buy others. So we can't

assume we're speaking the same language. So it sounds like asking these questions on that

initial call to figure out what it is they're selling and how they're going to sell it, because that's

way different, way more advanced than a freebie. Yeah,

absolutely. And it will affect what you're what you are charging as well. There's a big difference

between a simple lead magnet funnel and something more complicated. So, yeah, yeah,

absolutely. Okay,

so what's your number two mistake? Number

two over complicating the funnel. So like, when we gain all these skills, there are so many fun

bells and whistles, right? I mean, we could talk about so many deadline funnels and, you know,

segmenting and anyway, there's so many things, and they all have a place, and they're all

super useful, but sometimes what a client is best served doing is a really straightforward you

know, you're building your email list, you're following up and you're making an offer. So just

because we can complicate things doesn't mean we should, and I think that's probably even

more so true now I like I think, that people have seen behind the curtain a bit, people are more

familiar with Online offers, and so sometimes straightforward and less complicated can be

better, especially if someone is in early stages. There's no point creating, you know, a 15 email welcome sequence for someone who has just been. Than a list of 100 people don't, don't, you

know, I shouldn't say don't do that. I never say don't do that, but I would suggest that you don't

need to do that. So keep it simple when you can, yeah,

because you can always go back, like we said, and go and, like, build off of it and tweak it. And

that's why they need us in their lives, absolutely,

because then you're ready for the next step. I mean, we know they're going to need the next

step, but it's like getting the foundation and figuring out what's that minimum viable, you know,

result that you can get. And once you've got solid data and you know what you're doing with

one thing, that's when you keep layering in. You know more when it comes to your funnels,

okay, this question is related to number one and number two, but like, what questions should

we ask on that onboarding call? Like, obviously, you know you were we're trying to get clarity

on the trip wire. But and we need to know people's prices and offers and audience. Is there

anything like not obvious that we should be asking on that call to set us up for success?

Well, I always like to get a really good idea of what, first of all, what is the and, like, where do

you want this to be? What is your goal coming up? And like, at the end of this year? Like, what's

the, what's the thing that you're trying to do? Right? So that's one big thing, but also finding

out, what are they willing to do to get there. Meaning, are you interested in ADS? Are you

thinking about running ads? Are you going to be doing reels every day? Are you because if

someone says to you, I want to make 100k with my course launch this year, but then you find

out that they don't like to be on social, they refuse to spend any money on ads, or they don't

want to network. Then you you know, then you're coming back to well, then how are we going

to get you there, right? So you have to know this is about, you know, all around that

conversation again, coming back to really knowing who, what their goals are, what's their MO

so to speak, like, what are they comfortable doing? And there's no wrong answer there, right? I

mean, everybody does things differently, but that's going to make your job a whole lot

different, depending upon whether or not someone is just wanting, you know, Evergreen hands

off at the end of the year, or are they willing to do a lot of other things to to bring awareness to

what their offer is. Sounds

like we should ask straight up, where is the traffic coming from? Because, I mean, obviously

ties into the whole funnel series. It's like cold traffic, warm traffic, social media traffic. Because,

I mean, the episode before this one was all about Instagram, many chat funnels. So it's like, I mean, the episode before this one was all about Instagram, many chat funnels. So it's like,

don't forget to ask that question, because that, I think, will lead into a lot of how you end up

building it,

yeah, yeah. And I love that you, you simplified that like, Yeah, where's the traffic coming from?

And this is, again, why it's like such a huge difference when you have an idea of exactly what

they want and what they think they need. Because imagine you build the funnel that they think

they want, and there's no traffic coming to it. It's not working. It's not converting. And then

they're like, she built me a funnel and it did not work. Well, no, no, no. It's, you know, it's about

the traffic and all those other important pieces. So, yeah, yeah.

And with that question, you're already setting up expectations, right? And setting yourself up

for success.

Yes, it's a collaborative thing, like, I'm going to do my part, but you, as a business owner,

you've got to do yours as well. Because, I mean, it's not magic. We wish it was magic. We'd all

be, you know, multi millionaires,

but that's what his clients hear from some of these coaches out there. Like, you just build it,

you turn it on, put money into Facebook, and it'll come and we unfortunately deal with the

aftermath of that, or the side effect, or whatever we call that, the untruth, how hard actually is

behind the scenes, and I wish it were that easy for everybody, and it's just not. It does take

work and tweaking. So what is mistake number three that you see? So

number three is ignoring key metrics? Yes, yeah, that's getting a little bit nerdy, but not setting

up tracking. So even when you're not working with someone on an ongoing basis, if you're just

doing an essential funnel setup, it's a package deal. I have a Google sheet where I have all of

the metrics that they can be tracking after we're done, right because we want them to know

what it is they're even supposed to be looking at. Most times, often, people have no idea what

their conversion rate should be. They don't know what they should be looking for. And so just, it

doesn't have to be complicated. But as the funnel builder, I think it's our responsibility to know

what metrics we should be looking for, and you have an amazing episode that's just like a few

before in the funnel series about that, and make sure to track it, because, you know, people

don't, don't have any ideas. And it comes back to that setting expectations. You know, I had an

amazing client with the most beautiful course amazing. She's so knowledgeable, but, you know,

A had like, a $75,000 goal with an email list of 200 people. Now. That's not going to happen

without a whole lot of other things, you know. And so sometimes you've got to be that person

who gives the dose of reality and says, Okay, here's what we can actually expect. You've got

this meant. So you know, if you get six people signing up, well, then you've actually done really

well, right? So we have to know what the metrics are and just give them a simple way to track

them after we're done with the project.

Love that you do that. It sets the team up for success, a client of success. But also Angela, it's

brilliant, because it's making you look good. So when you come back and you're like, Hey,

how's that funnel going? You have those metrics for your own, let's just say case study

testimonial, or you can come back and be able to tweak it faster, if they've been doing that in

an ongoing capacity, and have the data for you. So I love that that is probably, like, the extra

you probably leave them with, I'm guessing, like they're not paying you for that, but like, that's

just the piece that makes the funnel actually successful or not. Like, how do we know is

successful? Good job.

Yeah, absolutely. And thank you. I think it's super easy to set up. It's not rocket science at all.

You know, you just create a Google sheet, and then you create one for each funnel, and you're

handing it over to them. And I think it makes a huge, Yeah, huge difference.

So oh my gosh, brilliant. Okay, what's number four?

Number four is failing to optimize. So in other words, you've tracked, but you're not optimizing,

perhaps in the right place, or you're just looking at the top the top down. So simplest way to

put it would be, you've started a new list, building funnel, and you've been running ads, and

they've only gotten, you know, 10 sign ups in a week, right? So we could look at that, and we

could just look at that conversion rate. But really, what we need to know is, well, how many

people clicked over to the page, and did they click from the page to sign up and like, where are

they dropping off, right? So, you know, it sounds extra nerdy, but if you're interested in funnel

building, then you won't mind that, because it is just part of the thing is that sometimes it's like

a little treasure hunt, trying to figure out where have things gone wrong, and on the opposite

side of it, oh, let's figure out where it went right. So we can do more of that. So you know, it's

sort of the diagnosis and figuring out if something isn't working right? Don't throw the baby out

with bath water. I don't know if anybody's ever heard that saying before, but I mean,

oftentimes, yeah, it doesn't mean that the funnel is a failure. It probably just means you need

to tweak something. So failure to optimize is a mistake that I see both, I think freelancers

make, but also business owners, because they can, you know, don't forget that they're so much

closer to it than we are. Like, this is their business. It's their livelihood, and they can feel so frustrated or let down when something doesn't go the way that they thought it would. So if you

can step in as part of that project with them and say, Okay, wait, like, it's good, it's fine, let's

just make a few tweaks. Let's tweak the sales page, or, you know what? Let's change up that

creative for your ad, whatever it might be. I know not everyone does ads, but yeah, you've got

to take a look at what's working and what's not, and optimize

is that a service that you offer continuing or, like, how do you do that? When you're doing like,

a project setup, when I

do a funnel build, I do included with that project is a good 30 days afterwards is I'm going to

pop back in and I'm going to see where are we at. And it's not a big, complicated thing. It's like,

I pop in, we have a quick call, and I say, are you happy with how things are converting? I take a

look at the metrics. We see what's going on, and if there are big changes needed, then perhaps

that means another small package. Because, you know, maybe they need additional copy that

wasn't included in the first package. It just depends on what on the situation. But I always like

to include at least a follow up call and a look at the metrics to see what's working and what

isn't, and make sure they're, you know, it's like that, that final follow up to make sure that

you've done all that you could, or that they have the information they need to move forward.

That's probably

a big selling point for you to know that you're not just going to build it and run and be like the

website guy who's that you can never get a hold of ever again after he builds your website. You

know he's never around to make the changes. So that must give such peace of mind, knowing

that they have you in the back pocket. Do you ever get abused by that? Or is I was just

gonna, yeah, I was just gonna say, it is a fine line, right? Here's the thing, and I think that as

freelancers, we have to decide for ourselves what our boundaries are. And sometimes I let my

boundaries be pushed a bit. It's, it's, you know, I do. It's something I'm working on all the time.

So maybe I get an unexpected boxer in the middle, and I, you know, 3am that I wasn't

anticipating. But you know, I really do care about their business, and hopefully at this point I've

established a relationship with them. Um, and I really don't mind, I don't mind it's part of what I

do, and part of what I am meant to be doing is helping them succeed, helping them build

funnels that convert and grow their businesses. And so it's only in my best interest. So I think

as freelancers, it's always a tricky gray area. We have to have boundaries, but we also have to

understand, I think sometimes, that there are going to be times when you're going to go a little

bit above and beyond. And if you're always sticking to your hard line, every single time

something comes up, it can make it difficult. They're probably not going to contact you the next

time that they have the big thing, because, honestly, some of the best feedback I always get is

people love my responsiveness. Like if you were to send out a Google Form to people, they'd

say she's so responsive. They just want somebody to hear them out and help them if they can.

Glad you

said that, because I hear that a lot when I'm talking to my peers and they're like, who can you

recommend? Because so and so will take three weeks to get back to me. And so I think when

you're planning the funnel project, I know what this comes down to me is time, space, capacity.

And so if I have planned a funnel project, I know I need to bake in extra time for that follow up

to be accessible, to be available and not get sweaty about my profit margin or because I

overbooked myself. And so if you're pricing right, you have that buffer of time. Like, it should

be okay, but, like, expect that there is going to be a follow up. And I don't think anyone's ever

really abused me. And some of the people I have worked with in projects let me try to articulate

this well, but they've always been very clear. Like, you have Voxer access for one week, and

you know, like, as long as I know what to expect and when I can reach out, like, it's always

worked out nicely for me anyway,

absolutely. And I think one of the little things that I often do maybe something's taking a little

bit longer, or I haven't had time to get back to them. I love a quick little five minute loom. I'm

more of a verbal communicator, and so if I can give someone a five minute loom to just let

them know where I'm at. Maybe it's taking longer than they thought, or maybe it's taking

longer than I thought, whatever the case might be, just that communication. They're like, Oh

my gosh, thank you. They don't feel ghosted. You know, they're not about trying to be like, Oh,

are you done? Are you done? Or where are you it's just about them feeling confident that

they've not been ghosted. Essentially. How

did they feel during the project? Right? Is there, like a famous quote is Maya Angelou? Maybe

it's like people remember how you make them feel? Yeah? Absolutely, yeah, absolutely. Okay.

So what is your fifth mistake? The

fifth one is not testing every single step of your funnel before you ghost live. This one, right? I

mean, we've all done it, but, I mean, it's pretty self explanatory, and I think it sounds like a silly

one, right? Of course, you should be testing every link, testing every page, testing every you

know, doing a test purchase. But what can happen? And this is going to seem like a little bit

backwards, but when you're first starting out, Oh, you are testing, right? You're so nervous.

You're nervous the first that, oh, it's going live tomorrow. You've tested the link 20 times, yeah,

flash forward to when you've built 50 funnels, and you're like, so confident and comfortable in

your Kajabi space, or whatever it is, and you're copy pasting and all as well. And then you get

lax and you don't test or you trust that the copy that your client gave you with that link from a Google Doc, oh, the link must be right, right? She gave me the link, and it's not, it's a link to So,

like I said, Ask me how I know, because it happens to everybody. But biggest thing I can say

about this is, if you do make a mistake, hopefully you're the one that discovers it before you're

in a like, oh, the email just went out. But when you do make a mistake, be the first one to the

Voxer, the email, the whatever to say, oh, no, I messed up. Like, just own it. The more you skirt

it, you try to hide from it, because we're all human. It's going to happen. You know, it's not like

you have to go and refund the whole project because you made a mistake, but you've just got

to own up to it and do whatever you need to do. And if that means that that night, you're at

your computer a little bit later, fixing an email link or redoing something because you messed it

up. You got to do it. That's just how it is. But anyway, test ahead of time, and then you won't

have to do that.

I feel like you're calling me out on that one, because it is like you get more confident at it and

you you don't think about it. And you know what always gets me is Kajabi links. It will add that

extra little space sometimes, if you copy it fast on my Google Doc, and then the link. So I also

send the test email to my clients to give them the opportunity to check it out, so at least they

can be a little bit culpable,

right? Yes, I know I had one recently. That's why I'm so like, you know, passionate about it,

because I've been doing this for a while, and I would like to think that I'm. I said to my client, I

said, Oh, this was a rookie mistake. Thankfully it wasn't in the middle of a launch. It was, it was

just an empty link in an email, but I should have known better. I should have tested it. I should

have known better. And I said that to her, and she was great. She was fantastic about it. And

we sent an oops email, which got, you know, the oops ones sometimes get better open rates

than the other ones. And I joked, I said, blame it on me. Just blame it on your tech person. But

yeah, just test every aspect that you can think of. Test before, especially when you're in a

launch or, you know, because, again, it's their livelihood, and they've paid you. They want you

to double check your T's and dot your i's and all that. Yeah, yeah.

Oh my gosh. It's the first name tag. I think that was just messed up in my work group

onboarding because I went from Kajabi to Active Campaign. It's not changing out subject lines.

Like, you kind of like, always, kind of like, go to the body and then forget,

yeah, yes. It's the little things that just are can be easy to miss when you're moving quickly,

yeah, images linking, right, and not the old link, the previous link. Yeah, is there something else

E

A

E

A

E

yeah, images linking, right, and not the old link, the previous link. Yeah, is there something else

I'm trying? Oh, I had,

oh, this is the common one rookie mistake. Same thing happened with a client the other week.

It was the share link from a Google Doc. I made the copy, but I forgot to open it up to anyone

with link. And I'm like, Oh, my God, that's like a beginner VA mistake, and I did it like it was

station only, so triple A checking those,

yeah, yeah, you could almost have, I mean, I would say that, if you're just starting out, that you

literally create a checklist for yourself and just go through and, like, Did I check this? This, this,

this, and this? Because, unfortunately, you know, it can be a huge deal if you're in the middle of

somebody's, you know, it's launch week and their webinar link is, like, it can have an actual

effect on someone's income. I mean, a messed up email, okay, it's embarrassing. It looks bad,

but you just don't want to be it. Yeah? You don't want to be the one who's who's messed up big

time in the middle of an important time. Yeah? Well,

that makes me think of triple checking the audience too, like making sure exclusions are right.

The numbers make sense. I know every ESP is a little different, but a lot of mistakes happen

with that, where I'm like, Okay, I said a million times, like, these people need to be excluded,

but like, they're still in the list, yes,

and that that's a big one, yeah, that's a big one. Like, you send out the sales email, and you

mean to exclude anyone who's purchased, and instead, it only goes to people who've

purchased. Like, these are the little, little little tagging exclusions and things, yeah,

yeah, we have a few of those, because that can be insulting, like, to your former clients or

current clients or whatever, but Right? But sometimes I've gone in there and thought the

tagging was right, because Active Campaign, it can be kind of reverse what you think it should

be, like, not exist. And then you'll go and you'll be like, Oh my god, this is only going to 45

people, like something is wrong, so like taking the time to make sure,

yeah, yeah, it's, it's one of those things, and each, like you said, each platform or each bit of

software is a little bit different the way you do that in ConvertKit versus active campaign versus

mailer light. So you know, just get comfy with them and have your little checklist before you

click the Go button on anything speaking of

that, you have a list building funnel toolkit for us. Tell us about this freebie. I know you use it a

lot to give to your clients, but I think it might help a lot of our listeners too.

Yeah. Well, it's called inbox to impact, and it's essentially a list building funnel toolkit. So it's

got a lead magnet funnel, it's got templates mock ups. There's a little video that sort of talks

through what is the essence of a list building funnel. So it's sort of for earlier stage, people who

haven't made a concerted effort yet to grow their list. But I think it could be super useful for

freelancers as well, because you can use that to look and sound really smart when you're

talking to people about what the steps of their list building funnel should be. Yeah,

it makes sense for your business, because you want to have well informed, you know, clients

coming your way. And so this is a good way to turn leads into prospects and a smart lead

magnet for you. I can't help but be met and point that out on the show.

Yes, no, I know. Well, you know, oftentimes, and if you're creating your own lead magnets

around your funnel services, starting with something that's at that beginning stage, even

though it might seem like, Oh, I'm giving them what they need to do it, there's always going to

be a percentage of people were like, could you just do it for me. So it's okay to help people see

what they need to do. Oftentimes it's the quickest way for them to realize, yeah, I don't want to

touch that

and raise their hand right and self select, right? Yeah, yeah, oh my gosh. Brilliant Angela, this

has been so fun. Tell everyone where we can connect with you, especially if we have a claim.

Clients that need help building the funnels that are beyond our scope, our capacity, or what we

do in our business? Yeah,

absolutely. Well, you can find me at Crystal Clear funnels.com I am on Instagram at Angela

Kiska, and I'm not on Instagram as much as I probably should be. I'm working on it, but yeah,

you can reach out to me at Angela at Crystal Clear funnels.com, or visit me on the website.

There's booking links there, and yeah, happy to help. Oh

my gosh. I thank you. Thank you for sharing insight to the work. It's just something I feel really

passionate about encouraging marketing assistance, virtual assistants to take the leap into

some of this work and start doing more value based marketing services. Do you have any

parting final words for somebody like talking to yourself like four years ago, when you were first

starting, any advice you'd like to give? Yeah,

I would just say that, especially in terms of tech funnel building, don't be overwhelmed. You can

learn these skills. They will come to you over time, practice, makes perfect. But also, don't let

yourself get in your head about thinking that the space is too crowded, because there are so

many different niches. Just in the fact, you know, like, I've sort of niched down to people who

are in the wellness space. There are e commerce, like, everyone needs a funnel that should be

like a little sign. There are so many different areas that you can specialize in different types of

funnels, and so don't worry about it being too crowded a space, because it's not. There's plenty

of work for us all.

Oh my gosh, that was so beautiful. I couldn't have said it any better. Oh, good. Thank you. This

was fun. I love nerdy, nerdy funnel talk. This was amazing. Yeah,

speaking of that, let's go to the work group for a happy hour. We'll see you on the podcast

later. And thanks so much, Angela.

Thank you. Bye, Emily.

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Amazing. I hope you learned so much from Angela. Don't forget to get her inbox to impact her

list building funnel toolkit. She offers these to business owners, but I think you can learn a lot in

this process. And if you have a client who needs help and the funnel project is beyond you,

keep Angela in mind. She is taking clients at Crystal Clear funnels.com and I just want to say

thank you. Thank you, Angela, for sharing your story here, not once, but twice, for being so

open and receptive to your process to help us prevent these mistakes in our own business, so

we can go into any client situation and discovery call eyes wide open and be prepared. I don't

know about you, I have this thing or I like to just know. I like to know. I like to observe. I like to

learn from other people's mistakes so I don't make them too. I like to go in heavy handed and

prepared so I know what I'm getting into. I don't want to under deliver for my clients, and so

this funnel series should really help prepare you to say yes to this work. We're sharing these

jobs over in our digital marketers work group. Come join us. Just apply. We're letting in only a

few every month, and so get your application in, and we'll let you know when you're approved

and what you need to do to get ready to join us. And I also want to thank you for making this

podcast a top 1.5% I appreciate your love, subscribing, downloading, sharing and leaving me a

review. Hint, hint, if you haven't done any of that, please, please, please, really pushing me into

the top 200 of marketing podcast, the people behind these successful businesses are us. We're

doing the work, so let's unite and let's be successful together. Get results together and help

each other out. We'll go that much further. I was listening to that podcast Diary of a CEO with

everybody's talking about with I think his name is Daniel Priestley. We're talking about this

episode over in the work group. And the thing that really stood out to me at the very end of this

episode, he said, the one thing, the one thing that makes a successful business owner a

successful service provider that really gets in the way for everybody. And if you can do this one

thing, you will be successful. And he said, environment dictates performance, so you need to

surround yourself with people who are doing the same thing you are doing. You'll be more

successful if you're feeling frustrated, stuck or overwhelmed in your freelance marketing

business, there's one thing that can cut through the challenge is faster than anything else. One

thing, and that's what he shared on that episode, is your environment dictates your

performance. We tend to rise or shrink to the level of the environment we're in. So if no one

around you is building a successful freelance business, it is going to feel impossible. It's going

to feel hard. It's not going to be easy, but if you're surrounded by people like the listeners of

the show who are doing it, growing landing clients, raising their rates, offering strategy

sessions, moving into packages, suddenly it all feels normal. So you have to think about it if

you're in a space where everyone's struggling to. Find clients and whining about it, or not even

doing anything to change their environment and just complaining about their bank account or

how miserable they are at their job, you're going to struggle too. But if you're in a space where

people are successful, booking clients, raising rates, having wins, getting booked on podcasts,

increasing their visibility, becoming go to experts, it's going to have impact on you. You're

going to start seeing growth there too. You're going to start rising to the challenge and seeing

those opportunities. So if marketing, freelancing, landing clients is is overwhelming right now,

ask yourself, what environment Am I in? Where am I hanging out? You can't figure this out

alone. It's time to step into a place where success is normal and where marketing services are

common and people are niched and nuanced and good at what they do. And that's exactly why

I created the digital marketers work group. Inside you're surrounded by freelancers, marketing

assistants, who are working, learning, growing, the conversations, the support, the strategies,

the discussions we share, make the path feel not just possible, but inevitable. And if you're

ready to shift your environment and get around those people, come join us. You don't have to

do it alone. It's too much for one person. You need to be around other successful freelancers,

those above the ladder and you need you can reach down and help those down below too, who

E

are trying to get to where you are, because you've come a long way, too, and you have

something to add to the group. So check out the digital marketers work group. We'd love to

have you advancing and growing your business together. This is the message that Daniel

shared. It's about your environment dictates your performance. You want to get better. Change

your environment. Thanks for listening to unicorns. Unite. I'm so glad you're here. You already

get it. I'll see you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in to the marketing freelancer. If you're

ready to connect with other marketing freelancers, learn advanced strategies and take your

business to the next level, check out our digital marketers work group. It's my exclusive

membership, where you'll find the support community and tools to land premium clients and

grow your income, visit marketers workgroup.com to learn more, or just use the link in the

show notes. Apply today. Step into your power, own your expertise and command the rates

your work deserves. See you next time on the marketing Freelancer unicorns, unite.

So if you see me glancing over here, essentially I'm totally glanced again, my my notes there.

But

okay, so what is lesson? Or what is, oh, my god, Emily, oh my god. You get that.

And it's, you know, pausing for a second because maybe you can edit that out. Because I'm,

like, not sure I'm trying to articulate that better, okay,

say, like,

what's that?

Say? Like, maybe they send me a voxer at 3am

right? Yeah, you can edit that out if needed.