Before we get started, I feel like I need to tell you now that this episode is a little raw and really real.

This episode is for you, the listener who’s here week in and week out.

This is for you if you have a marketing funnel. This is for you if you do NOT have a marketing funnel, but you’ve been curious about them.

This is for you if you’ve struggled with getting your marketing and business plan together.

And, finally, this is for you if you’re a human living in the real world because, sometimes, that real world can really give us a swift kick in the pants that drops us to our knees.

And THAT, my friend, is what today is about.

Now, let me just start this off by saying I’m good, and my business is thriving more than ever. But I also want to be honest with you that life for the past six months has been very challenging.

I am so incredibly thankful that I’ve built a business that lets me take care of me, my family, and life situations that come up.

BIGGEST SHOW TAKEAWAYS:

• This isn’t the first time life has kicked my butt since I’ve been in business, but this IS the first time I’ve had a solid marketing funnel when life kicked me — and it made a world of difference.
• This past year has been wild. As we got to the end of December 2018, I started seeing everyone do their ‘year in review’ with rosy pictures of great years, and I tabled this episode because, quite frankly, I was still too raw from everything that happened,
• It’s hard for me to share personal things. I was raised in a family environment where we always put on a happy face no matter how much we were hurting inside, and it’s something I still struggle with to this day.
• Let me give you a little peek into what was happening for me in the past 12 months:
  • I started off the year SUPER excited. Amy Porterfield featured me on her podcast in February 2018, and I knew the year was DESTINED to be amazing.
  • But then I found some discrepancies in my business and had to cut ties with someone I trusted deeply — which was really upsetting.
  • Then, I lost my grandfather over a really painful emotionally draining 4 days in the hospital.
  • Summer happened, and I had three kids to take to a bazillion things leaving me little to no time to work.
  • My husband’s grandmother passed away meaning we needed to travel and attend another funeral.
  • In November, a dear family friend lost their eight-day-old baby which just tore my heart open for their loss.
  • In December of 2018, someone broke into my husband’s car, got his garage door opener, and broke into our home, robbing us while we were sleeping — which COMPLETELY freaked me out.
  • Finally, in early January 2019, a dear friend I’ve known since 7th grade went to sleep and didn’t wake up, leaving her husband and kids, along with a big group of friends, grief-stricken and trying to figure out how to navigate life without her.

• • I realized that by not revealing any of my struggles, I’m doing you a HUGE disservice because, honestly, life happens — usually when we least expect it.
  • When we run our own business, we don’t have the luxury of phoning it in, right? We don’t have a guaranteed paycheck showing up in our bank account.

• So what does any of this have to do with creating a marketing funnel?
  • Without having a solid team and a solid system in place to keep my business running, without my marketing funnels doing all the heavy lifting, I’m pretty sure that I would be in a job by now. I’m totally serious when I say that.
  • There were many days where all I could do was the work for my clients and students. I had no energy or desire to do anything further for my own business — not because I don’t love my business and what I do — but because I was just exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.
  • Because I had marketing funnels that bring me new clients and students every single month, I was able to take a breather. Focus on healing. Get clarity on where my energy drain was coming from.
  • I was also able to work with some amazing business owners on building amazing marketing funnels to grow their business.

• While this past year was very difficult for me in terms of saying goodbye to a lot of loved ones and having my safety violated, it was also an incredible year of settling in and grounding myself.
  • I gave myself the space to truly focus on my clients and students.
  • I gave myself the space to try things that may or may not work.
  • I gave myself the space to go out for lunch with a friend now and again instead of just pushing through.
  • I gave myself the space to have a summer break, a Christmas break, and a mental break when needed.

• I did all this because I knew that I had a system in place that would work even when I didn’t, couldn’t, or just wouldn’t because I was playing hooky.
• For me, I need to make sure I have a safety net around me to help me through these rough patches.
  • I have a very tight-knit group of business owners I can reach out to that I’ve cultivated over the past seven years. They know me, they know my story, and they can see me through some tough things when I reach out. Hopefully, you have at least one person in your life like that, but if not, I’d encourage you to start to cultivate that.
  • I’ve got an energy healer I work with on a pretty regular basis. She and I dive into all the woo-woo stuff that I NEVER thought I’d be into. I’m not saying you need an energy healer, but do you have someone — a therapist, a coach, a mentor — someone who is dedicated to helping you grow even if it means telling you some hard truths?
  • I’ve got a system in my business that attracts new potential buyers every day with my 19 active marketing funnels. Are my funnels perfect? No, but they work really well. And having that backup — that profit engine system that works behind the scenes 24/7 — is critical to me relaxing enough to deal with life when it comes up.

• One thing I don’t have is a ton of family support. That may surprise you, but it’s true. I stopped asking my husband for permission to do things in my business a long time ago. I’ve got three kids that I choose to be very involved in their lives which means less time for my business. My extended family pretty much have ZERO idea what I even do, and many of them think I’m crazy, which is fine. Not my job to win them over or explain what I do.
• I don’t try to plan out the perfect year that is packed to the gills with business milestone after business milestone. Yes, I have plans for what I want to accomplish, but I also leave myself space to be a human. That is some MAJOR growth from years past where I felt like I had to have my nose buried in my laptop 24/7, or I’d never make it in business.
• When I’m asked why I’m so passionate about marketing funnels, this is why: Because marketing funnels not only gave me the space I needed this year, but my funnels also gave me amazing clients and a business that grew — even when I felt like life was falling apart around me.

• Want to know which marketing funnel is right for you and your business? Take this free and easy quiz, and in less than 5 minutes, you’ll know EXACTLY which funnel is right for you.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Google forms for audience surveys
• Survey Monkey for surveys
• Marketing Funnel Quiz: https://www.michellelevans.com/marketing-funnel-quiz/