Why Your Funnel and Your Podcast Should Work Together with Allison Hardy
When we talk about funnels, it can feel very overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Having a funnel for your business and your podcast is really important and at the end of the day, our aim is to grow our podcasts so we can reach our ideal clients and make more sales.
Funnels are a great way to do that by generating warm leads who are much more inclined to buy from you. I’ve been working on my own funnel lately and I can tell you that it’s already making a difference in my business.
In today’s episode, I’m chatting with Allison Hardy, an email funnel strategist. Allison shares what a funnel is, why they’re so important to your business, how to incorporate your podcast into your funnel, and how to know if your funnel is even working.
I’m a big fan of Allison and have been through her funnels myself, so I know her advice is golden. Get ready to take some notes on funnels!
Start converting your listeners into leads and clients for your business! Grab my FREE Guide to structuring your episodes for sales with our best tips and a guide for solo episodes. Download today to get started!
What’s in this episode…
[03:56] Allison explains what a funnel is, the different types of funnels, and why funnels are so important
[09:49] How to incorporate your podcast into your funnel
[12:30] What you should include in your funnel, and how to get your podcast listeners into your nurture sequence
[19:24] How to know if your funnel is working the way you want it to, and how often you should reassess your funnel
Are you ready to build your podcast strategy, simplify your marketing, and finally make your podcast work for you? Join the Strategic Podcast Academy, my signature group program that’ll support you with monthly training, resources, and an amazing community!
About allison hardy:
Allison Hardy is an email funnel strategist and she helps coaches and experts enroll new clients into their courses or memberships on autopilot. She's also the creator of the Six Figure Secrets Podcast and has been featured in Huffington Post, YFS Magazine, and was named one of Washington DC’s most influential professionals under 40 by Washington Life Magazine.
Connect with allison:
Visit Allison’s Website and Get the Free $80,000 Email Template
LINKS:
Grab your free Guide to Episodes for Sales
Join the Strategic Podcast Academy!
The Transcript for Share, Strategize, & Shine:
ep 143: Why Your Funnel and Your Podcast Should Work Together with Allison Hardy
[00:00:34] Caroline Hi there and welcome to Share, Strategize and Shine. I'm your host, Caroline Hull, a podcast strategist and CEO of Wild Home Podcasting. I've built my entire career through podcasts by sharing my experience using strategic systems and shining a light on the power of podcasting. If you are looking to cultivate leads for your membership, group program, or consulting services, I'm here to help you create a holistic and integrative podcast strategy that will let your business thrive. Let's dive in. Hello and welcome back to Share, Strategize and Shine. Today I'm diving into something that I've been geeking out on a lot lately and that is funnels. So we talk about funnels a lot in podcast strategy and making sure that our podcast is leading people to something else, right? And then we say, what happens to them after? You have to understand what happens to them after. Well, the answer sometimes is a funnel. And I'll have to admit, like in my business life, in the time that I've been in the online business world, I haven't really had to rely on a funnel too much or have a funnel constantly operating behind the scenes because I built my business on referrals. So as the online business world has started to shift and as my marketing is shifting, I have started working on, okay, what exactly does it look like after people do the thing that I'm asking them to do? And so I joined Allison Hardy's membership and it has absolutely changed my email life and educated me so much on funnels. And so I knew that I had to have her on the podcast to talk about funnels as well. Allison is an email funnel strategist and she helps coaches and experts enroll new clients into their courses or memberships on autopilot. She's also the creator of the Six Figure Secrets Podcast and has been featured in Huffington Post, YFS Magazine, and was named one of Washington DC's most influential professionals under 40 by Washington Life Magazine. If you are not following Allison on Instagram and listening to her podcast, I highly recommend it. But first, let's dive into this really great episode where she's going to share some details on what a funnel is and the things that you need to make your funnel successful. Hi, Allison. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
[00:03:05] Allison Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
[00:03:08] Caroline I know. I'm so excited to chat all things funnels with you today because funnels is something that we talk about a lot in the podcast strategy world. But before we get too far, can you just introduce yourself, tell everyone a little bit about what you do and how you help people.
[00:03:24] Allison Yeah, so I'm Allison Hardy, an email funnel strategist, and when I help coaches and experts do is enroll new clients into their course or membership on autopilot through an email funnel.
[00:03:36] Caroline I love that. I love so succinct and so actionable and just like a total like side note, we're going to talk about funnels, but I actually joined your membership that you have and have been implementing some of these funnels. So like full disclaimer as we dive into this, I am a fan, I'm a I use the templates and they're wonderful. So first of all, can you just explain exactly what a funnel is? Because I think sometimes when we hear the word funnel, it either sounds like something really crazy elaborate or and I'm going to be honest, everyone, I always had trouble envisioning the funnel as it relates to email. So I would love if you could just kind of explain what a funnel is.
[00:04:21] Allison Yeah, so a funnel is essentially a launch that's just done on automate. So if you think about a challenge or a webinar, right, with a challenge, there's videos that are dripped out with a webinar, there's an hour long presentation that is presented. So right. And then usually after the, you know, the videos or the presentation, however you think about it, there's some sort of follow up sequence that invites your lead that the person in that event to join your thing. So an email funnel's nothing more than that, just on automate. So instead of everyone having to show up at a certain time, at a certain place, the content is dripped out in a way that is done on automate so you don't have to show up at a certain time in a certain place in order to present the thing the event that you were going to present.
[00:05:05] Caroline Yeah. And I think what confused me about a funnel is, you know, this idea, well, yes, it's email, but a funnel can come from a lot of different things like you just mentioned webinar, but it can come from other things too, right? Right.
[00:05:20] Allison Sure. Yeah. So you can have I mean, there's so many different kinds of funnels out there that you could have, but like a webinar funnel is just one type of final. So you could have like the video series, you could just have like a straight up like doesn't even have to have videos. And then if you don't want sort of an email situation that gets dripped out over time, there's not necessarily like one funnel that everybody has to write.
[00:05:43] Caroline And I think that's what confused me was I was like, isn't there like a magical funnel formula that everybody has and applies? And it works and that's not necessarily the case. You can build it to suit what you do, right?
[00:05:56] Allison Yeah, I mean, I wish there's kind of just like a magic wand I could wave and everyone has like the right funnel that makes them $1,000,000. But no, unfortunately that's not the case. But what I have landed on, what I teach is like a system that separates our clients into that they can apply to their business. So I teach like a video situation for that like nurture sequence, for example. And so our clients are able to take my ideas and then, you know, digest them and make them apply for their business. So I think while there is not a one size fits all funnel for everybody, I do think there's a system that we can always plug you into to make it a little bit easier for you.
[00:06:35] Caroline Yeah, I love that. Side note, what made me so interested in your membership and your funnels was your funnel. And I think that it yeah, it works. It works. But I think that's a real testament to the system that you talk about and how it works and how it takes you through that. Because experiencing it myself, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is brilliant. And of course it made me want to click on the thing. And so anyways, we're going to talk more about what those things are. First of all, though, why are funnels so important and why do we need to have them?
[00:07:11] Allison Yeah, I think a really good explanation of why funnels are support so important are like when you can't show up to your business. So like it's summer, your kids are home, you know, your time is a lot shorter. And so like showing up for the webinar at 3 p.m. on Friday like that may not be possible for you. So there are seasons of our life where like just doing the live launch is really, really hard. So if you can have a funnel that comes in and does the same exact thing, but is that an automate, you're not going to see like that dividend come in that different impact, right? Because the more clients we have, the more we make. So a funnel basically is like a life proof way to sell your or your horse or your membership. I remember like during COVID, for example, that was when I got really sold on email funnels because my kids were home for 18 months, that I couldn't work hours that I was working prior. So like that's when I got really, really nerdy with funnels and like, finally figured that out because I didn't have the actual physical time to do the live launch, but I could work in like my mom cracks in the day and like figure out like, okay, I'm gonna write this email on this day and this I'm on the other day and like, figure out the system. So if you're an entrepreneur who like, is tired of launching a funnel is a great option for you, or if you just want to scale your business in a way that doesn't require you to show up to it, a funnel's a great option.
[00:08:31] Caroline Yeah, I think one of the biggest realizations for me when I started building out my funnel was that when people were joining my list, they were just I was just dropping them off like I was literally dropping them into my list and then later would email them and hope that they would be interested in the thing. And I think that was a huge light bulb moment for me, was that you have to understand how people are getting into the funnel, but you have to understand what happens to them afterwards, right? And like what experience they go through afterwards.
[00:09:03] Allison Yeah, and that's one of the biggest things I see a lot of entrepreneurs doing. You know, there's lots of list building activities, so like Facebook ads or signs or bundles or all these other things and they're great and awesome and they can get a lot of people on your email list. But then what do you do with them? I have clients who come to me and they're like, I have 4000 people on my email list and I haven't emailed them in a month and I'm like, Why? Like you're leaving money on the table by doing that. So by doing these events and these activities, that's great and awesome. That's just the starting point. You then have to do something with these people. And so a funnel allows you to do something with these people that you're not actively showing up to.
[00:09:44] Caroline Yeah, and that really applies to a podcast as well.
[00:09:48] Allison Exactly.
[00:09:49] Caroline Yeah. Because, you know, a podcast is long format and the idea is that people that know, like, and trust with the podcast, but then something has to happen afterwards. And so, you know, and in my business when we're doing strategy, we talk about understanding the path that people are taking and what the next steps are. And do you have any thoughts on how to incorporate your podcast into that funnel system?
[00:10:14] Allison Oh yeah, I think it's top of funnel. I think it's your podcast listeners are like your most ideal clients. I have had my podcast for I don't even know how long now, at least over five years. And I have had a client who came in off of like a very early episode and she has stayed with me since that episode. And so like, yeah, she's spent significant amounts of cash with me and she's super loyal and she shows up and she does all the work. And as my business evolves, she has evolved with me and it's really cool to see because I remember back in the day when she was doing this one thing and now she's doing this the other thing. So like your podcast listeners are like the people who are going to buy from you, the people who are going to be like the easiest sales, and the people who stay with you for the longest because you've become like a part of their day. I'll never forget there is this one time this woman enrolled in my mastermind, so like high end coaching program and she was like, I enrolled with you because you told this story back in episode seven of your daughter. And it was like I was on episode like 200 at that weight. And I was like, number one, you go back and listen to all the way. Wow.
[00:11:23] Caroline Right.
[00:11:24] Allison Like, I'm kind of embarrassed because I know those episodes are really bad. But number two, she was like, Because of that story, I followed you and I got to know you and I feel like I know you really, really well. So, like buying from you, I'm not scared to buy from you because I trust you. And I was like, Wow, that's bananas. That's the trust that the podcast can create. So like, I think a podcast is an amazing lead generator and will help you to get really awesome ideal clients.
[00:11:55] Caroline Are your podcast episodes set up to help you sell your membership group programs and consulting services? And I'm not talking about selling it in a sleazy way. I'm talking about creating episodes that are engaging, create connection between you and your listeners and highlight your expertise. To start creating episodes for sales, get my free guide by heading to wildhomepodcasting.com/sales. Do you? Okay, well, wait, wait. I'm going to get ahead of myself. I was about to ask a very technical question, like you've all been working with me on your funnel this week, but you haven't. Before I ask that next question. Can you explain? So you recommend certain things that go into a funnel and just very top of level, can you give an explanation of what those look like?
[00:12:42] Allison Yeah. So a funnel should have video in it because that's what develops the know, like, and trust factor. Podcasts are great and awesome, but I think that for a funnel it doesn't make sense to send someone to a podcast because usually they're long content. So the videos inside of your funnel, specifically your signature sequence, should be short to the point captioned. I think the stat is like 95% of people watch video without the sound on, which is just crazy if you think about that. But they should be captured. They should be short and sweet, and then there should be something that qualifies your lead for the pitch. I'm a big fan of this and I call this a click sequence. So what a click sequence does is gets them to raise their digital hand by doing something in the funnel. So usually it's clicking on a link and because they click on that link it now I think of it as like giving, they give you permission to pitch them. So because they've clicked on a link, because they've consumed a certain piece of content, they're ready for the pitch. So then you can send them through a pitch sequence that invites them to join your course or your membership. So that's two things. And I would say the third one is having a pitch sequence that is strategically designed. So I have a seven email pitch sequence process that I bring my clients through. And the reason why it's seven emails is because those seven emails speak to the different ways that people are motivated to buy. So like some people are like this, like they're the cheerleader, right? So they just, you know, like the big picture strategy, the big transformation, all the pleasure points. And yeah, they buy some people or they're like, I need to know X, Y, Z, I need to know this detail. And you know what the portal looks like, all the things. So like just the different emails are designed to speak to those different types of buyers.
[00:14:28] Caroline I think what was really eye opening to me about the nurture sequence was, you know, I hear all the time, you should have a welcome sequence, you should have a welcome sequence, and I had a welcome sequence, but it didn't really go anywhere, right? It was just like, Hey, thanks for joining my list. Here's some things I do. Maybe you will be interested in them. What's so great about the nurture sequence is it added value to the thing that they had already signed up for. And then it really got the wheels spinning like, okay, I need to make sure that everybody goes through this nurture sequence. Like, how do I make sure that when somebody joins anything of mine, they're going through this? Because it's just you're right, it's so valuable. And that's actually one of the things when I got your emails, I watched that video series and I just remember loving that. And I didn't even realize at the time that I was in a nurture sequence and experiencing it. I know. So great.
[00:15:23] Allison That what I want.
[00:15:24] Caroline I know. So I guess my question is then, so if you have your podcast episode, we want to make sure that. Or do we want to make sure that your podcast listeners are going through that nurture sequence as well?
[00:15:38] Allison For sure. And back to your comment about the welcome sequence. I hear that all the time. I hear like I have a welcome sequence. Is that good enough? No. Right. Different things, I think. Welcome sequences are very you centered. I think nurture sequences are very lead centered. So I once had this mastermind friend. I was in this mastermind a couple years ago, and I was way in over my head. And that goes way too far ahead for me. But for some reason I decided to enroll in it. And this woman, she was coaching me. She's one of the fellow, my fellow mastermind peers, and she was kind of give me your time. And she was like, Allison, if you need to help someone, help someone. I was like, okay. And I didn't really get it what she was saying at the time, but like, I realize what she was trying to get at. It was like, if you're going to like, waste someone's time, waste someone's time with, like, good stuff. So, like, have something inside of that nurture sequence that actually helps them and helps them to get results because your lead is looking to you as like the person that could help them. So they're constantly asking themselves like, is this person the person that can help them? What's in it for me? How am I getting value here? So like, if you're going to help them, help them, and I think about that a lot. But back to your your original question is, inside the nurture sequence I think you can definitely send people to your podcast, but it needs to be strategically done. So maybe it's not like the entire podcast. Maybe you have a podcast with like three main points. And so email number one maybe is point number one. Email number two is the point number two. Email number three is point number three. Because people are busy to watch a video, they have to like sit still and watch their on their phone, whereas like a podcast, they can put you on your ears and they can go about their day. So I think like you could definitely take inspiration from your podcast episodes, but maybe not your actual podcast.
[00:17:22] Caroline Yeah, like the, the opt in shouldn't be. Oh, here's a list of podcast episodes or here's an episode you should go listen to. I think you're right that like short form video that you recommend really works well. I think it also makes a lot of sense because when we think about the fact that like your podcast is there to build that know like and trust, these are warm leads. These are people who are ready to click and if they are going to get more value when they click on the call to action in the show notes like that, it makes more sense that it would be enticing to them to do so. It just feels like it flows so much better than, Oh, just come join my email list or just come join my Facebook group. Like it's so much more than that. And I feel like it kind of takes them to the next step. I talk a lot about a mountain and how your services are at the top of the mountain and your podcast is down here and you're trying to lead people up the mountain and you have stops for them. And I love the idea of this nurture sequence being a stop on their journey up the mountain. And that was just that was just light bulbs for me when I was working on it this week because, you know, there are gaps and if you don't give them the next step, the next step, the next step, they're not going to know what to do.
[00:18:38] Allison Yeah, because you control the conversation so that they want to, like, tell people what to think. Great. We're all freethinkers. But like, if you can say, like, Hey, I know this is what you're thinking, Hey, I know this is what you're struggling with. I have this solution for you. Email number two. In this email sequence you're getting, it makes them be like, Oh yeah, I am struggling with that. How did she know? Or if they're not, they're like, Oh, that's a good point. Let's learn more about that. So there's this constant is your nurture sequence like a validation for them to continue to consume that content or gap creation however you want to think about it, where you're constantly creating these gaps and exposing these gaps and then filling them in with the next email that's in that nurture sequence so that they actually consume it so that you can actually help them.
[00:19:22] Caroline Yeah, I love it so much. So how do you know if your funnel is working? Like I know the obvious.
[00:19:30] Allison Like, yeah.
[00:19:32] Caroline I know the obvious is like they're buying, right? Like that's, that's the ultimate goal. But how do you know that it's, it's working the way that you're wanting it to.
[00:19:40] Allison Yeah. So like you said, if people are buying, I have a client who's funnel like theoretically is not working like the numbers are terrible in it, but people are buying from it. Like, I have no idea how that's actually happening, but it's happening. So like we're kind of the philosophy of if it's not broken, don't fix it. Obviously it's working, but like the numbers aren't so great. So sometimes it's like for the amount of effort I'm putting into it and the ROI I'm getting from it like, is it working and do I want to put more effort into it to get a bigger ROI? So sometimes it's that question that needs to be answered. But if you ask yourself I question, you're like, Yeah, I want to put more work into it. What you do is look at the data. The data drives your decisions. I think, in the coaching space, there can be a lot of how do you feel about things? And let's talk about your feelings and all that. But that's not how you work with a funnel. You need to get actual data so that you can make decisions in your funnel. So are people opening it? Do you have like at least a 50% open rate at the very beginning of your funnel and the end of the funnel do you have like a 20% open rate? It's going to go down. That's okay. That's totally normal. But are you within those ranges? If you're not, how can you get more people to open your emails? And then if you are and you're still not seeing like the results that you want. So if you're in that range, then the next thing you look at is the click rate. So if people aren't clicking over to your sales page, think they can't buy, right? So looking at where your funnel should convert, you should be able to tell, okay, I should have this amount of people who are clicking over to the sales page because my sales page converts at whatever percent. I should be seeing this amount of sales coming in. So are you getting that amount of people to click over to the sales page? Sometimes people really want like, what should my click rate be? What should the percentage be?
[00:21:28] Caroline Right.
[00:21:28] Allison What's your goal? What should you be converting at? And are you getting that amount of traffic there? And if you're not, then you know, you need to work on getting people to click over to that sales page. And then if people are clicking to the sales page, you are getting those numbers and it's still not converting, it's a sales page problem.
[00:21:46] Caroline Right. Yeah. Yeah. So you can kind of tell like at the different stages what you might need to tweak along the way based on that data, which I love. So, you know, with podcasting, it's one of those things where it's a long game. Like you you've got to stick with it for a while. Is a funnel sequence kind of the same way? Like, should you set it and forget it for a little bit or is it something you should check on often? What do you think about that?
[00:22:10] Allison A little bit of both. It's kind of how I view Facebook and Instagram ads, so there has to be a certain amount of traffic to the funnel in order to get results from it, right? So we've only had five people go through your funnel that's not enough data yet, just like Facebook and Instagram ads. If you've only had five people clearly on the page, not enough. But if you had 100 people look at your funnel or go through your funnel, then I think that's a good time to really look at the actual funnel and how it's performing. So there's a point where I set it and forget it and don't look at it because we just need people to go through it. And then there is a point that when you have that traffic, then, okay, it's time to adjust it. So look, I've had clients run, you know, they start their Meta ads and they're spending $5 a day. So it takes them longer to get those 100 leads, right? I had clients start their Meta ads and they spent $1,000 a day, so they get more traffic to their funnel. So it just depends on how much, how many people are going through it and how fast you want to see results and if you want to move.
[00:23:09] Caroline Yeah. I think for me, like what feels really good right now and I think this is always important is to kind of gauge where you are right now, is to know that I actually have a path from, you know, point A to all the way, you know, to point D, E, F, you know, like it's very mapped out now. And I will say like the byproduct of this has been cleaning up in my email software, which was a hot mess without a funnel. So I'm really excited that it's more organized and I know exactly how I need to set things up. So where can people connect with you if they want to learn more about funnels and possibly work with you on them? And I highly recommend you sign up for her emails so you can get that nurture sequence I was talking about.
[00:23:55] Allison I love it. Well, thank you for having me and for allowing me to share. You guys can find Instagram, allison_hardy_. That's where I hang out the most. And to get into my funnel, I have a free gift for you. It's called the $80,000 email template. That will give you the template of the email that sold over $80,000 worth of my course, my membership last year. So you can copy it, plug it in to your email marketing and use it, and then that'll get you into that next sequence.
[00:24:24] Caroline Yeah. And just like as I note, like this is if you have a membership, like I highly recommend taking a look at these emails and of course the emails that are going to come to you after that from Allison because it's been so helpful for me and just kind of determining how I'm marketing that and like you said, doing it on autopilot, which I really appreciate.
[00:24:45] Allison So yeah.
[00:24:47] Caroline Thank you so much. I learned a lot today about funnels and I'm so excited to keep learning about them and I really appreciate you.
[00:24:53] Allison Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate you.
[00:24:56] Caroline So that was such a great episode because I feel like when we talk about funnels, it can get very overwhelming and I love that the first steps that Allison laid out for us is really to focus on the first thing that's happening to people after they enter your funnel, which is that nurture sequence. And I highly recommend going and following her and signing up for her freebie because that's really going to help you see this funnel in action and also kind of give you an idea of next steps for your own funnel. So thank you so much for listening today. I hope you took lots of notes and be sure to let me know how that nurture sequence goes. I know that I am working on mine. I'll see you next week with a new episode. Thank you for listening to Share, Strategize and Shine. To give your own podcast some shine, download my Free Podcast Guide to creating episodes for sales by heading to the link in the show notes. Be sure to leave a review and connect with me on Instagram for more podcast strategy insights. Until next time.
