Best Business Podcast | Understanding the CREATIVE Process & Songwriting 202 + MultiCleanOK.com 5X Growth “Before We Teamed Up w/ Clay Clark, We Didn’t Have Any Systems or Processes.” – MultiCleanOK.com Founder

Audio Transcription

I’m confident with artistic expression because my only goal is to make something that I like and I know that I can keep working on it until I like it. So in some ways there’s no pressure because the goal is to make the thing that I like. I know what I like. If I don’t like it, I keep working and eventually we get to a place where we like it. Yeah.

Do you ever face the inner critic of, well, what if other people don’t like this? No, I don’t consider them at all. Really? Yeah, something I say in the book is that the audience comes last.

And I believe that. I’m not making it for them. I’m making it for me. And it turns out that when you make something truly for yourself, you’re doing the best thing you possibly can for the audience. So much of why, if you go to the movies, so many big movies are just not good, it’s because

they’re not being made by a person who cares about it. They’re being made by people who are trying to make something that they think someone else is going to like. And that’s not how art works. Art doesn’t, that’s something else. It’s not art. That’s commerce.

So if we’re making art, we’re making, it’s almost like, it’s almost like a diary entry. So it, can some, could I be concerned that someone else might not like my diary entry? Doesn’t make sense. You know, it has nothing to do with them. My my diary entry has nothing to do with anyone else So everything we make as artists are essentially diary entries It was

Wow If you watched thank you, it’s amazing That’s kind of how I got my start met clay Clark through my father-in-law who owns a couple auto repair shops Here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I’ve got the best father-in-law in the world Clay will attest to that and man clay Clark Whipped my butt into shape. Let me tell you as he does so well

Do we meet in 18 or 19? 18 so we met in 2018 and kind of hit it off, our love for music and certain artists like OneRepublic drove our conversations and then we started working together and then something called COVID happened in 2020.

And most of my peers were chilling and binging Netflix and we had our share of that as well. However, Clay had me writing and producing and I mean you name it I was going after it and doing it and would not be the same artist that I am today if it was not for mr. Clay Clark so give it up for Clay Clark I say that to also kind of set up how I would love to use this time if that’s okay we’re gonna go into worship here just a little bit, but I’d

love to play a couple songs for you. One of the ways that we would work together is I would write these songs and he would play them for the staff and they would basically tell me if they sucked or not. So be a little more gentle on this first one because we actually have already released it so we’re not going to change it and it kind of is what it is. However, I need some help with this so I’m going to get my buddy, his name is Kyle.

He’s a worship leader at Sheraton Church. Give it up for Kyle. When I wrote this song, I just realized I might have intro’d you a little early. He’s coming in on the second verse, so. He’s a good looking dude, though, so he’ll enjoy looking at you. When I wrote this song, I walked into the studio with a Bible verse, Jeremiah 29 11, which says, “‘Friend, of the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord,

“‘plans to prosper you, not to harm you, “‘plans to give you hope and a future.'” That’s a pretty awesome promise right there, isn’t it? So I walked in with a Bible verse, a title, and some musical inspiration. I have always loved a song called

“‘Hard Knock Life’ from the musical Annie.” Anyone know what I’m talking about? Okay. This is my take on hard knock life. It is called Up and Up. ♪ Even though I walk through the valley sometimes ♪

♪ It feels like a crawl through the valley ♪ ♪ But I got a promise that I hold on tight to ♪ ♪ I can’t lose when I’m right beside you, yeah ♪ ♪ Gotta know the plans you have for me But my crop is overflowing So while I’m in the in-between I’ma live my life knowing It’s for get down, you pick me up from the ground You give me love, you don’t give out, give in, no condition

I’ll let my hallelujah get loud like a freight train sunshine. I’ll lift you up and up again. Alright, so here’s what we’re going to do. Since we’re big on Q&A’s here. Kyle, I’m basically just going to ask you some things and state some things. And we’re going to really lean in on your response.

Deal? So the first thing. Ask me how I know he’s going to do it. You’re going to say, he did it. That’s right. The second thing, every time a blessing is coming to me, what are you going to say?

He’s in it. That’s right. Third thing, that was a two. Third thing, pick number three, my Lord. Okay, number three. I forgot that reference.

That was Shrek. Anyway, all right. The devil tried to make me turn away. What are you going to say? Forget it. That’s right.

All right, let’s do this. Ask me how I know he’s going to do it. He did it. Every time a blessing’s coming to me. He’s in it. The devil tried to make me turn away.

Forget it. Because even on my worst day. Yeah, if I get down, you pick me up from the ground. You give me love and don’t give up, give in, no conditions. You lift me up and I forget how to get up. I’m not going to give up.

I’m not going to give up. I’m not going to give up. I’ll give in no conditions You lift me up and up again now No matter who surrounds I’ll let my heart elude you in and out

Like a freight train sunshine or rain I’ll lift you up and up again Up and up again, yeah So while I’m in the in-between, I’ma live my life knowing That if I get down, yeah Now, no matter who surrounds, I’ll let my hallelujah get loud like a faint ray of sunshine

over me. I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah. Up and up again, yeah. I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah.

I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah. I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah. I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah.

I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah. I’ll lift you up and up again. Yeah, yeah. I’ll lift you up and up again. Kyle, everybody.

I Really love things like this because of how formal it is Often you’re on a tour and you’ve got 23 minutes 20 seconds, you know to do your set and Man, clay was kind enough to give me an hour and a half with you guys this afternoon. So, thank you so much I was joke

That was a joke. If it’s okay with you guys, I know there are some fellow believers in the room. I believe in worship so much that I believe it is a weapon. And this is a bit of a new song in the worship community. So if you don’t know it, let the words sink in. I think they’re really powerful.

But they’re also pretty simple when we get to the course. I think you can learn and jump in. So this is called I Trust in God. assurance Jesus is mine. He’s been my forthman in the fire time after time. I’m born of His And what He did for me on Calvary is more than enough. So I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail.

Oh, I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. I trust in God, yeah. Oh, I trust in God, yeah. I trust in Jesus. It’s never fair.

I sought the Lord. I sought the Lord, and He heard, and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That’s why I trust Him. That’s why I trust Him. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered.

I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That’s why I trust Him. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered That’s why I trust in, that’s why I trust in God My Savior, the one who will never fail He will never fail.

I trust in God, my Savior, the one who will never fail. He will never fail. He will never fail He will never fail That’s why I trust in God That’s why I trust in God

This is my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. I pray. How great Thou art, yeah How great Thou art How great Thou art How great Thou art

Give it up for Kyle one more time. Come on. Folks, real quick, Colton, before I let you get out of here, are you going to do one more song? Could you have one more song? Kind of your…

Yeah. Okay, now before I let you go, I want to ask you, if you guys would grab a seat just for a second, because I’m all about How do you do that? How do you? Music how many of you music is sort of something you like, but you don’t know how it works Okay, so we’re gonna demystify music real quick. We’ll do a quick music course with Colton Dixon

There’s a there’s a certain pattern to it. There’s a pattern to success isn’t there not we talked about the patterns There’s a workflow, but to music you have the verse, you got the chorus, you got the verse. Can you walk us through the mechanics of a pop song? Sure, I sure can. Thanks to you, I can do it probably better than I could a few years ago. Pop songs, the number one thing that I’ve been told that I’ve read, it’s this, people

want a chorus that’s memorable. They want something that almost feels like they’ve heard it before. But my favorite saying is this, don’t bore us, get to the chorus. So the shorter your verses, the shorter your pre-choruses,

the better because people really just want to hear the chorus, there it is. Now we haven’t talked about this, so if you wanna rebuke me, it’s fine. But if you, when you’re going in to write a song, so you’re in the studio,

how many of you would kinda like to see what that’s like to see someone in the studio write a song? Okay, so you start with like a melody, or how does that happen? You’re in the studio. Yeah, I think.

And maybe you could kind of walk us through, what is that process? Because I just heard, I went to college with Ryan Tedder, and he would be in his room, and he would be talking in college.

He would be singing, but there wasn’t any words. Like he’d be playing a melody, and there was no words. I’m like, what are you doing? What is happening?

What is going on? Are you, he says, I’m doing, can you walk us through that process? Sure, so I will say this, I don’t know that there is a right and wrong way to write a song as long as you guys are, you know,

enjoying what the artist is putting out. So I don’t know that there’s a right or wrong way to do it. However, the way Ryan does it, the way I like to do it is either writing from a title, I mentioned that about Up and Up, I kinda had a title, so I kinda knew where the sandbox was, right?

So now it’s our job to go into the sandbox, into all the corners and try and figure out what we’re gonna say, how we’re gonna say it. But we kind of know the structure of the song. But what Clay is referring to is what we call baby talk. So we get a melody, right?

I even heard this the other day. This is more true in pop music than it is for Christian music for obvious reasons. But pop music is more about the music and the melody, right? It’s about how it makes you feel. Whereas Christian music, you have to be very intentional

about what you’re saying, again, for obvious reasons. But people often get that melody and they will just start, I mean, it probably sounds like speaking in tongues, if I’m honest with you. It’s like, they’ll just start singing so up and up again. So it’s like,

singing so up and up again. So it’s like, parameters with the title or with the direction of the music or whatever if that makes sense. There’s one person watching right now that needs to know. People always ask me when I record a podcast who’s it for? One person. So you’re recording someone’s watching right now and they’re a musical artist

that’s what they want to do and so you’re gonna you’re going to the studio you got a little melody and do you do you get on the keyboard and just play that and record that so you don’t forget it? How do you lock in the melody even before you have any lyrics? How do you? For me it’s all about voice memos in my phone. So that is my notepad, that is my pen and paper. I can be in bed, like my eyes are about to close,

and then boom, it’s like idea. I’m not saying it’s a great idea, but boom, it’s an idea. So I’m like, okay, so I’ll hit voice memos, and I will either sing it, or if I’m near a piano, I’ll play that,

or if it’s a lyric, I’ll jot it down. But yeah, sometimes I’ll get in the studio and I’m like, hey, we need to write this song around a piano today or around an acoustic guitar today. Other times we’re building the track as we’re writing the song. Now, writing a song is 100% analogous to building a business. They’re the same process.

So I make a workflow like this. Could you sing just a little bit more of heavily syncopated baby talk just so I can have a – can you do that real quick though, seriously, what you were just doing, because people can understand what that is. Yeah, sure. Okay, go for it. Up a da da.

Right key. Up a da da. And take me up on the ground. You’re gonna love me da da da da da da da da da da da. You’re gonna lift me up and up again. process. I worked with a lot of musicians, so I loved helping Colton and working with Colton.

I get excited about it because it’s the same process. So when I start a business, I know that these 14 boxes have to be filled, but I don’t know all of them, what they’re going to be. So I sketched and church that waterfall out there, and my wife is like, because it’s alarming to be around people that are creative and in the moment. So I get the idea. I believe that the idea is a gift, an idea from God, and I write it down because I honor the idea. I don’t forget it. My wife’s like, what are you doing? I’m like, I’m spray-painting where we’re gonna build

the waterfall. What waterfall? The one I drew in church. Who’s gonna build it? I don’t know. And then I build it and the rock is like, boop, boop, boop. My wife’s like, what’s happening? That’s a caterpillar. Boop, boop, boop. Didn’t you just pay $5,000? Why are we moving it? Because it’s in the wrong spot. How do you know it’s in the wrong spot? Because I don’t feel it.

No, seriously! Because I don’t feel it! Yeah, wow, that’s very accurate. And so, you know, a lot of people don’t start because they want it to be perfect. So it’s a lot like sculpting music. You’re crafting the lyrics.

So I wanted to see if we could… If you’re listening today, you’re a musician, you’re an aspiring musician. Colton, where can people go if they want to hear your new stuff or music you’re working on? Where can they go to hear that? Yeah, I mean, anywhere you can see music,

I’m going to be there, but my website is coltondixon.com. I know, very original. You can find social media, you can find new songs there, you can find videos there, merch. There as well. I apologize, but there was one song that you did

that was heavy falsetto that blew my mind. That was, and again, I’m not trying to paint you in a corner and ask you if you have a big catalog of songs, but you have, it was such an emotional song and it was so, do you remember what that song was? I think it’s called Autopsy. Yes!

Yeah, yeah. So I thought if you could, I thought if you could today, if you could just play maybe a couple songs or maybe a little sample of some of your songs. And you can kind of, you know, because I want people to understand that, you know, people might know you as the pop music guy, but Autopsy was…it made…it literally made…like when I heard this song, it like brought me to tears. It was right at the time when my dad was dying from Lou Gehrig’s, and it was like…I listened to this song on repeat, and it was healing, and it was…it was all of that. But then there’s other songs he writes that are uplifting,

and I just wanted you to hear a little sample pack. I’ll go over here, you do what you want to do, and then I’ll come harass you one more time. This is for you and for only you. Because I love you. I’ve played this song once live and it is the hardest song I’ve ever had to sing. So I’m just going to do a chorus of it.

Yeah, I’m very nervous about this right now. This song got me through something though. It was powerful. I am more than skin and bones I am more. That was for you, Clay Clark. Thank you. You’re welcome.

How much time do I have first? Between ten minutes and four hours. Okay, fantastic. I’ll lean towards ten minutes. How does that sound? Can I use this time to play,

I think this is my favorite song I’ve ever written and no one’s heard it yet. And I might be more nervous about this than singing Like a Girl just now. This topic means a lot to me, but I wanna start by saying how awesome is it

that we serve a God who chooses to see us through the lens of Jesus, what he did. And just a recap, if you don’t know, he lived a perfect life. He was blameless, he was spotless. He died for everyone in the room,

and then three days later, he rose again. That’s kind of the big pillar of why Christians believe what they believe. However, in that same thought, does it bum anyone else out that a lot of people view God through people?

That bums me out, y’all. Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. I’m no exception to that. And I wrote this song kind of as a response.

I know church hurt and deconstruction and there’s a lot of hot topics, hot takes in church even right now. And man, I kind of wrote this song with my wife in mind. We have two twin girls, identical, who are about to be four. Pray for me. But I wrote this song with them in mind, but then I also,

I had just people in general in mind who have ever looked my way and have seen something that is not pleasing to the Lord. I’m human, I’ve made mistakes, y’all. Like I said, I’m no exception. And I hope I remember the words, because like I said, this is the first time I’ve played it,

but I’d love to play it for you. This is called, In Spite of Me. So this is one of those times, maybe let me know if you like it or don’t, and we won’t put it out, so here we go. You say nobody’s perfect and I’ve never been a saint

Not all scars are on the surface, written on my face I’m not the best example of the man that I should be But I hope you find Jesus in spite of me If you could walk around in my shoes, or listen to my prayers, You’d hear me talk about my issues, the crosses that I bear, Being broken does an excuse, the life that I should lead,

But I hope you find the answers, I hope that you find peace. I pray that your perspective isn’t based on what you see. Cause I am just a sinner who is lost and free. And I hope you find Jesus in spite of me. It started from the moment I was learning right from wrong. It’s like the first enrollment. It’s true that we all fall, and I am no exception to I hope you find Jesus in spite of me.

I hope you find the answers. I hope that you find peace. I pray in your perspective, is it based on what you see? Because I am just a sinner who is messed and free. And I hope you find Jesus I hope you find a reason

To say that you believe Just keep your eyes on heaven It’s all you’ll ever need I’m sorry for the damage The hurt that lies beneath But I hope you find Jesus in spite of me

I hope you find Jesus in spite of me Wow! Thank you. What do you guys think about that song? is the thing that holds people back the most from being their most creative and best self? I think it’s being concerned what other people think and a feeling of

that the people who make great things are somehow special and that they are not special and that’s just not true. We’re all, everyone has the capability to make great things and none of us are special. It seems like a lot of people, they’re focused on what other people think, like you said, and it almost, it blocks them into this kind of rut feeling, I guess, so they feel like they’re stuck in a rut. I don’t know if you’ve heard this before with a lot of your artists,

but with me as a writer and an author, I’ve heard so many people come to me and say, I want to write a book. And I ask them, how long have you had this idea that you wanted to write this book about this thing? And some people will say five, seven, 10 years, but they’ve been worried about what people think or they feel creatively stuck in a rut.

Do you ever feel stuck in a rut? And if so, how do you personally get out of that? I think taking action is a really great thing and not setting up barriers of entry. I can imagine a musician saying, I can’t play this song because I don’t have the right guitar or I don’t have the right equipment to do it. And there are no barriers to entry.

There’s always a way. I come from a punk rock background, so in punk rock, it was a do-it-yourself mentality. And, you know, I started my first record company not knowing that was something you can do. It just really happened automatically. I wanted to start making records. I wanted people to hear them.

I never knew that you could get signed to a label. I just thought, well, if you want to make a record, you make a record. So I made records and, you know, print up 500 copies of a 7-inch single, for example. So I think there’s always a way. You don’t have to wait for permission from someone else. I think that’s a big part, people are waiting for permission.

To actually make their art. To make their art. Someone has to say, you know, I’ll hire you to do this, or I’ll publish your book if you write a book, or set the stage to allow you to do it. But I don’t think that’s the way great things are made. and this will be the first time I’ve ever done it

in front of cameras in real time. I’ve been noted as saying many, many times that melody is the most important thing. The entire song bows down to the melody because that’s what the human ear remembers more than the lyric.

They remember the melody. So I’m very hyper-focused on that in this next section. And what you’re about to see is me opening up a track, putting it into loop, putting the headphones on, turning the microphone on, and just spitballing. Tell me what you’re taking back Put me on the basic track, I know That you never let us be known She said, time is what my life is for

You know I did, you know And if you don’t get there, then I don’t mind. I just want something that you never get it lies. I know She said hey All right, so I’m just doing gibberish I kind of have a gist of a verse and I’m free I had no idea what I was doing before. I’m just free, whatever. Oh, that’s kind of, I have an idea. It might be on. All I want is some place to go.

And I’ll go back through I might do a couple more passes Oh You don’t like this, you know I can beat that and if you don’t get down I just want something that you never get it lies. I know Because they like this I might be crazy, but I don’t mind too much or maybe. I don’t mind too much or maybe.

I just want you to know. Sometimes I just want you to tell me. I don’t need the light on my beyond. All I want is some place to go. Woo. So, I know

Because a day like this I might be crazy But I don’t mind too much And maybe I just want somewhere to go Maybe I just want somewhere to go Want somewhere to go But I just want somewhere to go

Oh, oh, oh, sometimes I just want you to carry on to live like Donald might be on All I want is some place to go, ooh, but you gave me like Donald might be on All right, so what I have here is this. I’ll do one more pass just to see, but I feel pretty, like I said earlier, usually my first pass has a lot in it that is the one. What I can’t tell you is how did I think of that melody, which is probably the one question some people might be asking.

And when I’m in sessions, if I do come up with something insane on the fly, that’s not very often. The question is from other writers, like, where the hell did you think of that? How did you think of that? Like, where did that come from? And I really don’t have an answer. That’s just years and years of writing songs. I, and years and years of listening, my brain starts to, or has, assimilated based on whatever a track is, or whatever the melody is, whatever the chords are, I kind of know where to go instinctively. What melodies, what shapes are going to work with those chords, just because I’ve written over so

many chord progressions. And if I think it might be a pop artist, if it’s Bieber or Shawn, then I’m going to get into headspace of them. I’m going to sing it like I know the melody shapes that Sean would sing. I’ve written and produced with him many, many times and many, many other artists. If it’s Ellie Goulding or if it’s Normani, I know what they’re likely to sing melodically. I know where they’re going to go. And the short answer to that is just, I just pay attention. I pay attention, I listen to that so much music and have for so many years

that you instinctively know where to go. So I know that like if I shift this any more to the right, no pun intended, it’s gonna feel more country, maybe too country. So I might shift it, and even how I sing it, if I sing it with any kind of twang at all,

it could start to feel country, but I could easily flip this to be more like, I hate saying Bieber territory, but more his territory or like a, you know, a pop artist. In a perfect world, I put it right down the middle, which is what I’m aiming for today. Something that like, could pitch to a handful of pop artists, a handful of country artists.

Just a good song. Very simple, good song, feel good song. It’s hard enough in times like these, put me on the way like bees I know. I think now my gibberish is already starting to tell me what this song is going to be and what it’s about, which is good. I’m forming an idea.

Put me on the basic tact I know I don’t wanna take you back Got no place to go Tell me what you’re taking back Put me on the basic tact I know That you never let me know

You said time was worth my life before this world might lie before you might be the one I know yeah and if you don’t be the one I know yeah yeah yeah and if you don’t get I just want something that you never get a lot of that, oh Oh, you could, I just want something that you never get a lot of that, oh It’s all in love, you could stay like this, I might be crazy, but I don’t mind

I just want something that you never go crazy but I feel straight filled with you baby and I don’t care like this, I wanna roast a ray of fat with you baby I feel safe here with you baby, I don’t need no other place to go I feel safe here with you baby, now’s not the time to find some place to go Alright, so what I’m doing is As the ideas hit me, I like to record them more, I forget them.

So I might change these lyrics 20 times. This might be garbage. I might throw the whole thing away. I don’t know. But I’m forming an idea. Forming an idea.

Oh, sometimes I just want you to get me out of it. Then I don’t. OK, so I’m going to do one more pass in case I get any other chorus ideas. So I’m going to save that as pass one, create a new track. But the thing is, I really like my verse, and I just feel like that is the verse.

I actually feel pretty solid. Like I said earlier, I’m more inclined, my first pass on a verse in pre, very often, not all the time, but two out of three times, ends up being the final, and then I’ll take a couple approaches at a chorus. So if I’m thinking a Pop artist like Bieber or whatever

He’s got a higher range than a lot of the country artists. So you could go I could take this Like if I’m, anywhere you go Know that I’ll be yours Know that I’ll be treated What a lot they do Anywhere you want

Know that I’ll be yours Know that I’ll be treated strong Tall, will I be yours? Oh yeah, be yours So there’s another more pop approach. I might do one more just for fun.

Call that. And just so I can preview these, I’m going to keep this simple. I’m just going to pull that down, and I’ll leave the past one up there. That’s the first pass, right? I’m creating multiple tracks so I can preview my different chorus ideas and figure out which one I like better.

Instinct is to roll with the first one because it’s easy, but that’s also being lazy, so force myself to do a few more. So, mute that, mute this, and I’ll do one more pass on a chorus. But I’ve got to think about what I’m going to do first. Let’s see. Pay attention to where I start on the verse and the pre-chorus.

So where you start a melody, it’s association with the first downbeat of that section, the downbeat, the one beat of the verse, the one beat of the pre-chorus. You need to pay attention to, is the melody starting before the one? Is it starting on the one? Is it starting after the one? And if you’re doing the same thing in each section, no matter how good the melodies are, you will upend the whole song. You’ll pull the rug out from underneath it because everything’s starting in the… The key is switching up your patterns so the human ear isn’t just getting bored, even if it doesn’t know why.

It’s like, why is this boring? It’s like, oh, well, every part of the song starts on the one beat, you know, starts on the down. So I’m going to make sure as I’m doing this, I know that I like my verse, I know that I like my pre, and I’m pretty sure I like the chorus or both of them for different reasons. So I want to see where am I starting on the verse and the pre, and this final pass I do, I’m going to intentionally start at a different different point. So this is the end of the phrase, three, four, so starting on the

two. Alright, so one, two, three, four. And it’s on the and of the four. So let’s see when my choruses start here. They both started at different times. So this starts, the last chorus starts two Anywhere you go No, I’ll be yours No, I’ll be

Water I’ll be done But anywhere you want No, I’ll be No, I’ll be free. I like that melody better, huh? Know that I’ll be I don’t want to love you no more

I don’t want to see you no more Please don’t, don’t let I be your Know that I’ll be yours Know that I’ll be all mine All I ever need of you Know that I’ll be all I

Never been like before Never, never let I be for Know that I’ll be all I Everything and them all Know that I’ll be alright, everything and more Know that I’ll be young, know that I’ll be fierce

Know that I’ll be alright, know that I’ll be old Know that I’ll be alright, safer than I’ve been before Everything is yours. Everything is yours. Everything is yours. I’m not going to say that.

Definitely not going with this lyric. So that’s one. Let me do a different one. And I don’t And I don’t mind I just want something that you never get it lies. I know shit the

One sauce is mine. I just want something that you never get it lies. I know I Want to be that first up? Let me think. I don’t know if I want to go that high. That’s kind of nice. I don’t know why it’s going a little more country. Maybe it is. Maybe it wants to be pop. I’m on love, I’m on love, I’m on love, I’m on love, I’m on feeling, I’m on love, I’m

Alright, so I have like three different approaches here on the chorus. I’ll go through all three. And I may keep one, I may combine two, I may get rid of all of them. There’s no way to tell. My name is Kevin Thomas and the name of our company is MultiClean. We are a commercial janitorial service and we serve the entire state of Oklahoma and Kansas and soon to be Arkansas. We have probably grown probably five times.

We’ve added, I think when we first started with you, we had 60 to 65 employees and now we have a little over 300 employees. Before we got involved with Thrive Time, we didn’t really have any systems or processes in place. I’ve probably been to, oh, in six, seven years, I’ve probably been to 12 to 13 business conferences. And amazingly, each time I go, I learn something new,

and I’m so excited to bring it back and show the team about marketing and how to implement, how to help you guys implement the SEO. And the coaching is just great because there’s accountability and it’s just a fantastic way to grow your company. Having a relationship with Thrive Time, it’s just been amazing for MultiClean. Oh my goodness, it frees me up because then I don’t have to get take a class on search engine optimization or learn marketing or shoot video. That’s not what we do. What we do is commercial janitorial service and you guys were the

experts on marketing and you teach me and hold my hand and show me how to do and therefore now my company is much, much larger. Folks on today’s show, we’re joined by a real client. He may look like a male model, he may look like a hologram, but he’s a real person. He’s a long time client, he’s a man that we consider

to be a friend of the Thrive Time Show and a friend of mine. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the show, Kevin, welcome onto the Thrive Time Show. How are you, sir? Clay, I’m doing great. Have a great Christmas holiday and I’m glad to be here.

Okay, so first question, can you tell us what is your name, first and last name, and what’s the name of your company, sir? My name is Kevin Thomas and the name of our company is MultiClean. We are a commercial janitorial service and we serve the entire state of Oklahoma and Kansas and soon to be Arkansas. And how long have we worked with you approximately at this point, sir?

It’s been about six, seven years. And you know, so many people reach out to me. I mean, literally every day. I just talked to a woman this morning. We get 10 to 20 people a day that reach out wanting to see if we can help them grow their companies and we only work with 160 clients.

And I do that because I want to only work with people that are super coachable. This woman on the call today was asking me, she said, well, what’s the most important thing that you do, that you have to do to grow your company? And I was telling her, I said, that’s kind of like asking a skilled chef,

what’s the most important ingredient to make great cookies? Is it flour? Is it eggs? Is it butter? It’s like asking a home builder, what’s the most important component to building a house?

Is it the footings? Is it the frame? Is it the concrete? That’s like asking, it’s a great, maybe it’s a great question, but really it’s all of it. And so I really wanted to talk to you today about all of it, implementing all of it, growing multi-clean, how we’ve been able to do it.

So first off, could you share what it’s like to have a coach that works with you every week who’s committed to helping you improve your business by 1 or 2% every week? Well, Andrew is my coach, and the great thing about having him as a coach is he keeps me accountable because sometimes when you’re the owner, there’s no one to be accountable to. And he keeps me on track, he keeps me tracking sales, tracking wins.

If we have a loss, he helps me figure out what happened. He just keeps me being consistent with our processes, with our systems, which before we got involved with Thrive Time, we didn’t really have any systems or processes in place. And in terms of growth over these past six or seven years,

I’m not looking for you to share the actual sales totals because you’re a larger company at this point, but could you share how much growth have you had over the past six or seven years? We have probably grown probably five times. We’ve added, I think when we first started with you,

we had 60 to 65 employees, and now we have a little over 300 employees. So just to be clear, I’m making sure I’m taking notes here, you’ve grown five times and you’ve grown from how many employees to how many employees? About 60, 65 to well over 300 in that time frame. So let’s unpack all the specific aspects of business growth and I’m going to pull up a

document so our listeners can see. What’s your website we can go to right now to look at while I’m pulling up this source document. What’s your web address, sir? The website is Multiclean, just like it sounds, multicleanok.com. Multicleanok.com. I’ll pull this up.

As I pulled up this source document, many people say, Clay, why do you pull up these documents? Well, contrary to popular belief, most successful people that I know use workflows, they use documents, they use checklists. We don’t typically memorize things. And a lot of times people say, what? I say, yeah, as a business owner,

like I’m not gonna try to impress you with my memory, but I am gonna teach you proven systems. And so when somebody goes to implement these business systems as a coach, we’re gonna guide you through all of these processes, but it is, there’s a lot there to it.

There’s a lot of steps. It’s step one, it’s step two, it’s step three, it’s step 807. There’s a lot of steps here. And so as we’re going through this, I don’t want anyone to feel overwhelmed, but I just want people to understand, it’s implementing all of these systems simultaneously that produces the success. So, first off, establishing your goals.

I’m not trying to have you hop on today’s show and share what your goals are necessarily, but let’s start with step one. Why is it important for everybody out there to figure out clearly what your goals are? Well, Clay, it’s important to have goals.

Otherwise, you wouldn’t really know. You wouldn’t know where you’re going. You wouldn’t know if you reached a certain level of success unless you have a goal that you’re going for. And plus, those goals for me, anyway, they keep me motivated to grow my company, to grow my employees,

to better my employees, and also to make my family stronger and better as well. So we have those goals. That’s step one. We’ve got to have those goals. Goals for our faith, our family, our finances, our fitness, our friendship, our fun. And some of us are better in certain areas.

Some of us need help in other areas. But we’ve got to have our goals. Second, we’ve got to determine our break-even point. And I think that’s something that a lot of business owners don’t know, so I’m just going to be very clear with our listeners and kind of bare my soul. But when we work with a client like you, we charge you $1,700 a month and we make a 20%

margin. So we make $340 a month per client. I know what my costs are. Kevin, you know what you pay me. It’s very clear, my profit margin. Most business owners, though, when we start working with them, they don’t know their break-even point. Could you share why it’s important for you as an

owner of a company now with 300 employees to know your break-even point? Well, it’s really important because you don’t know if you’re making money and you need to know what your margins are going to be. You need to know what your cost is so that way you can take your profit and then turn that around and pay your overhead, pay your employees, and most of all, most importantly, is to pay yourself. And, because if you’re not paying yourself,

and if you’re not making an income, then the business is pretty much dead. And again, I’m taking notes here. If it sounds like I’m typing a novel, I’m not. I’m just taking notes so everyone can really dial into this.

Now, box three, you have to know how many hours a week you’re willing to work. Now, one thing about you bragging on you is you’re willing to do whatever you need to do, but you’re also super committed to your family. So again, I repeat, you’re very willing to do whatever you need to do, but you’re also

committed to your family. So we’re recording this testimonial today on a Saturday, and virtually every entrepreneur I’ve ever met in my life, I don’t say virtually, every entrepreneur I’ve ever interviewed in my life on this show, we’ve interviewed billionaires, multimillionaires, all of them are no stranger to working on Saturdays. Can you talk about that, about just being realistic with yourself and your family about how

many hours per week you’re actually willing to work? Well, as the owner you have to be willing to work whatever it takes. Whether it’s eight hours or 15 hours a day. Since we’ve been in business for 31 years we have a fantastic team right now and so my hours have cut down so I’m actually able to spend more time with my family because I have such a fantastic team and we have fantastic processes. But as a new owner, you just have to do whatever you have to do to get it done and eventually

it will get easier. Not much easier, but it will get easier. Now we move on to this next box. You have to know your unique value proposition. Now, as a coaching platform, what we try to do is work with wonderful clients like you to help you stand out in the

clutter of commerce. And one of the things that I found out about your business very quickly is you had a long history of running your business. I mean, you weren’t a startup. You had a long history of success.

And so I was telling Andrew, hey, we need to document all of Kevin’s testimonials. We need to gather them in one place. We need to start getting Google reviews, objective Google reviews from real clients. We need to do that because,

and this is not a backhanded compliment, you had a very good business, but you guys had not documented your client’s successes over the years. You didn’t have video proof that you guys did a good job. You didn’t have documented testimonials.

You did not have objective Google reviews that matched the quality you provided. Could you talk about the importance of documenting your actual client testimonials and gathering those objective reviews? Absolutely. That’s really huge in our growth.

The fact that we are the highest and most reviewed commercial cleaning service in the entire state of Oklahoma is a very important thing. And it just shows proof of who we are when we get Google reviews. Also, when we do video testimonials, it’s real people giving real testimonials. It’s not super, super professional. It’s just a real person giving a real review about how they feel about MultiClean. And it’s just been a huge help to our business when people, they get online, they look for a commercial cleaning service, and usually they go to the maps page.

We’re right there all the time and usually we get picked to give someone a quote. And that’s been really instrumental in the growth of multi-clean. And again, this is not an event, this is an ongoing process.

And every week we’re gathering objective Google reviews, objective video reviews. And again, that’s one of the ways you stand out in the clutter of commerce. The next is the branding. A lot of times we meet a business owner, Kevin, and their website is in disrepair.

Their website needs help. So I think about clients that we’ve had tremendous success with, brands like Shaw Homes. When we started working with Shaw Homes, by the way, Shaw Homes was just sold, but we started working with Shaw Homes, they were around $14 million a year of sales, and we helped them to grow over $150 million in sales. So just to be clear, we help Shaw Homes grow from 14 million in sales to over 150 million

in sales. We work with wonderful brands like Oxifresh, where Oxifresh today now has over 550 locations. And branding really is just a perception that people have when they see your company for the first time. Branding is your website, your print pieces, your logos, your business cards, your one sheets.

Branding is the perception people have when they see your business for the first time. And I would encourage everybody out there to self-assess yourself on a scale of one to ten. Ten being the highest, one being the worst. How highly would you rank your branding?

Kevin, can you talk about the impact that’s made having professional branding working for you? Absolutely. Branding is pretty key in the commercial janitorial service because there are a lot of startups that will, that are very cheap and don’t really offer much service. When we show up, everything that we do is professional. Our card looks good.

Our proposal looks good. We have a team here that continually communicates with a customer or potential customer. And so having that brand that, uh, this is a professional company. We have a lot of respect out there amongst our competitors and amongst our clients as well,

because we have that, the quality name goes with MultiClean, and that’s very important in this industry. Now, again, there’s somebody out there who needs to hear this. We’ve been working together for years,

and every week, you’re growing by, every week we’re improving the company, in my opinion, by one or 2%. So at the end of the year, you say, what did we do? Well, we made the company 50% better. Every week we’re improving the company by 1 or 2%. What are we talking about? At the end of the year, you’ve grown the company.

At the end of the five years, you’ve grown the company. At the end of the six years, you look back and go, wow, we’re five times larger. What do you say to somebody out there that’s looking to get rich quick, somebody who’s looking for the one thing that will turn their business around and make them rich tomorrow? What would you say? I would say give it up on that idea because there’s no such thing as, it’s more like get rich slowly.

That’s the only way to be successful is take your time, do it right, be patient, be a man or a woman of integrity and make good decisions for your company and just do it right. Now, step four, I’m going through this methodically, folks. Step number four, again, you define your unique value proposition. Got it.

OK. Step five, you improve your branding. Step six, you have to come up with a three-legged marketing stool. And with your business, we have clearly defined a three-legged marketing stool.

What does that mean? A stool with three legs is stable. A stool with one leg is going to fall over. It’s probably not even a stool. At that point, it’s sort of a monopod. But you have to have a three-legged marketing stool.

So for your company, we have three things that we do, and there’s some other things we do too, but one is we really, really focus on search engine optimization by gathering the most objective reviews, writing original content, gathering video testimonials.

Second, Dream 100, that’s where you reach out to your ideal and likely buyers consistently, you reach out to your ideal and likely buyers. And third, you’re wowing your customers to the point that you’re generating word of mouth. The word of mouth is becoming, you’re intentional about wowing your customers,

thus it creates word of mouth. Could you talk about the importance of having a three-legged marketing stool for anybody out there that has a one-legged marketing stool or no intentional approach to marketing at all? Well, Clay, the nice thing about the three-legged marketing is that we learned that from you at ThriveTime. We didn’t really know what we were doing. And so, when we joined up with Thrivetime, we started doing the SEO. We got our website in order, got it all cleaned up so that when people search

for commercial janitorial services, they find us, also when they do find us, we’re topping Google reviews. And then also with the Dream 100, we have a database in our Excel and HubSpot that we’re continually going to and making cold calls. And the important thing about all that is that you can’t just rely on one. Maybe one day one’s doing well, the next day, the next month, another one is doing well,

so it’s circular. At one point, one of them is always going to be doing well to help your company grow. Now once the leads come in, you have to actually sell something. And this just in, if we don’t sell, our business will go to hell. You know that. Most of our listeners know that too.

But I think there’s a lot of entrepreneurs out there that have a bias. They think, you know, if I have a great idea, it’ll sell itself. If I build it, they will come. And they think that because they’ve watched Field of Dreams. They think that because they’ve watched too many Tai Lopez videos. They think that because they’ve watched Get Rich Quick videos about ClickFunnels and various

other online, I call it scam-och-ery, but it’s where someone’s trying to get rich quick. And I would just tell you that if you build it, they won’t come. And a product is so good, it still won’t sell itself. You have to get out there and work it. And so to do that, you have sales scripts, you have recorded calls for quality control, you have one sheets, you have pre-written emails, you have lead trackers,

you have all of those things in place. Could you talk about the importance of having intentionally scripted calls and intentionally recorded calls and intentional, just being intentional about every aspect of your sales process?

Absolutely, we’re intentional with all that with our sales scripts. We have two ladies that are inside sales and they’re continually calling. They have a fantastic script that they use. The one sheet that we use, we give it and it compares us to other services.

Actually, that was designed by you guys at Thrivetime, which has been very helpful. Then our lead tracker, which Andrew and I go over each week, we look because I don’t see all of the leads that come in, but we go over the lead tracker and I’m able to see from beginning to end when the lead came in, where it is, is it in the bid process

right now and did we get it or did we not get it. And if we didn’t get it, that goes into another file for a follow-up call in three to five months. And if you don’t have all those in some kind of a process, you’re just going to lose all those potential leads. I hope that this podcast, this broadcast can change somebody’s life. Now in part two of today’s show, I am going to do a show specifically about how if you

have a great idea, it won’t sell itself. And you’re going to, part two of the show is going to start off with Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs, there’s old video footage of Steve Jobs telling you, the viewer, telling me, the viewer that, hey, a great product will not sell itself. And it’s powerful when you hear from other people who are actually achieving success, who did achieve success.

I encourage everybody to pay attention and take notes because we’re trying to help you achieve massive success. Step number eight, you have to know how much money it costs you to acquire a new customer. You have to determine your sustainable acquisition costs. So just today, I mean, I talked to a wonderful lady today. I’m going to talk to a wonderful young man.

I say a young man, a guy in his late 30s. I’m going to talk to a man in his late 30s today. I talked to a woman this morning who’s super successful. And I know that whether they buy a ticket to a conference or not, or whether they become a client or not, Kevin, I know that our marketing costs to promote our conferences hover around $12,000 a month.

What? Yeah. So I spend about $12,000 every month to market our business conferences. Why am I telling you that? Well, folks, do the math. If we have a conference every two months, so every 60 days,

right, and we’re spending $24,000 to promote a conference, and we’re doing a conference every 60 days approximately, how much money does it cost me for every person who’s in attendance? So let’s just kind of do some math for a second. I want to give people some real examples.

So if I’m spending $24,000 this month, or over the next two months on promoting a conference, and we sell a total of 300 tickets, that means it’s $80. It costs me $80 per customer, per conference attendee. And I’m not talking about the food we serve, Kevin. I’m not talking about the Eric Trumps, the Robert Kiyosakis, the Tim Tebows that come in to speak.

I’m not talking about any of the workbooks we give the attendees. I’m just talking about the cost to get in front of our ideal and likely buyers. It comes out to about $80 per ticket buyer. And I think if you ask the average entrepreneur, I know this because I’ve been doing business coaching for 20 years, the average client I talk to, the average potential client I talk to, they do not know what it costs them to get a new customer.

Can you talk about that for a second. Why is it important to know how much money it costs you at Multi Clean to get a new customer? Well, Clay, it’s really important because you have a sales team, you have an outside sales team, inside sales team, and you have overhead costs along with startup costs for us. We have to start up with new equipment and all kinds of equipment to do the building.

The bigger the building, the bigger the startup. So it’s very important to nail that down on what it costs. Sometimes I have to rein in the team and say, okay, we can’t buy all this brand new, this equipment, that equipment for this account. Thankfully, most of our startup costs are recouped

within the first three to five months of starting a contract with a customer. But it’s very important to know that, otherwise you’re just not, at the end of the month, you’re like, where’d all my money go? So it’s very important to know what that cost is.

Folks, I’m telling you, this is the kind of stuff they don’t teach at business school, but they should. Okay, so here we go. The next is, you got it. This has been stuff we have to do. We have to, box number nine, step number nine.

We have to create repeatable systems, processes, and file organization. Now so many people, what’s interesting to me, Kevin, is so many of our listeners, they know about Dr. Z and the auto auction, or they know about me and the dog training business, or they know about me and the haircut chain. And they go, Clay, did you grow up, like, was your dad like the Zolhan? Was your dad really into hair?

Is that how you got going? Or they’ll go, Clay, are you and Dr. Z really into cars? Do you have like an automotive background? Or they’ll say, it’s z66aa.com. Dr. Z, full disclosure, just did sell that business, so it’s now switching the branding over here to America’s Auto Auction.

By the way, the company that bought his auto auction bought it because it was successful. People look up Make Your Dog Epic, they go, did you have a dog training background? People look up Dr. Zellner & Associates, they go, is that because you guys are in love with the human eyeball. And then what happens is people are left to think, are you successful because of luck? Or have you, Clay, have you and Dr. Z been able to combine to build, what, 14 multi-million dollar companies because you’re lucky?

Because of your vast knowledge of the human eyeball and hair, dogs? Or is it because you’re following a proven process. And that’s what I want to hammer home into everybody’s cranium right now. Everybody can do this, Kevin, but you’ve got to follow a system.

What do you say to somebody who says, I just don’t know if I can do it? What would you say? Well, I would say that before we had a relationship with Thrivetime, I don’t even think I knew what a process meant or what a process was.

So the coaches there have helped me put in some great processes in place to track sales, to learn about, we have a software called HubSpot that you’re familiar with, Excel, and we have another software called HiRise that we use and it tracks all of our customers day by day. And without that, we would be lost and floundering so poorly. But because of these processes in place, we’re doing so well.

It’s all out of my brain because that’s where it was before. And now it’s not. Now it’s in paper, it’s on our server so that we can draw to it each week. And that really helps in our growth and the flow of the whole company. And I want to greatly respect your time. So the final five minutes we have here, we’re going to kind of crank up the speed a little

bit here. But box number nine, you have created, we’ve created repeatable systems and processes. We’ve documented these things so we can improve them over time. Box number 10, we’ve created management systems, management systems. I mean, what people on your team will do what jobs? What think about it, folks, if you have a company, what are you expecting your employees

to do every day? What people on your team will not do their jobs? And what jobs are people doing well? What, think about the people on your team. What are they supposed to be doing on a daily basis? And what are they not doing on a daily basis?

What are they being held accountable for? And at the end of the day, Kevin, if you don’t have checklists and documented expectations and some sort of merit-based pay, nothing’s gonna happen. Why do you have to take the time to make the checklists and the processes and the description

of what you want employees to do and have some sort of merit-based pay system in place? Well, if it’s not documented, then they won’t know what to do. And also, if it’s not documented, it’s really difficult to rely on all the employees to just think on their own. They need some help. They need time to focus and to get things done.

That goes all the way from the lady that welcomes everyone in, all the way up to our general manager, even to me. We have to have documented expectations. This is so powerful, folks. I’m hoping you’re learning something. This is, I’m telling you folks, this is the boring stuff that will make you rich.

You see, when the average person gets bored, the great, the most successful people, they bored down. You see a skilled athlete, you see a successful entrepreneur, they have focused on mastering these systems. They have focused on mastering their craft.

People like Larry Bird, the great NBA player, people like LeBron James, people like Michael Jordan, they practiced to the point that they couldn’t get it wrong. You don’t practice until you can get it right, you practice until you can’t get it wrong, and that’s why you have to document these systems.

Box number 11, you have to create a sustainable schedule. You have to have a schedule. Kevin, if you’re not doing the group interview, let’s say, every week, if you’re not interviewing potential client or potential employees every week, if you’re not interviewing potential employees every week

and you’re not having your weekly accountability meetings with your team, what’s going to happen if you don’t have a predictable, repeatable schedule in place? Well, nothing’s going to happen. That’s the key.

Having the group interview has been great. We just hired a salesman in our Oklahoma City office to the group interview, which was fantastic, and also in Tulsa as well. But just having those sustainable schedules in place is just great for the growth of the company. Now, Kevin, I’ve got a wonderful client, I’ll be very vague, they’re based in Florida, and they were telling me, they said, Clay, I have a vacation coming up in California.

And I said, that’s great. They said, no, it’s terrible. I said, why is it terrible? They said, I haven’t been doing the group interview consistently, and I’ve kind of delegated that to somebody in my office that’s, I don’t really know what they’re saying. I just know that the group interview,

I’m not involved in the process. And I’m just looking at my calendar and if we go on this trip to California, we’re gonna have some problems. What do you say to somebody out there who’s abdicating their hiring process

or abdicating their sales calls? I say abdicate, they’re not delegating. Delegate means to assign and then to follow up to make sure it’s done correctly. Abdicate means to just say, well, someone else is handling it.

What do you say to somebody out there specifically that is abdicating their hiring process, the group interview process, the process for recruiting employees? Well, I love to be involved in all the group interviews. And usually whenever there’s a group interview,

there’s anywhere from four to 12 people. And the great thing about it is that within the first five minutes, you know the two or three that you wanna keep. And so that saves me so much time because interviewing 12 people takes 12 hours.

Interviewing 12 people in a group interview takes about an hour. And I love that. I love saving time. I love saving money like that where I’m not having to spend all day

interviewing people that may or may not even show up. And it’s just great. And I highly encourage owners to get involved in the hiring process. Group interviews are very successful. I’m encouraging you to do that. And now, again, so many people can hear this stuff and they go, this is so overwhelming,

there’s so much to do. Box number 12, you want to create human resources and recruitment systems, and we have systems for that. Box number 13, you want to look at your numbers. You have to measure what you treasure. You have to measure what you treasure. And by default, you will slack where you… This is important. You will slack where you don’t track. By default, you will slack where you don’t track, and you have to measure what you treasure. I hope

this is sinking in for somebody. Casualness causes casualties. I want people to think about these words. Casualness causes casualties. You have to measure what you treasure. You will slack where you do not track. These are all things we’re going to teach you. Kevin, we’ve got to have accountability though. And so anybody out there, you know, I have a law firm I’ve used for years, wintersking.com. The reason why I pay them on a monthly basis is I want to make sure that all my filings are correct. Everything’s being done properly. I have an accountant, an accounting firm called CCK.

CCK, I’ve used them for years, over 10 years actually. And I’ve used them, and the reason why I pay them on a monthly basis is I want to make sure that I’m paying my taxes on time properly, that sort of thing. Any area of our life where we want to have improvement, I would argue you need to have a coach, whether it’s an accountant, whether it’s a lawyer, they have different names, sometimes they’re called a lawyer, sometimes they’re called an accountant.

Sometimes in fitness, so many people I know, a lot of my, this is true, some of my friends are former pro athletes. And they tell me, they say, Clay, as soon as I retired from my sport, I quit working out. And I go, okay, that’s fine. And they go, you know what I did this year?

I said, what’d you do? They said, I hired a personal trainer. And I said, what happened? They said, now I’m back in the flow. And I think we all just need, we need to know three things. We need to know what to do.

Two, we need someone to hold us accountable. And then we need to have someone who has the tools. Can you talk to somebody out there that’s thinking about scheduling a 13-point assessment to talk to myself and our team about becoming a business coaching client? Well, I remember when I had my first meeting with you, I thought, I have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing to lose except growth. And after that 20 to 30 minute meeting with you, I thought

this is going to change the trajectory of MultiClean. And it has. And because the coaching is they keep you accountable. And like I said earlier, sometimes it’s hard to keep owners accountable because they think they know everything and we don’t. And so I’ve loved it. I’ve loved the coaching. I’ve loved having Andrew keep me accountable. And when sometimes I can’t make the meeting,

we have phone calls. And it’s just been great. It’s been good accountability. Even my wife says, no matter what, you’re never leaving for a lifetime. Now, let’s say this, somebody,

you know how we live in a soundbite world. So if you could, I won’t page you too much into a corner here, but if you have 30 seconds, and somebody said, Kevin, how has the Thrive Time Show business coaching program impacted your business?

Or how could it impact somebody’s business? Kind of a 30 second overview or summary, how would you describe the business coaching and how it’s impacted your business? Well, it’s given me my why. And it’s taught me the importance of systems.

It’s taught me the importance of family time and the S7 goals that you impress upon me all the time because, you know, you can be the owner of a company and work 100 hours a week and then you have no family. And so the Thrive Time relationship I’ve had now for six, seven years has done everything to not only improve my business, but improve my life, improve my relationship with my son and my wife. And it’s just been fantastic.

And I highly encourage if you’re thinking about growing your business and getting out of a rut to meet up with Clay and all the people at Thrivetime. Final question I have here for you. I don’t know that people know this because I try to keep it secret. I don’t try to talk about it a lot, but this is just real.

We charge people $1,700 a month. That’s what we charge people, 1,700 a month. And people say, why do you charge that? Well, it’s a 20% margin, and that’s what we do. Now, we have some clients that we partner up with, and we make a percentage of the growth,

and frankly, I make a lot of my wealth by teaming up with clients and these sorts of things. But when I was building my company, DJConnection.com, I remember when I met with the Yellow Page guy. He told me it was going to be $2,500 a month to buy a Yellow Page ad. I mean, this is over 20 years ago, 25 years ago.

And that amount was wild. So I got a job at Applebee’s, Target, and DirecTV. That was my get-rich system. As I went to work, that was my life hack. I got a job at Applebee’s, Target, and DirecTV. But I think everybody needs a little bit of a hand up,

maybe not a hand out, but a hand up. And that’s why we make the packages affordable. It’s $1,700 a month, 1-7-0-0. It’s less money than it costs to hire a minimum wage employee. Also, it is month to month,

although most of our clients are with us for, basically until they sell the company, our average client is with us for over six years. But we do have scholarships. We work with a couple of clients a month where if they need help financially,

we work with them at a discount. What do you say to somebody who’s thinking about coming to our next workshop with Eric Trump or Robert Kiyosaki or Tim Tebow or whatever workshop we have coming up? What do you say to somebody who’s on the fence right now?

They’re going, I’m thinking about scheduling a 13-point assessment. I’m thinking about buying a ticket for an in-person workshop. Kevin, what do you say to them? I would say do both.

I’ve probably been to, oh, in six, seven years, I’ve probably been to 12 to 13 business conferences. And amazingly, each time I go, I learn something new and I’m so excited to bring it back and show the team about marketing and how to implement, how to help you guys implement the SEO. And the coaching is just great because there’s accountability. It’s just a fantastic way to grow your company. Having a relationship with Thrivetimes, it’s just been amazing for multi-claim.

I don’t know that we talked about it, but we do the photography, video, web, search engine, online ads. From a peace of mind perspective, what does that do for you as an owner knowing that, hey, it’s a flat rate I’m paying and I have a team that handles all of that for me, the graphic design, the photography, the search engine, the web development, the strategy. What does that do for you?

Oh my goodness, it frees me up because then I don’t have to take a class on search engine optimization or learn marketing or shoot video. That’s not what we do. What we do is commercial janitorial service and you guys are the experts on marketing and you teach me and hold my hand and show me how to do it right. And therefore, now my company is much, much larger.

Kevin, I really do appreciate your time. For anybody in the Oklahoma area, anybody in Kansas, I believe you said you said Kansas, Oklahoma. What other states are you in now, Kevin? We’re in Oklahoma and Southern Kansas, and this in 2025, we are looking to open an office in Northwest Arkansas.

I encourage everybody out there, check out the website right now. I’ll pull it up one more time, folks. That website is multicleanok.com. That’s multicleanok.com. If you’re looking for a commercial cleaning service that you can trust, go to multicleanok.com. Kevin, thank you so much for your time, sir.

I hope you have a great rest of your day. Thank you. Bye. Bye and I don’t think there are shortcuts. I think it’s always a Version of doing the work of finding your way into what it is that the universe wants you to do and then Really dedicating yourself Wake up pray, and I’m on my grind today Ain’t got no time to waste, every breath’s a blessing Wake up pray, and I’m on my grind today And I’m on my, and I’m on my grind today

Wake up every morning at 3am, cause that’s when I start my grind And I got no time for stumblin’ and chit chat, talk with a vacant friend I know where I’m goin’, I’m on a mission, limited reality, not fiction Get it done, get it and that’s how you win, look in the mirror, it’s self-discipline Big overwhelming optimistic momentum, lot of silly bulls, yet I fit em Gotta put in the work if you want to win em, start with the goal and build momentum

Lots of plays but you got to spin em, gotta go fast, gotta build that rhythm Purge a move, overcome that friction, gotta sell stuff while you build those systems Oh, and it’s tough enough, before you get backstabbed you build that trust Take time off and things will rust, make the fight the wrong guy dangerous And there ain’t no just us, there is just us Like Matthew 5, 10 did promise us

Entrepreneurship and that’s what’s up That’s what’s up If you wanna go A new flow Wanna achieve something big, something remarkable You gotta work for it

You gotta see through it We all got obstacles We gotta run through it I’m on my grind I’m on my grind Can’t waste no time, wake up playin’ I’m on my grind, ooh

I’m on my grind, yeah, I’m on my grind, yeah Can’t waste no time, gotta put it in drive I’m on my grind If I got a mission, can’t waste time If I got a vision, line by line Write it down, then go to town Get it done, then send it out Reach the world and change it Make sure while you work you stay patient When it’s tough times, just face them When the stuff rhymes, don’t erase them

Competition, fast pace, in the rearview Don’t look back, eyes front, keep a clear view Stay diligent and they won’t get near you Keep it moving and you’re gonna outpace them Race that run when it’s fun Collaboration is a blessing when you can do Keep that muscle working and it can’t strongman you

Fear God, don’t even understand you Speak intelligent and it can’t strongman you You got a plan, remember God’s got a plan too Speak his voice before you make an actual And it’s gonna go well with you Keep your cool, there’s gonna be tests

You guys will trust him with the rest Ain’t no tellin’ what’s gonna come with it Fear God, trust God and have fun with it Ooh, I’m on my grind, yeah I’m on my grind, yeah Can’t waste no time, wake up playin’

I’m on my grind, ooh I’m on my grind, yeah I’m on my grind, yeah Can’t waste no time, gotta put it in drive I’m on my grind The goal is a dream, but with a deadline

Everybody down before you’re in fine Wanna get it done without the rest of mine Wanna get it done, it’s a grab like a mine Gotta speak up, gotta put in the time Gotta stay focused on drifting lines Default settings in an equal mind

Out on this beat to the deaf folks mind Gotta keep it going, gotta stay in line Work six days on the Bible rites Rest on the seventh of the Sabbath night Work six days on the seventh you will find The Bible is a great way to renew the mind

Gotta take books to the point of the rhyme Before every fall comes to pride After further gates I won’t be denied Now the way that I am Got to sub, crack and rid of it Habits form, legitimate

If we’re Bible illiterate 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, I spit of it I’m on my grind a little bit I’m on my grind, yeah I’m on my grind, yeah Can’t waste no time, wake up playin’

I’m on my grind, yeah I’m on my grind, yeah Can’t waste no time, gotta put it in drive I’m on my grind I’ve been personally buying precious metals and I encourage everybody out there if you haven’t done that I’ve been doing that since 2005 so you got to buy

precious metals. Good morning good morning good morning Harvard Kiyosaki the Rich Dad Radio Show today I’m broadcasting from Phoenix Arizona not Scottsdale Arizona they’re closed but they’re completely different worlds. And we have a special guest today. Definition of intelligence is if you agree with me, you’re intelligent.

And so this gentleman is very intelligent. I’ve done this show before also, but very seldom do you find somebody who lines up on all counts. And it’s a Mr. Clay Clark. He’s a friend of a good friend, Eric, Eric Trump.

First of all, I have to honor you, sir. I wanna show you what I did to one of your books here. There’s a guy named Jeremy Thorn, who was my boss at the time. I was 19 years old, working at Faith Highway. I had a job at Applebee’s, Target, and DirecTV. He said, have you read this book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad?

I said, no. My father, may he rest in peace, he didn’t know these financial principles. I started reading all of your books and really devouring your books. I went from being an employee to self-employed to the business owner to the investor. I owe a lot of that to you. I just want to take a moment to tell you thank you so much for allowing me to achieve success.

I’ll tell you all about Eric Trump. I just want to tell you thank you, sir, for changing my life. Not only that, Clay, thank you, but you’ve become an influencer. More than anything else, you’ve evolved into an influencer where your word has more and more power. So that’s why I congratulate you on becoming. Because as you know, there’s a lot of fake influencers

out there, or bad influencers. Yeah. Anyway, I’m glad you and I agree so much, and thanks for reading my books. Yeah. That’s the greatest thrill for me today.

Not a thrill, but recognition is when people, young men especially, come up and say, I read your book, changed my life, I’m doing this, I’m doing this, I’m doing this. Clay Clark is here somewhere, where’s my buddy Clay? Clay Clark!

Clay’s the greatest. I met his goats today, I met his dogs, I met his chickens, I saw his compound, he’s like the greatest guy. I ran from his goats, his chickens, his dogs. So this guy’s like the greatest marketer

you’ve ever seen, right? His entire life, Clay Clark, his entire life is marketing. Okay, Aaron Antis, March 6th and 7th, March 6th and 7th, guess who’s coming to Tulsa, Russia? Santa Claus? No, that’s March, March 6th and 7th, you’re gonna be joined by Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, possibly the best-selling or one of the best-selling business authors of all

time, and he’s gonna be joined with Eric Trump. He’ll be joined by Eric Trump. We got Eric Trump and Robert Kiyosaki in the same place. In the same place. Aaron, why should everybody show up to hear Robert Kiyosaki? Well you got billions of dollars of business experience between those two, not to mention many many many millions of books have been sold. Many many

millionaires have been made from the books that have been sold by Robert Kiyosaki. I happen to be one of them. I learned from the man. He was the inspiration. That book was the inspiration for me to get the entrepreneurial spirit, as many other people. Now, since you won’t brag on yourself, I will. You’ve sold billions of dollars of houses, am I correct? That is true. And the book that that kick-started it all for you, Rich Dad Poor Dad,

the best-selling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki, the guy that kick-started your career, he’s going to be here. He’s going to be here. I’m pumped. And now Eric Trump, people don’t know this, but the Trump Organization has thousands of employees.

There’s not 50 employees. The Trump Organization, again, most people don’t know this, but the Trump Organization has thousands of employees. And while Donald J. Trump was the 45th president of these United States and soon to be the 47th president of these United States, he needed someone to run the companies for him. And so the man that runs the Trump Organization for Donald J. Trump as he was the 45th

president of the United States and now the 47th president of the United States is Eric Trump. Eric Trump is here to talk about time management, promoting from within, marketing, branding, quality control, sales systems, workflow design, workflow mapping, how to build. I mean, everything that you see, the Trump hotels, the Trump golf courses, all their products,

the man who manages billions of dollars of real estate and thousands of employees is here to teach us how to do it. You are talking about one of the greatest brands on the planet from a business standpoint. I mean, who else has been able to create a brand like the Trump brand. I mean look at it and this is the man behind the business for the last pretty much since 2015. He’s been

the man behind it so you’re talking we’re into nine going into ten years of him running it and we get to tap into that knowledge that’s gonna be amazing. Now think about this for a second. Would you buy a ticket just to see a Robert Kiyosaki and Eric Trump? Of course you would. Of course you would. But we’re also going to be joined by Sean Baker. This is the best-selling author, the guy who invented the carnivore diet.

Oh yeah. Dr. Sean Baker, he’s been on Joe Rogan multiple times. He’s going to be joining us. So you’ve got Robert Kiyosaki, the best-selling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Eric Trump, Sean Baker. The lineup continues to grow, and this is how we do our tickets here at the Thrive Time

Show. If you want to get a VIP ticket, you can absolutely do it. It’s $500 for a VIP ticket. We’ve always done it that way. Now if you want to take a general admission ticket, it’s $250 or whatever price you want to pay. And the reason why I do that and the reason why we do that is because we want to make our events affordable for everybody. I grew up without money. I totally understand what it’s like to be in

a tight spot. So if you want to attend, it’s $250 or whatever price you want to pay. That’s how I do it. And it’s $500 for a VIP ticket. Now we only have limited seating here with the most people we’ve ever had in this building was for the Jim Brewer presentation. Jim Brewer came here, the legendary comedian Jim Brewer came to Tulsa and we had 419 people that were here. 419 people. Yeah. And I thought to myself that there’s no more room. I felt kind of bad that a couple people had VIP seats in the men’s restroom. Oh no, I’m just

kidding. But I thought, you know what, we should probably add on, so we’re adding on what we call the upper deck, or the top shelf. So the seats are very close to the presenters, but we’re actually building right now, we’re adding on to the facility to make room to accommodate another 30 attendees or more. So again, if you want to get tickets for this event, all you have to do is go to Thrivetimeshow.com, go to Thrivetimeshow.com, when you go to Thrivetimeshow.com, you’ll go there, you’ll request a ticket, boom.

Or if you want to text me, if you want a little bit faster service, you say, I want you to call me right now. I just texted my number. It’s my cell phone number, my personal cell phone number. We’ll keep that private between you, between you, me, everybody. We’ll keep that private.

And anybody, don’t share that with anybody except for everybody. That’s my private cell phone number. It’s 918-851-0102. 918-851-0102. I know we have a lot of Spanish-speaking people that attend these conferences. And so to be bilingually sensitive, my cell phone number is 918-851-0102. That is not actually bilingual. That’s just saying one for a one. It’s not the same thing.

I think you’re attacking me. Now, let’s talk about this. Now, what kind of stuff will you learn at the Thrive Time Show workshop? So, Aaron, you’ve been to many of these over the past seven, eight years. So let’s talk about it. I’ll tee up the thing and then you tell me what you’re going to learn here. Okay?

Okay. You’re going to learn marketing, marketing and branding. What are we going to learn about marketing and branding? Oh yeah. We’re going to dive into, you know, so many people say, oh, you know, I got to get my brand known out there like the Trump brand.

Right. You want to get that brand out there. It’s like, how do I actually make people know what my business is and make it a household name. You’re going to learn some intricacies of how you can do that. You’re going to learn sales.

So many people struggle to sell something. This just in, your business will go to hell if you can’t sell. So we’re going to teach you sales. We’re going to teach you search engine optimization, how to come up top in the search engine results. We’re going to teach you how to manage people.

Aaron, you have managed, no exaggeration, hundreds of people throughout your career and thousands of contractors and most people struggle with managing people. Why does everybody have to learn how to manage people? Well because first of all people are either have great people or you have people who suck

and so it could be a challenge you know learning how to work with a large group of people and get everybody pulling in the same direction can be a challenge but if you have the right systems you have the right processes, and you’re really good at selecting great ones, and we have a process we teach about how to find great people.

When you start with the people who have a great attitude, they’re teachable, they’re driven, all of those things, then you can get those people all pulling in the same direction. So we’re going to teach you branding, marketing, sales, search engine optimization.

We’re going to teach you accounting. We’re going to teach you personal finance, how to manage your finance. We’re going to teach you time management. How do you manage your time? How do you get more done during a typical day? How do you build an organization if you’re not organized? How do you do organization? How do you build an org chart? Everything that you need to know to start and grow a business will be taught

during this two-day interactive business workshop. Now let me tell you how the format is set up here. Again, folks, this is a two-day interactive 15… Think about this, folks. It’s two days. Each day it starts at 7 a.m. and it goes until 5 p.m. So from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., two days.

It’s a two-day interactive workshop. The way we do it is we do a 30-minute teaching session and then we break for 15 minutes for a question and answer session. So Aaron, what kind of great stuff happens during that 15-minute question and answer session

after every teaching session? I actually think it’s the best part about the workshops because here’s what happens. I’ve been to lots of these things over the years. I’ve paid many thousands of dollars to go to them. And you go in there and they talk in vague generalities

and they’re constantly upselling you for something, trying to get you to buy this thing or that thing or this program or this membership. And you don’t, you leave not getting your very specific questions answered about your business or your employees or what you’re doing on your marketing. And what’s awesome about this is we

literally answer every single question that any person asks and it’s very specific to what your business is. And what we do is we allow you as the attendee to write your questions on the whiteboard. Yeah. And then we literally, as you mentioned, we answer every single question on the whiteboard and then we take a 15-minute break to stretch and to make it entertaining when you’re stretching, this is a true story, when you get up and stretch you’ll be greeted by mariachis, there’s going to probably be

alpaca here, llamas, helicopter rides, a coffee bar, a snow cone. I mean, you had a crocodile one time, that was pretty interesting. You know, I should write that down. Sorry for that one guy that we lost. The crocodile, we duct taped. Yeah, duct taped around the mouth so it didn’t bite anybody. But it was really cool to pass that thing around and pass it. I should do that.

I should. We have a small petting zoo that will be assembled. It’s going to be great. And then you’re in the company of hundreds of entrepreneurs. So there’s not a lot of people in America today. In fact, there’s less than 10 million people today, according to U.S. Debt Clock, that

identify as being self-employed. So if you have a country with 350 million people, that means you have less than 3% of our population that’s even self-employed. So, you only have 3 out of every 100 people in America that are self-employed to begin with. And when Inc. Magazine reports that 96% of businesses fail by default, by default

you have a 1 out of 1000 chance of succeeding in the game of business. But yet, the average client that you and I work with, we can typically double the size. No hyperbole, no exaggeration. I have thousands of testimonials to back this up. We have thousands of testimonials to back it up. But when you work with a home builder, when I work with a business owner, we can typically double the size of the company within 24 months. And you say double? Yeah, there’s businesses that we have tripled. There’s businesses we’ve grown 8x. There’s so many examples. You can

see it at thrivetimeshow.com. But again, this is the most interactive best business workshop on the planet. This is objectively the highest rated and most reviewed business workshop on the planet. And then you add to that Robert Kiyosaki, the bestselling author of Rich Dad Poor Dad.

You add to that Eric Trump, the man that runs the Trump Organization. You add to that Sean Baker. Now you might say, but Clay, is there more? I need more! Well, okay, Tom Wheelwright is the wealth strategist for Robert Kiyosaki.

So people say, Robert Kiyosaki, who’s his financial wealth advisor? Who’s the guy who manages? Who’s his wealth strategist? His wealth strategist, Tom Wheelwright, will be here. And you say, Clay, I still, I’m not going to get a ticket unless you give me more! Okay, fine.

We’re going to serve you the same meal both days. True story. We cater in the food and because I keep it simple, I literally bring in the same food both days for lunch. It’s Ted Esconzito’s, an incredible Mexican restaurant. That’s going to happen. And Jill Donovan, our good friend, who is the founder of Rustic Cuff. She started that company in her home and now she sells millions

of dollars of apparel and products. That’s rusticcuff.com. And someone says, I want more! This is not enough. Give me more. OK, I’m not going to mention their names right now, because I’m working on it behind the scenes here. But we’ve got one guy who’s given me a verbal to be here.

And this is a guy who’s one of the wealthiest people in Oklahoma. And nobody really knows who he is, because he’s built systems that are very utilitarian, that offer a lot of value. He’s made a lot of money in the, it’s the, it’s where you rent,

it’s short term, it’s where you’re renting storage spaces. He’s a storage space guy. What do you call that? The rental, the storage space? Storage units. Storage units.

This guy owns storage units, he owns railroad cars, he owns a lot of assets that make money on a daily basis, but they’re not like customer facing. Most people don’t know who owns the warehouse that’s passively making money. Most people don’t know who owns the railroad cars. But this guy, he’s giving me a verbal that he will be here. And we just continue to add more and more success stories. So if you’re out there today and you want to change your life,

you want to give yourself an incredible gift, you want a life-changing experience, you want to learn how to start and grow a company, go to Thrivetimeshow.com. Go there right now. Thrivetimeshow.com. Request a ticket for the two-day interactive event. Again, the day here is March 6th and 7th. March 6th and 7th.

We just got confirmation. Robert Kiyosaki, best-selling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He’ll be here. Eric Trump, the man who leads the Trump Organization. It’s going to be a blasty blast. There’s no upsells.

Aaron, I could not be more excited about this event. I think it is incredible. And there’s somebody out there right now, you’re watching, and you’re like, but I already signed up for this incredible other program called Smoke Your Way to Thin. Do you think that’s going to change your life? I promise you this will be ten times better than that.

It’s like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking. Don’t do the Smoke Your Way to Thin conference. That is, I’ve tried it, don’t do it. Chain smoking is not a viable, I mean it is life changing. It is life changing. If you become a chain smoker it is life changing.

It’s not the best weight loss program though. Right. Not really. If you’re looking to have life changing results in a way that won’t cause you to have a stoma, get your tickets at Thrivetimeshow.com. Again that’s Aaron Antis, I’m Clay Clark, reminding you and inviting you to come out

to the two day interactive Thrivetimeshow workshop right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I promise you, it will be a life changing experience. We can’t wait to see you up right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It will be a life-changing experience. We can’t wait to see you right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma.