Marketing Secrets with Russell Brunson - Keeping Yourself Out Of Jail And Out Of Hell

Episode Date: July 3, 2018

How to set your moral and your legal boundaries and then break the rules in the middle. On today's episode Russell talks about being a rule breaker while still being able to keep himself out of jail and out of hell. Here are some of the fun things he shares in today's episode: Why Russell considers himself to be a rule breaker even though he follows a strict moral compass, as well as a legal one. How some entrepreneurs can go too far with rule breaking if they don't have a moral compass to begin with. And how Russell can justify the rules he does break without going against his own morals as well as the confines of the legal system. So listen here to find out what kind of rules Russell believes are meant to be broken, and what kind aren't. Transcript - https://marketingsecrets.com/blog/keeping-yourself-out-of-jail-and-out-of-hell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's up everybody, this is Russell Brunson. Welcome to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. And as you can probably tell if you're listening, we're finally once again streaming from inside of my Jeep, which gets me excited. And today's episode is called How to Stay Out of Jail and Hell. All right, let's have some fun.

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 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. Okay, so we're getting close to 4th of July.

My sister and her family are over and it's been fun and we were hanging out last night on the field watching our kids play soccer until like midnight. And we're talking about business and things and it was funny because I was teasing her and I teased my wife and I teased a lot of my close friends who are rule keepers. I was kind of teasing them. I'm like, you guys, like, you follow every single rule and it drives me crazy.

And I'm like, I'm a rule breaker. And my sister came back and she's like, she's like, you are kind of a rule breaker. She's like, but also like, I know you. I've known you since before you were born. You know, as long as you're my entire life, my sister, my older sister's known me. And she's like, you're also like, you keep, you keep the

rules. Like you're, you're very strict. Like I, I have rules around, you know, anyway, I have these rules that I keep. And I kind of thought for a second, I said, you know what it is? And I said, I think I, I think I know what it is. And I said, okay, if you look at this, like imagine a circle, right? And inside the, and then around this, this circle, I have all these barriers, right? And these are all my, my moral rules. And so I have these moral I have all these barriers, right? And these are all my moral rules. And so I have these moral rules of things that I will not break, right? My thou shall nots. Like, thou shall not kill.

Thou shall not commit adultery. Thou shall not fornicate. Thou shall not, right? All those kind of things. But I have my own that are in there, right? And these are all the rules I have to keep myself out of hell. Because I don't want to go to hell someday, right? And we could talk forever about what my belief is on that. But, um, anyway,

but like I have these, I have a moral compass, these moral blocks and, and I'm very strict on those. Right. Like I'm a rule keeper. Like I, I, when it comes to those kinds of things, like things I believe came from God, they're like, thou shalt not. I follow those rules. Very, very, very, very strict because, um, I believe that they are vital and essential. Right? Then if you look at that circle, then you go out to like a bigger circle. Like, like imagine the little circles inside that has all my thou shalt nots that are like my, my moral compass. And then you go in the outer rim, like a bigger circle that's, that's out.

So the little circles inside of that one, right? So like the outer circle, this big, huge outer circle. These are all the things that the rules that if I break will put me into jail. Right. And so it's like, um, you, you can't, you know, you can't, you can't steal from people. You can't lie. I guess these are probably moral ones as well, but like these, these, um, bigger rules, right? Like you can't, I'm trying to think of the best way to explain it. Um, the way to explain to my sister yesterday, I said, um, you yesterday, I said, you know, I watch shows like American Greed. Like I love American Greed.

If you guys haven't watched that, you should watch it. And the reason why it's so good is because it's like all these scams that happen, the people end up in jail. And what's amazing is that like half the time I watch those and I was like, ooh, that's a good idea. And then like, you know, halfway through the show, you're like, oh my gosh, that's illegal. Whoa. I didn't even know that was a law. Holy crap. Okay. Note to self, there's an outer limit. Like there's a rule I can't break, you know? And it's like all

these brilliant things that turn out they're illegal. And a lot of times we don't know what's illegal because we're just like, we're entrepreneurs who are just running it. And, and if you're not aware of like the outer limits of like, if you break these, you can, and we'll go to jail. You can, you can get in trouble. In fact, there were probably seven or eight years ago, I made this offer and I was like, this is the greatest offer of all time. And we launched it, we sold it and we sold the crap out of it. And, um, uh, I was so excited. I remember I came back and I was telling my dad about it.

He was trying to have me explain it to him. So I explained it to him three or four times. And my dad's like, you can't do that. I'm like, why not? He's like, what you just sold is security. I'm like, I don't know what that means. He's like, he's like, you have to have a securities license to sell securities. And what you just sold is a security i'm like i don't know what that means he's like he's a gift of a securities license to sell securities and what you sold technically is a security and if and if the government finds out what you did like you can go to jail for that i

was like what like i i had no idea and so i started freaking out like i gotta understand security law so i was like trying to learn those and understand them and like figure out like oh my gosh these things i did and this is why what i did was illegal i didn't even know but now i know and so i had to go back to everyone i'd sold this thing to. And I was like, Hey, turns out what I'd sold you is illegal. But if we make these shifts and these changes to it, then it's, it falls within the bounds of like, what's like, what's okay. And so when I shifted those things and, um, but I, I spent a lot of time studying like, and, uh, like, you know, entrepreneurs who go to jail and try to figure out what they did wrong and why they didn't like

where, where they, they push the boundaries too far and all those kinds of things. Um, you know, I've got probably half a dozen friends that have spent a time in jail who were amazing entrepreneurs who just, they didn't understand the outer, the outer limits of what's, what's okay to do and not do. And sometimes they were, they were, um, aware of it. Sometimes they didn't, they weren't aware of it. Um, and so for me it's like, okay, what, what are the, what are the boundaries? Like what, what should I not be doing? And you know, I want to make sure that I don't, that I don't go

to jail. And so I have those rules as well. Right? So I have this outer ring of rules that are like all the things that will keep me out of jail. And I have this inner ring of rules of all the things that will keep me out of hell. And then in that space between, you know, what are the, where the inner ring ends and the outer ring inside of there, this is like, there's a whole bunch of rules that are like society norms and, and the way things are supposed to be done, all kinds of stuff. And in there I break all the rules I want. And cause I don't believe those rules matter. Right? Like those are like, yeah. And so for me, it's like, I look at that and I'm like, I think it's important to have rule and law and order and things are important. I think it's, it's very good for you guys, for all of us, including myself, to really define,

okay, here are my thou shalt nots. I will not break these rules under any circumstances because I want to keep my soul. I want to make sure that I'm a good human being and things like that, right? I'm not going to lie, cheat, steal. I'm not going to be unethical. I'm not going to, like all those things that are core, right? And then the outer rim are all the things that if I were to break, even if I don't agree with them, I'll go to jail. I'm not worth, it's not worth any risk to do that. And then in that gray area in between is where we get to play and we can break the rules

and be creative and do all sorts of amazing fun things to actually change the world. Um, it's funny. I was reading, um, Aubrey Marcus's book the other day, the only day, which is really good book, but as I'm reading it, um, Aubrey has different belief patterns than me. Right. And, uh, and so most people happen if you read that. And if, if you're, if you're a rule keeper, um, you read some of the stuff and really quickly, a lot of you guys get turned off. You're like, Oh no, he's, you know, like a couple of examples, like Aubrey, um, has an open relationship. So him and his wife, they go and have sex with lots of other people. And he's totally cool with that. Right. For me, it's like, like that breaks all of the moral compasses that would make me go to hell. Um, so instead I just take that and I throw that out. I'm like, okay, I'm not going to trust his opinion on dating advice

because, uh, it breaks my moral compass and therefore I don't believe it. I throw it out. Right. And then like in his book, he's talking about, uh, like for him, he's like the best new tropics in the world. One is nicotine. And he's like, don't smoke cigarettes cause they're really bad for you, but you should be taking nicotine supplements. I'm like, that's against my moral compass. Therefore, I shall take this piece of knowledge and throw it out the window, right? And all the things that break my moral compass,

I throw out the window. Anything I learned that's amazing, but breaks my legal compass, I throw out the window and everything in the middle now we could have fun with, right? So side of that, his book is amazing, but he does, his moral compass is different than mine.

So he breaks things I don't believe with, I don't agree with. So instead of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I just say, look, it's amazing, but he does, his moral compass is different than mine. So he breaks things I don't believe with. I don't agree with. So instead of like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, I just say, look, these are things that I don't align with because they break my thou shall not. So therefore I throw them out. But the, but in here there's some amazing stuff I'm learning from him that I can, I can actually use. Right. Um, and so for me, I just, I, I don't know. I want to show up to you guys. Cause I think a lot of times, even in my head until last night, like I had broken the world down into two types of people. Like there's rule breakers and the rule keepers. And I was like, I'm a rule breaker, but it's not necessarily true.

Um, I break rules within, within the confines of what I'm not willing to do. Right. I'm not willing to lose my soul. I'm not willing to go to jail. I don't want to go to hell or to jail. Right. Like those are my two confines, but everything in the middle there, I'm going to play. I'm going to move things around. I'm going to have a lot of fun. Um, because, because those don't matter to me. Right. Uh, when we were in Amsterdam, I was telling, uh, Dave and Brent and John this story about, uh, one of my friends, Dave Lacani. And, uh, Dave told me the story. He, he was, uh, um, uh, this is back when like, there's tons of these computer stores, you know, and he would like, he would go to all the stores

and buy all their liquid, like all their leftover stuff, right? Like hard drives and computers and monitors and all that kind of stuff. I may be telling the story kind of wrong, but the concept's right. So he'd buy all this stuff, right? And then he'd go to the mall,

and he'd go in the parking lot and do these big, huge Saturday sales and promote him like crazy, and he'd get people from all around the city to come, and he'd make, who knows, $50,000 fifty sixty thousand dollars in a weekend selling all this old computer stuff right and um so he's doing that so again there's nothing morally wrong there's nothing legal like legally wrong like he's not gonna go to jail for that but he was breaking rules in between so the guy like the cops came said hey you you can't um have a like you can't do a store out here like

that's you can't do that he said here. You can't do that. He said, why not? I said, well, because it's against the rules. And he's like, well, what happens if I break this rule? And the cop said, I'm going to have to give you a fine. He's like, well, how much is a fine? The guy's like, $150 a day. So Dave's like, done.

Give me the fine. And so the guy gave him a $150 a day fine to go and make $50,000 in a weekend. So it's like, that's a rule I will break. I'm not going to go to jail or go to hell. So I will break that rule to get done the thing I need to get done. Right. So there's like a practical example of this. Um, and so, um, anyway, I just want to share it with you guys because, um, I think that for the rule keepers, I think if you, if a lot of you guys are struggling from success because you're stuck with these are the rules, this is what's okay.

And a lot of times creation and entrepreneurship and growth comes from like bending or breaking rules. So for the rule keepers, it's like, okay, let's, let's set your moral compass. Here you are. Thou shall not keep you out of hell. Here's the thou shall not. So keep you out of jail. Set those as the outer and the inner limits.

And in between that space there, let's go and create and do. And don't worry about the rules that you may get in trouble for. Someone may look down on you or society won't like you or whatever those things are. Be okay with breaking those rules, but not the ones that are going to get you into hell or into jail, right? And then for the rule breakers who are breaking all sorts of rules. I just had a friend who's got a big company who just got shut down by the FTC last week. And it's like, they, they, they were on the outer limits. They were breaking the, these rules and their things. I, I'm aware of,

like I assume they were aware of, but there, for some reason, they were looking at it and they were just like, Oh, you know, we're big enough. We could fight it in court or whatever. They had these things. Um, but the government don't, does not care. They don't care if you, you know what I mean? Like if they want to shut you down, they will like they would click phones for some reason like, ah, we don't like you. Like I can't do anything about it.

They can shut me down like by snapping their fingers and it is over. So, so it's like, I need to be very aware of like, what are the outer limits of the rules and then try to stay off of those limits as much as they can. Right. Um, and so, um, for, uh, again, for the, for the, uh, let's see what, sorry. Yeah. The rule breakers like set, like make, make some rules, make your inner, your inner circle rules that are like keeping you out of hell.

And then your outer circle rules keep you out of jail and then only break the rules in that, in that space in between. Um, and that's where, that's where amazingness comes from. So I hope that helps you guys a little bit. Um, and, uh, and yeah, if you're, if you're, if you're not aware of what are the laws, you don't have to go read the law books because they're confusing, but go watch American Greed.

Go watch shows like that that talk about entrepreneurs who try things and then end up in jail because you start seeing the pattern of like, okay, if I'm selling this kind of thing, it's a security, I have to have a securities license, and I have to have accredited investors. I got a friend the other day that was pitching me on this whole thing. I was like, dude, that's illegal. He's like, no, it's not. I'm like, no, no, it's illegal.

And he's like, and I had explained to him like security laws and how they work and all this stuff. And I still don't think he believed me. But I'm like, dude, you're watching American Greed. You're not, you know, studying enough stuff. I'd start seeing the patterns and you realize, okay, that is a brilliant idea, but that will turn into a Ponzi scheme because of this, this and this. This is a brilliant idea, but that's illegal because of this. And like a lot of times the brilliant ideas are illegal. And so you got to be aware of the outer limits. And then again, the other side is like, you need to have a moral compass in this industry. Unfortunately, it's not a thing that people focus on. And I see people who, who get into drugs and sex and

partying and they stab each other in the back and they will steal from their customers and they will sell things to people that shouldn't be selling things to them. They do all sorts of stuff, um, because of the, uh, the almighty dollar that they, they worship. And for me, it's like, it's not, it's not worth, it's not worth it. When you get hit by a bus and die and, uh, all that money disappears, like you'll find out really quick. It's not, it's not worth it. So my question for you guys is what's your moral compass? What are your thou shalt nots? And yours is going to be different than mine.

I'm very strict on a lot of things, right? Things that I believe in. A lot of it comes from my religion and my faith. And I don't believe in drinking. I don't believe in doing drugs. And I don't believe in lying, cheating, or stealing. I believe in doing things ethically. I believe in treating people right.

And so these are my moral compass. I'm not going to go and break those rules because they're important to me and I believe it's what keeps me out of hell. So keep yourself out of hell and out of jail. If you do that, you'll have fun in between. So I hope that helps you guys. Appreciate y'all.

I'm going into the office to go have a ton of fun in the gray area between those two and breaking some rules, changing some lives, and having some fun. So appreciate you all. Have a nice day, and we'll talk to you guys all again soon. Bye, everybody. Want more marketing secrets? If so, then go get your copies of my two best-selling 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. 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.