Using A Virtual Summit In Your Sales Funnel with Aleia Walker

 A summit can be a powerful part of your sales funnel, but only if you have the right pieces in place.

In this episode with Aleia Walker we'll break down:

• how not having a funnel is leaving money on the table
• how to use a summit as a part of your funnel both as a host and as a speaker
• what to do if you don't have an offer to sell
• what your funnel should look like.

I’ll let Aleia take it from here!

A Virtual Summit in Your Sales Funnel

I’ve been on both sides of a summit. I’ve spoken at 3 so far, and have hosted 2 of my own with a cohost. I love knowing what I, my speakers, and attendees will get out of the summit.

There are people who consider summits a standalone thing apart from how their business operates. But really, there’s such a big opportunity to use a summit as a part of your business’s overall funnel.

Not Having a Funnel Leaves Money on the Table

Not having a funnel, to me is like ghosting people. If you create an opt-in, and you don’t create a welcome sequence or funnel to go along with it, then don’t create that opt-in.

What happens then is that people forget about you. They only hear from you occasionally and they forget who you are or why they’re excited about you by the time your summit comes.

It takes a lot to speak at a summit because you have to put together a presentation, especially if it's brand new or something slightly tweaked to what the summit topic is. You record it and then you either take the time to edit it or spend your resources to get someone else to edit it.

You want to make sure that you're getting something out of this work.

How to Use a Summit to Lead Into Your Funnel as a Speaker

There are a few key ways to use a summit to lead into your funnel as a speaker.

Speak on something that is related to an offer that you have. Speak on something that you're knowledgeable about, something that you offer. And in your talk, speak about this opt-in and pitch them on this opt-in and get them to join up for your list.

This opt-in should be directly related to the offer that you're eventually going to pitch to someone. Once they get the offer, then walk them through the process, walk them through what pain points you know they have, and then what wins you're able to offer.

Every summit is not for every person. When you're pitched an event or where you see an opportunity to speak, figure out who the audience is.

Hosts need to let the speakers set themselves up in a way to benefit. A lot of times we might need to teach them to do that. Have resources on how to get the most out of their presentation.

You aren’t just trying to get people to register for your summit, you're trying to get solid speakers. Know that you have to pitch summit speakers, too.

How to Use a Summit to Lead Into Your Funnel as a Host

During summit days it's all summit, all the time. But after the summit, I put them into a tweaked welcome sequence. I have basically the same welcome sequence for every opt-in but tweaked depending on the particular audience.

It's common to decide to host a virtual summit and only think as far as the immediate list growth and all-access pass revenue. But what a lot of hosts miss is the opportunity to treat their summit as a full-funnel.

What Offers Convert Best After a Summit

If you’re pitching something after you summit, I prefer digital products that are under the $50 mark- something that's an easy sell.

If you don't have one and if you feel like creating one is not the best use of your time, then always pitch them on your free resources and get them indoctrinated in who you are and all the things that you have to offer.

You can have an email list and not have an offer. Use that email list as research. Send your audience a bunch of content and see what they connect with and that way you'll find your next offer.

A Good Funnel Email Sequence

My email sequence consists of 8 emails to my audience.

1. The first email in your sequence offers the freebie and benefits they’ll get from using it. Let them know you’ll check back in a day or so.
2. My second email is where I break down more of my story, how I get started, but more specifically how I get started with whatever's related to this topic. I have a welcome sequence map freebie. I talk about how I learned about welcome sequences and how they helped and directly how that relates to them.
3. My third email dives into pain points even deeper. What specifically does your product fix?
4. My fourth email’s when I pitch my next offer. Tie it into the pain points and problems my first three emails.
5. My fifth email breaks down features and walks them through more of the product I pitched them.
6. My sixth email is all testimonials.
7. My seventh email is a last chance email with the discount.
8.  The eighth email is a non-pitch email that breaks down my best resources.

Tools to Make a Funnel Happen

The number one tool you need is an email service provider. All email service providers will include some sort of automation for you to set up. Some of the unpaid ones are going to make life more difficult, but when you’re ready to sell via your list, you're ready to pay for an email service provider.

Secondly, you need somewhere to host a sales or landing page. A lot of people can get that done on their website. I use Lead Pages for all things landing pages, but if you’re hosting a summit, you already have somewhere to host your summit webpages as well.

Aleia’s Big Takeaway

Use a welcome sequence. Introduce people to who you are and how you can help them because that's what they want to know. When people come to a summit, when they download your freebie, it's because you have some information that they want.

About Aleia

Aleia Walker is an email marketing copywriter who crafts email marketing funnels for busy creatives who don’t have time to figure out where all the pieces go. She found a way to blend her love of words and technical skills to create experiences that move customers and clients into action. That equals profits in your pockets so you can spend more time serving your people. She wants to help you build your dream business (+ and your dream life.)

Welcome Sequence Funnel Map | Aleia's Shop | Aleia's Instagram

Resources

• Episode 19: Choosing Speakers That Will Get You (And Them) The Best Results
• Episode 132: How Virtual Summits are Actually Full Funnels in Disguise 
• Summit Host Hangout Facebook group

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