Business | Networking | Why Is Your Network Your Net Worth? Why You Will Do Idiot Things If You Surround Yourself with Idiots? “He That Walketh With the Wise Men Shall Be Wise: But a Companion of Fools Shall Be Destroyed.” – Proverbs 13:20

We’re going to make double, instantly.

All right, I got to go. I’m in a networking thing.

My name’s Steve. What do I do? I make everyone more money. You give me $2, I give you $3. Boom. Doubled. That’s how we do it.

Hi, my name’s Becky. And I do interior design and I’m really good at it.

My name’s Kyler. I’m into photography. I like to take pictures of just life and really existence.

Oh, my gosh, I just get so nervous at these networking things. I’m just like, oh, Marlene, calm down. You can do it.

I was at a networking event in China, okay? I don’t even speak Chinese. But I got three businesses, doubled their yen. All right, think about that.

You think I like hot? We should be Facebook friends.

I don’t believe in business cards. I just think if the universe wants us to work together, you know, that our paths would cross.

I had a pregnancy scare, and that really changed me. I thought, “Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do with a sixth?”

Why am I here networking with the commoners? No offense. Why am I here? So I can stay humble.

I didn’t come here just to flirt with you. Maybe.

They took a pint of fluids from my lower back.

I’m starting to get the feeling that the universe doesn’t want me to get to know you.

Do you think I look like Reese Witherspoon?

That is how I passed my kidney stone.

Got to go. Bill Gates. See ya.

Hey, Bill.

Great meeting you.

Can I have your number, please? No, where are you going?

On today’s edition of the Thrivetime Show, we’re going to talk about why he that walketh with wise men shall become wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Translation, your network becomes your net worth. And so my question I would have for you today is who are you choosing to spend time with on a consistent basis?

I’m a very intentional person. I wake up every day at 3:00 AM. I have a schedule that I’ve designed throughout the day, and I really don’t deviate off of that schedule. And that’s because I’m an intentional person. I’ve thought about where I want to be versus where I started. I started from the bottom. I grew up very poor. I had a job at Applebee’s, Target, and DirecTV. That was how I raised my startup capital in route to building a company called djconnection.com, which I built and sold. And before I sold it, we were doing 4,000 plus events per year.

And I can tell you the reason why I had the time to grow DJ Connection, epicphotos.com, Fears and Clark, eitrlounge.com, other brands that I’ve grown, is because I refuse to spend time with low productivity people, low positivity people, people that bring very little value to the discussions. I just refuse to do it. And I encourage you today to audit the people that you’re choosing to spend your time with.

And then on part two of today’s show, Dr. Robert Zoellner joins us to share the importance of being intentional about who you choose to spend your time with. If you don’t know who Dr. Robert Zoellner is, I encourage you to go to drzoellner.com. I encourage you to go to z66aa.com. And just know that between Dr. Zoellner and I, we’ve built many, many successful multi-million dollar companies. And we haven’t done that as a result of hanging out with nefarious, back biting, backstabbing, untrusting, dimwitted humans. We choose to surround ourself with good people like you who are wanting to have massive success. So again, on today’s show we’re talking about why your network is your net worth. And without any further ado, here we go.

Want to attend the legendary Thrivetime Show business workshop for free? Subscribe on iTunes, leave an objective review, and send us confirmation at [email protected] to claim your tickets. Want to live in a van down by the river? Come by and see us at our river walk offices, and we’ll be able to make your dreams come true.

See, I don’t know where that band is performing, what subway they’re in, but I want to go there. Just their energy …

You want to be there. I can tell. I can just, I can tell.

I want to be there.

Did I hear a wood block?

Yeah, there was the whole wood block. It’s like someone’s banging some kind of bucket. I mean, just an incredible subway band right there.

Incredible. Probably some overturned jars or buckets.

It’s a musical buffet in the subway.

Now this could be the shortest podcast we’ve ever done, unless it’s not, because it’s a podcast. There’s no limit to how long it is or how long it isn’t. The question is mindset 101. People ask us all the time, “Well, yeah, I know you say that you become the average of the five people that you spend the most time with, but what if it’s different in my case?” They always say, “What if it’s different in my case? You don’t understand my case. What if I am an exception?”

So I’m going to lay out the rules. They’re kind of like the gravitational pull of success or lack thereof. And I’d like for Z to break it down. And Luke Owens, you’re a business owner. I’d like to get your take on this as the owner of a gym right here in Broken Air, Oklahoma. So here we go.

Z, principle number one, your network is your net worth. Somebody says, “But it’s different in my case. I don’t need to surround myself with smart people that are on time or who work hard. I just surround myself with idiots, and then I just view them as my mission field.”

If you run with the dogs, you’re going to get fleas.

Ugh!

And if you hang out with the idiots, you will yourself do idiotic things.

And what happens is principle number two is the people around you define your normal. So what happens is over time you begin to act like the people around you the most.

It’s just the fact, and I know a lot of people that say, “I am going to be a positive influence on this person.”

Positive. Oh.

I’m going to know they have all these issues and problems. But you know what? I’m taking it upon myself to let them enter into my inner circle.

Circle!

Enter my inner circle.

And then I’m going to be a positive influence on them. And that can be noble. And you might put some of your life energy into that if you’re into that, but what I’m telling you is that at some point … And they teach you this in lifeguard training, water safety instructor lifeguard training.

Yes.

And that is somebody’s out there and they’re drowning. Okay? They’re in the ocean. They’re in a big body of water.

Help me! Help! Help! Help! Help!

Help me, help me, help me. And you swim out to them, and they’re so panicky, they will not stop flailing …

Help me! Somebody! Help! Ahh!

… because the natural tendency is if they can’t get their panic under control.

Ah! Ah! I’m so wet! Ah! Ah!

Just like Clay is now. When you approach them, they will actually want to use you to leverage up to get up out of the water.

Get under me so I can push myself up!

And they will inadvertently drown you, and then you both will drown. So at some point, as mean as it sounds in the training, at some point when you swim out there, and if you can’t get that person to reason and to stop doing what they’re doing, then you have to just swim away from them and let them go.

And I know that sounds mean …

It’s a podcast!

… but it’s a podcast.

Can I bring us back up with a lifeguard joke?

Not yet.

Okay.

We’re still down. But my point is is that …

Right. If you bring enough Bibles to a strip club, eventually you’ll look around. I’m telling you, I see this all the time. I see people who in my office in the years past who are hanging out with an idiot on my team, and they’ll go, “Oh, man, this guy’s a bad person.” This happens numerous times. They say, “I’m just going to go out to lunch with him and kind of share with him my faith, share with him my faith, share with him my faith. I’m going to keep doing that.”

And then twice that I know of, they came to me later and said, “Here’s the deal. If my wife calls, I was at the strip club. And it was just because we were going to go out to Friday’s, then we started going to Hooters every week. And then he just said, well, why not? And then all of a sudden … ” And I’m like, “Really? I’m not going to lie on your behalf. You should call … ”

I mean twice, two specific times this has happened. And somebody started out saying they wanted to just minister to them. They’re going through a rough … I’m telling you, man, darkness typically will absolutely crush the light. It will just …

Well, it can.

…. extinguish it. I see it all the time.

And the problem is that unless you’re really trained in that, unless that’s your life calling, unless you really have a lot of good support in that.

Unless you’re a pastor, listening to this all.

You’ll get sucked down to the quagmire. And the problem is that they rub off on you, just like you rub off on them, is my point. And sometimes you just have to look at that person and say, “Listen, you’re not healthy. You’re not helping me move my ball down the field. And so why am I spending time on you?”

And if you’re a business owner, who are you spending your time with? Employees. And so if you allow idiots to work with you, pretty soon you start to think things like, “Well, I guess if someone can’t be held accountable to make calls because it’s so hard to get my team to do it. I guess it’s hard to get my team to clean the bathroom so no team can clean the bathroom.” So you start saying, “I guess if I want it to be done right, I have to do it myself.”

Now Tim Ferriss, the bestselling author of The 4-Hour Work Week and a successful early stage investor in Facebook and Uber and Evernote, he says, “The people around you define … I’m sorry. He says, “You are the average of the five people you associate with the most.” He says, “You are the average of the five people you most associate with.”

Luke, you’re a business owner.

Yep.

You’ve surrounded yourself with people throughout the years. I’m sure some good people, some idiots. What happens if you surround yourself with enough idiots on your team?

Your business definitely does not grow and you just become very frustrated. But what I’ve learned is that by surrounding myself with people like you guys and the Thrive team, very shortly that can change and your business starts to thrive.

Sick. You mean you can’t surround your business with a bunch of … Now, see, think about this. This is the analogy I always tell entrepreneurs. I said, imagine every employee who walks into your business has a number. Okay? So if I walk in, and I’m a two. And you walk in, Z, and you’re a 10. And [Chup 00:09:59] is a 10, and Luke is a 10. Then there’s a total of 40 points available, and your business is the average of that point total. So if you have a bunch of twos walk into work every single day, you can’t expect to have a 10 level output.

I’m telling you what. You talk about judgementalness and you talk about being pretty finicky. Customers, if they exchange their hard-earned money for a good or service and it’s not good and it doesn’t offer them the service, they’re not coming back, man.

Ain’t coming back.

And so you could be [inaudible 00:10:28], I understand, and not fire people. And if that’s your lot in life, then go for it. But it will absolutely contaminate your mindset, Chup.

I want to say something that people are probably thinking and that is that yes, sometimes being an idiot is fun. Sometimes not delaying gratification.

Look, Chup! Look how many beers I can drink! It’s awesome.

I put eight of them in a beer button, man.

It’s awesome.

So people can have fun doing that. But the problem is when idiots are having fun all the time, they’re not delaying gratification like Dr. Zoellner talks about all the time. And you won’t get anywhere on that path.

Can I tell you about my story about the naked Caucasian Buddha, Z? Can I tell you about the naked Caucasian Buddha?

The naked Caucasian Buddha?

I used to have a …

Please?

Please tell me the story.

… company called djconnection.com, and I told the guys after the event, if we hit our sales goals, I’ll take you guys out to eat. There’s about 15 of us going out to eat. And one guy on our team loved to eat, and he loved challenges. So a member of my team says, “I bet you can’t eat that entire dessert from this Italian restaurant.” And this Italian restaurant, it was called Roma’s or something, on the menu it says the calories. It’s like 2000 calories for two slices, and the whole cheesecake has six servings. So it’s an insane …

A billion.

It’s like 12,000 calories, something crazy.

And then he says, “I can do it, but … ” And these are all things that are happening, but I’m at one end of the table. So I don’t know the whole thing. I hear about it secondhand later. Long story short, the guy ends up eating the whole cheesecake, and he downs 12 to 13 Long Island iced teas previous to us leaving.

That’s a beautiful concoction.

So we’re now in downtown Dallas and you know in downtown Dallas, there’s that Hyatt downtown with the big ball on top, the big sphere.

Yes.

And we’re there, and I told the guys, “Hey, after we have a great day at the bridal show, we’ll get in a limo, we’ll take you guys out to eat, and then we’ll drive back.” So I start asking the guys, “Hey, guys, where’s that guy? Where did he go?” And they’re all saying, “Well, we saw him just a minute ago. And I’m like, “Guys, where was he?” And they go, “Well, he had 13 Long Island iced teas that I know about.”

That’s a lot of alcohol.

So I asked one of the guys, I said, “Dude, how do you know this?” He goes, “Well, I told him that for every one he bought, I’d buy him one. That was our deal, and I know I got billed for six.” And I’m like, “Okay.”

So we’re looking around Dallas at 11 o’clock at night. Now this is the kind of stuff the guy did all the time. And I would never fire people like this until I finally realized we couldn’t rely on these people. So it’s like midnight. Now the trade show, it’s a two-day show. The next morning is trade show. You have to be there at 7:00 AM for roll call. The thing opens up at 10. So it’s getting close to midnight. And I’m going, “Where is he?”

And we’re looking around, we’re looking around and those of you who are familiar with downtown Dallas, there’s a Buddha that’s on about a 20-foot tall waterfall. And it’s like Star Wars. You know the scene where Luke goes out on that pedestal to fight Darth Vader for the first time, and Darth Vader cuts his hand off. It’s one of those “if you fall, you’re dead” kind of moments.

And we hear water rushing and we hear this, “Help me! Help me!” where it’s like, “Is that him?” And I look and there he is about a block and a half away, somehow completely intoxicated and naked, holding the face of this Buddha. “I need help getting down!” And I had to spend my evening trying to get a hold of certain members of may or may not have been law enforcement community, trying to get a member of our team down.

I’m not exaggerating. If you’ve been to downtown Dallas and you’ve seen this Buddha with the fountain, it’s got to be 20 feet up in the air. I mean a basketball goal’s 10 feet, it’s got to be 20. And underneath him is a very shallow pool of water all made out of a marble. And he’s like, “Get me down!” And I’m like, “Dude … ”

What is … He just took off his clothes and climbed up there?

I don’t know. Do you get naked first? What’s the strategy?

I don’t really know. I’ve never climbed a 20-foot Buddha before.

Let me tell you what you do. No, I’m just kidding.

Now after I found this guy, we get him back. He’s got like hypothermia ’cause this is a winter show. Bridal shows are in January. Again, we get back to our trade show, and I’m like, “Guys, I need you to go to sleep. It’s like 4:00 AM, 3:00 AM. We got to go to sleep because we got to get up in four hours. I’m tired of this knuckle-headedness.” And I’m so furious about it, I didn’t ask where the other guy was. So I’m like, “Hey, have you guys seen Keith? Where’s Keith? Where’s Keith?”

Where is he?

Where’s Keith? And they’re going, I thought he was with you. I thought we broke up. I thought he was with you. And so the next morning we wake up, and there’s a man laying in a pool of his own vomit in a bush right there in front of the Hyatt Hotel.

And I’m like, “Dude.”

Is that Keith?

Stay classy.

“I thought about it, dude, you got to get up. You got to … ” Forget it. And so we went to the bridal show and this happened about two years in a row. I’d come back, and Vanessa’s like, “Well, how’d the show go?” And I’m like, “Well, we got one guy that woke up naked next to a Buddha in a high place, another guy who was drunk as a skunk in a bush and … ” “Seems normal.” And I’m like, “How is that normal?” She goes, “It happens every time, babe. You’re surrounded by idiots. You got to fire those people.”

You’re surrounded by … I am!

But because she wasn’t in it, I thought it was like, Z, just this is what business is. You’re just doing …

Yeah. And they’re DJs. I mean, this is what you get with DJs. These are how these guys are. And I’ve got to … I mean, it is what it is.

It’s remarkably, remarkably similar to some construction stories. I’ll just tell you that.

That’s what it was, though. And I’m telling you, the same guy that woke up drunk in the bush. One time, he took a Honda big SUV and he drove it super, super fast through the Union High School track.

Oh, wow.

‘Cause he was trying to impress buddies while intoxicated. So his vehicle’s left in the middle of the Union High School football stadium with all my DJ equipment.

Nice.

You you know what that’s like trying to get ahold of law enforcement community and explain to them why your DJ equipment is in the middle of their … ‘Cause there’s a track that runs around the stadium, and he’s out there and I’m just … That kind of stuff, Z, that can become your normal if you’re not careful.

Well, it became your normal and you put up with it for years.

Right! Dumb.

Dumb.

Like five years.

Right, and you know there’s somebody listening right now. There’s someone listening right now going, “That’s true.”

“That’s me.”

“That’s me. I’m actually … How drunk were they?”

I’m on that Buddha right now!

And you can hear them going, “Well, they’re my brother, though. I mean, how drunk do they have to be before you know it’s time?

Yeah, exactly.

So here’s the final move. You don’t want to take feedback or the advice from most people. Don’t take feedback or advice from most people. I’ll give you an example. The sales guy that’s not performing wants to now set your new sales quota. The web optimization guy who’s on page seven of Google wants to tell you how to do it. The accounting guy who’s gone into bankruptcy twice wants to give you accounting tips. The person who’s not good at sales wants to give you advertising tips. The person, it’s called Simon Sinek, who wrote a terrible book called How to Motivate Everyone.

Everyone. Well, you’re a bad leader if you don’t.

The power of lies. Yeah, Chup, will you pull up Simon Sinek’s book title as I continue to pelt Simon Sinek with insults on a weekly basis.

And then books written by con artists will teach you that doing the same thing every day expecting a different result is called insanity. No, it’s called diligence. Just a thought. Now, motivational tips from get-rich-quick gurus. You got to be careful where you’re getting your information from, man. You got to be careful.

You got to be careful. And the thing about it is advice is like elbows. Everybody’s got some.

Ooh.

You know what? And so unless you vet them, unless you really get a good understanding.

I mean, I think that’s one of the things that’s been fun for us is seeing all the people that have vetted us now over the year plus we’ve been doing the podcast/radio show and our backgrounds and what we have accomplished and what we are currently still even accomplishing. And then listen to the facts that we just throw out there. I mean, it’s kind of fun when you use facts to back up your story.

There’s an example. Simon Sinek, he wrote a book called Start With Why. It’s called How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone …

Everyone.

… to take Action. And I never miss an opportunity to share this story, but Dr. Z, I would consider you to be a very good leader.

Thank you.

I’m going to one up you. I’m going to say I think Lee Cockerell’s probably a really, really good leader. 40,000 employees.

I would agree. I would agree.

Probably want to one up Lee, though. I think GE, Jack Welch, he managed hundreds of thousands of employees.

Oh, he’s top of the heap.

He’s probably the best. But then I think one up for the Judeo Christians out there. I think Jesus was probably a good leader.

You think? Yeah.

Now, and he didn’t attend Simon Sinek’s leadership classes.

Apparently not.

Apparently Simon Sinek, his subtitle in his book says How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action. And so you have to look at the source and you say, “Simon Sinek. Okay, I just want to see what businesses he’s run because I think it’s important. We should look at that before … ”

Yeah, we got to vet him a little bit.”

Yeah, let’s look at that real quick here.

Why not?

Yeah, I mean he’s …

That’s the advice we’re giving you.

So actually, turns out he went to college. So he went to high school there in Wimbleton area in London. And then he decided to go to college. So he went to college at London City University and he received a bachelor’s, a BA, in a cultural anthropology from a university.

Well, there you go.

And there he began to write. And so I guess, he understands because he gets it where you and I don’t get it. Lee Cockrell doesn’t get it. Jesus Christ didn’t get it.

I didn’t study any cultural anthropology. Did you? Did you?

What tips would you give Jesus on how to motivate everyone? Because apparently he couldn’t motivate everyone. In fact, what percentage of people could he motivate? I don’t know.

Well, here’s the thing. I would’ve said, “Hey, listen. This thing ain’t working out so much. Just keep that water into wine thing going. We’ll just get them a little tipsy, and then I think we motivate him better that way.”

When Jesus was taking the loaves and feeding everybody, and he’s multiplying the fish and the loaves I would’ve walked up to and said, “Psst, buddy, in the future. Because you’re going to live forever, right? You’re omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. There’s a book written by a guy who went to college that will teach you how to motivate everyone.”

Everyone.

And it starts with the why. That’s what you’re missing!

And if you’re not, you’re not a good leader.

You’re not a good leader.

No! Quit beating yourself up that you have to fire people occasionally. Chup, there’s somebody out there listening who says, “I feel bad that I have to fire somebody.” I’m telling you, there’s people out there listening saying, “I feel bad that I have to fire somebody. Help cure them of this disease.”

Well, here’s the deal. They don’t feel bad about screwing you over. So quit feeling bad about firing them because there are people in your business that are stealing from you. They’re lying about what time they clocked in. They’re trying to put gas in their vehicle instead of the company vehicle. It happens every single time in every single business.

Every day.

So don’t feel bad about firing people that are already screwing you over without feeling bad about it themselves.

And the deeper thing is this, and the thing we’re challenging on this podcast is firing employees and people that you’re paying money to. That’s almost easy …

That’s easy.

… compared to firing the friend who’s an idiot and bringing you down in your life.

Who’s talking in your ear after you get off a tough day of work and every single week just telling you you can’t do it. It’s not a good idea. Giving you stupid management advice, giving you terrible financial advice. Who’s in your ear?

Oh, you don’t need to do that tonight. Let’s go to the bar. You don’t need to do that. Let’s go do this. Oh, set that aside. You’re always working. Come on, let’s go.

Come on, man.

So the point is that firing, even pruning in your personal life is so very important.

Probably the most important.

Personal prune.

Personal prune. I’m pruning my person.

Never was a chance to endorse prune juice in the weekly regimen.

This is the time.

If you’ve ever thought about drinking prune juice. If you drink a half bottle, you’re going to need about 15 minutes from now.

Drink a quart of prune juice.

You’re going to …

Make an exit strategy.

Yeah, [inaudible 00:21:45] ever.

Yeah, Prune those idiot friends.

All right, now Thrive Nation. On our next podcast, we’re talking about time blocking 101 and actually blocking out time to do what matters. Actually blocking out time to do what matters. We also want to end the show with a three and a two and a one and a boom. So any further ado …

3, 2, 1, boom.

Hello, my name is Charles Colaw with Colaw Fitness. Today I want to tell you a little bit about Clay Clark and how I know Clay Clark. Clay Clark has been my business coach since 2017. He’s helped us grow from two locations to now six locations. We’re planning to do seven locations in seven years and then franchise, and Clay has done a great job of helping us navigate anything that has to do with running the business, building the systems, the checklists, the workflows, the audits, how to navigate lease agreements, how to buy property, how to work with brokers and builders.

This guy’s just an amazing. This is the kind of guy who has worked in every single industry. He’s written books with Lee Crockwell, head of Disney with the 40,000 cast members. He’s friends with like Mike Lindell. He does Reawaken America tours where he does these tours all across the country where 10,000 or more people show up to some of these tours on the day-to-day. He does anywhere from about 160 companies. He’s at the top. He has a team of business coaches, videographers and graphic designers and web developers, and they run 160 companies every single week. So think of this guy with a team of business coaches running 160 companies.

So in the weekly, he’s running 160 companies. Every six to eight weeks, he’s doing Reawaken America tours. Every six to eight weeks, he’s also doing business conferences where 200 people show up, and he teaches people a 13 step proven system that he’s done and worked with billionaires, helping them grow their companies. So I’ve seen guys from startups go from startup to being multimillionaires. Teaching people how to get time freedom and financial freedom through the system. Critical thinking, document creation, making it, putting it into, organizing everything in their head to building it into a franchisable, scalable business. One of his businesses has 500 franchises. That’s just one of the companies or brands that he works with.

So amazing guy, Elon Musk kind of like smart guy. He kind of comes off sometimes as socially awkward, but he’s so brilliant and he’s taught me so much. When I say that, Clay doesn’t care what people think when you’re talking to him. He cares about where you’re going in your life and where he can get you to go. And that’s what I like him most about. He’s a good coach. A coach isn’t just making you feel good all the time. A coach is actually helping you get to the best you, and Clay has been an amazing business coach. Through the course of that, we became friends.

When I was really most impressed with him is when I was shadowing him one time, we went into a business deal, I got to shadow and listen to it. And when we walked out, I knew that he could make millions on the deal, and they were super excited about working with him. And he told me, he’s like, I’m not going to touch it. I’m going to turn it down. Because he knew it was going to harm the common good of people in the long run. And the guy’s integrity just really wowed me. It brought tears to my eyes to see that this guy, his highest desire was to do what’s right. And anyways, just an amazing man.

So anyways, impacted me a lot. He’s helped navigate anytime I’ve gotten nervous or worried about how to run the company or navigating competition and an economy. I remember we got closed down for three months. He helped us navigate on how to stay open, how to get back open, how to just survive through all the COVID shutdowns, lockdowns because our clubs were all closed for three months and you have $350,000 of bills you’ve got to pay, and we have no accounts receivable. He helped us navigate that, and of course, we were conservative enough that we could afford to take that on for a period of time.

Anyways, great man. I’m very impressed with him. So Clay, thank you for everything you’re doing. And I encourage you, if you haven’t ever worked with Clay, work with Clay. He’s going to help magnify you. And there’s nobody I have ever met that has the ability to work as hard as he does. He probably sleeps four, maybe six hours a day and literally the rest of the time he’s working, and he can outwork everybody in the room every single day. And he loves it.

So anyways, this is Charles Colaw with Colaw Fitness. Thank you, Clay. And anybody out there that’s wanting to work with Clay, it’s a great, great opportunity to ever work with him. So you guys have a blessed one. This is Charles Colaw. We’ll see you guys. Bye-bye.

Hi, I’m Aaron Antis with Shaw Homes. I first heard about Clay through a mortgage lender here in town who had told me what a great job he had been doing for them, and I actually noticed he was driving a Lamborghini all of a sudden so I was willing to listen.

In my career, I’ve sold a little over $800 million in real estate, so honestly, I thought I kind of knew everything about marketing and homes, and then I met Clay. And my perception of what I knew and what I could do definitely changed. After doing 800 million in sales over a 15-year career, I really thought I knew what I was doing. I’ve been managing a large team of sales people for the last 10 years here with Shaw Homes, and I mean we’ve been a company that’s been in business for 35 years. We’ve become one of the largest builders in the Tulsa area, and that was without Clay.

So when I came to know Clay, I really thought, “Man, there’s not much more I need to know, but I’m willing to listen.” The interesting thing is our internet leads from our website has actually, in a four-month period of time, gone from somewhere around 10 to 15 leads in a month to 180 internet leads in a month, just from the few things that he’s shown us how to implement that I honestly probably never would’ve come up with on my own. So I got a lot of good things to say about the system that Clay put in place with us, and it’s just been an incredible experience. I am very glad that we met and had the opportunity to work with Clay.

So the interaction with the team and with Clay on a weekly basis is honestly very enlightening. One of the things that I love about Clay’s perspective on things is that he doesn’t come from my industry. He’s not somebody who’s in the home building industry. I’ve listened to all the experts in my field. Our company has paid for me to go to seminars, international builders shows, all kinds of places where I’ve had the opportunity to learn from the experts in my industry. But the thing that I’ve found working with Clay is that he comes from such a broad spectrum of working with so many different types of businesses that he has a perspective that’s difficult for me to gain because I get so entrenched in what I do, I’m not paying attention to what other leading industry experts are doing. And Clay really brings that perspective for me. It is very valuable time every week when I get that hour with him.

From my perspective, the reason that any business owner who’s thinking about hooking up with Thrive needs to definitely consider it is because the results that we’ve gotten in a very short period of time are honestly monumental. It has really exceeded my wildest expectation of what he might be able to do. I came in skeptical because I’m very pragmatic, and as I’ve gone through the process over just a few months, I’ve realized it’s probably one of the best moves we’ve ever made.

I think a lot of people probably feel like they don’t need a business or marketing consultant because they maybe are a little bit prideful and like to think they know everything. I know that’s how I felt coming in. I mean, we’re a big company that’s definitely one of the largest in town, and so we kind of felt like we knew what we were doing. And I think for a lot of people, they let their ego get in the way of listening to somebody that might have a better or different perspective than theirs.

I would just really encourage you, if you’re thinking about working with Clay, I mean the thing is it’s month to month. Go give it a try and see what happens. I think in the 35-year history of Shaw Holmes, this is probably the best thing that’s happened to us, and I know if you give him a shot, I think you’ll feel the same way.

I know for me, the thing I would’ve missed out on if I didn’t work with Clay is I would’ve missed out on literally an 1800% increase in our internet leads going from 10 a month to 180 a month. That would’ve been a huge financial decision to just decide not to give it a shot. I would absolutely recommend Clay Clark to anybody who’s thinking about working with somebody in marketing. I would skip over anybody else you were thinking about and I would go straight to Clay and his team. I guarantee you’re not going to regret it because we sure haven’t.

My name is Danielle Sprik, and I am the founder of D Sprik Realty Group here in Tulsa, Oklahoma. After being a stay-at-home mom for 12 years and my three kids started school and they were in school full time, I was at a crossroads and trying to decide what do I want to do? My degree and my background is in education, but after being a mom and staying home and all of that, I just didn’t have a passion for it like I once did.

My husband suggested real estate. He’s a home builder, so real estate and home building go hand in hand and we just rolled with it. I love people. I love working with people, I love building relationships, but one thing that was really difficult for me was the business side of things, the processes and the advertising and marketing. I knew that I did not have what I needed to make that what it should be.

So I reached out to Clay at that time and he and his team have been extremely instrumental in helping us build our brand, help market our business, our agents, the homes that we represent. Everything that we do is a direct line from Clay and his team and all that they’ve done for us.

We launched our real estate brokerage eight months ago, and in that time we’ve gone from myself and one other agent to just this week, we signed on our 16th agent. We have been blessed with the fact that we right now have just over 10 million in pending transactions.

Three years ago, I never would have even imagined that I would be in this role that I’m in today, building a business, having 16 agents, but I have to give credit where credit’s due. And Clay and his team and the business coaching that they’ve offered us has been huge. It’s been instrumental in what we’re doing. Don’t ever limit your vision. When you dream big, big things happen.

I started a business because I couldn’t work for anyone else. I do things my way. I do what I think is in the best interest of the patient. I don’t answer to insurance companies. I don’t answer to large corporate organizations. I answer to my patient, and that’s it.

My thought when I opened my clinic was I can do this all myself. I don’t need additional outside help in many ways. I went to medical school. I can figure this out, but it was a very, very steep learning curve. Within the first six months of opening my clinic, I had a $63,000 embezzlement. I lost multiple employees.

Clay helped us weather the storm of some of the things that a lot of people experience, especially in the medical world. He was instrumental in helping with a specific written business plan. He’s been instrumental in hiring good quality employees using the processes that he outlines for getting in good talent, which is extremely difficult. He helped me in securing the business loans. He helped me with web development and search engine optimization, and we’ve been able to really keep a steady stream of clients coming in because they found us on the web.

With everything that I encountered, everything that I experienced, I quickly learned it is worth every penny to have someone in your team that can walk you through and even avoid some of the pitfalls that are almost invariable in starting your own business.

I’m Dr. Chad Edwards and I own Revolution Health and Wellness Clinic.

The Thrivetime Show 2-Day interactive business workshops are the highest and most reviewed business workshops on the planet.

You can learn the proven 13 point business systems that Dr. Zoellner I have used over and over to start and grow successful companies. I mean, we get into the specifics, the specific steps on what you need to do to optimize your website. We’re going to teach you how to fix your conversion rate. We’re going to teach you how to do a social media marketing campaign that works. How do you raise capital? How do you get a small business loan? We teach you everything you need to know here during a 2-day 15-hour workshop. It’s all here for you. You work every day in your business, but for two days you can escape and work on your business and build these proven systems so now you can have a successful company that will produce both the time freedom and the financial freedom that you deserve.

You’re going to leave energized, motivated, but you’re also going to leave empowered. The reason why I’ve built these workshops is because as an entrepreneur, I always wish that I had this and because there wasn’t anything like this, I would go to these motivational seminars, no-money-down, real estate Ponzi scheme, get-motivated seminars, and they would never teach me anything. It was like you went there and you paid for the big chocolate Easter Bunny, but inside of it was a hollow nothingness. And I wanted the knowledge and they’re like, oh, but we’ll teach you the knowledge after our next workshop.

And the great thing is we have nothing to upsell. At every workshop, we teach you what you need to know. There’s no one in the back of the room trying to sell you some next big, get-rich-quick, walk-on-hot-coals product. It’s literally, we teach you the brass tacks, the specific stuff that you need to know to learn how to start and grow a business.

I encourage you to not believe what I’m saying, and I want you to Google the Z66 Auto Auction. I want you to Google Elephant in the Room. Look at Robert Zoellner and Associates. Look them up and say, “Are they successful because they’re geniuses or are they successful because they have a proven system?” When you do that research, you will discover that the same system that we use in our own business can be used in your business.

Come to Tulsa, book a ticket, and I guarantee you it’s going to be the best business workshop ever. And we’ll even give you your money back if you don’t love it. We’ve built this facility for you, and we’re excited to see you.