SFR 90: Marketers Make Events...

This is one of the biggest lessons I've taken right from the desk of Russell Brunson

Hey, what's going on everyone? This is Steve Larsen and you're listening to Sales Funnel Radio.

Welcome to Sales Funnel Radio where you'll learn marketing strategies to grow your online business using today's best internet sales funnels. Now here's your host Steve Larsen.

Steve Larsen: What's up, guys? Hey, I'm thinking here that I'm going to change up the intro music to this thing at some point. I'm excited. I can't believe that we're going to hit episode 100 in a few episodes here. That's ridiculous to me. I can't believe how fast that time has gone first of all or that I've had a hundred things to say. I just hope that you guys look back at each one of these episodes and you might think, "Hey, those were great episodes." I'm sure there's one or two where maybe something was weird or whatever, but I just appreciate the loyal following this show has. Just a big shout out to all of you guys.

It's Christmas time and I'm not sure what faith you are and that's obviously not the purpose of this podcast, but we celebrate Christmas.

We're putting up Christmas lights. It's getting cold outside. Been with my little girls and my little one just turned four and I have another two year old, and then my wife is three months pregnant as well.

Super excited for the new arrival...

Anyways, I always love this time of year. It's been a lot of fun. A little more focused on family time and things like that. It's been a whole lot of fun. Tonight we're putting together a gingerbread house and it was just one of those like cheap kits from Walmart. The thing totally collapsed like five minutes in. We ended up just trying to make this massive pile of sugar and candy and nastiness. It's actually a whole lot of fun. Anyway, it was a lot of fun.

My little ones just whenever my back was turned kept like sneaking over and grabbing like big old handfuls of icing and like just stuffing it in their face. That is so nasty. Oh man. Anyway, it's a lot of fun. Hey, this has been an awesome last few days. Obviously not just family wise, but also with you guys. Big shout out to those of you who joined me on my last live funnel build. I've been doing those pretty regularly. For the next while, it's going to be pretty much every Saturday.

As I build out whatever funnels I actually need, I just might as well flip the camera on and you guys can watch and ask questions while I'm actually building it. It's been a lot of fun. The last funnel that I just built was an application funnel.
Honestly, the application funnel is probably one of my favorite ones to build besides the webinar funnel, free plus shopping funnel, eCom funnel. I like them all. Membership areas. I like them all.

Honestly, what's cool about the application style funnel is how much it actually has an effect on your business. I think it was Frank Kern that said that there's really three things that every business needs ... Actually I think I've sent this list before as well, but whatever. He said, "Number one, you need to be having ... Just charge higher prices." He said, "Number one, you need to have higher prices. Just charge higher prices." If you just raised your prices by 10%, I doubt that anyone's going to leave just because of that.

If they do, so what? You lose one or two, but the raised price of everybody else more than covers what they left with. You know what I mean? Most people are not going to bat an eye at all. You know what I mean? Prices go up. Everyone kind of expects that. Same thing with yours. They should go up.

You should just charge more money. Figure out how to charge more money...

That was his number one. Number two what he said was that you've got to have somebody in the backend calling all of your current customers to sell them a high ticket thing in the back, whatever that is, a five grand, 10 grand, 15, 25 grand thing, whatever it is in the backend.

Whatever you're selling on the front, all those customer who are buying, just have somebody calling and selling those big things in the backend. A lot of the Inner Circle from Russell Brunson is always shocked at how fast that doubles their business. It's fun for me to read and hear about a lot of the comments because they'll be sending messages to Russell and whatever and be like, "Oh my gosh. Why aren't more people just selling something high ticket on the backend? It will double everything." I know. Those messages come pretty frequently as we tell people to do that kind of stuff. Figure out what you can sell that's high ticket in the backend and then the third thing he says is that figure out how you can sell things not on the internet.

In reality, I mean the internet is fantastic. It's really, really cool, but when it comes to big sales, the internet's really not that effective for it. You got to change the selling environment, whether that's on the phone with those high tickets sales in the backend or direct mail or whatever it is. Somehow figure out how to sell not just online. It's funny because a lot of the data that's out there that we've seen shows that. That those who have both online elements and offline elements to their funnels actually make more money, rather than those who just stay online.

Anyway, kind of fascinating. It was probably about two and a half years ago. I was getting ready to become an officer in the Army.

I was in the ROTC program. I had already gone through basic training and gone to that fondness and actually really enjoyed that. Well, we wanted to do like a cool little charity run. What we did is we got together and we decided that we would do this 5K warrior mud run. This mud run was ... I mean it was awesome. It was totally legit. Anyway, it was awesome. We had literally like flame throwers actually. We had all sorts of like these dummy M16s laying all over the place. They had to run and sprint around with this stuff and climb these massive walls and jump through stuff. I mean it was really fun. It was legitimately quite a massive operation to pull off.

Well, I was getting good enough with ClickFunnels at the time and ClickFunnels had been out for a little while at that time now. I guess this was ... No, this was about ... Holy crap. Yeah, that was about two and a half years ago. That's crazy. ClickFunnels had been out for a little bit at that time. I was getting good enough with it and I already had paying clients and I was traveling all over the place filming gurus in their events. Then I would go edit the video and then make a funnel for the video. That's kind of what I was doing at that time. It was before working for ClickFunnels or anything. I decided like how cool would it be if I built an event funnel for this mud run?

What I did is I went and I put together this funnel and I kind of thought okay, on this very first page, there's a point to all this of course, on this very first page, we'll sell the ticket. We'll them what it's about. It was for a charity cause that would connect wounded soldiers. It would reconnect wounded soldiers with their families whatever hospital they were being kept in. It was a really awesome charity that we did it for. I mean it was so fun. It was so fun.

The first page is sold the ticket. The second page told them more about information, things like that. When it was all said and done, I flipped basically the entire event funnel and we raffled off like rifles, like M16s and stuff, right, or 15s.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun. Really, really enjoyed the whole thing. You know what's interesting is we had 650 people, 650 people show up. Three new stations. I got on TV because I was one of the main guys running it. I was in charge of huge portions of the program. It was over like 70 people and then another like 50, 60 over my actual unit. I mean I was super busy at the time, but it took me 30 hours, 40 hours to really polish it up, make it look awesome, but I built this sweet event funnel. 650 people. We raised a lot of money. We gave a lot to charity and it was just an awesome time.

It would not have been possible without ClickFunnels. Now again that was before I worked for ClickFunnels and that was before all of that happened.

What's funny is when the mud run ended, a lot of you guys know that story that I was really poor. I didn't have money to go to events. I didn't have money to do that stuff. I was trading tickets for funnels, right? I was trading airline tickets. I was trading event tickets for funnels. I was just bootstrapping. I was just finding a way. I knew that I needed to get there.

What's funny because like two days after that whole event funnel ended, after that mud run ended, I went to San Diego on another person's dime because I was building funnels for him, and I went to the first funnels hacking live event. It was literally five days ... From the time that event was over, the mud run was over, I was hired at ClickFunnels like a week and a half later.

I mean it was really, really fast. The whole thing was crazy fast. Maybe two weeks later, maybe. Anyway, it all went really, really quick. What's been interesting is I have always had ... What I'm trying to get to here is I'm trying to portray a lesson that has always been ... It's never been illicitly stated while sitting next to Russell, but is certainly a strong lesson. He might have said it once or twice. I can't remember, but like I had always thought ... Now think about the Frank Kern quote, right? Number three, how can you sell besides online, right? I went to Russell's event and he gets on stage and he's got the sweet event funnel obviously that he sold Funnel Hacking Live 2016 with.

I go and I stand and I'm watching this stuff and I'm like, "Oh my gosh. This is so cool." I see him pitch certification and I was like, "I've got to get in this." I didn't know how, but I was like calling my bank. I was trying to get loans. I knew I would be better off ... Again this was like a few days before I got hired, certainly a day or two before I put the application in. Anyway, it all happened so quick. It's crazy, crazy fast. All of it. Anyway, Russell was selling at his event. Lo and behold, right? Not online. He found another way to sell besides online that he was selling at his own event obviously. Of course, he would.

As I've progressed sitting next to him, what I have learned and noticed and we have implemented and put in place and I've done myself in many other places and especially in another industry really strongly, even in this one, is I have learned that everything you do as a marketer revolves around events. Your ability to create events. What is a webinar funnel, right? You're creating an event online through a webinar funnel, right? You're putting together an event online, right? It's the same thing. Auto webinar funnel.

Now you're mimicking one. You're trying to make them feel like it's a live event, right? Now anytime that you are putting anything out online ... Russell's book launch. That was certainly an event, right?

We built an event around it. When we had the Viral Video launch, we literally said, "Okay. We could just make this video and we'll just put it out there." We're like, "How can we make this more awesome. Oh my gosh. What if we actually rented the Boise State Stadium? Yeah. All right. Cool. What else can we do? Let's get Gary V. there. Oh my gosh." They're like, "Oh, let's get all these influencers there. Let's send out these really, really cool invites to get them there also. Oh, let's do bubble soccer." You know what I mean? We created an event around the launch. Okay? Every single time we have ever launched anything big or one of those big players like that, every time we've always put an event around it.

What I've learned and what I've implemented on my own and a lot of you guys know I'm heavy in MLM, in the MLM industry and in other places as well, I have done that very thing and it's ridiculous what it does when you start putting all those kinds of events.

Literally the only reason for this episode is what I'm trying to tell you to do is like figure out ways to create events around your marketing. Put these events around your marketing, whatever you're launching, any funnel you're putting out there. If you've already launched something, it's not that you can't create an event either.

Again even though it's already launched or put out there, toss another bonus or two in there and call it something special as they buy the original product that get the other two with it. You know what I mean?

You can figure out how to do that, but just have an eye for it...

The whole thing is about you creating events. Okay? Sorry. There's two other places I'm trying to take this here. I was in Dallas two or three weeks ago. Holy crap. That was like three weeks ago. Time's moving. Oh my gosh. Anyway, I was in Dallas a few weeks ago and I was sitting down with ... He's the guy who created I believe ... Don't quote me on this, but I believe he created the company Travelocity. Huge guy, right? I mean extremely successful, right?

Another guy who had done half of a billion dollars in sales. Another guy that runs all of the events for The ONE Thing. I can't tell anymore than that. [inaudible 00:13:29] Crap. Whatever. Anyway, but it's interesting. I was sitting there will all these guys and it was interesting listening to all of them. I could not believe how fortunate I was to spend an entire day with these individuals. I was sitting in Dallas. It was the day after I spoke. I happened to be there and I thought I might as well stay there and listen to what they had to say.

I was sitting there and I was listening. There was this basically the equivalent of an event funnel that they had put together to help launch a certain product that they have coming out.

They showed me the video and I'm being tender with this, okay, as I say that. I'm not trying to make fun of it or anything like that, but I lost so much interest after 30 seconds. I couldn't believe it. I could not believe how bored I got. It was like an awkward kind where I was uncomfortable to be sitting there continuing to watch this six minute video or whatever it was. I was like, "Ah-ah." It was the kind of video where I was like, "Oh man."

There was like a billion things in red flags screaming through my head on what is wrong with this event video. Again not trying to throw rocks here. I'm just going by comparison. Okay? Here's another example. Have you ever seen the event funnel video that T&C puts out for their event?

It is so boring. Oh my gosh. Again I'm not throwing rocks to the dude, but there's an art to this thing. Okay? All it is is Ryan Deiss standing up saying, "All right, guys. It's that time of the year again. We're going to have T&C and there's going to be this many people and this is what we're going to talk about." Okay. Now contrast that experience with the videos that Russell puts out about his event. Okay? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go to funnelhackinglive.com and watch the video from this last year and you can even watch the previous two years also on that very first page up on the header. I know because I was heavily involved in the construction of it. Up in the header, up at the top there.

You can watch it and just pay attention to your emotions. How do you feel as you're watching those videos? I'm filled with hope when I watch them. Huge hope. I'm filled with this enabling power. I feel like I can go take on the world when I watch those videos. I am not kidding. You guys will laugh at it, but Russell and I literally will play that video on ... We have listened to that over and over and over and over while we're sitting in the office working. We love the video that much, which might sound kind of weird.

Anyway, that's what I'm trying to say with this whole thing is that think and feel your emotions while you're watching your own sales videos, while you're watching your own event funnel videos, while you're watching any of the videos that you put out there. It's all about emotion.

You know what's funny about this podcast and what I've noticed about it, when I first started this podcast, the structure for each episode was very different than it is now. Well, not very different, but it's evolved. I would tell story for like 60% of the time and then I would give like some kind of tip or content piece the other 40%. What was funny about the whole thing is people kept saying, "Please give us more tips."

I think people kept trying to tell me like, "Stop doing 60-40. Do like 20% story, 80% tips and tricks." I think I did that for an episode or two and it just felt weird. There was no story behind it to help it actually sink in. Funny enough, whenever I would do the heavy tips and tricks type of episodes, everyone forgot that crap anyway. Unless you wrap your marketing messages in stories, unless you wrap your events in stories, unless you are publishing stories, no one's going to remember what you're saying anyway.

Story is what drives emotion straight into the heart where we remember the tip or the fact or whatever it is. Just that one little golden nugget.
What I did when I was in Dallas is I said, "Okay." I'll try to say it nicely. I was like," Hey, great job on the video. Can I just show you this other one by contrast?" I pulled up Russell's video and we watched it. At the end of it, they were like, "Oh my gosh." I was like, "I know. What did you notice?" He's like, "Well, Russell's not talking about the event himself." Right?

He's not talking about the event itself. It's a ton of testimonials. It's a ton of people talking about how much ClickFunnels has changed their life. It's a ton of people telling many stories and many epiphany bridges all over the place for this one overarching epiphany bridge story. That's it.

What I'm trying to say here and what I'm trying to invite you guys to do is that I'm going to be building an event funnel this next Saturday. You guys should get this episode by the end. If not, that's totally fine too.

Just know that I'm building a lot of funnels over the next two Saturdays especially as I prepare to leave ClickFunnels, which I'm super sad about still, which might confuse a lot of people for me to say that. I am quite sad about it.

I've had many freak out moments. If you want to watch me build my next event funnel, go ahead and you can to salesfunnelbroker.com/live. Salesfunnelbroker.com/live. That's going to be kind of my HubSpot place for any funnels that I'm building live in the future.

You can keep checking back there. If something's already gone through, there might be bit and pieces of replays, things like that. Anyway, there'll be stuff on there for you to go check out.

Anyway, that's all I was trying to say with this is that when you think about the three things that Frank Kern says, right, just charge more money, have someone calling people in the backend and find a way to sell in other environments, well, one of those ways is events. I can tell you from personal experience, I've got a lot of people, 650 people, to my first event ever doing that. That's crazy. Now granted obviously I didn't do it on my own. I had a team. I can't take full credit for that, nor would I try to. However, we've built a lot of event funnels and events is marketing.

Events is marketing. All right. Go think through the next event that you're going to put out. It doesn't have to necessarily be something physical. It can be totally virtual. It could be online. It could be whatever, but create events. Events naturally create urgency. They naturally create scarcity because it'll never happen again, which is like the biggest two tools that you have as a marketer. All right? If you want to come join me on the next funnel build that I do, go to salesfunnelbroker.com/live. Guys, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Appreciate the involvement. I batch record pretty much all these episodes. For me, I feel like I haven't put an episode for a while, but I know they've been dripping out to you pretty consistently, which is great.

I have an awesome assistant for that and I will be interviewing her shortly, so that you guys can find out who she is. She does an awesome job with my podcast. Anyways, guys, you're all awesome. Appreciate you and get out there and crush it.

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