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  • Traffic Secrets Book Review: The Underground “Playbook” Transforming Online Businesses

Traffic Secrets Book Review: The Underground “Playbook” Transforming Online Businesses

Can I be totally honest with you?

There’s a really dirty secret going on right now in the online business community.

No one’s talking about it — but a lot of new and potential online business owners are feeling it.

Picture this:

Some person on Instagram is inviting you to their webinar for a product, a service idea, a business model, or a process for making your idea way more profitable.

Review of: Traffic Secrets

Rating:

Summary: Traffic Secrets is a comprehensive guide to nailing traffic generation and sales without being salesy, scammy, sleazy, and instead focusing on service and strategy.

To prove it, they’ll show you all the money they’ve ever made to date and how much revenue they pulled in last year with this “one crazy idea.”

Great!

No one is saying they’re not authentic — in fact, behind their persuasion may stand a real product or service that truly can help you make money as a business owner.

But, as the saying goes, what you don’t know could kill you:

This idea or offer only works if you have a source of consistent, reliable traffic, if you understand the principles of online traffic generation, and if you have some money to help you get that traffic to your offer.

Listen: without traffic, you have no business.

And this is what a lot of people who want to start their own online business are experiencing right now:

A major letdown, when they realize they’re up against other, well-established companies with huge ad budgets.

So, let me just say that while those “blog income earning reports” are a great (and true!) way to show you what’s possible, they don’t even get close to telling you how to do it.

At this point, you realize that what you need is an A-to-Z guide to traffic, search engines, ad copy, and free and paid online marketing techniques that are evergreen.

And that’s exactly what Traffic Secrets — a comprehensive guide to nailing traffic generation and sales without being salesy, scammy, sleazy, and instead focusing on service and strategy — can help you master.

Why Traffic Matters More than Ever in 2020

Russell Brunson has a flair for the dramatic. Like a good storyteller, he draws you in and keeps you hooked. The only difference between him and most other marketers on the internet right now, though, is:

He 100 percent cares about people like you, your business, your growth, and your progress.

Every time a book by Russell Brunson comes out, I just know it’s going to be gold.

Like some crazy deep-sea diver, he descends into a new strategy and then comes back up to the surface, triumphantly waving the treasure he found and literally yelling for everyone to hear:

“Look what I found guys!”

And that’s why, when he compares getting traffic in 2020 like a storm that’s about to hit our shores, I’m ready to pay attention.

Listen: The very nature of the Internet is that it’s always changing. And these changes bring on even more, with an ever-increasing momentum.

No matter how much you want to get traffic in 2020, you’ll have to make peace with the fact that you, like 99% of people out there, are vulnerable to the “snap.”

(That’s the “snap” of Thanos’s fingers from Avenger’s Infinity Wars, by the way.)

Do you see where he’s going with this?

As Russell puts it, tomorrow, Sergey and Larry could snap their fingers and wipe out half of all businesses relying on paid traffic and free traffic. All it would take is another change to the algorithm.

Feels more like a slap in the face, right?

Suddenly, all your keyword research, your master plan for traffic acquisition, your advertising dollars are gone.

Down the drain.

That’s why Russell calls these the “slaps” of internet marketing instead of the snap.

And it’s not just Google.

Any external traffic sources you rely on, such as Facebook or Instagram, can just as easily do the same — in fact, they have. Multiple times.

Wham!

Astonishing, isn’t it?

Every time a platform enacts algorithm changes, entrepreneurs suffer because driving traffic is time-consuming and expensive.

They now have to start from scratch and understand what the new algorithm is looking for in order to be visible to their audiences again.

Look:

You can do absolutely everything right.

  • You can nail your SEO.
  • You can set up tracking in Google Analytics.
  • You can analyze competitor’s rankings.
  • You can accurately pinpoint and re-target audiences with Facebook Ads. 
  • You can run a lean, mean Google Adwords campaign machine.
  • You can marshal a hundred blog posts for some good ol’ content marketing.

And you can still lose.

Why?

Because none of this traffic is traffic you own.

What is Traffic Secrets?

Once upon a time, there were three books in the “trilogy” that Russell Brunson was known for. These were the must-have’s:

  • DotCom Secrets — teaching you all about websites and funnels, as well as the exact sales funnels you need to make any type of online business generate profit
  • Expert Secrets — helping you to build a tribe, create authority through a personal brand, and harness these two in service of consistent sales with low-cost traffic
  • Traffic Secrets — showing you how to attract your dream customers and get traffic into a sales funnel without being scammy or spending money you don’t have right now
Traffic secrets box set

Today, the “new” stack has changed ever so slightly. Each of these volumes are now totally updated. The new Traffic Secrets is almost a completely different animal, responsive to the 2020 landscape.

And the collection comes with a new book: “Unlock the Secrets,” which is a powerful workbook-type resource designed to help you pull fundamental principles from all three of these books.

In this Traffic Secrets review, you’ll see how the book closes the “loop” on internet marketing with a sales funnel, which DotCom Secrets and Expert Secrets laid the groundwork for.

But it doesn’t only stick to sales funnel methods. Instead, you can use the evergreen techniques and strategies in the Traffic Secrets book to grow any business, from consulting to e-commerce.

Who Created Traffic Secrets?

You may already be familiar with Russell Brunson’s brainchild, ClickFunnels, and its parent company Etison LLC. It’s a software company that helps you create a sales funnel for online selling.

However, the books are a cumulation of Russell’s 30 years of collecting junk mail, perfecting sales strategies, and even attending MLM recruiting sessions with his wife for essential oils — all so he could deconstruct the way people “get traffic” or persuade others to take action on an offer.

You don’t have to use ClickFunnels to benefit from any of these traffic generation strategies. You could use a completely different platform — even competitors of ClickFunnels — and the tactics in his book would still help you make bank.

In fact, the Traffic Secrets book has really been around in some shape or form since Russell Brunson first tinkered around with selling his infamous potato gun book through a sales funnel — which, of course netted him a million dollars in revenue.

He learned how to generate leads for less and make more on each potential customer using the traffic strategies he teaches in this book. For example, he covers the concept of “borrowing traffic” (also known as the Dream 100 method, first seen in the Experts Secrets review). 

find your dream 100

How Much Does Traffic Secrets Cost?

I call this the “book funnel.”

Russell offers people access to the Traffic Secrets book within a neatly sequenced funnel. If you go through the funnel and grab all the upsells, the journey can help you get some ideas for how tactics work.

You can grab the Traffic Secrets book for FREE, as long as you pay for the shipping costs.

For people in the U.S., you only need to pay $9.95 for the shipping. People opting for international shipping will pay $19.95, but you’ll get all the Traffic Secrets bonuses as well.

Read on to find out more about those bonuses. 

Get a Closer Look Inside the Traffic Secrets Book

Russell — and, by extension, the ClickFunnels parent company Etison LLC — has always been a put-your-money-where-the-results-go kinda guy.

So the results of the Traffic Secrets course and book have helped him attract dream customers just like you to numerous product funnels he’s set up. And it’s not just retargeting strategies. Every week, through social media platforms like Facebook, Russell generates new traffic for all of his products.

And, of course, he then leverages referral marketing, testimonials, and content marketing to get even more free traffic. The traffic volume results are consistent and repeatable:

1.9M visitors

What I’m trying to stress is that traffic requires a two-pronged approach: One is a long game and the other is a short (but strategic) game.

Now, keep in mind that I’m not focusing on the Traffic Secrets course.

(Keep reading to learn about the interesting backstory on the course.)

The Traffic Secrets course is its own, standalone product, although a lot of the concepts covered within the Traffic Secrets book will show up in the Traffic Secrets course.

You can get both, however, if traffic just turns you on and you plan to become the ultimate traffic generating machine. 

Section #1: How to Find Your Dream Customer

Traffic depends on actual people. It’s easy to abstract the customer away when you’re sitting behind a screen all day.

So let me just remind you that you’re trying to go where these people — your ideal or dream customers — already live — or, as Russell puts it, “congregate” — and then serve them content that helps them, answers their questions, or gives the visitor value for time spent.

where are they congregating

That’s what he’s done for every one of his products, books, and “Secrets” courses.

Which means that the most fundamental part of Traffic “secrets” is first people: Who they are, what they want, where they live, and what they’re trying to solve.

If this sounds like the basis for good sales copy, by the way, you’re right.

You need these details to appeal to your ideal customer using sales messages. But having this aspect of your traffic nailed down is crucial to everything else you do from here.

That’s why this section is dedicated to:

  • Finding out exactly who these dream customers are
  • Learning where they already live online (Hint: It’s not just on Facebook)
  • How to get your customers to stop and take notice, even when they’re busy and distracted
  • The two ways to get your message in front of your ideal customers, turn them into traffic you own, and sell to them FOR FREE
  • The only way to safeguard your business growth against those algorithm “slaps”
  • A second, “invisible” funnel
  • How to get partners excited to promote your products for you

Section #2: How to Fill Your Funnel

Next in this Traffic Secrets book review comes the conundrum of how to fill that funnel with traffic you want, and from sources you’ve identified as potent. The “secrets” in this section reveal:

  • How to grab free traffic from others and basically lead your customers like the “Pied Piper” straight to your funnel.
  • Swap the “roller coaster” method of hit-and-miss traffic generation in favor of a consistent and reliable stream of visitors to your offer.
  • Building social media assets on platforms like Facebook so you can tap into a large traffic source of customers that aren’t following you yet.
  • Turning your attention to Google to transform ice cold traffic into leads that are searching for you instead.
  • Using Russell’s own proven content curation methods to actually serve your customers’ most pressing needs.
  • Learning how to analyze a new traffic opportunity so you can stay ahead of traffic trends.

As you can see, Russel Brunson has left no stone unturned when it comes to evergreen traffic formulas. Social media, organic search traffic, traffic retargeting, content creation — he’s addressed it all.

Not only will you learn how to make the best use of each of these traffic and distribution channels, you’ll also get insight into how to sense “trends” before marketers jump on a new strategy, saturate it, and ruin it. 

Section #3: Growth Hacking

You’ve got your traffic.

You’ve got your funnels.

You’ve successfully built a machine that moves this hard-won traffic from various sources, including social media, into your funnels and onto your offer.

The only logical direction to go in now...is up.

I know this section is called “Growth Hacking,” because it’s all about scaling your operations and multiplying your efforts.

But the truth is, every single thing you’ve done up until this point to gain traffic is the true definition of growth hacking.

Growth hacking is doing whatever it takes to grow your revenue, your business, customer acquisition, operations, and basically anything you decide is the backbone of your expansion.

So your willingness to use, for example, the Ask Campaign method — where you literally do whatever you can to get 100 people to respond to your offer, including texting family and friends — is a part of growth hacking. 

the ask campaign

Anything you do to promote conversions, in this case, is a part of growth hacking.

In this section, you’ll learn:

  • How to get PR companies to happily push traffic to your landing pages, so more people can learn about your offer, brand, and how you can help them.
  • An outline of three strategies for tapping into other people’s distribution channels (totally innovative!).
  • A step-by-step blueprint for building an army of marketers who will use their own money to promote your products.
  • The 7 phases of a funnel crucial to transforming cold traffic into hot leads.
  • The “secrets” of three tech companies that adjusted a few key aspects of their business for faster, more robust growth.

Traffic Secrets Book — The Bonuses and Upsells

Like all other offers, Russell makes this one just as irresistible with bonuses. These are different from the upsells, which are instead part of the buyer’s journey.

Even though the Traffic Secrets book is free and you cover shipping, these bonuses total $509.95, so you’re scoring quite a deal. 

free traffic secrets book

The Traffic Secrets Book Review Upsells

Upsell #1: Traffic Secrets Audio book

I cover everything that the Traffic Secrets audiobook bonus has to offer. This includes the “mini” bonuses like the Funnel Catcher Report and the 7 Day Launch Funnel strategy by Brendan Burchard.

Upsell #2: Traffic Secrets Live Event Recordings

For just $97, you’ll get an inside look into a LIVE, private, 2-day event for traffic secrets that Russell reserve for his $25k per year coaching students. #worthit

Upsell #3: The Secrets Book Trilogy Box Set

If you loved the hardcover look and you want a package deal, The Secrets Trilogy Box Set is it.

Upsell #4: Funnelytics — The Funnel Mapping Tool

Sort of like Funnel Scripts, Funnelytics is a neat “add-on” tool. It allows you to conceptually build funnel maps, and then forecast the results before you actually go into a funnel builder like ClickFunnels to build it.

funnelytics diagram

Are the Traffic Secrets Course and the Traffic Secrets Book the Same?

In a word, no. The book and the course are related but not the same at all.

The story behind the Traffic Secrets course is quite intriguing to me. It was a membership course that originally “belonged” to a man named John Reese — a guy greatly admired by Russell. 

traffic secrets by clickfunnels

A guy who also managed to make $1 million in 18 hours.

You can see why being Russell’s mentor was such a natural fit.

Eventually, Russell convinced John Reese to sell the full rights to all the contents of the Traffic Secrets course! (That’s a true marketer for you.)

Here’s where it gets sort of inception-y:

  • John proved the strategies of Traffic Secrets worked like gangbusters by using them to sell his Traffic Secrets course membership for a total of a million-dollar payday
  • Russell bought the course for $1 million
  • Then, he followed his mentor and literally did the same thing when it came time to sell his own Secrets book trilogy

These days, you can only gain access to the course through offers like Funnel Builder Secrets.

Final Thoughts: The Traffic Secrets Book Content Is Perfect for a Cash-Strapped Beginner Business

If I were a business owner just starting out today, I would do myself a favor and skip the Facebook Ads courses, Google Adwords certifications, and all that jazz (for now).

Don’t get me wrong, those things are important and you’ll make good use of them down the line.

But the first thing I would start with would be something low-cost, effective, proven to work.

There are literally no restrictions on the type of business that benefit from following techniques in the Traffic Secrets book because traffic is the fuel, the lifeblood of every business.

What makes Traffic Secrets such a joy to me, especially if you’re just starting out, is how lean and bootstrapped some of these strategies are designed to be.

And if that’s where you are in your business’s growth stage, you’ll need all the secrets on gaining high-quality, low-cost traffic you can get. 

Disclosure: I am an independent ClickFunnels Affiliate, not an employee.  I receive referral payments from ClickFunnels. The opinions expressed here are my own and are not official statements of ClickFunnels or its parent company, Etison LLC.