In this final segment, you get to hear Russell answer some questions from the attendees of the ROR Symposium. If you have enjoyed these episodes about the importance of relationships, please check out RORUniversity.com to learn more!
And so yes, 100% agree. And that's why we do it. And again, I don't think I did it up front. In fact, I think it was actually Kaelin Poulin. Because we had Funnel Hacker, and she had launched her swag stuff and a bunch of them didn't work. And then the one that just said LadyBoss on it, she came back, and I remember in our Inner Circle meeting, that's what she said. She's like I realize if they can't say I am a whatever, they don't self-identify, she's like, "We may sell it, but for us to sell a lot, it's like the self-identification gives people to actually buy, wear it, all that kind of stuff." So, very cool.
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Hey everybody. This is Russell. Welcome back to Marketing Secrets podcast. All right. What did you guys think? Did you like the keynote presentation so far? I hope you did. Hopefully it gave you some ideas about how we grow a business using relationships and joint ventures and the Dream 100, and give you guys some realistic expectations on how the game is played. Hope you guys enjoyed it so far.
Now at the end of the symposium, they opened up to Q&A, which was really fun. And so I had a chance to do some Q&A, answer some questions, and we kind of jumped all over the board. So this episode will be fun. You'll get a couple different perspectives on some questions. My guess is that one of the questions you're going to hear is a question that you're probably wondering or something maybe you should have asked and didn't even think about it. So I hope this gives you a some value and you get some benefit from it.
Once again, I want to thank Christopher Voss for allowed me to use my presentation from his ROR symposium for the podcast episode. If you want to follow Christopher and learn more about what he's doing and how to build better relationships in your business, get more traffic, build more referrals and things like that, make sure you go to roruniversity.com and get on his list.
All right, that said, I'm going to open up the third and final episode from our ROR symposium. We had a chance to do some Q&A with me, and I hope you guys enjoy it. Thanks so much.
Don: One of my capacities today, just in this hour, is to be bouncer. So y'all get on the velvet rope, I've got my clipboard. I will let you go first, McCall, because I can see you on my screen. McCall, we've got 10 or 15 minutes, so just do me a favor, people: ask Russell your question with a certain amount of concise nature, and then he can answer it, because we have one last thing we need to do before Russell goes, and then we can wrap up the symposium.
So McCall, go ahead. Unmute yourself and ask your question.
McCall: Hi! Okay. I want to know who's on your list next.
Don: Ooh.
McCall: You got to have a list of people who you are always trying to connect with. I know you've gone to Tony Robbins. I mean, I know there are, but who are the people who you are actively trying to connect with now? Are you going to share it with us? Is it a secret? Is it supposed to be a secret? Am I missing something here?
Russell: That's a good question. Maybe I'll put out the word, and guys can go find these people for me.
McCall: Yes!
Russell: It's interesting, and partially it's kind of where my life, like number one... Okay. So partially it's because I started getting obsessed with UFC during COVID, so I enjoyed watching more UFC fights... So this will make sense in a second. Also, I'm working on my success and personal development books right now, so it kind of opens up the reason why also. But the two people that I really am looking forward to eventually is Dana White and Joe Rogan. Those two guys are super fascinating to me. I don't agree with-
McCall: Joe Rogan and, who was the first one?
Russell: Dana White, who's the owner of UFC. Both of them, I don't agree with our belief system, like half, but they fascinate me on the other half and I have the ability to... Hopefully, all of us can learn is you can disagree with somebody on a lot of things and still have respect from them and still learn from them, so. But those are the two I'm really fascinated by and I have so many things... I'm not a very good interviewer, but man, if I sit down for an hour or two them, I would have so many things I want to ask them and like, ah, those guys fascinate me, so.
McCall: Do you just do it in a Kevin Bacon way? Where you're like, okay, the six degrees of Kevin Bacon away from Joe Rogan and Dana White, and you just like start to eliminate?
Russell: Definitely. There's that, but there's also like, is there a way I can incorporate Joe? How can I serve Joe Rogan? Right? He's the biggest podcast, my podcast doesn't help him, but I'll put him on stage potentially. Or there's something we could do, or... What's the next thing? If he's going to be doing his comedy shows, maybe I could find out like, "Hey, I can help fill a show in a city. We can do a funnel." Something like that where I can use my unique abilities to help magnify something they're doing. Or Dana White, I don't know how I'd serve him yet, but that would be kind of the thing.
And then yes, it's looking at degrees of separation. I do know that Grand Cardone had Dana White on stage, I know there's that; I know Alex Sharpton is moving next door to Joe Rogan. So there's all kind of things. But I'm not like, "Hey Sharpton, can you call Joe Rogan for me? What's his address?" I'm not doing that, because I don't want to be the creepy guy. But I'm like, okay, I do know there's connection points, and who and how and all this kind of things. And then I'm also trying to pay attention to him. So like when I do have a chance to meet them the very first time, I can have an intelligent conversation.
I can tell when people are prepared to meet me, because they... Like today, I had a guy that I'm potentially interviewing for a big position. And it was in the conversation, I could just... like, little things. He asked something about wrestling. I was like, "Oh, how do you like wrestling?" And he's like, "Your kid's wrestle?" I was like, I literally Instagramed a picture of Aiden on a wrestling mat last night. He did his homework, so we had this thing, and that's when I was like, "Oh, he is cool because he's paying attention." And all of a sudden I was like, "Ah, he got me. I trust this guy now because he had that commonality."
And so, I'm trying to pay enough attention to them, what they're doing, where I could have a... Not that I have to agree with him, but I can like have a conversation. Like, "Hey, I don't agree with this. What do you think?" Sometimes agreeing with people don't create the connection points. The disagreement, you can have a discussion. That gets more fascinating and you get closer to someone through that than you ever could like, "Oh, you're so cool." People don't want to feel like they're being worshiped, they want to feel like an equal. So it's like, you get a mentally stimulating conversation with somebody that you disagree with, sometimes that's the best connection. I don't have the same opinion of that person, but that was the fascinating view to look at it through. And so, just gotta do my homework there. And yeah, stuff like that.
McCall: That's cool. Thanks man!
Russell: No worries.
Don: Awesome. Okay, next... That's how rumors get started. Did you guys know that Russell's getting into UFC? He's going to be the ultimate fighter champion.
Russell: I’m ready for it, let's go.
Don: Let's go! All right, Daniel, you're next. Go ahead.
Russell: I think if I was to have just retired from wrestling right now in my life, I 100% would be going towards UFC. Now that I'm an old man, I can't. And I didn't understand fighting back when I did get done competing, but if I was graduating from competition right now, I had 100% be in the UFC, or trying to be in the UFC, for sure.
Don: And I had no idea that you were such a pop culture reference person. I've seen you do it stage a few time, but you did it in this small group, and I'm like, "Thank God. Russell and I have this in common." Because my immediate thought when you talked about it was, you can be like the guy from friends when John Favreau tries to be the ultimate fighting champion. He's passed his prime there and he has to give up the dream. But anyway. Daniel, go ahead with your question.
Daniel: All right. First up, thank you so much, Russell. It's such an honor to be here in the same room as you. It's because of you, my mindset has switched from the mindset of just wanting to earn more money to serving people. I'm a big fan of you and your podcast, and especially Marketing In Your Car. That totally rocks. And my question…
Russell: By the way, did you notice that? Now I know, first off, he's paid attention, but it wasn't just like, "Oh, I bought your book." He's like, Marketing In Your Car, which is my old podcast, he paid attention to. Yeah, so checked out connection point, now I'm like this guy's a real fan. I actually trust him even more. So, very good for you. That was awesome.
Daniel: I love for you, Russell. I love you so much. So your latest podcast where you mentioned about the reasons for entry versus the reasons to stay, from Dan Kennedy. So I believe that we can also use that same framework for our Dream 100 too. If yes, could you expound a little bit more on that for me, please?
Russell: Yeah. For sure. Those who don't know the reference yet, I did a podcast about this fax right here. Hold on. Oh, it’s not this one, dang it. Anyway, Dan only sends things through fax. So, there's fax that we got, which was like the fax he sent to the guy who bought it before me about how the other company destroyed his brand and his name, and there's a whole bunch of these little nuggets.
So I shared one nugget, which was the difference between why people come into your business and why they stay in your business. They're different, right? For example, in our Mastermind, people come, it's like, "I want to be in my Russell's Mastermind!" And they get there and they're like, "Russell's not that cool, but all the people here are amazing!" And they stick because of the community of people, right? So it's like, I'm the hook to get him in, but this is what you're actually paying for is this amazing community. Right? And Dan was talking about, because for them, it's like, people come in because they want the money making secret of whatever, but they stay for the community and the newsletter, and Dan and his thoughts. It's understanding that they come and they stick for different reasons.
And so Dream 100's very similar. I think a good practical example is like when we launched ClickFunnels, I was trying to find people that we could build funnels for free. Right? So I called a bunch of like bigger name people. Tony was one, Dave Asprey, a bunch of people who I woke up to. And I was like, "Hey, can I build you a funnel for your new book launch or for your thing?" It's like, they came because I wanted to serve them, do a thing like that. But then, that's how I got to know him. Right? I had a chance to go to Bulletproof Cafe and film Dave Asprey and get to know him, and become personal with him and like build a relationship.
And so the hook was what got him to say yes to the meeting and to me spending half a day with him. Right? But then after that, the relationship stuck because of the other things. Does that make sense? So it's kind of the same thing. How do I surge enough hook to get them in so you have time to build relationships. That's the hardest thing. Right now it's hard because my time's so busy. How am I going to have time to… I can’t please everybody? So it's like, what's the hook? Like, what's something I can bring this value to you. It's like, "Okay, I got 30 minutes. Let's figure this out."
And then during that window, if you build a relationship now, they stick for that. And I think that's a lot of times the way you open the door is through how can I serve you? For me, it's like, I don't have many talents, but funnels is one of them. So I built funnels for a lot of people.
And nowadays, those other people aren't get ahold. Well, I don't necessarily build a funnel, but I'm like, "Hey, we want to migrate you over. I got a few amazing people to help you do your thing and build it out." And that way, again, we're serving them, getting it like, "Hey, now your things on ClickFunnel's platform." And then now, relationship is built. So I think that's probably how I look at it from an affiliate standpoint.
Daniel: So yeah, just like going all out to serve them and just having that house service, and from there on, you build a reciprocity, and that's how you continue on the relationship. Thank you so much, Russell. Really appreciate you.
Russell: No worries. Here’s an example, when Dave was out with somebody, we were at this thing and we'd asked this guy... We knew who it was. He's a friend but not best buddies. And we had ClickFunnels. It was when ClickFunnels first came out. We asked him three or four times, like, "Hey, you want to help us..." And he was just like, "No, no." And then Dave found out that he lives in Australia, he was flying back to Australia, and he wanted this surfboard. So Dave went and bought the surfboard, and then tried to give it to him that will miss the thing. So David had to jump in a car and drive three hours to the airport to get it to him and all this stuff. And then he flew back to Australia, he called me, he's like, "Man, Dave literally bought the thing I was looking for, drove it to me, got it for me in time. Now I have it here." He's like, "I have to roll ClickFunnels now." So Dave was the hook, and I was like, "Oh, you guys serve a level that nobody else does." Like, yes. Okay. Now I'll do the thing. And back, one of our early promoters, way back in the day. So anyway, just, it's always looking for that, like how do you help the people out first?
Daniel: Amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much, Russell. Appreciate it.
Russell: No worries. Thank you.
Daniel: God bless.
Don: Great question, Daniel. Thanks for being a real life example of what we're supposed to be doing, man. Russell was able to point out three things you did right, right there. That was amazing.
All right, Jim, you're next buddy. Mr. Show, go ahead and unmute yourself and ask Russell your question. And try not to get in trouble.
Jim: Don't get trouble. That's harsh.
Russell: I'm like, "Cut the mic, cut the mic."
Jim: Yeah.
Russell: "Get him off, get him off."
Don: I'm just kidding. Jim and I have had a really great relationship. He's been helping out, and he's going to help me out with something a little bit.
Russell: Very good.
Jim: Yes. So I focus on live streaming because I'm addicted to it. I think that Twitch is the future and I'm just trying to bring it here a little faster. And to entrepreneurs in particular, and I love the relationships that come from it. I had a game show called Exes Knows game show that formed amazing relationships. But it was very tight-knit, small family kind of a thing. So like, I want to give that to the audience too, and I wanted to know with like you have the Marketing Secrets show, and when you did that YouTube video, like I got giddy. You were like, "You need a show." I was like, "Yeah." But I just want to know if you had any recommendations for how to make it, that personal feel of being on the show, how can I give that to the audience?
Russell: Mm. So I know what Twitch is because my kids watch video games on it and stuff. So can you explain so I understand like, are you in Twitch shows like more like, business type stuff? Or how are you…
Jim: Yeah. If you go under Just Chatting for Twitch, they have actual shows. And shows like talk shows, interviews, game shows like what I ended up doing. They have round tables and all sorts of things that are not game centric, and the audiences are just loving it. They're adoring it. And they have things like Patreon to where you can take that step closer. They had exclusive content and things. So I was thinking of doing something more like that, but I'm not a big fan of Patreon. I just want to give that to them anyway.
Russell: Yeah. It's funny. Again, this is mostly because I don't understand how the whole platform works. We talked about like, "We should do a Twitch show where people are just building funnels all day long, and my kids watch video games, and like..." We talked about it a couple times, so it's interesting.
Again, I haven't done it on the platform, so I don't know exactly how it worked, but I think conceptually, the way you build communities is a couple things, right? Number one is like, people have to feel like they're a part of something. So it's not just like a bunch of randos coming to an event. It's like for Funnel Hacking Live, it’s a bunch of funnel hackers come to an event. Like, they're coming, and it's not like they're showing up just randomly. It's like, this is my people. I'm part of this. It's a tribe, it's a community. They're part of it, right? Just like family reunion, you go back and it's like, all my family comes together because we're family. And you can talk forever because it's a family mixed with family. And so we always try to create that, but it comes with people identifying with the thing you're doing, right?
Expert Seekers talks a lot about this, but it's like those kind things. How do you get people to self-identify so they feel like they're part of the thing as opposed, I'm going to watch a show. Like I'm part of this, right? When we do ClickFunnel specifically, I was like, if people think it's Russell's company, they're not going to... It might be successful, but it'll stop. I was like, I want people to feel like ClickFunnels is our software. This is our company together. Right? And so you look at my languaging that I talk through things. I'm never like, "My company ClickFunnels." I'm like, "Yeah, it's a community." I'm like, "This is ClickFunnels, we have this community." And I'm trying to make it our company, not my company. Because no one cares if my company succeeds or not, but they care if our company, if our movement, if our culture, if our thing is different. Right? And so it's like, how do we make it we instead of just you? And I think that's one reason we've had so much success inside of our industries, I look at everybody else and everybody else doesn't do that. Everyone else is like, them and about them and about the thing. And it's like, we try to be us and try to make people feel tighter.
And then you don't have to necessarily monetize on Patreon or whatever. It could be just swag. Like for example, we had Derral Eves came and spoke at our last Inner Circle meeting and he...
Jim: I love Derral Eves.
Russell: I don't know if you guys know the Chosen, but they've done $29 million in t-shirt sales on the back of the Chosen. So the content's completely free. Everything's free out there. But because the community and people want it, just in t-shirt sales. Right? And they've done a lot more in other stuff. But if you think about that, it's like, all the content's completely free, but it's the community. And so it's looking at that like how it's going to monetize it. Maybe it's not a paid thing or Patreon or whatever, but what do you have? Is it swag? For me, it's software. My whole goal is to get people into software eventually. Dan Kennedy was all about newsletters, physical newsletters is their thing that they monetize. And so it's just looking at like what monetization vehicle is exciting for you, and then making that the thing that, that you plug people into.
It could be anything. It could be, again, software supplements. It could be all of us drink the same drink, supplement drink. Whatever the thing is. But there's this commonality thing that ties everybody together where they have this unique experience. In fact, prove it's a network marketing company I've done a lot of work with in the past. But everyone's drinking Ketones. Literally, the drink that they're drinking is what ties this community together, and they all have Ketone shirts and all these things, but that's the glue that ties all the people together, where they're all doing the same things. For me, it's software; other people, it's supplements; some people, it's new... whatever the thing is that glues the tribe together.
Jim: Awesome. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the time.
Russell: Sunday, if I remember on Twitch, doing the funnel hacker, funnel building show. I'll have to consult with you.
Jim: Check out Just Chatting, man. It's really, really fun.
Russell: Yeah. Very cool.
Don: Awesome. Thank you so much, Jim. That's a great question. Russell, we have three more hands raised, and I've kind of cut it off and said that we're not going to have any more time. So if we could just take the last few questions, and then we'll wrap things up.
Tammy, you're next. Could you please unmute and ask your question?
Tammy: Hey Russell. I am so excited to have the opportunity. Thank you very much. And you mentioned something that was kind of a segue as to what I wanted to ask you, had I ever got the opportunity to ask you. And here it is! Tell me a little bit about the Funnel Hacker t-shirt. And the reason I asked is because this is what I do. I help clients make connections with their clients and customers, and love on them and kind of work their way through building these amazing relationships. And I use the Funnel Hacker t-shirt as an example all of the time. It's crazy. I don't even know if you know. Do you know you can't even go on eBay and buy a Funnel Hackers t-shirt. Like, occasionally you could find one, but most generally-
Russell: A nasty one somebody had…
Tammy: ... you just can't, man. I mean, you just can't find it. And so, it is a coveted item that defines your community. It gives them a jumping off point, not because it has your logo on it. I don't even think that's the brilliant part of this. The reason is because you have, either intentionally or not intentionally, you have connected with the end product of what you're delivering, and people self-identify with that to the point of, they want to be what it is that you offer. And I think people miss that so much in the branding. I see that in my business and things that I do; people want to slap their logo on it. Their first thing's like, let's put a logo on it and it's not about you. Can you speak to that just a little bit? Because got to love it.
Russell: 100%. So I remember going to T&C before we launched Funnel Hacking Live. And I remember they gave swag items, and it was weird things. Like, one was a tuxedo and the things... And everybody got home and had them, and I just kind of threw them away and I didn't do anything with it.
I remember we were building swag, I definitely didn't do this intentionally, but then after it happened, I realized it, and then we doubled down on that. And so what we realized is that, 100% of what you said. So yes, everything you said has my mark of approval. They have to identify. If they can't say I am a blank, they're not going to connect with it. Right? So I am a funnel hacker. I am a biohacker. I am a lady boss. I am a funnel builder. You can say, "I am a..." And then the word. That's how it is. Because I put it on like, I'm a funnel hacker. This is funnel hacker. But they have to be able to say that, "I am a..." Whatever. Expert Seekers would be a horrible t-shirt. I'm an Expert Seekers. No, I am a ClickFunnels. No, this is not going to work. It's not going to create a movement. Right here, Dan. Right? "I am diehard. I'm a diehard funnel hacker." That's the amplification of it. Right? But you wear that because that's who you are. I am a... Boom. And so that's what self identifies.
And wearing a tuxedo thing was weird. I can't remember the one they had. I remember specifically, because Funnel Hacking Live was like a year later or something. And I remember thinking like I want swag that people would wear. And what's crazy now is I get texts probably two or three times a week from friends who are like, "I'm in Malaysia on those little carts." And as I'm driving down the street, there's this dude. They are taking pictures. "This dude in the middle of nowhere is wearing your shirt." And like, I get texts. It's like the craziest thing. Someone the day was like, "I'm in an airport in Singapore," "I'm in Australia," "I'm in New Zea-". All these things, and they're sending these random shirts, yeah I see a bunch of you guys wearing them.
And it's just the coolest thing. And it's been spread through. If you notice nowadays, not all of them, sometimes they have different reasons, but almost all of our core shirts that we give away or do things with, always the test for me is like, "Can I say I am a blank?" If we can, sweet. If not... maybe it's something that's like a cool whatever, but it's not like a movement making something that someone wears.
And so yes, 100% agree. And that's why we do it. And again, I don't think I did it up front. In fact, I think it was actually Kaelin Poulin. Because we had Funnel Hacker, and she had launched her swag stuff and a bunch of them didn't work. And then the one that just said LadyBoss on it, she came back, and I remember in our Inner Circle meeting, that's what she said. She's like I realize if they can't say I am a whatever, they don't self-identify, she's like, "We may sell it, but for us to sell a lot, it's like the self-identification gives people to actually buy, wear it, all that kind of stuff." So, very cool.
Tammy: Thank you.
Daniel: Awesome. Great question. Okay, Larry. And then we've got the last two. So Larry, go ahead and unmute and ask your question.
Larry: Thank you. Thank you, Russell. For this wonderful speech. I'm really excited, because I started my journey three years ago with your Secrets books, and I have read them dozens of times, and audiobooks also. So I very well know your concepts of Dream 100 and making movements. I just want to, to ask you, I'm starting to make movement. It's a really, really small, really small group of fearless live go-getters. We are fighting the fear of going lives and starting those lives in the business. So what's your recommendation for me? I have finally a month and a half ago started to get some traction. I joined One Comma Club. So how to make that movement.
Russell: So your people are going live like on Facebook. Is that what we're talking about?
Larry: Yes. Yes. Since inside of the group, we are practicing, and later they are starting using that in their business.
Russell: Okay. And then what type of people are you trading?
Larry: Entrepreneurs and marketers.
Russell: Do they fall in a certain subcategory underneath that?
Larry: Yeah. Well, yes, they are people who actually haven't done those lives at all, but can realize very fast the power of it and have to overcome that fear. I'm also introverted, just like you, and I have done 160 lives in a row just to persuade myself. And during that period, I have persuaded so many people, so eventually the moment catch up.
Russell: Oh, that's awesome. Well, I'd be looking at it like, if I was you, it'd be like, what do these people identify as, right? You know, McCall did Charisma Hackers. I did Funnel Hackers. What do you people consider themselves? Are they creators? The whole creator economy is a big thing. I'm a creator, I'm a go live creator. Are they doing physical projects? Are they experts? I look at how they would identify themselves. In fact, I don't even ask them. Hey, there's a lot of different people in this group. How would you self-identify yourself? And do a little quiz or survey, and see what the words that they're using.
Because I didn't come up with funnel hacker, by the way. It's interesting. I had a webinar called the Funnel Hacks webinar, and we sold a course called Funnel Hacking Secrets or something like that, or Funnel Hacks. Anyway, whatever it was. And it was someone in our forum who posted, "Good morning, funnel hackers! Blah, blah, blah, blah." And I was like, "Oh, that's so cool! They called themselves funnel hackers." And they're like, "Oh!" And then like, "We need to..." And that started the whole thing. It wasn't something I came up with. It was like, they said it, someone said it. I wish I knew who said it, because I'd like give them an award or something. But someone said it in our little Facebook group of maybe 2000 or 3000 people at the time. And I was just like, "That's the coolest..." I remember like literally calling Dylan and Todd. And I was like, "It is the coolest thing. Someone just calls themselves a funnel hacker." Like, ah!
So I would maybe ask your people and like, how would you identify yourself? Like, what are you? What would you call yourself? You can tell them, "We're building a tribe here. What should we call ourselves? We need a cool name." And see what the people in the group, kind of what they come up with as well.
Larry: We are fearless live goal getters, but they like that name, but maybe I should reiterate it.
Russell: Yeah. So there are fierce side go-getters so like with people who build funnels, so are we go-getters? Are we livers? Are we... Something. Something.
Larry: Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.
Russell: So very cool. Congrats, man. That's awesome. The Two Comma Club's the hardest. By the way, for who does is that after you get past the Two Comma Club, at least for me, there's a mental block for three years to break. Then after I got it, the rest of business got really. That's like the hardest one, is that first two Comma Clubs. One Comma Club is huge. Anyway, you get it. That's awesome.
Larry: Thank you. Thank you. You're fantastic.
Don: Love it. Awesome. Okay. So we have Michael Vale. Michael, you're not on camera, but I'm sure you're there. Yep.
Michael: Yeah, I'm here. I'm actually hiding at work, so I can't put the camera on.
Don: Understand.
Michael: Yeah. That's a little different question for you, Russell. I love the way that you include your family, and I got to meet your two kids and your wife at Funnel Hacking Live. You'll have. And I know you're trying to get your boy cut up to be a little bit, but how does this play into the relationship world? Kind of an odd question, but...
Russell: Say it again. So how does having my-
Michael: Well, I'm just one of your hacker hire, but to see that and to see you share your faith, bring, for me, validity. It makes you aesthetic as a person. And how does that build relationships out in the community? ,
Russell: So, I think Myron Golden said, he said, "You don't attract who you want, you attract who you are." And so initially, I would try to get whoever into my world and I would kind of hide who I was more so, and I got people who I actually didn't like very much. If you've read the intro to Dotcom Secrets, I talk about how one day I woke up and I hated all my customers because I wasn't being like... And I hate the cliche. Like, "You need to be more authentic!" I was like, all right, well, I'm going to start sharing everything in my life.
And I remember I started talking about my wrestling, I started talking about my kids back then. We just had our twins. I told that story, and I started with my wife. And it was crazy because I talked about these things, people who liked me started coming into my world. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, I actually like these people that I'm serving now," because we attract who we like. And there's people who… you know, it was years before I was willing to talk about God and my beliefs there, because I was like scared, like, "Ah!" And I started doing it and it was crazy, because one of two things happening. They didn't believe in God and they're like, "I don't care. Russell's cool for this." Or that you like, "Oh, I'm offended because you talked about that," and left. And I was like, "Sweet. That's great that they're gone." You know what I mean?
And it's just interesting because the more I've done it, the more the people who we attract, I like them more and it's are exciting. And so I think it's just... I don't know. And I get a question a lot like, well, "Are you scared showing your kids on Instagram? Are you scared?" And yes, it's scary. At the same time, this is the world we live in today. You know what I mean? There comes a point where you've got to trade your kids, you got to do stuff, you got to pray that things are going to be safe and then hope for the best. And you know what I mean?
And so, I don't know. It's being willing to share those things that are scary. And I'm not vulnerable at the point where I'm sharing everything about my life, but I definitely introduce people so they know who I am and where I stand and my values. Because at the end of day, I want more of those people around me. And there's people who come into our world who don't have my values, but a lot of times we transition, right? They come in because I make money, make money. And then they keep coming, then we talk about this and eventually like, "Huh." You start thinking about things differently. And so it's just being willing and open to share those kind of things. And if you do it, then it'll attract the right people. So yeah, I think for everybody just be being okay with that.
Don's a great example of this, right? Don, I've seen a transformation in him over the last year and I love him. I love him however he wants to be. I don't care. And I respect him. He's a great friend, so it doesn't matter to me. And it's the same thing. Right? And some people, I'm sure you've lost friends, I'm sure you've gained friends. And it's like, who cares? Are long as the people I want are going to be around me and that's amazing. And the people who are not okay with that, they're gone and that's amazing too. It makes life so much better. I think it's like, all us should be who we want to be, and I think it's awesome.
Michael: Thank you, Russell. Thank you.
Russell: Hey, can we actually... I see Luke over here. Can we do one more question? Because I'm curious…
Don: Don't worry. Don't worry. He's here. I just very quickly, I just want to say thank you, Russell, for that, by the way. It's my turn to cry. I made it through three days without crying, which is not easy for me. Losing people in my life like you was my biggest fear. Not because of who you are, because of the stories I told myself. So thank you for letting me love unapologetically and love myself unconditionally. I appreciate it.
Russell: No worries, man.
Don: Hey, Luke. So what you don't know about Luke yet, maybe, Russell, is Luke is 12, just turned 13, spoke on this symposium as one of the 35 amazing speakers, and did it on his birthday. And he courageously has raised his hand to ask the Russell Brunson a question. Luke, let's go, buddy.
Luke: Hey Russell, I'm a super big fan. I have Dotcom Secrets. It's completely stained and everything because I've carried it everywhere around with me. And my brother he created-
Russell: My kids don't think I'm cool, so if you could let him know, that'd be awesome.
Luke: My brother, he's a huge fan. He created his own landing page, promoting your book at the age of seven. And so he loves you too. My question for you is how do you get credibility at a young age in an adult world?
Russell: Ooh, that's that's a great question. So, I would say first off you're doing it. Like the bigger thing is in people's minds, and I'm the same way. We ought to set our our minds, like, "I can't be successful because of blah." Right. "Because I'm too young, I'm too old, I've got..." Everyone's got an excuse of why they can't do it, but what's crazy is like, when I got started, as I started doing stuff, people were like, "Oh my gosh, you're so young. This is cool." Right? And then you seem a little bit older. I think more of it's a mental thing. The fact you are here, there's a whole bunch of speakers on here, and I kept seeing your face. And I was like, "I want to talk to that guy. I want to talk to that guy the most. Like everyone else, oh, they're all boring adults. They're like, blah. Who cares?" I want to talk to you, that's why I called you at the end.
So I think it's actually like a superpower. Like, usually the things that we are afraid of or we think are going to be are limiting things, end up becoming our superpowers. Right? And I think it's just leaning into it and being okay with it. Because most of that is just in our head, thinking like, I can't do it because of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I can't do it. Everyone's got excuse. I'm still to this day have tons of excuses. Like, I can't do it because I talk too fast or I'm not as cool as somebody else, or blah, blah, blah. We all have these same things. I think it's just understanding that that's actually a superpower.
The fact that you're young and you're having success and you're doing these things is going to attract more people to you. More people are going to want to have you speaking at their events. And no lens. I don't know if you know Noah yet, but he was, I think, I think he was 11 or 12 when he somehow figured out my Voxer ID, hacked into my Voxer ID, and started messaging me. Anyway, I was just like, there's this young kid messaging me and... and I don't know. I wasn't scared. So if I started, do I respond back or not? Because it's a weird conversation and then I just showed you the message. It was so funny because he's like, "Hey Russell, I found an error on your funnel. Here's the fix, send it to your tech guy," and sent it to me. I was like, "What?" An 11 year old kid like found an error on my thing and then sent it to me.
Right? And then the next day he's like, "Hey Russell, you talked about this thing. So I built an entire funnel that you could use to give your audience just as a gift. Here's the share funnel link if you want to use it. If not, that's totally cool as well." And then something else, he's like, "Hey, I took your sales page. I think I got a better hook so I rebuilt it. Feel free to A-B split test." And he kept sending me these things and eventually like, "Who are you?" And we started talking, and he's a young kid, same kind of thing. And then his story was so cool. I introduced a bunch of people and he introduced himself, and he spoke at one of our events and just all these doors got open because he was young. Right? If would've been a 35 year old dude, I just would have blocked everything because he was young, I was curious and it opened up all these things. And so I would just lean into it and realize that what you have as youth is a superpower. It's not a negative thing at all, and people are going to see you and just be blown away by what you're doing, and just keep doing it. And anyway, so hope that helps.
Luke: Yeah, I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, Russell.
Russell: No worries. Thank you.
Don: So Luke, I don't know if you know, but Russell has this really awesome event. I know personally that he said a number of times that behind Funnel Hacking Live. It's his favorite, if not a dead heat for his favorite, it's called unlock the secrets. And it's a family driven event and we were able to go to the one that happened in I think Denver in 2019, but is there a rumor that you're going to do another one, Russell?
Russell: We do have one coming up. So Luke, if you want a message my team we'll invite you and your family. You guys can come to it. It's awesome. It's going to be in Arizona. Where are you from?
Luke: I'm in Canada.
Russell: In Canada. Okay. Well, if you can break out of Canada, it's in Arizona, I think in June of this year. So message Chris or someone. He can connect you with that with my assistant, and we'll give you your family tickets if you guys want to come to it. Yeah. It's a family event.
Luke: I would love that.
Russell: Last time we did it, I think we had 300 or 400 like teenagers there and it was like the coolest experience ever. This year's going to be even cooler, so.
Don: Russell, do you have time for me to tell one quick anecdote before we do something for Chris?
Russell: Yeah.
Don: The anecdote is about Unlock the Secrets, and number one, I'm a huge for family person, so I love the fact that during that event, you light up in a different way. And taking pictures of you, you make different faces, you act a little differently just because you're nurturing what you love about life in children, and it's so fun to watch.
Two things. I watched a person, a young man, sitting at the corner of one of the edge of the roads, and he was furiously typing and doing stuff. And I kind of looked at his mom and she goes, yeah, and she kind of did this thing. And I was like, what? And she goes, "He's building another funnel." And I'm like, "Oh, another funnel?" And I was like... And I have a picture. He turned it around and he had his ClickFunnels page open and he scrolled it for me. He had dozens and dozens and dozens of that. This like 11 year old had designed himself. And then Noah, my interaction with him was when I was photographing him on stage, you allowed people to ask some questions at the panel. And they said, "Hey, I'm just curious. What do you charge to build a funnel?" You remember this?
Russell: This is the best ever!
Don: You want to tell everybody?
Russell: Yeah. He's like, "Actually, I don't charge people for funnels anymore. I only trade for equity."
Don: Uh-huh (affirmative). He's like, "I don't charge hourly. I only do it for equity." And I was literally like, "This kid is my idol now." He's not even in high school, and he doesn't do it for hourly wage. He only does it for equity. So, Luke, if I have the honor and pleasure of seeing you at Unlock the Secrets, I can't wait to see your funnel, and you can tell me that you want equity in my company to help me with something.
Luke: I'm super excited.
Don: Appreciate you, Luke.
Russell: I love my… My kids actually told me this morning, I was driving to school. And Ellie's like, "Dad, you're the least mature adult that we know." Or something like that. And I'm like, "Thank you. That's amazing."
Don: It's the Peter Pan quote, right? We have to get older, but we never have to grow up. That's all there is to it.
Russell: Yes, exactly.
Don: Hey Christopher, as we wrap up, I'm sure you're going to have words for Russell. I'm going to have a few myself, but I need to find you in my list. There you are.
Russell: He passed out, he’s tired. Let's give him a break.
Don: He is. He's probably sleeping. Hey buddy, how you doing?
Christopher: Doing good.
Don: Blown away. Blown away. Christopher, do me a favor. I'm sure Russell has very busy and important things to do. He's graced us with 90 minutes of his time. Now that we were able to surprise you with this, thank Russell for his time and thank you. What do you have to say to Russell before he goes and we wrap things up?
Christopher: Thank you. Thanks for being here, and this is a dream come true. This is not the last symposium for Return on Relationship. I call this a movement, not just an event. And it just means the world to me, Russell, to have your support, and to have everyone's support. Everyone that came out to speak, and all of you that came out to attend.
I want people to think differently about how they build relationships. I think this is something that's a need and I can't wait for all of you to go away from here and take everything that you've learned and apply it and change your lives. And Russell, you mentioned it when you told the story about Dave, what great news that we got about Dave. He's an incredible individual. I look up to him about as much as I look up to you, and I already thank you publicly, but yeah, relationships saved my life. I'm here putting on this symposium because I met you, and I never would've met Wallace Nelson if it wasn't for meeting you, and relationships to the foundation, for everything in your life; and just thank you, Russell, for being here and supporting me in my first symposium. It means the world to me. Thank you. And all of you, thank you.
Russell: No worries, man. I'm proud of you for doing it. It takes a lot to put something like this together and to have the vision and everything. So, proud of you man, for doing it. And it's just the beginning, not the end. This is the beginning of, I think, your business, your movement and everything. So, proud of you and love you, man.
Christopher: Love you too. Thank you.
Don: Everybody wave at Russell. Thank Russell.
Russell, thank you, man, for being here. We appreciate you so much. We'll see you again soon.
Russell: Thanks everyone!
Christopher: Thanks Russell!
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