Secret #28: What Are The Rules You Filter Your Opportunities Through?

What's up, everybody? This is Russell. I want to welcome you back to the Marketing Secrets podcast. This episode I'm going to be talking about some of the rules you need to set up before you say yes to any project. So the big question is, 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. Alright, so for today's podcast, again, this is another cool thing that we got from the Flint Mastermind Group. So one of my friends, his name is Garrett Pearson, he runs a bunch of cool companies and we're actually launching company soon together, which I'm really excited for. I won't ruin the surprise for yet, but it is amazing and you're gonna go crazy. And should I tell you more after you see the webinar, you will want to create a software program inside of your company. That's what I'm giving you. Okay. With that said, so Gary came and he kind of showed the business we're building together, kind of present it to all the affiliates because again, I think that every affiliate, I think every business should have software component to it. I think you're kind of crazy if you don't. Of all the businesses I've been in, I've been in supplements, info, products, et cetera, E commerce, like everything. Like by far my favorite business ever is software, which is probably why I love software, as you can tell. But one thing that Garrett talked about is they have a list of rules that they before they see a project. Because he said, he's like, I have a new idea for a new software product every hour. And he's like, if we didn't have a filter. And at first when he got started his business, he didn't. He just would create everything. And he said, we created this filter and so I asked him if he'd share that filter with everyone. And during the Mastermind event. So I'm gonna have him share that filter. I'm gonna show you guys that clip right now. And his filter may be different than your filter, but listen to this because you need to create your own filter. And I struggle with this as well. So many cool opportunities come by and I'm just like, yes, yes, yes. I gotta say yes. And it's like, no. You have to create a filter, otherwise it'll consume your whole business and your whole life and something I'm working on. And so it was a good reminder for me. And so I wanna hear you guys hear Garrett's his filter. He runs things through before he jumps in and says yes to a project. So let me show you that clip right now.

We had to come up with a way to stop us from doing too much because you have to focus. Like Russell said, you have to focus. So here's how we stay grounded and we don't do a software if it doesn't pass all of these things. Okay, so is it sexy? Does your product fill a need or want in a desirable, attractive way? I mean, that's pretty obvious, right? You've got to find something that people want. More importantly, in the software world, is it sticky? Okay, so in the software world, if you want recurring billing, you want recurring revenue, you need somebody that's going to pay you over and over and over again month after month or year after year. So is it sticky? Is it going to be difficult or painful for client to stop using our software? So click Funnels is a good example. I don't know what Russell's churn rate is and that's people that stop using it. But with the amount of users he has, that's just part of doing business in the software world. But it's super sticky because if you've got 10 funnels, you're not going to leave, right?

Huh? Even if you hate me?

Even if. Exactly. You're not going to leave, right? And so our shopper approved software, it's a rating and review software for e commerce companies. They start using us, they, they get even 50 reviews, they're going to stay with us forever and keep paying us and paying us, paying us. Okay, so is it sticky? That's really, really important. So for example, with, with Allison's, it's, it's definitely sexy, right? It's definitely sticky because you're going to keep using it over and over again, hopefully. And so that people are going to keep paying month after month. Can you charge recurring billing? We don't do anything unless we can charge recurring billing. And so it's very, very important because the recurring billing is where software, as we've already talked about today, why it's the ninth wonder of the world, can you sell it via call center? Now this is for us, these, these can be different for you guys. We love to sell our products in a call center. And so for us, if we can't Sell it in a call center. Now, for example, where something wouldn't work for us if it's 47 bucks a month because we can't sell that in a call center because our guys won't make enough money, right? Our sales team won't make enough money. So if we can't sell it in a call center, then we don't generally do it. Can you promote it to your existing customers target market? Now this is for us because we already have software in certain niches, right? So we try and build stuff that we can sell to our existing customers or that market. So we don't if. Now this software funnel is an exception. But sometimes you gotta make exceptions, right? Is it programming programming excessive? If it takes us more than six to eight months to develop with one or two programmers, generally we won't do it. Is it customer service friendly? It's got to be customer service friendly or it's going to be a nightmare to work with over time, right? So those are the things that we go through and if it doesn't pass those, we don't do it.

Alright, so to recap what Garrett said, is it sexy? Is it sticky? Can you charge recurring? Can you sell it through a call center? Can you promote to existing customers? Is it a. Is the programming excessive and support friendly like for them? Those are the filters they need to have. Now you don't have to have the same filters for you. Some of you guys don't want a call center. Maybe that's the opposite filter. Like it cannot be sold in the call center, it's got to be sold online. But you got to pick like your rules. Like these are the rules of what I'm willing to do and not willing to do otherwise, as I found in my life. And I still struggle with this. Like I said, if you're not careful, you committed to too much stuff. If you suffer from over commitment, that's the problem. And I would definitely say that I fall in this trap. In fact, it's been interesting. In the last two weeks, two people have been placed into my life. It's been interesting. One from someone I haven't seen in 16 or 17 years, a spiritual leader who I have so much respect for, who I haven't heard from in six to seven years. I hear from him and like a couple weeks later he's in my office sitting there talking to me. And then he's gone. And then just today happened again. Again, someone I respect a ton. And both of them basically almost word for word said the same thing. Like Russell you got to slow down. You need to be in this for the long haul. I was like, I think God is telling me something consistently. And I'm hearing loud and clear. And now I'm trying to figure out for myself, like, okay, I got to create my filters. I got to create these rules for myself because as you guys probably see, I'm running faster now. We're doing a lot of stuff, which is good. It's fun. I love it. But same time, like, if I'm not careful, I'm going to burn out. And I need to be in this long haul for myself to keep me happy long term in my life, for my customers, for my partners, for our employees, for everyone. So just a good reminder for me and hopefully for you as well. Thanks again for listening to the Marketing Secrets podcast. Hope you appreciate it. If you do, if you learn anything, please share this with your friends. Please come into itunes, come comment, let us know and we'll talk to you soon. Bye, everybody. 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.