Why 17 Failed Funnels Led Me to a Hub System That Wins

by Jay Hines

$1,847 spent across 17 different funnel attempts over 2 years of frustration building on scattered platforms. And a 0.8% average conversion rate that nearly killed my business. But those failures taught me something that 'funnel experts' won't tell you: it's not that funnels don't work. It's that building them as isolated campaigns on separate platforms is fundamentally broken.

Today, my integrated hub system generates 127% more revenue using the same funnel strategies, but with everything unified on one platform. No more duct taping ClickFunnels to Skool to Wistia to 14 other tools. Here's how I went from scattered funnel chaos to an integrated hub system where funnels actually work as part of a bigger strategy.

The Expensive Education: My 17 Scattered Funnel Attempts

Let me be honest with you. I wasn't spending $10,000 per attempt like some guru stories you hear. I was scraping together $50 here, $200 there. Real money that actually mattered to me.

Attempts 1 through 5: The Multi-Platform Nightmare

My first attempt cost me $347. I used ClickFunnels for the landing page, Kajabi for the course, and Stripe for payments. Three different platforms for one simple funnel. The setup took me 8 hours because nothing talked to each other properly. When someone bought my course, they had to create separate accounts on different platforms. Half my customers got confused and asked for refunds.

My conversion rate? A painful 0.2%. Attempt number 3 was even worse. I had five different domains for five different offers. Customers never knew if they were still on my website or had been redirected somewhere else. It looked unprofessional and felt sketchy.

By attempt 5, I was juggling ClickFunnels, ConvertKit, Thrivecart, Zapier, Google Analytics, and Facebook Pixel. Six different platforms just to sell one digital product.

Attempts 6 through 11: The Duct Tape Integration Phase

This is where things got really messy. I thought the problem was that my tools weren't connected well enough. So I went all in on integrations. Zapier became my best friend and my worst enemy. I had 23 different "Zaps" trying to make everything work together. My monthly tool costs hit $347 just for the basic plans.

Then one day, Zapier went down for 3 hours. My entire business stopped. Lead magnets didn't deliver. Purchase confirmations didn't send. Customer data didn't sync. I spent 15 hours that week just fixing broken integrations. Not marketing. Not creating content. Just playing tech support for my own business.

The worst part? When something broke, I had to contact support for three different companies. Each one blamed the other platform. Meanwhile, I'm losing money while they play hot potato with my problems.

Attempts 12 through 17: The "All in One" False Promises

By attempt 12, I was desperate. I started testing every "all in one" platform I could find. The problem? They weren't really all in one. They were just collections of separate tools under one login. The video hosting was terrible. The email deliverability was worse. The funnels looked like they were built in 2010. I tried Kartra, HighLevel, and three other platforms. Each time, I ended up needing additional tools anyway. The "all in one" became "most in one plus five others."

Attempt 17 was my breaking point. I had spent two weeks migrating everything to a new platform, only to discover their funnel builder couldn't handle mobile traffic properly. 67% of my traffic was mobile. I was back to square one, but now I was $1,847 poorer and two years older.

The Awakening: Why Scattered Funnels Fail

Here's what nobody tells you about funnels. They don't fail because the strategy is wrong. They fail because you're trying to build a house using materials from 6 different stores that don't talk to each other.

The Platform Fragmentation Problem

Every time you send someone from your main website to ClickFunnels, then to a different payment processor, then to another platform for the actual product, you lose people. It's like giving someone directions that include: "Go to the blue building but then walk through the alley to the red building, then take the elevator to the green building."

Your customers get confused. Your brand looks scattered. Your SEO authority gets split across multiple domains instead of building up one strong website.

I learned this the hard way when I noticed my bounce rate was 73% higher on my ClickFunnels pages compared to pages on my main domain.

The Integration Maintenance Nightmare

Remember those 15 hours I mentioned spending on integrations? That was just one week. Over two years, I spent roughly 380 hours maintaining connections between platforms. That's 9 full weeks of work. Just keeping things connected.

Every time one platform updated their system, something broke. Every time I wanted to add a new feature, I had to figure out how it would connect to everything else. I wasn't building a business. I was becoming an unpaid IT department.

Why Funnels Work Better Inside a Unified Hub

Here's the thing that changed everything for me. Funnels aren't the problem. Scattered funnels are the problem. When all your funnels live on the same domain, Google sees your website as more authoritative. When your customer data flows between all your funnels automatically, you can personalize experiences.

When someone buys from one funnel, you can immediately offer them relevant products from your other funnels. It's not about replacing funnels. It's about making them work together instead of competing against each other.

The Hub System Discovery: Integrated Platform Architecture

From Scattered Tools to Unified Ecosystem

The breakthrough came when I realized I needed everything under one roof. Not connected tools. Not integrated platforms. Everything built together from the ground up. That's when I found Estage.

Look at that diagram. Video hosting, live streaming, courses, community, funnels, CRM, online store, affiliate center. Everything in one platform. On one domain. With one login. For the first time in two years, I could build a complete customer experience without redirecting people to six different websites.

The Estage Solution: Everything Under One Roof

The difference between Estage and other "all in one" platforms is that Estage actually works like one system instead of a bunch of tools stuck together. When I upload a video, it's available immediately in my courses, my funnels, and my community.

The same customer database powers everything. The same branding appears everywhere. My monthly costs dropped from $347 to $197. But more importantly, my maintenance time dropped from 15 hours per week to about 2 hours per month.

The 30-Day Hub Migration That Changed Everything

Here's exactly how I moved everything to Estage in just 30 days:

Week 1: Frontend Setup I chose a template that matched my brand and recreated my three main funnels. Because everything was on the same platform, they all looked consistent and professional.

Week 2: Backend Infrastructure Set up my community, CRM, product catalog, customer tags, and affiliate system. Everything connected automatically because it was built together.

Week 3: Content Migration Uploaded all my videos to Estage's native hosting and moved my blog posts. No more paying Wistia $75/month for video hosting.

Week 4: Testing & Launch Tested every part of the system, including the native live streaming feature. Then I invited my existing community members to the new unified platform.

The Results: Hub System vs. Scattered Funnels

Let me show you the numbers that matter.

ROI Analysis: Total Cost of Ownership Comparison

My Old Scattered Setup:

ClickFunnels: $127/month
Skool community: $99/month
Wistia video hosting: $75/month
ConvertKit email: $47/month
Thrivecart: $95/month (annual)
Various other tools: $127/month

Total: $476/month minimum

Estage:

Everything included: $197/month

Monthly savings: $279 (59% cost reduction) Annual savings: $3,348 with better performance

But here's the real difference. My conversion rates improved by 127% using the same exact funnel strategies. Why? Because customers weren't getting confused jumping between platforms.

The Performance Numbers

Six months after switching to the hub system:

Conversion rate: From 0.8% to 1.8% average
Customer lifetime value: Up 156% due to easier cross selling
Time spent on maintenance: Down 89%
Customer support tickets: Down 71%
New revenue streams added: 4 (without adding complexity)

Lessons From the Hub Transition

I need to be honest about one challenge. When I first started with Estage, there weren't many tutorials available. I was one of the early adopters. The Estage team assured me that comprehensive tutorials were coming soon, but in the meantime, I had to figure things out through trial and error.

You know what? That was actually a blessing in disguise. It forced me to really understand the platform instead of just following someone else's template. By the time other people discovered Estage, I already knew it inside and out.

Your Hub System Action Plan

If you're tired of duct taping different platforms together, here's what I'd do if I were starting over today:

Week 1: Audit your current tool stack. List everything you're paying for and what it actually does.

Week 2: Map out your customer journey. Notice how many times people have to jump between different platforms.

Week 3: Test Estage with one simple funnel. Don't migrate everything at once.

Week 4: If it works better than your current setup, create your 30-day migration plan. The key is to think ecosystem instead of campaigns. Instead of building individual funnels that compete for attention, build one hub where everything works together.

From Scattered to Systematic

Those 17 failed funnel attempts taught me something valuable. It's not about finding the perfect funnel template or the best conversion optimization trick. It's about building a business that makes sense to your customers and works efficiently for you.

My hub system generates more revenue with less work because everything connects. My customers have a better experience because they're not constantly redirected to different websites. My business is more profitable because I'm not paying for 12 different tools.

Most importantly, I spend my time on marketing and serving customers instead of playing tech support for my own business. If you're struggling with scattered funnels that don't convert, maybe it's not the funnel that's the problem. Maybe it's time to bring everything under one roof.

Ready to see how a hub system could work for your business? The platform that saved my sanity and doubled my revenue is waiting for you to discover it.

About The Author

Jay Hines