Mastering Sales Funnels, Part 6: Set Up Your Autoresponder

As we’ve talked about earlier, once someone downloads your free report from the squeeze page, your job isn’t done — it’s just beginning.

Now it’s time to build the relationship through a follow-up email sequence. I recommend creating a 7-part series, starting with the first email going out immediately after they submit their info (or confirm it, if you're using double opt-in).

The easiest way to handle this? Set it up once inside your autoresponder. That way, your emails are delivered on autopilot — spaced out over a few days based on your schedule. It’s seamless, and it keeps you consistently showing up in their inbox without having to manually send a thing.

Let’s break down what that first email should do:

• Thank them for signing up

• Include the link to download the free report

• Let them know they’ll be hearing more from you with helpful tips and resources

• And share your contact info so they can reach out with questions

From there, your next few emails should focus on providing value. Share useful tips, helpful insights, and solutions related to the problem you introduced in the report. Each email should guide them a little closer to understanding how your main product offer can help them take the next step.

And yes — you should include a link to your main product’s sales page in every email. But here’s the thing: don’t pitch hard every time. That’s a quick way to lose trust — or worse, get unsubscribed.

Out of your seven follow-up emails, go for a direct, “hard sell” approach in only two of them — usually around email four and email seven. In these, you can clearly lay out how your offer solves the exact issue they’re struggling with — whether that’s traffic, conversions, productivity, or anything else.

Example: if their challenge is getting high-quality traffic to their site, your pitch can focus on how your product includes proven strategies to attract the right people, so they’re never left guessing about traffic again.

But remember — the rest of your emails should stay value-focused. No pressure, just genuinely helpful info with a clear call-to-action link at the end. You want your subscribers to think:

"If this is the kind of insight I’m getting for free, imagine how good the paid stuff must be!"

That’s the mindset that turns a reader into a customer.

The goal of this email sequence is simple: build trust, show up consistently, and gently lead them toward a decision — one that ends with them clicking “buy” and entering your full sales funnel.

And once that happens? That’s when things really start to scale. With your upsells, downsells, and backend offers working in sync, you’re no longer chasing sales — your funnel is doing the heavy lifting for you.

This is how top marketers grow real online income and ditch the 9–5 grind — by creating a system that builds trust, delivers value, and sells with integrity.