More and more funnel builders are entering the market.
In the 2020's, more funnel builders are going to enter the market than ever before. Just like with every other service and product, cheap labour and want-repreneurs chasing easy money will start offering marketing, automation and funnel services.
Think about website design, email marketing, SEO, social marketing, Amazon stores, graphic design and hosting. Once all these services were reserved for early adopters and experts. Now, anyone with a laptop can offer these services.
Here's the kicker, no matter HOW often people who are veterans in an industry tell me “anyone can do it, but I'm one of the few people with experience and skill”, they still struggle to attract customers who are willing to pay a decent sum.
Decreasing prices
Most service providers whine at the decreasing cost of these services, telling me that because anyone can offer them, they struggle to charge higher prices.
Whether we like it or not, more and more people are going to enter the funnel business. And if your price and experience is the only thing you're offering, you're going to struggle to grow in a few months time.
It gets worse too. Just like with diet programs, video editing, social media content and websites. There are going to be massive leaps in artificial technology and platforms that can do 99% of the work.
Funnel builders will have to change who they serve and be specific about the results they get, rather than defining themselves by the systems they use.
WordPress, page builders and easy hosting didn't kill website design. A.I. hasn't killed driving or logistics. Ebooks haven't killed print books. All things change and those that do survive, do so because they're clear on the audience they serve and who they help.
Focus on the who
As a funnel builder, you can either continue to charge per feature and the systems you use. Or you can focus on a particular market and result, otherwise known as a niche.
Wishing for the good old days hasn't helped website designers or SEO experts. You can refuse to move or you can accept that the world is becoming more and more crowded, and stake your claim now.
Imagine creating a niche now, that you define and serve, only for everyone else around you to continue acting as a commodity service. Funnel businesses that define an audience now, will see the rising numbers of funnel builders actually help their business, as the services become more common place.
And eventually, when marketing funnels and marketing automation changes, you'll be serving an audience rather than a dying technology. As everyone else tries to move to the next big things.
Barriers are no longer defined by geography
Usually most people are referring to emerging nations like India, Nigeria, Brazil and Malaysia when we talk about new work forces entering the market. But that is both outdated and incorrect.
Instead, Mums returning to work after having kids will set up funnel businesses from home in England, to support their families.
Australian kids leaving high school will set up funnel businesses rather than pay for college or university. Retired US physicians will start small businesses helping people write blog content from a smartphone and laptop. The barriers are no longer defined by geography.
The technology to add massive value to businesses is becoming cheaper and cheaper. It's becoming faster and faster to generate money online and that money is attracted to speed.
It's not the time to moan about “non-experts entering the field” or complain about how any moron with a laptop is now a marketing expert.
Every clown with an Instagram account is now a photographer. Every person with a laptop is a social marketing expert. Everyone with a podcast is an influencer.
This is the world we live in now and it's not going to go back. You can either stake your claim to an audience now, or wait for someone else to take it from you.
Get fit or die slow
Between quality and convenience, people will always choose convenience. It doesn't matter if the 17 year old landing page expert, with a YouTube channel and online course, isn't the world's best landing page builder/designer. She's claimed a part of the market that now trusts her.
It's not about being the best. Your customers do not care about the quality of your code or best in class hosting. They care about how their life looks in the future, with the least effort on their behalf.
The cost of living is going up.
And the single biggest change that will ruin many many businesses, is the simple fact that the cost of living is always rising.
That's not entirely true. A more accurate statement would be “your money is worth less and less every day”. Inflation isn't the cost of goods rising, as often stated.
It's the value of money going down. There's a big difference and if you're not equipped to start earning more, you're going to struggle.
Your mortgage is going to cost more. Education will cost more. Food and drink. Water, gas, electricity, petrol, travel, insurance, Netflix, pet food. Over time it'll take more of your earning to keep living the way you're living.
Here's why this is so important. Even if you want to stay EXACTLY where you are, that's going to cost you 10% year on year, forever. And that's a conservative estimate.
The bills that you pay this year, will be 10% more next year. Without an increase in quality of life, or buying more expensive things. The cost of you just going to work is going to be more, than each year before.
Is that scary? Sure. However there is a massive advantage to this too. The entire concept of a $10k website or $25k funnel will be normalised in a few short years. Think about how much houses used to cost, compared to now.
Hidden inflation
20 years ago, a house in the UK in 1998 was around £66000. Now, that number is closer to £120000. And adjusting for inflation, people are still spending more on houses than they were in 1998.
This is what we call “hidden inflation”. It's when people not only have to spend more money on the same thing, it's that we spend more per year on that thing.
10 years ago, having the internet was a luxury. Now, it's considered a standard bill that you have to pay. In just 10 years it's become accepted to add another £30, £40 or even more per month, for something we didn't know about a few years ago.
Your job as an entrepreneur is to offset all these costs by putting more value into the market. As an entrepreneur, your single role is to raise capital. That is the most important thing you can do.
That might seem reductionist, or even offensive if you consider yourself a creative type. But no successful entrepreneur in history has ever shied away from raising capital.
When you can sell, increase prices, generate revenue, attract income and create profit, you're protecting against the future devaluing of currency.
Being an entrepreneur means future-proofing your business and life against the inevitable rise in cost of living.
Let's say that you've totally understood the changing market and you're prepared to change your business for the better. You've got a new pricing strategy and delivery process which gives you time back.
Growing your funnel business is always going to be a struggle unless you learn the one reason that people buy marketing funnels…