What Toddlers Can Teach Us About Marketing Funnels
I know the thought of rolling in income you don’t have to do anything for sounds too good to be true, and the truth is, it kind of is. Passive-income guru and entrepreneurship professor at Gonzaga University, Jenny Stuchell, discusses the importance of framework in establishing successful passive income. Jenny has presented at our Vested Retreat two years running and she knows👏her👏 stuff👏. I love what she shared in her newsletter this week and wanted to pass it along to you!
by Jenny Stuchell
It happened on a Tuesday, right before nap-time. The park was buzzing with parents & young kids waiting to pick-up their older siblings from school next door.
My little Myles (4, going on 24, and the best debater ever lived) spots a sweet little girl with spiral curls, maybe a year younger. He runs up to her and puts out both his hands like crab pincers, and shouts:
“I’m gonna get your bum bum!!”
Over. And over. And Over.
Cue the dads, nearly collapsing in laughter.
Cue the moms, ready to have a talk with me on toddler conduct.
Cue me, frozen, calculating the parent responses, deciding whether to apologize, laugh it off, or start scolding.
Ok, ok. I know what you’re thinking - kind of cute, kind of funny. Totally innocent. I mean, he got it from my husband… Who says this to all of us at home when playing around…
But there I was: mother of that kid. The bum-bum bandit of the playground.
Meanwhile, my face is red and I’m nervously laughing, thinking:
Is it sexual harassment if he’s only four?
Will CPS show up at my house?
Do I scoop him up, or just move to another zip code?
But Myles? Completely unbothered. He had no idea what he was saying. To him, it was just a funny phrase we joke about at home, sounds that make us laugh.
To everyone else? Out of context. Random. A touch alarming.
And that’s when it clicked… Myles wasn’t wrong - he was missing the framework. He knew the line. But he didn’t know the context.
He dropped words into the wild without meaning, system, or strategy.
And that same thing happens to most people who have or want to start a business.
You'll reach a point where you start to feel genuinely confident in your skills. Maybe have financial stability. And you'll feel READY to graduate to the next step, where you make more money without working more hours.
But then you throw ideas into the void, drop random offers that sound good to you, toss a sales page into the ether, hoping it all lands.
But then, Professor Jenny will hit you with a question, like ”Discuss the proper function of an email funnel,” and you'll realize you actually have NO IDEA how to build a sustainable business.
Like, you know in theory that your time is limited, and you need to start automating lead generation and sales to start or grow a sustainable business. And you know funnels are one of the best ways to do it.
But you’re like a toddler doing improv in the sandbox.
You don't know how to write high-converting email suites
You don't really know what other sequences beyond a welcome series you need
And you definitely don't have a clear picture for how to build a traffic generation system that brings in warm leads without posting, using content that flows together with your offer to get great results.
But that doesn’t mean you should throw around random “bum-bums” like Myles (or feel forced to sell your business like I did).
You just need a cheeky little study group (see what I did there) that takes the overwhelming stuff and breaks it down into bite-sized steps you can actually use, at a pace that fits real, busy entrepreneur life.
That’s why I’m so excited to tell you about my new intensive The Freedom Funnels Cohort.
In just 8 weeks, you’ll have your first funnel up, running, and generating leads for sales. I’ll walk you through it step by step, so you never feel like you’re playing catch-up, even if right now you’re like, ‘funnel’…what’s a funnel?
You’ll learn:
How to craft & validate an irresistible offer so you don’t waste time building something and guessing whether your audience will want it or not.
How to structure your offer suite to make your income more predictable (and your content more likely to convert).
How to map out every evergreen email and landing page your business needs—tailored to your offers and audience (not just jargon).
How to write the three email sequences that matter most: your welcome, nurture, and sales emails, so you can start making sales on autopilot.
How to segment your audience smartly, making sure the right people get the right emails at the right time (no more shouting into the void).
How to generate endless leads for your business without posting every day, using ad and proven frameworks.
How to set everything up on the backend in Systeme and Mailchimp (or whichever platform you choose), so the whole system runs without you babysitting it.
PLUS, you’ll get direct support from me in weekly office hours (!!!!), so you’re never wondering: “Am I even doing this right?”, before you hit send.
I’m calling this a cohort, not a course, because the goal is to GET SHIT DONE in 8 short, but powerful weeks >> check off one big, needle-moving system that will be built and fully automated before the year is over.
Doors are open until October 12th. And once they close, I can’t say when they’ll open again.
So if you’re at a place with your job or your business where…
You’re clocking way too many hours but not seeing it reflected in your bank account
You’re ready to automate income so you can stop trading time for money
Or you don’t have a funnel yet (and maybe don’t even really know what one is)
…then this is your invitation. And if you don’t have a business yet, that’s OK. You can start one the right way with us here.
Join The Freedom Funnels Cohort now and have your first funnel up, running, and selling before Christmas.
(Aren’t you glad I don’t work full-time so I can bring you unsolicited toddler chaos from my life instead?)
Always cheering you on!
Jenny
P.S. You can join The Freedom Funnels Cohort now for $500 off, but only until October 1st at midnight Learn more here!
About the Author:A Spokane native, Jenny Stuchell serves as a Business Entrepreneurship instructor at her alma mater, Gonzaga University. In 2015, she founded Pantry Fuel, a dietitian-approved prepared meal delivery service, and exited the company in 2023. Jenny is a wife and mother of two. Most recently, she’s leveraged her passion and experience for small business strategy to help parent entrepreneurs make more in less time using smart funnels with her company AICrafted Solutions.