While building and selling marketing funnels is relatively new, it’s going to explode in popularity over the next few years. Think what WordPress did for website businesses and Photoshop did for graphic designers.
We’re soon going to be flooded with low cost, low value funnel builders soon and it’s going to FEEL like we’re struggling against them.
On the other hand, the competitive market is going to force a small percentage of funnel builders to create incredible businesses and offerings.
Ultimately, should we be worried about our competition? We’re constantly taught to look at competitive pricing and researching the competition during our pricing. But I’m going to explain why your competition should be the last thing on your mind.
People misunderstand what “competitor research” really means. Most people HATE doing any kind of market research as it is, but if they do do (lol) it, they’ll do it for the wrong reasons.
Competitor research should first let you know if your offering is better or different. If someone else is doing it, then you need something else.
Second, competitor research should show you the channels they’re using and where they’re not focused. For example, if you find 5 other marketing funnel businesses, then are they blogging every week? Do they rank on Google? What does their LinkedIn strategy look like.
Don’t think of competitor research like a disheartening view of where they’re beating you. Think of it as finding opportunities to run past them and do something they don’t.
But ultimately, once you’ve discovered what you’re doing and what you’re offering. You should be focusing on your customers and market.
If you want to sell more marketing funnels to your customers, your competition have got nothing to do with you.
Scarcity mindset is self-fulfilling
The biggest reason that people are afraid of their competition, is a learned mindset called “scarcity mindset”. It’s a philosophy and thought pattern that assumes there is only a finite number of customers, money, income or anything in the world.
Yes, some resources like oil, fresh water and bananas there are finite resources. But customers, money and income are almost infinite AND there’s plenty for everyone.
Scarcity mindset means we’re afraid that new players to the market and new competitors and businesses will steal our customers away. We treat customers like a flowing river and while we’re downstream from the source, our competition are setting up further up-stream and stealing our supply.
If you’re afraid of competition stealing your customers, you might have a scarcity mindset and it’s killing your business.
The reality is that there is plenty of customer money and income to go around. If your business model relies on you being the only supplier, you’re setting yourself up for failure.
Scarcity mindset is also a self-fulfilling prophecy. If all you think about and worry about and plan for is your competition stealing your customers. They probably will.
Get your head OUT of the scarcity mindset and know that you’ve got so much more you can offer to your customers.
Undercutting is a race to the bottom
“Always keep in mind that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder”
Murphy’s Laws of War
When we look at pricing, when we start up we think that we have lower costs that our competition so we’ll charge a lower price than them. That’ll get us customer right!?
I’ve already written about how lowering your price will NOT help you sell more funnels. But I want to explain the core reason.
If you have a competitor who is offering a lower price, know this. There will ALWAYS be someone who is willing to price lower.
If your competitor is offering a lower price than you and that’s the only CLEAR difference between your offerings, then they’re committed to being the lowest price.
Undercutting your competition is a committed, long race to the bottom and I can promise you that someone else is always willing to go lower that you.
Yes, their offering will be shit. Yes the customer will NOT be happy with the results. But if your market share strategy involves charging less that someone else, you don’t have a strategy.
Don’t undercut your competition just to get ahead. You’ll never make it.
There’s no such thing as middle ground
So you don’t want to go low, that seems sensible. But lots of your competitors are charging $6000 a month for their services. That’s mad! Surely you can price lower than that?
So wouldn’t a smart pricing strategy be to be somewhere in the middle? Not too expensive, not too cheap.
WRONG (buzzer sound).
Middle ground doesn’t exist. It’s meaningless and the market does not respond to it. What kind of a justification for price is that?
“Why does your service cost this much?”
“Well, I wanted to be cheaper than Business A but more expensive than Business B.”
Prepare to be laughed out of the meeting.
You won’t look nearly as smart as you think you will
Middle ground doesn’t work because it’s not sustainable. Your pricing model is determined by what OTHER people are charging. Not what they market wants and not what you can afford.
If people drop their price, you’ll have to drop yours. If they increase it, you increase it.
It’s dangerous to let easy methods dictate your pricing model. Don’t do it and don’t be lazy with your pricing. If you can’t justify why you’ve chosen a price for your marketing funnel services, you shouldn’t use that model.
You don’t know their costs
As we’ve explained in this post, pricing is determined by your costs, your lifestyle, profit margin and tax costs.
Your competition might have TOTALLY different costs to you. They might be based in New York, Melbourne or The Philippines. They might have a team of 10 developers or 1 developer. Their costs are completely different to yours.
If you follow the Y+E+O+T+P pricing model (below), you’ll create a price for your marketing funnel services which are right for YOU.
Here’s a truth bomb. When people say “the market determines the price“, they’re actually referring to commodities.
Commodities are resources and supplies that are exactly the same no matter who you buy them from. As a world, we’ve placed more value on Coca-Cola than oil (that black shit made from fossils millions of years ago).
We as a market are in charge of that. Demand goes up, price goes up.
But marketing funnels are NOT a commodity. In fact, many marketing funnel and service businesses that try to treat themselves as a commodity go under.
The market does NOT determine our price. Simple as that. Our customers, both B2B and B2C will pay for what you’re offering. Your job is to make it CLEAR what you’re offering and make sure it’s profitable.
Your job is also to find the market that WILL pay for your services at the price you set. Rural start-up businesses with less than $2000 a month income AREN’T going to pay. Your competition might go after them, because they’re an easy sell. But they simply don’t have the budget. Find another set of customers that will pay.
Work out your costs and your costs alone. Don’t worry about what other people are charging because they might have totally different goals and costs.
You’re only seeing their big moments
When we’re on social media, YouTube, Google and at speaker events, we’re bombarded by “success”.
Facebook and Instagram are notorious for this. It’s a world called “hyperreality”. Wanker entrepreneurs posting pictures of Lamborghinis (which they hire. I can 100% promise you they haven’t bought them). Or on a cruise or whatever. Showing how successful they are and how great their business is.
Ever see Elon Musk post on Twitter with #blessed?
True success is measured by your goals. If you want to pay your mortgage each month, you’re doing it. If you want to run a $500 million business, I have every confidence that you can do that.
The problem is that we can be put off by seeing our competition seemingly doing better than us.
It’s fake and 100% should be ignored. Don’t listen or watch anything that promotes success without being helpful. Otherwise you’re just chasing someone else’s dream.
Successful businesses don’t measure their “wins” by other people’s measure.
You’re only seeing the moments they want you to see. I personally know of two “lifestyle millionaires” who posted the whole villa in Spain, private boat, sports car thing all from online marketing – who have given up and now work regular jobs.
You should be focusing on your customers
Who you should be focusing on is your customers. Who are they and what do they want help with? What do they want to achieve?
Who you should be really researching, talking to and helping is your customers. Communicating and opening a dialogue with them, is a million times more important than your competition.
Every day you have an opportunity to talk to your customers and help them. Every day you have a chance to be seen as helpful and valuable. That’s what’s going to help separate you from your competition.
Hell, if you’re the most helpful and useful resource in your market, you’ll take market share away from other services, not just funnel builders.
The idea of someone selling a product and keeping it as a transactional relationship is over. It doesn’t work anymore. You have to give more and be willing to help people.
Your competition are busy looking at what other people are offering. You’re busy talking to customers about what they want.
The better we understand what someone wants, the more likely they are to buy. The more we’ve demonstrated that we’re helpful in the past, the more likely they are to believe that we can help them.
You’re better off finding collaborations
Of course we live in a world with a vast network of businesses. My office has 2 social media businesses, 2 funnel builders, loads of single person digital-creatives, a media company, sports company, training program, course builders…the list goes on.
I know that I’m better of collaborating with my network rather than fearing them. Yes, some of them have made it clear they have no interest in working with me. No big deal.
But businesses who are willing to work together, fair better during tough times. The reality is that most of this is horseshit. Funnels, marketing, social media, traffic. It’s all nonsense and is likely to change DRASTICALLY within our lifetime.
Success comes from cultivating success community. Winning comes from cultures that win. Not from technology or being over-protective.
Podcasts, videos, shared networks, email list drops. If you can’t think of ways to start working with other business, think about it. You should be as helpful to them as you are to your customers.
Even if they intimidate you
One of the big roadblocks seen to many marketing funnel businesses, is that they hold their competition in such high regard.
“I couldn’t ever compete with that agency!” or “I’m only one person, I can’t get those types of clients.”
I hear what you’re saying and if you think that, you’re right.
The truth is that if you want to compete with bigger agencies and land larger clients, you can. It’s a simple matter of believing that you can. They’re not even really the big dogs.
The REAL big fish. Grant Cardone. Ryan Deiss. Gary Vaynerchuk. Those guys WANT you to be up there with them. They want you to stand alongside them. In fact I know a few of them are always looking for new mentors.
Don’t believe yourself when you think you’re intimidated by bigger fish. If they have to intimidate you, then they’re afraid. My old pal’s M and D used to send me threatening emails, come to networking events and have a go at customers. A real pair of assholes.
But now? I wouldn’t even be able to tell you where they’re based. They moved offices and a bunch of people left them. Now I decide who I run with.
