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Marketing Secrets

Welcome To Russell Brunson’s Marketing Secrets Podcast. So, the big question is this, “How are entrepreneurs like us, who didn’t cheat and take on venture capital, who are spending money from our own wallets, how do we market in a way that lets us get our products and services and things that we believe in out to the world… and yet still remain profitable?” That is the question, and this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Russell Brunson, and welcome to MarketingSecrets.com.
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Now displaying: February, 2017
Feb 27, 2017

A quick little rant after I woke up this morning.

On today’s episode Russell talks about standing up for Caleb Maddix in a marketing Facebook group after people twice his age begin making fun of him. He also talks about having good character no matter what.

Here are some of the awesome things you will hear in this episode:

  • Who Caleb Maddix is, and why he’s so amazing.
  • Why Russell stood up for Caleb when other marketers were making fun of him.
  • And why it’s important to have good character no matter what room you’re in.

So listen below to hear how you can still build the tallest building without having to knock other buildings down.

---Transcript---

Good morning Funnel Hackers. So today we’re home with my little Norah here. She’s holding me. She’s a little sad because she wanted to go and say bye to the kids at the bus stop, but instead we’re hanging out and we’re going to do a podcast because, in fact, I’m going to do a big update on Funnel Hacking Live because I know a lot of you guys want to know what happened behind the scenes, all the cool stuff. Conversions, numbers, metrics, all the nerdy stuff we all care about.

But today, I’ve wanted to do a podcast this morning on something, a little something I like to call character. I’m sitting here because I’m a little upset this morning. Upset as I can be because I’m usually pretty happy, but definitely just kind of annoyed and wanted to share this with you.

Yesterday was Sunday, I was home, I went to church, hung out with the kids, having a good time. Then I jumped on the inter-webs because, honestly because we were selling Funnel Hacking Live tickets for next year, and we were looking at numbers and stats and went to Facebook to see if people were talking about it and what was happening. And then in the middle of my news Facebook feed I see a big old video from my buddy Caleb Maddix, now Caleb, if you don’t know him yet, he’s 14 or 15 now, amazing kid. He spoke at Funnel Hacking Live on stage and crushed it. One of the best presenters we had by far and he’s a 15 year old kid and just one of the most talented, amazing humans, individuals I’ve ever met in my entire life so far on this earth. And Caleb is so cool, him and also Emily Shay, we had both of them speaking at Funnel Hacking Live.

Both of them actually came out here to my home in Boise and helped share with my kids. Right now, my kids are part of the Maddix book club, maddixbookclub.com, where every morning they get a text message from Caleb with the video, he’s got them reading books and all sorts of cool stuff. It’s the coolest thing in the world. He’s inspiring kids, changing the world, he’s able, as a 15 year old kid, he’s able to stand up in front of 1500 people and control the audience like no one I’ve ever seen. Just one of the most amazing humans I’ve....on earth.

Anyway, he’s got so many talents and so much drive and he’s a hard worker and just awesome. And his dad who is an amazing human as well. Just can’t …..there’s no way I could think more of them. They’re just so amazing. Everyday I’ve actually had with Caleb has been super professional, super polite, just love that kid.

So I’m on Facebook, I’m scrolling and I see this big video of Caleb. I’m like, oh it’s Caleb’s video. And above it I see some moron posting something about why…something about this kid and blah blah blah, making fun of him. And it was in a marketing group that I’m part of. And this marketing group……It’s one of those groups that they got in there because they’re all marketers and then they all like to make fun of everybody. They make fun of Gary V. they make fun of, they probably make fun of me. If I wasn’t in that group, I’m pretty sure that I’ll get kicked out eventually and then they can all make fun of me. Whatever.

And I don’t really, whatever. It doesn’t really bother me that much. But I saw Caleb sitting there and they all started making fun of him and they all started going and at first I just read them and I was like, whatever these guys, that’s what they do to whatever. So I just kind of ignored it and then for the next hour it just bugged me. I was so visually bugged. I’m playing with my kids and I just had this annoyed feeling. I was like I gotta go, if I was at an event or sitting somewhere and a bunch of people were saying things like that about someone I love and respect and is a friend, I would stand up and be like, I’m going to go and just…

So I go back to the group, find the post, I just posted some really simple, I don’t remember exactly what it was but it was like, “Hey, Caleb’s awesome. He came out to Boise and trained my kids, he’s got my kids off video games. Right now they’re reading and they’re writing and they’re learning. He’s amazing. It’s interesting to me how many haters….” It drives me nuts because Caleb has tons of, you see his videos, tons of comments from jerks. People who just have to put in their two cents because they feel like they’re tough because they’re behind the computer.

So I said, “Caleb has tons of haters, but it’s typically from people who are double his age and making half as much money as him. There’s two ways to build the biggest building in town. One’s to actually work hard and become better yourself, and the other is trying to knock down the other buildings around you.” I just posted that and left it there.

So they get some people coming in like, “oh yeah, Caleb’s cool.” So at the playground, someone’s getting bullied until one cool kids stands up and says, “Oh yeah, he’s cool.” So all the sudden all the people who were too afraid to say anything come out, “Oh yeah, Caleb’s cool.” That kind of made me happy.

So this morning I woke up, and this one drove me nuts. This morning I woke up, in this thread where they’re all picking on a 15 year old kid, who is a thousand times more talented than any of them, by far. Some guy comments to me and says, “Hey Russell, don’t you think you were kind of harsh on so and so? Especially considering the room that you’re in.” I was like, “Okay. You guys are bullying a kid behind his back in a Facebook group and then one guy comes and sticks up for that person and teases there person who makes the post because he’s half as successful as this 15 year old kid and now you’re mad that I’m bullying that guy that made the initial post?” I was like, “Are you kidding me?”

So I wrote a comment back, I just said, “You know I try to treat all people the same no matter what room I’m in #character” and I left it there. Anyway, that was how my morning started this morning, and I thought it was interesting and funny and I just wanted to leave a message for you guys.

First off, a couple of things. So number one, if someone is a thousand times more successful than you and doing their thing and having fun with it, it doesn’t help you to cut them down. If you’re feeling insecure because they’re doing that. That means it’s a problem about you. And posting trash about it is not going to help you. Looking at that and inspired will. That’s number one.

Number two, I don’t know about you, but what my parents taught me and what I teach my kids and I hope that you will learn as well is that you should treat people the same no matter what room you’re in. That’s ridiculous that, oh we’re in this room so we’re okay picking on a 15 year kid behind his back. No. What kind of character do you have? If you think that’s okay, that is ridiculous. That is insane.

If you’re in a room and everyone is making fun of people behind your back, I don’t care if it’s the internet or offline or whatever, just know when you’re not in that room those same people are making fun of you. That’s called lack of character. If you have character you treat people the same no matter where you are. I don’t care if you’re…….it’s just ridiculous. I feel like I’m working with my 11 year old twins. This is not something that an adult should still be struggling with. If you have any character at all, that’s how you treat people the same. Especially people……just ridiculous. #character, my new slogan for today.

That’s kind of all I wanted to share with you guys. Seriously, what’s that thing they say, if you’re pointing outward at somebody, there’s 4 fingers pointed back at you. That’s the reality you’re in. That’s what you need to feel good about yourself. Then there’s other issues.

Alright, that’s all I got. Me and Norah are going to go eat and later on today I’ll do a podcast recapping the whole event. Let you guys in on the behind the scenes of it all. But I just wanted to drop that really quick because I think it’s important and says a lot about who we are as human beings. I don’t know about you but I’d rather be friends with Caleb Maddix than any of those people talking trash about a kid in a Facebook group. Grow up and have some character. With that said, I appreciate you guys. Thanks for being funnel hackers. Thanks for doing the right thing. Thanks for being people that I would like to hang out with. With that said, I will talk to you all again soon. Bye everybody.

Feb 17, 2017

The one little shift that transformed everything.

In today’s episode Russell mentions some of his preparations for Funnel Hacking Live. He also talks about changing the way he sees and talks about Actionetics.

Here are some cool things in this episode:

  • What the difference is between an improvement offer and a new opportunity.
  • Why Russell doesn’t want to call Actionetics a better email auto-responder.
  • And what some of the features are that make Actionetics more than just an auto-responder.

So listen below to get a sneak peak about some of the stuff Russell will be talking about at Funnel Hacking Live.

---Transcript---

Hey everyone, this is Russell. Welcome back to Marketing In Your…actually it’s Marketing In Your Closet. I would do it in my car but, I tell you what, things are going so crazy right now getting ready for the event. I don’t even…..I’m heading into the office in a little bit here.

But I’m getting dressed in the closet. So you can hear me talk in here, which I hope is okay. I have something cool to share with you. If you’ve been following along for a long time, or most of you guys haven’t read the book yet, because it’s not actually out. Yesterday from the publisher we got back the guts of the book. The finalized design guts. We had to go through it last night. So Dave was up, we were at the office until 3. I can’t remember 3 or 3:30 or something like that. He went through the whole thing, there was like 10 or 11 little edits and I sent it back in, which means now we can get the books printed. Which means we’re going to be able to sell these things on time, which is insane.

So that’s all happening which I am excited about. And in the book I was talking a lot about this earlier while I was writing, in the podcast, for those who are listening along as we go. I talked about the foundation and building a big mass movement, or culture. There’s three things, there’s charismatic leader or attractive character, number one. Number two is a future based cause and then number three is a new opportunity.

We talked about how you can’t create improvement, but if you created something that’s an improvement, teaching people how to become better then you automatically dis-include 98% of the world’s population, which makes it really hard to sell. So if you struggled selling, it may be you’re selling improvement. People don’t want improvement, the masses don’t. They want a new opportunity, so you could always create a new opportunity.

So last night, the presentation I was working on was to show Actionetics, and if I ask 99% of people who have ever heard of Actionetics, what it is they say, “It’s an email auto-responder.” So as I’m working on my presentation yesterday I was like, “If I call this an email auto-responder, what leverage do I have?” The only leverage is to say this is a better E-R, a better auto-responder. By saying better, it is now an improvement offer. Which means 98 % of the world’s population will no longer care about it. Including people in my market. The only people who care are the 2% who are actually looking for improvement.

So if I pitch that way, I’m going against my own rules. So because I try to practice what I preach at all times, in all situations, I spent the last almost two days now trying to figure out how we position this presentation and the tool, Actionetics as a new opportunity? Because it is. We were here forever trying to figure out the title of the presentation and the hook and angle and all sorts of stuff. Anyway, it’s kind of cool. Literally I spent, I think I told you yesterday, 8 hours figuring out the headline and title. Steve Larsen had a burst of inspiration after all of us were sitting there trying to figure it out.

I had email funnel secrets and I had email funnels and I had all these things. He came up with this idea, this name which was follow-up funnels. And I heard the angels in heaven singing. That is it. That’s it. Actionetics is not an email auto-responder. If I was the Actionetics guy, “Hey here’s an email auto-responder.” I would beat him up. No, I’m so much more than that. But that’s how you classified me because you are trying to make it an improvement, you’re better version of an auto-responder, which is true, but it’s different. It’s a new opportunity. It’s a follow-up auto-responder. All sorts of follow-ups.

So after we got the hook we started looking in December and found out, we went through all of our front end funnels, for every one dollar we made in front end funnels, we made $16.73, something like that, in the follow-up funnel, which is insane. $16 to $1 more than that. I thought it was a typo. I thought we did the stats wrong. We did it ten times. We did 16 times more from the follow-up funnels, than we did from any of the front end funnels, which is crazy.

The front end funnels, I think we spent $85,000 in front end funnels. We made $96, we made $11,000. That was it. Anyway, it’s crazy. So I started going over the follow-up funnels when I started doing this presentation and showing how this is not an improvement, this is a new opportunity. How auto-responders, that’s an old, dead idea, concept. It’s from 1998. The future is follow-up funnels and Actionetics is the tool, the only tool that can do that. Because it’s legitimately a new opportunity. It’s a blue ocean, it’s all these things. There’s no other service that can do what Actionetics does.

Some people compare head to head with the email auto-responders. These ones might have more features, from an email auto-responder standpoint they may be a little bit better. Any time I’m talking about E-R, it’s an improvement offer. But that’s not what we’re talking about here. We’re talking about a whole new opportunity. Emails or only 1/10th of the equation. It’s actually the rest of the stuff. I’m going to be showing in the presentation everything. When someone comes in how with Actionetics you can do Facebook follow-up auto-responders, changing the pixels, changing the traffic, the images based on where the funnels are hitting.

We’ll show you how you can change the message based on who they are, how the funnel they have changes. How somebody leaves, they can come back because of sticky cookies and buy 6 months, a year, 5 years, or ten years later and not even have to put their credit card in. There’s so many insanely cool things that Actionetics does. Because it’s not an email auto-responder, it is a new opportunity, it is a follow-up funnel. And that’s the magic.

I just wanted to share that with you because it was a big…..when I got that I was going crazy. But you gotta look at everything you’re selling you guys. If you looked at me, if I looked at myself two days ago, I was selling a better email auto-responder. I look at myself today, I’ve created a new opportunity and it is….that’s what Actionetics is.

So those of you guys who are going to be at the Funnel Hacking Live event, Day two, which is what? Wednesday morning, I’ll be giving that presentation. I spent almost 40 hours straight on this stupid thing and it’s still not done. So I’m going in right now to go finish it off. Then I got two more presentations after that, so we’re getting down to the wire, but what’s coming from it is legitimately amazing. I can’t wait to share with you guys.

With that said, I’m done, I’m getting out of the closet. Coming out of the closet. No, not like that. I’m literally walking out of the closet and into the bathroom and I’m going to go get my hair and head out because I got a call with Caleb Maddix and Emily Shai, I always say her name wrong, Emily Shay in 15 minutes. So if you’re watching Facebook Live’s come check it out, we’re doing Facebook Live’s with all the different speakers, telling out stories and it’s been so much fun. I’m having so much fun with this so far. Come hang out with us and I’ll see most of you guys at Funnel Hacking Lives. Thanks everybody and talk to you soon.

Feb 16, 2017

Some behind the scene thoughts, as I’m choreographing Funnel Hacking Live.

On today’s episode Russell talks about some of his preparations for the Funnel Hacking Live event next week. He talks about spending hours on the headline and sub headline for a particular presentation and why it’s important.

Here are some of the enlightening things you will hear in this episode:

  • What presentation was so important that Russell spent several hours over a few days coming up with a headline and sub headline.
  • Why you should be excited for after Funnel Hacking Live when Russell reveals a lot of the choreography that goes into planning an event of this magnitude.
  • And why having everything perfectly choreographed could mean the kind of difference that will effect your wallet.

So listen below to find out why the choreography of a big event is so important.

---Transcript---

What’s up everybody, this is Russell. Welcome to Marketing In Your Car. I hope you guys are doing fantastic, wherever you are listening in. So today a couple of things. First off, we are 5 days away from Funnel Hacking Live and so much crazy, insanely coo, amazing stuff is all happening that I wish I could share all or just a piece of. But I’m on my way to get a haircut and I’ve got 8 minutes so I thought this would be the perfect time to hang out with you guys. And I’m actually in my car, which is strange, seeing how that’s the name of the podcast.

And also, a couple of people told me that two episodes ago where I talked about the sport we call business, talking about the playground with the athletes and the drama and the skaters, all those things. A couple of people said they were kind of offended by that. I didn’t mean it to be offensive, I meant it to be, in fact I said at the beginning there the things I learned from those guys was awesome. The collaboration I….I wouldn’t have collaborated well had I not learned that from those other groups. I’m just saying you have to understand that when you’re in a group with a melting pot of a whole bunch of different personalities that there are people who are like me, who are aggressively competing and just being aware of that, hopefully to bring some competition to you.

So if you were offended that means that it’s time to build some aggression, instead of on me do it on your competitors. Anyway, I’ll leave that there. Let’s see, I just wanted to kind of walk you guys behind the scenes of what’s happening, because it’s insane.

So the event’s happening, which means we are creating order forms to print and signs and bags and backpacks and things and then presentations and speakers slides. It’s just, it’s crazy how many things go into this. Then we had this great idea, thanks to Trey Lewellen to do Facebook Live’s with all the speakers before the event to get excited. So we’ve been doing that twice a day which has been so fun. You’re going to be so excited to come and hang out with everybody, which is cool.

And then a big part of events, I’m going to bring you in on a little secret, don’t tell everybody this. I don’t know if you guys knew this, but we actually make money at the events. So there’s the big secret, it’s out, the pink elephant is out of the room. So now that that’s out there, the event, there’s a couple of focus, one is to get everyone together and build community and culture and myths and stuff like that. That’s one thing, obviously. And another is for us to make money as a company. So that’s one of the benefits, but there’s a fine line between having an event that…..When I first got started the way that events were is you had 15 speakers, every speaker is up for 90 minutes pitching something and that’s how the event was. People didn’t mind for a while. Then they started really minding and people stopped going to events.

I’m like, if I want people to come to my events, it’s not pitch fest where everyone’s selling. But at the same time we need to sell. So how do you do it in a cool way where it’s not distracting but it adds a benefit and those kind of things. You know, a big, big, big piece of this whole pie is choreographing the event. It’d be fun to talk about the event choreography for a long time with you guys because there’s so many cool things. I think after the event, depending on what happens, I’ll share with you guys some of this stuff that’s actually happening. Because there’s the surface level, what everyone will see, but there’s stuff happening at a subconscious level that’s so cool. I wish I could share with you guys right now. But I don’t want to ruin the surprise for those that are going to be there.

But there’s stuff happening that there’s patterns that I’m using in really interesting ways that are very, very thought through. If you guys watch who’s speaking, when. How they’re speaking, what the topics are, the length of time. All those things are choreographed for a purpose. It’s not just to put a speaker in here on this day, kind of stuff. There’s a storyline that we’re telling through the event, which is why I try to make it all so engaging, so people are not sitting in the halls, because if they do they miss the storyline. There’s a very key storyline that’s happening throughout the whole thing.

Even the pace of the speakers and where they’re at has a lot to do with it. The order of my presentations is very specific. There’s hint that I’ll drop right now and share with you guys post event, maybe. Hopefully, we will.

Anyway, it’s so exciting. And it’s really fun. I wish I could explain everything. But I mean everything from how do you build a rapport quickly with the audience? How do you get rapport with the speakers and with the MC ahead of time. That’s what these Facebook Lives, it’s a big part of it because rapport is huge. How do you teach in a way that doesn’t just overwhelm people, but brings epiphany bridges, or breaks belief patterns and helps people to learn and grow and have not just like, “Oh I learned really cool tactics.” But emotional shifts that change things.

Because that’s the experience we’re trying to deliver and there’s so much that goes into that. Again, it’s being impactful and making an amazing networking content, belief transformation event that also setting us up to make money. So it’s kind of cool how things will be weaved in. And we’re making a couple of really special offers at the event that aren’t going to be available to the general public for a long time. But will be available to those who were there. And it’s going to be cool. So I’m excited.

Those who are coming and watching, pay attention. I would say, if you buy stuff from me, buy slowly because everything that we’re doing is thought through. It’s not just, oh let’s blah. It’s all very, very well thought through. But one kind of cool thing, doing a presentation of the morning of day two, which in our past events we always called the Clickfunnels state of the union. We talk about all the new features and stuff like that. It was really good, but also was…the energy on that session always felt wrong. It wasn’t …..I wanted it to be like Steve Jobs thing, where he’s up there and everyone goes crazy. And it’s never quite been that.

So I wanted, how do we choreograph this in the right way? And I’m really proud of what’s happening. I started on this presentation yesterday, about twenty four hours ago. I spent the entire first 24 hours on two things. One is choreographing the presentation, number two is figuring out the title and headline, which is crazy. I’m not going to share with you guys here, because it’s cool but I literally at ten o’clock last night is when everybody else left the office and I was trying to figure out a name for the presentation.

Because I had a name initially and I was just like, it’s good but it’s not great. Most people would have done it, and it would have been fine. If we used it, it would have been fine. But I was like, I need something that has enough emotional impact that it makes you be like, “what? What is that?” So I literally sat there going through books and books and books of swipe files, trying to find a word.

From 10 at night until about 2-2:30 in the morning, so four and a half hours. And I didn’t find it. Then in the morning I woke up and I was stressed out, so I voxed everyone on our marketing group like, “Hey everyone, this is my dilemma. Give me your thoughts.” So everyone was giving their thoughts back. And then I came back and spent another two or three hours and then finally Stephen actually had the epiphany. He was like, “What about this?” I was like AHH! Angels from heaven singing. That is it, that’s the one. Yes. And we were freaking out and we got it.

Then I spent the next 7 hours trying to come up with the sub headline, which is crazy because all my slides have to be done tomorrow if they’re going to be in the booklet. So I’m on this huge time crunch but I still spent 7 hours on the sub headline. And then we got it. And it’s perfect. And it’s, it will cause the emotional response, number one. But it’ll cause the belief pattern to shift in people’s minds.

Because I look at people that are succeeding with funnels and those who aren’t. The difference between two comma members, who are making a million dollars in funnels and those who aren’t. And it’s a belief pattern in one thing, and if I can smash that belief pattern it’ll shift everything for them. That’s the key of this whole thing. I’m so excited to give this presentation now. Except now it’s 5 o’clock and I’m getting my haircut and then I’ve got scouts tonight, so I’m doing scouts.

Then after scouts, I’m coming back in the office after 9. So from 9 until 2 or 3 tonight I’ll be getting slides done because I have to get this presentation done tonight. And there’s a lot that goes into that. Because its, again, it’s us showing all the new features within the context of this presentation and the choreographing of it.

So the things I wanted to share with you guys because I know it’s kind of vague today, but I want you to understand the concept of choreographing things. The perfect webinar is a choreographed presentation that does a very specific thing. Those who were at the FHAT event last week saw it in very intense detail, more than I’ve ever done before. What I’m choreographing, what stories are where and why? What belief patterns are supposed to break at each point? The Expert Secrets book will go deep into that as well, but it’s the choreographing of the sales message.

Same thing is on this event. The choreographing of it, when I give presentations it’s the choreographing of that. How do we, what are the beliefs they may have and what order and how do we structure this stuff to fit within that? So I spend insane amounts of time. I spent probably 12, actual thinking time, probably 6 hours to get the title of the presentation. And then another, what did I say? Another 8 hours or so, 7 hours getting the subtitle. It was just insane. I gotta get 5 hours to get the rest of the slides done. But that’s how much thought goes into it sometimes.

So if you’re working on a presentation or a sales pitch or something, you spend 30 minutes on a headline, and you’re like, “ugh I can’t get it” and you’re frustrated and walk away. Know that it happens to everybody. It happens to the best of us. But the one’s when you get it right, that’s the difference between, again, a 5 or 6 figure campaign and a 7 or 8 figure campaign is getting that right. So don’t be afraid to put the time and energy and effort into that because it’s worth it in the end and hopefully it’ll be worth it for the attendees. You guys will have to let me know afterwards.

Again, I will share with you. After the event is done I will walk you guys through the choreography, the what and why and how it all worked. What worked and what didn’t work. So that’s all I got today. I’m at the haircut place, two minutes late. I’m going to bounce. Thanks you guys for everything. I can’t wait to see you guys at Funnel Hacking Live, those who are going to be there. Those who can’t make it there, please come next year. I don’t put out half a million dollars or more in cash from my pocket just for my health. It’s to serve you guys.

So take advantage of that, it’s worth the $1000 bucks and the couple grand for tickets and hotels. Because I’m spending 50 times that much on investing into you guys. So make sure you invest that back into yourself as well, because we do care and I do know that this stuff works and it can change your life. So if you’re on the fence thinking about next year if you’re going to come or whatever. Just remember you guys, you’re just one funnel away. I cannot wait to help you implement and create that funnel. Alright guys, talk to you soon. Bye everybody.

Feb 14, 2017

This goes against all logic, but it’s the only way to actually do it.

On this episode Russell talks about procrastinating getting presentations for Funnel Hacking Live done and why procrastination works for him. He also talks about why he sells stuff before it’s even been created.

Here are some of the other exciting things in this episode:

  • What Russell’s dream car is and why some might consider it a downgrade.
  • Why getting work done right before it’s hard deadline is beneficial for Russell.
  • And what creative way Dean Graziosi makes bestsellers.

So listen below to find out why procrastination works so well for Russell.

---Transcript---

Hey everyone, this is Russell Brunson and welcome to Marketing In Your Car. Guess what? Today, I’m actually in my car, which is kind of awesome because there’s been less of that lately.

I’m backing out right now and I’m driving the Corvette that is the one we showed everyone when we launched the dream car contest. I’m about a week or two away til I get rid of this thing. Getting rid of the Corvette, and my Lexus is now smashed because I backed into it with my other car. Yes, I’m a genius.

I’m going to be finally getting my dream car. It’s funny, I’ve been, my whole life my dream car’s been a Jeep. Ever since I was a little kid I always wanted a Jeep, but for some reason I never had one. I’ve had a Ferrari, I’ve had a Corvette, all those things. But I don’t even like those cars, I’ve always wanted a Jeep. So all the guys at the office are making fun of me, “Dude, you realize Jeeps aren’t that expensive right?” I’m like, “yeah.” They’re like, “Why don’t you get one?” I’m like, “Because I have a Corvette now.” And they’re like, “Well, get rid of it.” I’m like, “I guess I could. Why don’t I just do that?”

So I’m getting a Jeep. I’m down grading in the eyes of some people, but I’m upgrading in my eyes, which is all that really matters when all is said and done. So I’m pretty excited for that.

But I’m heading to the office right now. Yesterday was planning out all the presentations, the offers, getting order forms, process flows, speaker lineup, all that kind of stuff was yesterday. Today is working on presentations. I got Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to get all my presentations done. And then after that I’m heading to the event. So it’s like do or die.

But I want to talk about, because I know some people have voiced concern that my presentations aren’t done and the event is happening. So I want to talk to you guys. I did a podcast a year ago called the Fine Art of Procrastination, which is worth listening to. So this probably part two of that. It just kind of a understanding that most people, we spend so much time planning stuff. And there’s some law, I think its, I can’t remember, Fredo’s law, one of those dudes. But there’s a law that basically however much time you have to get something done, you will fill that time completely up. It always happens.

So if I were to start planning these things six months ago and started working on presentations I would still be not getting it done until right now anyway. So in my philosophy, just why not just get them done right now and it’s better? The other thing, I don’t know about you guys when you do presentations, I’ve had presentations, where I’ve created presentations and I’ve done the presentations a bunch of times and it worked, and then I don’t do it for six months and I come back and do it and even though I’ve done the presentation and I know it, for some reason my mind can’t remember the process and some of the stories, all that kind of stuff gets messed up.

Where if I’m doing the presentations right before it actually happens, then I have better recall and clarity of what I was I doing and why I was doing it and how all the pieces fit together and all that kind of fun stuff. In fact, the FHAT event we did last week, I was up until 1:00 the night before doing my presentations. I was all nervous and all those things, but what’s nice, I’d gone through it so many times, I knew the process and what I was trying to cover, when and why and how they all fit together. So when I gave it, it was all top of mind. If I was to give the FHAT event today, I would struggle because it’s been a week since I did it. I would be like, “Oh wait, why did I do that in that order?” It would probably be hard.

So that’s another reason why I like to wait til the end. Because it gives me the ability to have it top of my mind. What I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and the order and structure and all those things. Anyway, that’s kind of what’s happening today.

So I’m giving you guys all permission, those of you guys who procrastinate. But it comes back to is having a firm, hard deadline. I don’t know about you guys, but if I don’t have the deadline of this is when this has to happen or else it’s never going to happen. If I don’t have those deadlines then nothing ever happens. So that’s why I always schedule things like, “Okay FHAT event happens this day, Funnel Hacking Live starts this day. Product launch is this day. Roll out of MP3 players is this day.” So I set these hard deadlines and that way my, I don’t know, my mind does not have the ability to keep pushing deadline further and further away.

Because it’s like, if we don’t make this one then we miss the next one and the next one. In fact, in our office I went and bought this huge calendar. It takes up an entire wall for the whole year. And what we’d be doing is basically blocking out almost every single week and in most cases every day of every single week for the next twelve months. Everything is so tightly fitted in there it’s like, okay here’s all the stuff that’s happening and there’s no room for deviation.

It’s like, okay this is when things are happening and if I miss something then it throws the rest of the year off. So we have to get things done. That’s kind of how I function. Is setting hard deadlines that are immovable and then reverse engineering to get that done. Like, when do I need to start the core tasks, and then starting those just in time.

I remember I took a class in college, it was a project management class. But I did really bad on it, but the teacher was awesome. I remember it was my senior year, last semester. I was either failing or I was close to failing, but probably closer on the failing side, and I was not going to graduate if I didn’t pass this annoying class. My teacher was super cool, he came up to me after class. He’s like, “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” I was like, “Yeah.” And he’s like, “So what are you doing? What’s your…what are your plans after you graduate?” I was like, “Oh well, I already launched this business, selling stuff online. I already have two employees, just going to keep growing that.” And he’s like, “So you don’t really need this engineering stuff right?” I’m like, “Not even a little bit.” He’s like, “Cool, how about this? I’ll give you a C.” I’m like, “Are you serious?” He’s like, “Yeah.” I’m like, “Dude, I love you. Thank you.”

And so he gave me a C, and it was the greatest gift that someone could have ever given me. I don’t remember the teacher’s name or anything, but if I ever see him again I’ll be like, “Dude, thank you for that C.” Anyway, I did learn something from that class, which is why I deserve that C, because I have retention to this day.

In that class he talked about, probably a lot of stuff, the only thing I remember was the concept of just in time production. Where people get things done just in time. I guess that doesn’t really warrant me getting a C, I don’t really know what that means other than in my mind it means I’m going to get things done just in time. I’m not going to try to have things done a month or a week or six months early, because if I do I’m going to stress about it, it’s not going to be right, I’m going to keep pushing it, and I’ll waste so much time.

For me if I can press those timelines I get ten times as much stuff done and sometimes things aren’t perfect when I roll them out, but that’s okay because I have time to perfect them over time. But I do not have time to over time to launch it, get it out the door. Because then it’ll just never actually get done.

For those of you guys who get stuck in that, what do they call it, analysis paralysis, in that mode of trying to make things perfect before you roll it out. What I highly recommend doing for you is finding a business partner who just likes to sell stuff. There’s something magic about sales people.

Like me, for example, not that I’m that cool but I love to sell stuff. And I want to sell stuff fast, before it’s even ready. In fact, Steven Larsen yesterday was like, “Dude, you sell all this stuff before you ever create it.” I was like, “Yes.” And he’s like, “How do you…why do you do that?” I was like, “well, first off, if I sell it and nobody buys it, I don’t want to create it. And second off, by me selling it, I say things about what it’s going to be and I then hold myself accountable to that when I create the products I have to fulfill on these different promises.”

A lot of people create the product first. I remember when I first learned copywriting, they told me that before I create the product, write the sales letter. Otherwise, you’re going to be like, “Oh my product doesn’t do that or that.” And your sales letter gets worse and worse. Instead write the sales letter first and write all the promises you want and say how do I make my product fulfill these promises.

And that’s a better way to sell. The other way around is backwards and doesn’t really work. The key is going up there and selling. So find a good sales person and go and take it. I’ve got, by far, the most amazing partners on planet earth with Clickfunnels. And we’ve joked about this before. If it wasn’t for me, I want to sell this, they would probably still be programming it because there’s so much they want to do. But I’m like, no we gotta sell it.

So I’m selling and they’re developing. So we sold it and the first version of Clickfunnels, guess what? It wasn’t that good. But it got better. The next version wasn’t quite as good, but it got better and better. IT’s continual progression, but the progression is much easier to do when you got cash in the bank from you selling the thing. So that’s kind of the moral of today’s story I think.

In this situation, if you’re that person, find somebody who can just go and sell for you. I was talking to Dean Graziosi yesterday and he was doing an infomercial, so he filmed the infomercial, got a book that had the cover on it, with blank pages inside. Did the whole infomercial, showing the book. And he launched the infomercial and saw what the numbers were. The numbers came back really good, and he said, cool the numbers are good. Now I’m going to go back and actually write the book. So he sent the next six months writing the book.

And then the infomercial knew worked, so he went and tweaked it. This time he brought Larry King on the infomercial, launched it there, it did good but the book still wasn’t finished. He tested it, refunded everyone who bought. He just wanted to see the numbers and now he’s getting ready to finalize it. And what’s cool, this is cool and a huge honor for me. He did the first version with Larry King, test it, worked good. Then a month or two months later I was out at the 100k meeting, and if you guys listen to episodes 300-302 I shared my presentation from the 100k meeting. We talked about epiphany bridges, belief and story and all that really cool stuff.

And Dean, it’s his event so he was there. He was like, this is awesome. So he messaged me yesterday, “Hey just so you know, after your thing I had some big aha’s that I forgot about. Things I used to do in my old shows that I didn’t do. I actually hired Larry King, flew him back out here and we re-filmed the intro.” I’m like, ‘’Really, can I see it?”

So he sent me the link yesterday to the infomercial. So I was watching it and at minute 2:20 he actually said the word, epiphany. And I stood up, clapped my hands. Not only is he using epiphany bridge, he actually used the word epiphany. I was freaking out and so excited, it was insane.

And then I asked him, “Hey man, when in your schedule can we block out to do my infomercial for my book?” and he was like, “Hey, we could do it blah.” And gave me a date, which is insane and way sooner than I thought.

So I may have an Expert Secrets infomercial in my near future. I’m so excited. So we’ll see. I’ll keep you guys in the loop as that goes forward. But how cool would that be. With that said, I’m going to go inside and get some power point presentations done. Appreciate you all; see most of you all at Funnel Hacking Live. And remember you guys, you’re just one funnel away. Thanks everybody.

Feb 13, 2017

Understand who you’re competing against in this game, or else you’re going to lose.

On today’s episode Russell talks about looking at competing in business the same way he would compete during his wrestling days. He views business as a sport and he has figured out how he’s going to beat the competition.

Here are some of the fun things in this episode:

  • How being an athlete on the playground has prepared Russell to go against his competition in business.
  • How an underdog can still beat the company on steroids (venture capitalists).
  • And why you need to start looking at business like a sport if you’re ever going to be able to beat the other guys.

So listen below to find out why Russell is in it to win it when it comes to business.

---Transcript---

Hey everyone, this is Russell Brunson, I hope you guys are doing good. I’m actually taking the trash out right now. That’s what that wheeling sound, that’s the trashcan being wheeled. But this is going to be a crazy week. I thought I’d hang out with you guys before I get started on it.

Tomorrow is Monday morning, and Monday is basically the week before Funnel Hacking Live starts. Technically it starts on Tuesday, but Pre-registration starts a week from tomorrow. So Tomorrow is when I get to start doing all my presentations. Yes, I wait til the last week to do my presentations. You want to know why? Because the stuff we were doing six months ago, even a month ago has changed. So I want to make sure I have the most up to date content of all time at any given moment. That’s the reason why. That’s one of the reasons. The other reason is I just haven’t had time.

But that’s plenty of time to get everything done and make it amazing. I know what I’m going to talk about, I just gotta get all the slides and examples and case studies and all that kind of stuff and put it together in a really cool way. Hopefully you guys can hear me. It’s kind of loud, the trashcan. But I am….hold on a second I’m going to…

Alright, this might be the only episode of Marketing while you’re taking the trashcan out. I’m out here and it’s cool, it’s super dark, we just got new neighbors that built a house across the street. We’re on a really dark street where there’s not lights at all. Their house is lit up really cool and the moon is….I wish you could see it. It’s pitch black, it’s way off in the distance, right above the mountains there’s this glowing thing that looks misty and foggy over it. It’s pretty amazing.

Anyway, I’m excited because all the snow has been melting that we’ve had. We’ve had so much snow this winter. Then it rained three days last week and it all melted. And we’re back to where I can see the grass everywhere and it’s so exciting.

Anyway, tonight was really fun, we went to church and then had meetings after church and then went out with the kids, went and played in the wrestling room, jumped on the tramp which is freezing cold, then jumped in the hot tub which is super warm and now we put them to bed. My wife’s actually in there putting them to bed. I snuck out to put out the trash because they wear me out those little buggars. I love them, but they wear me out.

Anyway, Funnel Hacking Live is a week away, which is crazy. It’s interesting, last week we had our FHAT event, here in Boise in our new office, which is super fun and I just have this bad habit of booking way too many things all at the same time. But it’s been fun. There’s something with finishing the book and creating everything for the FHAT event, and everything for the Funnel Hacking Live event, where all these concepts and things we’re talking about right now are becoming so clear.

I don’t know if you guys have done that where you’ve had the chance to go through a really deep immersion. It’s weird all these connections get made that don’t when you’re dabbling and goofing around. That’s why I think people should go really deep when they’re becoming a master at what they’re trying to do. You know, become unbalanced for a while, spending insane amounts of time.

But it’s been interesting, one of the fun things I’ve been thinking about. My dad came to town last weekend as well, which is awesome. I was thinking about business as a whole, it’s such a weird I don’t know, playground is the word that pops in my head, I don’t know if that’s the right word. It’s this weird playground where you go to school, and there’s all these different types of kids. There’s the athletes over here, then there’s the people that are in band, and then there’s the drama kids, and then there’s the skaters, and then there’s…..there’s all these different groups at the playground.

When you typically go out there, you go and play with the people that fit in your mold. So I go play with the athletes. We play basketball, football. Competing against each other, trying to win. That’s what drove us at recess, but I’m guessing the other groups probably didn’t do that. They were, I don’t know what the other groups were doing. But I’m assuming, because we would play games with all the kids, but as I got older, I focused on wrestling and that became my thing and it was a deep passion of how do I become the best.

At first I wanted to be the best in the state. After I was State Champ I was like, I want to be best in the country. And my senior year of high school I took second place in the country. Then I was like, I want to be the best in college, in the country. And I never hit that goal. I guess technically I didn’t hit the best in the country in high school either, I almost, I was two points away from that. College I was like, I want to be an all American, I want to be a national champ, and I didn’t get those goals, but I always knew that’s the person I have to beat. I was aware of them, I looked at them and I watched their matches and I studied them and looked what they were doing and I understood them. I understood their moves and what drove them so that I could beat them.

And I was always aware of the people I had to beat. And that was just like, as an athlete, how I viewed the world and business, not business but things. I mean, for almost two decades of my life, that’s what it was. Here’s where I’m at, who’s above me, I gotta find those people, figure them out, and beat them. And that’s what I understood. And I always assume that that’s how everybody thought. But I guess, back at the playground, I’m guessing the band kids didn’t do that. They hung out and played music together, they had a good time.

The drama kids, they made plays together and had a good time. And then the skaters, they skated. You know, I don’t know all the different cliques and stuff, but everybody did their thing. I always assumed that everyone thought the way that I did. Because that was the only world I knew. And it’s been interesting as I’ve come into business, because for me business was the next sport. I got into business, I mean I was learning about it in college when I was wrestling. My senior year, I didn’t hit my goals. I fell short, and in fact I didn’t even qualify for the national tournament, which destroyed me. And it would have destroyed me if I didn’t have the next thing. For me, business I was dabbling in and that became my next sport.

It was like, here’s the sport, I got to figure out. And it’s interesting, the concepts of funnel hacking and the stuff that I share with people, you know how I always talk about I look at people successful and I model them, and I did, but it was different from that. For me it was a sport, I came in and this is the….I’m on a new playground looking around. Who are the kids that are winning? And the people I saw at the time were Armand Morin, Alex Mandossian, Mark Joyner, David Frey, these are all the guys I saw who were successful. So for me it was like, okay what are those guys doing? It was just like wrestling. I would look at them, scout them, watch them, study and learn and figure out what makes them tick. And then when I understand that, then I go and compete against them.

In wrestling I have a match, and someday I’m going to come face to face, we’re going to walk out on the mat under the lights. I’m going to put my shoes on and it’s going to be me and them and that’s it. And if I haven’t done my homework, I’m going to look like an idiot. But in business it was weird because I would study these guys and try to figure out how to compete with them and be successful like they were and that was my whole thing, and I was racing towards that. But what’s weird in business, we never got that moment where we step on the mat and shake hands and go and find out who prepared more.

It was weird, I became friends with people and our businesses were together and I learned this cooperation stuff that I’m guessing they probably taught at the playground with the kids in the band, and the kids, the other groups that all played together. For business it was fun because I collaborated and I had that, but in my mind, I don’t know about you, but I always had from day one….I remember actually, I don’t know if I’ve ever publicly said this out loud, but for me, I’ve always been very aware of where I visualize myself in the totem pole in my market, where are people at? Where up and down, that’s just how my brain works.

And when I pass somebody, I’m aware of that. And when I know who’s ahead of me, I’m aware of that. When I know that, I study those people, I figure them out and I try to beat them. That’s just how I’m wired. It’s been interesting, as I’ve gotten into, as our business has been growing, I would say in our market, I don’t think there’s any businesses that are really bigger than us right now. Outside of a couple of companies that have taken on venture capitalists. They’ve got millions of dollars dumped into them, which is the equivalent of steroids. Honestly, in sports that cheating, but business it’s like, “Aww yes, someone gave us 14 million dollars, now we can cheat.” It’s just ridiculous.

For me, I’m looking out and we’ve got these dudes that got steroids, they’re cheating, but I got to compete against the, but I’m very aware. In my mind it’s very clear, the companies I’m going after. And it shouldn’t be too hard for you guys that follow me to know, because we make fun of them a lot. But I’m aware of it, I study and figure out what they’re doing right and wrong, what the weaknesses are and then we’re attacking them.

It’s been interesting because as I’ve been doing that, the kids at the playground who grew up in band class, and that grew up in drama and as skaters and all these other things, they’re not used to it. And those are the guys I’m competing against. And it’s interesting because they don’t handle the heat well. We got in a……

For me this is a sport. Business is nothing but a sport for me. It’s like, who do I need to beat? We’re going and attacking and we’re going to beat them. Otherwise, what’s the point of this whole thing? Yes, we’re helping people and that part is amazing on this journey. But there’s not, that’s who I need to beat, what’s the point of it? It’s hard for me otherwise.

Anyway, someone that I kind of ruffled their feathers, I actually thought through this podcast, interestingly enough. But they messaged me and kind of told me off, because they didn’t like what I’m doing. Because I’m aggressive and I’m not playing like they’re used to playing. What they told me, they said my dad taught me never to burn bridges. And I didn’t send this back, but I wanted to. I thought, that’s interesting because my dad taught me how to win and that’s all that matters to me, is winning.

Anyway, I told that story at the FHAT event, and people thought I was pretty, everyone was laughing. But that’s how I feel. I’m very aware of who I am going after. And I don’t publicly. In fact, Dan Usher is here making some videos for us and I was showing the offer we’re creating, there’s one other person who’s had more success in this, I’m not going to say their name. But there’s one person who’s had more success than me in this field where this book is. And I was showing Dan those videos and I was like, “That’s who I’m going against. That’s who I’m competing against. That’s who we have to beat.” He’s like, “I thought you guys were friends.” And I’m like, “We are friends, but it doesn’t matter.” I was friends with people on the wrestling mat, but when it comes to sports I have to win. I’m going after them. I’m not sitting around and trying to be nice. My goal is to win. Flat out. And I want to make sure that everybody understands that.

What’s cool, is during this process I’m making friends and all these kinds of things, but it’s a sport for me. Very clear cut. This is a sport. And I have people I’m competing against and I’m going to win. And it’s interesting, because these other people aren’t used to that, and they are used to that, they’ve never been under the lights, with your shoes tied up and it’s you and them and no one else going head to head. And I am, I’m used to it. I love it, I thrive off it. I need it, I desire it. I crave for that.

So it makes this game interesting because the way that people are beating us right now is through the most part, venture capitalists, steroids. So it just drives me more. Yes, okay. You’re going to cheat with steroids, that’s fine. I’m still going to win, I’m going to take you down and we’re going to choke you out and we’re going to turn you to your back and you’re going to get pinned. And that’s how I view business.

I just want, I don’t know, I want to instill that into you guys. A lot of you guys out there were athletes, you were the kids on the playground who went through that and experienced it, and that’s your drive. For some of you guys it’s not. You have to understand when you step in the business world, that’s who you’re playing against. You’re playing against athletes. People who that’s their goal.

So when I come, when you come into your business and look at your market, you need to be fully aware. Where do you sit on the totem pole? Are you JV or Varsity? First team or second team? Where in the state or country? Because if you’re not aware of that, how do you win if you don’t know who you’re playing against? Somebody told me the other day, after the FHAT event, “One thing I discovered after being around you for the last three days is how aware you are of all the competitors in your market.” And I thought it was interesting, because I am very, very aware. I know what they’re all doing. I’m watching them.

And the things that I like, we use. And the things we don’t, we counter attack against them. You’ll see more and more of that throughout this year as we are aggressively going after our competitors and we’re going to surpass them through raw talent and skill instead of venture capitalists cash, which is amazing.

You know, I wrestled kids that were on steroids before and it’s interesting, they come out and have big muscles. They huff and puff and usually the first 30 seconds to a minute they are really strong, but what I’ve found with the big dudes on steroids, when you choke them, you snap their head down and block the blood, there’s a carotid artery in their neck, if you squeeze that and block the blood to their carotid artery, instantly in the second they go down. Their muscles become weak and they become soft like jelly. And the stronger they were, the weaker they become. That’s what I’ve found.

Not that you guys care, but when I wrestled big people. I count out muscles first, and if I can’t take them down, I have to get their head below me and do a front headlock; we’re going for a choke, cut the blood off from the brain, not long term but just for a second or two. But as soon as you do that, all your muscles lose energy, they stop, you fall and then we attack and we win. It’s similar.

Anyway, that’s just….there’s some…what’s the book, The Art of War? This is the Art of War by Russell Brunson. That’s the strategy, how it works. We’ve talked before in a podcast, how you know when your opponents break. When you’re out there wrestling someone, you push them and you feel, physically feel them break. Their energy stops, their posture, their whole body stops. That’s when you attack harder and faster and bigger, that’s how you beat people that are bigger and stronger than you.

That’s what happening and I hope you guys are enjoying watching it. I’m having so much fun competing. I don’t know about you but I love seeing the underdogs win. I love seeing the dude who’s got better technique beat out the guy on steroids, every single time. I’m calling my shot, that’s the plan, that’s what’s happening. I hope you guys do the same thing. Become aware of who your competitors are. You don’t have to be jerks about it, I’m probably too jerky sometimes, I apologize for that in advance. But be aware of it and understand that, and run this like a sport. If you do that, that’s how you’re going to win.

Because this playground, nobody cares. Nobody cares, I grew up in band, I grew up in drama, I grew up in whatever. Okay, well you’re still competing against the athletes. And if the athletes want to win, they’re going to win. So be very aware of that, going into it. When you’re inside of it, start shifting your mindset to understand that and it’ll become fun. It becomes a game, becomes a sport.

I always tell people, this is one of the greatest sports ever. It’s exciting. That’s all I got for tonight. With that said, I’m done. It’s freezing cold out here, I’m going to go inside and get warm. And for those of you guys going to Funnel Hacking Live in a week, I will see you soon. I cannot wait. Appreciate you all, and I will talk to you soon.

Feb 10, 2017

A glimpse behind the scenes at what happened at this week’s FHAT event.

On this episode Russell tells his epiphany bridge story during a Facebook Live video at the FHAT (Funnel Hack-A-Thon) event.

During his epiphany bridge story you will hear:

  • What inspired Russell to try to make money online in the first place.
  • How Russell and his partners first came up with an idea for Clickfunnels and it was really a way to get Russell to be able to design his own sites.
  • And how Clickfunnels had made it possible for Russell to support his family, while also being able to spend more time with them.

So listen below to hear Russell’s epiphany bridge story and let it inspire you.

---Transcript---

Hey Everyone, this is Russell Brunson, welcome to Marketing In Your Car. I’m at the office right now and it’s been a crazy week. We had our first ever FHAT event here in our office the last 3 days. We were here all night every night and it was amazing. But I also haven’t talked to you guys in a while, and I want to do something really quick because one of the big things we talked about at the FHAT event, well it was kind of 3 things.

Day number one was cult building, I mean culture building. Day number two was story. And then Day three was webinars and webinar hacks and product launch sequences and Actionetics sequences and a whole bunch of other ninja, amazing stuff.

But day two was story day, so we did this cool thing where we talked about the hero’s two journeys and a bunch of other things. And I can’t give you everything right now, but I want to give you one cool. So it’s in the book that’s coming out soon, to a funnel near you. After I talked about the Hero’s two journeys, I showed them how we transition that script into the epiphany bridge script, and if you look at it, I wish I could show you, I wish the podcast could show pictures. Looking at it right now, the way this script works is basically, there’s 8 sections.

There’s the back story, your desires, the wall, the epiphany, the plan, the conflict, achievement and transformation. So the back story, what is your back story that give us a vested interest in your journey? Number two is your desires, what is it that you want to accomplish? And inside of that, what are the external struggles you are dealing with and what are the internal struggles you are dealing with.

From there you hit a wall. The wall is the problem or the…what is the wall or problem that you hit within your current opportunity that started you on this new journey. Then you have the epiphany. So what was the epiphany experience and the new opportunity you discovered. Then the plan, what was the plan you created to achieve your desire? Then there’s conflict. What was the conflict you experienced along the way? Then there’s achievement, what was the end result you achieved. Then there’s transformation. What was the transformation you experienced?

So those are the process of telling a good epiphany bridge story. So anyway, I know it’s hard to visualize that, but when you get the Expert Secrets book you’ll see the graphs and images and it’ll be all explained and you’ll love it, I promise.

But when we were here yesterday, or two days ago, whenever it was, the event. I did an epiphany bridge story on Facebook Live, telling my Clickfunnels story. So I wanted you guys to hear that story because it’ll…..going through all these aspects, you’ll see them all weaved in. Everything from the back story, the desire, the wall, the epiphany, the plan, the conflict, the achievement and the transformation.

So I’m going to get the audio and I’ll plug it in here so you can listen to the audio of my epiphany bridge story, which is my Clickfunnels story, the origin story. The origin story of how I got excited about funnels and how Clickfunnels came to be. So I’m going to play that audio for you right now, and you guys will hear my epiphany bridge story. So let me connect to that right now.

Hey everyone, this is Russell, I hope you guys are all doing awesome. So I’m here right now in the room of 48 or 49 amazing entrepreneurs, and we’ve been talking about storytelling and how to tell your story, the origin story of wehre you got started and what got you into what you’re doing. So I’ve been challenging all of them to go and do that, and I thought it would be kind of cool if I just told you guys my story. Some of you guys have heard pieces or parts of this, but probably not the whole thing.

So what I wanted to do is share with you guys the story about Clickfunnels and why this, for me, became my new opportunity, the thing that I’m so excited about and why I have so much passion. Some of you will say, “Russell you’ve been talking about Clickfunnels everyday for the last two years.” And I’m like, “I know, because I’m so excited every day.”

So some of the back story, if you don’t know, I got started in this business, I guess it’s almost 13 or 14 years ago now, and when I did, I was a college kid, I was going to Boise State University, which is just down the road from where I’m at right now. I was a wrestler which means I wrestled and I had to go to school. So I barely graduated. It was barely. I think my accumulative was a 2.1, which means I got a whole bunch of C’s and one B over 5 years, so it’s kind of painful. But I graduated which made my mom happy, which is pretty cool.

But during school, while I was wrestling I started learning about that internet marketing stuff. And you guys remember this is 12 years ago, before Facebook, before Instagram and all these kind of things. We had Google, kind of. In fact, I don’t even remember how we were driving traffic. We didn’t have a website, or anything. I was using Front Page, some of the old timers remember Front Page. I would create these things in Front Page and it was pretty bad. So I was doing that, but I believed that it was possible. I saw people, some of my mentors, like Arman Morin, Alex Mandossian and some of these guys who were making money online.

I was like, if these guys can do it, I’m pretty sure I could do it. So that was my goal that I wanted to accomplish. The other side of that that I don’t share a lot of times, it wasn’t just that I wanted to make money, that was just a desire I had. The bigger desire, I had just gotten married to my beautiful wife, we’re still married today. It’s been almost 15 years this year, which is amazing. I married here, she was working full time to support me, her jobless wrestling husband and I don’t know about you, but I always envisioned that when I got married, I would be the man, the supporter, but it was honestly pretty tough for me. That she was supporting me and I didn’t have anything to contribute other than going to school and wrestling, and it was hard for me.

I remember I was like I got to figure out a way to contribute. I don’t want her doing everything. So that was the real driving factor. In fact, my goal was, if I can make $1000 a month, that would match what she was making, we weren’t making very much money at the time. Then I’ll feel like I’m contributing as well. So that was my goal, to figure out a way to do this. I tried all sorts of stuff.

I was trying Ebay, I was trying Craigslist, I was doing this stuff. I had a $20 a month, which was a big deal for me, I was excited, but none of the things really hit big. About that time I started learning about information marketing. In fact, I was at a post office mailing something I had bought from Ebay in this huge awkward box, I thought it was going to sell huge, and it ended up selling for $1.50 and I lost a ton of money. Then postage, it was a nightmare. I’m sitting in the line at the post office next to this dude, who had a big box full of CD’s, thousands of them. I was like, “Dude, what are you selling?” and he was like, “I have one CD that I sell and I burn it.” And I’m like, “These are your orders for the month.” And he’s like, “These are my orders for this week.” I was doing the math, “how much do you sell them for?” He’s like, “$67” I’m like, “Oh my gosh.” And I had this…..I need to sell information, that is the future.

So I started to try to figure out information. I started doing stuff and my very first product I ever created was a DVD on how to create potato guns, I’m sure some of you guys have heard this story before. So I started making potato guns and it was working really good, but then what I was doing was going to Google and buying ads on Google and making some money back and forth, but eventually I probably had 4 or 5 months of success and then Google changed their algorithm and it got really hard.

And the hardest thing for me during this time, it was me building things in Front Page, and I had to figure out how to FTP pages and images and how to go to Paypal to get the order, it was super techy and I’m not a techy person at all. But after Google changed their algorithm we tried some stuff. I remember one of my friends called me, it was Mike Filsaime, some of you may know Mike, he said, “Russell, I figured out how to make this whole internet marketing game work again.” I’m like “What do you mean?” he’s like, “Is your potato gun thing still making money?” I’m like, “No, I can’t break even, I can’t make a profit.”

And he’s like, “well I went back to all my sites and added these things.” He called them OTO’s and I’m like, “What’s an OTO” and he’s like, “It’s an upsell, a onetime offer.” I’m like, “Oh.” And he’s like, “I added these upsells and people started buying the upsells and suddenly I’m making two or three times as much money from everything I sold. And I was like, “I could actually do that.”

So I remember jumping online I was Googling potato guns, trying to figure out what my upsell would be, I don’t know. All I had was a potato gun DVD, and I met this dude up in northern Idaho who actually made potato guns and drop shipped them. I was like, “Dude, if I sell those, would you drop ship them for me?” and he was like, “Yeah, I’d love to not have to sell these things.” So I partnered with him and I started selling the DVD’s and people started buying this upsell. And it was the first thing I’d made a funnel. I was like, this is a funnel.

And that was this new thing and I was so excited. So I had this epiphany, this is the future. If I can make more funnels, this funnels been making me 20-30 bucks a day, but what if I had 2 funnels, or 3 or 5 or 10? So I started going a little bit crazy and I created funnels in the couponing market, which by the way, is a horrible market. People in that market do not like to spend money. Don’t do that. We did couponing, we did dating, we did weight loss, we did network marketing, I’ve done diabetic supplements. That’s the ones on the top of my head, there’s…..I could show you guys, there’s a trail of thousands of offers, some that worked, a lot more that didn’t work.

But we were doing these things over and over and my plan was if I had ten of them that are each making a hundred bucks a day, or 20 or 30. So I was doing this, and at first it was working but the problem I kept running into was, Front page isn’t…. for people like me it was hard. I would do these pages and mine looked ugly and other people’s looked awesome. So then I had a designer and he would design these things. I would make a front page ugly, send it to him and he would design it and make it look cool. I’m like, put it up.

But then it was up and I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t touch it again. I had one shot. Then I had to bug him. Then I hired a web guy to do edits for me. Then I was using Paypal and I couldn’t do anything else. So then someone invented a one click upsell. I was like, “Dude, I need that.” So I hired a programmer to connect that into the next….it kept getting more and more complicated to the point where soon I wasn’t able to do anything.

I would look at it and be like, “Change that.” And they’d try to change it, but they didn’t. I’d be like, “Move it over here.” And they’d put it in the wrong spot. It would take days, sometimes weeks of going back and forth with the guys in Romania and India and everywhere to try to get them to move an image or make it a little bit bigger. Things that were so common sense and I couldn’t actually do it, and it drove me nuts.

About that time, one of my friends and partners, in fact, he might be in the room right now. Is Todd in here still? He’s already eating lunch, he’s already gone. Todd was one of my partners doing these things with me. He saw my frustration and he’s like, “What if we build something that…” and the joke was, “Russell could edit the website and actually move things and quit bugging us all the time.” I was like, “That would be awesome.” And he’s like, “That’s what we’re going to create.”

And that day we sat in front of a whiteboard and started mapping out what it would look like and how it would work. So we mapped out this vision of what became Clickfunnels, and he went home and actually built it. It was funny, him and another partner we brought in, Dylan Jones were working, he did the editor. They would build part of it and be like, “We need to make this so simple that Russell could do it.” So they’d do it and be like, “Russell, test this.” And I‘d login and be like, “How do I do it?” And they’d be like, “We’re not going to tell you. You gotta figure it out on your own.” I’m like, “Okay.”

So I’d do some stuff, and if I could figure it out, then good. We got it. If I got stuck, I’m like, I don’t know what to do. So they’re like, we didn’t do it intuitively enough. We went back and forth and back and forth for 6 or 7 months and finally I got it. I was like, if I can do this, anyone can. At first it was a tool for me, that was the initial goal of Clickfunnels. I think it was Todd and Dylan like, “This way Russell will quit bugging and I don’t have to design his sites anymore or redo his headers.” All this stuff that was happening. And then after I started using it and I was having success, I was like, “We have to make this a tool for everyone, it will free all entrepreneurs like it freed me.”

So because of that I was able to create funnels quickly. I went from having 5 or 6 guys, and it would take on average almost 2-3 months every time to create a funnel to where I was able to do it by myself in an hour, hour and a half. Sometimes less, which was cool. The cool thing was I was able to achieve that and have success. We started rolling out funnels like crazy. Some of you probably remember seeing a lot of them.

I still do a lot of them because they’re so much fun to do. But the cooler thing for me was the other side. I was able to make money to support my wife and support my kids because I didn’t no longer have to spend three months doing something, my time to be with my kids completely freed up. I have a chance, I go home everyday and play with my kids. I’m not stressing out trying to talk to programmers in India at 3 in the morning and stressing all this stuff. It just works.

That was really the biggest thing for me. And it’s been an amazing thing. In fact, now my kids are using Clickfunnels, they’re building stuff with Clickfunnels. It’s not just, for me it’s not just a product. It’s a mission. I’m seeing people’s lives change. I’m seeing other people who had messages but they couldn’t get them out because they couldn’t move things around on the stupid page, but now the power is back in their hand. And that’s the power of it. That’s what fires me up, to be able to help entrepreneurs with that kind of thing.

So that’s my Clickfunnels Story. So if you guys haven’t heard it before, I wanted to share that with you guys and share why I’m so passionate about this. For me, it’s not just, I talk about this all the time, it’s not a matter of if you’re going to become a Clickfunnels member, it’s when. Because it’s the only way to do what we’re talking about. The only alternative is to do what I used to do ten years ago. Hire guys in Romania and India and the Philippians and have teams of 30 people to move an image. Or you can just use Clickfunnels. It gives you and me, the entrepreneurs the power back, which is awesome.

I hope that helps you guys. I hope you guys see why I’m so passionate about Clickfunnels. With that said, I’m going to check out. If you like this, comment down below. If you have any friends that are like, “What is that Clickfunnels thing.” Share this with them. Tag them down below so they can see why me and why I’m so passionate and probably why you’re so passionate too. Thanks you guys. Talk to you all soon. Bye.

Alright so there’s the example of an epiphany bridge origin story. I hope that was cool for you guys. Again, I wish I could show you the book today, but it’s coming soon. So look for that in the very, very near future and that’s about it for today you guys. Thanks everybody. I’ll talk to you all again soon.

Feb 6, 2017

The only thing you can change about the situation is your attitude.

On today’s episode Russell talks about his crazy busy week and taking a moment between storms to get a haircut. He also shares a story from his wrestling days that taught him to have a positive attitude.

Here are some interesting things you’ll hear in this episode:

  • How Russell was able to get rid of the echo in the conference room, how he planned a Superbowl party, and how he was able to get a manual done for the FHAT event, all on short notice.
  • Why even when stressful things happen, Russell always tries to have a positive attitude.
  • And why cutting weight in wrestling didn’t seem so bad, as long as Russell had a smile on his face.

So listen below to find out why even if you can’t change your circumstances, changing your attitude will make it better.

---Transcript---

Hey everyone, this is Russell Brunson again. I hope you guys are doing awesome. I’m driving to go get my hair cut and this is kind of like the climax, well it’s the end when you slide down. Almost the end, I guess it’s not even though. Anyway, the end of a very crazy week. It’s now Friday. In about an hour we have Boise State does a really cool thing once a year called the Beauty and the Beast tournament. Where they have the wrestlers and the gymnasts all competing on the same floor. And it’s the one time of the year that people actually show up to wrestling matches, which is cool.

I convinced my wife and kids to come and some of my friends and all that kind of stuff, so we’re heading to that tonight. I competed in it for four years and it’s just a super fun thing to do. So I’m going to that tonight which is exciting. I’m getting my hair cut because this is the little calm, that’s what it is, it’s not the climax or apex, it’s the calm before the storm. Because for the second storm. There was a big storm first. This last week has been insane.

Let me explain to you, lest you think you had a busy week. Maybe it was busier than mine, but I’m game for comparing and seeing because this week was crazy. Monday we moved into a new office and then Tuesday I had to submit my book to the publishers, which sounds like you just email your book to the publisher. But no, you have to freaking write a book first and then edit it and edit it, change things, tweak things, and then you submit it and its final, can never change it’s the end. So you can never tweak it, ever. So that was stressful.

And then Steven Larsen, who is working with this even starting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday called the FHAT Event. Funnel Hack A Thon, FHAT Event. We needed a manual for that, which the manual is based on the book. So he was home sick, puking in bed while he’s helping me create this whole manual. Bless him for doing that while he’s puking his guts out. Making the manual and puking and making the manual because we had these printing deadlines to get it done. So we’re racing on that, got that all figured out as good as we possibly could.

Now I’m going through getting my power point slides and then I walked into the conference room that we’re doing the conference, and the echo is so loud, it’s going to destroy all the films, it won’t even be good. So I’m freaking out there, so we have to go and I’m searching all night until 2 or 3 in the morning trying to find sound things you can put up to make echoes disappear. The only place I can find, the fastest I can get them here is 2 to 4 weeks. I’m not going to have them for Monday and I’m stressing out. Then Brandon Fisher on our team,  he’s like, “I got a buddy who does events and stuff and he’s got these sound dampering curtains, we should use those.” So I’m like, “Alright.” So he comes and shows up and wraps our entire room in these huge curtains, throws these lights on them, brings a stage and a pulpit, and it becomes the coolest event center on planet earth.

And then they’re trying to rent us stuff, it will look so cool. I’m begging them to let me buy it all. I never want this to change ever because it’s so cool now. It turned into a good thing. I was stressing out about that. This whole week they’ve been working on that and getting the lighting and the systems and things, and I’m just trying to get my power points done. Then on top of that, there’s other business things, it’s been nuts.

So today I got my power points probably half way done for the event that starts on Monday. I’m just out today, going to get my haircut and then Beauty and the Beast and then tonight keep working on power points, I’m guessing if I’m going to get done in time, which is crazy. Steven had drill so he’s out driving to go do Army drill stuff, and he’s got to work on stuff for the presentation as well. So he’s going to be working on those tonight form the hotel and sending those to me.

And then, I didn’t realize, stupid me, that the Funnel Hack A Thon was the day after the Superbowl, so everyone that’s coming, we have 48 people that are coming. Everyone’s like, “Do you know it’s the Superbowl? Why did you book it on Superbowl Sunday?” I’m like, “I don’t watch the Superbowl.” And they’re like, “We need a party.” And I’m like, “Okay fine, we’ll throw a party.” So now I’m throwing a party at the office Sunday for the Superbowl, which means to get TV in the office, I say yes and then I’m like, “Okay we’re going to watch the Superbowl on this screen and they’re like, “that’s not easy, you have to have cable.” So now they’re scrambling to get cable in our office to be able to show the game.

And then, it’s just thing after thing. We had this nice fridge and we’ve stacked it full of waters and Redbulls and drinks and all sorts of stuff, and then the whole thing collapsed this fridge because the bolts weren’t strong enough and we had to buy new bolts and string them in to get the water to stay. It’s seriously been insane. I just wanted to thank, if anyone on my team is listening, everyone with everything that’s gone into this, because it’s been nuts. But somehow, not only are we surviving, it’s been fun and everyone’s happy. We’re excited and energy levels are really high.

It’s one of those things where maybe it’s me and I know people have ADD like me, the more things that are happening, the better we function. A lot of times if you have one thing going on, you stress out like crazy. So maybe it’s that and that’s why I’m enjoying it and thriving in this. Because there’s so much chaos I can’t not do it. But maybe it’s just a fact that just smiling, keep moving forward, maybe that’s the message for today is, if you keep moving forward, you can’t change anything. I can’t change the fact that the event is happening in two days. I made that decision and it was probably a dumb decision. Especially since we have Funnel Hacking Live two weeks later and I haven’t started on my presentations for that yet.

But besides the point of stupidly planning like I often do, things can’t change. You’re going to do it anyway. I think I’ve shared this story with you before. I had a wrestling coach named Mark James when I was growing up. I remember this one practice, it was tough. At the time I was cutting about 30 pounds a week, it was painful, horrible and hard. We’re all cutting weight and I remember one day after practice, I was dead. Imagine wrestling in plastics and sweats and not eating for three or four days and not drinking for three or four and just being to the point where you felt like you wished you could die.

And I remember we finished practice and he pulls us all into this, our wrestling room, we called it the rubber room. It was underneath the basketball court. It was dark and damp and stinky and it was kind of nasty. So he pulled us out of the rubber room into this hallway, that was again underneath the building. It was dark. And he sat on the stairs and we all sat around and talked. And I remember him saying, “You know what, we have a match and you have to lose weight.” And he’s telling everyone this, and he’s like, “You can’t change that, the only thing you can change is your attitude about it. You’re going to miserable going through this experience or you can be happy going through this experience, but you can’t change it. The experience is happening.”

“The only thing we can effect is the attitude we have going through it. So you might as well have a good attitude, because you’re going to do it anyway.”  And it really, I was like, “Dang.” So I remember the next day I came down and I put on my plastics and sweats on and came out and started jumping ropes. And I started smiling.

And one of the other guys on my team came down and was like, “Why are you smiling?” And I was like, “Have you ever seen someone lose with a smile on their face?” and he was like, “No.” And I’m like, “Neither have I.” and I kept smiling. And then I smiled the whole practice while I was cutting weight, I smiled while I was doing it. And it was weird because this process that legitimately painful. If you’ve ever tried to not drink for three days while sucking water weight out in plastic suits. Where you’re losing, on average, 25 to 30 pounds a week in water weight. That’s painful. That’s probably some of the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my life. But I did it with a smile on my face and it became a thing, and it became fun and it became a part of the experience I actually enjoyed.

In fact, tonight going to the wrestling match, I can feel myself right now, feeling guilty. I always feel guilty sitting there drinking something. I shouldn’t be watching wrestling with liquid. This is a really awkward feeling, you know what I mean? But that’s the reality. I’m not wrestling, I’m not competing so I can. Take that wrestlers that are cutting weight. But going through the experience, it became fun.

So I think for you guys, there’s a lot of stress out there, I get it. But as you approach it, do it with a smile on your face. Because you can’t lose with a smile on your face. No one can, it’s impossible. So you might as well smile as you go through it. Remember, you’re going to go through it anyway, so the only thing you can change is your attitude, so have a good attitude and make it more fun and pleasant for you and for everyone.

So that’s what I got today you guys. I’m here, getting my haircut, my head will shrink by about half, which is a good sign. Because I got a huge fat head, if you’ve ever noticed. I can’t wear hats, because my head is so…….if you guys remember the movie so I married an Axe Murderer. And that kid’s sitting in front of the TV with his dad, Michael Meyers. He’s like, “Hey, get out of the way. Man, did you see that kid’s head? It’s like an orange on a toothpick.” That’s totally how I am right now. So if you’re envisioning what I look like, I got an orange on a toothpick, so they’re going to shave this thing down to be normal size, which I’m really looking forward to.

Alright guys, before I tell you anymore random weird things about me, I’m going to leave. I appreciate you all, have an amazing day. Keep a smile on, and remember you can only change your attitude. Thanks everybody, talk to you soon.

Ps…Don’t forget, you’re just one funnel away, thanks everybody.

Feb 2, 2017

My cliffnotes from Earl Nightengale’s speech, The Strangest Secret.

On this episode Russell talks about the book, The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightengale. He goes into detail what the book is about and what it means to him.

Here are some of the strange things you will hear in this episode:

  • Why the opposite of courage isn’t cowardice, it’s conformity.
  • Why conformity has caused the majority of the population to not be financially independent.
  • And how we become what we think about.

So listen below to find out what the Strangest Secret is and why.

---Transcript---

Hey everyone, this is Russell. Welcome to Marketing Behind Your Desk. My commute from my house to my office is like 10 seconds now so I don’t know how to keep Marketing In Your Car, we may have to change the title or something. But I’m here and I’ve got something cool for you guys.

So when we moved from the office, we moved our books all onto one really cool bookshelf. As I was putting up all the books I was like, “I want to read this book and this book.” So as I’ve been coming in I’ve been grabbing different books. So today I grabbed, The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightengale. And I don’t know if you guys have ever heard of this book but it’s the beginning, the foundation of the personal development industry. I’m pretty sure he wrote this book, I think it was a record back in the day, and then that’s what sprouted out all personal development. So it’s kind of like the beginning.

I just heard a beep in the office, do you think it’s the fire alarm. Oh crap, good thing Steven is packing heat, my body guards here packing heat. He’s literally on his elbows crawling out to go kill somebody and protect us from imminent danger and doom.

Anyway, while he’s trying to kill these people I’m going to give you guys a message about the Strangest Secret. First off, if you haven’t read this, the book is like 15 pages, so you can read it in a very short period of time or you can try to find the record. I wonder if I can find the record on Ebay, that’d be cool.

Anyway, in this book he’s talking about the fact that….well he’s talking about, and this is written way back in the day, this is a long time ago. But he’s talking about how if you look at people that are over 65 that at the time, there were 14 million people. Of that 14 million, 13 million were broke and relying on other people. He said it’s amazing that by the time that you’re seven you learn how to read, you can make a living by the time you’re 25, but the majority of people by the age of 65 had not learned to be financially independent.

That’s crazy, how is that not happening? And then he talked about what’s the definition of success? And he said the definition of success is not that you achieve something, but the definition is the pursuit of that. So the pursuit of something is success. So it says the only man who succeeds is the man who is progressing, realizing a worthy ideal. So if you’re pursuing something, that’s the definition of success. It’s not so much that you have it, it’s that you’re going forward.

I should almost just read you guys the whole book, it’d only take 15 minutes. Probably less than that actually. But I don’t want to spoil the surprise. I want you guys to go and find it on Ebay or Amazon or whatever and get it. It’ll be worth it.

Anyway, he’s talking about, the next chapter is all about goals. He says, the key here is goals, setting goals and moving towards those goals. He talked about how if you take a boat with the crew and captain and they say, this is where we’re going, 99.99% of the time, they get there. If you took a boat, took the crew off and the captain and just set it on the harbor and pushed it out, 0% of the time, would it ever get there. Yet, that’s how most people function their life.

They wake up and they’re walking and stumbling and things like that. One thing, I don’t know if I can find it real quick in here. He said, it was super cool….This is what he said, that society was not set up to keep people from winning. Society was set up to keep people from losing. It’s like, if you look at the American society it doesn’t really care if people are winning or whatever, it’s trying to set it up so people don’t lose. So it becomes super simple. It’s easy to get a job. It’s easy to make enough money to survive.

And he says why do people not succeed? The reason why people don’t succeed is because they conform. The conforming is the opposite of success, which is so interesting. So it’s not, I wonder if I can find the quote right here where he said it? “The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, a lot of people think that the opposite of being encouraging and going forward is being a coward. No, it’s not. The opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice, its conformity.”

So it’s conforming to the world around us. Conforming to that and then, he said, the government, the world way it’s structured is to protect people from failing, that’s why everything is so easy. Because of that we have to conform to do that. So then 99% of the population conforms. People get jobs so they cannot fail, so they can get a steady paycheck or whatever that means. It’s not just for money, but for anything in life.

I think about wrestling, let’s say you’re doing sports. It’s way easier to kind of go through the motions than it is to try and win. So there’s conforming and doing the normal whatever anyone is doing is the lowest thing. Anyway, it’s hard to tell a book that you just barely read.

Anyway, it kind of goes on from there. Success and goals and he said this is the key to success. The key to success, we become what we think about. Let me say that again, we become what we think about. And then he goes through and starts talking about all these different quotes from different people. Ralph Waldo Emerson, “A man is what he thinks about all day long.” William James “A great discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their life by altering the attitudes of their mind.”

He’s got quote after quote after quote all these people. Shakespeare, “Our doubts are traitors that make us lose the good we oft win by fearing to attempt.” On and on. All these things come down to, we are what we think about all day long. And that is the Strangest Secret. That’s kind of the key.

So at the very end it says, “We become what we think about. That is the strangest secret in the world. Now why do I say it’s strange and why do I say it’s a secret? Actually it isn’t a secret at all,  it the first..” there’s a big word that not in our vocabulary now a days, “ the first ‘something’ by some of the earliest wise men and it appears again and again throughout the bible, but every few people who have learned it, understand it and that’s why it’s a secret and for some equally strange reason, it virtually remains a secret.”

So kind of the message of this book and hopefully this podcast for today, is a couple of things. First off, it’s what are you thinking about? What’s the goal? What’s the thing you’re driving towards every single day? And if you don’t have that you’re just like the boat that’s wandering and going to crash.

And the second part of this is understanding that just conforming to the standard is the reason why the majority of the population by the time they’re 65 have not learned financial independence. 65 years is not how long, it shouldn’t take that long to learn and master financial independence. You should learn that earlier in life, but because it’s easier just to conform and just to slip back to doing the status quo. And just doing what it takes to not lose, which is what our whole society is built upon. Most people go that way.

So for you guys here listening to this podcast, I know that’s not what any of you guys want. So it comes back down to setting a goal. What do you want? Where are you going? Having a very clear path and thinking about it, visualizing and figuring out how to get there. If you, man, low and behold you get there.

Like I said, it’s weird that 99.99% of the boats that set a destination get there, same with airplanes. There’s a tiny fraction that crash and burn, but mostly if they’ve got a direction and a destination they’re going, they get there. And I think it’s the same thing for you guys, if you’ve got that.

What’s your destination? Where are you going? If you’ve got that and you’re thinking about it and it becomes the thing you’re looking for, you’ll get there. And it’s not that hard, you just gotta think about it and then work to make that thing become a reality. So that’s what I got for today you guys.

The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightengale, I think they said that this where the secret, the movie The Secret, came from. Which, that movie is a little cheesy, not going to lie. Conceptually it’s pretty cool. But then it’s like, I just remember the one scene when the guys like, “Yeah, I thought about, I wanted a coffee and someone brought me some coffee.” That’s not what this is talking about, that’s stupid.

This is talking about what do I want in my life? And I want to be able to see it visually and then I go and chase it. For me, I remember when I got started in this business, 13, 14 years ago now, I saw people ahead of me. For me, my first mentors were like, Armand Morin and John Reese, Marlon Sanders, Jonathon Mizel. These are the guys that I saw initially and I saw what they were doing and I was like, that’s what I want. I need that. I gotta figure that out.

And it wasn’t easy. Conformity is easy. And it’s not what they say. I mean it’s not easy, but it’s worth it. That’s definitely the thing. Same thing, that was my goal. So I started looking what Armand was doing. I was modeling him. If you look at my first 3 or 4 sites, they were identical to Armand’s. I funnel hacked him as close as humanly possible. My sites, Armand always had a picture of his head on the header, so I always had a picture of my head on the header. I just modeled him identical because it was Armand. That’s who I wanted to be like.

I had a vision and that’s where I was going. And then at my very first big seminar, that’s the first time I saw people speak and sell from stage and I was like, “holy crap.” I remember seeing this dude get on stage and he does his pitch and people run to the back of the room and I was doing the math, he made 50 thousand dollars in 90 minutes. I saw the next guy and the next guy. They did 130 thousand dollars in sales. Thing after thing after thing. I was like, “I don’t know how to speak. I’m scared to death of people and getting on stage. But that thing, that skill, I gotta learn that.” So that became the destination. For the next three years of my life I learned how to speak and sell from stage.

It was hard. It was not easy. It was embarrassing. The first ten or fifteen times I got on stage I did my pitch and nobody would move. That’s humiliating. It sucked, it was so embarrassing. But I knew where I was going, so I’m like, “I gotta get there because that skill, if I can get that skill, holy crap that’d be cool.” So I stood up in front of 100 people, 500 people, 600 people and I did the thing. And then I crashed and burned. I was so embarrassed.

I remember, I think I told you this before. The first time I was so embarrassed because usually when you speak all the other speakers that are selling from the stage will be like, “Hey, how did you do? What were your numbers? How many did you close?” So I did my pitch and nobody bought. It was like the walk of shame to the back of the room. Everyone was waiting, just not running to the back and buying. I was so embarrassed and I didn’t want to talk to the other speakers, the promoter, the other attendees, I was humiliated.

So I went to my room and I still remember, I had never before rented a movie on TV in a hotel room before, so I went to the movie section and I started movies. And I watched movies for 3 days. Every movie that was there that I felt comfortable watching, I watched. I remember ordering coconut shrimp and Haagan Dazs ice cream every hour on the hour. I was like, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not leaving this place. I want to eat.” Because it was so humiliating. But I knew where I wanted to go. I knew the destiny. I gotta figure this thing out because people are doing it and they can’t be that much smarter than me. I’m sure they’re more talented than me, but they can’t be that much smarter than me. I just gotta figure it out. So I kept doing it and doing it and eventually I got to that destination.

So for you guys, find the destination, set the goals, think about it all the time, go read the Strangest Secret. It’s literally a 5 minute read. It’ll take you less time to read than it was to listen to this podcast. That’s all I got you guys. With that said, I appreciate you all, have a great day and we’ll talk soon.

Feb 1, 2017

A quick glimpse behind the WHY of this funnel…

On today’s episode Russell goes on a mini tour of his new office and podcasts from two conference rooms and the kitchen. He talks about how you need to watch a magician’s hands to figure out what he’s doing, and how that relates to being a marketer.

Here are some of the cool things to listen for in this episode:

  • What it means to be a magician in marketing.
  • Why Russell buys other people’s products that he doesn’t need, and why you should buy his Marketing In Your Car MP3 player, even if you don’t need it.
  • And why it’s good to grow a business organically, but it’s better to push it along faster by buying ads.

So listen below to find out why you need to be looking at a magicians hands instead of getting distracted by what he wants you to see.

---Transcript---

What’s up everybody, this is Russell, welcome to Marketing In Your Car. Now this is a special episode because I’m not in my car. In fact, I’m at the brand new office. We moved in this week and it’s insanely cool and I’m not only in the office, I’m in an actual conference room, which is the first thing I’ve done in this conference room is actually talk on this podcast. I’m looking out and everybody is working. We all have standing and sitting desks. So everybody out here working standing and sitting. So exciting.

Anyway, if you haven’t seen yet, I’ve been Snapchatting and I’ll probably Facebook Live Friday. Friday we get the big Clickfunnels sign in the office, which looks so cool. So as soon as that’s here I’ll Facebook Live this whole place so you guys can see it. You can see the bookshelf and everything.

What’s cool, Monday and Tuesday we had a certification event here in Boise. We were supposed to do it here in the office initially, but we didn’t think we were going to get the office done in time, so we moved it back to a hotel. Then Tuesday, at certification I make everyone do a hack-a-thon, which they stay up  all night building funnels. Part of the cult-ture that we’re trying to do is you need to get crap done, you just pull an all nighter and just get it done. So we taught them that and they did it.

And then on Tuesday they went and presented all their funnels and everything and we gave away awards and it was cool. Tuesday morning I woke up like, man these guys have been killing themselves. How cool would be if they actually got to come to the office. So we chartered a bus, had the bus drive to downtown Boise, pick them up and bring them back. And now they’re…….

Anyway, they came to the office last night and it was so much fun to have everyone here and showing off the new stuff. People were like, “Is that really your bookshelf? Are those all your books?” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m kind of a nerd. Sorry about that.”

Anyway, it was so much fun. So now, today we’re here. This is the first day we’ll actually work the whole day. Everybody’s here and it’s exciting. One big fear I have is we have our FHAT event coming up Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday next week in the big conference room which is amazing. But it’s got echo. I don’t know if you hear echo in here. This is the conference room and it’s kind of echo in here as well. We have a sound engineer coming to try to figure out how to put up paneling and stuff so we won’t have those issues. But the problem is it’s like 2 to 4 weeks to get those things fixed. So that kind of stresses me out a little bit on that side. Hopefully we get some of it figured out. We’ve got people coming and they’re going to be hanging up sound panels and things like that in the conference room.

Anyway, someone just came in the conference room so I’m going to walk out here. Now I’m going into the kitchen. The kitchen also has got a lot of echo in here as well. But we designed this because we do a lot of videos in the kitchen, so we made it a really nice kitchen so we can do videos and stuff in here. So it should be pretty office.

So now I’m wandering. So fun to wander around the office, now I’m in the conference room. So anyway, I wish you guys could see what I’m doing, probably more interesting than hearing me talk about it. But it’s so exciting.

So what I want to talk about today, yesterday the Marketing In Your Car free MP3 player offer, we were paying affiliates $20 to give away a free MP3 player, and I think it ended last night at midnight. It’s been fun watching a lot of our affiliates promote it and then seeing people’s feedback. Tim Castleman, one of my buddies, he’s been promoting it. He’s like, “Just go buy it, you guys. Why are you not buying it?” and people are commenting why they’re not buying it. It made me laugh so hard. These are all people trying to learn marketing. And they’re trying to figure this whole thing out. They’re studying, learning, following Tim, following me, following people and they’re like, “that offer didn’t make sense to me. I don’t really want an MP3 player. I need to subscribe for free on iTunes.” All these things, all these reasons why they wouldn’t buy.

It made me laugh because we’ve sold a lot of them. I think we’ve sold, we’re almost at 4 thousand sold, which is cool. What we’re finding is for every single person who’s buying an MP3 player, probably 5 or 6 people are subscribing to the podcast, even if they’re not buying. So if you watch, I don’t know if you guys are watching, but if you go to iTunes right now, and you go to the business section, we’ve been in the top ten ever since this thing has launched. The business section is hard to get in the top ten.

Tony Robins is not in the top ten. Eric Ward is not in the top ten. All these legends are not in the top ten. Neil Patel is not in the top ten, we’ve been in the top ten for the last 2 or 3 weeks now. And it’s like, I want, since you guys are my best people. You’re hanging out, you’re here listening, I want to reveal, show the curtain, behind the scenes of what’s happening.

You know how they say, magicians are doing a trick, but he’s distracting you with stuff so you don’t see what’s actually happening, so you don’t see his hands move when he’s doing whatever that thing is that makes the trick possible. So he’s doing misdirection stuff and leading you places and stuff like that. With marketing, it’s kind of fun, my job. Most businesses is, it’s like you’re doing marketing, selling your product. Whereas, I’m doing marketing, selling my stuff. But for those who are watching, I’m hoping you are watching. Watching my hands, watching what the magician is actually doing because that’s the most valuable lesson.

Me giving my MP3 player, pre-loaded episodes is kind of a cool little thing, but why did I do that. Why am I doing that? What’s the magician actually doing and watching that. I always tell people, I buy everybody’s products. Usually I do not go through most of the products, but I’m buying because I want to see what the magicians are doing. What do they learn? If you saw the stuff I’m buying. You’d be like, “Russell, why are you buying another weight loss course?” and I’m like, “Because the weight loss dudes are really good at funnels.”

“Why are you buying a thing on stocks? You don’t even know what the stock market is?” I’m like, “I know, I have no idea how to do stocks. I don’t even want to know how to do stocks. But the stock guys are really good at funnels, so I want to watch what they’re doing.” I want to see what the magician is doing. So for those who are listening and those who are paying attention, and I hope you guys are paying attention, is watch these processes. Don’t say, “I didn’t buy Russell’s MP3 player because I don’t want an MP3 player. I’d never listen to it anyway.” Dude there’s a lesson here.

I’m not just doing these things for fun. I’m creating things and testing things and if they’re working, you’ll see me keep pushing them and keep pushing them. I look at right now, our podcast has grown insanely over the last little bit. We’re in the top ten, we’re consistently in the top ten, which is amazing. We’re getting tons of, I mean tens of thousands of downloads a day, which is amazing. And it’s because these things we’re doing, if you’re not watching, if you’re not looking you will miss it.

It was kind of cool, I did a podcast interview last week with Paul Colligan, who’s the podcasting guy and he’ll be, I think it goes live to day. And Paul is someone who’s watching the magician. He messaged me like, “Dude, I’ve seen your podcast funnel, I gotta know what and why.” It was really cool. A really cool podcast with him, kind of explaining. All of his followers are podcasters. Podcasters are out there and they’re trying to create good content to organically grow.

And I’m like, “Organic growth is good, but it’s hard.” I did a podcast every day for 3 years. We had 300+ episodes while I was organically growing it, it was good, we got followers, we got traction, but it wasn’t until I created something that I could stimulate with paid ads that it grew dramatically.

So for you guys, looking at that, look I can go on a blog all day long, but if I can’t stimulate with paid ads, man that’s a long time. Same with podcasting or whatever it is for you. But for this funnel, for the one you guys went through, a lot of you guys to get here. That was the vehicle, was the podcasting funnel. And it was a way for me to be able to pay for ads. And he, Paul basically was like, “There’s nobody that can do this. You’re the only person that can pay for subscribers profitably.”

I’m like, “Yeah, because of the model.” Anyway, I hoping you guys again, are watching the magician’s hand. Because prior to that we’d try to grow Marketing In Your Car and what we were doing is we were buying Facebook ads, trying to get people to subscribe. I’d ask John, “How many subscribers did we get from the Facebook ads?” And he’s like, “I have no idea. There’s no way to track it through iTunes.” He was like, “I’m basically just crossing my fingers and hoping that somebody subscribes.” We have no way to track it and test it. We’re just dumping money at it and crossing our fingers. That’s a horrible way to do business, stupidest thing in the world. That’s what branding guys do. That’s what companies that are backed by VC cash do. They just burn cash and they’re stupid.

Funnel hackers like us, we’re smarter. We’re looking at the ROI and it’s like, I had to create this thing to be able to create the ROI. So what’s cool about it, right now we’re driving traffic through these funnels. We’re paying affiliates $20 to give away a free MP3 player. But we know our metrics and we’re profitable on the front end. I think we’re close to about $30, might be a little lower than that. Somewhere around $30 we’re making. And we’re spending $20 to affiliates, but our ads are making about $10 – 15 to sell an MP3 player.

If you look at that, we pay for the ads, we pay affiliates, get the MP3 player, we’re profitable so we actually make a little money there. Not a lot, but enough to cover our costs. Then after we’ve covered those costs, like I said, a big percentage of people come to the page, never buy the MP3 player, but then subscribe to the podcast.

And everyone who’s, again iTunes doesn’t give us the best numbers possible. But based on my guestimations, for every single person that’s subscribing to, or that’s buying the MP3 player, we’re getting 4 or 5 people that are subscribing to the podcast as well. So I’m paying for that growth profitably. It doesn’t cost me anything.

So anyway, I just wanted to kind of lay that out for the guys who are paying attention and just thinking through that. Because organic is good, but if I could stimulate that with paid and be profitable with it, that’s great. That’s how I build a company fast. That’s how I do it without VC cash and all the other crap we’ve been told you need to do to build a company. You don’t if you’re smart, the market will back you. They’ll cover for you.  That’s the magic of funnel hacking, what we all do.

With that said, you guys. I appreciate you. I’m going to bounce. Get back to work and probably do some more podcasts from the office, find different cool locations and go from there. Thanks everybody. Talk to you guys soon.

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