Traffic Secrets by Russell Brunson Review | 7500+ Word Summary for 2023

If you've been in the internet marketing space for more than about a week, you've heard of Russell Brunson.

I'm a Russell Brunson super fan.

People can say whatever they want about him but I've achieved more direct, quantifiable results from the things he's taught me (indirectly through his books, podcasts and videos) than from any other source I've found in the years I've been in business.

So, when I got an email about a review copy of his upcoming book, Traffic Secrets, I was beyond pumped.

When my copy landed in my mailbox a week later, I started reading it before I even got back into my house (my mailbox is surprisingly far away from my house so this isn't as ridiculous as it might sound).   

This isn't a review of the book, it's an overview with a collection of all of the most meaningful takeaways. 

Want my quantifiable review of Traffic Secrets? It is the best marketing book I've ever read. 5 out of 5. 10 out of 10... whatever. It's amazing and will be worth all the hype. 

Since I knew that so many people were dying to read it, I read it slowly and very methodically with a pen, highlighter and sticky notes (I don't mess around).

I read the book with the intention of teaching what I learned. This isn't altruistic, teaching what we learn is shown to maximize longterm retention by up to 90% vs. just 20% of reading alone. 

So, you should still of course buy a copy of the book but these notes will give you a nice idea of what's inside. You'll have plenty of nuggets to act on between now and when you order your copy.

This book is 318 pages but this article will get you the goods fast and will serve as a primer for when you get your hands on the real copy. 

This is NOT intended to replace reading the book. Hell, I took the notes myself and I'm going to re-read it in a month and surely buy the audiobook (I wrote a great piece on getting more out of audiobooks here by the way) once it's released and listen to that as well.

My General Thoughts on Traffic Secrets

I jotted down my thoughts on a separate note pad as I read, here they are in the order that I had them while reading.

Who Should Read Traffic Secrets? 

Anyone with a desire to make money online or build anything that requires mass attention (charities, politics, awareness to a cause etc.) You do not need something to sell yet to benefit from this book.

Do I Need to Read DotCom Secrets and Expert Secrets First?

No. Traffic Secrets builds on concepts from the other 2 books in the trilogy, but you can read it on its own. I highly recommend that you read all three (If some concepts seem slightly repetitious , you likely need to hear them more than once, these aren't "fluff" books)

"Traffic Principles," or "Traffic Strategies" Would Be More Descriptive Titles

This book does NOT cover today's top, specific tactics and hacks, it covers evergreen concepts that will last until people stop buying things. Showing you strategies and tactics on one specific platform is "giving you a fish," but teaching you the framework is "teaching you to fish."

You WILL still leave the book with a hit list of things to implement immediately. They just won't be little tech hacks or temporary tricks for quick but fleeting gains.

The closest you’ll get to these sorts of takeaways are things like, “we leave our first retargeting ad up for 5 days,” etc. 

Thoughts on the Writing Style of Traffic Secrets

Russell is a brilliant curator. While many authors will desperately work to convey the idea that they know everything about everything, he doesn't try to take credit for every piece of information he shares.

Much of the book is from experts that Russell learned from, composed in a way that exposes them to the masses in a new way. This was awesome because it's unreasonable to expect him to be the most knowledgeable person on every single traffic topic. He understands this and makes sure that we get the best information, even when it means bringing in additional experts. 

Page 82 gave me chills. When Russell asks his wife if he can spend $1,000 on a course by Mark Joyner. I can't recall any other marketing books evoking an emotional response like that.

This book is easy to read because every chapter starts with a relevant story.

This book doesn't offer a solution to get out of putting in the work. Page 117 has a sobering truth about how much work you need to put in.

Throughout the book, you'll read a lot about spying on your dream 100. Russell wants you to understand you DON'T COPY, you use your Dream 100 for inspiration for your own creativity. 

For more on this concept, I highly recommend reading the book Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. So freaking good.

One of the most amazing things about Russell (this is a testament to his insane charisma) is that in this book he's TELLING ME how he got me to buy and the psychological triggers that made me a fan/customer. And yet, it makes me like him more somehow. Some people would NEVER tell their buyers how they made them buyers.

Although Russell identifies as an introvert, some of the tips in this book are an introverts nightmare. If you refuse to “brand” yourself and be the face of your business, try to read this with your clients in mind. If you aren’t going to use these tactics for yourself or for clients, you may find a lot of this book to be unnecessary. 

Consistency is at the heart of all of the items in here. There are some "a ha! This will get me traffic fast!" takeaways but consistency is what drives all of these things together.

Things I'm Doing After Reading

Books like Traffic Secrets mean nothing if you don't actually leave them with actionable insights and next steps.As I was reading, I made a list of the things that I could implement immediately in my own business.

One thing to keep in mind, Russell covers a LOT of things in this book but he suggests that we only focus on one platform at a time. He suggests that only after we've mastered that and take the action steps to optimize our traffic for that channel should we move on to the next channel. This means 6-12 months focused 100% on one platform. 

So, I made notes of the things I need to implement across all my channels but they are eventual changes, not immediate.

I'll actually be referring back to this article myself to remind myself of what I need to do when the time comes. I've annotated those points with asterisks*.

These action items are after reading the entire book, but I'll go into more detail about the underlying concepts and reasoning in later sections of these notes.

#1 Refining my customer avatar. The customer avatar or "dream customer," is a concept that was covered in detail in Dot Com Secrets and Expert Secrets but it's just as important for Traffic Secrets. We can't properly get traffic if we don't know who are traffic is!

My own avatar is a bit blurry and always has been.

Honestly, this concept has always confused me a bit. I always feel like it's too narrow or something...but, after reading the book I understand better what the concept really means. 

#2 Creating a more detailed "where are my Dream customers," list. You'll read the term "Dream 100" at least 100 times in this book. It is the funnel hacking concept but focused on audiences and keywords. 

#3 Updating email sequences to focus on emotion -> logic -> scarcity. This part is more reminiscent of things you'd read in his other books, but I realized that my traffic will be much more valuable if I make my follow ups better. Currently, they're a little bland. I know they could be better and that's a priority I'm actually implementing ASAP.

#4 Creating content daily. I'll share more about this in the "Bold statements" section coming up. 

#5 Reviewing my "hook, story and Offer," on all my products. I sell several software and information products and I realized that I haven't been mindful to create a hook, story and offer flow to my sales copy.

#6 Getting on my dream 100s shows. Many influencers have already congregated my dream audience. Getting myself on their shows (podcasts, YouTube, blogs, etc) gets me in front of them quickly.

#7 Narrowing down my friends list and following my dream 100 exclusively and narrowing down which groups/pages I engage with. More on this in the bold statements chapter.

#8 Making 4X more adverts + sales copy tests for paid ads. One of my favorite "a-ha!" moments of the book. More creatives, analyzed and acted on effectively, means better conversion rates.

*#9 Updating my Instagram bio and modeling it after what's working for my Dream 100.* Instagram isn't my primary focus so this is on the "do later" list.

#10 Focusing on building my FB messenger bot. I'll also be adding a "send to messenger," check box on my email opt-in. What? Well, I changed my mind on this one after reading about Facebook's new messenger policy. I felt compelled to keep this here though since it was in my original notes. 

#11 Focusing a % of my ad spend buying banners on websites ranking for the keywords I want to rank for (2nd click is more valuable). Instead of spending all of my ad budget on Google, YouTube, Instagram, Bing and Facebook, I'm going straight to the sources and working to buy media directly on the websites that are already ranking for my dream keywords.

*#12 Updating my YouTube trailer video (p.239)*. My YouTube channel needs work. P. 239 gives a nice template for your trailer video that converts.

#13 Encouraging "bingeing" on YouTube with playlists.  The same concept we use in sales funnels applies to YouTube. When someone is watching a video on a certain topic, it's very likely they're interested in watching another...and another...and another.... By leveraging this we can get a surge of traffic to our older videos and give a boost to our overall channel.

#15 Russell asks himself, "how did I give myself a raise today," ...I'm going to start doing that. How did I plug into other people's distribution channels to expand today?

Bold Statements In Traffic Secrets

I always read looking for the boldest statements possible. These are usually the things that push the needle forward. They're bold because they aren't commonly acknowledged yet.  

Here are the statements in the order in which they appear in the book.

Statement #1

"If you're spending more than 10 minutes a day consuming social media, then you are wasting your time." P. 140

Thoughts: This statement is bold because most people are guilty of spending too much unproductive time on social media, but it's REALLY bold because 10 minutes is a fraction of the norm. I don't personally plan to cut down to 10 minutes (I enjoy my memes and funny videos too much) but I am absolutely cutting down on my consumption and focusing more on my creating. 

Bold Statement #2: 

"If they did that (publish daily for a year), they'd never need to worry about money again." P115

Thoughts: Any claim about "do this and achieve financial freedom," is always bold. This one is so interesting though because most people say they would create every day for a year if it guaranteed financial freedom, but then, they don't actually follow through. 

Bold Statement #3: 

“I stopped logging into Snapchat and eventually deleted the app altogether.” P. 171

Thoughts: This was bold because it read like a death blow to SnapChat. I mean, come on, after reading that Russell isn't interested in it anymore, are you still interested? I'm not and I'm feeling better about having ignored SnapChat from day #1. 

Bold Statement #4:

“I purchased a second phone for the sole purpose of being able to go live on Instagram at the same time I went live on Facebook.” P 175

Thoughts: This wasn't the boldest statement but if Russell thinks it's important enough to maximize our stream time that he bought a second phone to do it, it's pretty important. 

Bold Statement #5:

“My test for if something should be on my page is this: ‘is this content good enough that I will spend at least $10-$20 to boost it? If you’re not willing to pay for ads to that content, then do not post it on your fan page.” -Julie Stoian Page 194

Thoughts: The first bold statement that wasn't made by Russell. Julie Stoian is a marketing genius and this quote really hit home for me because I am notoriously posting subpar, thoughtless content to my fan pages. Posting for postings sake isn't productive. 

Bold Statement #6

"I still use my iPhone for the majority of my videos." P. 240

Thoughts: I actually just covered this topic in a blog post in February. So many creators delay creating until they have all the fancy gear and expensive tools. Russell makes it obvious that you don't really need all of that. 

Bold Statement #7

"So, for those of you who are reading this section now, know that for you, if you were sitting in front of me right now, I'd have you pick one platform, build your show on it, get to work on your dream 100, and then only focus on that for at least the next 12 months of your life." P. 263

Thoughts: The Dream 100 isn't just a fun concept to Russell, it's his #1 priority for his paid clients.

Bold Statement #8

"My goal is to pay out 50% (in commissions) of  the profit I make in my funnel."

Thoughts: While many affiliate managers are looking for ways to profit by paying their affiliates less, Russell suggests focus on ways to profit by paying your affiliates more. Secret #18 titled Your Affiliate Army was one of my favorites and he explains the value of affiliates and how to make them actually want to promote your products over the millions of other options they have. 

How to Crack Any Traffic Platform

If you were to take just one concept from this book, it should be this one. 

In Traffic Secrets, Russell doesn't go into deep detail about every platform. He does break down the 4 biggest ones (Google, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube) but he provides a framework that can be applied to any new medium at any time.

Even in 2050, when Billie Eilish is president, dogs live forever and it's cool to wear socks with crocks (sorry, I'm not good at predicting the future and this was all I got), this approach will help you find success on any of the new or existing platforms. 

This method will help you smoothly navigate what Russell refers to as "snaps and smacks," that platforms throw at us.

For example, when an algorithm changes, you'll see it coming and be more prepared to survive it. You'll adapt faster to change and find real traffic more quickly.

Here are the 6 steps.

Step #1 Understand the History and Goal of the Platform. Every platform has the goal of making money and they all do it in different ways. Understanding their priorities and analyzing how they've worked to achieve them in the past will help us crack their platform and stay in their good graces. We won't have to rely on gimmicks and tricks that work in the short run. 

Here's an example. Google sells ad space. The more people that use their search engines, the more money they make. To get as many people using the platform as possible, they have to provide the best search results. To get the best search results, they have to be able to filter out value. Their algorithm works to provide the best answer to every question and they reward the sites that do this.

Step #2 Identify Your Dream 100. The dream 100 is broken down differently depending on the platform. For platforms that function like Instagram or Facebook, we want to collect a list of 100 influencers who have already gathered our dream audience around them.  

If the platform functions as a search engine, you want to find the 100 influencers who already have your audience congregated around them AND the 100 keywords that your dream customer is looking for already. 

Step #3 Identify the Publishing Strategy and Create a Plan. Next, we review the dream 100 (influencers and/or keywords) and see what is working for them. What posts are getting the best engagement? 

We gather this information and start to build up an idea of what we should be creating. We are NOT stealing content or ideas, we are just using them for inspiration and our own unique content. 

Step #4 Work Your Way In. This part we begin to "dig our well before we're thirsty," and network with our dream 100 . We aren't trying to sell them on anything. Never sell to someone right away. Make connections even before you have anything to sell at all if you can.

Over time, work to collaborate with your dream 100. Try to get exposure to their audience and share value. This is a two way street and there's a fine line between genuine, symbiotic connections and parasitic manipulation. 

Focus on doing things of real value for your dream 100. This part requires empathy and a genuine desire to serve others. Without that, this becomes a gross process full of self serving, empty efforts.

Step #5 Buy Your Way In. Begin to buy exposure (however that is defined by the platform). This could be in the form of running ads in front of the pages of your dream 100, buying traffic to your dream keywords on Google, buying banner ads on websites...whatever it is at the time. There is always an opportunity to buy in!

Step #6 Fill Your Funnel. Turn all traffic you're borrowing into traffic you own (email list). 

This is the evergreen framework for getting your dream customers from any platform.  

Takeaways (As They Appeared in the Book)

Here are the things that I made note of as I was reading the book. I apologize if some leave you hanging. I can't possibly cover them all in the same detail that the book does so I'm not going to even try. 

Quick Note on These Notes...

This isn't a typical blog post. These notes follow the order that I jotted them down and some things may not make perfect sense or may seem oddly injected. Take what you can out of this, I've done my best to make it as valuable as possible. I've done my best to leave my personal interpretations out of things and note them as close to what Russell intended as possible, but of course, I am not Russell so these won't be exactly perfect. Another reason to read the book...

Forward Notes

Dean Graziosi Foreward Takeaway: Dean Graziosi is the picture of internet business success and was an awesome choice for writing the forward. 

His biggest takeaway was a reference to the movie Field of Dreams. It primes the underlying theme of the entire book.

Dean explains how the movie is great, but the line "If you build it, they will come." would be terrible business advice. 

Many entrepreneurs mastered the concepts of Dot Com Secrets and Expert Secrets and still struggled to achieve results. The reason: they built it and forgot about driving the traffic!

Three Core Markets to Pick (and You Must Pick Only One). They are health, wealth and relationships. These markets are always moving away from pain or toward pleasure.

Section I: Dream 100

Chet Holmes "Dream 100" from the Ultimate Sales Machine Was the Inspiration for Much of This Book. Russell credits Chet with much of what he shares in the book. You can grab a copy here on Amazon. 

Dream 100 One to One + Dream 100 One to Many. Russell says this is the foundation of ClickFunnels. He said ClickFunnels had a "dream 736" before it launched 

Dream 100 Is Russell's #1 Priority. Russell charges $100,000 for 1 day of consulting and the FIRST thing he does is spends 3-4 hrs building out this list. Concept is easy to grasp but the execution is hard.

Target People Who Are Already on Your Platform. "Podcast listeners love podcasts," etc. Growing a YouTube channel? Target people who are already on YouTube! Etc

You'll Only Hit a Fraction or Your 100. Our success isn't measured by getting every single person to get on board. It's getting as many as possible. This might only be 5-10 at first. The more you build authority and reputation in your space, the easier it will be to get the attention of your dream 100, but even Russell says he doesn't expect near 100%. 

Go Beyond Your Core Niche. I am a top ClickFunnels affiliate but my core niche is Amazon sellers but their sub market aligns with ClickFunnels, Wealth. I was able to sell 115 Clickfunnels memberships in 2 weeks by tapping into this new audience and introducing them to Clickfunnels and how it could be used in their space. 

2 Congregation Types. (1) Interest based (2) Keyword based. 

Hook Story Offer. The foundation. All problems relate back to the hook, story, or offer.

• Hooks: Can be many things (vague) but they're anything (words, images, actions) that grab attention. Email subjects, Thumbnails, Videos, Headlines etc.
• Story: (1)Builds value to offer and (2) connection with you as attractive character or brand.
• Offer: call to action (doesn't always mean buying something)

Tip: Learn to be mindful of the hooks that get your attention. Ask "why?" and you can get better at making your own.

Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty. Build relationships before you're asking for something. This is covered at length in the book "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty" by Harvey Mackay.

1. Subscribe to everything they publish
2. Buy their products 
3. Find ways to help them 

^Doing these things also helps you better understand the ecosystem.

You're a Producer, Not a Consumer. Russell says to consider yourself as a producer vs consumer. Don't use social to be social.

Outreach. (1) Don't send templated outreach. (2) Don't tell a story right away. (3) Don't ask for anything right away. (4) Do make sure they see your face before hand. (5) Do tell them how great they are. (6) Do your homework

Work Your Way In. Think about how actors go on talk shows in the weeks leading up to their Hollywood blockbusters. Do this (smaller scale) and get on their platforms (not yours). Try to be consistent and do 2+ per week.

Paid traffic is "faster," but dies when you turn off your ads. Russell suggests we work beyond just paid traffic for lasting, consistent success.

Goal is a "break even funnel." When you have a "break even funnel," you break free from an ad budget. A break even funnel means that for every $1 you spend you make at least $1 back. If you do this, you're getting free leads and can profit on the upsell or future promotion.

"Ultimately, the business that can spend the most to acquire a customer wins." -Dan Kennedy 

Which Is Better? Paid or Earned? They are both necessary for long term growth. There is a 3rd, best option: Owned traffic.

Traffic You Own = Closest Thing to Money Press. Goal is turn traffic you buy and earn into traffic you own. I've written about the importance of turning paid traffic into list traffic for affiliate marketers here. Example: List of 10,000 people...sell a $50 product and convert just 1% ...earn $5,000!

Example: eBay Purchases Skype for 2.6 Billion in September of 2005. They could have made the software, but what they were buying was the 54 million members and 150,000 new users per day.

Convert traffic to leads with a lead magnet. {The different types of lead funnels are covered in more detail in Expert Secrets, but here is a list of 50 lead magnets put together.}

Value of an Email. Russell says that on the low end, you should average $1 per subscriber per month. This is very conservative (see hook, story, offer if your # is below this) and many marketers see $50-$100+ per month per member.

Convert Emails to $ with Follow Up Funnels. Many people get spooked when their front end funnels lose money. They don't see that the follow up funnel can make them profitable and, essentially, get paid to grow their lists. Sometimes the break even happens on the front end while other times, it's in the follow up.

"Not following up with your prospects and customers is the same as filling up your bathtub without first putting the stopper in the drain!" - David Frey

"Amateurs focus on the first sale." - Mark Litman

Fighting Short Attention Spans. Most emails go unopened. Supplementing these with other communication mediums helps...(1) SMS (2) Retargeting Ads (3) Messenger

The Psychological Closes: Emotion, Logic, Fear. Most powerful way to get someone to take action is by using emotion. Russell says 50% buy based on the emotional part, 30% from the logical and the last 20% from fear.

Soap Opera Sequence vs Seinfeld Emails. Both are covered in detail in Dot Com Secrets. Soap Opera is your initial follow up where you build your attractive character and Seinfield emails are your regular daily broadcasts.

Everyone Answers When You Have a Show. Russell tells a great story about Arsenio Hall and how he was a contestant on the Celebrity Apprentice many years after his show ended. He couldn't reach anyone when he needed favors because he didn't have anything to give in return anymore. "Working your way in" is easier when you have something of attractive value. It's harder when you try to "live in the shadows," and reach out as a nobody.

New Mediums for Evergreen Old School Tactics 

• Smartphones = TV.
• Radio = Podcasts
• Talk Shows = Facebook
• Reality TV = Instagram
• Sitcoms = YouTube
• Newspapers = Blogs.
• Direct Mail = Email

Focus on one platform at first . If you're unsure which is best, start with the one where you consume most of your own content because you know that best.

Owned vs Borrowed Platforms. Each platform has its own "list," but email is the only one you own. Owned traffic is the ultimate goal. 

Starting Your Show. There's no "perfect time," but there is a "right time," and that is right now. Your early content will probably not be good. Don't look at the stats!!! Early content can get eyes once you "connect," with your audience down the road. Russell says many of his high level mastermind students said they listened to a later episode, connected and then went back to the early content.

Step #1 Publish Daily for 1 Year. Russell said it took 3 years for marketing in your car to really have traction.

Step #2 Document the Journey. Documenting is just as powerful as creating. It doesn’t matter what stage of your process you’re at. Total newbies can document what they’re doing and provide value in that process. Don’t fear cynical passerbys. Just share what is most meaningful 

Gary Vee said that influencers “Trying to oversell themselves because they think that’s what’s going to get people’s attention,” is one of the biggest mistakes people make in their personal brand. “I think it’s more fruitful to talk about your process than about the actual advice you ‘think’ you should be giving them.”

And don't let your fear of "bad content," scare you...

Step #3 Testing Your Material: Dean Graziosi mentions how popular comedians seem to be funny 100% of their shows. He goes on to explain that they got all of their bad jokes out of the way over the years and kept what worked. Publishing daily will help you refine your voice.

Step #4 Introduction to Your Dream 100: Reach Out to Your dream 100 and try to become a guest on their shows. You'll get a lot of "no's" but one yes can get you in with others.

SECTION II: Leveraging Instagram, Facebook, Google and YouTube

Refer to the "How to Crack Any Platform" section I shared earlier. For each of the specific platforms he covers, he references this framework and works through it. 

The following notes are things that expand beyond that framework that are worth mentioning.

DON'T BLINDLY COPY. Just like with Funnel Hacking, the goal isn't to steal. We are going to spy on the people who are having success in our space and on our platform and see what is working and use it as inspiration for our own, original content.

When pattern interrupts become the pattern, it stops being as effective. Remember, just because something has been working for one of your dream 100 doesn't mean that it will work forever. Things change and often become less effective over time. Favor recency when possible.

Social Media House Party Stop selling on social. Social is about making friends and connections.

Produce, Don't Consume. Mentioned this once already, but Russell says that spending more than 10 mins per day consuming content is too much.

Social Media Reset. Do a "social media reset," and unfollow the distractions. Follow ONLY your dream 100. This will also help you "dig your well," because you'll only be commenting on their stuff. Next, find the most engaged groups and pages. Engage in only those.

Filling Funnel with Paid Ads. Adding paid traffic on top of earned traffic is like putting lighter fluid on charcoal. Reminder: You have no advertising budget if you've created a break even funnel.Start with a small budget and if it breaks even, see how much you can spend, if it doesn't, turn it off and optimize. 

Prospecting Ads VS Retargeting Ads. Best results come from combining prospecting ads and retargeting ads.

More Creative Assets Tested in Ads Means Better Conversions at Scale. Dean Graziosi story about using 4X as many ad creatives as Russell for his book. Everywhere you go, be thinking of places or ways to create new ads.

Targeting for prospecting Ads. Dream 100,  ideal customer avatar (demographics), overlapping interests, algorithms. Prospecting ads are going to be more expensive but you need them to improve your targeting and fill your retargeting buckets. 

Three retargeting audiences. (1) Engaged {low value, run for 5 days, sell the click} (2) Landed {higher value, clicked, run ads for 7 days, sell the opt-in or purchase} (3) Owned {Opted In, highest value, sell the next step}

Retargeting Ads don't need new creatives constantly like prospecting Ads. These can feel overwhelming. Highly recommend you consider hiring a professional and focus your efforts on the ad materials or your other strengths.

Instagram Traffic Secrets 

IG TV + Profile you don't sell and then Instagram Stories and Live you can sell. These are the "party" vs "your house." You sell at your house, but not at the party!

Crafting a killer Insta Bio. Emulate what's working for your dream 100.

JK5 Method from Jenna Kutcher. Pick 5 categories that your passionate about. Pictures should rotate around these categories. Don't put two posts back to back in the same categories.

Never post in real time. Plan our posts in advance. Real time posting is for Instagram stories.

Create albums in your phone for each category and store pictures there for later syndication. This makes it very easy to never run out of content.

Use the "ABCDQ Test" before posting anything.

• Aesthetic: Does it visually show something that fits the personality of the brand?
• Brand: Is it aligned with my dream client or something they will engage with?
• Consistent: Is it consistent in terms of color or quality to fit within my feed?
• Diversity: Is this something different from my last post? Does it create recognition beyond what I sell?
• Quality: Is this up to the quality I want my clients/followers to expect? If this stood alone would it fit my brand?

HSO of Instagram. Hook (picture/video), Story (captions) Offer (CTA)

Story goals. (1) Inspire (2) Educate (3) Entertain

Types of Captions. (1) Tell a story (2) Ask a question  (at least once per week) (3) Make a list

Hashtags: Can use up to 30. Can be in caption or first comment (covert). Find them with tools or emulate your dream 100s

CTA (call to action): EVERY post needs one. Can be as simple as "double tap", "share," "tag friends," or "post an emoji." These CTAs signal to instagram that people enjoy your profile and can help you drive traffic off the site.

Reply to Comments. This builds good will and increases future engagement.

IGTV: Refine your best engaged content into more polished, longer videos. Sweet spot is 3-6 minutes longVital to get them to watch the first 60 seconds so they move to IGTV app

IG Stories. Your reality show. You don’t have to be as methodical with these since they are only 24 hours long. These are the most powerful way to build a relationship with your audience. Show things your working on behind the scenes Stories are the “home” where you’re able to push people into your funnels and actually sell to them. Russell tries to post 10-30 times on his stories each day

Story Highlights. Give eternal life to your stories with story highlights. Here’s a video I made showing how to do this…Your highlights are one of the first things that people who follow you will see. A front end sales funnel highlight can do really well long term.

Story Highlights Mini Webinar: 

• Stories 1-3: Yes or No questions… (1)Vehicle you’re trying to put them into (2) internal struggles (3) external fears
• Next Stories: “Feel, Felt, Found” … “I understand how you feel…I felt the same way…this is what I found…”
• Next Stories Introduces the offer
• Next stories: Show the proof
• Next Stories: Recap the offer
• Final stories: Add urgency

Instagram Live Strategy

Do Question and Answer Collabs with dream 100. Answer a question. Have the other person answer it and film it. Combine the videos. Post to IG TV and tag them. Send them the video and have them upload as well and tag you. Repeat. 

In real life: Take pics with people, tag them.

Buy Your Way In: Buy or swap shout outs from influencers. 

Facebook Secrets

Great for marketers, annoying for users. They have 52,000 data points they track!

Goal= Get more people to spend time on platform so they can sell more ads.

Building Your Facebook Dream 100. Start with fan pages then add their personal profiles if possible Finding your dream 100 isn't a one time thing. It's an "every time," and ongoing thing. This turns your social profile into the ultimate market research tool.

1 Million People Eco System. The goal is to plug into an eco system of 1 million people. This may be too big or too small depending on your market size but it's a good starting number.

Keep direct promotions off your personal profile. Be careful using your personal profile for business as Facebook doesn't love this when it's overtly aggressive. You can and should use it to brand yourself but be careful with promotions. 

“Do you need a personal page or a fan page?”  You need both. You need personal for relationships (working in) and fan page for buying in. 

4 Things to Post on Fan Page

1. Produced value videos: Hook + story but no offer (people don't share CTAs) 3-4 for each CTA post 
2. Live value videos: Same but no produces. FB favors live over published.
3. Live perfect webinar: Sell (covered more in expert secrets)
4. Curated content from other platforms. Publish what did well on other channels. Ex. Upload YouTube videos as FB native videos. Then run $10-$20 to boost.

Facebook Groups = Your Party.

FB Messenger = Your distribution channel. Be very careful and don't spam. You're on a borrowed platform.

3 Ways to Grow Your Messenger 

1. Messenger pop up on fan page
2. On Landing pages 
3. Lead magnet from post (triggered by keyword or action)

Use messenger messages as conversations rather than straight messages or direct sales.

Google Traffic Secrets

Insane potential. If we can align with Google's core goals, they will send us an almost unlimited amount of traffic for free.

Google Dream 100 is 2 parts. (1) Bloggers (2) Keywords 

Start with top 10 keywords. Then, find 9 long tail keywords for each. Use Google Autofill for this. Or, scroll down to the bottom of google and see 8 related search terms.  

Skyscraper technique. This is the process of making content to outrank existing content on search engines. Here is the ultimate article on the skyscraper technique, but essentially, we're just trying to make an article that is (1)Longer (2) More up to date (3) Better designed and/or (4) More thorough 

Backlinks. Backlinks are critical to gaining organic traffic. 

Work Your Way In. Outreach to people linking to competitors 

Buy your way in. Google search or Display ads. Bing. Yahoo. Etc.

Find sites ranking for your dream keywords and get on them!

1. Newsletter Box? Buy solo ad
2. Adsense? Add to google display network 
3. Banners? Contact and buy. 
4. Try to get a backlink

Focus on building content that is highly linkable. People link to great content that makes them look good. Make them look good. 

Two Types of Paid Google Ads. (1) Search (2) Display

YouTube Traffic Secrets

YouTube Videos grow exponentially. Since it functions like a search engine). FB Lives last for a few days, YouTube videos gain steam.

YouTube Algorithms are built to keep people on YouTube as long as possible. They recommend the videos that they believe will do this. 

YouTube = 2nd largest search engine behind Google.  YouTube videos can also show up in Google search results. 

You can buy ads that will be placed in front of any monetized videos. This is actually why I don't monetize certain high value videos 🙂 I make more money on the video than I could by sacrificing my viewers attention to other companies. 

Build out 2 dream 100 lists. (1) One for influencers on YouTube (2) One for your 100 dream keywords.

Popular videos magnify what the algorithm is doing. Videos with large amounts of traffic can show us what changes to the ranking algorithm are being made. 

Anatomy of Channel

• Channel Name: Focus on branding rather than Keywords
• About Us: Shows people who you are and shows up in search engines
• Header Image:  Simple and speak clearly to your target audience so they know the value they'll get from your channel.
• Profile image: Use a picture of yourself instead of a logo.
• Channel Trailer and Description:  shown only to non subs.

Find your channels "focus keyword." There should be one main keyword your channel aims to rank for and then other video topics that expand into this.

2 Types of Videos (1) Discoverable videos that are focused on driving new traffic (2) "Video webinars" that are focused more on building relationships with current subscribers. These are where you sell things.

Discoverable Video Structure

1. Hook: 15 second concise introduction where you hook people using the same keywords they were searching for.
2. Trailer: Quick trailer of 4-5 seconds
3. Intro: Introduce yourself and why they should listen for the first 15 seconds.
4. Story/Content: Content and Story for the next 7-12 mins.
5. Offer: Add your CTA (like, comment, subscribe or turn on notifications). 

Six Things to Do After Making Video

1. Schedule your video at a specific time.
2. Find keywords 
3. Write your video title (contain phrase and have a strong hook)
4. Thumbnail hook: (looks good tiny, big face/image, bright colors and as few words as possible).
5. Description: 150-300 words. 1st 2 sentences should be above the fold (what people see before scrolling).
6. Add up to 3 hashtags 

YouTube Metric Benchmarks 

• CTR: 4% Acceptable, 6% Good, 9% Awesome!
• Initial (1 min) retention: <70% 
• Overall retention: 35% Acceptable, 40% Good, 50% Awesome!

Use Playlists to boost channel. Playlists encourage people to "binge watch" and will boost your entire channel.

Collaborate with other influencers and help grow each others channels. Be creative; they don't need to be 1 for 1 video swaps.

"After the Slaps and the Snaps" : Podcasting

Podcasting Example:

•  Harder to get subs but they're all more valuable. More affluent people with higher incomes.
• Easy to find dream 100.

Apples Podcast Ranking Algorithm

1. New subscribers 
2. Number of downloads
3. Number of comments 

Podcasts have a "compounding" effect. When a new subscriber listens to episode 50 and likes it, they will likely go back to episode 1 and binge listen to others. The listens on day one for episode one are just the start. That number will grow over time and that episode will have a long lifespan.

Conversation Domination Mega Show. Russell has a crazy process where he is able to record content for an entire week for almost every platform in just a few hours. It's impressive and thought provoking but it's definitely not for people who have yet to master their first or second platforms.

Section III: Growth Hacking

The Funnel Hub: A home website for your own stuff. Russell uses WordPress for this.

Utilize other people's core distribution channels. Shark tank Example: They buy what already fits into their existing distribution channel.Each person on your list had a distribution channel, you just need to find out how to tap it.

Distribution Channel #1: Solo Ads. 

Russell: "I'll often type in '[my niche] email advertising,' or '[my niche] online media kit.'"Rates are negotiable. No universal price. "Suckers pay rate card" though. Preferably pay for clicks vs total list size. Ask for a list of their past 5-10 emails and see how many clicks they got.Never "buy lists," buy the broadcast (they send from their servers).

Pros of Solo Ads: Results fast (majority in 12 hrs and the rest within 36-48 hours). Great for running split tests to see quickly what is performing best.

Cons of Solo Ads: Can waste a lot of money fast. $5k on email (2 days) vs $5k on FB (weeks)

Russell isn't a huge fan of "sponsorship ads," in emails. These are smaller ads embedded to emails.

Distribution #2 and #3 FB Messenger + Desktop Push

Other: Direct mail, postcards, SMS, FB Groups, LinkedIn groups, Forums

Direct Mail Process: Have them send their buyers list emails to mailing house (you don't get them) and they craft the broadcast for you.

Buy Direct Banner Ads to replace GDN ads (after testing to see if they convert). We mentioned this earlier in buying your way in. Russell has even purchased exit pop ups.

Give Yourself a Daily Raise. Each added distribution channel is like a "raise." Russell asks himself, "how did I give myself a raise today," Being mindful of distribution opportunities is key. They start to show up everywhere when you become mindful and look.

Integration Marketing: Further Reading on Integration Marketing: Integration Marketing by Mark Joyner

Affiliates. Pay commissions to anyone who drives sales.

1. Recruit
2. Make them affiliates
3. Give them reason to promote
4. Train them to be better
5. Compensate your affiliates 

Zero risk to you.

Digging your well makes outreaching easier. Read more about that in Dig Your Well Before Your Thirsty by Harvey Mackay

Lumpy Mail. Send out packages (lumpy mail) to affiliates to get them to promote. Russell actually sends me these quite often. Usually little keychains in manilla envelops. You notice these!

2 Affiliate Motivations. Russell doesn't care which his affiliates are motivated by, but they are...

1. Quality and alignment with their audience
2. Maximizing money.

Added Incentives for Affiliates to Promote.

1. New launch
2. Their turn on a rolling launch
3. Something new or special 

Cater to your affiliates unique views.

Pros vs. Newbie Affiliates. Newbies are often excited but don't know what to do and good affiliates are often lazy (less motivated). As a pro affiliate, I 100% agree with this 🙂  Show affiliates what to do and give them ads/banners and whatever they need. Make a good affiliate center.

What to pay affiliates: Find how to pay them the absolute most possible. 

Two ways to pay (1) Flat CPA (2) % of sales

Approaching Cold Traffic: Speak to them differently. We have to use the language that they understand. Cold Traffic isn't aware they even have a problem yet. They aren't congregated anywhere (so no dream 100)

Step #1 Create Cold Traffic Customer Avatar. Dream customer but 6-12 months behind. They're only problem aware. 

Step #2 Create a Bridge. Find what makes them go from unaware to aware.

Over Growth Hacks. Compilation rate (each user refers < 1 other user and you achieve vitality).

Examples:

1.  Dropbox, they gave additional storage if you linked Twitter and FB
2. Facebook: Encouraged users to add their contacts so they could see who users were. They then emailed others to join FB
3. Hotmail: Added PS signature that said "P.S: I love you. Hey your free email at hotmail.com."

Bonus: 10 Books That Built Traffic Secrets

Russell Brunson drops some serious knowledge bombs in Traffic Secrets BUT he doesn't try to take credit for every single idea and he references several bigs and authors that you should check out. 

Here are the books he references in Traffic Secrets (in no particular order). Many of the concepts you'll learn in Traffic Secrets were taught to Russell by the authors of these books.

I've read them all and they are all worth reading (start with Russell's books though first).

#1 Dream 100 by Dana Derricks - This was my favorite book of 2019. Traffic Secrets is full of references to a concept called the Dream 100 (which is ultimately not credited to Derricks but to another marketer, Chet Holmes) and this book will give you an amazing idea of how to leverage others to scale. 

It's easy to read and loaded cover to cover with actionable takeaways.

#2 Integration Marketing by Mark Joyner - In the last chapter of Traffic Secrets, Russell discusses the concept of "integration marketing," and how we should always strive to work our business into the businesses of others. 

This book is shorter than the rest on this list. The audible version is less than 2 hours long.

#3 Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty by Harvey MacKay - A classic book on networking. The concept is simple but the implementation requires finesse.

Ultimately, the book explains how to network without being annoying or overtly self serving..

#4 The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes - One of the all time great marketing books. This is where the dream 100 concept was born but it's full of tons of other takeaways.

#5 Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook by Gary Vaynerchuck - A great book about balancing value and sales.

#6 Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene M Schwartz - This book is overhyped because of supply issues that cause the price to soar through the roof periodically, but it's still really good.

If the price on Amazon is over $125 (it often is) you can grab a copy for $125 here --> at breakthroughadvertisingbook.com.

#7 The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris - Russell doesn't reference the content in the book as much as the methods Tim used to promote it. Still, an all time classic.

#8 The Robert Collier Letter Book by Robert Collier - Swipe copy for smart marketers.

#9 Dot Com Secrets by Russell Brunson - Russells 1st book.  He reiterates many of the concepts throughout Traffic Secrets, but you should still read both.

#10 ExpertSecrets by Russell Brunson - Russells 2nd book.  He also reiterates many of the concepts throughout Traffic Secrets, but you want to read it. Here's my review of Expert Secrets if you're curious.

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