Dear ,

In the business world there is a LOT of talk about funnels, particularly sales funnels.

The idea is that you carefully build a funnel that brings in LOTS of people because you did things A - Q and then the funnel, doing things R - Z slowly narrows the people down more and more to just the people who will pay you/buy from you.

It seems like a good enough idea.

But also, I hate it.

I hate all the things in the business world that are hyper-focused on funnels - building them, optimizing them, engineering them.

Because here's the thing.

I don't want to filter human beings. I don't want to optimize people. I don't want to engineer and automate helping or connecting.

That feels yucky to me.

[and it's not that I'm anti-automation or optimizing in general... I just don't think those things should apply to people...]

And I also don't want to narrow down my world into just people who want to buy from me.

The teacher in me just doesn't want that at all.

It occurred to me today that if I have a funnel, then I'm the one standing out here holding it upside down.

The traditional sales folks would say (DO say, I get this #unsolicitiedfeedback alll the time) that I'm doing it wrong.

They say I need more automation, more pop ups, more lead magnets, more bits of the funnel...

... and I just say no.

I mean, politely - no, thank you - but also, no.

What the teacher in me wants (and, btw, has) instead is a funnel where a few people come in, and then get something super useful, and then come back (maybe with friends) and get MORE that's super useful, and then come back (along with some other people) and get MORE good stuff... and then sometimes some of those people decide to buy from me.

It's the anti-funnel.

And the goal isn't the buying from me - it's helping the people.

It's serving the humans.

It's helping THEM get what THEY need and not really about me.

[And yes yes, it is also about me - because I run a business, true...but I can FOCUS on the people first and that's totally cool]

I have found - I KNOW to be true - that if I GIVE and show up and share and love, the rest (money, clients, audience, the rest) works out better than I could have imagined.

I can, and do, put the humans first - the helping first - the serving first... and the rest works too.

So, here's why I'm telling you this.

First, I want you to always know that I'm not funneling you anywhere except to wherever YOU are trying to go.

Want to come to my workshop on 5/1 about making offers?

Cool.

Want to never talk to me again after?

Also totally okay, although I'll miss you and wonder how things are working out with what you learned.

I promise to carry on doing me, and let you do you.

The workshop is going to be USEFUL AF, and then you can go about your business - or come to whatever I do next ---- but that's UP TO YOU.

(and btw, the workshop is also NOT going to hold back pieces you need to implement what I'm teaching so that I can up-sell you into the next level of my many-tiered scheme or whatever, because just no. Yuck.)

Second, if you also get hives from the idea of a funnel, from the idea of filtering humans, from the idea of automating connection, from the idea of more STUFF to give people so that you can run the machinery somehow and magically pop out clients, it's okay.

You do NOT have to run your business that way.

Success is possible without all the mechanical bits and pop ups and magnets and ladders and blah blah blah.

You can be a human, with humans, and GIVE your way to success.

It's possible - more than possible - and it's way more fun (and less painful, jeeez) then the 'right' way.

You can have the funnel and use it upside down.

You you can toss it out the window and still do more than fine.

Do you.

Much love,

Sara

PS. Have a thought? Question? Something else? Always feel free to hit reply, I'm here.