One of the most common questions I receive from crochet CEOs is “how do I get my name out there?” And this question, my friends, comes down to how you market your crochet business. Or, better said, how you implement a strategy to put your business in front of the eyes of your ideal customer.

But, even then, I challenge you to think bigger.

You’re not just trying to get ‘out there’. To grow a business, you need to get out there and turn those eyes into actual paying customers. How? Well, my favorite way to help potential customers make that transition is with a tripwire sales funnel.

Image to use for Pinterest with a keyboard and ball of yarn saying "How to Market Your Crochet Business with a tripwire!"

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What is a Sales Funnel?

Yes, let’s start from the beginning. If this is your first time diving into the topic of marketing, we need to define what a sales funnel is. As we talk about this funnel, we’ll need to understand the customer journey – how a person goes from being unaware of our business to becoming a loyal customer.

The Customer Journey

While this funnel has six stages, it is often broken down into three phases: Leads, Prospects, and Customers.

Lead

The first two phases of the funnel, awareness and interest, are where you will focus on lead generation. This is where you get your business out in front of your target audience. So, the focus is on marketing and brand awareness. You might do this with ads, social media posts (hashtags), opt ins on a blog, and great SEO to help your business be found in searches.

Prospect

When potential customers become hit the prospects phase, they’ve usually taken some action that shows they are considering a purchase from your business. This might look like signing up for your opt in, following you on social media, attending a webinar, or clicking through to a listing on your shop.

Purchaser

Well, not quite a purchase, yet. Contrary to it’s title, in the purchase phase, the potential customer has simply made a strong indication that they will likely make a purchase and become a customer. This typically means they’ve added an item to their cart and it’s your job to help them make the leap to actual, real, paying customer – and one of the strategies for doing that is called a tripwire.

What is a Tripwire Sales Funnel?

Tripwire is basically an irresistable offering that is made to your potential customer as soon as they opt in for your freebie or shortly thereafter. The specific features of a tripwire are that it

  • acts as a bridge between your opt in and your full-priced product offerings,
  • has a high perceived-value and a low cost (we’re not thinking profits with this offering, we’re thinking conversions),
  • easily moves the viewer from prospect to purchaser,
  • helps the customer see you as a person they buy from rather than a person who gives them free things, and
  • typically includes a sense of urgency (a one-time offer that goes away after 15-minutes, including a countdown timer).

Why is this important? Well, the most basic reason for wanting to create this conversion is that someone who has purchased from your previously will be more likely to purchase from you again. How so? Well, because you’re going to rock their socks off with your amazing product, packaging (if applicable), and service.

Additionally, the profits from your tripwire can be used to help pay for your ever-growing email list. So, in this way, your email list starts paying for itself right off the bat. So, no more worrying about moving to the next price-tier with your email service provider.

Finally, your tripwire profits can help to pay for advertising that leads to your opt in and the whole process starts over again.

Market Your Crochet Business with a Tripwire Sales Funnel

As with any business, you can implement a tripwire sales funnel as a marketing tool for your crochet business. Yes, even as a designer, a product seller, or a service provider! The most important piece of the puzzle is that both the opt-in and tripwire are targeted to your exact ideal customer.

Don’t have a bead on your ideal customer, check out the post, “Know Your Customer, How to Connect to Your Buyer and Increase Sales.”

Here are some ideas for using this strategy based on your business model.

Tripwires for Designers

Create a larger, more detailed, or more helpful version of your opt-in.

  • If you’re offering a free pattern as an opt-in, compile an e-book as a tripwire.
  • If you’re offering a planner page of some sort, offer a planner as a tripwire.
  • If you’re offering a print-and-use type of page, offer an editable version as a tripwire.

Just a note, I know that many designers give patterns and e-books away for free as a way to attract their ideal customer but I’m beginning to see the downside of this is that customers will see you as “the free pattern designer” rather than as someone whose talent is worth paying for. So, I encourage you to consider ways to set up an opt-in and tripwire that don’t include patterns.

Tripwires for Product Sellers

It’s a little more challenging to come up with ideas as a product seller but the overwhelming suggestion ‘out there’ on the interwebs is to offer a product for ‘free’ when the customer pays for shipping and handling.

Then, if you’ve got the technology for it, add the next logical item in your product line as an upsell. In this way, you get both the conversion (yay!) AND an actual sale (profits!).

What this might look like:

For baby product sellers:

  • If you’re offering a PDF for “Baby Shower Gift Trends for 2021”, add a gorgeous teething ring or rattle free when the customer pays for shipping as your tripwire. Then, add an upsell for one of your most popular items as they are checking out.

For home decor sellers:

  • If you’re offering a PDF for “Handmade Home Decor Trends for 2021”, add hanging basket or remote control holder free when the customer pays for shipping as your tripwire. Then, add an upsell for one of your most popular home decor items as they are checking out.

For fashion accessory sellers:

  • If you’re offering a PDF for “Winter Style Trends for 2021”, add a stylish headband free when the customer pays shipping and handling as your tripwire. Then, add an upsell for a matching scaft, gloves, or boot cuffs as they are checking out.

You get the idea, right?!

Just as a note, many product sellers are offering a coupon as an opt-in and I really don’t recommend this. The reason being, a coupon requires a purchase. So, it presupposes that someone in the consideration phase intends to become a customer (is in the intent phase) and sidesteps the natural flow of the customer acquisition process. So, you can use it, many larger corporations do, but I don’t feel it’s the best way to guide the customer through the process.

Tripwires for Service Providers

How you set up a tripwire will really depend on your service. Here are a few examples I can think of…

For tech editors:

  • If you’re offering a PDF of “Crochet Pattern Writing Standards”, add a crochet pattern template or pattern writing course as your tripwire.

For proof-readers:

  • If you’re offering a PDF of “How to Avoid Common Crochet Blogging Writing Errors (and how to avoid them),” add an offering for “Your First Proofread Free (up to 500 words)” or something along those lines. Think of how to offer something that helps them understand the value of your services.

For crochet teachers:

  • If you’re offering access to a PDF tutorial for “Your First Washcloth Project” as an opt-in, add access to an extensive, step-by-step video tutorial as a tripwire.

You get the idea. No matter what business model you’re using, create an opt-in that will attract your ideal customer and add a tripwire that is a natural progression of the opt-in that acts as a bridge to your ultimate, full-price product line.

Resources for Setting up a Tripwire to Market Your Crochet Business

You might be asking, “OK, I get it but how to I set all this up?”

The main services you’ll need are:

  • A graphic design program to create your opt-in (or simple opt-in image),
  • An email service provider to create an opt-in/subscribe form,
  • A place to host your opt-in form (your website, Facebook page, product listings),
  • A place to host your opt-in in order to deliver it in your welcome email,
  • A landing/sales page and checkout option for your tripwire,
  • A strategy for offering an upsell,
    • Same as the step, above.
  • An ongoing strategy for turning your new customer into a loyal fan.

Conclusion

Tripwire sales funnels can take marketing your crochet business to the next level!

While tripwires (and sales funnels in general) take a little time to set up, they are definitely a strategy worth trying. This marketing method benefits both you and your customers in that it provides great value to the buyer and helps you to run your business more profitably. Win/Win!

Is this whole things new to you or have you implemented a tripwire sales funnel in your crochet business already? Either way, I’d love to hear from you in the comments, below! Which tech strategies will you or have you tried?

Price Your Products Like the Pros

Includes: the exact formula I use to price my products for maximum sales and profit while attracting my ideal customer.

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