I’ve got a special guest on this show to talk about building her first marketing funnel. Her name is Marissa Rodriguez, and she is an expert on Instagram. In fact, if you want an amazing person to follow on Instagram, I HIGHLY suggest checking out her two profiles for some inspiring and amazing content. 

Here’s a bit about Marissa.

She’s a very talented photographer and brand consultant for health and wellness experts. Marissa has an amazing eye for color, brands, capturing a moment, and more. Whenever I look at her Instagram, I come away feeling inspired — and a little jealous if I’m honest. I definitely don’t have her eye for design, but I’ve learned a lot from what she posts, which is amazing. 

Marissa helps healers, coaches, and passionate souls grow their business using social media. She’s super talented at it, so if you’re in the health and wellness space, Marissa is DEFINITELY someone you’ll want to follow. 

OK, let’s jump into the interview!

Biggest Show Takeaways:  

Tell us a little about your background and how you got started.

I started a business last year called The Meraki Collective. My background is in photography, so I started The Meraki Collective to help health and wellness entrepreneurs be able to grow their online presence using social media and, eventually, grow their business using Instagram specifically. I started just taking photos for health and wellness entrepreneurs and selling photos for stock photography. 

Then that grew into creating more of an educational program on how to use Instagram for business. I launched my course last year, and that's what I'm working on now. I have all these ideas and different things that I want to do, so I'm trying to take it step by step. It's just all very exciting.

You decided that you wanted to create a funnel for your business. Why did you decide that was the next step for you?

When I created my program for health and wellness entrepreneurs to use Instagram for their business, I was so relieved once it was done. But then it was like, “Oh, wait, how does this happen exactly?” I did some marketing work right after, but it wasn't working, and it isn't what I wanted. I had created a “funnel” that wasn't even a funnel, which I now understand from my work with you. 

I wanted something that was very specific for that next step after completing my program, and I didn't realize that I needed to have other pieces, like a funnel, in place in order for anything to happen with my program and for my business to grow. I knew I needed to add that super important component to be able to build something where it would guide people through the stages, steps, and experiences that I wanted them to go through.

You decided to join Build Your Funnel Bootcamp, and I'd love for you to share what happened before you decided to join, and then what was it that made you say, “Okay, yes. I want to actually take a course now that I've created one”?

A lot of hot mess situations happened before I joined Build Your Funnel Bootcamp. I had made and built my program, and I had done a whole email sequence for the launch. I did that on my own based on what I had learned before, using examples that I had seen online. Then after the launch, I realized I didn't like launching. I didn't enjoy the process. I wanted an evergreen system format.

I started doing research and found 50 different ways to do it from 50 different people — all saying things that contradicted each other. So then I created a 25 email series based on 50 different opinions. I enjoy writing, but something was missing, and I knew it. I didn't want to put something out there that I wasn't crazy about. Something just wasn't clicking. 

Then I came across your program. I found you through a Facebook group that somebody referred me to, and I had several people tell me I NEEDED to check out your work. So I found you, and I saw that you had this program. I went through and read every single word. I wasn’t subscribed to your newsletter, and I had never heard of you before or your program. That same day, I decided the bootcamp was exactly what I needed. 

Sometimes we need someone who’s on the outside looking in to ask us the hard questions. Is that what you were looking for? 

Yes, I think I was in my head for way too long. When you got in there, and you gave me your input, I was like, “Yeah, obviously. But why couldn't I see it?” I realize it’s because I was too close. I was being pretty hard on myself too because before Instagram or Facebook were even a thing, I’d been blogging on my lifestyle blog for a long time. I've worked in professional settings before where you write emails all day. So why couldn’t I do this? As you like to say: “It was the curse of knowledge.”

Can you walk me through what it was like working together with me? Was I available? Did I walk through the stuff that I said that I would?

Absolutely. I went through the program pretty quickly because I was definitely feeling like I needed things done yesterday. When I had to fill out The Funnel Persuasion Playbook, I initially felt a bit resistant because it was more work, and I felt like I had already written so much. But then when I sent it to you the first time, you pushed back a little bit and told me I needed to dive in on certain areas more. When I did, the more things started clicking. 

I loved that you pushed back a little bit. When somebody can do that to people in their program, it shows that they care. You know they’re actually paying attention to what you're doing — not just like checking off the boxes. You were always available. I had never used Voxer before either, and so when I would message you, and you would respond right away, it was surprising. You didn't ghost me or anything — ever. That was so incredibly helpful. Seriously. Sometimes my questions were about me needing to reach out for reassurance or confirmation, and that was so valuable and very much needed. 

You were there as a friend, as a coach, and as a very knowledgeable business person. That was just something that I did not expect to get, and it was amazing. Whichever way I contacted you, you were on it and I really, really appreciated that. Thank you so much.

You’ve said to me that now when you take a look at your funnel, emails, ads, or any marketing stuff, you can see where things aren't working. How does that feel?

Yes, it is amazing and so empowering to know that I have something in place that not only am I proud of, but I know it's helpful. I know exactly what it's doing for my business, and the experience, the journey that it's taking my audience on.

Before all of this, I was teaching health and wellness entrepreneurs how to use Instagram for their business, and I wasn't using it for The Meraki Collective. On my lifestyle page, I was using it more for fun. But, for my business, I wasn't using it. I was just holding myself back. As soon as I got my funnel done, and it was scheduled, and I put it in place, I started posting on Instagram that very next week. I know that what’s there works, and it's dang good, and it's going to be helpful. Whether or not they buy, I don't even care. I just know that the experience is going to be good, and they're going to get emails. You really helped me be able to take every single email and make it valuable for them.

If you were talking to a friend who was in the situation you were before you joined Build Your Funnel Bootcamp, what would you tell them about the course?

I would tell them that immediately, like right this second, they need to stop thinking about it and just join because it’s literally going to change the way that you think about your business and think about funnels. It's not this crazy difficult, impossible, slimy, salesy thing. It's not that. If they want to be able to do anything with their business that's evergreen or guide their audience through a wonderful experience, they need this program.

They also need you, Michelle. They need to work with you because as I was explaining earlier, I'm pretty hard on myself. I want things done NOW, and I want them to be beautiful. I had tried to do this alone, written so many emails and done hours, and hours, and hours, and hours of research, and I thought there was no hope for me to be able to get this right. You were able to help me understand how this should work — and how this could work — then for sure this will work for somebody else. 

Create Profit Without Worry — one system at a time. I’ll show you how to attract a steady flow of buyers without all the hustle with this free download →  5 Steps to Profit Without Worry.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• The Meraki Collective on Instagram
• Marissa’s lifestyle Instagram
• Marissa’s program, The Meraki Collective
• Marissa’s lifestyle blog
• Create Profit Without Worry – one system at a time with this free download →  5 Steps To Profit Without Worry.