Secret #56: It's Not The Thing... It's The Marketing Of The Thing That Counts
A Marketing Secrets podcast episode (host Russell Brunson) addressing entrepreneurs who self-fund their businesses. Brunson argues that marketing—not the product/service itself—is the lifeblood of any business; founders must own marketing rather than outsource it. He uses anecdotes (a school community rally for a child named Nico, a conversation with a local real-estate broker) to illustrate mass/ intimate movements and the common mindset blocking growth.
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What's up, everybody? This is Russell Brunson, and welcome to the Marketing Secrets podcast. Hope you guys are doing amazing today. 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. All right, everybody. So it is the day before Thanksgiving. We have 20 bubble soccer balls being delivered to my house. We're gonna be playing a huge bubble soccer game on the Smurf turf, which is really exciting. Or the Astroturf. We call it Smurf turf because the blue here in Boise. But anyway, looking forward to that. And everything's getting ready. We had wrestling practice this morning with the kiddos, and I had some cool experiences happen there. One that was just a really special moment I want to share with you guys. And one, that the reason why most people aren't successful in business. So I'll give you both, and hopefully you learn a lesson from the two. So, number one, it's really cool. At the kids school, there's a little kid. It's kind of a crazy story. Apparently his mom and him both found out they had cancer about the same time together. It's a cute little family. It's a little kid named Nico. And so at the junior high or middle school, whatever you call it, they've been like, kind of everyone has gotten around this kid and his story and trying to help him out, and it's just cute. All the kids wear Huskies for Nico T shirts. Like, my Dallin had a shirt on today said Huskies for Nico. And they do fundraisers for Nico and they all these things and just such a cool thing how they've like gotten the school all behind this one person and this one cause and movement, and it's. It's cool. I, you know, I always talk about building mass movements and things like that, but I think a lot of times it's these. These little private, intimate movements that mean so much to people. And it really helps people to. To become something more. And it's just cool watching this and watching my kids participate in this. In this movement for. For a little kid in their school named Nico. And so today, wrestling practice, you know, we got all these 60 or 70 wrestlers out there, all trained to be warriors, trying to be tough and everything. And in the middle of practice, Nico and his dad came in. When he walked in, it just like the whole room went silent. And it was like, out of respect for him. And it's like just one of the neatest, neatest experiences I've witnessed in a long time. And got chills sitting there watching. And all the kids was looking at him and, like, talking to him. And then they came in and they. They presented him because Nico was a wrestler as well before all these problems happened. So they gave him some wrestling T shirts and sweatshirts and stuff like that, and then they had Nico lead a cheer. So they brought everyone in and did their cheer. It was just such a special. Anyway, it was just a cool thing. So that was a fun thing happened today. And then afterwards, I was talking with the dads, and that's a successful real estate dude here in Boise. And it's kind of funny because he's like, hey, I recognize you. I see you in my news feed every single day. Sorry about that. Wish I was better looking. But it was kind of funny because he was in there and we were talking for a while afterwards, and it was interesting because there's a big reason why more people aren't successful. And it's a mindset, little tweak, and it's something. Yeah, definitely. So I want to share with you because if you're stuck in this mindset tweak, it's what's keeping you back. I did a podcast episode on 100 podcasts or so ago talking about not outsourcing your love making. And in that, I talked about how, like, at a business, it doesn't matter what you're selling. If you're selling houses, cars, supplements, like, it doesn't matter what you're selling. You're selling. Like, that part doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what business you're in. The marketing is the only thing that matters. It's the only thing that actually, it's the lifeblood of a business. It's what drives leads and customers and sales. It's the only thing that actually matters. Like, I can take my marketing systems and plug in any business, and it'll work. Because human psychology is the same. How we get leads is the same. How we convert those leads is the same. Right? And so we're talking to him, and he's like, Yeah, I saw ClickFunnels. You know, I just haven't done it yet. I'm like, oh, whatever. Doesn't affect me at all. And he's like. He's like, yeah, so can I ask me a question like, so you guys do like stuff for real estate agents? He's like, I watched the, the viral video with the, with the squirrel and the prospector. Sounds like it's only for selling products. I'm like, no, like, it's for, like, it generates leads, it sells products. It's like whatever you need it to be. And it's like, oh, so do you have anyone in real estate doing? I'm like, yeah, we have tons of people. Like, I can, you know, top head. I know probably half a dozen or so that are killing it with like real estate agents using it. And in fact, I told him I, there's a guy who's got one of the biggest brokerages here in Boise. I'm like, he's using it and it's funny. And he's like, oh, well, you know, I hired some marketing companies do that for me and they're kind of getting us leads. I'm like, so is it working good? He's like, no, not really. He's like, I wish we could just get rid of all the leads. Being all the other agents underneath us, they want Internet leads, so we have to do that. But I just, I don't like it and I think it's dumb. And he's like, you know, right now we're selling about 100 houses a year and he's like, you know, if we got to the point where we had about 200 houses a year, then we could afford to hire a full time marketing person to generate leads and stuff. And it's just, as the marketing guy here, I just like, I want to grab the guy and just be like, what are you? Like, how do you not understand this? It's like saying, yeah, like, like let's say you're, you're struggling in your marriage and you're like, yeah, well, my wife and I, when we start like having, you know, when marriage gets, gets good and like we're happy and like everything's perfect, then we'll go to counseling. It's like, no counseling or whatever it is what gets you there, right? And it's just funny. Like, yeah, when, like when we get, when we've grown to high enough, we can afford some to generate leads, then we'll generate leads. It's like, no, like, you can't afford not to. Like, you should stop everything you're doing. The only thing you should do is generate leads. It's funny because he's like, yeah, the biggest person in town, they have about a thousand, they sell A thousand houses a month. But they're doing all of it online, generally the leads online. And they're able to do it because. Because they had. They're selling so many houses. I'm like, no, you understand. It's because they're doing it. They're able to sell so many houses. Not because they have so many houses. They can do it. It's like the chicken and the egg. It's like. It's like. It's like you're trying. Like, if I cut off the oxygen to your brain, your brain will stop. So don't. Like, it is the lifeblood. And I told him. I was like, he's asking, can we hire you guys to do stuff like that for me? I'm like, no. No. I'm like, we certify people that can do it. But it's like, if you really want to be successful, it's like, you have to become the head of the marketing. Like, you cannot outsource your lovemaking. Like, you can't do that in business and expect it to be awesome. Right? In your marriage, if you're like, hey, this is my wife, but I'm outsourced to lovemaking somebody else. Like, your business, your marriage is going to fail. It's the same thing in your business. It is the lifeblood. It is the thing that gets customers into your world and gets them to like you and believe you and trust you and give you money. And it's like, the most important part of business, I think the biggest problem. Funny, if you listen to E. Myth, like, Michael Gerber talks about this, like, people are technicians. They have an entrepreneurial seizure, and they think they want to start a business because they work at a cake factory, and they see the dude who runs the cake shop and, like, this guy's a moron. I can do a better job of that. So they start their own business. And they're not entrepreneurs. There's dudes who build cakes. It's like the dude who builds a cake. Like, anyone can build a cake. Like, you can hire a lot of people to do that. Like, it's the person who's gonna actually sell the crap out of the cakes that runs the business. Like, if you don't have that, like, your business dies. It's funny, like, in 2008, when all. When the economy crashed, all these companies are crashing. I see all these people in the company. Their first instinct is not, like, let's lower cost on, like, stupid stuff. They all cut their marketing and their sales, but, like, their marketing budget. I'm like, okay, we're struggling. Let's cut off the lifeblood to our head. Like in wrestling, when I'm taking. When I'm wrestling somebody, there's a little. Watch the video right here. Both sides of your neck, There's a thing called a carotid artery. And if I want. If I'm wrestling, I get a front headlock, and I put a little bit of pressure right there against the carotid artery, and that fast, the blood flow stops to your head. It's like someone chokes you. Like, eventually, you die with your carotid artery. If I touch it right that fast, you will black out. It's really fun. When you're wrestling someone, you're getting. You get a boom, and his whole body goes limping. You flip them over and you pin him, right? Because it's the blood that goes to your brain. You cut the blood, It. It's. It's like a second, and you're out cold. And I take it back off, and the blood keeps coming. You're back alive, right? So companies go, and they cut off. They cut off the lifeblood, and then the company dies, like, that fast. It's like, that is what's keeping you alive. Like, in times of bad economy, they triple down on the advertising, triple down on the marketing. Like, that's. Anyway, you guys all know that I'm just. I'm preaching to the choir. But for everyone else, I just want to kind of talk about that because I thought it was so funny. Like. And. And I told him that. He's like, oh, you know. You know, lead generation for me is. Is, you know, nurturing the clients we have and things like that. And, you know, I can't outsource that. That's my lovemaking or something. And I'm like, dude. Like, that's. Anyway. Anyway. So that's all I got to say. I don't know what to say. If you want to grow your company, focus on the marketing sales of the. The thing. I know most of you guys are in business because you love the thing you do. That's awesome. But if you want to have a lot of people use that thing, you got to become obsessed with the marketing of the thing. That is the key. The marketing of the thing is the business. The business is not the thing. The thing is the fulfillment of whatever you want to do, but the business is the marketing of the thing. That's the only thing that actually matters, because without that, your company dies. Without that, the lifeblood goes off to your brain, and instantly your Alcohol. And that's why I look at us versus the other SaaS companies. Other SaaS companies are focusing on hiring these huge teams of people to do whatever. I don't know what they even do. Right. We focus on marketing. The marketing drives it. So there you go guys. Anyway, hope helps some of you guys who are thinking and wondering and like, oh, you know, I'm gonna out, I'm gonna hire a marketing team. Like it's hard to do. It's. You can do it. But if you really want to grow, like you gotta come obsessed with the marketing. Everything. You've got to not try to outsource your lovemaking and realize that that is the business. And if you want to be in business, you want to be an entrepreneur. Like the entrepreneur seizure you had of like trying to start this cake company or your whatever thing it is you sell. Like if you want that baby to survive and to live, you know, being obsessed with the thing is not going to do it. It's being obsessed with the marketing of the thing. So I hope that helps appreciate you all. I'm gonna go, I got a couple hours of work, get my to do list killed and crushed so that I can have a Thanksgiving that's not stressful. Those you guys know us entrepreneurs. Like my buddy Alex Charfen always says, like we're all about momentum. And so it's like Thanksgiving scares me because there's no momentum. So I get so much momentum over the next like four hours before I gotta go back home that it'll knock down any dominoes tomorrow that are standing up when I'm trying to relax with the family. So that's it you guys. Appreciate you all and have an amazing day. Bye. 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@expertssecrets.com and book number two is called Dotcom Secrets and you can get your free copy@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.
