One of the most powerful ways to grow your business quickly is by leveraging the audiences of influencers who already have the trust of your target market. Russell Brunson’s Dream 100 strategy is built around this concept—finding and building relationships with the top 100 influencers who can drive massive, targeted traffic to your website, product, or funnel.
The best part? This strategy works for beginners and experts alike, and with the right approach, anyone can apply it. In this post, I’ll walk you through step-by-step instructions, real examples, and case studies to make sure you understand exactly how to implement it. Whether you’ve been in business for 5 years or are just starting today, this guide will help you get explosive traffic from the right people.
Step 1: Identify Your Dream 100 Influencers
Before you can start using the Dream 100, you need to know exactly who you’re targeting. Who are the influencers, businesses, or thought leaders in your niche with large, engaged audiences? These are the people you want to connect with.
1.1. Define Your Target Audience
It’s important to first define your ideal customer. Are they new parents, fitness enthusiasts, small business owners, or tech-savvy entrepreneurs? Knowing who you are trying to reach will help you identify the influencers that already have your audience.
1.2. Research Your Dream 100
Once you know your target audience, start finding the top influencers that align with your business. These could be individuals, brands, bloggers, YouTubers, or even podcasts.
Here are the ways you can find these influencers:
Social Media Platforms:
- Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok are full of influencers.
- Search hashtags or specific terms related to your niche.
- Example: Let’s say you sell yoga equipment. You can search for hashtags like #yoga, #yogafitness, and #mindfulmovement to find influencers.
Use BuzzSumo or Ahrefs:
- These tools allow you to find the most shared articles or people that are ranking well for your niche’s keywords.
- Example: In the digital marketing niche, BuzzSumo might show that Neil Patel is a major influencer you want to target.
Competitor Research:
- Look at the influencers that your competitors are working with.
- Example: If you’re a health coach, look at the influencers your competitors use for their promotions, and see if you can get similar partnerships.
Example Case Study:
A small business owner selling eco-friendly products identified top influencers on Instagram who focus on sustainable living. They started by following them, commenting on posts, and building a relationship with these influencers. Eventually, they reached out and partnered with one to create an Instagram giveaway, which boosted their brand visibility by 10x.
Step 2: Build Relationships with Influencers
The next step is to build authentic relationships with your Dream 100 influencers. Influencers receive a ton of outreach emails and messages, so it’s important to stand out by being genuine and thoughtful.
2.1. Engage with Their Content
Don’t start by asking for something—first, build rapport by engaging with their content. This could be commenting on their posts, sharing their content, or sending them a direct message saying how much you appreciate what they do.
- Example: If you identify an influencer in the entrepreneurship space, start by commenting on their YouTube videos, engaging with their Instagram posts, or even sharing their content with a thoughtful message.
2.2. Provide Value First
Influencers want to work with people who bring value to the table. The more value you can give without expecting something in return, the better.
Here are some ways to offer value:
Promote Their Content: Share their blog posts, tag them in relevant content, or comment on their social media posts.
Offer Something of Value: If you have a blog, offer to write a guest post for them, or if you sell a product, offer them a free sample of your product to review.
Example: A graphic designer reached out to a popular business coach, offering to design some free social media templates that the coach could use for their Instagram account. The coach loved the designs and ended up featuring the designer in an upcoming email list promotion.
2.3. Personalize Your Outreach
Once you’ve engaged with the influencer for a while and built a rapport, reach out with a personalized email. Make it clear that you’ve done your research, understand what they do, and explain how you can work together to benefit both parties.
- Example: When reaching out to an influencer, avoid generic messages like, “Hey, I love your content! Let’s collaborate.” Instead, show that you understand their work and offer specific ideas on how you could collaborate to help each other grow.
Step 3: Make a Mutually Beneficial Offer
When you’re ready to reach out with a formal proposal, make sure it’s beneficial for both you and the influencer. Influencers have their own goals and objectives, so you need to craft a win-win proposal that works for them as much as it works for you.
3.1. Propose a Collaboration
Offer a joint venture (JV) that both of you can benefit from. For instance, if you’re both in the fitness industry, propose a joint webinar, where you provide valuable content and pitch your product or service.
- Example: A nutritionist could collaborate with a fitness influencer by offering a free downloadable meal plan to their audience in exchange for promoting the nutritionist’s online program.
3.2. Be Transparent
Clearly outline how this collaboration will benefit the influencer. Will they earn a commission for sales? Will they get exposure in front of your audience?
- Example: A photographer reached out to an influencer in the fashion space and offered to photograph their upcoming campaign for free in exchange for a shoutout on their Instagram. The fashion influencer promoted the photographer’s work to their audience, leading to a huge boost in their business.
3.3. Keep It Simple
Don’t overwhelm them with a complex proposal. Keep it simple, clear, and actionable. Make sure that the terms are easy to understand and the collaboration doesn’t require a lot of time or effort on their part.
Step 4: Leverage Affiliate Marketing
After building a solid relationship, you can leverage affiliate marketing as a way to drive traffic through your influencers. By offering them an affiliate link, they can promote your products or services to their audience in exchange for a commission.
4.1. Set Up Your Affiliate Program
Setting up an affiliate program is simple, especially with platforms like ClickFunnels, Shopify, or Kajabi. Create a landing page with an affiliate tracking link, and offer influencers a percentage of every sale they generate.
- Example: A digital course creator set up an affiliate program offering a 30% commission on all sales. They invited influencers to promote the course to their audience, which resulted in 1,000+ course sign-ups in just one month.
4.2. Provide Marketing Materials
Influencers are busy, so make sure you provide them with everything they need to promote your product effectively. This might include pre-written social media posts, banner ads, or a swipe file for emails.
- Example: A SaaS company offered influencers a ready-made email template that they could send to their subscribers, promoting a limited-time offer for the software. This made it easy for the influencer to promote, leading to 5x more conversions than a regular promotion.
Step 5: Track, Optimize, and Scale
After running your Dream 100 campaign, you must track the results and optimize the strategy for better performance.
5.1. Use Analytics
Use tools like Google Analytics or FunnelFlare to monitor where your traffic is coming from. Track:
- Referrals: Which influencers are sending the most traffic to your site?
- Conversion Rate: How many of those visitors are converting into leads or sales?
- Engagement: How much interaction are you getting from each influencer’s audience?
5.2. A/B Test
Test different approaches, whether that’s varying your email pitch, experimenting with different offers, or seeing which content formats (videos, blog posts, or webinars) convert best.
- Example: A business tested two different landing pages: one with a video and one with written content. They found that the video landing page generated a 40% higher conversion rate. They optimized their future campaigns based on this data.
Conclusion: Unlock Explosive Traffic with the Dream 100
The Dream 100 strategy is one of the most effective ways to drive targeted, quality traffic to your business. By identifying the right influencers, building genuine relationships, and creating mutually beneficial partnerships, you can unlock a massive pipeline of traffic that leads to more leads, sales, and business growth.
The key to making this strategy work is consistency, value-first approach, and optimization. Start implementing these steps today, and watch your business grow!