It’s Okay To Be Aggressive

Let’s talk about your moral obligation…

On today’s episode Russell talks about his book, Dotcom Secrets being mentioned on another marketing podcast, but how the host says Russell’s methods may be too aggressive. He explains why it’s okay to be aggressive when you are passionate about what you’re selling.

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

• How Russell’s book was mentioned in a top ten list of marketing books.
• Why Russell feels like it’s important to be passionate about what you’re selling.
• And also why Russell isn’t afraid to call out his competitors on what he believes is inferior software.

So listen below to find out why being aggressive is essential to selling something you truly believe in.

---Transcript---

Hey everyone, this is Russell Brunson and welcome to Marketing In Your Car. Alright everybody, so today I’ve actually got a Go Pro on me as well. We’re thinking about starting a behind the scenes reality TV show, showing the behind the scenes reality TV show. That’s what Funnel Hacker TV is going to be. So I’m filming a whole bunch of stuff today, and I found a really cool dude and we’re going to see if he can turn this into a cool daily video thing, showing behind the scenes and if we can, that’d be awesome. And if it doesn’t work out then this might be one episode thing. So I’m excited for it.

But I’m heading to the office today. A couple of cool things, first off, I may have ordered my own life size Batman suit. It was custom fitted and it may have showed up on Saturday and I may be trying it on today for the first time. I’m so excited. Those of you guys who are JV partners, you will see this on the Expert Secrets JV page because we’re going to be giving away a bunch of these super hero outfits, which is going to be really fun. Batman is one of the ones, and it’s the one I really wanted, so I got it. And I’m really excited about that.

I wanted to talk to you guys about something today, because it’s kind of interesting. This morning I was getting ready and listening to a bunch of podcasts and there was this one podcast that I like, and on there the episode was talking about my favorite marketing book. I was like, “Oh please, please, let my book be one there. Please, please.” They started going through their top ten marketing books and they went through and about half way through they said, the guy who is one of the hosts said, “My next book is called Dotcom Secrets, by Russell Brunson.” I was like, “YES!” so excited.

He started talking about how cool it is, the sales funnels and stuff and then he said something that I was just like, “ahh..” he said, “You know some of the stuff Russell teaches in the book is kind of aggressive, and if you don’t like those things, you can kind of tailor it for your own needs.” I kind of stopped for a second, I was like, aggressive? Are you kidding me? Oh crap. My camera just tipped over while I was driving.

But I was like, aggressive? And I was thinking, I hate that people think that what I do is aggressive. Not that I hate that they think that it’s aggressive, I hate that they think that being aggressive is bad, that’s a better way to put it. Because I was like if you, and this comes from Jay Abraham, I first heard it from him. Actually I think Matt Bacak was the first person I heard say it, but he was quoting Jay Abraham. It was basically saying that if you believe in the product or service you are selling, then you have a moral obligation to do everything in your power to get it into the hands of your customers.

I don’t know about you, but I feel that. I feel like I have a moral obligation and I try to serve people and teach people and train people who also, they’re not just trying to get rich quick on the internet, but they feel like they have a moral obligation to their audience. They’ve created some product or service or thing that they feel can change the world and when you have that, you need to be aggressive about it. Otherwise people are going to miss it. For me, I’m just like I want people missing out on all this stuff I’m sharing between Expert Secrets, Dotcom Secrets, with Clickfunnels and all that kind of stuff. I don’t want them missing it because they’re like, “Oh you sound kind of excited, but you don’t really push me over the edge.” I want to push people over the edge because I believe in it that much.

I was thinking back about my life at different eras, for things that I really believed in. And one of them, a lot of you guys know I’m a Mormon, and I went on a two year mission. I was in New Jersey, Cherry Hill New Jersey, in Morristown, Camden, all over the southern two-thirds of New Jersey. I was out there every single day knocking on doors.  I’ve had people in the past be like, “Why did you do that? Why did you push your religion on people?” I’m like, are you kidding? First off, I wasn’t pushing my religion on anyone. I was trying to share something I really, really believe in. Second off, I’m being aggressive because I believe it matters. I believe in what my message is so much that I’m willing to go out there and knock on doors, I didn’t get a penny. In fact, I paid my own way because I believe it so much.

It’s the same thing with this business. I believe in what we do so much that I’m going to be aggressive about it. I just want all of you guys that if you feel weird about being aggressive and marketing aggressively and trying to sell your product, it means you don’t believe in it enough. That’s the only logical thing that I can say. For some reason you don’t believe in your message. You need to believe in your message so much that you would literally go out and knock on doors, without getting paid a penny to go and share this with people, because that’s how much you believe in it. When you believe in your message that much, then everything else will take care of itself. You will go out there, share, talk and you’re not going to be embarrassed to go and make a video or talk about it, or do a podcast, or interview someone, or drive traffic, or lose money, risking to try and do this thing. It’s not going to matter because you’re going to care so much about your message, that all those other things just fall apart.

So I would argue that if you’re struggling in your business right now, it’s because you don’t believe in your message enough. Because you don’t believe in your message enough, you’re not being aggressive enough to share it and get people. I literally want to get people when they walk by and grab them and say, “Dude, there is a better way.”

It’s funny, people ask me, I got a lot of people who just like, “I can’t believe that you talk about your competitors like ConfusionSoft and Lowkey Pages. I can’t believe you call them out and say their names.” And I’m like, “Honestly, as an entrepreneur, I’ve used those tools in the past. It was expensive, frustrating, hard to get. I feel for those people and I want to save them from these things that are keeping them from the success they deserve.” That’s how passionate I am about, I’m not afraid to call people out because I’m like, “Look, if you’re over here, you’re going to spend twice as much money, take ten times longer, and you’re probably not going to be as successful. Where if you come with us to what we’re trying to share with you, do you understand what the difference….”

That’s how much I believe in what I’m trying to share. And until you believe that much in what you’re sharing, I think you’re going to struggle. In fact, it’s interesting, this is back probably 7 or 8 years ago. Before I knew what message I was trying to figure it out. I was selling different things, I was trying stuff. I remember, I had different programs I created. Some I was insanely passionate about. Some of you guys remember Microcontinuity, I was nuts, passionate about that. And you could hear it, and the sales were amazing because of it. I couldn’t stop talking about it. That was my life.

And then I had other products that didn’t do as well, and I remember one of my friends, Garrett Pearson, I don’t know if Garrett even remembers this or not. I can’t remember where we had this conversation but it was during the middle of some other launch after Microcontinuity and he asked, “how are sales doing?” and I was like, “They’re doing alright.” And he’s like, “I can tell.” And I’m like, “What do you mean, I can tell?” and he’s like, “I can just tell by the passion in your emails about how excited you are and I know that…” and I don’t remember the rest of what he said, but I remember him saying that. He could tell by the sound of my emails how excited I was.

And that’s how he was guessing how much sales were coming. And I was like, isn’t that weird. I’m writing an email. You can’t hear my voice, you can’t sense anything, but just when I’m really believing in something, the way I speak about it and to it, is different.  Enough that Garrett reading an email on the other side could tell how passionate I was. And obviously, a lot of other people did. Maybe not consciously, but subconsciously they recognized it and because of that, they didn’t buy the product.

So if you’re kind of thinking, “Oh yeah, my products good, it’s nice.” That’ll wear off in everything you do. It’ll wear off in your emails, in your podcasts, in your webinars, every single communication point. If you don’t believe in your product so insanely strong, it’s going to come off and sales are going to tank because of that. Even if you’re like, “I followed the script, why is no one buying?” It’s because you don’t believe in it enough to have the passion you need to get people to say yes.

So what I would say, for those that think that I’m marketing aggressively, or if you’re trying to figure out where you fit in this whole thing, you need to be obsessed with your product or service and your message. So obsessed that you are willing to go out of your comfort zone completely and share things and talk about things and that passion that some people will call aggressiveness, is what would get people to buy from you. And it’s going to rub some people the wrong way.

I hope this isn’t sacrilegious. It might be. I don’t think it is, I hope it’s not. If it is, I apologize and I repent in advance. But I was thinking about this, when you study Christ and you study his life and you read the Bible and those teachings one of the things that he says is that, and it’s the reason why Christ taught in parables. He taught in parables and people would hear the story and be like, “Okay, cool. I get it.” But then there’s so many layers in the parables that go deep. And he said, and I’m sure I’m going to mess up the quote, but he said something to the effect of, “My sheep will hear my voice and come to me.” Christ was speaking, giving his message and sharing things like that. And everyone can hear it. But his sheep, his people will come and they will actually follow him. They hear it at a different level that it affects them.

I think for all of you guys, it’s the same thing. A lot of people out there are going to be turned off, they’re not going to like it, whatever that is, but your sheep, your people will hear you and they will follow you.

It’s interesting, the other day we had a guy came to the office. Someone who I have tons of respect for. He happens to also be a speaker. He speaks at events and he gets paid to speak. And while we were sitting there, I kind of smiled and said, “Well, there’s two ways to be successful in the speaking world. Number one, you get paid to speak, you be a celebrity. For example, Tony Robbins spoke at our event. He’s a celebrity so we paid him a lot for him to speak.” I don’t think I’m allowed to say how much we paid him, but it was multiple six figures. It was a lot. I think we were doing the math and it ended up being $50,000 an hour that he was on stage, or something crazy like that. It’s a lot because he’s a celebrity.

And this guy was like, “Yeah well, I could never get paid that much.” I was like, “Yeah, neither can I.” but there’s a second way you can speak. So you speak and then you sell. Tony Robbins spent, X amount of hours on our stage and we paid him a lot for that, but three weeks later I spoke at Grant Cardone’s event and Grant did not pay to speak, he did not pay for my flights or hotel. I cover my flights, I cover my hotels. I did my own stuff. I booked my travel, for crying out loud. I get there and I stood on stage for 90 minutes, a fraction of the time. I did my presentation, sold my product and I think when all was said and done, I think when all the checks cleared it was $850,000 that we made from that presentation. I was like, “You can be famous and make blah, or you can learn how to sell. I got paid 4 times what Tony Robbins got paid.” Not because….and the only reason is because I know how to sell right.

So I share this story with this guy and if someone told me that, “Hey Russell, you made almost a million dollars in less than an hour.” I would have been like, “What? What did you do? Explain to me, give me that information. I need to know that.” I tell this guy and he’s like, “Wow, cool.” And then he changed the subject. He did not hear my message, he did not….we talked about it before. My sheep will hear my voice. Some of you guys, when I tell you that, you’re like, “Holy crap, I’ve got to learn that. I’ve got to master that skill.”

The first time I saw someone on stage and they sold and they did 100 grand in 90 minutes, I was just like I have to learn that. I don’t know what that was, but whatever it was I have to figure out that skill set. Because that is something I want to do, I need that. The same is true with your message. It’s okay to be aggressive. You’re going to turn off some people, but your sheep, your people, your whatever you want to call them, will hear your voice and follow you. And it’s the key.

So don’t be afraid of being aggressive if you truly believe in what you have. You have a moral obligation to share it with everybody in any way possible. If you don’t believe in what you’re selling, you gotta find something else to sell, or you gotta change your believe patterns. Because if you don’t believe in it, there’s no way someone’s going to give you money. Because their belief in giving you money is based on your belief in the thing you’re talking about. The more powerful your belief is, the easier it’ll be to get them to believe as well.

So that’s what you got guys. It’s okay to be aggressive, you’ve got to get them to believe. With that said, I am about to go. I’m starting my juice fast today. Stephen just showed up in his motorcycle, he’s got a backpack full of juice. Oh man. He’s got a t-shirt that says, “You’re just one funnel away.” I’m going to get some juice, and I’m going to go and get started. Because I haven’t eaten yet today, in fact I’m not eating for the next four days because I’m on a juice fast. That’s what happens when you binge all week, all spring break long. That’s what I got you guys, I’m out of here, have a great day and I’ll talk to you soon.