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My Interview with Spencer Mecham: The #1 ClickFunnels Affiliate
My Interview with Spencer Mecham: I first heard about Spencer Mecham back in the middle of 2018. I was listening to the Funnel Hacker Radio Podcast and I happened to catch his episode titled Secrets of A ClickFunnels Dream Car Winner.
This is where I first learned about his story and discovered how he turned himself into the #1 ClickFunnels affiliate. It’s also where I found out about his Facebook Group, Automation Nation which became my introduction into the whole ClickFunnels community.
Spencer is the first ClickFunnels affiliate to reach $1 million in ClickFunnels commissions and the first affiliate to join the ClickFunnels 2 Comma Club.
Last year, he released one of my favorite courses called Affiliate Secrets 2.0 which was one of the biggest influences in my own success with ClickFunnels. His site Buildapreneur also hosts a ton of FREE courses which I highly recommend you check out as well.
In this interview with Spencer, I got a chance to ask him some questions that were on my mind, and he was kind enough to take the time to answer them and drop some amazing value in the process.
Enjoy!
Tell us your backstory. How did you get started promoting ClickFunnels?
I had actually been trying affiliate marketing fairly unsuccessfully for over a year by the time I found ClickFunnels. One day at my 9-5 job we had a consultant come in and say that we needed to start using funnels, so I was assigned to sign up for ClickFunnels and learn to use it.
It didn’t take long for me to realize they had an affiliate program, and it was much better than the ones I was currently promoting. I went all-in on it and my growth exploded.
I tell this story deeper in my blog post about how to get started with affiliate marketing.
What strategies do you have to keep your ClickFunnels referrals sticking with you longer?
One of my biggest ones is outreach. I have a plugin that helps me download the email addresses of everyone who has signed up for me so I can reach out and offer help to them.
In the beginning that help came in the form of one-on-one calls. Now it has turned more digital in the form of a Facebook group and a course.
Unless you already have a dream car, I always recommend doing one-on-one training. It will always be the most valuable thing you can offer.
What are your favorite (non-ClickFunnels) tools that you use every day in your business? Are there any new tools you are experimenting with?
So many! My favorite tools are listed as follows:
- ActiveCampaign
- Zapier
- VidIQ
- IFTTT
- Group Funnels
I also have pretty much every tool I use in my business available at buildapreneur.com/tools. It is searchable and you can see what I am using for every part of my business.
In terms of experimenting with new ones – always. I am experimenting with a software called Chiirp and Opesta right now (text messaging and Messenger bots). I’m also doing a lot of experimenting with creating my own mini software.
What marketers do you follow?
I am a huge Pat Flynn guy. He helped me come to terms with how to do affiliate marketing in a value-add way. I think he is a really good guy and trusts him.
I am also a huge fan of Robert Kiyosaki, as he helped me come into the world of entrepreneurship.
One I recently started following is Brendon Burchard. He is incredibly successful and I was able to hear him speak recently and loved his style.
Do you listen to any podcasts regularly or read any books?
I am not an avid podcast listener, which probably explains why I don’t have one. I really prefer to pay for in-depth courses, etc., and find a lot of times that I come away from podcasts with just a tiny hint of the big picture.
As far as books, absolutely. I love Audible and listen to dozens of books. Right now I’m reading Cashflow Quadrant. One of my favorites of all time is a book called Persuasion by Robert Cialdini.
It taught me how to sell better than almost any course and has some of the most interesting psychology insights I’ve ever heard.
How long did it take for you to create Affiliate Secrets 1.0 and 2.0. What are some tips for people who want to create their own course?
About a month for 1.0 and another month for 2.0. I recreated Affiliate Secrets 2.0 completely, without duplicating a single video. It was hard but so worth it.
I would say the most important thing was building a good outline. I spent a lot of time looking at the outline and trying to think of how to structure it to make sense.
I’ve seen a lot of courses that had tons of good info, but because they were laid out in a way that was hard to follow they didn’t help people succeed.
You have to slowly introduce people to what you want them to do piece by piece. If you introduce a piece to early you will lose people and they may not even finish the course.
The other thing I would say is to just do it! I learned a ton on Affiliate Secrets 1.0. It had a lot of issues. I was able to fix a lot of those in 2.0, and my next course will be even better. Just start and learn as you go like everyone else.
I know you’ve bought and gone through a bunch of courses. What courses do you still recommend today?
I loved 10x Secrets by Russell Brunson. It is really well done and also offers a lot of insight into how to structure an offer. I also recently bought a course called Cashflow Tactics that I loved.
It helps you understand finances so you can actually set up an early retirement instead of working till you are 65 like everyone else.
Do you recommend that everyone start a Facebook group? What tips do you have for growing one?
No, I don’t. A Facebook group is a huge commitment! If I am not active in mine for even a few days I will see engagement start to drop. You have to work hard to keep a group activity and to help it to grow.
It is not for everyone because it requires consistent hard work.
In terms of growing one, it’s all about adding your group to your ecosystem. I refer people to my group in tons of YouTube videos and emails. I make it my hub for lots of courses.
I tell people to not DM me with questions but to instead post in the group. I try to make the group a central place where everyone that knows who I am knows they can access me.
I also add a link to my group on my profile and push people that way. It grows organically 30-50 people a day this way.
What kind of prep do you do for each of your videos? What’s your video setup like?
Depends on the video. Honestly not nearly as much as people think. I usually sit down for 10 minutes and make an outline and then rip into it. Sometimes the videos suck. Sometimes the outlines suck. Sometimes they don’t.
My setup is a backdrop, webcam, microphone, and lights. It looks good and the total cost was about $350. If you go to buildapreneur.com/tools and type in ‘YouTube’ you can actually get access to the entire setup.
What’s your day-to-day life like as a full-time affiliate marketer. How do you keep yourself focused and productive every day?
It’s really mundane actually. I work fairly regular hours at home, getting off at 5 just like most other people. I have not yet figured out how to be loose with my schedule and stay productive, so this works for now.
Productivity for me is all about planning. If I don’t plan what I will do tomorrow today, then it won’t get done. I’ll find random things to fill my time.
So the end of every day is a 10-minute planning session where I figure out what needs to be done the next day and in what order. The stuff I don’t want to do is listed first.
I also have a set schedule I do every morning. I come in, open 10 tabs to the same websites that I need to check every day, and then go through each tab. Two tabs are email inboxes, one is my stock portfolio, three are affiliate programs, etc.
You, Catlin, and Rachel all have a different business in a box. Do you still feel they are viable running today using solo ads? Or do people have to think more outside of the box to get them to work now?
Strange, but yes, you have to think outside the box with the business in a box. The concept does work. I think most people expect to magically just plug in their affiliate link, throw traffic at it, and win a car.
Admittedly, it has somewhat been branded to imply this.
Instead, a good business in a box needs to be personalized. Every video was redone as yourself, etc. It is meant to bring people into the world of ClickFunnels and then teach them more, sell them more, etc.
I have a student that is close to winning the dream car with the business in a box, but he has put in major testing work and personalized it way beyond just copying mine.
I know you’ve had a lot of success promoting ClickFunnels on Adwords. But after your Affiliate Secrets 2.0 course, things got a lot more competitive. Do you still think its a good idea for people to try promoting ClickFunnels on Adwords?
Yes, you just need to get more creative. I found a keyword no-one was going for about 10 days ago and wrote up an article and added it to my queue.
It has gotten 5 trials so far at a tiny cost. So just like the business in a box, people need to actually put on their thinking cap and get creative.
Find search terms others aren’t going for.
Create angles others aren’t going for.
How much of your day to day tasks do you outsource to VA’s and other people.
Not nearly enough. My YouTube channel and blog are almost entirely outsourced. My support used to be, but currently is me while I look for someone else.
The goal, in the long run, is to pretty much just be a pretty face that sits down, films some YouTube videos, then walks away and the system/VAs do everything else.
Not there yet, but getting there.
Chatbots vs email marketing? Do you recommend building up your chatbot list/email list or both?
Yep! I love chatbots for a few things. One is product launches. Your email list will get 30 percent or so of people to open it. Your chatbot will get 90 percent.
So it is good to have so when you have a major announcement or major product push, you can reach people you couldn’t with email.
It’s pretty easy to build too. I just have a bunch of bonuses I offer that can only be accessed via chatbot. I’m up to about 2,000 subs I think, and I do very little.
Next product launch that’s 2,000 people that I can get in front of.
How do you feel about the future of ClickFunnels? Have you looked at promoting other alternatives like BuilderAll?
So far so good. ClickFunnels has honored its affiliates till now and not shown any sign they plan on discontinuing.
I’m also not sure Builderall is considered a competitor of ClickFunnels, as they have gone in other directions since their launch.
I do believe you need to diversify your affiliate income though. My goal is to have a full-time income coming from at least 5 different sources. So for me, it’s Active Campaign, Opera, Bluehost, ClickFunnels, and Builderall. For someone else, it might be different, but yes you definitely need to diversify.
Don’t go crazy with it because that will ruin your focus, but choose a few to start and go nuts on them.
What were your biggest takeaways from Funnel Hacking Live 2019? Is it worth going and will you be attending the next one?
I need to do a challenge. This was for a couple of reasons. I saw how powerful a challenge could be in actually helping my audience achieve the results they desire and also saw the sales power in a challenge for helping my business.
I love win-win situations, so will be implementing a challenge as soon as I can.
Will absolutely be at the next FHL. It only takes one killer epiphany to be worth the cost.
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