The Regular Affiliate Site Model

In the well known affiliate site model your blog posts act as your "presell funnel".

SEO traffic is driven to articles that act as a presell page
Visitors click on your affiliate links to buy a product
A lead magnet is used separately as an attempt to sign them up for an email list

I personally made thousands of dollars using this model.

The problems...

A blog post is a relatively weak presell (1% conversion).
When they click on the affiliate link, even if they buy, you lose them.
Your email funnel is disconnected from the affiliate sale
After opting in for your email list, you lose everyone who doesn't click on the confirmation email (33 percent or more)
The traditional Thank You page STOPS the engagement at a point where you have the prospect's full attention.

The solution? Let's combine the email funnel with a presentation funnel.

Here is an example - the presentation funnel that goes with the Funnel Hacker Cookbook:

Step #1: The funnel starts with a 2-step opt-in. Let's take note of the layout - a full page photo showing Russell on the left with the book, with a simple text and a button on the right.

Step #1A: The opt-in overlay. Book image on the left, simple headline, email address field and button on the right. He doesn't even ask for your name.

How to create this page in Thrive Architect:

Use this 1-step lead generation page (you can move the left section to the right if you want to):

View landing page in full

Use this 1-step video lead generation page and replace the video with an image:

View landing page in full

Use this 2-step lead generation page and change the color:

View landing page in full

Step #2: Download page doubled with a presentation page. You are not told that your signup is complete. The top sets the expectations by showing the thumbnails of the 3 videos in the series, identical to the Perfect Webinar funnel/Product Launch funnel.

There are two buttons under the video:

the download button that satisfies the original intention
an upsell button, which is a "free plus shipping" offer in this case

How to create this page in Thrive Architect:

Use this video landing page (you can simply duplicate the call-to-action button and change its color):

View landing page in full

View this alternative landing page.

Many times I just use a Thank You page like this - it is easy to change the image into a video.

The subscriber also gets an email about Video #1:

Step #3: Here comes Video#2 with the exact same layout.

And also email #2:

Step #4: Here comes Video#3 with the exact same layout.

And also email #3, with the headline:

Subject: here’s the ENTIRE recipe for your funnel...(Video #3 of 3)

The Use of The Presentation Funnel

Even though the above funnel is a lot more work to produce than a regular "download this worthless PDF" funnel, it gives massive exposure to your brand and moves the prospect a lot faster to the point of making a purchase decision than an email sequence.

It is also set up to ensure people stay in the funnel. Three emails direct your prospect onto your site to watch the three parts.

Each video page has the same upsell button, making it more likely that the visitor will accept your offer. To increase conversions, the upsell offer should be closely related to the free download.

The above presentation funnel can be modified to fit your purpose.

One video can be used instead of three
The free download can be omitted and the video presentation can be used as a freebie
The objective can also be to sell a tripwire product - the video acts like a webinar and the "upsell" becomes the promoted product
The promoted product can be - a software, - a free or paid course - a physical product (e.g. a laptop with a product review video)