Marketing Secrets with Russell Brunson - The #1 Way To Know If You're Going To Succeed Or Fail Before You Even Start

Episode Date: June 14, 2017

After working with tens of thousands of entrepreneurs, there is one common thing I've found that will instantly let me know if you'll succeed or fail. On today's episode Russell talks about how he could tell with 100% certainty within seconds of meeting an entrepreneur if they would be successful. Here are some of the interesting things to listen for in this episode: What quality does Russell see that successful entrepreneurs have and unsuccessful marketers are missing. Why Russell thinks that most people don't want to take the leap required to be successful. And find out how all this can also relate to other areas in your life besides business. So listen below to find out if you possess the quality that equals success or if you need to switch your focus in order to become successful. Transcript - https://marketingsecrets.com/blog/the-1-way-to-know-if-you-re-going-to-succeed-or-fail-before-you-even-start Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey everyone, this is Russell Brunson and welcome to the Marketing Secrets Podcast. Tonight I'm going to show you guys the one telltale sign to know if you're going to be successful in business or not. And it works 100% of the time. 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. Hey everyone, this is Russell. So we're on like day four or five of like binge all-nighters when my wife and kids are away out of town. Now my wife doesn't get back until a couple more days, but two of my kids, my youngest two are coming back tomorrow, which I'm so excited. They just came back today and then they didn't, so now I gave them one more day to pull an all-nighter.

So it's about 1 o'clock now. Today we have built and launched one, two, three, four funnels. And what's funny is that none of them are new funnels. They're all just rebuilds of existing funnels. And this is hopefully less than four, y'all, because I hate all my funnels, even though they work pretty good, but they're still not done. But guess what I did? I launched them and managed money with them. And now I'm fixing them again. And I'm probably going to fix them again later. And I keep getting better and better and better, but they're never done.

So don't be like, oh, my funnel's not ready. I can't make money. Just do it. Just launch it and make money and then fix it along the way. And keep fixing it and ready, fire, aim. ClickFunnels gives you that ability to change things and make them better and better. So that's what I do. And that's what you should do.

All right. So before I pass out, because I'm kind of like getting a little loopy, it was fun. I was, Steve and I spent like 30 minutes. I think we were getting tired, and then I gave him an internet marketing history lesson. According to Russell Brunson, I showed him all my old sites, Wayback Machine, my first product, my second, my first three software products. I showed him. It was fun. We filmed most of it.

Hopefully, it'll show up on Funnel Hacker TV, but who knows? We'll see. While we're talking, it was funny, he was talking about how in the past, how he's had a lot of business partners and things and how some people, how basically all the business partners he's had, none of them ever became successful and he was the only one that came out at the end that was

and him and his wife were discussing why did that happen and why didn't it? And he's just saying that i i remembered something and i told him like and i and obviously nowadays it's different people come to our events now it's different like because we've raised the prices and we've attracted real entrepreneurs and things like that but the first five or six years of my company we were selling to uh beginners and and we were breaking my cardinal rule, which is don't sell to broke people, but we were. So we had these events, people would come in and not that they were all broke, I think there were some amazing people came through, but it was definitely different audience,

different crowd. And I was telling myself that I would walk into our events, we had smaller events, about 40, 50 people. And I'd welcome everybody and have everyone introduce themselves. And within five seconds of them introducing themselves, I knew with 100% certainty and accuracy who was going to succeed and who wasn't. It was crazy. And I always felt guilty. I have to introduce myself. Should I tell them, hey, there's no way you could ever be successful in this business.

You should leave. Or should I tell them, like, hey, there's no way you could ever be successful, like, in this business, you should leave. Or should I, like, let them go through, you know, like, part of it's like, some people buy because they want success, some people buy because they want the entertainment, they want the excitement, they like chasing the dream, like, the idea of the dream. And so I feel like that's sometimes more valuable, as valuable, more valuable than what you give them,

if that makes sense. Like, like, um, like, I know, what was it? I can't remember who I learned this from or where I heard it. Oh, man, it was really good. But the concept was basically that, like, it was from a TV show. Someone shared it. But basically, like, a lot of people, like, they don't want to take the leap and actually do the work.

It doesn't make sense because those of you who are producers, like that's what you thrive off producing and doing and like moving forward. But a lot of people, they don't want to take that leap because they had this dream, this vision, what's going to happen. And if they do take the leap and if it, if it fails, then they lose their dream. Right. And so for me, like, you know, I know that this life is short and for a lot of us, it's just dreaming.

There's a lot of things I do that I spend money on that are never going to be real, but I enjoy it. It gets me dreaming. It lets me dream and to think about something gets me excited. So that's part of it. So I never told those people when they introduced me, there's no way you'll be successful. You should leave because, again, I feel like there are other things.

I don't try to impress. should lead because again I feel like there are other things. I don't try to impress, sometimes for us, and everyone here listening is different, some of you guys, success is the reason why you do this and that's your value, that's what you're looking for. Sometimes we try to force our values on other people. I've got a mastermind group, my inner circle, you guys know about that, people get 25 grand a year

and some people come because they want to learn and execute. Other people come because they just want to hang out. And if I try to push them to learn and execute, it bothers them and they leave. Because they say they want success, but they don't really want success. They want the networking. They want the people. They want the friendship. They want connection with other people like them.

And I totally respect that now. I used to struggle with that when I was first getting started. But people give you money for different reasons. And most times it's not for why you think. So don't push your own beliefs on them because it can screw things up. So anyways, people come in and I would know that. And I asked Stephen, I'm like, do you know how I could tell? I'm curious if you would know.

And so my question for you is that, like, how did I know? What was the telltale sign that with 100% certainty and accuracy I knew within a second if people were gonna be successful or not in in this business not in life they'd be successful other things but in this business I'm curious your thoughts are so think about it for a second because I'm gonna tell you what the answer is and I'm a little nervous to tell you because some of you guys gonna be like crap does that mean I'm going to tell you what the answer is. And I'm a little nervous to tell you because some of you guys are going to be like, crap, does that mean I'm not going to be successful? And I don't think that that means you're not going to be successful, but it does if you don't shift what you're chasing, what you're thinking about.

Because everyone I know who has been successful, it's been the opposite side. So, like, again, we would come in and after the first session, I'd be like, okay, here's our three people who are going to be successful. And everyone else in the room would be like, again, we would come in and after the first session, I'd be like, okay, here's our three people are going to be successful. And everyone else in the room would be like, yeah, I don't know how, but I feel that too. And I kind of identified it. So this was the difference. Those who never had success, when they introduced themselves, when they talked about it, when

they thought about it, whenever they presented anything, they were in the business because they wanted to make money. Those are the people that failed. You're listening and you're like, what? Russell, we all want to make money. That's why we got in this business, right? That's why I'm here. That's why I'm studying you, Russell, because you teach people how to make money, and I want some of that, right?

You guys remember Wedding Singer, one of my favorite movies of all time? When Adam Sandler, when Drew Barrymore goes to marry whatever, so he's all mad, so he goes to the bank and he's trying to get a loan, or trying to get a job at a bank to make money so that she'll like him. And Norm MacDonald, or not Norm MacDonald, what's his name?

Anyway, he's the banker, and he's asking his qualifications and Adam Sandler's like, well, I like money. I like some more of it. You've got some money. And it's just like this, anyway, this funny thing. So I totally slaughtered it, but it's really funny. Go watch Wedding Singer. Anywho, it's really late.

All right, so where did I leave off? Okay. All right, so the people that were not successful, the people that wanted to make money, the people that were successful are people that were passionate and excited about the marketing. That's the key.

Isn't that weird? Those who got excited by the marketing were the ones who were successful. It was weird. I remember hanging out with Dagan Smith one time and he told me, he said, when he shifted from not being successful to being successful is when he got excited

and passionate about the marketing and became obsessed with it. And it's interesting because the business owners that I like to work with, the entrepreneurs, where the entrepreneurs are running the business, why? Because they become passionate about the marketing of the thing. Whereas bigger businesses, like they become passionate about the marketing of the thing whereas

like bigger businesses they think they're in the business of selling the thing okay like Apple you're not in the business of selling iPhones you were in the business of excuse me not in the iPhone business you're the business of selling iPhones like that's what Steve Jobs understood that's why it was a big deal so I did a keynote speech that's why all those things happen because he knew he was in the business of the selling of the thing, not of the thing. And that's what I found. People introduced themselves like, I'm studying Russell.

I'm geeking out reading the books. I love the market. I'm so excited. I've got this passion and I want to sell it. I'm like, boom, that guy's going to be successful. That girl's going to be successful. They come in like, hey, yeah, so I have a job and I really want to make some extra money and whatever. Or, hey, I'm just not happy with where I'm at and I want to make extra money.

Every time it was like money focused, they failed. Every time it was, I've been reading this stuff and I'm excited. So hopefully, because unfortunately, most educators make things really boring. And I feel bad. Through my college and high school careers, most teachers are really boring. And I've tried my best to make marketing exciting. Because it is exciting. It's exciting for me.

I actually started this on Sunday. I recorded. I decided I wanted to start a religious podcast. And I recorded the first two episodes. And it's hard because, like, I listen to other religious podcasts. And, like, they bore me. And I'm like, are you, like, how are you guys boring? Do you not understand, like, they like, they bore me. And I'm like, are you like, how are you guys boring? Do you not understand?

Like, like what is happening? I love religion because like the greatest act in the history of the world happened. There was this guy in Jerusalem. It wasn't just a guy, but there were like, this thing happened and it is so exciting. We understand it, what it means. And like, and so I'm trying to make my podcast as exciting because i'm as excited about that as about marketing it's like

my goal has been trying is to try to make the marketing exciting for you because i know that that's what gets people into it it's not the thing it's it's being excited about the marketing of the thing and that's the moral of today's lesson and so for, if you're struggling, I think better than like, like the best advice I can give you is become obsessed with the marketing, become obsessed with reading the books and understanding the stuff and how it works. Like when you become obsessed with the marketing, that's, that's going to be successful. So don't dabble, go deep. Get excited. Get obsessed. Hopefully my books are there.

Hopefully my podcast. Hopefully Fun Hacker TV. That's why we're putting out so much content because I want you guys to see how much fun this can be. It's exciting. It's the most exciting thing in the world. The most exciting business in the world. The most exciting time.

You literally can have your own TV channel on a phone. That's insane. We're such an exciting time and I want you guys all to be excited so hopefully I'm exciting enough but that said

like I really need to go to bed Steven's gonna go to bed it's 108 and like being up at 108 it's not that big of a deal except for the fact

that it's like five nights in a row or more so anyway I'm gonna go but I appreciate you guys get excited by the marketing

and if you do that it'll all work out. It always does, but you gotta be passionate about the marketing. And it's true to anything in life, right? Like, if you read Expert Secrets, you know we talked about the external and the internal journeys?

Those who focus on the external journey are the ones that typically fail. It's the internal journey. Making money is external. They're saying that marketing, changing people's lives, serving, telling stories, that's the internal. So those who have read the book, that's a clue. But it's true in everything. Weight loss.

I'm losing weight. If your goal is to lose weight, you're probably not going to do it, just so you know. It's a hint. So what's the opposite of that? What's the internal? What's the internal thing if you're passionate about that excited about that

then you're gonna lose weight okay if your goal is to pick any market like whatever the external goal is if that's your real

driving passion you're not gonna succeed sorry sorry to break it to you okay because I wanted to lose weight for a long time and I didn't

guess why because I'm excited about losing weight. Anyway, there's a hint. Hopefully that helps. All right, no more hints. I got to go to bed. Thanks, guys. Appreciate you and we'll talk to you soon. 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 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.