We were just coming off of a GREAT year of FHL in Las Vegas, and we felt great about what we had accomplished!
But we also knew that we wanted to GROW Funnel Hacking LIVE in 2016…
So we took a giant leap of faith, and searched for a venue in San Diego that had a lot more event space.
We found a perfect venue that was on the marina away from a lot of distraction, where entrepreneurs could come and focus on their business for 3 solid days…
So we booked it! And then came the terrifying task of trying to fill all those seats…
We made a lofty goal of selling 1,000 FHL tickets (almost double from 2015!)...
So with our goal ahead of us, the biggest concern (again) was...
Could we actually pull it off in time for the event?
Could we sell 1,000 tickets? And if so, would these registrants actually show up?
Even with a year of experience under our belts, that nervous feeling never really left me…
But the moment I stepped out on stage to a roaring room that was filled with Funnel Hackers, I knew we had made the right decision…
Businessman, Television Personality, Philanthropist, And Politician
When Marcus Lemonis took the stage at FHL in San Diego, I was sooo excited!
His hit TV show, Season 3 of “The Profit” was airing at the time of our event, and Marcus had become a household name…
His whole show was built around the idea of helping entrepreneurs with their businesses, so I knew I really wanted him to speak at our event…
I had no idea that his speaking fees would cost more than I had originally budgeted for the entire event!
So that was a little scary for us as we were planning, but we found a way to make it happen!
Not only did he speak in San Diego at the event, but he also sat down with the CF partners to talk about the growth of ClickFunnels. The time he took with us to dig into ClickFunnels was so special, and so meaningful…
It was the start of a GREAT relationship between us…
And then one day, I received a phone call from Marcus. He invited me to be a part of one of his episodes on The Profit, where we got to help create a funnel for an entrepreneur, and get ClickFunnels (and our message) in front of MILLIONS of people.
Just like the year before, we had planned on selling our CF Certified program at FHL 2016.
Entrepreneurs could sign-up for the program, take the lengthy funnel-building course, and become a certified ClickFunnels partner.
But we wanted to set up the offer a bit differently than we did in 2015…
I had seen a crazy selling technique where you make your pitch, and then send EVERYONE out of the room on break…
And then you re-open the doors after the break for a private session only for those who had filled out the application and wanted IN…
Talk about a gutsy, terrifying strategy!
We talked about it, and decided to give the “closed door” strategy a try…
It was a HUGE risk that we were taking. This was our big offer, so it needed to go off without a hitch…
Sure, the curiosity and FOMO (fear of missing out) behind the exclusivity of the private session was amazing…
But we knew that would already have a captive audience sitting right in the room… and we were going to send them all away?!?
I couldn’t help but wonder,
What if they didn’t come back?
What if we opened the doors back up, and nobody was there?
The closer we came to the moment where I was to deliver the pitch, I was scared that I had completely lost my mind…
But by that point, we were committed to a plan, and there was no turning back!
So, I delivered my offer...And we sent everyone out of the room on break.
I was just hoping that there would be someone on the other side of the set of doors when we opened them back up…
Luckily, we did it RIGHT! The doors opened, and we had around 120 people that signed up for our CF Certified Program that year!
This time at FHL, we presented Stu McLaren with TWO checks for his organization that builds schoolhouses for African children...
I wanted to make it EASY for ClickFunnels users to give back and help change lives.
So we came up with a really cool idea…
Every time a funnel was built inside ClickFunnels throughout the year, we donated $1 to World Teacher Aid...
We put together an amazing offer that our attendees would really want…
Any Funnel Hacker attendee who donated $500 to World Teacher Aid during the FHL event would receive the 2016 recordings for FREE!
In just 3 days during the event, our FHL community raised a total of $78,476!
Check #1 - In 2016, we gave World Teacher Aid a giant check for all the funnels that were built inside of ClickFunnels that year!
Check #2 - We also raised donations for World Teacher Aid during the event!