Russell Brunson is an entrepreneur, author and the co-founder of sales funnel builder, ClickFunnels. ClickFunnels focuses on streamlining the customer journey to conversion. According to Russell, the software is suitable for any type of online business. Currently, 220,204 websites are using ClickFunnels.
Russell Brunson reviews online are mixed of positives and negatives. Some ClickFunnels clients said the software is glitchy while others said it has awesome support. His books received the same mix of praises and criticisms. Some criticized the 3rd book as a rehash of the former two books. While others credited it for their knowledge in marketing.
In this Russell Brunson review, we’ll go over who he is, where he started, and what he offers. We'll also cover what people say about Russel Brunson and if building sales funnels for businesses is a lucrative venture. By the end, I’ll introduce a business model that can generate passive income for your financial freedom.
Who is Russell Brunson?
Russell Brunson is an entrepreneur, marketer, author and coach. He is the co-founder of ClickFunnels with Todd Dickerson. Branson was born in Provo, Utah, USA on March 8, 1980. He currently lives in Idaho, USA with his wife, Collette, and their 5 children.
Russell Brunson has his eye on sales and marketing as young as 12 years old. At high school, he got hooked on wrestling and became a state champion. Then, he got 2nd place at All-American Nationals in his senior year. By college, he’s one of the top 10 wrestlers on the national level. Brunson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Science at Boise State University, Idaho, USA in 2006.
Brunson’s first venture into entrepreneurship happened in 2003. He commissioned the marketing tool, ZipBrander, on a site called “Scriptlance” for $20. Then, in 2005, he launched his “How To Make A Potato Gun” DVDs. He even had an upsell option for customers to buy his potato gun kit. Brunson also tried selling supplements, DIY projectors and niche email marketing autoresponder software. In 2013, he won a Ferrari for his outstanding work in Pure Leverage.
Russell Brunson has a good reputation and is known for his charity work. For every ClickFunnels page that goes live, $1 is donated to Village Impact (formerly World Teacher Aid). The donations are used to make schools for children. Every couple of years the Brunsons and other Funnel Hackers actually go to Kenya and physically help the building of roads, classes, and other structures that can benefit the children there.
What is ClickFunnels?
ClickFunnels is an advanced sales funnel builder by Russell Brunson and Todd Dickerson launched in 2014. The software can also build websites and landing pages, has a customer relationship management (CRM) and email marketing tools. According to Latka SaaS Database, ClickFunnels revenue reached $265.3 million in 2023.
Russell’s first customers for the software came from his 1 million email list. Assuming a 0.05% buy rate from people who already know him, his 1 million email list would give him 5,000 customers. Then, he was invited to speak in front of 1,000 people by Mark Filsaime. 38% of people in the talk bought ClickFunnels at $1k for a $380k gross revenue in one night.
A generation of funnel hackers was born and the “2 Comma Club” Award was made. The award is given to entrepreneurs who generated million dollars through one ClickFunnels funnel. Over the years, 2 Comma Club X, 2 Comma Club C and 2 Comma Club Heart have been made.
How Eileen Wilder Made $1 Million In One Day (Twice) with ClickFunnels
Eileen's Background and Story
Eileen Wilder was a pastor for 18 years before she started her speaking business 4 years ago. She attended a Funnel Hacking Live event, and got inspired to start a sales and marketing biz. She started making basic videos from home, sharing her knowledge online. Surprisingly, she made $297 from this "trial run" which pushed her to promote high-ticket items. Soon she was selling the same videos for $6,000.
Eileen's Business Scaling Approach
Eileen then shifted from selling to individuals (one-to-one) to selling to groups (one-to-many), which significantly increased her income. Her first big sale was when she sold a $30,000 package to 34 people in a single day. This one-day deal made her a million dollars.
The Biggest Challenges Eileen Faced
The biggest business challenge for Eileen was transitioning from selling low-ticket to high-ticket items. The challenge was not just in raising her prices but also in building the conviction to do so and convincing clients of the value she provided. This shift needed a change in mindset: she's now charging people for her value and the result she makes vs charging them for her time in teaching.
Top 3 Lessons She Learned From the Experience
What's not mentioned in the interview: Eileen claims to have made a million dollar sale in just one day. However, she did not mention how much she spent on paid ads and marketing to reach that level of gross revenue. Typically, marketers pay $9,000 to $10,000 monthly on advertising campaigns. This cost goes up if you're targeting a larger audience base (which was the case for Eileen).
On top of that, she pays Clickfunnels $297 monthly for the Funnel Hacker Plan, whether or not she makes a sale over that period. She could have spent thousands of dollars in paid ads, tools, funnels, and marketing to achieve her "breakthrough moment" of making $1 million sales.
Funnel Hacking Live
Funnel Hacking is a 4-day seminar and live coaching event by Russell Brunson. The live event started in 2015 and will be going virtual in 2024 for the first time. Funnel Hacking covers sales, marketing and funnel building. Some of the past speakers in Funnel Hacking are Prince EA, Tony Robbins and Myron Golden. The 2 Comma Club award is also recognized during this event. Attendance to virtual Funnel Hacking Live costs $299.
Marketing Secrets
Marketing Secrets is a podcast hosted by Russell Brunson for entrepreneurs and business owners. The podcast talks about Brunson’s personal journey to $100k business owner. Brunson also features guests talking about their insight and marketing strategies. Marketing Secrets has over 500 episodes.
Secrets of Success
Secrets of Success is a membership community by Russell Brunson. Members get access to podcasts, library, courses and audiobooks. Some of the authors featured in the community are Napoleon Hill, Robert Collier and Earl Nightingale. It also has a monthly study topic and hosts “The Secret Path Challenge.” The community was started in 2022 and has an affiliate program. Affiliate members get 40% commission for every new member with a 10% recurring commission. Membership to Secrets of Success costs $97 per month.
Secrets Trilogy
What Do People Say About Russel Brunson?
People say a mix of positive and negative things about Russell Brunson and his many roles. As a New York Times Bestseller author, he received praises and criticisms in his books. His marketing skills are recognized as well as his coaching offers. And his ClickFunnels software generates positive and negative reviews.
According to trustpilot user, Jonathan David from the US, Brunson’s ClickFunnels 2.0 is amazing. He’s been using the software for 3 years and ClickFunnels 2.0 started out rough. But the software evolved with new features and helpful support.
Meanwhile, Trustpilot reviewer, Jackson from the US, rated ClickFunnels with 2 stars and said it’s not worth the subscription price. According to him, the Facebook tracking is faulty, the payment options are limited and the platform glitches frequently.
Another trustpilot user, Georgeta Dumitrescu, praised ClickFunnels support. She mentioned Dante Torelli, a ClickFunnels support specialist, has a wide knowledge on the software. Dante asks great questions and provides examples.
Reddit user, geek180, commended Russell’s wisdom on marketing. He said Russell’s content helped him a lot when he’s starting. Although he’s not fond of Russell’s hyper-positive and high-energy, Russell has valuable insights.
Zack Rao’s review on DotCom Secrets at Amazon highlighted how the book can help anyone struggling on paid advertising results. He mentioned that the book will give you all 26 types of funnels and what combination works best.
While the third book in the Secrets Trilogy, Traffic Secrets, received 2 stars from Jenny C in Goodreads. According to her, the book recycled information from the DotCom and Expert Secrets. She further elaborated that the tips mentioned are unrealistic for an average entrepreneur.
What Are the Challenges of Building Sales Funnels for Online Businesses?
The challenges of building sales funnels for online businesses is that you are constantly looking at your CTR and conversion rate. How many people are clicking on your funnel, and out of those people, how many actually end up watching the webinar or buying the product? According to Salesforce, 79% of all marketing leads are not converted into sales. If things go wrong, it's back to tweaking, spending more money, trying a different approach.
People also have a short attention span. According to Hobo Web, 5 out of 10 customers expect your pages to load within 2 seconds. And Growbo reported the average person will only spend 37 seconds on your landing pages. The 37 seconds includes deciding if they want to buy or opt-in to your offer, and if your information is trustworthy.
Create Local Lead Generation Sites for Passive Income
Local lead generation is creating niche websites for local businesses. You rank them on search results using SEO techniques and rent them out to local service providers. By then, the income becomes passive. And then, you can repeat the process for more websites.
Moreover, according to Marketing Blender, 73% of customers say they become frustrated when the website’s content is full of ads and promotions. With local lead generation, this is not a problem. The information you’ll provide is information they’re searching for.
A local lead gen site I created in 2015 is still ranking on top of search results. It means the site provides the information people are looking for, and Google recognizes that. So, it generates me $2000 per month, with minimum maintenance. And because it’s repeatable, the income I earn from all my digital real estates is $52k per month. So if you’re looking for a side hustle to kickstart your financial freedom journey, local lead gen is the best option.
