How To Replace Yourself The Right Way

What's up, everybody? This is Russell Brunson, and welcome to Marketing Secrets podcast. So the big question is this. How are entrepreneurs like us who didn't cheat and take on venture capital, were 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 answer. My name is Russell Brunson, and welcome to Marketing Secrets. Hey, everyone. Just got done. I took off early today and went and took Nora to a little gym, which is so stinking fun. She was so cute. And now heading back to the office to go get some stuff done. Just grateful today for being an entrepreneur and having the ability just to, like, take off and go to my daughter's little gym thing and have fun with her and not have to, like, worry about anything. So one of the. One of the hidden benefits of being an entrepreneur. Right. All right, so I want to talk to you guys today. So, and this is something that we have been talking about a lot recently, probably because we're in the middle of it in our company, but it's like getting the systemization in, right? So the first time I ever heard about systems was I read the book E Myth by Michael Gerber. And I remember it was probably 12 years ago or something. And at the time I started my business and I had, like, learned how to do everything right, because I couldn't. I didn't have any money outside of programming. I never learned programming. So I hired this guy named Dorel in Romania who still works for me to this day. And so he did all the programming stuff, but I had to figure out everything else because I didn't have any skills. So I had to learn how to do write, copy. I had to learn how to. I didn't images either, hired images, but I learned all these different pieces led to marketing and traffic and sales and like. And like, it sucks when you first get started because it's just you and you don't have any capital or money. So it's like you have to, like, get really talented. And I think that that's one of the big reasons why, if you heard the intro of the show, I make fun of people who take on VC money because I feel like they don't have to learn any of the stuff. They just, like, cheat. They get a bunch of money, they hire people, and there's never anyone on the team that actually has the skill set to run the show. Like, there's got to be someone who has done everything once. Or else it's hard to, Like, I don't know. That's just my thoughts, my feelings. So I was doing everything from writing copy, doing customer support, driving traffic, doing sales, project management, everything. It was just me, right? And Dorel. And then someone, I think it was Telman Knutson or someone at an event mentioned this book called the E. Myth. And I thought, oh, it's like the Internet market. I thought he was like, Internet or email, I don't know. So I bought the. So I remember we're going on a trip down to Lake Powell, my wife and I, and so we're heading out. We swing by Barnes and Noble. I go in the bookstore, the business section. There's a book called the E. Myth. I'm like, this is the one that I'll talk about. So I bought it. Jump in the car, ride, drive, you know, 12 hours down to Lake Powell, Utah, jump on a houseboat, go in the middle of the boat, pull out my new book to learn about Internet marketing, and I start reading. It has nothing to do with Internet marketing. I was kind of disappointed at first, but I had nothing else to read. So I can't run this thing. And it was all about systemization. Talked about, you know, how most entrepreneurs feel like they're juggling this thing and this thing and juggling, like, 10 different plates, right? You're trying to keep them all up top because, you know, if one of them falls, the whole thing's going to collapse. You talked about basically going in there and, like, each of these things you're spinning, it's like, create a system around it, plug some of that system and then. And then run with it, then doing that through all the different things until eventually you've got things systemized. And that was kind of the gist. And I've never gone super deep with Michael Gerber stuff outside of that. And I know I have a couple friends who disagree with a lot of what he says, but conceptually was like, this is brilliant. Like, build systems to replace the things that I'm doing. And I honestly struggled with that for a long time. I think most entrepreneurs do, because I think this, and this is the whole point of this podcast, I think I know why now that we're doing it the right way. I think the reason why is because you, as the entrepreneur who had to figure out all this crap ahead of time, you had to figure out, do all these things. Like, you're taking on, like, 20 or 30 different skill sets initially that you have to learn to be able to launch a business, right? Which is hard. And some things you're really good at, some things you are horrible at, but you have to figure out how to do it because there's no one else doing it, right? Like, I had to learn how to write copy, because I remember someone explained it to me one time, and I was like, oh, that sounds horrible. Like, I hate writing. And they're like, well, you could hire them, but they're really expensive. And I didn't know how to hire. So I went. And the only person I really knew at the time who considered themselves a copywriter was Joe Vitale. And I went to his site and he was charging, like, like, $6 a word for email copy. I was like, $6 a word. Like, even the little words like. And the. And I was like, I guess I gotta learn this crap. So I had to buy books and study and practice and read and learn. And, like, it was painful, but I had to do it because there's no one else that could do it at the time, right? So then we get this point where we start trying to systemize things, we start bringing people in. And I think the biggest problem most of us have is we assume that the people that we're bringing in will have all the skills that we've have acquired to get this thing off the ground. And I think that's where I've always been frustrated. Like, I bring people in and I'm like, God, like, you can't do this. Like, yeah, you're good at this one part, but you're horrible. All these other things. And it's like, you try. We try to find rock stars to replace us, which is, like, not easy at all. And what I've been learning through this new process is systemization we're doing with James P. Frill is it's less about that, more like figuring out all the pieces and then bringing people that are just amazing at that one piece. And so it's gonna be weird. It's like, how do I say this the right way? Because I don't want to make it sound offensive, because it's not even a little bit. I feel like for me and for most entrepreneurs, like, we probably get to, like, level six or seven skillset and a whole bunch of things, right? That gets this idea off the ground, right? And so that's kind of. That's kind of where we're at. And the goal is not to bring in someone. That's the same thing. It's like, it's like picking each one of those skill sets that you're six at. You take that apart, and you find 10 level person and plug them into just that one thing. And so the problem with that in our minds as entrepreneurs, I know how we all think. Is, like, you're saying it'll take 10 people to replace what I'm already doing, and it's like, yes, but those 10 people will be able to do level 10 of what you're doing, not level four, you know, five or six, whatever you're doing right now. And so it actually becomes better, but it takes more people to do it, because there's not anyone who's gonna write copy and do customer support. Right? Even though you had to do that, like, they're not gonna do it. You got to find, like, level 10 support person, level 10 copy person, level 10 funnel person, and level 10 designer. Like, all those pieces. You plug them in and be okay with the fact that they're not gonna do all the stuff you did. They're just gonna do that one piece. And. But they're gonna do way better than you. And if you try to give them two things or three things, they're gonna suck at all of it, and they're gonna do way worse. You're gonna get frustrated and annoyed and fired them. Right? But it's like, understanding that they're like, their level 10 skill set is gonna replace your 6, and now you get 10 people, and all of a sudden, like, now it becomes magic. I'm looking at this happening right now. In my business, I've always been. I've had an amazing team, and I've been building this team for a long time, and it's been good. But as we're specifically trying to replace me out of things I currently do, which I. I do a lot of things. I still do a lot of things. And it's like, I'm trying to. Now do I pull myself out of those pieces. And it's like, it's been scary, but I'm trying To find level 10 people each spot, plug them in. And now it's like, man, they take my, like, what I did and make it better. And. And I think that most of the entrepreneurs probably level 10 at one thing. Like, I think, yeah, like, I would say I'm level 10 at one thing, so I'm keeping that piece because I love it, but the rest of it, looking at other people. And anyway, I hope that gives you hope, because I know that as I systemize stuff in the past, I'd always get frustrated because I think I would try to give people three or four things like, hey, you're gonna write copy and do this and do this, and they can do one or two, but then the other ones make it. Make them struggle and just, they never were able to be rock stars, and it was by fault. I didn't let them shine. Whereas now, stepping away from this and just realizing, look, like, just have them focus on that one thing. Just because you did 10 doesn't mean they should be. In fact, if they do, it's going to hurt themselves and you and everyone. Like, I think that's part of the problem. Not the problem. Part of the, I guess the opportunity entrepreneurship is we have to master 10 things to get this thing into orbit. As soon as you get that million bucks, now it's like, okay, now I just bought my freedom. Now it's time to take this cash and replace myself with level 10 people. And yeah, at first it's gonna be scary because you're gonna spend all your cash on these level 10 people. But if you get level 10 people, then the cash will dramatically increase. And if the cash does not dramatically increase, it means you didn't find the level 10s. So, anyway, I hope that helps. It was kind of a big aha for me recently. Just watching it was like, I went to go with Nora, and I did a little meeting with my team. I'm looking at like, okay, that's the person replaced this part of me, and that person plays that part of me and that part of me. I look at all these things and I'm like, all of them are better at those things than I am. This is so great. I get to play with my daughter now, and they're doing their piece of brilliance, and I can go spend time with my daughter. Pretty special. Pretty cool. That's the goal. At least that's been the goal for me. I'm finally getting there, and I hope that gives you guys some faith and some hope, especially those who have tried to systemize, have tried to replace yourself and tried to hire people and have been frustrated. I get it. And maybe this little piece that I got over the last day or two will help you as well. So hope that helps bring it back in there and build some funnels. Thanks, everybody, and we'll talk to you soon. Bye. Would you like to see behind the scenes of what we're actually doing each day to grow our company? If so, then go subscribe to our free behind the scenes reality TV show at www.funnelhacker.tv.