From $673 to $100 Million: The Social Dynamic Selling System with Rylee Meek: An EOFire Classic from 2020

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Marketing Against the Grain. Today, we're pulling a timeless EO Fire episode from the archives, so the giveaway may not be active. And we'll be breaking down how to go from 673 to$100 million, the social dynamic selling system. To drop these value bombs, I have brought Riley Meek. Riley is the founder and CEO of the Social Dynamic Selling System, which turns dinner seminar marketing into a science.

0:37Starting with just$673 in his bank account, Riley went on to produce over$100 million in sales in over nine years. Today, Fire Nation will talk about how action brings clarity, how the key component is to have a consistently predictable lead generation system funneling into your business, how to create one, and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Riley and our sponsors. Business Made Simple, hosted by Donald Miller, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Business Made Simple takes the mystery out of growing your business with episodes like how to get out of your day-to-day operations without crashing your business.

1:17Listen to Business Made Simple wherever you get your podcasts. Is this your year? Visit thrivetimeshow.com to see testimonials of how Clay Clark's business coaching has helped over 2 ,000 entrepreneurs to dramatically increase profitability. It's month to month and less money than an average minimum wage employee. Schedule your free consultation today at thrivetimeshow.com. Riley, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know. Hey, what's up, Fire Nation? Pumped to be on here. Something interesting about me. Man, when I was 19 years old, I had recently moved from South Dakota up to Minnesota.

2:04And I was young and dumb, but looking hungry for an opportunity. I actually caught a flight to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, literally the exact opposite side of the world. And I flew over there on my own, knowing nobody over there. I communicated with a couple of people here in the States that were also going to be flying and spending a couple of months over there. But I flew over there. I had a complete panic attack. I had a 13 hour layover in Singapore. I finally did get to Kuala Lumpur, but within the day, I was on a flight back with a tail between my legs back to Minnesota. Well, a couple of questions.

2:43What was that initial cause for the panic attack? And why were you going in the first place? Like, what was the initial goal? Initial goal was a business opportunity. They were opening up operations in Malaysia. So it was the opportunity to gain. Right. It was, you know, I was young and dumb. But I was eager. I'm the kind of guy that will jump out the airplane and then figure out how to build the parachute on the way down. But then the panic attack came because you're like, oh, I don't want to actually move halfway around the world. Prior to this, I had hardly ever even been out of the country.

3:16And it would have been to the Bahamas, maybe. So it was, let alone going to a country with, I don't know the language. I didn't even like the food. You know, it was just like that, you know, once that snowball effect, you just, it starts to bad thought, bad thought, bad thought. And I was like, oh my gosh, I'm freaking out and calling my parents begging to buy me a flight back home. Well, you can tell Fire Nation, we are going to have a lot of fun on today's episode because Riley has lived life. I love that phrase, fortune favors the bold. And you know, even if you become a little meek afterwards, you know, at least you still took that initial jump to kind of have that story and to kind of expand your horizons.

3:55As I shared Fire Nation in the introduction, we're going to be talking all about how Riley went from$673 to$100 million, focusing on the social dynamic selling system. What the heck is social dynamic selling, Riley? Yeah, so social dynamic selling, essentially at the core of it, it is selling to groups of people, one to many, in the form of dinner seminars. We've really perfected the dinner seminar marketing and sales model over the last decade. And it's unique because everything that I've had known in sales prior to doing this was always just selling one-on-one. You'd sit down with somebody and present your products or services and try to convince them to take action.

4:42And it's a definite different format, a different way to go about it when you're selling to groups of people. But it's a phenomenal way to leverage not only your time, certainly, but even your marketing dollars. And I think that's what's really allowed us to scale so quickly. And from, like you said,$673 to over$100 million over the last nine years now is because we're able to speak to multiple people at once versus just a typical one-on-one presentation. I got to be honest, Fire Nation. I mean, this selling one-to-many, this delivering one-to-many, it's just such an amazing opportunity of the world that we live in.

5:27I mean, frankly, would podcasting exist if I just got on the mic with Riley and just him and I talking? It'd be a great conversation, but that's just one-to-one. But now that our conversation can literally be one-to-one, but then having the listeners to having Fire Nation be listening and having this one-to-many education, knowledge shared, just this expanding of the universe, that's the power. And we can take advantage of that both in virtual and in in-person settings. And now I love the fact that you're talking about, you know, how you've done this kind of in a dinner format. So kind of expound upon that a little bit more and then show us why this works so gosh darn well.

6:04Yeah, man, absolutely. So we use the dinner format for a number of reasons. Number one, I think there's just something special about breaking bread with somebody, just that relationship that you're building and that exchange and conversation that you can have. But we also use it to our advantage of getting them to show up. And I really call it like more what we do is we fish with corndogs. And what I really mean by that is, you know, there's not a fish in nature that could sustain a quality life on corndogs, right? If that was their only diet, they're going to be malnourished and ultimately die.

6:41But if you put a corndog on a hook and you throw it in the lake, there's not a fish that isn't going to bite that hook, right? And so we fish with corn dogs by offering a free steak dinner or a chicken dinner or whatever it is, because there needs to be a premium to get them to actually show up and listen to what you have to say and offer. So once we hook them and we get them in the boat, so to say, now it's the presenter or the sales rep, whoever it is that's talking. Now it's up to them to feed them, to nourish them, and then ultimately convert them to a client or a customer. So I think it works so well just because, you know, we're from a marketing standpoint, we're getting people there utilizing that premium of offering a dinner seminar, a free dinner, essentially.

7:30But then once they're there, they're in your I call it like it's your circus. And now you're you're the ringleader. Right. And so the whole point of doing this format is not to rush to the back of the room and buy this forty eight dollar real estate course or whatever it is. it's more about the good old know, like, and trust. We've established you as the authoritative figure, the expert in your industry. And now we take people through an emotional journey on the presentation that we teach and get them to, by the end of it, they're going to know you, right? Hopefully they like you because you're a nice enough person.

8:10And then ultimately they trust you because people want to do business with those that they trust. And we do this by offering the law of reciprocity is in place. We're buying them a nice free dinner. We're educating them. We're providing tremendous value. And then at the end, it's simply asking for that next follow-up appointment. If you did a compelling enough job, they're going to just naturally want to give you the time to present price or talk about the proposal or whatever it is that the product or service that you're actually selling? There are things, Fire Nation, that human beings will always resonate with.

8:46Telling stories around a fireplace. We all have great memories from that. Breaking bread together. I mean, this is something that we as humans have been doing for 70 ,000 years. And what are these things doing? Like, what are these activities resulting in? Building know, like, and trust. That law of reciprocity that Riley was talking about, that is real, Fire Nation. that is R-E-A-L, real. The law of reciprocity is so real when you use it in the right manner. So Riley, without going on too long of a rant, let's keep this next part really tight because I have a lot that I wanna get to today. But give us just like a really quick abbreviated example of one of these dinners you've given, what it looked like, how you got people there, what the dinner itself was, and then what that offer at the end was, you know, what that next step was.

9:34Sure, man, I'll try to keep it short. it. So dependent upon the product or service, we always start with the end in mind on like, who are we trying to attract? Who is our true client avatar? And then what source of media can we use to attract them? We do a lot of direct mail. A lot of people think that's dead, but it is alive more than ever. I look at every piece of mail that I get. It's just an honest thing. Like when you have a mailbox and you go out to your mailbox, yeah, there's junk mail and you throw it away, but you look at that mail. I mean, I have now my inbox set up, like my email inbox, Riley, where like everything goes to spam.

10:11I don't even see those things. You know, at least I see that direct mail. So I'm with you. I mean, Fire Nation, don't count out these things like test, test, test. Absolutely. True marketers test everything. And in direct mail being, it's just an uncluttered, a less cluttered platform versus just email or other campaigns. And it's, you know, undisruptive. A lot of times when you're getting pop-ups and things like that, it's like they're disrupting your behavior. When you go to get the mail, you're looking at it. That's specifically what you're doing and why we get such a better response rate when we're using that.

10:43So first off, it's getting them to respond with any campaign, whether it is mail or Facebook or whatever. We're getting them to respond. They're calling into RSVP. We are certainly following up to confirm prior to the event. They show up at the event. You've already been there. You've got the room set up specifically. So everybody's facing forward. You've already talked with the wait staff on timing of when to have the dinner come on out. So there's no interruptions because that's a key component to keep people's attention. And then we deliver the presentation. And after the dinner, I like to have dinner come on out about 45 minutes into the presentation so people aren't getting grumpy and growling stomachs.

11:30And then you can have dinner with them and then you finalize by asking for that follow-up appointment that evening or the next day, creating sense of urgency because people need a reason to make decisions. I love that actual phrase, Fire Nation, So really let that sink in and absorb it. People need a reason to make decisions. You need to be giving them that reason. Like always think about that when you're creating your hook, your offer, your funnel. I mean, those words are so wise. And if you think we're even close to being finished dropping value bombs, Fire Nation, we have a lot of surprises in store for you.

12:06As soon as we get back from thanking our sponsors. We all want the same things for our business. more leads, faster sales, and better insights so we can serve our customers at the highest level. One thing we all don't want, to waste time and money trying to figure these things out. So what's the solution? A CRM that's easy to set up and customize sounds too good to be true, right? But this CRM exists and it's called HubSpot. What sets HubSpot apart is it's easy to use and integrate instead of wasting days or even months trying to figure everything out. HubSpot gives you tools like their AI content assistant, which helps you save time on tedious manual tasks right away.

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13:18At thrivetimeshow.com, see testimonials of how Clay Clark's proven business coaching has helped over 2 ,000 clients to increase profitability dramatically. Clay's proven business coaching program is month-to-month and less money than hiring a minimum wage employee. Sound too good to be true? Go to thrivetimeshow.com to see over 2 ,000 documented success stories. Because Clay only takes on 160 clients, he personally designs your business plan for you. Then Clay's team of talented designers, videographers, web developers, workflow mappers, and accounting coaches will help you implement that proven plan.

13:50See over 2 ,000 Verify Success Stories and schedule your free 101 13-point assessment with Mr. Clay Clark himself today at Thrivetimeshow.com. Knowledge will not attract money unless it is organized and directed through practical plans of action. become the next success story. Schedule your free 13-point assessment today at thrivetimeshow.com. So Riley, we're back. And before the break, we're kind of teasing about some really cool things. We're going to be chatting about some surprises that we're going to reveal for the rest of this episode. And some things that you are pretty passionate about and also good at doing are creating predictable, sustainable, and scalable operations.

14:32So talk about that. What do you mean with those three words? This was key because early on, I was always selling one to one. And I was just that constant feast and famine type lifestyle of where my next lead is going to come from, where my next sale is going to come from. And it's just, I mean, if you're in sales, you get it. Like if you don't have a consistent, predictable lead generation system funneling into your business, you're dying, right? So that was a key component to me. And I wanted it to be able to not just call upon friends and family and things like that. It's like I want to drive cold traffic.

15:09I want to speak to people that have no clue who I am. And I know that we have this down to a science now really because of all the measurables that we have within any of our campaign where we can create predictable revenue by literally throwing a dart at the map and finding a town or city in a local restaurant. and buying the data, the list of the people that we're trying to attract, and then crafting that message, that invitation to get them to take action. And so I know in all of our campaigns, our goal is always to have a 300 % ROI with what you're going to spend on marketing and dinner. We want to be able to create a 300 % ROI.

15:51And we're able to do that by always starting with the end in mind. So that's the predictable portion of it. It's like if I go to the casino and I, for every third quarter that I put into the slot machine, I'm going to get a dollar back. I'm going to, I'm never going to not do that. Right. Like I'm just going to keep pumping those quarters in there because I'm getting that return on investment. And you know that, and that's really the sustainable portion of it. Our goal, like most of our, our clients or customers, even my own companies right now, we're hosting events every single week. I have over 20 sales reps that are hosting events every single week.

16:28So it's sustainable in that aspect. Sure, you may have some better weeks than others from a sales standpoint, but it's sustainable because the numbers always work out. And then really the scalable portion of it is, like I said, I could throw a dart on a map and have a live audience ready, eager to listen to what I have to say regardless of if I have any brand or recognition or anything like that. And that's really how I was able to take my first company from zero to two million within our first six months to over 12 million that year by starting with just me, 673 bucks to 26 sales guys across 38 states.

17:08And that's why it's scalable from that standpoint. Fire Nation, in sales, your pipeline is everything. Your pipeline is your lifeline. So you need to always be doing things to stack and to front load that pipeline. And I love that phrase that Riley used, Fire Nation. I really hope you caught that because, man, how exciting is that if you could say this for yourself, that I could throw a dart on a map and have an eager and willing audience ready and waiting for me. I mean, what a powerful piece of knowledge to have. I mean, how much confidence would just that just feel like for you to have that kind of knowledge that, hey, I could go to Boise, Idaho.

17:54I could go to Tallahassee. I could go to Savannah, Georgia. And within a week, I could have an eager and willing audience who is ready to have me share with them some value so I could build that know, like, and trust and then take them to that next level. So what I really want to move into next, Riley, because frankly, a lot of people listen to these type of episodes and they hear your success story from$673 to 100 million plus. And they're just like, well, that works for Riley in his industry, but that would never work in my industry. So what different industries have you worked in? What would you say to that person as well that says this might not work for my industry?

18:35Everybody's probably heard of this concept, dinner seminars, you have financial advisors, attorneys, they've been doing it for years. And so I don't, I can't say that I've created or invented anything here, right? But what we've, what we've perfected is the process for marketing to the actual sale and even the follow-up. And we've done this personally, you know, I always, I hate that, that, that comment that those who can't teach, like that's definitely not the case because I've started seven different businesses, seven different industries, and taken them to seven and even eight figures on a couple of them within the first year of this.

19:11And those industries are all over the board, medical, dental, cosmetic surgeries, home remodeling, construction, investment clubs, like subscription-based products, like home warranties, things like that. So it's really all across the board. The product is irrelevant. And that's when I had that realization. The product's irrelevant. What works is the system. And if you can have that predictable, sustainable, scalable selling system, I mean, you do need to have a, if you are selling a$48 widget with no additional lifetime value to your customer, this probably isn't the best format for marketing for you.

19:53I'd be the first to tell you that. We need to have a decent amount of profit margin, probably at least of a thousand bucks or more to really make this work to get that proper ROI. But if you have that, your product is irrelevant. We can create a compelling story to take people on that emotional journey to ultimately make that buying decision. Let's break this down right now because a lot of people, they say that the only thing that matters in business is sales. So let's talk about product. Let's talk about service. Do those things also matter? Absolutely. I mean, to an extent, like I said, just the product or service is irrelevant in what you have or offer, right?

20:33We need that profit margin to be high enough to have a proper return on investment. And that's why we always start out with a strategy call with our clients to make that determination rather than just you throwing money against the wall and hoping it sticks. We want to make sure that this actually makes sense. And if not, we can at least direct you to the right source of what a proper marketing format would be for you. But again, if your product or service, you have at least a profit margin of$1 ,000 or more, we can, without a doubt, put together a campaign that would make sense based upon what you have to offer.

21:12So, Riley, you've shared a lot of value throughout this entire episode. What's one thing that you really want to make sure Fire Nation gets that we walk away with from everything that we've talked about today? What is that one single value bomb? With action comes clarity. and if you're just sitting back hoping that the phone's going to ring, hoping that, you know, someone's going to find you online, it isn't going to happen, right? And if it does, it's probably a bad thing because then you're going to expect that to continue to happen. You need to have a continual source of leads coming into your business because if you build it, you can have the greatest product and service in the world, but if nobody knows about it, if you build it, they do not come.

21:57You have to have a system in place to generate that steady stream of not only leads, but ultimately sales to continue to drive your business. With action comes clarity. Fire Nation, with action comes clarity because with action, then guess what? You're going to get feedback. You're going to get people sharing with you their thoughts, what they like, what they dislike. You can pivot, adjust, improve, because now you actually have clarity on what your ideal customer wants. So Riley, what do you have for us today? How can we find out more about you? How can we consume more of your content? If you have any gift for Fire Nation, now's the time.

22:35Yeah, man, I do. So I've written a book actually called Food for Thought, how to use dinner seminar marketing to grow your business in ways you never thought possible. It's for sale on Amazon. It's an Amazon bestseller now. But what I've done is put this in an electronic version. And my marketing guy was like, are you sure you want to do this? But I put it in an electronic version, and we're offering it for free. It's not like the gimmicky free plus shipping thing. This is going to be for free. If you just go to socialdynamicselling.com forward slash fire, of course. So socialdynamicselling.com forward slash fire.

23:15We'll email you over. the full electronic version of the entire book. It lays out the marketing campaign, the entire process, six different steps that we take our clients through is all laid out within this book. Fire Nation, you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. And you've been hanging out with RM and JLD today. So keep up that heat. And if you head over to eofire.com and type Riley, R-Y-L-E-E in the search bar, his show notes page will pop right up with everything we've talked about today, links to everything. But remember, your direct call to action, Fire Nation, is to go ahead and snag that incredibly generous free gift, Food for Thought, over at socialdynamicselling.com slash fire.

24:03Get over there, Fire Nation. Take advantage of these wonderful free gifts that people like Riley, who he's put all of his energy, time, experience into a book like this. I mean, this is why these kind of compilations of knowledge are so powerful. Why it's literally pressing the fast forward button because you're taking all of his lessons learned, all of his mistakes and the failures and the adjustments he made as a result and the lessons he learned and you're gonna need to consume it in one concise direct format, socialdynamicselling.com slash fire. Riley, thank you brother for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today.

24:38For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Hey, Fire Nation, today's value bomb content was brought to you by Riley and successful entrepreneurs. They accomplish big goals. And that's why I created the Freedom Journal to guide you in accomplishing your number one goal in just 100 days, Fire Nation. And we are talking step by step guidance. Visit thefreedomjournal.com. Use promo code podcast for a$15 discount as a thank you for listening to my podcast and I'll catch you there or I'll catch you on the flip side. Business Made Simple, hosted by Donald Miller, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals.

25:22Business Made Simple takes the mystery out of growing your business with episodes like how to get out of your day-to-day operations without crashing your business. Listen to Business Made Simple wherever you get your podcasts. Is this your year? Visit Thrivetimeshow.com to see testimonials of how Clay Clark's business coaching has helped over 2 ,000 entrepreneurs to dramatically increase profitability. It's month to month and less money than an average minimum wage employee. Schedule your free consultation today at Thrivetimeshow.com.