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The competitive arena of online sales is full of shiny objects and bold, often unverified claims that make the industry increasingly more challenging to navigate. The average business owner has to burn through a pile of cash until they find a formula or service provider to deliver actual results.
Luckily, there are some cornerstones to the industry you can always trust, like ClickFunnels founder Russell Brunson, who constantly innovates and attracts the interest of competitive minds.
The challenge that defied industry norms
Just a few weeks ago, a showdown took place that left industry insiders buzzing.
ClickFunnels set the stage with the Funnel Games Competition. The mission? Simple yet daunting — outperform Russell’s highest-grossing funnel in opt-in conversions within 24 hours measured from real traffic.
What made this challenge genuinely unique is that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only measure up real-world conversion optimization talent against other entrants but also to the most prominent expert of sales funnels, Russell Brunson himself.
More than 80 contestants (individuals and agencies) rose to the challenge to defy the odds and accomplish the impossible. After all, what are the chances of beating the “king of sales funnels” in just a short 24 hours?
Competing amongst other agencies were Agency Coach founders Mike Schmidt and AJ Rivera, who had their mentee, funnel expert and agency owner Gabor Kriston as their wingman in their team.
Together, they challenged the norms of funnel building and showcased the power of collaboration in the digital age.
For the Agency Coach team, it meant leveraging their expertise to reverse-engineer Russell’s winning funnel and come up with a fresh angle with a fighting chance to win the games.
The broken sales video: Game over before the race has even started?
As the team delved into the challenge, a critical snag emerged — a broken sales video, the linchpin of their sales funnel. A seemingly harmless decision to host their video on YouTube resulted in the audio not playing. Here they were, with an enormous setback that apparently made their chances evaporate before their funnel saw the light of the day.
Triumph against the odds: The funnel hub formula
Surprisingly, their submission has done remarkably well. Even with the broken sales video, the team was in a tight race for victory, securing an impressive second place overall and clinching the top spot in the agency category. The strategy and the copywriting finesse of Mike & AJ and Gabor’s design expertise nearly doubled Russell Brunson’s conversions.
The team attributes their success to the funnel hub formula, Mike & AJ’s invention, with simplicity, relatable client testimonials, a clearly laid out user journey and an attractive character in the centre as its core principles. The results have proved them right: there’s an increasing demand for simplification in the age of information overload.
The team’s impact on the funnel industry
Mike Schmidt and AJ Rivera are recognized for multiple 2 Comma Club awards and Funnel Hacking Live speakers roles. As the architects behind the “funnel hub” concept, they revolutionised website design and forged a partnership with Russell Brunson, who now champions their framework as the cornerstone of online businesses.
Gabor Kriston’s growing contributions to the funnel world also shouldn’t be underestimated. He has built the largest online database of million-dollar sales funnels and is on a mission to help sales funnel “underdogs” compete with industry “big shots” with his Funnelhacker Tools, which significantly contributed to creating the team’s winning submission.
An Industry Shaking Achievement?
Mike Schmidt, AJ Rivera and Gabor Kriston’s success story isn’t just a win for a team; it’s a testament to their innovative frameworks and tools that dare to challenge the status quo in the funnel world.
In the rapidly evolving realm of online marketing, the Funnel Games challenge has left a memorable mark, proving that innovation and collaboration can reshape norms and lead to triumph.
