I did not build my first Systeme.io funnel because I had suddenly become fascinated by funnels. I built it because I had created the $0 Business Stack and then realised I had nowhere sensible to send a person who wanted it. Until that moment, Built on Zero was mostly a collection of pieces: a name, social accounts, a domain, ideas for content and a free resource sitting on my computer. The funnel was the first time those pieces began behaving like a business.
That distinction matters because “build a funnel” can sound much more complicated than the thing actually is. My first funnel was simply a page that explained the $0 Business Stack, a form where someone could enter an email address, and a thank-you page that confirmed what happened next. I was not building a twelve-step marketing machine. I was giving a stranger a clear route from “this looks useful” to “send it to me.” Once I thought about it that way, the whole exercise became less intimidating.
The first decision was the promise on the page. I could have called the resource something broad like “The Ultimate Guide to Starting an Online Business,” but that would have created another vague freebie competing with thousands of vague freebies. The $0 Business Stack is narrower. It is for somebody who wants to start but keeps encountering software costs before they have earned anything. The landing page therefore needs to make that problem obvious quickly. If the visitor does not recognise herself in the problem, prettier design will not rescue the page.
I also had to stop myself from turning the page into a miniature website. A landing page has a different job. My normal instinct is to explain, add context and make sure every possible question is answered. That instinct is useful in a blog article and dangerous on an opt-in page. The visitor needs enough information to understand the resource and trust the exchange, but every unrelated navigation option gives her somewhere else to go. I wanted the page to answer four things: what is this, who is it for, what will I get and what do I do now?
Systeme.io made the mechanics fairly straightforward. I created a funnel, chose the type of page I needed and started editing. The templates are useful as a starting point, but I would not treat a template as strategy. A template cannot know why your reader arrived. I changed the copy around the actual Built on Zero problem rather than filling every pre-existing section because the template happened to contain it. This is a habit I want to keep across the project: software can provide the container, but the message has to come from the audience.
The form itself needed even less creativity. I only need the information required to continue the relationship. An email address is enough for the first version. Systeme.io’s own current lead-magnet guidance makes the same point: every extra form field can cost conversions, and a narrow lead magnet with a clear promise generally has a better chance than an enormous generic guide. That aligns with my instinct here. I am not interviewing the subscriber. I am asking permission to deliver something useful and speak to them again.
Then came the thank-you page, which I initially underestimated. It is tempting to put “Thank you, check your inbox” on a blank page and consider the job finished. The person who reaches that page has just done the first thing I asked. That makes the page valuable. I want it to confirm the resource is coming, remove uncertainty and then offer one sensible next step. That might eventually be a beginner article, the main Built on Zero story or a relevant Systeme.io tutorial. What it should not become is a wall of buttons because I suddenly remembered every other thing I want people to see.
The email delivery is where the funnel stops being a page and becomes a system. If someone gives me an address for the $0 Business Stack, the promised resource should arrive without me manually doing anything. Then I need to decide what happens after that. I do not want to create a sequence that immediately turns into seven sales emails because the person downloaded one free resource. I want the first emails to orient them: what Built on Zero is testing, what I have learned so far and what problem I can help them solve next.
This is also where using one platform becomes useful. Systeme.io’s current free plan includes funnels, email and automation alongside up to 2,000 contacts and unlimited email sends. I do not have to capture the address in one tool, send it to another and then discover that the integration I need is only available on a paid tier. At a larger scale, specialist tools may be worth connecting. At this stage, every connection is another thing that can break before I have any revenue to justify the complication.
Before I considered the funnel finished, I tested it like a stranger. I opened the page on my phone because that is where a large amount of social and Pinterest traffic will arrive. I checked whether the headline made sense without the context in my head. I entered an email address that was not already in the system, submitted the form, checked the thank-you page and followed the email journey. That test is boring and essential. A funnel can look perfect inside the editor while the real experience contains a broken button, strange mobile spacing or an email that never arrives.
I also resisted the urge to spend a full day making the first version beautiful. Built on Zero has brand colours and I care about presentation, but the purpose of version one is to generate information. If one hundred relevant people visit and nobody subscribes, I need to investigate the promise, traffic source, headline and page. If forty subscribe, I have learned something very different. Neither result is improved by me spending another three hours deciding whether a button should be four pixels taller.
The first funnel also changed the way I thought about content. Before it existed, a Pinterest pin or blog post could get attention but had nowhere commercially useful to send that attention. Once the funnel existed, content had a destination. An article could solve most of a problem and offer the $0 Business Stack as the logical next step. A pin could introduce the idea and lead to the article or opt-in page. The funnel did not create traffic, but it gave traffic somewhere to become more valuable.
That is why I would build the funnel earlier than most beginners think. You do not need a huge audience first. In fact, I would rather have the funnel ready when the first ten relevant people arrive than wait until a post unexpectedly performs and then scramble to create one. You also do not need a product. A useful lead magnet is enough to begin learning whether strangers are willing to exchange an email address for the promise you are making.
If you are following Built on Zero because you want to build something similar, copy the sequence rather than my exact page. Choose one small problem. Create one useful resource that solves part of it. Build one opt-in page around that resource. Create one thank-you page. Deliver the resource properly. Write enough follow-up email to make the new subscriber glad they joined. Then send real people through it and pay attention.
BUILD YOUR FIRST FUNNEL FREE WITH SYSTEME.IO — CLICK HERE
That is my affiliate link, so if you later purchase an eligible Systeme.io plan I may earn a commission. You do not need to pay to build the first version I have described. The current free plan is enough for the experiment. I would rather you use the free account to discover whether your message works than pay for a bigger plan because buying software feels like progress.
My first funnel is not impressive because it is technically sophisticated. It is important because it closed a gap. Built on Zero finally had a way to turn a passing visitor into someone I could help again tomorrow. That is what I would focus on if you are building your first one too. Forget the internet-marketing theatre around funnels for an afternoon. Build a clear path from a real problem to a useful next step, and let the first visitors teach you what to improve.
One thing I am deliberately not doing is treating the first funnel as permanent. The first version is a hypothesis written in pages. I think the $0 Business Stack is attractive to the people I want to reach. I think the promise is clear enough. I think the follow-up will help. Traffic will either support those assumptions or expose them. That makes editing much easier because I do not have to defend version one simply because I spent time on it.
I also want to record the baseline before I change anything. How many people visited? How many opted in? Where did the traffic come from? With small numbers, I am not going to pretend the percentages are statistically impressive, but a baseline prevents memory from rewriting the story. Built on Zero is supposed to document the experiment, so keeping the unglamorous numbers matters as much as celebrating a commission if one eventually arrives.
A quick note before you go: Software pricing, features, free-plan limits and terms can change, sometimes without much notice. Everything in this article was accurate to the best of my knowledge when it was written or last updated, but please check the provider’s official website for the latest pricing, features and terms before making a decision or signing up. Built on Zero does its best to keep our guides current, but we can’t guarantee that every price or feature will remain unchanged after publication.
