Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Everybody is missing something in life. I felt prisoner to my own success. Change is hard. Change is hard. I get it. Change or die.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: I'm going to change things.
[00:00:09] Speaker A: So what the hell can we change? If we can see things differently, we can have some different results.
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Welcome back to be the giraffe, where you reach higher in business and in life. I'm your host and guide, Chris Jarvis. Today my guest is Charles Bird. What I'm going to tell you about Charles is a long list of wonderful things that are going to go into his bio. But before I tell you that, I want to tell you why he's here, and then I'll tell you a little bit about him, and then we're going to hear his story, and then you're going to get inspired.
So what I like about the show is that I get to find people. I get to meet a lot of really cool people who have done cool things. I get to explore their stories and I get to share them with you. But what's really special about today is I've known Charles. Charles is a guy who got me on stages that I couldn't get out on my own after being a professional speaker for 20 years. He's introduced me to a billionaire family. He's introduced me to multiple centimillionaires, which are people worth $100 million. He's introduced me to multiple clients. He's introduced me to my current business partner, and he's introduced me to a number of other clients and referral sources. So this guy makes me money. So when I tell you this is somebody I'm excited to have, it's because I have experience working with Charles, and he has helped me out tremendously. So, Charles Bird, we're going to get to some of your bio stuff a little bit later to get people really excited. But before we tell them all of that, the one thing I will tell them, though, is that you get on the stages that I wish I could get on, and you meet people that I want to meet, and you do it better than I do. But that's not because you were born into a rich family and you were given all these wonderful introductions on a silver platter. You started somewhere way different from giving big keynote speeches and big lectures to large groups. But you started in. I'm a mathematician. So when people ask me, how do you speak?
You must have had an English degree or journalism or something else. And I said, no, I was a mathematician. I think you might have an even more impressive and divergent Background. So tell us a little bit about where you started and we'll work our way through this story, because I think people are going to be fascinated. And a lot of folks watching this have stories that are like yours, where they were stuck and they wanted something more.
And you've got a great story about that. So for all the people that really pay attention to Charles, I know I'm teasing you. And then I bring them in, then I pull them back and I bring them in and I keep talking. But Charles has got a story of being stuck and wanting more. And for any of you who are in that spot, really pay attention to where he started in school, which is probably a lot like a lot of you. So, Charles, if you don't mind, give us that story you and I were talking about just a few minutes ago, and tell me a little bit about that. I think people will really, really lean into that.
[00:03:06] Speaker B: Yeah, perfect. Well, Chris, thanks so much for having me. Thanks for the kind words. It's a pleasure to be here.
So, yeah, I, I live in the Napa Valley, went to, finished school up here after going to school in Central Cal and Southern Cal and England.
And growing up, the message was, go to school, get a job, go to school, get a job. No one ever brought up starting a company. So, like, that's what I did straight out of college. Got a job for a Silicon Valley company.
There's a few mergers right up front. So I worked for basically four companies without moving desks. And then the one that I actually worked for the whole time hired us directly. And I was there for 15 years. I came up from the help desk, IT, project management, program management, eventually founded my own department.
And, like, it felt cool, it felt good. I was doing well with it. But then new management came in and they weren't as great as my previous management had been. And so then you realize you're. You're really not in a lot of control when you are working in a corporate environment like that and you only have one source of income. So they, they really have a lot of control over you. Everyone's heard the term golden handcuffs. I certainly was wearing those, you know, and I started reading entrepreneur books and things like that. The thing is, when I read them, they felt like they were for other people. It didn't even dawn on me that that could be me until one of my friends from college, him and his wife started a company.
They worked hard for that, started another one, and by the time they were buying their third building in San Francisco, I'm like, I Know this guy, if he can do it, I can do it. And it was like the first realization.
It's a weird epiphany. You're like, wait, if my friend group can do it, then I can do it. And so I started with a few different business ideas, trying to do them on the side while working a full time Silicon Valley job, which that doesn't work so well because you just never have enough time to get real traction. And one day I got a call from my mom. She had that serious tone in her voice. I thought maybe one of the kids she adopted from Sierra Leone in Africa were having trouble in school, but it wasn't that. She'd been in a minor car accident the day before. She thought she was pressing the brake, but wasn't and hit the car in front of her. And then that day, she was reaching for a fork and physically kept missing it by six inches.
Took her to the hospital, found she had two stage four brain tumors. And I could barely walk in the house to tell my family this. We piled in the car to be with her going into brain surgery the same night.
And effectively I stayed to take care of her for about a year at her house.
She lived one year to the day from when I got that call. And. And for me, it was the loudest bullhorn. That life is short. And if there's an impact you want to make in this world, if there's a quality of life you want for your family, yourself, now is really the only time we have to make things happen because the future is certainly not guaranteed. So with the shift in management and knowing I would get some level of severance, I decided to leave. And I decided to become an entrepreneur. And I had this piece of wood made that says, I can, I will.
End of story.
Meaning we're burning the boats and figuring this out. That was July of 2015.
And so I'm diving into this topic, but new to entrepreneurship, like, I didn't know a ton about it. I was a domain expert at my own topics and my first product I picked to create was a productivity course. And I was brand new to the online world and I went to a mastermind like entrepreneur kind of event and the guy across from me has a newsletter with 90,000 readers. And this guy over here has an email list of 65,000 people. And this guy curates all these high level people at events. And I didn't know how to do any of that, but from the very first event I walked in, I'm like, well, why don't I Go, go make friends with that guy whose audience needs exactly what I'm creating.
And so I'd never consciously built a network. I wasn't out trying to make a bunch of friends. I had my own little friend circle and that was fine. But in this world, I was like, I'm going to hone that skill by design where you get, get to know people, connect, learn ways to provide value to them and really systematize that. I started booking presentations to other people's audiences, delivering a high value training for this productivity course I created and then offering that deeper dive course and, and started growing my email list, making sales, making a positive impact. So I thought, since this is working, what if I take my IT and systems background to simplify and systematize the entire joint venture process? Which I did. And eventually people wondered how I book two to six joint venture promotions per week for my offers to other people's communities. And I was at a mastermind in Aspen and my phones blowing up with texts and messenger messages, people knocking on the room door going, how do you line up so many of these deals? So decided to put together my own event called Pure jv. And that's the market I've been in ever since. And so I serve and support folks who want to get in front of more of their ideal clients with a deal flow engine. And I can go further into that.
[00:09:27] Speaker A: But I'm going to make you do that because people in the audience need to know that I've actually done the Pure JV program. But I want to save a lot of that for a later section.
We've got four segments with Charles, which is great. What I want to kind of go back over a little bit is you had a job, the job was safe, you were doing what everybody else thought you were doing what your dad taught you to do. You're doing what school teaches us to do and prepares us to do, right? They prepare us to get your resume together and go on an interview and get a job and get hired and move through all of that.
And you did all those things and then you find a company you want to work for and a boss you want to work for. And then none of that stuff is guaranteed, right?
[00:10:13] Speaker B: And it's kind of worse than ever in many markets. I have a friend that works at Meta. They lay off 20% of the workforce every year. So there is no real stability. And it creates this environment where people are overworking, they're working nights and weekends, they're replying to texts at in the morning.
That is no Way to live versus as an entrepreneur, you have dramatically more freedom and say, and I'll point out, you're also diversifying your lead sources. If you have some type of service or consulting offer and you've got five or 10 or 15, 20 clients, you're far safer. No one can fire you.
Um, so then.
[00:11:00] Speaker A: Then having one employer, yeah, that's really. I want to get into this because I do think there's a lot of. I know there's a lot of people who watch the show who are stuck, and it's the. And they have this feeling that I'm doing too well, like I'm. I'm making too much money to leave. It's too safe. I can remember going to get a. Trying to get a home equity loan to build an outside kitchen in a pool. And I remember having a half million dollars in the bank on deposit. And the banker said, but you don't have a W2. Like, this isn't very safe. And I just said, I can't fire myself.
But the bank doesn't get it. So it's really funny how people don't think there's a lot of safety. But I want to get into how you overcame that. After we come back from the break, we're going to talk to Charles, figure out how he mastered this, getting out of too good of a deal, working at a company that was not fulfilling. And we're going to help you apply that to your life so you can reach higher in business and life. Come back after the break. Don't miss it.
We're just taking a quick detour through the Savannah. Don't wander off. We'll be back with more Be the Giraffe.
This is Be the Giraffe with Chris Jarvis. It's time to evolve and elevate foreign.
We are here with Charles Bird, the man who gets on all the stages, gets in front of all the people, has the craziest network, and helps other people do the same thing.
Charles, welcome back.
[00:12:37] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: First session. The first session. In the first segment, you talked about, you know, having that great corporate job. You were in Silicon Valley working for the big.
A big company, making money. All of that's working out until it didn't. And for a lot of people, they have the job they don't like.
And one of the things that I've realized in life is that attitude is such a big thing. And I've always known you to have a great attitude and always be upbeat and positive and wonderful to work with. But a lot of people get Caught in that victim mentality of all the things are so bad. And whether it's the man keeping me down or the company's just in it for the problem profit. Nobody cares about me.
You had the job that all of a sudden wasn't so great, but then something in life that otherwise would be a horrible, a horrible event that could be another woe is me situation that really dragged you down. You turned it into something big.
And so I know you brought it up, but I want to go into that again if you could, not all the details, but share how that significant loss changed your framework and got you to like again. Instead of sobbing and falling back, it seemed like it ignited you.
[00:13:52] Speaker B: Well, there's plenty of sobbing with it. But see you just when you realize how short life actually is, then it should really empower you to take more risks and go for things that matter to you. Because just living, I'll say a small life in a safe way isn't living.
It's just maintaining and surviving. And I know other family members who were in jobs years after, they didn't enjoy them anymore. Now they're just everything's drudgery and heavy and you don't want to be working and you don't like what you're working on.
The fact is you can change it anytime you want.
You just make the decision that now is the time and then you create the new path. And what I found just in entrepreneurship in general, but kind of anything in life, when you commit to something and you make a deal with yourself that you're going to do it, the path forms in front of you. And so I, I didn't know exactly how I would be successful with it. And in fact, I, when I jog in the morning, I, I have conversations with my dad. And for more than a year, he was trying to talk me out of starting a business. He's always very supportive, but he thought that because he had tried it once and it didn't work, which means entrepreneurship clearly doesn't work.
It didn't happen to work for him. And, and here is a kind of a difference in thinking.
And it's not to pick on him, but it's what people do.
He was looking for all the reasons it wouldn't work and what could go wrong.
And my worldview is how do you make it work?
And it's a paradigm shift when you think, how can I make it work? Or I will make it work.
And if you start doing something that isn't getting a lot of traction, then you adapt and you evolve entrepreneurship. It's not going out and winning. It's going out and failing and zigzagging until you find this thing that works, and then you keep adding to it. And so you've probably seen that cartoon of the ship going to the moon.
It's not a straight line, the things zigging and zagging everywhere on the path.
But the fact is, when you commit to it and you believe in yourself to figure it out, and then you purposely surround yourself with people who've already solved those problems, people that already know the solutions.
And you're not hanging out with people who don't take risks themselves, and you're not hanging out with people who don't believe in you or support you. You want to start moving those people to the back burner and go spend time with people who have solved the problems and who believe in what you're doing and in you.
And, you know, I'm not saying that is easy for. For some people in different situations. I have a friend who wanted to start his own company, but his wife wanted him to stay in this safe job. So he's stuck in a job he hates instead of. When I told my wife I wanted to start a company, she was like, oh, really cool. Go for it. I think you'll do great. And like, that was really it. And so just committing it, betting on yourself is the best bet you can make.
[00:17:37] Speaker A: And there's. There's a reason. In the Be the Giraffe book, the first two chapters are Avoid the Masses and the asses and Break free from the herd. And that lesson is such an important one when I'm speaking, because you brought it up that a lot of people get folks, even your dad, who obviously loves you and has a great deal of faith in you. When he said, when he was trying to talk you out of, wasn't because he doesn't believe in you, it's because he doesn't want you to get hurt.
And I used to say before my mom passed, which was a huge. She passed earlier this year, and there was a lightness, not because she was a lot of work, she was lovely. But it seemed like she took something with her that just freed me up and liberated me in a way, financially that I can't even explain. It'll have to be a whole show unto itself. But she would always say to me, before I took. Before I took off for a trip, I made a habit of calling her before my plane would take off. And I talked to her all the time. And the last two words she would always say would be be careful. Right. And I have two and a half million miles. I've been flying for a long time.
It wasn't because she didn't think I knew how to navigate an airport.
It was just that she cares for me and doesn't want me to hurt the same any parent way. Another parent doesn't want to watch their children hurt. And so one of the things in nature is that for the herd mentality to work with safety and numbers, they need everybody in the herd.
And so it's a self preservation thing. So I think one of those things for want to be entrepreneurs. When they say all these people are giving me the wrong message, I agree with you. You've got to be around people who give you good messages. But you also have to learn to take the fact that when other people caution you, it's not because of lack of faith as much as it is. It could be lack of faith in themselves, it could be their own fear or they just don't want you to hurt. The end result is it's still bad for you to listen to it because if you hear it over and over again, that's the message that'll be driven home. But the, but just understand that doing it from a place of caring, they're just not like you. And that's the 20%, you know, the 80, 20 rule of 80 people, 80% are probably pretty happy being followers and 20 want to lead and then 20 of the 20 want to really lead and innovate and do things even, you know, even crazier.
[00:19:50] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just like don't take financial advice from someone who's broke.
[00:19:58] Speaker A: Yeah, right. It's find somebody who's in that space who understands. Understands it. So I think again, for the people watching, for those of you, obviously you're listening to this, you're watching it, or maybe you're just listening on the podcast. But the who's giving you the advice and from what perspective and then take it for what it take it with the intention it's given. Someone's looking out for you just because they don't want you to get hurt. That's fine.
You can appreciate people not wanting you to get hurt, but those aren't the people you're asking for advice on what to do next because they haven't taken risks.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: I can remember having a client once that was I was recommending a strategy to a business owner, very successful business owner in Boston, had a very big book distribution company and he asked an attorney to, you know, to listen in on the conversation. And I recommended a very elaborate thing that would save him millions of dollars a year.
And the client asked, would you do this?
And the attorney said, well, I have two answers for you. He said, the first answer to your direct question is, no, I wouldn't do this. And the guy looked at me like, you brought this guy along who's telling me not to do your thing, so obviously I'm not going to hire you. But then the attorney said, but you asked the wrong question.
I'm an attorney. I work for a law firm. I get a salary. This is what I do.
You probably have taken more risk this week than I've taken in the last five years.
And so at least he had the wherewithal to come with the. You asked me a question, I'll answer it because I want to answer your question. But you asked the wrong question.
And so I think that's a big part of this, is a big part of being an entrepreneur and making that move is two parts. One, what questions do you ask?
And the second part you pointed out is, who do you ask them of?
[00:21:39] Speaker B: Right.
Yeah. I have a fun story of the.
The first event I went to was called Seven Figure Systems. And we did this, like, kind of visioning thing of, where do you see yourself in five years?
And, like, how much do you think you'll be making? And I wrote 500,000. And it felt like a wild number to write because that was way more than I made in my job.
And so I had this, like. I don't know, this weird feeling like it was a. A big number to write. And anyway, so this guy leans over this doctor next to me. He's like, 500,000, huh? And I'm like, that's right, 500,000. And he's like, you do realize this event is called Seven Figure Systems.
And it. I felt the fabric of my brain get stretched. I was like.
I'm like, oh, that's right. This guy next to me makes 2 million. This guy makes 900,000. This guy makes 4 million.
Why can't I. They figured it out. I could just spend time with people like this, and I had no idea how I would get there. But I realized I'd been suffocating my own belief.
And that's why you surround yourself with people that are always expanding and growing and navigating and problem solving and not people telling you why it won't work, the people telling you it won't work. In general, you want to stop spending time with them and spend time with people who just figure things out, come up with solutions and connect you to the right people to help you on the next step of your journey.
[00:23:25] Speaker A: I think this is great, really helpful, getting with the right people, asking the right questions, thinking, being around people who are going to expand your thinking, you know, thinking bigger. Whether it's, you know, episode one of Be the Giraffe. We had Dave Steck who was talking about add a zero to your income or your net worth. And those are the kinds of things that Charles is going to talk about in the next segment. So remember, you want to be, you want to be around people like Charles who helped you add a zero and move to the next level, not people who are constantly thinking about, you know, innovation means going from 8 minute apps to 7 minute apps. So we're going to try something. We're going to come back next section with Charles's 7 minute abs and his at a zero. And don't miss it when you get back on the next segment, we're going to help you elevate, reach higher in business and in life.
Stay with us.
We're just taking a quick detour through the savannah. Don't wander off. We'll be back with more Be the Giraffe.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Foreign.
[00:24:34] Speaker A: This is Be the Giraffe with Chris Jarvis. It's time to evolve and elevate.
All right, welcome back to this segment of Be the Giraffe. I'm with Charles Byrd, who has been giving us lots of tips on how to fly in our business, fly the coop and then fly higher in our business.
Charles, in the first segment, you were really open and talked about a problem a lot of us have, which is, you know, we had, is we had a job and it wasn't really what we wanted and we felt stuck, but we were kind of getting promoted. And, you know, maybe you heard the comp, maybe a lot of you have heard the comment like, why can't you just be happy? Or had the question, we can't, you know, but you're. Maybe you're grateful but not content.
And then you had the tragic situation of losing your mom and that gave you this sense of immediacy, right? That, all right, well, what am I waiting for?
Because if I wait, good things don't happen.
And then when people leave a job or try to transition, it's having some self doubt or a little bit of worry is natural. And maybe you go into rooms where you feel really good about yourself. You went into rooms where you went the other direction. So you were like, all right, I'm gonna go somewhere else. And you went into rooms of people who were making more money, people who were more confident, people who had more experience. I mean, you went, you went all the way. Like you really in a low self esteem kind of time. You just lost your mom, you just quit your job and now you're gonna go put yourself around people who are, who are further along. I mean, how did you pull that off? Because that's, I imagine people who are watching right now are thinking, wow, like, that's a lot of, that's a lot of uncertainty. What, what was like, yeah.
[00:26:25] Speaker B: And when I did leave the corporate job, you're, and this happens to people who exit companies, your identity goes with it because you're extraordinarily tied to the, the work you do, whether you realize it or not. So I, I rem.
After I left, I would be going to a social thing and I was thinking, well, what if someone asks what I do and I'm literally doing nothing?
Like, and it just felt really weird. But when I committed to getting going in business and then you have a direction and you have a rudder. And I remember I bought an online program that I spent $2,000 on, which to me seemed crazy because I'd never invested like that. In fact, when I had other friends in the past who would invest in some online program, I was like, well, you just got ripped off. Because I was clueless. Like, I had no idea. It turns out there's all kinds of amazing products like that. And then with that starting to go to events and talk to people and whatever strategy you're, you're there to learn. I was learning Jeff Walker's product launch formula. And then you get to meet people and you see these entrepreneurs that have done extraordinary things and you ask them questions and you learn. And your, your awareness just keeps growing and building, as do the relationships. And you're right, you want to be in a room, not a room where you're the smartest person. That might be good for your ego. It certainly doesn't help you grow.
You want to be the dumbest person in the room because there's that whole saying you're the average of the five people you hang out with. It's really like who you're emulating, who you're following with podcasts or YouTube or training programs, because you can just keep getting this exposure and start shifting your beliefs, what you believe is possible for you, your awareness of how to accomplish it, strategic input, and you just start layering and building. And the more people you talk to it just keeps ramping up. Now, like I said, I started with a low ticket productivity course, meaning a low cost course. It was a productivity course I was selling for $200.
And to make any real money with that, you have to sell a lot of them, right? Because it's, it's a low cost.
[00:29:01] Speaker A: You have to be productive.
[00:29:03] Speaker B: You definitely do. And so I would line up, as I noted, presentations to other people's groups, sell a big batch each time. I'd keep part of the revenue because it's my product, but I would share the revenue with the host who had invited me to present to their group and provide value. And that, that's what a joint venture promotion is. And you can do the same thing with referral partnerships and speaking opportunities and embedded partnerships where your product, service or messaging is inside of other people's offers. So I'll note though that I kept moving up market, meaning prices for offers and consulting and things kept climbing. And one thing, you'll find that when you serve a more advanced audience or client, the sales cycles are faster and easier and the people get way better results because they're, they're just more rounded as people and entrepreneurs or business owners and moving up market or just coming in higher in the market, which may seem scary if you're new to it. It's like, well, who would pay me X amount of dollars for help with this? There's, there are people that certainly will. And I was driven up market by frustration working with lower level clients who didn't believe in themselves, who questioned investing in themselves even for not very large dollar amounts. And I remember I presented to a group of psychologists or psychiatrists, mix those up.
Basically this woman bought a program from me on a Friday. She was demanding a refund by Monday without ever logging in or looking at it. And so I downsold her into a lower program. She was all happy. Two days later she's demanding a refund from that, never going through it. And I was like, I'm done working with people who don't believe in themselves.
And I, I charged eight grand on a credit card because I was invited to speak at an event in Croatia where everyone there was pretty much over seven figures in their business. I didn't have the money to do it, but I'm like, I'm done playing with smaller people that don't commit and believe in themselves. And so I consciously chose to build a higher level network. Constant consciously chose to go where those folks are congregated and start building relationships like that and making my offer a Good fit for a higher level market. And that's when the price points keep climbing.
And basically in the biggest promotion I ever did with the productivity course, it brought in around 32,000, which is pretty sweet when you're, you know, a new business.
But half of that went to the partner, which is cool. That's how those things work. But that means my biggest day ever dropped to 15k.
And now by consciously choosing to serve a higher level, more advanced market, companies that are 7 and 8 and 9 figures instead of lower level ones, I can do that much in a day just by selling one of my consulting packages today.
So the nudge here is not only believe in yourself to do it, surround yourself with people who've already solved it and they're more advanced, but serve a higher level market while you're doing it because they'll be happy to pay you more for it.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: It's really, really interesting. And that's a.
I'll share my story, but I want to very briefly before the break, but the.
When I talk to kids or people ask me about millennials or Gen Alpha or these folks that have these really high aspirations, my response is that I don't have any problem with someone wanting to be a billionaire. What I have a problem with is that they haven't done the math.
And you're not going to become a billionaire by getting a lot of likes and views and followers and things like putting out good content. You're going to become a billionaire because you saved or made a person or a bunch of people five or $10 billion.
So the key is the more money you can save somebody or make somebody, the more of it you can take. And that really is the key. That's been my practice for sure on the high end financial stuff and business building.
But the you went right to that. And I think that just you just gave me something that I'm going to work into my, you know, some of my presentations, which is you think people are different at different levels, but the truth is we all at every level, every human being only has 168 hours in a week.
And so if you can find a way to save somebody time, and time is worth more than money for people who are successful. They can't buy more time.
And that's what you did with your productivity course. And it's what you do now that you shorten the lead cycle. We're going to talk about that in the next segment that you make it shorter to get to a client and make it easier. Just more time with a Greater sense of, greater probability of success. So a really important lesson from what Charles did coming right out of the gate was he was focusing on, if I'm going to save people time, who values their time the most? If you make 200 grand and you work 2,000 hours a week, that means the time is worth $100 an hour. For somebody who makes $2 million, their time is worth $1,000 an hour. And so saving an hour to the person making 2 million is worth $1,000. Saving it for somebody who makes 200 is only worth 100. And you can only get a portion of that. Like, you figured that out early, really early, right, Joe?
[00:34:56] Speaker B: It was. It was a journey like that, that realization. And I. I also switched markets. And this is a learning lesson, too. It was great that I dove in on the productivity course because I got the wheels rolling. I got the company created, I figured out how to sell it, fill it, grow it. But over time, people wondered how I was lining up so many partnerships. And I'm. I'm sure we'll talk about this more in the next segment. But the demand for that exceeded the demand for the original product, which means simply by committing to something to begin with, you're just handed the next appropriate thing. But if I just sat there twiddling my thumbs, talking about creating something, none of it would have happened. So you've got to get the ball rolling.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's the big thing, is the two things that are most important for everybody here before we go to the next segment is when you want to start something, the first step is always the first. That is the hardest. Well, the first step is always the first. That's very. It's very Yogi. Yogi Berra. Ish. But the hardest step is the first step. You got to take the first step before you can take the second. And then the journey in entrepreneurship is never straight. Use the example of the spaceship going to the moon and zigzagging.
Most of your time is spent off course. You're not actually going directly towards your target. You're. I think I want to work with these people. No, I want to overcorrect to go this way, and I want to go that way. And eventually you find your way. But it's like the settlers going from Virginia to San Francisco. They went all over the place, you know, to find their way. And so in the next segment, come on back. We're going to help you find your way and show you how some of the tools that Charles has will either help you directly or they're going to broaden your mind and help you reach higher with your offer. So make sure you come back, don't miss it.
Be bold, be curious, but most importantly, be patient. We'll be right back with more BE the Giraffe.
This is Be the Giraffe with Chris Jarvis. It's time to evolve and elevate.
Welcome back. You have made it to the fourth and most magical segment here of Be the Giraffe with Charles Byrd, who is teaching us to reach higher, fly higher in business and in life.
Charles, we ended the last segment talking about moving up market and getting into some rooms that were really special. And you changed this whole approach for yourself.
Tell us what you're doing now. And I know you've done it for me. So a little unfair, I know a little bit behind the curtain, but talk a little bit about what you do and how other people use this. Because we have a lot of people who are running businesses and they have a cool product or they have a cool strategy or a cool service, but getting in front of people is, you know, the number of people I hear complaining about the cost of ads on Meta or on Insta or cost of client acquisition and TikTok and other social media, I mean, you've completely eliminated that for me and a lot of other people.
So for everybody listening, if you want to know how to get clients cheaper, this is what Charles is about to tell us. So what did you figure out in this? You did it for yourself and then you figured out how to package it and do it for other people. Tell us about that because it did change my life. And I want people to hear this.
[00:38:26] Speaker B: Yeah, well, so thank you for that and I'm thrilled to hear that that's the case. And so as, as I was starting to sell the, my first product from 10 years ago, which was a productivity course, getting it in front of other people's audiences, delivering the training and selling the program.
Since I was getting traction with that and I thought, hey, why don't I apply my IT and systems background to simplify and systematize this process.
And then I started booking a high volume of these where I was presenting two to six times a week to other people's audiences and people started noticing, they're like, even if people were doing similar things, they might line up one every few months. Like people did not have a system or framework to consistently get in front of their ideal clients.
And so as I started pivoting away from the productivity course into consulting companies, how to get up and going With a deal flow system, a joint venture system, a way to consistently get booked on stages, consistently get warm, handpicked, qualified referrals. How to have other people promote your products or services or embed your offers inside of their offers.
Like as an example, there's a book publisher I know that has a high ticket offer that bundles in creating a podcast, but they're not the ones that actually fulfill on that. They've brought in a partner to fulfill on that. So every time the publisher is landing a new book client, the podcast company is landing a new client without any legion or sales calls, they're just handed a client. So by understanding exactly how these things work, I've created a eight week program to walk companies and founders through this. And so here are the steps that we go through for this deal flow system and it's number one, creating your unique lead strategy or joint venture strategy for your particular product and market.
Two, help you identify your most profitable partners. Communities, Stages referral partners show you how to connect to those partners through warm channels. So there's no cold outreach as those connections come in.
How to guide the conversations to land those deals frequently on the first call.
Operationally, how to execute the deals along with turning each one into two or three more. I've had 15 clients who've added 1.25 to 3.32 million in additional revenue. Four clients on stage with Tony Robbins, one that just got booked on Joe Rogan.
Dr. Cialdini who wrote the book Influence is a friend and client. The big CRM company Go high Level is a client helping them go from 500 million to a billion all through partnerships.
[00:41:34] Speaker A: And it also has, I think people need to know this, you all from partnerships. There is no advertising, there's no ad spend, there's no AB testing, there's no all those things that we stress about you start looking at click through rates and follow through and views and links. There's none of that. I mean in your system. What's so cool is people are so stuck on views. And I know it's going to be terrible for me to say views aren't important when I'm hosting a television show.
[00:42:05] Speaker B: But.
[00:42:07] Speaker A: The point is all the things that people are majoring in, they're focusing so much on winning a game or lamenting the fact that they're losing a game and that isn't the game. The game is to get the clients who you can make money for and you are on a roll. But I just have to make this point that this whole system doesn't cost you money, it's not, I mean there's an investment in your program to learn how to do this, but you're not talking about more and more ad spend. Everybody I talked to about my last three books, all were bestsellers, but they cost a fortune to become bestsellers. And this working through friends and family and contacts and networks and joint ventures and providing values. The stuff you have is people. This is free once you learn it and you will use it for the rest of your life.
I mean, it's really brilliant, Charles. I mean it's, it's spectacular.
[00:43:04] Speaker B: Well, I, I appreciate that and I'm biased. I, I agree.
But yeah, because a lot of people, they, they think the pathway is cold traffic. Here's the thing, when you're buying ads like that, you pay for them whether they work or they don't work. The, the money's gone whether they work or not. Where with partnerships, referrals speaking, you only pay commission based on actual sales made. So you're diversifying your leads across different partners. Each new referral partner, each new stage, each new community represents a completely independent lead source. So you're diversifying with a framework to continually add new folks to that. So you're ramping up your volume of warm, hand picked qualified leads.
Those convert dramatically better than anyone coming through a paid source like that.
It's two to three times better than paid traffic. And if you have higher ticket products or services, it's upwards of 20 times more, so it converts better. There's a built in transference of trust and authority that goes with it. Like if someone's referring you and talking you up, those people are like halfway down the sales path with you before you ever opened your mouth because someone they know like and trust has referred you. So there's a transference of trust and authority that go with it. So just having a framework for connecting with people at events, for getting warm intros, and then how to guide the conversations with those folks into one or more winning outcomes. Maybe they're a good fit for your product so they head down your sales path. Maybe they're a great referral partner. Maybe they have a community or group that your message would be perfect to bring, or a podcast or a show to get booked on.
And then even when you're on a show like that, the show is the listeners of the bonus. The real value is the relationship building between the host and the guest.
The last two shows I was on, I was just on Sharon Lechter's show who co wrote the Rich Dad, Poor Dad Books sold 14 million of them. Coming off of that interview, booked a sales call. I was just on another podcast called the Misfit Entrepreneur. Coming off the interview, booked a sales call.
So when you have a framework for this, and Chris, no, I won't be booking a sales call because you've bought everything I sell.
[00:45:40] Speaker A: That's right.
So when you have something new, I'll buy that too. So that's fine.
[00:45:45] Speaker B: So point being, you create a repeatable framework and then you get consistent results from it and you're, there's no money going out for getting in front of the right people. They're just handed to you.
[00:45:58] Speaker A: Well, and, and for who to work with. This was a lesson that I learned from Jay Abraham and a legendary business coach. And when you're trying to figure out who are these people? If you're wondering who's going to buy my, who could I have a strategic partnership with? If some of you are trying to figure this out, the question to ask yourself about your customer is what do people buy before they buy your product or service?
After they buy your product or service or instead of your product or service?
So what do they buy before, what do they buy after? So if someone's buying a home.
[00:46:35] Speaker B: You.
[00:46:35] Speaker A: Know, what do they buy after they buy a home? They might pay for landscaping, they might look for a maid. They might want somebody to put in a pool. They might want somebody to put in an audio video in video system. They might want something else.
If you're a realtor, maybe you're looking at if someone, before they buy a new house, they're going to sell their old house and now you have what are you doing to clean up a house and what are you doing for repairs and what are you doing? You know, be thinking about these things. Whatever it is you do, whatever your customers are doing before they, before they hire you, after they hire you or instead of hiring you, those are the people to talk to.
[00:47:10] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And it's looking for opportunities where your product or service is a perfect fit. I'll give you a quick example. A couple. So one of my clients, Christina Wise, she helps people budget their money better and pay themselves first from the business so that they actually are peeling 20% off for investing.
Now, she doesn't directly teach investing, so this is a perfect opportunity to bring in someone who teaches people how to invest in real estate or how to invest in the stock market or other types of investments. So it's exactly what you're saying, Chris. Like what is the next thing that's logical for someone and who is creating your ideal clients like that or who work in adjacent markets. So anyone booking stages or podcasts, they likely also want a book or people with a book want a podcast and they want to speak. So it's looking for those adjacencies and finding warm handoffs between them.
[00:48:20] Speaker A: That's great, Charles. As we wrap up the last 30 seconds here, where can people find you? What is the best way to find. It'll be in the show notes. But how do people find you? And just let them know because I think. I think you're going to get a lot of requests.
[00:48:35] Speaker B: Yeah, perfect. You can head over to charles bird.com, that's by R D, and you can check out more about the work that we're up to and how we serve and support. There's also a link to go through an application to book a call and we can chat.
[00:48:52] Speaker A: That's great, Charles. Thank you so much. The audience always wants to know how to stand out, reach higher. In your case, fly further.
And it's been great. This is very helpful. You've been a huge supporter and instigator, initiator and amplifier of my business and my life, so I cannot thank you enough, my friend. Thank you for being here.
[00:49:14] Speaker B: Yeah, thanks for having me. It's been a pleasure.
[00:49:17] Speaker A: And so until next time, everybody, don't forget to break free from the herd. Avoid the masses and the asses so that you can elevate your perspective, see a better path and be the giraffe. We'll see you next week.
