The Russell Brunson Show — Ep. 115: Scaling Online Q&A: Funnels, High Ticket, Ads & More (Part 2)

Date: February 18, 2026
Host: Russell Brunson
Podcast Theme: In-depth Q&A from the Scaling Online live event — dissecting real-world funnel strategies, business pivots, marketing challenges, and how to scale offers for entrepreneurs, course creators, SaaS founders, and coaches.

Episode Overview

This episode is the conclusion of a two-part, rapid-fire Q&A session featuring Russell Brunson answering tough, specific questions from online entrepreneurs. The topics range from funnel structuring and monetization of newsletters, to pricing high-ticket offers, troubleshooting low-converting webinars, scaling ad campaigns with creative, and using AI to do rapid funnel hacking and copywriting. Russell delivers actionable, sometimes hard-hitting insights, always aiming to help listeners build scalable, repeatable systems in their businesses.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Building & Structuring High-Ticket Funnels (Chris Irwin Davis Q&A)

[01:04–03:48]

• Question: How should a tech career coaching business (AI/coding for Gen X pros, $6k offer) structure its funnel using YouTube ads to webinar to a consult call?
• Russell’s Advice:
  • Model ("funnel hack") the One Comma Club Challenge funnel as it has the highest conversion rate in his 25-year career.
  • Shift the offer from pure coaching to certification: “Certification is the easiest thing that we sell, especially for people who want careers.” (Russell, 02:30)
  • The difference is minimal: Certification adds a validation/official result to coaching.
  • Do a five-day challenge model and embed the certification as the core offer.

"Someone in this world wants certification more than they want coaching.”
— Russell Brunson, [02:15]

2. Monetizing a Local Newsletter When Customers Only Buy Once (Sophia Q&A)

[03:48–10:34]

• Context: Sophia runs a London family events site, struggling with local monetization. Considering pivoting to tourists with either $100 scalable or a $1,000 premium trip planning product.
• Russell’s Take:
  • Avoid building a business where people buy only once; focus on recurring opportunities.
  • “Should you rebuild in a business where someone’s only going to purchase once? I would say no.” (Russell, 05:12)
  • Always funnel hack: Seek models already making millions and proven to scale.
  • Use AI like Perplexity for deep research before picking a vertical.
  • “You’re going to spend the exact same amount of work building on a level one opportunity versus level ten.” (Russell, 09:59)
  • Story: Tony Robbins’ New Year’s advice prompts Russell to change his own business direction years ago.

Memorable Quote:

"Why would you pick a market where only customers are gonna buy once? You’re putting yourself under undue stress and pressure, and I’m not sure why."
— Russell Brunson, [07:21]

3. Foundational Strategy for Coaches with No Audience (Savannah Reed Q&A)

[12:02–15:36]

• Context: Energy healing coach/music, new to audience-building, planning to use MIFGE (“mifkey”), build newsletter, and run ads.
• Russell’s Playbook:
  • Yes, build a MIFGE and newsletter as the “easy drop” offer for podcasts/YouTube guest spots.
  • Best strategy for getting fast sales:
    • Get on 10–30 podcasts/YouTube interviews promoting your MIFGE — way more effective than just running cold ads at first.
    • Chop up those interviews’ video clips for your eventual paid ads.
  • Read Traffic Secrets for more on “Dream 100” and earned media.

"The highest converting ads that I have for almost everything that I sell are the video clips of me on someone’s podcast or YouTube video.”
— Russell Brunson, [13:46]

4. Optimizing Cold Traffic Membership Funnels (Jeff Grundy Q&A)

[15:37–20:30]

• Context: Diabetes reversal membership ($49/mo). Traffic = native ads → bridge page → lead magnet/funnel with $795 audiobook, upsell, coaching.
• Russell’s Recommendations:
  • Bridge page is the maximally important element for cold (native) traffic.
  • Aggressively test multiple bridge page structures (long-form advertorial, listicle, PR article, etc.).
  • Use AI (Claude) to analyze, rewrite, and generate headlines and copy fast.
  • Build a swipe file of high-spend bridge pages you find in your market.
  • Explore email newsletter sponsorships (esp. for older/conservative audiences — helps bypass bridge pages).

"You just keep coming out with ways to keep beating it and keep beating it.”
— Russell Brunson, [18:37]

5. Boosting Book-a-Call Conversions & Continuity (Sherwin Q&A)

[20:34–24:47]

• Context: Technical design course ($4.5–8k). Site earns $60k/mo, over $1M earned, 1% of web visitors book calls, 25% of those buy. Seeks to raise call bookings and continuity revenue.
• Russell’s Steps:
  • The bottleneck: Only 1% booking a call. “Your copy on your landing page is not good.” ([21:21])
  • Russell’s exact process:
    1. Funnel hack a dozen successful “book a call” VSL funnels.
    2. Transcribe with AI (Manus), analyze with Claude for structure.
    3. Use Claude again to write a new version for your offer (using proven high-converting structures).
    4. Test new VSLs weekly and expect bookings to climb from 1% toward 10–20%.
  • For continuity: Place a MIFGE on the thank-you page after call booking.

Notable Quote:

“If you got from 1% to 5% and you keep 25% of callers buying, you just 5x’ed your business by doing a new VSL… Test a new VSL every week.”
— Russell Brunson, [22:48]

6. Structuring Paid Workshop Funnels for Scale (Elaine Q&A)

[24:47–37:22]

• Context: $47 workshop, converts 27% to $18k high-ticket (wild ROAS: 11x) but ticket acquisition cost is $429 — only works with heavy organic promo. Ads alone don’t scale.
• Russell’s Assessment:
  • Add upsells/downsells post-ticket (ex: VIP upgrades, “Fly on the Wall,” post-workshop coaching calls) — these fund ticket costs and drastically drop effective acquisition cost (EAC).
  • “You probably get $80 or $90 should be what you’re getting back on the ticket sale if you’ve got the right upsell/downsell sequence.” ([26:38])
  • Accept that ad costs will always rise; counter with new, colder messaging and creative.
    • Example: Russell’s “Secrets of Propaganda” VSL — a totally new angle, which slashed his CPA.
  • Use AI to generate/iterate scripts quickly (writes 50-min VSLs in a day; new prompt, new hook, new angle).
  • Regularly create new VSLs and rotate creative to outpace ad fatigue.

Memorable Moment:

“People like me are creating a thousand ads a month… You’ve got to create a lot of ads nowadays because that’s what you’re competing against.”
— Russell Brunson, [44:16]

7. Revamping SaaS Demo/Webinar Strategy (Clint Rogers Q&A)

[37:24–44:16]

• Context: AI SaaS selling “digital twins” ($99–$599/mo). Webinars flop (low show, poor conversion) but product sells well once people try it.
• Russell’s Solutions:
  • Don’t just demo; make it participatory: Structure the webinar or challenge so users activate/sign up right then and there, and follow along in the software with you (see Anthony Morrison’s Shopify and the One Comma Club Challenge for inspiration).
  • Shift messaging/avatars on the registration landing page (test “make money with AI” angle vs. direct to founders as B2B sale).
  • Reiterate different hooks/offers with the same core webinar — find out which positioning delivers best retention and trial-to-paid.

“Don’t look at a webinar as just pitching something, but using the… structure where they’re actually doing it with you live.”
— Russell Brunson, [39:01]

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 02:15 | Russell Brunson | “Someone in this world wants certification more than they want coaching.” | | 05:12 | Russell Brunson | “Should you rebuild in a business where someone’s only going to purchase once? I would say no.” | | 07:21 | Russell Brunson | “Why would you pick a market where only customers are gonna buy once?” | | 09:59 | Russell Brunson | “You’re going to spend the exact same amount of work building on a level one opportunity versus level ten.” | | 13:46 | Russell Brunson | “The highest converting ads...are the video clips of me on someone’s podcast or the YouTube video.” | | 18:37 | Russell Brunson | “You just keep coming out with ways to keep beating it and keep beating it.” | | 22:48 | Russell Brunson | “If you got from 1% to 5%… you just 5x’ed your business by doing a new VSL… Test a new VSL every week.” | | 26:38 | Russell Brunson | “You probably get $80 or $90 should be what you’re getting back on the ticket sale…” | | 31:54 | Guest/VSL | “You are governed. Our minds molded. Our ideas suggested by men we have never heard of. He called it the engineering of consent.” | | 39:01 | Russell Brunson | “Don’t look at a webinar as just pitching something, but using the… structure where they’re actually doing it with you live.” | | 44:16 | Russell Brunson | “People like me are creating a thousand ads a month… You’ve got to create a lot of ads nowadays…” |

Actionable Takeaways

• Funnel Hacking and Modeling: Funnel hack the highest-converting models; don’t reinvent the wheel.
• Change the Offer Structure for More “Buy Again”: Don’t build businesses on models where your customer only buys once.
• AI for Copywriting: Leverage tools (Claude, Perplexity, Manus) to rapidly analyze, rewrite, and iterate on high-converting copy.
• Participatory Webinars: SaaS or software companies should make the user activate their trial during the demo/webinar/event; not just watch.
• Multiple Creative Angles: Constantly rotate new messaging, VSLs, hooks, and creatives to outpace rising ad costs (“ad fatigue”).
• Monetize Thank-You Pages: Add low-friction “MIFGE” offers and continuity between booking calls and the main offer.
• Focus on Scalable/Niche-Surface-Level Opportunities: Build in markets where people buy again and again, and model after those who are already making millions.
• Earned Media & Partnerships: For new audiences, prioritize getting in front of existing audiences via podcasts/YouTubes, then leverage those appearances as social proof ads.

Final Thoughts

Russell closes with an encouragement to focus on “level 10 opportunities” for the same amount of effort, to leverage AI to systematize funnel research and copywriting, and to continuously funnel hack, iterate, and test — with dozens or hundreds of creative variations, knowing that the market rapidly adapts. He also underscores the importance of picking a business model where growth and scale are simply “built in” from the start.

Next Steps:

• If this Q&A helped spark ideas, consider joining Russell’s 2CCX program for deeper implementation, more funnel swipes, and advanced strategies in Boise and online.

Listen to the full episode for direct examples, stories, and Russell’s signature high-energy breakdowns!