How to Legally Protect Your Sales Funnel: 8 Key Steps

POV: you have an idea for a digital product or service so you dream up the perfect sales funnel and you start marketing it to the world.

YAY! You’re in business and making money like never before.

That’s awesome and I want that for you, but more than making money online, I want you to KEEP the money that you make online. 

In today’s digital world, it’s easier than ever to sell products or services online and seeing others do it might make you eager to do the same. 

But before you dive in headfirst, there are a few critical things you can do to legally protect your sales funnel, reduce your risk, and give yourself a much stronger foundation as you start selling.

Because as a business owner, that’s a legitimate nightmare.

Luckily for you, I have the 8 key steps to help you avoid all of that craziness and confidently step into the financial freedom that can come from selling online… WITHOUT risking losing it all. 

So, grab your pen and paper – we’re going to law school. 🤓

8 Key Steps to Legally Protecting Your Sales Funnel

1. Be Original: Avoid Copyright and Content Infringement

If there’s one thing about the online business world, it’s that there are a lot of people who do very similar things.

And that’s totally okay – but you want to make sure that the WAY you do it is original to you. 

It can be very easy to be “overly inspired” by someone else’s work and create something similar to them. When you do this, not only do you run the risk of infringing on copyright, but you also decrease your own credibility as a business owner.

If you really want to build a business that generates quality and consistent results AND be seen as trustworthy in the eyes of your audience, be original in all that you do and make sure that your ideas are well… your own.

2. Bring the Receipts: Make Sure Your Marketing Claims Are Truthful

Next, you want to make sure that you aren’t over promising in your offer.

When you’re writing your sales page or your sales copy, make sure that you’re not exaggerating what clients can expect. 

While it’s tempting to say things like, “make $10k in 10 days” or show other appealing stats to make people buy, you have to be able to back that up.

If you can’t truly promise that EVERYONE who buys the offer can see that result, don’t say it. 

Stick to the truth in your messaging to avoid any backlash later. Which leads me to…

3. Sell It Like It Is: Clearly Explain Your Offer

Make sure it’s 100% clear what your customers are getting when they buy and how they get it. 

For example, if you’re selling a course and they receive 6 modules in a self paced portal along with downloadable resources and Slack access for communication with you, make sure that you include all of these things in your sales copy. 

Additionally, make sure you tell potential customers HOW they’ll receive access to everything included as well. 

This helps you avoid facing customers who thought they were getting one thing and want a refund after they’ve purchased because your offer wasn’t clear. 

Avoid that headache by being very straightforward in your messaging and when in doubt always remember: clear > cute.

4. Own Your Offer: Protect Your Brand and Intellectual Property

In addition to being original with your offer creation, you also want to legally OWN it and you can do that through a few different modes.

First, brand your content – not only does this make it easier for your audience to recognize, but it also adds an additional layer of clarity for whose it is. 

Next, consider whether trademark protection makes sense for your business name, logo, or other important brand assets. There are few things worse in business than when you build your business with a certain name and logo just to find out later that the trademark for it is already taken… talk about a real heartbreak.  

This happens more often than you might think, which is why I always encourage people to do a trademark search before investing heavily in a business name or building an entire brand around it.

When you do this beforehand, you can save yourself so much time, money and sanity!

If you're not sure whether your business needs a trademark, check out our guide to the basics of trademarking and how to know if you need one.

And if you’re already in the unfortunate stage of needing to change your business name, learn more about changing the name of your LLC.

Lastly, make sure your content is covered by copyright! 

If you’re unfamiliar with copyright, put simply, a copyright notice is a statement placed on a piece of work to inform the public that the work is protected by copyright.

It typically includes the copyright symbol (©), the year you first published the piece of work and the year it was last updated, followed by the name of the copyright owner, brand or business.

The main purpose of a copyright notice is to provide notice to others that the work is protected by copyright and to assert the rights of you, the copyright owner.

It’s important to know that a copyright notice is not the same thing as copyright registration, and you don’t have to register your work or add a copyright notice for copyright protection to exist. Copyright protection generally exists automatically when you create an original work that is fixed in a tangible form.

That said, adding a copyright notice can still be useful because it puts people on notice that you’re claiming rights in the work and makes it clear who owns the content. If someone uses your work without permission, the specific legal remedies available to you can depend on the type of work, whether it was registered, and the timing of that registration.

For more on protecting your content, check out our guide to the most common copyright infringement scenarios and how to handle them.

5. Build Trust: Use Testimonials and Reviews Responsibly

Another important key to fully protecting your sales funnel is to verify that your reviews and testimonials are 100% legit!

You never want to make up or falsify any reviews – which includes having friends or family members write reviews for you – because a) they aren’t legit and b) it decreases your credibility.

For your audience to fully trust you, you only want to display testimonials that REAL clients or customers have submitted to you and they’ve given consent to have their words on display. 

In addition to falsifying reviews, you also want to make sure you’re never altering testimonials that clients give you. Instead, use their original words and always, always, always make sure you have permission to do so!

You also want to be careful about the impression your testimonials create. If you're selling a course, coaching program, or other offer where customers may expect a particular result, don't feature one exceptional result in a way that makes it seem typical if it isn't. If a testimonial highlights an unusually impressive outcome, you may need to provide additional context about what customers can generally expect.

In other words, don't just ask, "Is this testimonial real?" Ask, "Could a reasonable customer look at this testimonial and come away with a misleading impression about the results they can expect?"

6. Watch Your Wallet: Use Terms at Checkout

Remember how I said I’m more concerned with helping you KEEP the money you make? Well, here’s how you do it.

When you’re selling ANYTHING online, always make sure that you enforce your terms and conditions at checkout with active consent from the customer.

If you’re wondering what “active consent” means, it’s simply that little checkbox at checkout that you’ve likely had to check before that says something along the lines of, “I agree to these Terms and Conditions…”

That little checkbox that you might be familiar with is called a “clickwrap” in the legal world and is the exact way that I advise business owners to display their terms. 

When you use a clear clickwrap process, where the customer has to actively agree to your terms before completing a purchase, you generally have stronger evidence that the customer actually assented to those terms than you would with a passive browsewrap agreement.

Just remember, the checkbox itself isn't a magic shield. Your terms still need to be reasonably clear, accessible, and legally appropriate for what you're selling.

Not only does a Terms of Purchase Agreement cover how someone can use the product or service they purchase, but it also should cover policies that are a part of the purchase process, such as refunds, chargebacks or cancellations.

When it comes to implementing Terms of Purchase for your online business, you want to make sure you’re including all of the applicable clauses to fully protect yourself.

Sometimes business owners aren’t sure what to include, so I’ve combined the key provisions you need in our Terms of Purchase template.

7. Respect Their Privacy: Have an Accurate Privacy Policy

Another super important legal agreement to have in place is your privacy policy. 

A privacy policy is simply a detailed notice that is published on a website, typically found in the footer, that outlines how that specific website collects, uses and manages a user’s personal information.

Most privacy policies are fairly similar and include information such as:

• A detailed list of what personal information is collected 
• How that information is collected, used and protected
• What rights the user has to the information they share 

Depending on where your customers are located and which privacy laws apply to your business, failing to properly disclose or handle personal information can lead to complaints, enforcement actions, and potentially significant penalties.

The exact requirements and penalties vary by law and jurisdiction, so you don't want to assume that one privacy rule applies to every online business.

At a minimum, your privacy policy should accurately reflect what your business actually does with personal information, including things like email signups, analytics, cookies, advertising tools, and other tracking technologies you use.

To avoid yet another nightmare, simply add a privacy policy to your footer so it’s clearly displayed on every page of your site and you protect yourself, your clients and your website users.

And if you have no clue how to draft up a Privacy Policy for your website, save your Google searches and take my super simple approach!

I’ve created a customizable Website Privacy Policy Template that you can grab for under $50. 

8. Cover Your Ass(ets): Use Disclaimers Where Appropriate

Lastly, you want to cover your ass(ets) by including a disclaimer and avoid offering any advice that’s outside of your expertise!

A well-drafted disclaimer can help clarify expectations, explain the limits of the information you're providing, and reduce certain types of legal risk. But a disclaimer isn't a magic shield against liability, and what it can actually protect you from depends on the language used and the laws that apply to your business.

Disclaimers are especially important for those in certain industries, such as law, medical and business coaching where you’re typically advising on very specific topics and your clients expect certain results.

For example, the disclaimer on my website for The Boutique Lawyer very clearly states that any content found on my website is intended for information purposes only and is not legal advice and should not be used as such. 

This helps clarify that the content is educational in nature and isn't a substitute for individualized legal advice.

If you're looking for plug-and-play legal templates to help protect your online business, browse the TBL contract shop to find the documents that fit your business and your sales funnel.

And there ya have it! 8 simple steps to help you sell online with stronger legal protections in place and fewer avoidable headaches.

When you implement each of these in your business, you can more confidently market your offers online and trust that you’ll be have better protections in place to help you keep the money you make.

Frequently Asked Questions About Legally Protecting a Sales Funnel

Do I need a Terms of Purchase agreement if I sell digital products?

If you're selling digital products online, having clear Terms of Purchase can help set expectations around what the customer is buying, how they can use it, and important purchase policies like refunds, cancellations, and chargebacks. The terms should be presented in a way that gives the customer a clear opportunity to review and agree to them before completing the purchase.

Where should I put my legal agreements in my sales funnel?

Your exact setup depends on your funnel, but your Privacy Policy and Website Terms and Conditions are generally linked from your website or funnel pages, while your Terms of Purchase should be clearly presented and accepted as part of the purchase process. The goal is to make sure customers can actually access the terms that apply to their purchase before they buy.

Can a disclaimer protect my business from a lawsuit?

A disclaimer can help clarify expectations and reduce certain legal risks, but it cannot guarantee that your business won't be sued or eliminate all liability. The effectiveness of a disclaimer depends on the language, the circumstances, and the laws that apply to your business.

What's the most important legal document for an online sales funnel?

There isn't one document that works for every business. Most online businesses should start with a Privacy Policy and Website Terms and Conditions, then add the appropriate transaction-specific agreement, such as Terms of Purchase for product sellers or a Professional Services Agreement for service providers.

Your Sales Funnel Legal Checklist

Before you launch your next offer, make sure you've checked these boxes:

• Your business and offer names have been researched for potential trademark conflicts.
• Your sales copy accurately describes what customers are getting.
• Your marketing claims and results-based statements are truthful and supportable.
• Your testimonials are genuine and used with appropriate permission.
• Your sales funnel clearly explains pricing and any recurring charges.
• Customers actively agree to your Terms of Purchase before completing their purchase.
• Your Terms of Purchase clearly address important policies like refunds, cancellations, chargebacks, and permitted use.
• Your Privacy Policy accurately describes how your business collects and uses personal information.
• Your website includes appropriate disclaimers based on the type of content or advice you provide.
• Your funnel and legal documents are consistent with each other.

You don't need to tackle all of this in one afternoon. Start with the pieces that apply to your business and your specific sales funnel, then build from there.

Here’s to making more money – and keeping it in your bank account. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR, AMBER GILORMO – ATTORNEY AND FOUNDER OF THE BOUTIQUE LAWYER

Amber Gilormo is the cool lawyer behind The Boutique Lawyer – a one-stop contract template shop for creative entrepreneurs, online business owners, coaches, and service providers.

From client agreements to digital product terms and everything in between, our lawyer-drafted templates take the guesswork out of staying legally protected online (no legal jargon required).

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