How To Be Successful Using The Merlin Method

If you’ve had the chance to dabble in Kartra (and if you haven’t…SPOILER ALERT), you may have noticed that Kartra asks you to complete things in a seemingly funny order. Why do we ask that you complete your thank you page before creating your homepage? Why do you configure a checkout before placing a call-to-action on the page?

At first glance, it just doesn’t seem to make sense. But look again, and you’ll see that Kartra is following one of the best business methods of all time: the Merlin Method.

You see, legend has it (in T. H. White’s book, The Once and Future King) that the world’s most famous wizard actually lived backward in time. He saw the future and worked his way to the present. And as confusing as this principle sounds in theory, it is one of the best ways to create sound results.

Start With Intentions

The first step to achieving anything great is with sound and lofty intentions. Just like Merlin, see the future and visualize where you want to be.

Think of the moon landing. On May 25, 1961, John F. Kennedy announced to American Congress that he intended for us to go to the moon by the end of the decade. And on July 20th, 1969, that dream became a reality (at least it did to those that think the video is real).

Often it’s easier to say “I’ll just start here and take each day as it comes.” And while you may have a loose goal in mind, your intentions aren’t clear.

Of course, occasionally that turns into a success story. However, having a clear goal often leads to clear success.

Thinking Forward Leads To Overwhelm

Once you have a clear goal in mind, most people want to dive right in and figure out how to get from A-Z. Except, problem-solving isn’t as simple as singing a nursery rhyme.

I want you to do a little exercise with me. Think of a goal you have. For this example, I’m going to say making the first 100 sales for my brand new ecommerce business is my goal. But, if you have another lofty goal in mind, feel free to use that.

Now I want you to think of every single thing you need to do to make it to your end goal. Ummm…make a website…create the product…write copy…design emails? Before you know it, your list will be longer than any grocery receipt for Christmas Dinner. Ever.

And once you have that list, it’s hard to know which thing to tackle first. And then what to do next. So we spend inordinate amounts of time just thinking about how to tackle this seemingly insurmountable goal.

This is a common problem with trying to plan big goals by thinking forward. Many of us succumb to overwhelm and simply quit or pull our hair out before the first week’s over (and unless you’re The Rock, you probably don’t pull off bald well).

Backward Is Better

Now, I want you to think of that same goal again. What is the very last thing you will do when you reach that goal? Cheers with champagne? Check.

Next, think of the thing you need to do right before you reach that goal? Send your 100th customer to their thank you page. Okay, and right before that, they need to go through your checkout process, and before that, they need to click your fabulous call-to-action. And before that, they’ll have read your detailed sales copy after watching your stunning video sales letter, after having read your carefully crafted headline … and so on.

You see, the Merlin Method works by forcing you to imagine where you want to be and linearly retracing your steps to get back to the present. You think:

1. Where do I want to end up? What is my goal?
2. Visualize yourself at your goal. Celebrate it.
3. Then think to yourself, “What is the last step me or my customer had to go through before I reach that goal?”
4. What was the last step before that?
5. And so on…

Kartra Uses Merlin’s Magic

Part of what makes Kartra such a standout platform isn’t just the wide array of powerful tools. It’s the fact that Kartra was designed by marketers for marketers.

This means we don’t just let you dive in and run around like a chicken with your head cut off. We’ve organized the platform to follow in Merlin’s footsteps and work backward. We want you to create your thank you pages BEFORE you create your homepage, and we want you to configure your checkout before you make a buy button. Because that way, you’ll never have a customer hit “buy” with nowhere to go.

Kartra goes backward, so you never miss a step, and every step you take moves you forward, faster.