Why Sales is Just Bad Marketing

27:02let me say, this is what he said. He goes, fine. Yes. New revenue does solve everything. and that's really why I want to spend time on marketing. You know, when I look around and look at everybody's face, actually let me ask this question. How many people here plan on retiring within 10 years? Real quick, not because you're going to crush it and you're the Messiah, but because you're old and you're finished. Raise your hands. Raise it high. Raise it high. Own it. Own it. I see half hands. Go high. Right, so for the six of you,

27:43for the six of you, for the six of you, you know, a 10-year window, you know, the world changes fast and slow. Right? The world changes fast and slow. But for the 98 % of the people in this room, when I think about how business people make their business decisions in a B2B environment, the evolution of the tactics needed in marketing and sales over the next 10 years are staggering. You know, let's call a spade a spade. The majority of people in here are sales organizations, not marketing organizations. You're in the sales business. Call, call, eh. When the reality is, is if you actually spent 25 hours on my very subtle quick mention on LinkedIn, and when I say 25 hours, it's the same 25 hours I spent in December and January learning about NFTs.

28:35Right? If you've seen what's happened in that space, in 90 days, I've done$91 million in revenue on my VFriends NFT launch. The first 51 million I kept, which was in one week, the next 40, I've gotten a 10 % royalty on every transaction. Last night, while I was sleeping, I made$246 ,000 on the royalties of people selling my NFTs to each other. I didn't know what an NFT was nine months ago but what I did when I understood something was brewing is in the height of my busyness when I have a trillion things going on while I'm trying to navigate nine billion other businesses I just spent 50 hours learning what NFTs were so when I talk about the thing I'm about to talk about I never understand why I know 98 % of you are not gonna spend 25 hours trying to master LinkedIn ads.

29:37I never understand it. Now, I do understand it. It might be predicated on lack of revenue needs. You just might be content and complacent. I don't even judge that. I think people have me very confused as a character on the internet. I don't think you need to go crush it and go harder and never sleep. Do you? I don't give a shit. I just don't like when people say something and don't back it up. It drives me crazy when someone's like, I'm gonna be a billionaire. I'm like, you're playing Xbox.

30:12I'm so confused, right? So here's my point, and now I know I'm feeling something because I'm standing up.

30:21If you knew how much admiration I have for all of you right now, it would touch your heart. Let me tell you why. It's, is today Wednesday? Thank you. It is the Wednesday, thank you. It is the Wednesday. It is the Wednesday of Labor Day weekend. It is September 1st today. This is the most checked out week in the world. In the world, this week, from America to Shanghai, definitely Europe, those fuckers don't work.

30:55this week as we stand we're in the middle of it the Wednesday this is the most checked out business week besides Christmas week in the world and you are in this room listening that tells me you're pot committed to what you do I don't have a I mean I don't know if you guys can see the goosebumps please confirm this you can't be here if you don't care You cannot be sitting here if you're not hungry. You can't. Why would you be here? This is Checked Out Week. This is Jersey Shore Life. This is Upstate, like, this is Checked Out Week. So I'm sitting here saying, these people are here early on this Wednesday, so when I sit here and say, I know I can fundamentally, fundamentally transform every person's business here if they just spent 25 hours studying how to do LinkedIn ads properly.

31:47Anybody can post an ad. I'm talking good. I can dribble a basketball. I'm not fucking LeBron.

31:55Please hear me on this. Please do 25 hours of LinkedIn homework and start the way I did. You know what my first search was? What is an NFT? Enter. Please figure this out because I'm telling you, once you do and you get good at it, everything I actually want you to do with people and the human stuff will become a lot easier when you have a flow of inbound customers. I have empathy of why you can't always be as sweet as I want. It's because if you fire that client because they're mean to your people, you might have a problem. I understand what it means to have to pay the bills. I get it. But I also know why companies stay in the same spot their whole lives.

32:38This business that you have owns you. And you know it. And there's a way for it to not. Because mine doesn't. on the drive here one of our biggest clients 12 million dollar a year client did something with our scope for next year and handled it a certain way and on the ride here I said to Nick who runs that account I said resign the business. You know what kind of leverage that is? You know how nice that feels? I want that for you and I know how to get there and I've seen it a hundred times and I know exactly what it doesn't look like and it doesn't look like when you don't know how to scale marketing sales is just bad marketing thank you

33:31wonderful thank you thank you very now we're gonna kick off Q &A everybody so we have some runners that are gonna be running around with the with the mics but before we get started and I I always say this. You know, there's been those days where we've been in a ball crying in a corner, right? Because it's been so... Last Monday, guys, let's not judge me. Don't judge me. But, you know, what was the most traumatic or that one moment where you just questioned everything that you were doing? And is this right for me or is it not right for me? Am I down that right path? because I'm pretty sure we've all been there once or twice and probably just in the last week and a half.

34:17But what was that moment for you, and how did you get yourself out of that state? Because I think mental health as well is very trying for business owners because there is all of that pressure and that... This is a really tough question for me because one of the things that really works for me in my career is I always tell the truth. The truth to your question is, I've never even been remotely close to that place. But that's because when I look back and now analyze myself outside of myself, I'm like, right, I was pulling flowers from people's yards and selling it back to them. This was not my proudest moment.

34:57What I mean by that is that five-year-old kid that I'm referring to was always this person. There was no other gear. What you're referring to is my version of that was kindergarten through high school. My coddled in the corner, I hate life, was school. There was never a version of that in business. There's also another reason. I don't care what anybody thinks about me. So I'm willing to lose everything and go back to a studio apartment with eight family members, and I could care less if Twitter blew up and said, ha ha, Gary V, you thought you were hot shit. I just don't care. Not because I'm cool, because it's just the way I was built.

35:35I'm in my own head, in my own life, I know who I am, and I don't do business for a Mercedes or for a Rolex. I do it because it's my oxygen. I'm happier in the most pressure business spots because I'm not in it for anything else. When you don't actually care about people's judgment and when you don't actually need money for fancy shit to impress people, business is the best. so I just have never been in that place I just haven't now I've been in challenging places selling liquor on the internet was very hard still is but very hard when I was innovating one day the state of Texas decided to just pick on us out of every store in the whole country and really clamp down on our ability to ship there it was also one of our biggest states and overnight as a 20 million dollar business that was just three or excuse me four five minutes ago aka three years ago we lost four million like that.

36:32You know, that was like hard. Because it wasn't that it was hard that I lost the four million. It was that it was hard that it wasn't fair. It was selective. I love losing in business. Because it's fair. People love capitalism until it's not in their favor. I love capitalism all the time. I like when I lose. I like it. It's fair. It's a game. You're supposed to lose sometimes. Hopefully I just win more than I lose. But that, what I did then was I just went home and went to sleep at 3 p.m. And I woke up the next day and said let's go. I think one of the biggest challenges, the thing that separates the$3 million from the$10 million company in here is almost directly correlated with the person in this room's ability to deal with pressure when it hits and how they make the people around them feel when it hits.

37:26leadership leadership okay we have questions raise your hands okay ladies let's go over here first hey gary damon finaldi daniel damon damon really been to your dad's store a bunch of times thank you brother still there so when i look around the room and i see a lot of these brands i see a lot of us could advertise and it's really hard to differentiate one brand from the other out in the market, right? We're typically in these types of businesses, not celebrity or person-led brands. So what would your advice be if we were going to spin up the marketing part of this, how to lead forward? Nobody knew who the hell I was on February 20th, 2006, and I made a YouTube video drinking three bottles of wine and nine people watched it.

38:14That. You may not be a celebrity, but neither was any celebrity that came from the internet the day they made their first piece of content. What you have is what I had. You know what you're talking about. Right? And this is key. When you go to video form, if you decide to go to video form, the biggest reason people fail in video is they try to be more over the top than they actually are. And I understand a mundane straight talk may not be the most dynamic, but I'd rather have 397 people watch you because they like your information than you having 500 people watching you but they're in it for your shtick but your shtick isn't real.

38:55Right? Remember the business you're in too. You only need 397 views because I promise you if you get your first video on LinkedIn and you do 25 hours of homework before you make it and you post it and you actually get two contracts out of it, I have a funny feeling you're gonna spend an hour trying to find my email to send me an email and say, I love your face. And I know that, and I know that because I'm in the point of my career right now where I get that email 15 times a day. And I promise you, if you ever get lucky enough, and I'm lucky, to be in that spot, that feels better than everything.

39:32This is real stuff that I'm telling you right now. What's fun about me, for me, when I analyze myself against other people is there's never been a day that I haven't run a business. I'm not a motivational speaker. I'm not an influencer. I'm a businessman. I'm gonna buy the New York Jets. Do you understand how much they cost? I'm not doing that with fans or likes. I'm building businesses out here. It's just that people haven't realized some of the foofy stuff is actually the most important stuff. Right? And so I think you should make content. But if you're a better writer than you are on camera, then write.

40:08But if you feel good on camera, then do camera. But if you like talking but you don't like the way you look, you're allowed to. You're allowed to be insecure about the way you look. I'd like you to go to therapy and get out of that because that's a bad game but you're allowed to and if that's your case then do audio and post audio. Thank you. You're welcome. I'm going to go back here first and then Carly over here. Gary, appreciate you coming out. Adam from Las Vegas. Adam. Yes. Pleasure. Thank you. Would you care to elaborate what you said there at the end? Sales is just bad marketing. Yes. Nike doesn't come to your house or spam you to buy sneakers.

40:46Brand is what everybody here should be trying to do. And nobody usually does it. Because sales is quicker. But I don't know if you heard, the tortoise always beats the hare. And so people don't want to put money into branding. People make fun of marketing in businesses like this. Because they think it's a waste of money. Not this group. This group loves marketing, right guys? This group loves marketing. I have some good news for you. That was not an epic reaction to your share. I analyzed real quick, and I'm good at this. This group is cynical to marketing. And I respect it to no end. When you have a business around the size as this are, it's not excited to get fired up to do 50K on a marketing campaign, and then you wake up two months later, and you're like, what did we get from that shit?

41:42but every decision you actually make is far more predicated on marketing than sales and so my big thing is if everybody here was just willing to take a little less money home each year from their business and put it into marketing you have to do good marketing it's back to the LeBron basketball thing I could practice all day long I'm not going to the league so you have to get good at it or you have to find somebody that's good at it but I promise you, once you build personal brand, which I think a lot of you should, if you feel like you're charismatic or you hold the table at dinner or like you're a good host at party, like if you've got that in you, you should be running to make content if you've got a little bit of that.

42:27And then if you're more introverted and not, maybe I have parents that were embarrassed of their accent their whole life, right? A lot of you may know that immigrant story. that's okay, but then you can write. Like writing a white paper on LinkedIn could go viral and change your life. LinkedIn is, and here's why I'm really upset, again standing, I've been talking, how many people here follow me? Raise your hands. Thank you. So a lot of you know this isn't something new. I've been on this LinkedIn kick for a while and it's not as good as it was three years ago. Three years ago when I was yelling about this, the cost of the ads and the amount of people that would see your organic content if you just post with no fans, was higher than it is now because people are figuring it out.

43:10It's a land grab of attention. The only currency for a business actually is attention. It's the only asset. Because once you have the attention, you have the ability to get them to consider to do business with you. That's what you're asking your sales team to do. But your sales team is destroying your brand because every time you bother people, you're destroying brand equity, not gaining it. Spamming, calling, that's hurting brand equity. By the way, I love sales. Let me just go over here for a second. I'm into sales. Sales are great. But sales without marketing is a vulnerability. And what happens when your head of sales leaves?

43:50You can just restart it? Because brand doesn't go. So something to think about. And it's really the difference between four million a year and 20 million a year. It just is. And by the way, you don't need to do 20. You can do whatever you want. I'm just telling you what it is. Right here.

44:12Good morning. Good morning. My name's Amy, and I really appreciate you being so grounded today for us. This is the perfect pandemic exit sort of real talk. Thank you. So one of the things I think about a lot is the roller coaster of business. Yes. You know, the game of life, you roll the dice. There's going to be bad luck, there's going to be good luck, There's going to be unfair practices. There's going to be fair practices that slam you on the ground. How do you as a leader quickly reset? You said you went to bed at 3 o 'clock in the afternoon. That's one way. And then how do you reset the leaders under you when these things happen?

44:45I think that's the trick I'm trying to understand from what you're saying. Hold the mic here because we may go back and forth a little bit. Thank you. Thank you. You know, I've been in high stakes business because when it's a family business and you're doing it for your parents, it's very high stakes and then my career went into high stakes and so my whole life, literally that 3 p.m. is the one story in 22 years that I have. Everything else has just been gratitude. I'm just grateful. Like I don't, this is the number one game I play and this may help you if you're willing to go there emotionally.

45:22There are eight billion people on earth. Everybody just close their eyes mentally. You don't have to physically close them. For two seconds, let's take a moment of silence. I'd like you to ask yourself where you think you rank. If the world ranked a human based on happiness, whatever, fine, you do you. You judge yourself on financial, health, happiness. where do you rank yourself out of eight billion people on earth? I'm gonna give us 12 seconds. I want you to actually come up with a number. I may even ask some of you, I may not. We'll see. I want you to rank. Where do you rank yourself in the world?

46:07All right. Let's start with this. There's over a billion people on earth that don't have clean water.

46:15you live in America there's only 300 million of us right if you make over $47 ,000 a year you're above the average in America if you make $400 ,000 a year you're in the 1 % in the richest country in the world I just think we don't have perspective Business is bullshit. That's why I'm easy. That's why it's calm. I'm just not scared. What? Like, when I talk to my friends like this over dinner, I'm like, what, are you gonna lose your Ferrari?

47:00Like, you don't have the humility to trade in your BMW lease for a Toyota? You're incapable of selling your home and renting a townhouse, you're incapable of that? I just think people fear bullshit. That's why it's so easy. That's the reset. But to bring it back to a much more existential level, I mean, there are some businesses that are struggling to make payroll, not make the Ferrari payment. Or there's a business decision that's completely life-changing. Do you combat that with gratitude also? Of course. Because the existential doesn't matter if you don't have the foundation. You said, let's take it back to how we're gonna decorate this room.

47:39I'm like, the fucking concrete and steel that hold up this building is what we need to focus on. I appreciate that. What I say is, maybe you're not good at business and you should get a job. It's okay. You know, like, for me, there's levels to it. Like, I don't know how to win a game when somebody's scared of making payroll all the time because that means they're not good at it. And that's okay. So, one of the things I think about is fundamentally eliminating fear. When you eliminate fear, you actually have a better chance of making payroll when you have the perspective of what we're actually doing here set.

48:18Right, like most people are crippled by the judgment of their inner circle. Most people can't wrap their head around shutting down their business because they don't want to hear about it from their sister or their mom or their friend, right? Right, it's pride wrapped in insecurity.

48:41So I, you know, I don't know, cut down your costs. Like it's so, you know, I'd have to sit down with every person here individually and be like, you take too much money home each year. And then I would ask, what are you buying with that? And I would look at all the dumb shit you buy and say stop buying it. And then you would be able to make payroll, thank you.

49:08There's such a big question for this room of like why do you have a business? Right? Like is it because you think you'll make more money that way? Is it because it's gotten cool? Is it because you stumbled into it because you were doing your craft and you're like, well, there's more opportunity. It's all awesome. None of it's wrong. It's just good to know. Once I knew for me somewhere around 33, I'm like, wait a minute. This is me playing. This is me playing. I'm playing. I need to do this forever because I'm playing. I'm like an athlete that loves their sport. Oh my God, this was a big one for me.

49:43Oh my God, back to the eight billion. Oh my God. The greatest athletes of the world wake up at 36 and they're finished. And they have to live 50 more years not doing what they love more than life. I'm doing this shit till I'm 90. There's no retirement here. I'm not going to golf in Florida. I'm dying at my desk.

50:10And by the way, there's a lot of people that would, if they read that sentence, if you tweeted Gary said that, they would all say, that's so sad. I'm not saying hustle and work until you believe it, I'm saying this is my hobby. It's the same reason if you follow me heavily, why do I wake up at six o 'clock in the morning and go to New Jersey to garage sale? Because I like it. That seems weird to people. it seems weird to me to golf for four hours. I have no interest in sailing. I don't want to ski. But you may think it's epic. The end. But like that to me is like if you can get what we just talked about down something happens.

50:52I've seen it. I watch it. It's like which then kind of makes you look at the whole situation differently. Right now, the people that are stuck in what you're talking about are in a hamster wheel and they can't step out and realize they just have to take a step to the right to get out of the wheel. Gotta ask those questions, they matter. They really matter. There's so many people in here, that's not fair, there's probably a small percentage of people here who'd be much better off not having a business. That'd be awesome. You know, it's that insecurity pride thing. It's like my greatest strength is my interest, let alone my ability to take a step backwards.

51:41Yeah, next question we have up there.

51:46Hi, Gary. Terry from South Jersey. Terry, how are you? 51st state. Two quick questions, if I could. The first is about the kind of Jack Welch, get rid of the bottom 10 % thing. In today's market, I'm sure you're seeing this in your companies. I mean, how do you do that? It's almost impossible to get anybody to come and take a job. You don't, Terry. We've got six more months of this, and then you can. Okay. Like, I don't, people, like, so many business owners right now want to, like, burn the government down because, you know, it's better to stay at home and make more money. They also have such thoughtful points of view on this, such lack of thoughtful points of view.

52:23A lot of my friends who have businesses, especially in retail or restaurants, things of that nature, those checks are going into the system. So it's a double-sided combo. But in the question you're asking, I have so many people that are so emotional about this. I'm like, you're incapable of six more months of waiting? This is not gonna last forever. So it's just a moment in time. I don't even think about it twice. It sucks. We have all sorts of headaches in every business I'm in. I'm like, okay. Deal with it, right? Second quick question is I do do LinkedIn ads and I've been working on it, trying to get it better and better.

52:58But as LinkedIn ads and LinkedIn in general get more popular, there's obviously a lot more noise there. Any tricks or tips for separating yourself? How many different pieces of content do you run actual ads against? Mostly we're doing direct in-mails now with the AI process. We're doing video and we're doing something. In feed, creative, with ads that are targeting the types of people you're trying to reach. Not the inbox stuff that is sales. Marketing. In the feed, different pieces of content where the picture or video has a planned media against it to whom is supposed to see it. Yeah, probably none.

53:42That's why it's not working. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Let's make sure we get some over there at some point, too. And I'll just go a little further on that. When you know, let's use South Jersey, when you know you're targeting businesses within a 10 mile radius, because strategically you like having clients locally because you like the retention aspect, and you know that you're targeting South Jersey businesses that are in the liquor business, well then your video's gonna be like, are you an Eagles fan? And he's like, yeah, I am. Do you sell liquor? I do. We can help you. Like, when you know who you're targeting,

54:26and it doesn't have to be that overt. What it can be is literally you talking with a glass of wine and an eagle's flag. 51st state.

54:37My man. Hey, Gary. Matt Solomon. I'm the guy that keeps texting you. Yep. I saw you in the hall. Yeah, and I'm actually the number two guy you were talking about. I was traveling the world while this guy had to write me some big commission checks and worry about payroll and all that. Of course. But you're putting out so much content. I see you on TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, everywhere. Is there particular pieces that are really resonating with your audiences? It's different, right? On TikTok, when I say, fuck college, they go wild. Go figure. Doesn't hit as well on Facebook.

55:16so what I like about what's happened here for the last three, four minutes is you're starting to hear some nuances that matter the context matters more than the content like who's gonna see it who's gonna see it what's the mindset forget about the demographics the age, the sex, the gender which matters the mindset what are they into what's the slang you know even the terminology I use is different on TikTok than it is on Facebook you know there's a lot of slang terms a 63 year old business woman and man are not going to know that I may use in TikTok so I'm very contextual all of it's resonating it's why what's happening with me is happening it's why I know it will work for everybody meaning we all have upsides to our charisma our talents are a thing, but when you haven't even done it yet, that means there's, you know, it's kind of like when you first start losing weight, if you got off track, that first week is awesome.

56:15They come off, then it gets harder. Same with what I'm trying to have you do in marketing. Once you really get it down, that first run is just gonna work, because you're at zero. Right, and it gets into the nuances, which is why I'm so grateful for your question, which is why I want to do Q &A, because you can be like, I'm doing LinkedIn, it's not working, I'm like, but you're not. Here's the subtle difference. right? Great. We have a question over here. Hey, Rafael from Dallas. Hey, Rafael. How's it going? Real well. Hey, so quick question. I know a lot of guys in here are MSPs, solution providers, service providers.

56:48They're all kind of selling sort of the same stuff, right? And a lot of times even reselling some of the same vendors, right? Of course. So we talk about separating brand and distinction and all that stuff. When a lot of these guys are kind of doing similar things, especially in the eyes of their prospects or clients, what do you think is the key to creating brand separation or real distinction in a market that's similar to this? A word.

57:14A word. What do I mean by that? The whole world works that way. People are so infatuated with differentiation. Most of the business in the world is done where people can do it with somebody else. A word. A word in a video that you said. It's what every salesperson in here knows. A single word. A.K.A. a sentence, an analogy, timing. Right? I mean, here's the good news. I always laugh at what businesses worry about for the customer that customers don't worry about.

57:58They just need somebody to fix their IT. They're not like, oh, Barry's here. Well, I know 64 other providers. They're just happy Barry's there. And if they're like a little more sophisticated and want to do an RFP or check a couple things, they're going to pick three people they've heard of or from word of mouth, and then they're going to make a decision on the presentation. And that presentation, whether in deck form or word form, is going to come down to a word or two. I think a big thing that you can really do is lean heavily into honesty. Honesty is the greatest closer of business. If your pitch is predicated on pure 100 % truth, you will close a lot more business, even if it is a step away from where you think your advantages are.

58:51If you start with the truth is all four people you're talking to are the same, and the only difference is their effort or the serendipity of how their staff is staffed at the moment, it changes the potential relationship with the prospect. Something to think about. Thank you. Yeah, but don't worry about you're not differentiated. Neither is almost everything. Really. Hey, Gary, Todd Billiard. By the way, I apologize. The things that are differentiated, one on brand. The logos you're, like, this shirt's the same. the swoosh or the, like, it's, like, look at everyone's sneakers. They're the same.

59:34You can buy every sneaker. You don't even want to know what I paid for mine, right? So, so, brand, that's why I care so much about brand, right? Then you're just differentiated before you even started. But don't worry about not being differentiated because you're not. Like, what are you gonna do about that? Start wearing clown noses? Like, you can't be, You're not differentiated. Todd? All right. Hey, Gary, Todd, Billiard. So, great segue to my question. You talk about branding. Big fan of branding. So, like my buddy Paul Brophy here. Yes. Does he build the brand Paul Brophy, or is he building the brand Summit Business Systems?

1:00:11Well, let's ask Paul. Paul, what do you think? Summit Business Technologies. Why? Because it's more recognized and global, and it doesn't just generate around me. What's, so talking about the - I don't think it's that global, with all due respect. Global in a local format. I can't hear him. Global in a local format. But it's still not, oh, globe? Or you're saying? He's from Ireland, he's a little slow in the morning. Fair enough, fair enough. Here's my point of view. Most humans will answer the way Paul did, and I understand why. It feels like there's more scale, right, behind it. However, when you build around yourself, when it's your business, humans are dramatically more differentiated than logos.

1:01:01This great differentiator that you're all looking for, I don't know if your mom ever told you that you're a unique snowflake and an individual. Good news, she was right. The number one differentiation you have is you, the human being. I'm a big fan of building around personal if you're willing to. If you're not and uncomfortable with it, then don't. But it will absolutely outperform any business that's doing less than$25 million in revenue on its way to that will always get there faster building around a human versus a logo. In today's environment, with the way that content works on the internet, where the internet is 100 % the place where brand is built.

1:01:44So as a follow-on to that, has business owners in here, and obviously their employees, should they encourage their employees then to build on their own individual names, or build towards the corporate brand? This is a tricky question. I am pretty pro-employee doing what they want, and if they leave and build a great business and it hurts me in the short term, that's actually a win for me. I also am very aware that that's not shared by 87 % of this room. So my answer is let them build however they want to build and get the short-term value, and if they actually are an entrepreneur, you can't stop an entrepreneur from being an entrepreneur.

1:02:25A lot of people try to suppress their employees from doing exactly what they're doing which is always a bad formula. So I let them and I'm happy when they go that route because you can't stop somebody who's gonna be on their way to winning anyway. And by not stopping them you're actually getting more value while you have a pit stop at your business. And most people don't see it that way. Okay, our last question. And George, you're up. Hi, I'm George. I'm from Philadelphia. I'm an Eagles fan, and I like liquor. George, how are you? I actually love the Eagles. Actually, as a Jets fan, I love the Eagles because we both hate the Giants.

1:03:05That's true. And Dallas. And Dallas, but the Giants for sure. How do you get people to actually put some intensity into what they're doing, right? Like, as a business owner, you're into what you do. You're aggressively going after it. You mean how do I motivate my team? Yes. Easily. By sitting down with them and asking what actually motivates them. And what if they're not really super motivatable? Well, then you fire them. Okay.

1:03:38The most interesting thing about a business is lack of accountability when you're in full control. Sorry. nothing pisses me off more like from a good place than when my friends that own their businesses cry about shit when it's 100 % their fault.

1:03:56Like news alert for all of us that own a business how many here own a business? Everybody who just raised their hands 100 % of every problem in your business is 100 % your fault. And once you realize that stuff gets good I think people have a one size fits all motivation game to their employees and that's why it doesn't work. They're baffled that their employees aren't motivated by money. When a lot of people that are employees are motivated by the balance that they can create with the salary they make. And that's beautiful. I'm so much, I know more people who make 60 ,000 a year working for somebody that have happiness than the people that I know who make 10 million a year owning their own business.

1:04:43there's no right way to live this life there's just figuring yourself out from a self-awareness game and living it but you know your question's easy right you start with like and by the way as business owners especially if you want retention you need to be prepared for my favorite thing that happens at Vayner Vayner gets an ambitious kid she or he is 23, 24 they come into my office they sit down and they drop one of my favorite doozies Gary Gary, one day I'm gonna run this company. And I'm fired up. I'm like, good, because I'm getting old. And I'm like, I'd be happy, please God. And they're on fire and they're working their face off and they're talented and then they turn 27.

1:05:30And they come in and they're like, Gary, I'm in love. And I'm like, awesome. And they're like, but my significant other doesn't want me to work as much. And I'm like, Mazel Tov. Amazing. And then they have a child. And then this, like things evolve. At 24 you may want to run the world and then you decide to. Other times your life might evolve and you're thrilled to make$313 ,000 a year which is an extraordinary amount of money and have some level of balance and have a beautiful life. That's also great. You may then change your mind when you get divorced and you want to run the world again. All of it.

1:06:09All of it, all of it, as a leader, as a business owner, is good by me. I am mentally prepared every second of my life to be prepared for what the person that works for me wants to happen in their life, and I build a framework to be able to adjust to it. That's how you build billion-dollar companies. And the closer you can get to this nirvana, the more business you will do. Wonderful. Thank you very much, everybody. Gary Vee. Thank you. Big round of applause for Gary. Thank you. Hey everybody, if you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of this journey.

1:06:49See you later.