Setting up a funnel on a budget
Setting up a marketing funnel can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. It's easy to spend a lot of money, but it's just as easy to stick with the basics and set up a funnel on a budget.
Lesson aim
By the end of this lesson, you'll understand how much it costs to set up a marketing funnel and how to do it on a budget.
Bare essentials for a funnel
Course platform ($0–$199/month)
You can start selling your course on platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, or Kajabi for free, but you’ll probably need a paid plan to publish a full course. This expense isn’t specific to having a marketing funnel, but it’s worth mentioning because you can’t sell a course without a platform to host it. You’ll usually run your checkout process on your chosen course platform too.
Suggested 🛠
I’d recommend Teachable as your course platform because it’s one of the simplest in terms of student experience and relatively beginner-friendly.
Email marketing platform ($29–$99/month)
You can start sending emails for free with platforms like Mailchimp or MailerLite, but you’ll usually need a paid plan to set up automated sequences and other advanced features. ConvertKit is my top recommendation for beginners because it’s easy to use and integrates well with most course platforms.
Suggested 🛠
I’d recommend ConvertKit as your email marketing platform. It’s easy to use while still being powerful enough to set-up automations and segment your list.
Optional extras depending on preference
Landing page builder ($0–$99/month) optional
This is optional because you can build landing pages on your course platform or use ConvertKit to create simple landing pages. But if you want more advanced features like A/B testing or you enjoy using a particular tool, you can host your lead magnet landing pages on a dedicated builder like Leadpages, Unbounce, or Instapage.
Suggested 🛠
If you want to use a dedicated landing page builder (optional), I’d recommend Leadpages because it’s easy to use and has a lot of templates to choose from.
Advanced expenses as you grow
Countdown timers ($49–$199/month) optional
Countdown timers can create a sense of urgency and encourage people to take action. You can find free options with limited features or use a tool like Deadline Funnel so that each subscriber gets their own unique deadline based on when they enter your funnel.
Webinar software ($80–$199/month) optional
Webinars are a great way to sell high-ticket courses, but they can be expensive to run so I usually recommend starting with a simpler lead magnet first. But if you do want to run automated webinars, you can use tools like EasyWebinar or WebinarJam.
Professional copywriting ($1,000–$5,000+) optional
If you’re not confident in your writing skills, you might want to hire a professional copywriter (like me!) to help write your emails and pages. This can be a significant expense, but it’s worth it if you’re not converting as many leads as you’d like. Having said that, I’ll be giving you templates to use in this course, so you might not need to hire a copywriter just yet.
Paid ads ($200–$1,000/mo+) optional
You can run a successful funnel without paid ads just by using organic strategies like blogging, social media, and partnerships. But if you want to scale your sales quickly once your funnel starts working, you can pay for ads on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, or Google.
Remember 💡
The most important thing is to start with the basics (course platform, email marketing platform) and only add extra tools or expenses once you know they’ll help you make more money.
Key point → You don't need much!
You can set up a marketing funnel for your course for as little as $29/month on top of your existing course platform costs. There are plenty of expensive tools out there, but you can get started with just the basics and add more tools as you grow.
Summary
In this lesson, we've talked about how to set up a marketing funnel on a budget, using free or low-cost tools to get started. We've covered the costs involved in setting up a funnel and how to save money without sacrificing the quality of your marketing efforts.
Next, we'll talk about how to build a funnel even if you're not comfortable with tech and the ways I'll be supporting you through the process.