How to Jump on a Direct Path to Making Millions with Clay Clark & JT Lawson

0:01Light that spark 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 No Straight Path. Today, we'll be breaking down how to jump on a direct path to making millions, Fire Nation. To drop these value bombs, I brought Clay Clark and JT Lawson into EO Fire Studios. Clay is a father of five kids, a former US SBA Entrepreneur of the Year, and the founder of several multi-million dollar companies and the host of the Thrive Time Show podcast. And today, FarNation, we will talk about how without a proven path to follow, it is difficult to find traction.

0:38We'll talk about why nobody dressed their way to success. We'll talk about knowledge without application, will not lead you to increased compensation, and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Clay and our sponsors. Imperfect Action, hosted by Steph Taylor, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Imperfect Action is a bite-sized online marketing podcast for business owners who want to get straight to the point. Join Steph Taylor as she answers all your business marketing questions. Recent episodes include five must-knows to sell your online course, program, or membership, and four steps to grow your email list for your next launch.

1:13Listen to Imperfect Action wherever you get your podcasts. Ever thought about giving a TEDx talk? It's one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world. And four-time TEDx speaker Taylor Conroy from Thought Leader can help you get there. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire to join Taylor's free training where he teaches you how to land a TEDx talk and spread your message to millions. All right, Fire Nation, we are back and we are in for a treat because you've heard him before. Clay Clark is on the mic. He's always full of energy, full of amazingness. Many of you actually who are listening now went to one of the events that I was able to speak at in Tulsa, Oklahoma last year that was a blast.

1:55And so if you get an opportunity in the future, make sure that you jump on that. We may have something to announce in the near term future on that line. So keep your finger on the pulse. And as always, we're bringing somebody else onto the mic who works with Clay, who is being coached by Clay and his team and is having massive success as a result. And I can tell you, this is going to be fun. We have JT Lawson on the mic. And JT, Yeah, I want you to jump on first here and to just give us a quick rundown about how you first met Clay and how this has all worked out. And, you know, before we move any further, what's the deal there?

2:32Yeah, well, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad and my mind was blown. So I realized I had to get different people in my life that weren't just employees. And so I asked my I was working at Score B-ball at the time and Clay was coaching them. And I asked them if I could go to one of his business conferences and they said yes. then I went after that I asked clay and I asked my boss if I could go work for clay and learn from him and that's what I did I worked for clay from 6 a.m to 3 p.m and then I would leave and go work at the gym from uh 4 p.m to 9 p.m and I was doing that about five days a week and then on Saturdays I would also go to the gym and train kids and for a little bit there on Sundays I was delivering for Amazon so that's what I was doing.

3:14Fire Nation don't you just love stories like this by the way I mean, these stories to me are so inspiring. I mean, a few years ago, we actually had Stephanie join Clay on the mic, and she was literally on her hands and knees cleaning a toilet, listening to entrepreneurs on fire. Clay's words spoke to her. She joined the coaching program, and then we talked about the business success that she had as a result. I love that story. And this is one of those too, Fire Nation, where if you take action and you move forward and surround yourself with the right people, good things can happen. So Clay, jump on the mic, brother, because we're talking about being on a direct path to making millions.

3:50We have a great conversation today, and I want you to say hello. Hey, well, I'm excited to be here with you. I'll tell you just part two of that Stephanie story. She grew her business, Serene Clean, by 1 ,462%. And on Next Level, Serene Clean, that's the website. Look it up, folks. Stephanie did a great job there, wonderful lady. And, you know, so I'm working with this client called scorebball.com. He's paying me, Coach Calvert, to grow his business. And he reaches out to me and he says, hey, one of my employees would like to work for you in the mornings, I guess, before he works for me. So he's going to have like a 16-hour workday.

4:24Are you okay with that? And I go, yeah, because I love mentoring people and teaching them how to become millionaires. I love it, but very, very rarely does someone actually ask me how to become a millionaire. People like to ask me, well, how did you buy your first house? Or how did you become debt-free? or how did you buy a lake house or how did you buy land? But there's very little of, you know, how do you go from here to there? And I'll just give people a notable quotable from Brian Tracy, the bestselling author. He says, no one lives long enough to learn everything they need to learn starting from scratch.

4:54To be successful, we must absolutely have, he says, we absolutely positively have to find people who've already paid the price to learn the things that we need to learn to achieve our goals. And so when I was talking to JT, I was kind of picturing myself, I used to work at Applebee's, Target, and DirecTV. That was my get-rich-quick scheme, working at Applebee's, Target, and DirecTV in order to buy the$30 ,000 of equipment needed to start my first big company called DJConnection.com. And so when he said, can I come intern? I'm going, hey, man, because I like to teach people how to grow successful companies.

5:31And if anybody goes to Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire, Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire, you're going to find there are, at this point, dozens of EO Fire listeners who've gone from a floundering or a struggling business into a multi-million dollar success story. And you can see them right there at Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire. And Fire Nation, that quote by Brian Tracy is fire. To me, it's just a longer way of saying that we're all standing upon the shoulders of giants. We are. Myself, Clay, we are standing upon the shoulders of giants. Now, Fire Nation, it's your turn to stand on our shoulders.

6:13We will prop you up. We will hold you up to get to that next level. And one of those is a three-legged marketing stool. Clay, do you want to talk about that? Yeah, I do. And I want to be very clear so your listeners can do a little research and verify that I'm not a hologram. This is big, okay? One of my longtime clients is called Oxifresh. You can look them up, oxifresh.com. They have over 500 locations, oxifresh.com. Well, the reason why I only work with one carpet cleaner in America is every time that you buy a franchise, I make$5 ,000. So am I motivated for you to buy a franchise? Oh, yeah.

6:42Is it a great idea? Yes, it is. But the thing is, a lot of businesses, I only work with one client in the whole nation. Now, in the field of dog training, I'm able to work with multiple people because I don't have an exclusive agreement signed with a dog trainer. And so JT says, hey, listen, I'm going to be moving back to Tulsa from Nashville, and I'd like to open up my own dog business right in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Can you show me how to grow this thing? And so I always go back to the same moves, and if you're out there and you want to become a client, I'll walk you through these same moves, okay?

7:15But you have to have a three-legged marketing stool. So I want everybody homework right now. Get out a sheet of paper and write down who are your ideal and likely buyers. So JT, rapid fire here. Who are your ideal and likely buyers for MakeYourDogEpic.com? Anyone who has a dog, typically moms over 30 before like 60. Soccer moms are calling you. They're probably wearing Lululemon pants. They're calling you. They're eating their fresh avocados from Whole Foods, and they want you to train their dog. So that's who you're marketing to. So now you say, what's the most effective way, not the only way, but the most effective way to reach these soccer moms?

7:50And the three-legged marketing stool, a balanced approach to marketing, is this for MakeYourDogEpic.com. And for all the dog trainers out there, take notes. One, you've got to dominate the search engines. Two, you've got to make sure that every dog groomer and dog enthusiast, every kind of veterinarian, they refer you. So that's called the Dream 100. I didn't invent that system. That's a Chet Holmes system, the best-selling author of The Ultimate Sales Machine. May he rest in peace. It's called the Dream 100 system. And then the third is we need to do consistent social media advertising so that every time someone Googles, every time someone goes to Facebook, every time they go to Instagram, they find MakeYourDogEpic.com.

8:28So again, the recap, search engine optimization, Dream 100 marketing, and consistent social media advertising. And by doing that, it's, to quote Forrest Gump, one less thing to think about. And what it does is it becomes a system where you don't have to think about it. So JT, your phone is blowing up every day. Am I correct? Yeah, absolutely. Yep, blowing up. And that's because we have that and we're doing the Dream 100. We're basically at the top of Google right now and then we're doing consistent advertisement. One thing I'll also say that you're so good at, Clay, is helping people coming up with their irresistible offer.

9:00And I'm on the website right now and we're talking Fire Nation. Literally, schedule your first lesson and assessment, not for$50, not for$5, for 50 cents. Talk about an irresistible offer. Like that is such a key thing. So Clay, back to you. Dude, listen to this. I have three dogs. And when I hear JT tell people what's included in their first, because people go to MakeYourDogEpic.com and they're expecting to pay$2 ,500 for a dog training or$5 ,000 or they're expecting a huge total. And he gets on the phone and every single time, because his desk is right by mine, every time he tells somebody about the no-brainer offer, it is so hot, it burns my retina and gets me emotional.

9:41So I'll let JT tell you as I attempt to not cry. Yeah, so here's the multiple things. So first lesson is 50 cents. That way we can come out. We can see the dog. We can tell you what it will take to get your dog to your goals. After that, we will beat any competitor's price. After that, we offer a money-back guarantee. So it's us putting our money where our mouth is. We're also the top in Google. So we're the highest rated and most reviewed dog trainer in the area. And then after that, they also get group class forever. So for the rest of their dog's life, they get two free classes a week. That way we are there for the rest of their life.

10:12So it's just multiple no-brainer. Think about that. He'll beat anyone's price. The first lesson is 50 cents. Money back guarantee. Fastest turnaround time. Dog training for the rest of the dog's life. And anybody who schedules with him, he gives them a chance to win a dream vacation to Hawaii. And he gives it away every January. Oh, yeah. Now, this is what's crazy. He's an employee working for one of my longtime clients called scorebball.com. He goes to his boss. Boss, can I learn from Clay? Can I intern for free? You know how many people ask me that question every year? Zero. I think how many people ask me that question every decade?

10:46Three. It's usually every three years, JLD. Somebody restores my hope in humanity, and they say, can I intern? Next thing you know, this guy's got a six-figure earning business. He's got a rental property. His business is blowing up, and if you're out there today, I want to encourage you that you have the tenacity, the capacity, and the skill set to become successful. I don't know who I'm talking to, but I'm talking to you. Someone says, is he talking to me? Yes, and someone says, why is he talking so loud? because I am passionate about you achieving massive success. Success is a lot of fun. And if you've had success, you want to bring success to other people.

11:24You want to share the gospel of wealth. And I encourage everybody out there, write it down right now in your man book, in your woman book, in your journal. Write it down that today is the day that you will escape the poverty cycle. Today is the day you will become successful. Fire Nation, is there any question in your mind why I bring Clay on Entrepreneurs on Fire every three months. I mean, every one of these episodes is absolute fire. So much actionable content with an amazing person. In this case, it's JT, who's talking about real success that they've had from following a real process that really works.

11:56And this is exciting stuff, Fire Nation. And we have more to talk about when we get back from thanking our sponsors. I remember searching for the perfect CRM when I first launched Entrepreneurs on Fire. And it's tough to know which platform is going to be right for you and your business. Being in major startup mode, I wanted to choose a CRM that could keep up with my big growth goals. If this sounds like you, then take it from me, from marketing and sales to supporting content to everything in between. HubSpot's all-on-one customer platform has startups covered. And with the HubSpot for Startups program, you can save 30 % to 90 % on a platform that scales right along with you, increase leads, boost revenue, improve your customer experience.

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13:42Visit fieldofgreens.com and use promo code FIRE. That's promo code FIRE at fieldofgreens.com. Fieldofgreens.com. Do you have a message inside that you know is meant to be shared with the world? Giving a TEDx talk is one of the most powerful ways to share your message with the world, and Thought Leader can help you get there. Thought Leader is a speaker coaching company that has helped over 550 and counting coaches, speakers, entrepreneurs, authors, and experts land TEDxTalks. Thought Leader is not affiliated with TED or TEDx, but they're able to get these results because their founder, Taylor Conroy, is a four-time TEDx speaker himself and past EO Fire guest.

14:22You might be thinking a TEDxTalk sounds great, but where do you start? Taylor has put together a free training that's going to teach you how to land a TEDxTalk in as little as 90 days. join Taylor to learn exactly what TEDx organizers are looking for in their speakers, how to write a talk that goes viral once it goes online, and more. Visit thought-leader.com slash fire. Join Taylor for this free training and get your message out of your head, out of your heart, and out into the world where it belongs. That's thought-leader.com slash fire. Clay JT, we are back. And one thing that I know, Clay, from following you and from being at your conferences and reading your book is that knowledge without application is not going to lead to increased compensation.

15:06Talk about this. Well, what happened is when JT reached out to me, you know, I don't spend a lot of time talking about my theories. I happen to be a Christian. I happen to be a libertarian, but I don't spend a lot of my time there. I spend my time focusing on what are the practical skills that you need to learn to earn the amount of money that you want to earn. So as it relates to marketing, I had to teach him a system called Vism, okay? Vism. And if you're out there today and you own a small business, write this down. Vism, V-I-S-M. Where there is no vism, the people perish. Now, the Bible says, Proverbs 29, 18, where there is no vision, the people perish.

15:40But again, where there is no vism, your marketing will perish. V-I-S-M. So V, he's got to get video reviews from clients that don't hate him. Every time he successfully trains a dog, he has to get a video review from happy customers. I, he's got to gather images of white fang, cujo, dogs, the chihuahua from all the, Taco Bell commercials. Every time he trains a dog, he needs to get a photo of that happy dog. Third, search engine. This guy faithfully records a podcast virtually every single day and transcribes it so he ranks top in Google. And M, he has to get more reviews. How many reviews? Never enough reviews.

16:16And you know why? Because my good friend, Michael Levine, who was the former PR – think about this, folks. He was the PR consultant of choice for Michael Jackson, Prince, and Nike at the same time. His clients were Nike, Prince, Michael Jackson. Look him up. Don't believe me. Michael Levine. And he says if you give someone a present and you give it to them in a Tiffany box, it's likely that they'll believe that the gift has a higher perceived value than if you gave it to them in no box or a box of less prestige. That's not because the receiver of the gift is a fool, but instead because we live in a culture in which we gift wrap everything, our politicians, our corporate heads, our movie and TV stars, and even our toilet paper.

16:57So people are going to look you up right now. Everyone is going to go to thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire. It's going to happen. Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire. It's like a tractor beam pulling you in. Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire. You're going to go there, and what you're going to do is you're going to have a first impression. Nothing can stop you from doing this. You're going to have a first impression, and you're going to look at the reviews, and if the reviews seem real and seem realistic, like Stephanie from Serene Clean or JT Lawson. By the way, JT wrote a book about his journey called It's JTLawson.com.

17:26But if they look real and you read the Google reviews and you watch the video reviews, at a certain point you go, wow, this dog trainer must know his stuff because puffery is where you make a claim, right? Puffery is where you make a claim, but when you can back it with facts and you can support what you're saying with truth, it really is an incredible thing. Now, that's just one-fourteenth of what we teach our business coaching clients. We're just talking about branding, and I'm already getting sweaty, folks. I'm telling you, this is the kind of training that people don't receive anywhere else.

17:59And I mean this. If you go to JTLawson.com, JT called me and he said, hey, I think I want to write a book to document what I have learned. And if you go to JTlawson.com, I'm doing this special for your listeners there, JLD. If any of your listeners buy a copy of his book at JTlawson.com, they are entered in for a chance to win a dream vacation to Hawaii. Anybody who buys that book is my way to kind of pay that forward. And he's already having thousands of people every month visiting that website. People are buying that book. And I'm telling you, folks, branding is so important. Fire Nation, branding is everything.

18:36And you can tell that Clay understands this. And if you go to that website that I mentioned and you see that for 50 cents, you're going to be able to get your dog assessed and they're going to come out and they're going to beat any possible offer by a competition and they're going to give you a money back guarantee. I mean, think about these things. I mean, this is unbelievable. And you go to that website and you're like, wow, there's branding. I get it. I see it. Everything's clear. The calls to action are there. JT, obviously, Clay has made a big impact in your life, in your business. pull one of the top things out of the myriad of things that he's done for you that you want to talk about with Fire Nation right now.

19:13Yeah, well, one of the things is you will never drift to success. So you're either going to live the life you design or you're going to live the life you don't by default. So you always have to have your F6 goals. So what is that? Faith, family, finance, fitness, fun, and friendships. And you have to have that or you're going to start to drift in one of those places. So that's why you see these super jacked guys who have no money. or you see these super wealthy people who aren't in shape, and you have to have those goals or else you'll start to drift. And that's huge because my goals now, I didn't even know were possible.

19:46Fire Nation, this is the F6 podcast right there. I mean, if there's one thing that we can sum up that you and your life need to focus on, it's those things. And then circling back to you, Clay, because you have created this empire. You've created this 160 clientele that you have. You created this team that I got to meet in Tulsa, Oklahoma, these multiple events you're doing every single year. Take us home, Clay. Let's really hear the way that you want to end this episode on fire. Chet Holmes, again, may he rest in peace. He once said, he said, the missing ingredient for nearly all of the 1 ,000 plus clients that he'd worked with directly to improve their businesses is pigheaded discipline and determination.

20:27And I think a lot of people, they say, well, I'm just not good at accounting. I'm not good at marketing. I'm just not good at sales. I'm not good at leading a team. I don't know how to make an org chart. I don't know how to make a workflow. I didn't go to college for that. I've never done a podcast. I have no idea how to hire people. I would have no idea how to fire someone. What do I do? And that's why our one-on-one business coaching program is turnkey end to end. We don't just focus on accounting, and we don't just focus on marketing. We focus on all 14 aspects of your business. And because our average client is with us for over six years, so when you go to PMHOKC.com, You're going to see we grew this guy's business from$1 million to$18 million a year of business in three years.

21:05When you go to shahomes.com, shahomes.com, I'm always citing my sources. This guy went from$16 million a year to over$150 million a year of sales, shahomes.com. And I've got thousands of success stories, but you do the math. If the average client is with us for six years or longer, that means we have about one opening every 90 days or so. So if you're out there today and you want to schedule a free consultation, go to EO Fire. Go to Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire. Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire. Or if you want to attend one of our in-person workshops, you can go to Thrivetimeshow.com forward slash EO Fire.

21:39And also, if you're out there and you're in a tight spot, I grew up poor, you can actually name your price to attend our in-person business workshops. So if you're stuck in a rut and you're in a tight spot financially, if you have the mental capacity needed to get to Tulsa, Oklahoma, you can attend these events at my office. That's ThriveTimeShow.com forward slash EO Fire. JT, we talked about a lot today. You gave us those great takeaways at the end there, the F6, et cetera. What is the one thing that you want to make sure our listeners get from our conversation today? day. One of the big things people need to get from this is that I am under the understanding to have what other people have.

22:17You have to be willing to do what they did to get it. So take you, for instance, you had to do podcasts every single day and you did a ton of stuff to be able to live the life you're now living. Same with Clay and same with anyone. And the quickest way to change your life is to surround yourself by people who are doing what you want to do. So and then you have to be not just that, not just surround yourself, but also be humble enough and coachable enough to take what they're telling you and implement what they're doing and not be an ask hole. So what do you say? I said an ask hole. So that's when you're asking people for information, but you're not actually implementing it.

22:48So you have to ask for it and then implement it as well. I love the word humble. You said it. I want to repeat it. Fire Nation, be humble, be happy. And Clay, the mic is yours. Take us home. Yeah, I'll just say this. I grew up without money, built a lot of success. My wife and I really enjoy the life we live here with our five kids today. And what I found is when I got to the top of, let's say, Mount Success, for me, it was when I was in a limousine driving to the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce to receive my Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2007 from the Small Business Administration. There were thousands and thousands of entrepreneurs considered, and I received Oklahoma's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the SBA.

23:26And everybody wanted to be my friend, and everybody wanted to know how to grow a successful company. But it was very rare that somebody was actually serious when they asked those questions. And I told my wife, I'm very passionate about helping people that are serious about success. If you're looking for like an epidermis surface level conversation, I don't know that I'm the guy for you. But if you're somebody that actually wants to grow your real business by selling real products to real customers in exchange for a real profit, that's what we do. And that's why I faithfully advertise our conferences on your program there.