What is ClickFunnels

I bet you are like me 4 years ago when I wondered “what is ClickFunnels?”.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t a new guy in the world of online marketing – the whole funnel-building thing looked like another planet entirely.

Ugh!

I embarked on an unending voyage to discover what ClickFunnels really is, what ClickFunnels is used for, how the software can help my life, and how to use ClickFunnels.

I have to admit.

It wasn’t an easy road, my friend.

I became addicted to ClickFunnels and spent hours in the official ClickFunnels group and Avengers group for affiliates.

All trying to learn what ClickFunnels is about, reading success stories, and picking up some ideas on how marketing with a sales funnel is done.

The crazy part?! 😢

It looked like almost everyone posting in the groups makes so much money with ClickFunnels.

I mean:

I saw lots of online entrepreneurs posting screenshots of thousands and millions made through funnels daily, orange bars of affiliate commissions made from the ClickFunnels affiliate program, 2 comma awards, and all sorts.

Unbelievable numbers!

It was more than MOTIVATING for me to see people make as little as $1,000/mo online because I had never made up to that online.

Not to talk of those making hundreds of thousands. Ah!

I was like:

If they can do this – why can’t I?

Right?

Despite the fact that I come from this part of the world where $500 per month is a BIG dream.

As the months went by, I learned a ton from and about ClickFunnels from the community. The whole inspiration led me to start promoting ClickFunnels as an affiliate.

Took the One Funnel Away Challenge and the rest has been history.

I’m now in my 5fig months as a marketer. I can’t rave enough about my successes online without a huge attribution to ClickFunnels.

That’s a little part of my ClickFunnels story.

In this post, we shall be digging into EVERYTHING you should know about ClickFunnels and how it can help you build the life and business you desire.

Would it be worth implementing it into your business?

Let us get started!

Now let’s delve into everything about ClickFunnels.

Shall we?

What Is ClickFunnels 2.0 & How Does ClickFunnels Work?

ClickFunnels is a popular marketing software that allows you to quickly build and create a sales funnel that converts your page visitors into leads, who later convert into customers.

It was founded by Russell Brunson and Todd Todd Dickerson in 2014.

The newer version is ClickFunnels 2.0.

Russell who happens to be a marketing legend and king of sales funnels has been the face of ClickFunnels due to his marketing charisma and skills.

He popularized the concept of sales funnels.

Russell Brunson

As a marketing expert, coach, speaker, and author – Russell has helped transform millions of lives and businesses (including mine) through his numerous presentations, free marketing content, and his best-seller books.

One of the reasons why ClickFunnels is so popular is how Russell markets and promotes his low-end and free products that funnel people up his value ladder and they end up applying his strategies by using ClickFunnels in their businesses.

As of when writing this, ClickFunnels currently has over 150k active users.

CF user count

And this number is growing like crazy daily.

According to reports, this is the fastest-growing, non-VC-backed, tech-startup in the world, growing from 0-100 million dollars in just 3 years alone.

This is why these days, you’ll hardly hear the word “sales funnels” without hearing an echo of “ClickFunnels” in the background.

That said, there’s a distinct and clear difference between ClickFunnels and sales funnels.

What are sales funnels anyway?

What Are Sales Funnels?

Let’s simply put a sales funnel as the journey a potential customer takes to become a paying customer in your business.

While ClickFunnels is the software responsible for helping you map out and build a sales funnel effectively, and fast.

Having a sales funnel to drive traffic, collect leads, nurture them, and finally convert those leads into sales is something you need to take seriously in your online business.

What is ClickFunnels sales funnel

Even though the word “sales funnel” is popularized in the digital marketing world.

I must say that if you have any business at all – then you already operate a sales funnel cycle.

Some call it – a marketing funnel, conversion funnel, sales pipeline, sales process, or sales cycle.

As long as:

  • You’re acquiring new leads
  • Some of those leads are converting buyers
  • You get the buyers to buy more or other products.

That’s simply a sales funnel.

Now, that might not seem like a well-optimized process (yet), because it’s either done manually, not automated, and requires a lot to maintain.

In fact, you could be losing a lot of money that way.

This is where the need for a sales funnel builder such as ClickFunnels comes into the picture.

This is a platform created so that business owners who want to leverage online mediums and funnels can easily put up pages in minutes without any coding or design knowledge.

ClickFunnels basically houses and takes care of all of the tools you need to make acquire leads, automate sales, and convert them to customers.

So you as the business owner can focus more on serving and making an impact on lives and at the same time making money.

Does that make sense?

ClickFunnels Pricing Options

ClickFunnels comes with two main monthly pricing tiers. The $97 per month and the $297 per month options.

Basic plan

$147/mo

  • 1 Website
  • 20 Funnels
  • 1 Admin User
  • 1 Domain
  • 3 Courses
  • 1,000 Students
  • 10,000 Contacts
  • Unlimited Workflows
  • Unlimited Pages
  • Unlimited Products
  • Unlimited Email Sequences
  • Basic Analytics

Pro plan

$197/mo

  • 1 Website
  • 100 Funnels
  • 5 Admin User
  • 3 Domain
  • 15 Courses
  • 10,000 Students
  • 25,000 Contacts
  • Unlimited Workflows
  • Unlimited Pages
  • Unlimited Products
  • Unlimited Email Sequences
  • Basic Analytics
  • Affiliate Program
  • API Access
  • ShareFunnels
  • Liquid Theme Editor
  • CF1 Maintenance Mode Plan

Funnel Hacker

$297/mo

  • 3 Websites
  • Unlimited Funnels
  • 15 Admin Users
  • 9 Domains
  • 100 200 Courses
  • 20,000 Students
  • 200,000 Contacts
  • Unlimited Workflows
  • Unlimited Pages
  • Unlimited Products
  • Unlimited Email Sequences
  • Advanced Analytics
  • Affiliate Program
  • API Access
  • ShareFunnels
  • Liquid Theme Editor
  • CF1 Maintenance Mode Plan

When it comes to pricing, ClickFunnel 2.0 has both monthly and annual subscriptions. The monthly subscription costs:

  • Basic: $147/month
  • Pro: $197/month
  • Funnel Hacker: $297/month

If you’re opting for a yearly subscription, there is a discount for each plan. 

  • Basic: $1,524 ($127/month)
  • Pro: $1,884 ($157/month)
  • Funnel Hacker: $2,496 ($208/month)

Just as with Clickfunnel 1.0, there is a 14-day free trial with the new version. 

ClickFunnels Features & Benefits

Maybe you’re wondering what actually makes ClickFunnels software a complete marketing suite for marketers.

Here are my favorite inbuilt features and benefits of ClickFunnels:

#1. Build any Type of Pages and Funnels

One of the benefits of using ClickFunnels software is how easy, fast, and smooth it is to build my pages with it.

With ClickFunnels, you can build marketing of all kinds with the use of its powerful drag-and-drop editor and page builder.

ClickFunnels templates

ClickFunnels gives you the ability to create and edit your own web pages and funnels, exactly the way you want.

Marketing pages like:

  • Landing page
  • Sales page
  • Squeeze page
  • Checkout page
  • Order page
  • Upsell page
  • Webinar event page
  • Thank you page

And more.

The good part about is that – there are already pre-built pages and templates you can select from and customize the way you want.

And guess the sweetest part about ClickFunnels templates?

Well, you can share these funnels with your friends, clients, or audience. Or even download funnel templates shared with you into your own account.

Using the share funnel feature.

Share funnel ClickFunnels

#2. Targeted Marketing Automation & Follow-ups

Inasmuch I’d like to call this an email marketing & CRM feature of ClickFunnels – I won’t. Because it’s way more than that.

The email automation and targeted follow-up feature in ClickFunnels let you set up email marketing campaigns and sequences to sell to your prospects.

And lets you send follow-up messages that speak directly to your individual customers, based on their own information.

This is more than what your normal email autoresponder would do:

  • Building of list
  • Designing of email templates
  • Creation of emails
  • Sending of email broadcasts

You can use the Follow-up funnel feature to connect or reconnect with your audience anytime, anywhere using what we call multi-dimensional marketing.

This lets to send highly targeted messages to your customers through email, social, text, and desktop notifications depending on the level they’re in your funnel.

And based on:

  • Who they are?
  • What they’ve bought from you
  • Where they came from
  • What actions they took

#3: Save Ad Costs by Managing & Recruiting Affiliates

This is called the ClickFunnels Backpack.

It’s easy to run your own affiliate program on ClickFunnels and pay commissions to those who generate sales for you.

It doesn’t require much to do this when on ClickFunnels, and it costs nothing extra!

Even though there are dedicated platforms meant for that – but why pay for those when you can make use of the Backpack affiliate management tool as part of your ClickFunnels subscription?

The inbuilt ClickFunnels affiliate center lets you configure commission plans, and affiliate types, run payouts, and as well create affiliate areas for your affiliates with easy-to-download ad banners, email copy, or templates.

#4: For Building Webinars or Online Events

It’s a straightforward thing to create an online event or webinar from scratch, on ClickFunnels.

Because all the webinar page templates inside ClickFunnels have reduced the work by 50% – unlike when you build them afresh without having anything to model.

  • You have the registration page template
  • Webinar confirmation page template

All done for you! 😊

Build live webinar ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels supports both live and automated webinars. Just choose the type you want during the initial configuration from your ClickFunnels account.

The awesome part about the webinar on ClickFfunnels?

It supports and integrates with all the webinar software in the market.

  • EverWebinar
  • WebinarJam
  • GoToWebinar
  • Zoom

#5: Build & Host Your Online Courses

Are you a course creator?

No doubt that monetization of your skill is a great way to help others get where they desire to be when they take action on what you teach and show them.

And of course, you need a membership site builder to give your students access to your private content.

Or don’t you?

Yes, ClickFunnels helps with that!

It gives you all the features you need to create a member’s page that hosts your training materials or subscription-based content.

Your students can create their own login details, and get instant access to all your posted content or you choose to drip-feed it to them whichever way you want.

#6: Run Your E-commerce Business

Using ClickFunnels for e-commerce has several benefits. Firstly, it helps to create less confusion for customers, making buying decisions easier and increasing the likelihood of a sale.

Additionally, ClickFunnels provides an all-in-one platform that streamlines the sales process and saves time and effort.

Some of these features include:

  • Sales funnels: ClickFunnels allows businesses to create custom sales funnels that are tailored to their specific needs. This can include opt-in pages, landing pages, membership websites, squeeze pages, webinars, and more.
  • Order forms: ClickFunnels provides customizable order forms that can be used to sell products or services directly from the sales funnel. This allows businesses to easily collect payment and manage orders within the platform.
  • Upsells and downsells: ClickFunnels enables businesses to offer upsells and downsells during the checkout process, which can help increase revenue and improve the customer experience.
  • Affiliate management: ClickFunnels provides an affiliate management system that allows businesses to track and manage their affiliates. This can include setting commission rates, providing promotional materials, and tracking sales.
  • A/B testing: ClickFunnels allows businesses to test different versions of their sales funnel to see which performs better. This can include testing different headlines, images, and calls to action.
  • Integrations: ClickFunnels integrates with a variety of third-party tools and services, including payment gateways, email marketing platforms, and CRM systems. This allows businesses to easily connect their sales funnel with other tools they use to manage their business.

Overall, ClickFunnels offers a range of e-commerce features that can help businesses automate their sales process, increase revenue, and improve the customer experience.

#7: More Marketing Knowledge (Mostly FREE)

ClickFunnels is just more than a marketing sales funnel builder tool.

It is a platform to acquire more marketing skills and stretch your knowledge. Yeah, I’ve learned a bunch from Russell Brunson himself and from other funnel hackers within ClickFunnels.

Most people think that they have to be a ClickFunnels subscriber before benefitting from all the free training and courses they provide.

No, you don’t have to.

There are tons and tons of free content you can find and pick up within the ClickFunnels ecosystem.

For example:

  • The free Affiliate Bootcamp (review)
  • The free Blackbook
  • The Funnel Cookbook
  • The 30 days summit
  • Funnel Hacker TV
  • Marketing in Your Car Podcast

And lots more.

And I didn’t forget the free-plus-shipping ClickFunnels books also.

Now, if you’re already an existing user of ClickFunnels – then you have access to numerous free courses and training (worth thousands) at your disposal.

Wondering how?

Being a user or subscriber of ClickFunnels enables you to have access to what is called Funnel Flix.

What Is Funnel Flix?

FunnelFlix is a special ClickFunnels package that contains training and courses related to online marketing and mindset.

All the courses inside of ClickFunnels Funnel Flix used to be sold (some are still sold) separately for a price. But Russell partnered with experts to give users ClickFunnels access to these life-changing resources.

For FREE. Awesome!

All you ever need to have Funnel Flix courses is to be a member of ClickFunnels – as you can get in and go through these training from your dashboard.

Access Funnel Flix

#8: Make Passive Income w/ClickFunnels

I’m being asked a few of these questions a lot of times:

  • “How can I make money with ClickFunnels?”
  • “Can I make money with ClickFunnels if I don’t have a product or service of my own?”
  • “Can I make money as a ClickFunnels affiliate?”

And a bunch of other similar questions alike.

This is the part where I introduce the ClickFunnels affiliate program in this guide.

If you have no product or services to offer to people and do like to benefit from what ClickFunnels has to offer then sign up for their affiliate program.

If you’re new to funnels and online marketing then – I would encourage you to go through the OFA 30-day challenge.

This was how I started making money from ClickFunnels.

>> Taking the OFA >> Enrolling to FREE Bootcamp >> Applying the Strategies >> Driving traffic. >> Making some money

ClickFunnels pays you a recurring 20-40% commission percentage for bringing in users to the platform.

And you earn greatly on other of their products and services.

What Can ClickFunnels Do?

ClickFunnels can help you build a membership site to sell or host your courses, recruit and manage affiliates, build and host your marketing webinar on ClickFunnels, process payments…

…and gain marketing knowledge.

Acting as a website:

ClickFunnels can build website pages for selling your products or services. It doesn’t matter the industry or niche you are in.

Let’s say you are into:

  • Agency owner
  • Info Product creator
  • E-commerce
  • Coaching/Consulting
  • Network Marketing
  • Local Business/Brick & Mortar
  • B2B Lead Generation
  • Non Profit
  • Getting Started
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Insurance agents
  • Restaurant businesses
  • Dentists
  • Accountants
  • Authors etc

ClickFunnels can serve if you run a business in the above niche. Of course, you must have a business to use ClickFunnels.

However, if you’re just getting started and have no idea if this tool will work for you or not. Do check out this ClickFunnels for dummies guide on finding your path as a beginner.

ClickFunnels doesn’t just end in lead generation and making sales.

BUT built towards changing lives and making an impact as an all-in-one solution.

Other Key Things To Know About ClickFunnels…

When was ClickFunnels founded?

ClickFunnels was born in 2014 by Russell Brunson and Todd Dickerson when the frustration and time required to build a successful funnel just became too much to handle.

Todd handled the software building part while Russell took care of the marketing and selling part.

Can ClickFunnels replace your website?

The short answer is YES!

Naturally, traditional websites aren’t designed to capture leads, nurture them, perform automation, and convert sales on autopilot.

Unlike a streamlined sales funnel process built out using ClickFunnels – which guides your visitors through the sales process from the lead capturing to the conversion stage.

A website, basically, provides surface-level information (like a brochure) without any guidance or buttons telling them where to go next.

If they don’t know where to go, they’ll leave your site, and you have NO way to follow up with them.

What does ClickFunnels replace?

As a complete marketing tool-suite – ClickFunnels eliminates your other online tool subscriptions to help you save more, manage less, and be efficient.

Here are the tools ClickFunnels replaces:

  • Follow-up Funnels REPLACES email marketing automation & CRM platforms like ActiveCampaign, Hubspot, GetResponse, etc
  • Etison drag and drop page editor and builder REPLACES your marketing landing page builder like Leadpages, Instapage
  • Membership builder REPLACES your dedicated membership and course builder like Teachable, Kajabi
  • Inbuilt Shopping cart platform REPLACES your checkout and cart tools like Thrivecart, Samcart
  • Backpack affiliate management system REPLACES your dedicated affiliate centers like Tapfilliate, Post Affiliate Pro
  • A/B testing, link tracking software, and analytics REPLACES Optimizely, Google Analytics
  • Custom programming to integrate your various marketing software platforms — ClickFunnels seamlessly integrates all of the above already
  • Graphic designers and Programmers — ClickFunnels’ professional, stunning funnel templates designed to covert — for funnels, pages, webinars, forms, and more — take care of that for you
  • ClickFunnels FREE funnel hosting REPLACES your website hosting service like Bluehost
  • Inbuilt Text Message Autoresponder

What are the ways to make money with ClickFunnels?

Here are the ways to make money with ClickFunnels:

  • Selling your own products and services using funnels built on ClickFunnels
  • Building and selling funnels to small & medium-sized businesses
  • Using ClickFunnels for affiliate marketing
  • Sell coaching and consulting services using ClickFunnels
  • Do eCommerce and dropshipping using ClickFunnels
  • Promoting ClickFunnels affiliate program to make some commissions

Can you use ClickFunnels with WordPress?

Yes, you can use ClickFunnels with WordPress by installing their plugin on your WordPress site.

What is the best way to learn and master ClickFunnels?

From my experience, the best way to learn and master ClickFunnels is:

  • First, grab your FREE 14days trial.
  • Get them into the ClickFunnels editor, play around within your account
  • Take the 30 day One Funnel Away Challenge to learn more on funnels, offer hacking, funnel hacking, traffic acquisition, and conversions
  • Read the Dotcom Secrets
  • Implement everything from the above resources

What businesses does ClickFunnels work for?

ClickFunnels is a marketing funnel builder that helps online businesses of all kinds sell their products and services online.

With the exception of a few restricted illegal niches.

What is a ClickFunnels affiliate?

With the ClickFunnels affiliate program, you can earn a 20% commission on purchases of ClickFunnels subscriptions that your front-end buyers sign up for.

Then once you have earned $1,000 in commissions in a month you can apply to become an approved affiliate earning 30% monthly recurring commissions.

Once you have at least 40 active ClickFunnels members paying for their membership through your affiliate id for at least 30 days, you can qualify to have your commission increased to 40% monthly recurring commissions.

Is there a ClickFunnels discount?

Yup! Just like I said earlier, there’s a ClickFunnels discount available where you get about 44% on your usual subscription.

This is called the Secret Masterclass now called The Funnel Hacking Secret Offer.

Here’s what you get on this discount plan:

  • 6 months of ClickFunnels Platinum subscription
  • One Funnel Away Challenge
  • Virtual DAILY Funnel Hack-A-thons
  • Unlimited Access to Funnel Flix
  • 10X Secrets Mastery Program
  • Traffic Secrets/Ad Skills

Can you use ClickFunnels with Shopify?

Definitely, you can integrate ClickFunnels with your Shopify store.

From within ClickFunnels, navigate to your Account Menu and click “Integrations.” Click “Add New Integration.” Search for and select Shopify.

Type your Shopify Store URL into the field and click “Connect Integration.

What does ClickFunnels integrate with?

You can connect ClickFunnels with many of the third-party platforms you know and use for your business…

Including many popular payment gateways, membership platforms, email marketing platforms, CRMs, SMS, and Scheduling apps. Calendar apps, fulfilling services, SMS platforms, Zapier, and more.

Can I use ClickFunnels for clients?

Absolutely, since ClickFunnels has the share funnel feature, it is easy to build funnels for your clients and other small businesses, then share them with them to be downloaded into their accounts.

You can further handle the advertising part after designing their funnels.

What are ClickFunnels share funnels?

Share funnel is a feature that allows you to send the entire funnel to another ClickFunnels user to add to their own account.

Can you cancel ClickFunnels?

There is no form of contract or commitment of any sort with ClickFunnels. You can use ClickFunnels month to month and cancel at any time you’d like.

To cancel your ClickFunnels account – simply log in to your account, click on your account settings, and click “cancel my account”.

What are the types of funnels I can create with ClickFunnels?

Basically, you can create any type of funnel on ClickFunnels.

Here are a few of them:

  • Membership Funnels
  • Book Funnels
  • Lead or squeeze page Funnels
  • Supplement Funnels
  • Webinar Funnels
  • Invisible Funnels
  • Homepage Funnels
  • Storefront Funnels
  • Ask Campaign FunnelsSurvey Funnels
  • Application Funnels
  • Product Launch Funnels
  • Ecomm Funnels
  • Affiliate Funnels

Do I pay to join the ClickFunnels affiliate program?

No, you don’t pay. Joining the ClickFunnels affiliate program is free.

Is ClickFunnels a pyramid scheme?

No, ClickFunnels is not a pyramid scheme! ClickFunnels is a SaaS product under its parent company – Etison LLC – which is a legit internet marketing company run by internet marketing experts.

What is the ClickFunnels cookbook?

The ClickFunnels Cookbook was produced to help entrepreneurs build sales funnels more efficiently.

The Funnel Hacker Cookbook will guild you through all of the elements, pages, and funnels for different situations.

Any alternative to ClickFunnels out there?

There are dozens of ClickFunnels out there.

They range from dedicated sales funnel tools, landing page builders, shopping cart platforms, eCommerce apps, CRMS, email marketing services, membership areas, affiliate centers, etc.

Here are my favorite alternatives so far:

  • Kartra
  • GrooveFunnels
  • GetResponse
  • Samcart
  • Thrivecart
  • Leadpages
  • Kajabi
  • Shopify

What is ClickFunnels Backpack?

ClickFunnels Backpack is the inbuilt affiliate manager inside of ClickFunnels. Building an affiliate program is the fastest and easiest way to grow and scale your business without advertising costs.

What are ClickFunnels Follow-up funnels?

Follow-up Funnels previously called Actionetics is an inbuilt automation capability inside of ClickFunnels that lets you send targeted automated messages to your leads and customers.

What is a ClickFunnels editor?

The ClickFunnels powerful editor is responsible for building, designing, and editing your sales funnels exactly the way you desire.

Without having to spend thousands of dollars on expensive designers and programmers. Pretty fast and easy to use.

What are ClickFunnels Funnel Scripts?

Funnel Scripts is copywriting software built by Jim Edwards and marketed by ClickFunnels. It takes care of your sales copies, email copies, headlines, webinar scripts, ad copies, etc.

Click here to watch the Funnel Scripts demo.

What are Funnel Fridays?

Funnel Fridays is a weekly show done every Friday – by ClickFunnels – hosted by Russell Brunson and Jim Edwards where they build funnels in a specific niche and write the copies as well within 60 minutes.

Toward the end, they’ll also give out 7 free funnels in that particular niche.

Do I need design skills to use ClickFunnels?

As a beginner, you don’t need design skills to use ClickFunnels. They give you marketing assets (templates, copies, pages), designed by experts to help you get started faster.

Their team of graphic, programming, and marketing experts has done the uplifting by crafting stunning page designs to help you attract customers and increase conversions effortlessly.

What’s left?

Now, you can easily customize these funnel templates with your own branding, images, colors, copy, and launch.