The company’s co-founder is arguably one of the top marketers in the world
Recently, I have been getting these annoying video ads on my social media feeds. A persistent one had Russell Brunson, the co-founder of Clickfunnels, holding signs with written words. He does not say one word verbally during the long ad. Instead, he keeps lifting signs with his statements and making appropriate body language gestures that go along with the signs. You can say it’s a way to suck people into the ad. It works! I eventually decided to click on the ad out of curiosity, and that click sucked me into the world of Russell Brunson.
Clickfunnels is not a new company, and chances are you already heard about it. They are one of the top software-as-a-service companies offering entrepreneurs a funnel service.
If you have no idea what I am talking about, it is pretty simple. Russell Brunson changed the game for e-commerce when he launched his company in 2014 as it helped shift the online sales world from a traditional website to an engaging sales funnel. In addition, their service makes the process of creating a funnel effortless (something you can do in under one hour versus many weeks/months of development previously).
According to Clickfunnels.com, a sales funnel is the path a customer takes to purchase from your business, all the way from interested prospect to converted customer. I will admit that their definition is a bit vague.
To better explain this concept, a funnel is a series of web pages that usually start with a landing page asking you to insert your email address or providing some background information on a product need and ends with another page where you can insert your credit card details to purchase a product or service. It is meant to be interactive rather than just a boring website where you can directly buy a product/service without all the steps a funnel does.
A sales funnel is intended to be your 24/7 salesman, always trying to convert your prospective customers into clients.
Clickfunnels and Russell Brunson have various revenue streams, including:
1. Direct sales of Clickfunnels subscriptions (allows any business person to create funnels to sell a product, and of course, they still need to pay additional funds — outside of Clickfunnels — for ads to get their product out there in front of as many eyeballs as possible on the internet)
2. Selling Clickfunnels subscriptions through affiliates
3. Russell Brunson’s e-books including Traffic Secrets which is the most popular one he wrote judging by the reviews on Amazon.com
The ad I initially mentioned was for a course they offer to teach people how to do affiliate marketing. The program is called “Affiliate Bootcamp”. The course was being provided via email for FREE, or if you upgrade to an online course (rather than an email course), the cost jumps to $100.
The catch is this: They are teaching you how to sell Clickfunnels USING Clickfunnels.
Hence, unlike other people making money selling courses on affiliate marketing, he is happy to offer it for free (at the base level, and only $100 for something more advanced compared to others selling courses for $500-$5,000+) because he knows people who join may end up making him money for life (by becoming affiliate sellers of the ClickFunnels software).
Going back to the original question in my title. Is Clickfunnels a pyramid scheme? Well, what is the definition of a pyramid scheme? According to Investor.Gov, below is the definition:
In the classic pyramid scheme, participants attempt to make money solely by recruiting new participants, usually where:
· The promoter promises a high return in a short period;
· No genuine product or service is actually sold; and
· The primary emphasis is on recruiting new participants.
As you can see, the key to understanding if something is a pyramid scheme or not is to determine if there is value offered. Clickfunnels has helped many entrepreneurs (both digital and brick-and-mortar) make millions of dollars of revenue and achieve their dreams. Also, from my research (and I could be wrong about this), they do not FORCE you to buy a Clickfunnels subscription if you opt to do their affiliate marketing training. So technically, you can use competing software or non-funnel methods to sell their ClickFunnels software as an affiliate after going through the course. More importantly, the product works and offers tremendous value for any entrepreneur trying to sell their products or services. I know this because I acquired digital products in the past just by falling for this addictive marketing technique. In addition, many entrepreneurs who use it publish their financials so its success is well-known and established.
The problem in 2022, though, for Clickfunnels, is that funnels are no longer the mind-blowing invention they used to be ten years ago.
In today’s world, you can create helpful content on social media, not spend a dollar on ads, and still manage to convert a percentage of your followers into customers.
So, is a subscription to ClickFunnels useful to any seller? That is a question I am unable to answer decisively, but I believe it depends on your company’s life cycle, your brand’s social media profile, and your marketing budget.
Overall, I think Clickfunnels is an excellent software any entrepreneur should consider. Even more importantly, anyone interested in marketing and business should check out Brunson on Youtube to learn more about him. You will learn a lot!
