The Value Ascension Model & Funnels#

Don't let these terms fool you: The principles behind product/offer "funnels" and "the ascension model" are nothing new at all.

Marketers and salesmen of all backgrounds used these principles for centuries already.

Let's take a look at what these concepts really mean...

Video: The Value Ascension Model & Funnels#

Value Ladder Or Ascension Model#

Funnel - The Ascension Model Practically Applied#

Notice, at the top of the funnel we need to "bait" people to get them into our funnel...

In other words: At the top of our funnel we want to convert the traffic into leads that we can follow-up with:

That's the goal of our lead generation activities later on: To get people (traffic) onto our email list in order to

• Provide value
• Help them, serve them, answer questions
• Make offers & earn affiliate commissions

More on that later.

A Buyer Is A Buyer Is A Buyer#

I first heard this quote from Dan Kennedy - I'm not sure if he's the source of it but let's give credit where it's due.

Let's briefly think about it and then accept it as the truth:

A buyer is a buyer is a buyer.

The other side of the coin reads: A freebie-seeker (or free loader, tire kicker, lookieloo, ...) is NOT a buyer.

Here's the first qualifyer of a buyer: The person has access to valid (online) payment options, mostly credit cards and/or paypal.

I can already hear you say "Yeah great, thank you, captain obvious!" but hold on a second.

It's very easy to overlook this, especially if you're new to online marketing.

Not every person you chat with is a buyer.

The same is true for any person on your email list that you attracted in exchange for something free.

That's why we have to make offers early on, in order to qualify & segment your email list.

More on that later.

The First Purchase Is The Hardest To Get#

That's especially true if what you have to offer is really valuable.

Because if you deliver on your pre-sale promises and keep the buyer happy by serving him in the best possible way, he or she is likely to come back for more.

That's at the core of a buyer is a buyer is a buyer.

And that's also the reason why we implement the value ladder into our business in the form of a funnel.

The Ideal Funnel#

Let's take a second look at this graphic:

We see:

• A bait - usually free or free trial - lowest threshold resistance - valuable, practical, short/easy to consume
• Front-end offer - usually low ticket, < $50 - low threshold resistance - high value
• Middle of the funnel - usually membership/recurring - upgrade options - high value
• Bottom of funnel - high(er) ticket - usually done-for-you, franchise options, masterminds - highest value

Generally speaking, we try to guide buyers up the value ladder as soon as possible and as high/deep as possible.

But: It's easy to forget when speaking about these concepts that we're dealing with real people, real humans here!

Therefore, I'd like to ask you at this point to not play any games and to not misuse these powerful concepts.

I really mean it.

The worldwide demand for scumbags and unethical marketers is already satisfied!

Your Chosen Affiliate Core/Signature Offer#

We'll talk about the exact criteria to pay attention to later.

But for now, let's keep in mind that the ideal core (affiliate) offer is:

• Highly valuable
• Covers the front-end offer, ideally more parts of the funnel
• Has a low threshold resistance (= easy to say "yes" to, easy to buy)
• Has a high perceived value
• Has some automated follow-up built in

Very Common Mistakes Of Newbie Marketers#

Even advanced marketers often make this mistake, especially after a few months or years of "unsuccessfully trying to make this affiliate marketing thing work":

They build and use only a part of the value ladder instead of seeing the whole picture.

More specifically, this mistake is easy to make by any new affiliate who generate one or two random higher ticket commissions.

They completely disregard the entry to their value ladder and their funnel...

... and disregard "lower ticket offers" as completely useless.

That's a huge mistake!

Most "higher ticket sales" will result from the situation of a buyer being with you for a while already, following you online, consuming your content, buying your "lower ticket" products...

... Before they make the decision to go "all-in" with you, or even consider your higher ticket offers.

That's totally normal and probably seems very obvious to you, reading this now.

But trust me, you will come across affiliate marketers who describe themselves as high-ticket marketers and they present "high ticket affiliate marketing" as something totally separate, completely independent, as if they just discovered fire...

At this point just keep in mind that your core/signature affiliate offer should be "easy to say yes to" because - combined with a decent follow-up - that's the ideal, most straight forward, and fastest path to making $100/day as an affiliate.

Other terms you come across for this type of offer are "tripwire offer" or "self-liquidating offer (SLO)" but they describe the same thing:

A very valuable entry-type offer, easy to say yes to, that recovers your advertising spend (if you have any), identifies the buyers in your audience, identifies the hyper-active buyers, and serves as the basis to everything that follows. (follow-up, more (affiliate) offers, and higher ticket offers)

Reminder: Everything Is Based On Providing Value#

I'm sorry if you think that I sound like a broken record... But this is simply too important to not mention it again:

It's easy to forget - especially when talking about marketing concepts, funnels, numbers, email marketing, etc. - that we're dealing with real human beings here.

Your parents told you to treat people like you want to be treated. (hopefully, lol)

Let's apply this here, too.

You'll soon discover that consistently delivering value and over-delivering from time to time is really the perfect marketing & sales strategy.

Because it's based on real, tangible results - and not built on quicksand.

Let's move on...

Why You're Not "One Funnel Away"#

There are (highly respected) people in our industry that try to sell you automation tools and software by telling you an enticing story & promise.

The promise goes along the lines of: You just need to test a few more funnels before you strike gold.

The "true part" of this narrative is that you have to test different offers and funnels until you find something that works. (read: converts - works for your traffic)

But: It's not the complete picture.

As we already mentioned briefly, selling anything online is an entire process that involves

• an offer/funnel
• traffic (audience)
• a conversion mechanism/process (that includes follow-up / email marketing)

You can't neglect the last two points and focus everything on the offer or funnel.

Without traffic you don't have a business.

Without (targeted) traffic you won't make a sale.

And without a consistent stream of fresh leads & buyers you won't have stability in your online (affiliate) marketing business.

And with that in mind...

Let's jump into the next section!