0:01

Today, I've got a special edition $100 million leads episode

0:03

collaboration with the podcast The Game, myself

0:06

and myself, a self high five, if you will. We've

0:08

got two chapters for you today, special cooking

0:11

in the big cauldron of money

0:13

making madness that is this podcast. We're

0:16

going to be going over employees and agencies.

0:19

Employees so that they can help you do the core four for

0:21

you, except on payroll, and agencies are

0:24

outside entities that will do them for you as well. I

0:26

have a really unique spin on how I use agencies,

0:28

so you're going to want to stay tuned for that. So

0:30

I hope you

0:31

enjoy and subscribe.

0:35

Employees if you want to go fast, go alone.

0:38

If you want to go far, go together. African

0:40

proverb. June 2021 the

0:42

new sales director piped

0:45

up. I know we came in at our goal again,

0:47

but I don't think we need to change anything. We'll hit it this quarter.

0:50

I started around the room and looked in every direction but mine.

0:53

The silence was long enough for the executive assistant to mark

0:55

the topic covered and move on. I said,

0:57

no wonder we missed our cold outreach goal for the second quarter in a row.

1:00

Nobody challenged the failure. What? So

1:02

now we think the third time's the charm. Wait,

1:05

I said. Now everyone looked in my direction.

1:07

I'd like to know why we didn't hit this two quarters in a row. I

1:10

know we can sell. So if we want to make more

1:12

sales with cold outreach, then we do more cold outreach.

1:15

What's the issue? We lose a rep

1:17

every four weeks. The sales director said, aha.

1:20

Okay. Why is our turn so high? I

1:23

was wondering the same thing, but HR says we're

1:25

actually below industry average turn for this position. He

1:27

continued. But by the time we hire an onboard

1:29

one, another one turns out. I saw the HR

1:32

director nodding in agreement, getting warmer.

1:34

Okay. So the issue is hiring, I said. What's

1:37

the hiring situation look like? We hire

1:39

one out every four candidates HR pushes to us. So

1:42

if they turn out as fast as we hire them and

1:44

you only hire one out of every four, that means

1:47

you get like one candidate a week.

1:49

Yeah, about that. Almost there.

1:52

Gotcha. Now I looked at the HR director.

1:54

What's the screening situation look like?

1:56

We get one qualified candidate per 10 screening

1:58

interviews, give or take.

1:59

She said,

2:00

so it takes 40 interviews to get a single

2:03

low skilled frontline worker.

2:05

I guess so. Bingo.

2:07

All right. We need to change things up. I said, we're

2:09

bottlenecked at the one to one screening, start

2:11

interviewing in groups and look for the crazies there.

2:14

Push everyone else with a good work ethic and

2:16

basic social skills over to sales. We can teach the

2:18

rest agreed.

2:19

The team nodded within six weeks, hiring

2:22

outpace turn

2:23

our code outreach sales increased in lockstep

2:25

by the end of the quarter. Code outreach sales

2:27

had doubled and made up more than half our total sales.

2:30

The issue wasn't cold outreach method, skills,

2:32

or offer at all.

2:33

We just didn't have enough people doing cold outreach.

2:36

If you use the methods in this book, you'll see more engaged

2:38

leads flow into your business. More engaged leads means

2:40

more customers, but as you grow, so does your workload.

2:43

In due time, it will take more work than

2:45

a single person can handle.

2:47

And you can solve the problem of too much work for one

2:49

person by having more people work.

2:51

In short, to advertise more, you'll need

2:53

more workers. And this chapter will show you how

2:55

employees work, why they make you wealthy, how

2:57

to get them and the method I use to turn them into lead

2:59

getters.

3:00

How employees work.

3:02

Lead getting employees are people who work in your business

3:04

that you train to get you leads.

3:06

They get you leads the exact same way. You got your own leads

3:08

in the beginning. They can run ads, they can make and

3:11

post content and they can do outreach.

3:12

They could do any advertising you train them to do.

3:15

So more lead getting employees means more engaged leads

3:17

for your business. It also means less work you have to

3:19

do to get the leads, more leads and less

3:21

work. Sign me up, but wait, not

3:23

so fast. Don't get me wrong. Employees

3:26

take work. They just take less time

3:28

and work than doing everything on your own. In my experience,

3:30

if you trade 40 hours of doing for four hours

3:32

of managing, you work 36 hours less. Brilliant.

3:35

And the best part is you can make that trade over and over.

3:38

You can swap 200 hours of work per week for 20 hours

3:40

of management. Then you trade the 20 hours of managing

3:42

for a manager who costs you four hours per week

3:45

to lead. What remains is four hours

3:47

of work for 200 hours of lead getting.

3:49

Boom.

3:50

Bottom line, employees make a fully functioning

3:52

enterprise that grows without you.

3:54

Why employees make you wealthy for

3:56

your business to run without you. Other people need to run

3:58

it.

3:59

Scenario. Theory number one.

4:01

Imagine you have a business that makes $5 million per year

4:03

in revenue and $2 million per year in profit.

4:05

And to make that profit, you have to work around the clock.

4:08

In this situation, you basically have a high-paying

4:10

job. But

4:11

let's say you're okay with working all the hours

4:13

and knowing your business would burn down if you took a vacation.

4:15

Vacations are for losers anyways. Kidding. Cough.

4:19

Sort of. We still have another important thing to look at.

4:21

Sure, you make a bit of money. But your business

4:23

isn't worth much. If the business only makes

4:25

money with you in it, then it's a bad investment for

4:28

anyone else. This may not sound like a big deal

4:30

right now, but let's consider an alternative.

4:32

Scenario two. Your

4:33

business makes the same $5 million per year in revenue

4:35

and $2 million per year in profit. But there's one

4:37

big difference. The business runs with value. This

4:40

does two very cool things. One, it turns

4:42

what used to be a risky job into a valuable asset.

4:44

And two, it makes you much wealthier. Here's

4:47

how.

4:47

First, you get your time back, so you can use that time to invest

4:50

in your business, buy other businesses, or take your stinking

4:52

vacations.

4:53

Second, you become much wealthier because your business

4:55

is now worth something to someone else. And

4:57

this can turn a liability that relied on you into an asset

4:59

you can rely on.

5:01

If you have an asset that makes millions of dollars without

5:03

you, then that means somebody else could use it to make

5:05

millions of dollars without them.

5:07

In other words, your business is now a good investment.

5:09

Then investors looking for assets, like Acquisition.com

5:12

for instance, would buy some or all of it from you.

5:14

And your $2 million in profit per year, especially

5:17

if it's climbing, could easily be worth $10 million right

5:19

now. So your business went from having

5:21

almost zero value to having $10 million of value.

5:24

So learning how to get other people to do it for you makes a $10

5:26

million difference in your net worth.

5:28

I'd say it's worth learning how to do it.

5:30

Reminder, you get rich from what you make, you

5:32

become wealthy from what you own. And it

5:34

took me years to realize this, because not that long

5:36

ago,

5:37

everything I thought I knew about employees was wrong.

5:40

Have you ever heard, if you want it done right, you gotta

5:42

do it yourself? No one can do it like I can do it.

5:45

Nobody can replace me.

5:46

I have. I said all that stuff.

5:48

I lived all that stuff. For years. Every

5:50

time I hired somebody, I would compare what they could do to what I could

5:52

do. In my head, I felt like it was me against them,

5:55

to somehow prove I was more able than

5:57

them.

5:58

With my own team.

5:59

This way of leading people never made me more money.

6:02

For business, nobody can do it but me, and if

6:04

you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself, aren't facts,

6:07

they're false.

6:08

Somebody did similar stuff before you were around, and

6:10

somebody will continue doing some version of it after you're

6:12

gone.

6:13

In one way or another, everyone is replaceable.

6:15

It might be by multiple people, technology, or later

6:18

in time, but everyone can be replaced. My

6:20

suggestion, replace yourself as soon as you can.

6:22

Then, you can make yourself useful somewhere else. Many

6:25

other people figured this out, and so can you. In

6:28

the early days, whenever I started a business, I

6:30

could do stuff better than the people I hired. My entire

6:32

workforce always ended up looking like a ragtag

6:34

group of misfits who could kind of do one

6:37

of many things I could do. This got me up

6:39

and running at first, but I fell into the trap of believing

6:41

I was better than everyone else.

6:43

I would go back and forth between gloating because

6:45

I was better than them, and complaining because they weren't as good

6:47

as me. And for whatever reason, it never occurred

6:49

to me, I was the one who hired and trained them. Who

6:52

was I kidding? The reality was twofold. First,

6:54

I didn't have the skills to train or lead a team properly.

6:57

Second, I was too poor, and then when

6:59

I had a little money, too cheap to hire anyone

7:01

better. In other words, it was my fault they

7:03

sucked. Oops. The more

7:05

I tried to out-compete my employees, the more distracted

7:08

I became and the worse my business got. Sure,

7:10

at the time, maybe I could do anything

7:12

better than any of my employees, but I couldn't

7:15

do everything better than all of my employees.

7:17

And when I finally realized this, I started adopting

7:19

better beliefs about talent. If you want it

7:21

done right, get someone to spend all their time doing it.

7:24

If I can do it, someone else can do it better.

7:26

Everyone is replaceable, especially me. These

7:29

new beliefs about talent not only made it a much healthier

7:31

culture in my business, but also came with

7:33

very profitable side effects.

7:35

Trusting my employees to succeed made my time

7:38

and my attention far more valuable.

7:40

If someone else can do it, why would I? If

7:42

someone else could train them, why would I? If

7:45

I could learn other stuff to grow the business while my team held

7:47

the fort down, it makes way more sense to do that. So

7:49

let's do that.

7:50

How to get employee leads, the internal

7:53

core four. Remember the core four?

7:55

Well, they work for getting employees too. Imagine

7:57

that. By changing the frame from letting...

7:59

potential customers know about your stuff to, letting

8:02

potential employees know about your stuff, it immediately turns

8:04

into something you already know how to do.

8:06

But some people have the opposite problem. They

8:08

already know how to get employees just fine, but struggle to get customers.

8:10

Employees are just other people you let know about your stuff.

8:13

So you do the same thing.

8:15

Let's line up the actions to get employees with the actions

8:17

to get customers. It's the same stuff.

8:20

Warm outreach equals ask your network.

8:22

Cold outreach equals recruiting. Posting

8:25

content equals posting job openings.

8:27

Paid ads equals promoted job postings.

8:30

Customer referrals equals employee referrals.

8:33

Affiliates equal associations, guilds,

8:35

listservs, etc.

8:36

Agencies equals staffing firms. Employees

8:39

equals employees because those are the same thing.

8:42

The ways you get employee leads and their lead

8:44

getters have equivalent to the ways you get customer leads

8:46

and their lead getters. So when you need to get new

8:48

talent, you just advertise to get it. And

8:50

when you need more, you do more. And like

8:52

creating a reliable process to get customers, you can also

8:55

create a reliable process of getting employees. And

8:57

you'll need both to scale.

8:59

How to get employees to get your leads.

9:01

Now you hire someone who costs you money every month. Great.

9:04

Let's make sure you get it back. And some ASAP.

9:07

Note, some people looking for work will already

9:09

know how to get leads. Those people are awesome.

9:12

You can also count on them to cost more.

9:14

And if you're starting out, you may not be able to afford them.

9:16

So your next best option is to train them.

9:18

Thankfully, you have an entire book of lead getting

9:20

at your fingertips. So the next step is training

9:22

your employees on how you do those lead getting activities.

9:25

I think about and actually approach training with

9:28

this 3D's mental model. Document,

9:30

demonstrate, duplicate. Here's how it works.

9:33

Step one, document. You make a checklist.

9:35

You already know how to do the thing. Now you

9:38

just need to write down the steps exactly as you do

9:40

it. You can also have other trusted observers

9:42

watch you and document what you do. Bonus points

9:44

if you record yourself doing the thing multiple ways

9:46

and in multiple shifts. This way you can watch yourself

9:48

as an observer rather than breaking your flow by pausing

9:50

to take notes while you go. Once you've

9:52

got everything put into a checklist, bust it

9:55

out on your next work block and only follow those

9:57

steps.

9:58

Can you do an A plus job only?

9:59

following your directions exactly?

10:02

If you can, you have the first draft

10:04

of your checklist for the job.

10:06

Step 2. Demonstrate. You do it

10:08

in front of them.

10:09

Just like your parents taught you how to tie your shoes,

10:11

you sit down and walk them through the checklist step by

10:13

step. This may take a while depending on how

10:15

many steps it takes to complete the thing. If

10:18

they stop you or slow down

10:20

to understand something, adjust your checklist for that.

10:22

Now you have the second draft ready for them to try.

10:25

Step 3.

10:25

Duplicate. They

10:27

do it in front of you.

10:29

Now it's their turn. They follow the same checklist

10:31

you followed, except this time they're the one doing

10:34

it and you're the one observing.

10:35

We just want them to duplicate what we did, so

10:37

if the checklist is right, the outcome will be the same,

10:40

and if the checklist is off, you'll find out fast.

10:42

Fix your checklist until it's right, then have

10:45

them follow it until they get it right, and once

10:47

they nail it, you now have a bonafide lead-getter

10:49

on your payroll. Congratulations. Pro

10:51

tip. Give short windows for people to prove themselves.

10:54

Most entry-level advertising jobs aren't complex.

10:57

It takes more grit than skill. If you train someone

10:59

properly and they're still below expectations in three weeks,

11:01

cut them.

11:03

After you train your first few employees this way, you'll have

11:05

worked out the kinks for that job, and it's pretty much smooth

11:07

sailing from there. At least the training part,

11:09

anyways. Think about it like this. If

11:12

you vanish tomorrow, could a stranger get the results

11:14

you get if they only followed your checklist? That's

11:16

the level of clarity to shoot for. Some

11:19

helpful notes on training. A helpful

11:21

way to look at this training style is, if they get

11:23

it wrong or get confused, then we got it wrong

11:25

or made it confusing. If we have to explain what

11:27

a step means, then the step is too complicated, or

11:29

more likely, we try to put multiple steps into one.

11:32

Next,

11:33

if they only appear to get it after a longish

11:36

explanation or multiple demonstrations, then,

11:38

again, we've got some work to do. Business

11:40

owners that ignore this run into chronic

11:42

training problems, and word-of-the-wise, you can probably

11:45

force an inferior checklist to work,

11:47

but this turns into a nightmare when somebody else

11:49

takes over your training for you.

11:51

Next, there is a difference between competence

11:53

and performance. In other words, they can

11:56

know exactly what to do and not be that good

11:58

at it yet. And if that's the case, the your

12:00

instructions are fine these need to practice

12:02

using

12:02

an analogy from the finish world think

12:04

slow than smooth than fast

12:07

you don't need to change anything they just a more reps

12:10

next

12:11

focus on your employees ability to

12:13

follow directions more than whether

12:15

the got the right result this

12:17

is super important because of you train your place

12:19

to follow directions then they will follow

12:21

directions and if they follow directions and get

12:24

the wrong result the know it's the directions

12:26

that's good you've a lot more control over the

12:29

next every time they do a step successfully

12:32

let them know they did it right and if they respond

12:34

to praise praise them and if they goof

12:37

that's okay to that's what training

12:39

is for don't take over them when they mess

12:41

up simply pause take a step back and let

12:43

them try again

12:44

bass feedback cycles get people to learn

12:46

faster if they follow your directions

12:48

exactly and get the wrong result still praise

12:51

them for following the directions praise them then

12:53

make the corrections to your checklist on the spot

12:56

avoid punishment or penalties of any type

12:58

for doing the wrong stuff during training

13:00

as rule of thumb reward the stuff

13:02

you want them to do more of and they'll do more of it

13:04

learning a new skill is punishing enough we

13:06

don't need to add to it it's

13:09

hard to fix multiple things when you've never done something

13:11

for get feedback one

13:13

step at a time if one piece of feedback

13:15

at a time practice until they get

13:17

it right then move onto the next step whenever

13:20

there's a major different or performance retrained

13:22

the team they stop doing an important step in the process

13:25

often because they didn't know is important once

13:27

you figure out the step reward

13:29

people for fog it going forward how

13:31

to calculate returns from the getting employs excluding

13:34

the cost of running paid ads the cost of advertising

13:37

are reaching content etc with employees

13:39

is almost entirely personally amount of money you pay them

13:41

to do it we simplify this by comparing

13:43

how much money we spend on payroll to how

13:45

much money the engage least they bring in get total

13:47

payroll divided by total good leads equals costs

13:49

per lead example or hundred thousand

13:52

dollars a payroll divided by thousand leads

13:54

it was a hundred dollars per engage late if one out of

13:56

ten engage leads becomes a customer that

13:58

are cac is one that $100 per engaged

14:01

lead times 10 engaged leads per customer

14:04

equals $1,000 CAC. If

14:07

each customer has an LTGP of $4,000, then

14:09

you have an LTP to CAC of 4 to 1. 4,000 LTGP

14:12

divided by $1,000 CAC equals 4 to 1. For

14:15

example, at the time of this writing, I get about 30,000 leads

14:18

per month at acquisition.com.

14:20

I run no paid ads and do no outreach.

14:23

But the team responsible for creating the content that generates

14:25

that interest is about $100,000 per month. This

14:27

means it costs me roughly $3.33 per engaged lead, $100,000 divided

14:30

by 30,000 leads, in

14:34

payroll to generate them.

14:35

We make much more than $3.33 per lead, so we're profitable. You

14:40

can apply the same math to whatever advertising method you use.

14:43

How to know which employees to focus on to maximize

14:45

returns.

14:47

Like we learned in Run Paid Ads Part 2, if

14:49

your cost to get a customer is within 3x industry

14:51

average, then you're doing good enough. From

14:53

there, you focus on bumping your LTGP. If

14:56

your CAC is more than 3x industry average, then

14:58

you have a sales problem or an advertising problem. We

15:01

diagnose this with a single question. Do

15:03

my engaged leads have the problem I solve and the money to spend?

15:05

If no, then they're not qualified. That's

15:08

an advertising problem. If yes, then they're

15:10

qualified and

15:11

they're buying, but you don't have enough of them, which is an

15:13

advertising problem. They're qualified, but not buying,

15:16

which is a sales problem.

15:17

Don't fire your sales guy if you've got an advertising

15:19

problem. And equally, don't fire your advertising employees

15:22

if you've got a sales problem.

15:23

That little question can help you identify which employees to focus

15:25

on. But fundamentally, you just need to figure

15:27

out all your costs of getting a customer put together.

15:30

And as long as they're at least one third of the profit you make

15:32

over the lifetime, you're in good

15:34

shape. Conclusion

15:35

The goal of this chapter was to shift your perspective.

15:37

It's your job to advertise and sell the vision

15:39

of your company. You advertise it publicly

15:41

and privately to employees and customers alike. That's

15:44

the job. And once you get good at it, you become unstoppable.

15:46

I say this because I believe anyone can be taught to do ground-level

15:49

jobs for any business, advertising or otherwise.

15:51

So who you pick is not as important as how you train the ones you

15:53

do.

15:54

Like I've said throughout the book, and will say again here, it

15:56

doesn't take a genius to advertise. I'd even say

15:58

it hurts.

15:59

There are plenty more iron wills than brainiacs anyways.

16:02

Remember, this isn't about brains, it's about guts. And

16:05

although some people might be born geniuses, nobody

16:07

is born with an iron will. After all, we all

16:09

come out crybabies.

16:10

All this to say, having guts is a skill.

16:13

And that means anyone can have guts, if they

16:15

learn how. So if you have an iron will,

16:17

and as an entrepreneur you probably do, it won't take long

16:19

for you to figure out that you got it from your life experiences.

16:22

You can pass those experiences on as lessons to anyone

16:25

who cares enough to listen.

16:26

Then they can stand on your shoulders and have a better chance at

16:28

succeeding in life. And you can't really know

16:30

anything anyway until you train them well

16:32

and give them a fighting chance to succeed out in the field.

16:35

Plus, for low level jobs, you'll never

16:37

have a shortage of labor.

16:38

Get picky when you have to make massive investments

16:40

in hyper-specific multiple six figure c-suite

16:43

employees etc.

16:44

aka fancy employees.

16:46

I find at this current stage, it's actually better

16:48

use of time to hire, train, and anyone willing. Then,

16:51

when you find winners, and with this method you will,

16:53

treat them well, don't burn them out, and give them what

16:55

they deserve. In the land of overflowing

16:57

leads, you'll need allies. Employees

17:00

are among the most powerful of these allies. We

17:02

talked about how they make you wealthy, how they work, how

17:04

getting them works, how to get them, how

17:06

to get them getting you leads,

17:08

how to keep them getting you leads,

17:10

and how to know they're doing a good job.

17:12

And once you build a system for getting people who get you leads, doing

17:14

the core four on your behalf,

17:16

you just need to do more.

17:18

Author note, a word on fancy employees. I

17:21

explicitly left out recruiting director level

17:23

and up employees because you can easily

17:26

qualify for acquisition.com without them. And once

17:28

you do become a portfolio company, we'll do it for you.

17:31

The next lead getter. The next stop

17:33

on our advertising journey leads us to agencies. Yes,

17:36

you can pay people to shortcut your path. I

17:38

have paid zillions of dollars to agencies and I

17:40

believe I finally cracked the code on how to

17:42

create a win for all parties. For us,

17:45

so we're not dependent on them forever. For them,

17:47

so they can make more profit and provide more value to their customers.

17:50

They've been key to many breakthroughs I've had, so you won't

17:52

want to skip this next one.

17:54

Every gift,

17:55

build or buy the talent roadmap.

17:58

The longer I do business, the more I ask who.

17:59

over what and how. This training may

18:02

be one of the most tactical and important because no matter

18:04

what you build, you're gonna need help.

18:06

Since it's so important, I made a training outlining

18:08

this content in more depth with some downloads,

18:11

et cetera. You can watch it free at acquisition.com forward

18:13

slash training slash leads.

18:17

Hey, I hope you're enjoying the book chapter that you're listening

18:19

to right now of $100 million leads. I took a

18:22

long time putting it together for you. And

18:24

so my only ask is that you just take a quick

18:26

second and leave a review for the book

18:29

on Amazon. It's the number one way that people

18:31

find books. And this

18:33

is a way of getting more people into our world. And so our

18:35

mission at acquisition.com is to make real business education

18:38

accessible to everyone. And I need

18:40

your help. And so if you could do that, just that

18:43

one small action, and it has a trade

18:45

for the two years that I took putting this book together for you, it

18:48

would mean the world to me. So thank you. Agencies,

18:52

everything is for sale.

18:53

Summer 2016.

18:55

I wasn't a techie guy. I was a fitness guy who had

18:57

learned a few marketing and sales tricks building my gyms.

18:59

But now I had five and I was launching my sixth. It

19:02

was time to level up.

19:03

Facebook had just released some new features, retargeting,

19:06

interest groups, pixels, et cetera. And I didn't

19:08

understand any of it.

19:09

I bought a few courses, but ended up more confused than when

19:11

I started. I asked a few friends if they knew

19:13

anyone who could help. I got two referrals. Both

19:16

were agencies. I was scared. I'd never used

19:18

one before.

19:19

I'd only ever heard horror stories about advertising agencies.

19:21

Mostly that they cost a ton and never work. But

19:24

then I realized that even if they did work, I'd need them

19:26

forever. They'd

19:26

have my business by the balls. It turns

19:29

out my expectations weren't far off.

19:30

They offered to run my ads, all right,

19:32

for an arm and a leg. Money I couldn't justify

19:34

spending with my low margins. But then again, my

19:37

advertising costs were killing me. And at this rate,

19:39

in a few months, I wouldn't be able to keep my doors open. Stressful.

19:42

I refused the first agent because I couldn't afford it at the

19:44

time.

19:45

The second call started going the same way. I began to

19:47

panic. How am I gonna fix this?

19:49

In what felt like a last ditch effort to stay in business,

19:51

I asked the second agency owner for what I really wanted.

19:54

Can you just show me in a few hours how you'd run my ads on

19:56

my account?

19:57

No, he fired back. My time's not

19:59

for sale.

20:00

Worried but still hopeful.

20:02

What sort of arrangement could we come to? He

20:04

thought for a moment. Then his eyebrow shot up and

20:06

a smirk appeared.

20:08

Fine. 7.50 an hour. Gulp.

20:11

His intimidation tactic worked. But

20:13

at least I knew his time was for sale, so

20:15

I wanted to find out more. And for 7.50 an

20:17

hour, you will sit down with me and

20:20

show me how you would run my ads?

20:23

Yes.

20:24

And I'd be the one doing everything. Like you'll

20:26

walk me through what to do and look over my

20:28

shoulder as I do it and then you'll explain why you do it that

20:30

way.

20:31

Yeah.

20:32

And you're confident you can make my ads more

20:34

profitable and show me the more advanced stuff, right?

20:37

Yeah. I mean, if you want to pay me 7.50 an hour, we can

20:39

do whatever you want. It's your money.

20:42

He said, half laughing.

20:43

It sounded more like it's your funeral.

20:45

I paused. All right.

20:48

I'll do it. We'll meet one hour a week. You give me homework

20:50

and I'll study between calls. Fair enough? Works

20:53

for me. You got to pay the first four hours up front.

20:56

So that's what I did.

20:57

I placed a $3,000 bet on this guy's word

20:59

that he knew what he was doing. Yikes. But

21:02

every week thereafter, I showed up and like a

21:04

good student, I came with notes and questions ready. I

21:06

also recorded and rewatched every call because I didn't

21:09

want to miss anything. The first two calls, he

21:11

took the wheel and I watched calls three and

21:13

four. He put me in the driver's seat. I

21:15

call five and six. It clicked. I

21:17

got how he made decisions and what data he tracked at

21:19

seven and eight. I realized that didn't need his help anymore.

21:22

I learned how to run paid ads, at least on Facebook,

21:24

like a pro. And if I had to make a guess,

21:27

it was because I learned it from a pro. In

21:29

this chapter, we explore a not so obvious but

21:31

much better way to use agencies to get more

21:34

leads. Let's get cranking. How

21:36

agencies want you to think they work. Advertising

21:40

agencies are lead getting service businesses. You

21:42

pay them to run ads, do outreach, or package

21:44

and distribute content. For example, let's

21:46

say you want to post free video content, but you

21:48

know nothing about making video content or how to distribute it.

21:51

You need to learn how to pick video topics, record videos,

21:53

edit videos, make thumbnail images and write headlines.

21:56

Or you need to hire people who do. Enter the agency.

21:58

They say they've hired and trained.

21:59

people to do that stuff already. So they

22:02

promised faster, better, and more cost-efficient results

22:04

than you could get on your own. And as soon as I had enough

22:06

money, it felt compelling enough. After

22:08

my first experience with an agency that I mentioned earlier

22:11

went quite well, I decided to use more.

22:13

But my experience with the next 10 plus agencies

22:15

was different because I used them, quote, the right way.

22:18

Each went something like this.

22:19

Step one, they got me excited about all the new leads

22:21

they would bring. Step two, I'd go through

22:23

an onboarding process that felt valuable, and sometimes

22:26

was. Step three, they assigned their

22:28

best senior rep to my account. Step four,

22:30

I saw some results. Step five, they moved

22:32

my senior rep to the newest customer. Step six, a

22:35

junior rep starts managing my account. My results

22:37

suffered. Step seven, I complained.

22:40

Step eight, the senior rep would come back once in a while

22:42

to make me feel better.

22:43

Step nine, results still suffered, and

22:45

I eventually canceled.

22:46

Step 10, I had searched for another agency and

22:49

repeat the cycle of insanity. Step 11, for

22:51

the zillionth time, start wondering why I wasn't getting

22:53

results like the first time.

22:55

To be clear,

22:56

like the introduction of this chapter shows, agencies

22:58

can play a valuable role in business growth,

23:00

but not the way they want you to.

23:02

I don't want anyone else falling into the same trap. In

23:04

fact, I hope all the money I wasted goes towards paying

23:06

down your ignorance debt too. So

23:08

keep reading. It's frankly ridiculous it took

23:11

me so many years to figure this out that I actually used

23:13

an agency the right way the first time. But

23:15

now, after playing their game so many times, I feel I cracked

23:17

the how to use an agency code.

23:19

And it doesn't come from playing their game at all. It comes

23:21

from playing a different one.

23:22

And this chapter breaks it all down in three steps.

23:25

Number one, hiring an agency versus doing it

23:27

yourself.

23:28

Two, how I use agencies now and how you can

23:30

too.

23:30

Three, how to pick the right agency.

23:33

Hiring an agency versus doing it yourself.

23:35

First, let's get this out of the way. Good agencies

23:37

cost money. So if you have no money, then

23:40

agencies are out of the question. You got to learn through trial and

23:42

error. And that's no big deal. We all start that way.

23:45

But if you do have some money, I suggest using agencies

23:47

for two things, learning new methods and learning

23:49

new platforms.

23:50

If I want to learn new ways to do content,

23:52

outreach or paid ads, then I hire agencies offering

23:55

new ways to do them.

23:56

They've already made the big mistakes. So instead

23:58

of wasting time figuring it out myself, I'm going to do it myself. I skip

24:00

straight to the make money part. I like the

24:02

make money part. I also use agencies

24:04

when I want to start advertising on a new platform I don't understand.

24:07

I make money faster because they do the early setup

24:09

and maintenance for me and because I get them to teach me

24:11

how to do it. Hiring an agency is

24:13

all about investing in important skills you

24:15

can't really learn anywhere else. That

24:18

is, unless you go through all the trial and error to learn it

24:20

yourself. And if you did, you lose the time

24:22

and attention you could have used to learn other important

24:24

stuff that scales your business. And scaling your

24:26

business is the whole point. Action

24:29

step. Once you have enough money for a good agency, start poking

24:31

around. If you follow the rest of the steps

24:33

in this chapter, you'll make it all back and then some.

24:37

How I use agencies now and how you can too. I've

24:39

become a little more sophisticated than the story I told up at the beginning.

24:42

Here's how I use agencies now.

24:44

Rather than believe the lie, I'll never have to

24:46

learn the stuff because they can do it, I start

24:48

every agency relationship with a purpose and a deadline to fulfill

24:50

it. I open by saying,

24:52

I want to do what you do in my business

24:54

but I don't know how. I'd like to work with

24:57

you for six months so I can learn how you do it.

24:59

Plus, I'll pay extra for you to break down why

25:01

you make the decisions you do and the steps you take to make

25:03

them.

25:03

Then after I get a good idea of how it all works, I'll start

25:06

training my team on it. And once they can do it well enough, I'd

25:08

like to change to a lower cost consulting arrangement. This

25:10

way you can still help us if we run into problems. Are

25:12

you opposed to this? In

25:15

my experience, most agencies are not opposed

25:17

to this. And if it doesn't work for them, that's perfectly

25:19

fine. Just move on to the next agency.

25:21

But before you start kicking everyone to the curb, be

25:24

willing to negotiate. At some price, it's worth it

25:26

for your both. Viva capitalism.

25:28

This is how I use agencies now.

25:30

Like when I wanted to learn YouTube, I actually hired

25:33

two agencies. The first I hired to keep

25:35

me committed to making videos while they did some

25:37

legwork on the platform itself.

25:38

The second I hired, at four times the price, to

25:41

really teach us the in-depth ideas behind making

25:43

the best content possible. And once our videos

25:45

beat their videos, we drop down to consulting

25:47

only.

25:48

I've used this method again and again. I

25:50

hire one good enough agency to learn the ropes

25:52

of a new platform. Then I hire a more elite agency

25:54

to learn how to maximize it. And I cannot recommend

25:57

this strategy enough. If you are upfront about your intentions

25:59

and the agency... agrees you get the best of both worlds. You

26:02

get better short-term results because they probably know more than

26:04

you, and you get better long-term results because you

26:06

learn how to do it yourself or your team learns to do it for

26:08

you. You also spend the maximum amount of

26:10

time with their best reps.

26:12

Remember, you only get a fraction of the agency's

26:14

attention, so results get worse whenever they

26:16

get new clients. Meanwhile, your team gets better

26:18

and better because they stay focused on you full-time. So

26:21

compare your team's results with the agency's until

26:23

you beat them, then cancel the relationship and

26:25

put the money into scaling everything you just learned. Action

26:27

step. When you find an agency to work

26:30

with next step, set terms with them

26:32

and deadlines for yourself. Use the template

26:34

above as your guide and feel okay with

26:36

negotiating a bit to make it work. Author

26:39

note, yes, there's a place for agencies.

26:41

To be clear, I still own equity in

26:43

an agency software, Alan, so I'm not against

26:45

agencies. I just share how I've had the most success

26:48

with them.

26:48

Are there massive companies that use huge ad agencies?

26:51

Sure, they're not who I'm writing this for. For

26:53

most people, spending 10, 50, or $100,000

26:56

on an agency is a significant cost.

26:58

So this is how I've gotten the best return from

27:00

working with them. Also, some people never

27:03

want to learn, and for those people, agencies are great. I

27:05

personally always want to learn, which is why I use

27:07

agencies this way. How to pick the right

27:09

agency.

27:10

After working with tons of bad agencies and a handful

27:13

of good ones, I created a list of what all the good ones had

27:15

in common. Now, this isn't the last word

27:17

on what makes a good agency, but it is useful

27:19

stuff that worked for me.

27:20

Here's what I look for. One,

27:23

somebody I know got good results working with

27:25

them. If you only know about an agency from their

27:27

paid ads or cold outreach, they probably own as good as

27:29

the ones who rely solely on word of mouth, and the

27:31

best ones do. Two, prominent

27:34

companies got good results working with

27:36

them. I may not know the companies personally, but if

27:38

I recognize them, that's a good sign.

27:40

Three, a waiting list. When demand for

27:42

service exceeds the supply, they're probably pretty good.

27:44

Four, a clear sales process that makes

27:46

a point to set realistic expectations. No

27:49

funny business.

27:50

Five,

27:51

no short-term hacks. They

27:52

keep the talk on long-term strategy. They

27:54

also give clear timelines for setup, scaling,

27:57

and results.

27:57

Six, they tell me exactly what they need for

27:59

for me when they need it and how they use it. Seven,

28:03

they suggest a regular schedule of

28:05

meetings and offer several ways to update me on their

28:07

progress. Eight, they give

28:09

updates in simple terms and have clear ways to

28:11

track so I know how costs compare with results.

28:14

Nine,

28:15

they make a good offer. Dream outcome,

28:18

what is the promise that I want? Perceive likelihood

28:20

of achievement, how many other people like me have they gotten

28:22

there?

28:22

C, time delay, how long will it take? D,

28:25

effort and sacrifice, what do they require for

28:27

me to do when working with them? What

28:29

will I have to give up? Can I stick with those for a long

28:31

time?

28:33

10, they are expensive.

28:35

All good agencies are expensive, but not all

28:37

expensive agencies are good. So talk

28:39

with as many as it takes and use this list as

28:41

a guide to find the good ones.

28:43

If an agency checks those boxes, they're worth

28:45

considering.

28:46

Pro tip, talk to more agencies to

28:48

become a better customer. Being an informed customer

28:51

helps everyone. So before you buy, get informed.

28:53

Talk to five or 10 agencies to learn how they work. At

28:55

first, you'll learn a bunch of new stuff, but over time, the

28:58

difference between the better ones and the worst ones will become

29:00

obvious. Now you can make a more informed decision.

29:02

If the agency doesn't meet my needs, but I like

29:05

the people, I'll ask them to refer me to another agency.

29:07

A good agency offering one specialty will

29:09

send you to other good agencies who offer the one you want.

29:12

Those are some of my favorite referrals.

29:15

Action step,

29:16

even if an agency agrees to your terms, talk

29:18

with a few more before you make a decision.

29:20

Compare them with the checklist above and then pick

29:22

the best one for you.

29:24

Conclusion, even though this isn't the

29:26

traditional agency model, both

29:28

businesses benefit. They get a customer they otherwise

29:30

wouldn't have and we get a money-making skill for life.

29:33

In the story at the beginning of the chapter, it cost me eight

29:35

hours and $6,000 to learn a skill that's made me millions.

29:38

Does that seem worth it to you? It better. And

29:40

to make this agency method work at scale, you

29:42

have to count on a good amount of time where you

29:44

pay the agency and your team to do the same stuff.

29:47

You've got to give yourself some breathing room to get results

29:49

from the agency, learn what they do, and train your team

29:51

on it all at once. Yes, it

29:53

costs a lot of money. And yes, it's totally

29:55

worth it when you get it right.

29:57

And get it right you can.

29:58

After agencies put a-

29:59

low-level employee on my account for the millionth time,

30:02

it finally clicked.

30:03

This can't be that hard.

30:04

At first, it took me about a year to get my team better

30:06

than an agency.

30:07

As I got better, it went down to 10 months, then 8,

30:10

and now I've got it down. I can get my team as good or

30:12

better than an agency in 6 months or less. And

30:15

every time I want to learn a new method or platform, I

30:17

repeat the process.

30:18

The better you get, the cheaper it becomes, and the more money you

30:20

make. Funny, that sounds a lot like advertising.

30:23

Next steps.

30:24

Decide if using an agency makes sense for you

30:26

right now. Talk to a lot of agencies

30:28

to get a feel for the market. Don't be cheap. Use

30:31

the agreement framework I outlined. Set

30:34

a clear deadline to force you and your team to learn the skills.

30:37

Use both teams until yours beats theirs regularly.

30:41

Switch to discounted consulting until you feel like you're teaching

30:43

them instead of them teaching you, then cut them loose.

30:46

Now that we know how to profit from the high-risk world

30:48

of agencies, we explore the lead-getter that's

30:50

made me the most money. We recruit

30:52

an army of businesses who can get us even

30:54

more leads. Affiliates.

30:58

Free gift.

30:59

What to look for in an agency checklist. If you

31:01

want to know the best way to use agencies rather than being

31:03

used by them, I made a free training for you. You

31:05

can watch it free at acquisition.com forward

31:07

slash training forward slash leads.

31:09

It has swipe files and some other goodies.

31:12

I hope you enjoyed the employees

31:14

and agencies chapters from the $100M Leads book.

31:17

Next episode we have coming up is going to be affiliates

31:19

and partners. That was a huge part

31:21

of how we promoted this book. It's been one of my

31:24

unlocks. I've done over 50. No, that's

31:26

not true. I've done over $75M in

31:28

sales from affiliates and partners. Learning

31:31

how to align incentives between you, an affiliate,

31:34

and their customers to create a win-win scenario,

31:37

there's a very specific step process that

31:39

you can follow to make that happen every single time.

31:42

When you unlock that, you latch

31:44

your business onto their advertising,

31:47

and so you get hundreds and thousands of

31:49

people to advertise on your behalf. Just to give you some proof

31:51

around this, when I promoted my book, I had over 10,000 people

31:54

who promoted it with me, and they did it without

31:57

a financial incentive. You can do this stuff even

31:59

if you don't have a financial incentive. you have no budget. All

32:01

right, so that's what we're gonna be going over in the next chapter.

32:03

And if this stuff has been valuable for you, hit subscribe

32:06

so you don't miss any new stuff.