Your First Year in Business
(step-by-step)

What is a Funnel? Finally, an answer you can understand.

A practical guide for coaches, consultants, and digital creators

Who Needs a Funnel

If you're trying to grow your online business by sharing your skills or knowledge, then you need a funnel.

That includes coaches, consultants, teachers, authors, therapists, course creators, and anyone else who helps others by sharing what they know.

Even if you're just starting or your audience is small, a funnel helps you organize how people find you and how they move toward working with you.

What is a Funnel

A sales funnel is simply a way to describe the step-by-step process that someone goes through before they decide to work with you or buy something you offer. It's really just a series of landing pages and emails. The customer journey starts with them finding you online, continues through learning more about what you do, and ends when they make a purchase or join your program.

Imagine a funnel in the kitchen. At the top, it is wide and open so it can catch a lot of material. As it goes down, it gets narrower. This shape helps us visualize how people move through your content and offers. Many will see your content and services at first, but only some will keep moving forward until they are ready to say yes to what you offer. That is exactly what happens in an online business.

FUNNEL MAP:

Mapping out the journey will help you understand what area of the path needs adjusting in the case of too many leads dropping at one point in the map.

Remember, it's called a “funnel” because it starts wide when lots of people see your content or visit your website, but as they move through the different steps, fewer continue forward. Each stage filters your audience down to the most interested and aligned people.

The goal is not to convince everyone to buy from you but to create a path where the right people feel understood, supported, and eventually ready to work with you.

Imagine 1,000 people read your article on LinkedIn. Out of those, 100 decide to click the link in your profile and check out the free offer you mentioned. That means 10 percent of your viewers took action.
These 100 people land on a page where they can request a free PDF. Once they do, they begin receiving a series of daily emails from you that introduce who you are and explain the services you offer.
Now here’s where things shift a bit. Out of those 100 people, only 60 actually click the link in your emails to download the free PDF. That means 60 people are truly engaging with your content and continuing along the path you created.
As they continue through the email sequence, only a small number will be ready to make a purchase. In this example, about 3 percent decide to buy. That’s two people.
So, out of the original 1,000 who saw your article, two were at just the right point in their life or business to say yes to your offer. They made it all the way through your funnel and became customers.

Each part of the funnel is a point in the journey. Someone might read a post, download a free guide, receive helpful emails, and eventually make a choice to purchase. The funnel keeps all those steps organized and intentional.

Why Funnels Can Feel Confusing at First

Funnels are talked about often, but they are rarely explained clearly. The confusion comes from the fact that a funnel is not one tool or one page. It is a combination of several parts working together. This includes your website, your free content, email messages and offers.

Unless you build your funnel piece by piece with purpose, it can feel like a collection of random ideas. But once you learn the steps and how they connect, it becomes a useful tool.

How to Build a Funnel Step by Step

Here is one way to create an effective funnel inside Kajabi:

Step 1: Create content that brings attention

Choose a platform you enjoy using. This could be Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, or a blog. Share tips, answer common questions, and offer useful advice regularly. This builds trust and helps people begin to recognize your voice and approach.

Step 2: Offer something free on your website

Encourage people to come to your website and download a free resource. This could be a short guide, a checklist, a sample video, or a mini course. The goal is to give value while also gathering their email address so you can stay in touch.

Step 3: Send the freebie and invite a next step

Once someone requests your free resource, send it through email automatically. Then bring them to a thank you page that offers a simple next step. This might be to follow you on social, book a consultation, or presentation of a low-ticket paid offer.

Step 4: Introduce yourself through email

Over the next few days, send a short series of emails that helps the person get to know you. Share your story, explain what you offer, and give more free advice or insights. This helps build comfort and interest.

Step 5: Stay connected every week

After the first set of emails, continue sending a weekly message with helpful content. This could be a new blog post, a video, or a tip from your experience. Over time, this turns new contacts into loyal followers and customers.

If you have an idea for an online course, coaching program, or digital product but feel uncertain about how to turn it into something people will buy, the Offer Building Toolkit is designed to guide you through that process.

This set of ten interactive tools helps you clarify your offer, identify your audience, determine your pricing, and plan your marketing strategy.

By breaking down each step, the toolkit allows you to move forward with confidence and purpose. It's a practical resource for anyone ready to transform their knowledge into a structured, sellable offer.

Inside the Offer Building Toolkit: