Marketing Secrets with Russell Brunson - It's Not The Thing... It's The Marketing Of The Thing That Counts

Episode Date: November 27, 2017

A conversation I had today explains the reason why most businesses end up suffocating and dying. On today's episode Russell talks about something awesome he witnessed with his kids school. He goes on to talk about discussing marketing with another parent at school and why he considers it the lifeblood of a business. Here are some of the insightful things in this episode: Why marketing is the lifeblood of a company. How cutting back on marketing in a business is like putting pressure on the carotid artery in wrestling. And how to get a successful business by tripling down on your marketing. So listen here to find out why you need to become obsessed with the marketing of your product, rather than the product itself. Transcript - https://marketingsecrets.com/blog/it-s-not-the-thing-it-s-the-marketing-of-the-thing-that-counts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Switch to RBC Avion Visa and get up to 55,000 bonus Avion points. Limited time offer, conditions apply. Visit rbc.com slash Avion. What's up everybody? This is Russell Brunson and welcome to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. Hope you guys are amazing today. So the big question is this. How are entrepreneurs like us who didn't cheat and take on venture capital, we're spending money from our own pockets. How do we market in a way that lets us get our products and our services and the 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 Marketing Secrets.

Alright everybody, so it is the day before Thanksgiving. We have 20 bubble soccer balls being delivered to my house. We're going to be playing a huge bubble soccer game on the Smurf Turf, which is really exciting, or the Astro Turf. We call it Smurf Turf because the blue here in Boise. But anyway, looking forward to that. And everything's getting ready. We had wrestling practice this morning with the kiddos.

And I had some cool experiences happen there. One that was just a really special moment I want to share with you guys. And one that was the reason why most people aren't successful in business. So I'll give you both. And hopefully you'll learn a lesson from the two. So number one, it's really cool. At the kids' school, there's a little kid. It's kind of a crazy story.

Apparently his mom and him both had cancer about the same time together. It's a cute little family. It's a little kid named Nico. And so at the junior high or middle school, whatever you call it, they've been like kind of everyone has gotten around this kid and his story and trying to help him out. And it's just cute. All the kids wear Huskies for Nico t-shirts. My dad had a shirt on today.

He said, Huskies for Nico. They do fundraisers for Nico and all these things. It's just such a cool thing how they've gotten the school all behind this one person and this one cause and movement. It's cool. I always talk about building mass movements and things like that, but I think a lot of times it's um it's cool i um you know i always talk about building mass movements and things like that but i think a lot of times it's these these little private intimate movements

that that means so much to people and it really helps people to to become something more and it's just cool watching this and watching my kids participate in this in this movement for um for a little kid in their school named nico and so today wrestling practice you know we got all these probably 60 or 70 wrestlers out there all trained to be warriors, trying to be tough and everything. And in the middle of practice, Nico and his dad came in.

And when he walked in, it's just like the whole room went silent. And it was like out of respect for him. And it's like just one of the neatest, neatest experiences I've witnessed in a long time. And I got chills sitting there watching and all the kids just looking at him and like talking to him.

And then they came in, and they presented him, because Nico was a wrestler as well, before all these problems happened, so they gave him some wrestling t-shirts, and sweatshirts, and stuff like that, and then they had Nico lead a cheer, and so they brought everyone in,

and did their cheer, and it was just such a special, anyway it was just a cool thing, so that was a fun thing happened today, and then afterwards I was talking with the dads, and the dad's a successful real estate dude here in Boise. And it's kind of funny cause he was like, Hey, I recognize you. I see you in my newsfeed every single day. Sorry about that. Wish I was better looking. But it was kind of

funny cause he was in there and we were talking for a while afterwards. And, and it was interesting because there's a big reason why more people aren't successful and it it's a mindset little tweak and it's something he had definitely. So I want to share with you because if you're stuck in this mindset tweak, it's what's keeping you back. I did a podcast episode on 100 podcasts or so ago talking about not outsourcing your lovemaking. And in that, I talked about how if you look at a business, it doesn't matter what you're selling. If you're selling houses, cars, supplements, it doesn't matter what you're selling. You're selling. That part doesn't matter what you're selling. If you're selling houses, cars, supplements, it doesn't matter what you're selling. You're selling, that part doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter what business you're in. The marketing is the only thing that matters. It's the only thing that actually, it's the lifeblood of a business. It's what drives leads and customers and sales. It's the only thing that actually matters. I can take my marketing systems and plug in any business and it'll work

because human psychology is the same. How we get leads is the same. How we convert those leads is the same, right? And so we're talking to him and he's like, yeah, well, I saw ClickFunnels, you know, I just, I just haven't done it yet. I'm like, oh, it's like, whatever. Like, it doesn't, it doesn't like hurt me at all. It doesn't affect me at all.

And he's like, he's like, yeah, so can I ask you a question? Like, so you guys do like stuff for real estate agents? He's like, I watched the viral video with the, with the squirrel and the prospector. It sounds like it's only for selling products. I'm like, no, like it's for, like it generates leads. It sells products. It's like whatever you need it to be. And he's like, oh, so do you have anyone in real estate doing it?

I'm like, yeah, we have tons of people. Like, you know, on top of my head, I know probably half a dozen or so that are killing it with like real estate agents using it. And in fact, I even told him, I'm like, there's a guy who's got one of the biggest brokerages here in Boise, I'm like, he's using it. And it's funny, and he's like, oh, well, you know, I hired some marketing companies to do that for me, and they're kinda getting us leads. I'm like, so is it working good?

He's like, no, not really. He's like, I wish we could just get rid of all the leads, being all the other agents underneath us, they want internet leads, so we have to do that, but I just, I don't like it, and I think it's dumb. And he's like, yeah, right now we're selling about 100 houses a year. And he's like, no, if you know right now we're selling about a hundred houses a year and he's like no if we got to point out about 200 houses a year then then we could afford to hire a

full-time marketing person to generate leads and stuff and it's just as the marketing guy here I just like I want to grab the guy just be like what are you like how do you not understand this it's like saying um yeah like like let's say you're you're struggling in your marriage and you're like yeah well my wife and i when we start like having you know when marriage gets gets good and like we're happy and like everything's perfect then we'll go to counseling i say no counseling or whatever it is what gets you there right and it's just funny like yeah when like when we get when we've grown to high enough we can afford someone to generate leads then we'll generate leads it like, no, you can't afford not to.

Like, you should stop everything you're doing. The only thing you should do is generate leads. And it's funny because he's like, yeah, the biggest person in town, they have about a thousand, they sell a thousand houses a month, but they're doing all of it online, generally the leads online.

And they're able to do it because they're selling so many houses. I'm like, no, you don't understand. It's because they're doing it that they're able to sell so many houses. It's not because they have so many houses they can do it. It's like the chicken and the egg. It's like, it's like, it's like you're I'm like, no, you don't understand. It's because they're doing it. They're able to sell so many houses. It's not because that's so many houses, they can do it. It's like the chicken and the egg. It's like, it's like, it's like you're trying to like, if I cut off the oxygen to your brain, your brain will stop. So don't like, it is the lifeblood. And I told him, I was

like, and he's asking me, like, can we hire you guys to do stuff like that for me? I'm like, no, like we, I'm like, no, I'm like, we certify people that can do it. But it's like, I mean, if you really want to be successful, it's like, you have to become the head of the marketing. Like you cannot outsource your lovemaking. Like you can't do that can do it, but it's like, I mean, if you really want to be successful, it's like you have to become the head of the marketing. Like you cannot outsource your lovemaking. Like you can't do that in business and expect it to be awesome. Right. In your marriage, if you're like, Hey, this is my wife, I'm going to outsource the lovemaking to somebody else.

Like your business, your marriage is going to fail. It's the same thing in your business. Like it is the lifeblood. It is the thing that gets customers into your world and gets them to like you and believe you and trust you and give you money. And it's like the most important part of business. I think the biggest problem with, funny if you listen to E-Myth, like Michael Gerber talks about this, like people are technicians and they have an entrepreneurial seizure and they think they want to start a business because

they work at a cake factory and they see the dude who runs the cake shop and they're like, this guy's a moron. I can do a better job of that. So they start their own business and they're not entrepreneurs. There's dudes who build cakes. It's like the dude who builds a cake, like anyone can build a cake. Like you can hire a lot of people to do that. Like it's the person who's going to actually sell the crap out of the cakes that runs the business. Like if you don't have that, like your business dies. It's funny. Like in 2008, when all the, when the economy crashed, all these companies are crashing. Um, I see all these people in the companies, like the, their first instinct is not like, let's lower costs on like stupid stuff. They all cut their marketing and their

sales, but like their marketing budget, I'm like, okay, we're struggling. Let's cut off the life blood to our head. Like in wrestling, when I'm taking, when I'm wrestling somebody, um, there's a little, if you're watching the video right here, both sides of your neck, there's a thing called a carotid artery. And if I want, if I'm wrestling somebody, I can get a front headlock and I can put a little bit of pressure right there against the carotid artery, and that fast, the blood flow stops to your head. It's not like, if someone chokes you, and then you die. With your carotid artery, if I touch it, right, that fast, you will black out.

It's really fun when you're wrestling someone, and you're giddy, and you get a boom, and he's the whole body goes limping. You flip him over, and you pin him, right? Because it's the blood that goes to your brain. You cut off the blood. It's like a second, and you're out cold. And I take it back off, and the blood keeps coming to your brain. You cut off the blood. It's, it's like a second and you're out cold. Um, and I'd take it back off and the blood keeps coming to your back alive. Right? So companies go and they cut off, they cut off the lifeblood and then the company dies like that fast. It's like, that is what's keeping you alive. Like in times of bad economy, they triple down on

the advertising, triple down on the marketing. Like that's anyway, you guys all know that I'm just be, I'm preaching to the choir, but for everyone else, I just want to kind of talk about that. Cause I thought it was so funny. Like, and, uh, and I told him that he's like, anyway, you guys all know that. I'm just preaching to the choir here. But for everyone else, I just wanted to kind of talk about that because I thought it was so funny. And I told him that and he's like, oh, you know, lead generation for me is nurturing the clients we have and things like that. And I can't outsource that. That's my lovemaking or something. And I'm like, dude, that's, anyway, anyway.

So that's all I got to say. I don't even know what to say. If you want to grow your company focus on the marketing and sales of the thing and I know most of you guys are in business because you love the thing you do that's awesome but if you want to have a lot of people use that thing you got to become obsessed with the marketing of the thing that is the key the marketing of the thing is the business the business is not the thing the bit the thing is the fulfillment of whatever you want to do but the business is the marketing of the thing.

That's the only thing that actually matters because without that, your company dies. Without that, the lifeblood goes off to your brain and instantly you're out cold. And that's why us versus other SaaS companies. Other SaaS companies are focusing on hiring these huge teams of people to do whatever. I don't know what they even do, right?

We focus on the marketing. The marketing drives it. So there you go, hiring these huge teams of people to do whatever. I don't know what they even do, right? We focus on the marketing. The marketing drives it. So there you go, guys. Anyway, hope that helps some of you guys who are thinking and wondering and like, oh, you know, I'm going to hire a marketing team. Like, ah, it's hard to do. It's, I'm, you can do it. But if you really want to grow, like you got to come obsessed with the marketing,

everything you've got to not try to outsource your lovemaking and realize that that is the business. And if you want to be in business, you want to be an entrepreneurial, like the entrepreneur seizure you had of like trying to start this cake company or your, whatever thing it is you sell. Like, like if you want that baby to survive and to live, you know, being obsessed with the thing is not going to do it. It's being obsessed with the marketing of the thing. So I hope that helps.

Appreciate you all. I'm going to do it. It's being obsessed with the marketing of the thing. So I hope that helps. Appreciate you all. I'm going to go. I've got a couple hours to work. Get my to-do list killed and crushed so that I can have a Thanksgiving that's not stressful. Those of you guys know us, entrepreneurs,

like my buddy Alex Sharfman always says, we're all about momentum. And so it's like Thanksgiving scares me because there's no momentum. So I'm trying to get so much momentum over the next four hours before I go back home that it'll knock down any dominoes tomorrow

that are standing up when I'm trying to relax with the family. So that's it, you guys. Appreciate you all and have an amazing day. Bye. Want more marketing secrets? If so, then go get your copies of my two bestselling books. Book number one is called Expert Secrets and you can get a free copy at expertsecrets.com.

And book number two is called Dot Com Secrets and you can get your free copy at dotcomsecrets.com and book number two is called.com secrets and you can get your free copy at.com secrets.com inside these two books. You'll find my top 35 secrets that we've used to become the fastest growing non VC backed SaaS startup company in the world.