Day: June 6, 2024

Steal These 3 Lead Generation Hacks From Successful Membership Site Owners To Grow Your Online Business In 2024

Micheal O'Neill

Steal These 3 Lead Generation Hacks From Successful Membership Site Owners To Grow Your Online Business In 2024

Here's what we have for you today

For years, I thought the best way to grow my business was to be the first to try the latest sales and marketing trends.

Now I know it was a recipe for disaster.

Instead, I now look for proven lead generation models that are working for businesses today.

And it’s made my life so much easier.

Here are the top 3 most successful lead generation funnels across all my clients, students, and community so far in 2024.

Hack #1 – Quiz Funnels

Quiz funnels are ingenious.

A good quiz funnel will produce a lower cost per lead than almost any other funnel. But that’s just for starters. You will also end up with a more engaged lead, and through the quiz the lead will tell you their exact pain points and how to sell to them most effectively.

You can still get a quiz funnel wrong, but when they work, they really really work.

Hack #2 – Webinar Funnels

Just when everyone is ready to write webinar funnels off, they surge back into popularity.

I especially love webinar funnels for evergreen sales. Unlike other funnels, the minimum price point for a webinar to work is $497 a year or $47 per month. What I love most about webinars is your ability to optimize the funnel over time.

What I love most about webinar funnels is how quickly you can get them up and running.

Hack #3 – Front End Mini Product Funnels

If you‘ve been following my content for a while, you’ll know I’m a massive fan of front end mini products.

With advertising costs rising, every online business needs a way to recoup their ad spend before the bill hits their credit card. And that’s exactly what a front end mini product gives you. No more watching your ad costs rack up, hoping your launch in three months will get a positive ROAS. 

You instantly know if your ads are making money or not.

These are my top 3 funnels. 

But remember, the only bad funnel is the one that isn’t launched.

It’s all about getting started. 

And every funnel you build makes the next funnel quicker and easier.

So drop a comment below…. what funnel are you working on?

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The one Meta ad objective you should never use for profitable ad campaigns (and what to use instead)

Micheal O'Neill

The one Meta ad objective you should never use for profitable ad campaigns (and what to use instead)

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A villain lurks in plain sight.

Ready to steal ad spend from advertisers that don’t know better.

Promising cheap clicks that make your ad metrics look good.

But their only purpose is to burn your cash and give you nothing in return.

If you run Meta ads to grow your online course, membership, or service business…

Or, an agency runs them for you…

There is one ad objective you never want to see inside your ad campaigns.

The Meta Ad Objective You Should Never Use

Avoid the traffic objective at all costs.

In all my years of advertising online, I’ve never found a good use case for the traffic objective. Sure, traffic campaigns will send lots of people to your website. But Meta shows your ads to people who like to click links, not people who opt-in for lead magnets or buy digital products online.

You’d be better off taking your hard-earned cash and lighting a bonfire with it in your back garden. 

Here are 3 objectives to use instead:

#1 The Video View Objective

You can build some exciting campaigns based on the video view objective.

Launch a series of videos optimized 15-second views. Build custom audiences based on view percentages and retarget your most engaged viewers with ads for your lead magnet or offer. 

This strategy works especially well for new accounts where Meta doesn’t have a lot of pixel

#2 The Lead Objective

Use the lead objective if you want people to opt in for your lead magnet.

I often see new advertisers try to trick Meta into getting a lower cost per lead by using the traffic objective. This method always backfires. There is a problem with cheap traffic – it’s low intent, cheap traffic!

Don’t try to outsmart Meta. 

#3 The Sales Objective

If your ultimate goal is to generate sales within 5-7 days, even if the first step is free opt-in, use the sales objective.

The sales objective targets Meta’s highest-value users – people who have made or are likely to make a purchase online. Yes, you will pay a higher cost per lead for these people. But, they will be more likely to buy your digital product, which will lead to a higher return on ad spend.

Because all that matters is your return on ad spend.

For all my gripes, Meta has built a phenomenal advertising platform. 

Don’t try to outsmart it or trick it.

Tell Meta the action you what you and they will deliver the people who are most likely to take that action.

Happy advertising.

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How a membership changed my life

Micheal O'Neill

How a membership changed my life

Here's what we have for you today

Back in 2015, my business was exhausting.

Every evening I shut the door, I knew I’d have to wake up and make more sales the next day. 

I was like a hunter going from kill to kill.

Sure, I had repeat clients, but I was continuously in sales mode.

That was until the day I launched my first membership.

That launch changed my life. 

And I’ve seen hundreds of my students and clients experience the same feeling when they launched their membership or subscription. 

Here’s why I believe memberships are the best way to grow your revenue and your profitability.

#1 Experience the joy of recurring revenue

There is no greater joy than selling once and getting paid over and over.

Recurring revenue gives you cash flow stability, certainty, and confidence. And even more importantly, it’s compounding. Every subscription or membership launch adds new sales to your past sales, which triggers compunding.

Compounding is the most powerful force you can harness in your business.

#2 Stop leaving money on the table

For every 100 people who buy from you, 20 would be happy to spend 5 times more.

This is the 80/20 law applied to sales. Most businesses don’t have a continuation offer to make to people willing to spend more. A membership or subscription is the perfect backend offer, increasing your customer lifetime value and your profitability.

With a membership or subscription, you always have a next-step offer for your best clients.

#3 Build a community around your business 

Community is the new hot topic in marketing and business growth.

There is no better way to build a community than around a membership or subscription. Not only is a community attractive for existing clients, but it will also bring new prospects into your world. So, your membership will act as a lead generation machine for your existing business.

Your clients are looking for a space to belong; give it to them.

I believe memberships today are to business, what websites were in the 1990’s.

Very few businesses have one…. 

….early adopters make a killing.

….and soon, every business will have one.

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3 ways I use reciprocity to increase online course and membership sales without being slimy, salesy, or manipulative

Micheal O'Neill

3 ways I use reciprocity to increase online course and membership sales without being slimy, salesy, or manipulative

Here's what we have for you today

Ever noticed when someone does you a favor, you feel the need to return it? The feeling is called reciprocation.  Reciprocation is a strong psychological driver, and it’s the foundation on which the best lead generation and launch funnels are built. And because reciprocation only works when you give value first, you can never be accused of being pushy or manipulative. After delivering over 100 online launches, countless lead generation funnels, and over $10,000,000 in online sales, I’ve seen the power of reciprocation firsthand. Here are 3 ways I use it to sell more online: 

1. Offer something valuable for free

Your goal is to make your free content better than your competitor’s paid content. A lead magnet is a high-value resource we offer to people in exchange for their email address. When they opt-in, we not only have their email address, but we also trigger a feeling of reciprocation. By giving them something of value for free, they will be more likely to say yes when we ask them to make a related purchase later. The higher the value of the free gift, the greater the feeling of reciprocation.

2. Show them how to get maximum value from the freebie

If you can help someone take action to solve a pain point, they will be forever grateful. Just because you’ve given them a highly valuable resource doesn’t mean they will automatically get value from it. Draft a follow-up email sequence showing them how to implement the lead magnet and sprinkle in some additional gifts and surprises along the way.  If they get a result with your freebie, they will be instantly more likely to purchase your paid product.

3. Run a free masterclass

Running a free masterclass before offering your course, membership, or service is the foundation of an online launch. During the free masterclass you build excitement, demonstrate your ability to help your audience get a result, and trigger reciprocation. By delivering value in advance of making an ask you win people over and give them a taste of what it will be like to work with you. Whether you call it a workshop, webinar, masterclass, or challenge, the principle remains the same A properly structured masterclass is the key to maximizing sales during your online launch. The higher the value you freely deliver the greater your sales will be when you make an offer. There is no such thing as giving away too much value for free. But what you give away has to make it easy for your perfect fit client to get a result. No one wants more information, even if it is for free. But when you give your audience shortcuts, frameworks, and blueprints to achieve their desired result, they’ll love you for it. And, they’ll be way more likely to purchase your paid offers. 
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What AI is lacking, and how you can use it to get ahead of your competition

Micheal O'Neill

What AI is lacking, and how you can use it to get ahead of your competition

Here's what we have for you today

Do you have dedicated AI exploration time every week?

Time that you are free to play? Time with zero expected output?

If you said NO, you are probably the same as 99% of online business owners.

I’ve used AI almost every day for 5-6 years, but I even struggle with dedicated AI playtime.

The fact is, it can’t stay that way for long. AI is coming, and there is no stopping it.

So, what do we need to do as online business owners?

Let’s dive into it….

What is AI lacking?

AI doesn’t have and never will have human intuition.

Sure, AGI (when it comes) will have something akin to human intuition, but it will never have the same feel for your business and your customers as you do. Successful online business owners all have one thing in common – an almost telepathic connection with their audience.

The role of intuition in business success is underappreciated today, and it will become even more important in the future.

What does that mean for you?

As AI reaches further and further into our business operations, we need to develop intuition checkpoints.

I see it every day in the sea of putrid ChatGPT garbage that people post on social media and use in their ad copy. Sure, all the individual words make sense, and it’s said confidently, but it completely misses the mark. Yes, AI is the way forward, but we need to control it and shape it based on our intuition.

In an odd twist of fate, AI will force us to connect with and document our intuition, a practice most business owners have never consciously undertaken before.

How can you use AI to get ahead of your competition?

So, the real opportunity lies in leveraging AI to build a more human business. Who would have thought!? 

The unthinking online business owner will see AI as an opportunity to cut costs, reduce workload and spam the world with crappy content. The smart business owner will leverage AI to create a more connected and human experience for their clients. Sometimes, it’s funny how things work out. 

If you want to win during the initial 10-year adoption phase, this is where the real opportunity lies.

The opportunity in AI is massive, but so many people misunderstand where the real opportunity lies.

And don’t worry, you are not behind.

If you are reading this, you are still early to AI.

But, the earlier you start your journey, the better positioned you’ll be to take full advantage.

And we need to be ready because the rate of AI adoption is starting to make the Dotcom Age look like the Stone Age.