Elizabeth Potts Weinstein hardly needs any cross promoting. She’s the new “BFF Girl” and gone viral by connecting with the kinds of people who resonate with both her ideas and her style.
In a rare moment of productivity I decided to post her video Why the Marketing Funnel Sucks here on my site because it illustrates a point I made in the introduction to The 7 Little Choices that Can Wreck Your Business and Your Life, and that is that most Internet marketing stuff is primarly aimed at teaching the “employee-class” a method for making money online – and not a good model for how “idea-entrepreneurs” build a sustainable business.
Internet Marketing Learnin’ is Primarily for the Employee Class – not Idea Entrepreneurs
What Elizabeth describes in this video is what I would call an arms-length approach of trading your prospects email address for a free download (of stated “retail value”) which should lead to a series of increasingly higher priced products.
It’s arms-length because it can all be done digitally with the content created in advanced and sent out via sequential autoresponder so each new prospect has the same timed sequence of presentations.
The Sales Funnel Elizabeth Says Sucks – Works!
You can’t swing a dead cat around the web without encountering name squeeze pages that lead to OTO (one time offers – hurry – these pdfs are fresh and won’t last at this price! LOL!) with exit popups, and fast action bonuses. The reason they are everywhere is that they work. Split tested for the highest conversion rates, even the offers you think look so bad you can’t imagine anyone clicking they buy button, are likely being snapped up at an acceptable rate by someone.
This funnel works alright, but it doesn’t work for Elizabeth. But, here’s what I think is behind her philosophy. She knows she could make sales this way, she’s exceptionally bright and savvy, but she doesn’t want the kind of clients this would generate.
I don’t mean she wouldn’t want to work with the kinds of people who bit on these offers, but that they would come pre-loaded with an adversarial, or as she says, pay for my ideas and secrets, mindset. And that is not the attitude she wants to begin the bigger relationship with.
I Love Everything She Does – but I Have One Question?
If you are expecting me to now tear into EPW with some critical seque, sorry to disappoint you. I love everything about what she is doing. She is in 100% alignment with my Stardust Factor mindset. If this gal ain’t authentic – then my radar is going in the trash immediately.
The only thing I don’t really connect with is the phrase “Live Your Truth.” Perhaps I need to read more carefully or maybe I’m lost in semantics.
Live your truth sounds like “Live Your Math.” If the “truth” she is extolling here shorthand for vision, or path, or way, or even perception, then sweet! Am I alone in feeling like these words leave me a bit off balance?
Perhaps she’ll school me via video? (God, I hate myself for how blatant that is.)
I Highly Recommend Elizabeth Potts Weinstein
She is a incredibly fun to follow, and learn from and has that kind of mystifyingly relentless energy that seems particular to the mothers of young children! Her straight yet entertaining approach guarantees me that I will always learn something and not be bored. Trust me, I dont’ click on many 7 minute videos these days!
Follow Elizabeth on Twitter | Elizabeth Potts Weinstein on the web
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hi Rick,
thanks for sharing these. Know that I’ve read your post I’ve got to known better two incredible persons: elisabeth, and you.
I share the insight of Elisabeth. I think that’s how “things” work from a higher perspective. I like considering myself like an alchemist that turns into spirit all matter that touches. I love transforming ego-centric models of business into something more transparent and fun.
Let’s keep spreading the Love!
Sergi
Yeah – I love her stuff. In fact, I’ve been thinking all day about the difference between the funnel and the community approach.
Rick, I also, love Eisabeth’s stuff, and will tell you what the term “Live Your Truth” means to me. Christians call it “Walk the Talk”. It talks to the moral issue of doing the right thing just because it’s the right thing to. I do not mean to judge anybody in the way they handle their business,but, I do not appreciate the companies that are still not upfront (transparent and honest) on what they do and how their business model generate income. I have been tolerant of many Multi-Level marketing groups because that is what considered normal and courteous in today’s society. I have finally come to the point in my life that I “Choose to Refuse” to listen and spend another second of my life’s energy being lied to by these people.
In the video Elisabeth shared the same model that I have been showing to Networking Groups since the beginning of 2009. I call mine “CCEI” Connect,Educate,Entertain & Inspire to explain about “Community” Effectiveness. The whole is never greater than the parts. If part of your community is not honest then the rest suffer. Like you, I agree the funnel works, but, only if there is accountability and honesty at every level. I choose to associate only with people of character and high moral values and ethics. Life’s to short to do it any other way. Great discussion. Joe Haas (OK)
Thanks Joe!
Elizabeth twittered me that she figured creating a video to explain what she meant might be helpful. In the end, if I gave her an idea for another one of her terrific videos, then Yay! For her it meant follow your path, the one that is right for you.
I’m a “words mean things” kind of fanatic and I’m looking at that phrase as a prime literalist, so:
Live – to act
Your – what belongs to you
Truth – facts/wisdom
But to know how “to act” we have to start at the end of the phrase and work backwards, so:
Truth – Facts is modified by the possesive Your, flipping objective reality into a subjective version. Plainly spoken it would be “Live Truth.” With the addition of “your” the suggestion is that there may be different versions of – or kinds of – facts. This leaves us to act according to our own subjective opinion or interpretation of the facts.
This is exactly what the people who committed suicide in anticipation of the Hale-Bop comet did, because their truth was that the mother ship was behind the comet and they would ascend after getting right with a few rituals, then taking their lives by poisoning themselves, along with the leader, who apparently took it all quite seriously himself – ie: his truth.
Truth to me is factual reality, or it’s not truth, is it? 2 + 2 = 4 is true, regardless of your childhood or goals. Your may arrive at another sum, but that is not your truth, it’s just wrong.
I’ve spent too much time in my life already around people who bought into the wildest fantasies about supernatural and metaphysical explanations for what they sometimes observed and always for what they felt. Living as though they were true is dangerous and sloppy.
Wow, I got on a rant there! While this is not a big deal to many people, and surely not slowing Elzabeth’s popularity, my counsel would be just to change the phrase. I may be the first to bring this up, but if she ends up on Oprah it’s gonna come up a LOT.
Once she’s found a new “mo bettah” and more unique vocabulary for this concept that is so central to who she is and what she believes, she is certainly the master of turning the whole thing into an even GREATER opportunity to leverage her already considerable momentum.
Once again, this is IMHBAO and until Congress gets it new round of helpful legislation in, we are free to choose!