The first time I heard the phrase “marketing” funnel… not gonna lie… I snickered a bit. Guy was talking about it like it was some new, genius idea he’d thought up. But, “funnels” have been around since Jesus first roamed the internet.

They just weren’t called that.

Matter of fact…

Clear back in 2004-2005, I had a MySpace marketing “funnel” I used to siphon eyeballs off MySpace and into my offers. And, I was pulling in a few thousand a month with it. Of course, I was basically showing people how to spam on MySpace…

And, I started feeling dirty about the whole thing.

So, I up and just shut it down one day.

But, still… a funnel.

And one that worked pretty dang well.

Back when Tom, not Mark, was king of the interwebs. But, I digress… the truth is, my snickering was a mistake. One I learned a hard lesson on… because despite all my mockery the term blew up.

ClickFunnels, for example, is a 100 million/year company.

And all they sell is software to build funnels.

Had I not been so self-righteous I could’ve tapped that market more.

Instead I watched all those benjis float by out of my reach.

Anyway, the point here is this…

This phenomenon exists in every market on the planet. Ideas, concepts, phrases, processes that get latched onto and gain popularity — and people obsess over like Gollum obsessing over Frodo’s ring.

Early in my career… it was membership sites.

Then, marketing funnels.

Today, Facebook Ads is up there.

Snicker if you must…

But, do NOT underestimate these trends. They’re a goldmine of opportunity if you know how to spot them and take advantage — because people are already sold on the idea. They already want the funnel or the membership site, etc.

In fact, they don’t just *want* it.

They’re obsessed with it.

The believe it’s the solution to all their problems.

And, they’ll pay almost anything to get it.

And no… it doesn’t matter what market or industry you’re in. For example, you remember when “flat design” was a new, big buzzword in graphic/web design. Or “responsive web design” for web developers.

Hell, “muscle confusion” was a thing in fitness because of P90X.

Every market… every industry.

Anyway, do with that info what you will. In Part 1, Chapter 2 of my Freelance Feast course, I show you how spot these trends and how to take advantage of them in your freelance business. And, if you’re a new freelancer…

Pay special attention.

Riding one of these trends is one of the fastest ways to jumpstart your freelance career — and bypass a lot of the grindy work it normally takes to go freelance full-time. That said, you know the dealio by now… the Freelance Feast course is currently uploaded to Skillshare (Lesson #3 inside my 11-hour mega-course, Let’s Talk Freelance).

Which means you can get access essentially for free.

Because, as a teacher there, I can offer you an exclusive 14-day trial of the platform. With that, you get full, unfettered access to every course on the site — including the one above. All the videos, PDFS, downloads, etc.

For 14 days.

Then, if you cancel before the trial is up…

You don’t pay a penny.

A few hoops, but might be worth it to you.

But, be warned… the course is coming off Skillshare in just about 5 days. So, time is running out. After that, I’m going to sell it on my website for around $150 or so. If you want to save yourself some smackeroonies…

The clock’s a tickin’.

Anyway, link to the course is here: https://myjohn.us/feast

If you’re already a Skillshare member, that will take you right into the course. If not, it’ll give you access to the 14-day trial.

Proceed how you see fit.

Later,

John

P.S. Of course, if you’re a Patron of mine, you get full access to everything I create including this course AND all my past courses — and a number of Patreon exclusives only available to Patreon supporters. Anyway, you can find the course here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50847910