Expert Conversion Strategies and Traffic Secrets from a $200M Company with Russel Brunson, CEO of Click Funnels | Ep. #353

Today using funnels for conversions seems like a vital part of marketing your products but so much of that is thanks to our guest for today, Russel Brunson. Russel is the CEO of Click Funnels, a SaaS product that provides everything you need to market, sell, and deliver your products and services online through funnels. Click Funnels is approaching $200 million in revenue and they haven't raised a cent in venture capital, so our conversation with Russel today is mostly about the funneling strategies they use to make this possible. First up though, Russel tells the story of Click Funnels’ conception, which involves his initial entrepreneurial ambition of selling DVDs containing instructions for making potato guns. After learning about sales funnels through this venture, and then developing Click Funnels, Russel found that nobody even knew what sales funnels were. We hear from him about how this problem led him to write all his books, which both act as instruction manuals for using and optimizing funnels but also behave as funnels for his company. This leads Russel to speak about the other clever ways he converts people into customers and keeps Click Funnels growing, such as webinars and challenges. Other interesting tidbits from today’s episode are the stories of how Russel made $3.2 million selling Click Funnels to the audience of Grant Cardone’s 10X event, and how Apple completely blocked his number one podcast. As you’ll find out in this episode, Russel’s love of storytelling is a key feature of his success, so make sure you catch this interview.  TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES: [00:21] Before we jump into today’s interview, please rate, review, and subscribe to the Leveling Up Podcast! [00:22] An intro into Russel, Click Funnels, and their revenue despite raising no venture dollars. [00:57] Potato gun sales funnels and how that led to Russel’s partner coding Click Funnels. [02:24] How Click Funnels makes money through tiered SaaS subscriptions. [03:04] Russel’s use of funnels in such a way that Click Funnels doesn’t pay for growth. [04:24] Funnel shelf lives and how Russel rotates through different funnels to keep fresh. [06:29] How Russel’s books guided customers to see they needed his product. [06:30] Using, optimizing and getting people into funnels: Russel’s three books. [10:16] Marketing Click Funnels to different communities through Funnel Hack events. [12:09] How customers’ need for Click Funnels informs Russel’s view on giving free content. [13:46] Why Russel shut down his lucrative mastermind at the top of his funnel. [14:28] Russel’s love of storytelling and why he wants Click Funnels to be worth $1 billion. [15:15] Storytelling over techno-babble: learning how to sell your product. [17:11] How Russel sold $3.2 million worth of SaaS on stage one year and failed the next. [20:13] Russel’s confusion around why his podcast got choked by Apple. [17:11] The top three funnels that work the best: books, webinars, and challenges. [21:57] Timeframes for when Russel makes new funnels. [22:26] Russel’s must-read books and favorite business tools. Resources From The Interview: Click Funnels Russel Brunson   DotCom Secrets Expert Secrets Traffic Secrets Unlock the Secrets   Funnel Hacking Live Gabe Schillinger 10X Growth Con Traffic Secrets Website Expert Secrets Website Secret Funnel Strategy Webinars One Funnel Away Salesforce Opidis Joovv   Must read book: Behind the Cloud, American Kingpin   Leave Some Feedback:   What should I talk about next? Who should I interview? Please let me know on Twitter or in the comments below. Did you enjoy this episode? If so, please leave a short review here Subscribe to Leveling Up on iTunes Get the non-iTunes RSS Feed   Connect with Eric Siu:    Growth Everywhere Single Grain Eric Siu on Twitter