Daniel

How Daniel Made $14,500 in commission within the first two weeks of joining

Oz:                         And what is the total commission you made from that one LinkedIn deal.

Oz:                         Guys, you know you’re making good money when you need a calculator to calculate.

Speaker 1:           So, yeah, 14,500 off of that one, off of LinkedIn.

Oz:                         Wow.

Speaker 1:           Yeah, I mean would say the best, what I’ve been getting the most out of training it’s really just the automation. For somebody completely new to the industry, I mean I wish this was here when I got in a couple years back, it just it could have saved me six months of hell working for someone else. .

Oz:                         Oh boy. What would you recommend someone who’s starting brand new? Obviously you are, you’re doing great right now, but we have a lot of people who are not even from the industry, they’re trying to transition. Some have full-time job, all they need is one or two deals a month and if that happens that’s enough to get them over the border, so they can quit their job that they just dreadfully go to every single day and do this. So what would your suggestion be for those people?

Speaker 1:           You can always lean on a veteran to help close the deals in regards to lead generation. I mean you have a system in place through your program to where if you follow it, I mean you will get deals. I mean it’s just … I’m a prime example. I’ve been doing your system for the last two years without really knowing what I’m doing. I didn’t have all the pieces. Your program gives me all the pieces, it’s giving everybody else the opportunity to make a good living if you just follow the system. If you’re new to the business, just follow what Oz has laid out for everybody and you will succeed as long as you put in the work.

 

Gaurav

How Gaurav Went From Charging $300mo to Landing $100,000 projects

Oz Konar:            Hey, everyone. I’m with Gaurav today. He is a very good friend and has been an old client. He’s been with us for a long time right now, so I wanted to bring him on and have him share with us his journey through my coaching and through their own efforts because they had been a massive company in India when I first met them. Now, they’re doing even much better, so I wanted to bring him on and have you guys here from him as well. So, Gaurav, welcome and thanks for joining me today. The first thing I’m gonna ask you, Gaurav, can you tell me a little bit about your company in India and of course your transitioning into the US that whole structure, so people can learn more about your business?

Gaurav:                So, thanks, Oz, for all your time has provided and what a value to our business, and it’s given a lot of structure to our group in the last one, one year or 18 months that we’ve been working together also. To answer your question, so you know we are a digital marketing and technology company, so we have a company called Saffron Tech, which does a lot of technology into web application, mobile applications. We are a Microsoft certified partner. We are one of the biggest custom applications … one of the bigger customer … custom application companies out of India and the US.

Gaurav:                Then, the second brand that we have is called Saffron Edge, and that is more in the digital marketing space. We work with small businesses, corporates, single owner businesses, and help them to really identify the market, see how to scale the business, how to create more leads and generate more business out of those leads. That’s the two areas we’re in. What … The reason we got in touch with you, Oz, was when it’s about two years back when we made that decision that we want to be a formative player in the US as well, and not just work out of in India as an outsourcing company. We wanted someone who was experienced, who runs a business of his own in the US, whose in the same space, and we can really help us be focused in the direction that we want to have.

Gaurav:                Fortunately, we were able to get in touch with Oz, and we had a few of our calls where Oz kind of introduced us to his way of mentoring and training and it seemed like the right fit and in the last two years we’ve been helped in various different manner and the aspects of the business. Today, we have a running business in the US. We have an office in New York, New Jersey. We’ve hired people. We are increasing our team’s strength and I think we’re very clear for the next three years of what our direction is going to be for the growth. I think I did answer your question, and I went a little more.

Oz Konar:            Yeah, you did more. That’s awesome.

Gaurav:                Okay.

Oz Konar:            One thing that I remember, Gaurav, you guys definitely transformed our business. One thing that you and Vibhu, your partner, was not happy about is that you just didn’t want to be another outsourcing company out of India.

Gaurav:                That’s true.

Oz Konar:            You wanted to change yourself and you were not really clear how that would work because obviously when you’re over there every Indian based company they pretty much do the same thing, right? It’s like raised to the zero. Can you do SEL for $500? Oh, I can do it for $400, $300, $200, so it’s like a death trap. You can’t really escape it, so I remember that’s why you guys figured that well, that’s not gonna go anywhere and you’re feeding a lot of people in your office. I think as far as I remember you have over a hundred people, right, working with you right now?

Gaurav:                Yes, we have a decent team size. We’re actually close to 200 people.

Oz Konar:            Wow.

Gaurav:                With our staffing division as well, so, yeah, we have a massive workforce here, and you’re absolutely right. We’ve been in the business for the last almost 11 years now, and we had a modest beginning as well as you rightly said the co-founder, Vibhu, has been instrumental in our growth as well, and so we both came to a point after six to seven years of our business of what next, you know? We’ve been majority of our customers are in North America. Though we have business from the rest of the world as well, but the majority of the business comes from North America and I’ve lived there, I’ve studied there, I went to New York [inaudible 00:05:14] and did my graduation there and worked there for a bit, so we understand the culture very well.

Gaurav:                I think the next step that we wanted to do was to be in the market that we’re doing business for, and so it seemed like a very obvious progression and something that we wanted to grow our business in that direction, but, yes, we were a little directionless if I may call it because we had too many things that we could do, you know?

Oz Konar:            Right.

Gaurav:                And sometimes too many choices doesn’t help because then you’re not focusing. You’re not putting your energy into something where the efforts can bring in results. I think that has been one of the biggest learnings with spending time with you. The whole niche conversation-

Oz Konar:            Yeah.’

Gaurav:                And not just the niche conversation, but to bring our focus onto doing things that you can do the best because the market is so huge that you don’t have to worry about how big is the market for any product. If you’re good at do … If you’re good at what you do even if you sell one thing, you can really have a decent part of the market. In that ways, I think we are very focused and we’ve understood how to scale our business and it did take us about a year. You know we’ve had numerous conversations going back and forth and figuring out what we should be doing, what we shouldn’t be doing, so it did take us a year and with you all to understand that, but in the last six to eight months, now, we are seeing a lot of results of our conversations and we can see that we’re moving in the right direction.

Oz Konar:            Yeah, and one thing I love about you guys, Gaurav, and usually the problem with companies who’ve been around for a while is they’re just too set in their ways. They don’t want to change. There’s habit built in. It’s very difficult to make a change and add to that we have a very large organization and in big organizations like that change is very slow, but you guys are very clear that it starts from the top. It starts from you Gaurav and Vibhu, and you guys are just you’re just ready to take action on whatever we recommend on those calls and I know that it took a while to digest the idea of niching down because you had clients from pretty much any industry that I don’t know if there’s any industry that you guys haven’t worked in over the years.

Gaurav:                Yeah.

Oz Konar:            And what I mentioned first I said hey, you guys, this is awesome, but you can’t really go deeper in any of them and charge more because you don’t have expertise in this specific field. You have experience in them, but expertise is a little different, right? So, it took a while to kind of hone in to bring that in. Right now, I think that just like you said now you’re seeing why that’s been really helping you and now how you were just discussing sharing with me that you decided to move to the US, right, and you have the operations here, and you hired two US based people, and now you guys finally are focusing on one or two specific areas. Can you share a little bit about, like you shared with me that you were working on large, very large projects that you guys maybe were getting it, but you were getting it randomly here and there? Now, it’s a lot more strategic right now, right?

Gaurav:                Absolutely, so if I get into a little more details like you asked. Two of the main divisions that we see for Saffron for the next at least five years is in digital marketing. We are very good in search engine optimization, paid ads, online reputation, and the social aspect of it, and we are really geographically we are more focusing on the price state, so that’s our geographic focus that we’ve brought in our business. It’s not that we don’t take business from different coasts of the US. We absolutely do. Not just the US, but the rest of the world, but our focus, our efforts, have been put more on the tri-state area. That’s one side of the focus.

Gaurav:                On the industry, while we have been working with various industries, and we’ve been helping various industries with digital marketing and we will continuously doing so.

Oz Konar:            Right, yeah.

Gaurav:                We continue to do so, but a lot of our effort going forward will be in the healthcare domain. We have a good understanding for the healthcare domain. We have a lot of technology products. We’ve done various digital marketing with healthcare domain and the whole tri-state up in New Jersey and Boston is very high on healthcare, so that’s one of the niche focuses that we have identified for ourselves. Moving on to the technology, again, we are building up our brand and it’s started showing a lot of results in the whole New York tri-state area again. So, working … We were working with a lot of startups and small businesses, but over the last six months with our focus in the tri-state we’ve been able to get some mid-sized companies and some enterprise level customers as well, and we want to be focused more on the web application, the custom mobile application, and software testing. Those are the three main domains that we have kind of identified for ourselves.

Gaurav:                Though we do have the knowledge and we provide solutions to our clients who come to us for IOT, internet of things, for cloud computing-

Oz Konar:            Right.

Gaurav:                Different machine learning. Some are the machine learning projects as well, but we’re not, as we’re saying, we are not putting our efforts to really focus on that customer.

Oz Konar:            Sure.

Gaurav:                Our customer is a client whose looking for a good professional company-

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Gaurav:                Who can work with them as their technology partners building their web mobile applications and doing software testing for whatever they have built in Legacy systems or they are building right now.

Oz Konar:            Absolutely, and from our past conversations I remember that you guys always had your eye on larger projects because you know that there’s no shortage of them in the US, right? So, there are companies who are closing on a ton of very large projects and the reason you guys wanted to do it. Obviously, that’s super profitable because you already have a team of developers, very experienced, certified in many areas that are required for that and it was always the struggle of bringing more business to keep them busy and make profit for the company.

Oz Konar:            Right now, it seems like you kind of have figured out that part by being more present in the United States and building a strategic relationship with people because those kinds of projects work more on relationship marketing then digital marketing. Yeah, you can put your head out there and you can get projects, but there’s no rapport or relationship because it’s usually very complicated projects and people don’t mind paying fifty, one hundred, two-hundred thousand dollars, thousand dollar budgets, for things like that, but they want to have a face not just the company logo.

Gaurav:                Exactly.

Oz Konar:            I think that’s one of the ways that you guys were leading with your company name and now it’s more like hey, I know this guy named Gaurav. He’s awesome, but he came by, we talked, and now he’s a buddy, right?

Gaurav:                Sure. And not just that. Our plan, we’ve already started working on it. As I said, we made two hirings already and we are hiring more people, and our plan is to give onshore the developers. Onshore team to the company that we work with as well, so our clients are going to be working with designers, project managers, developers who are onshore who can work from our office and even go to their office and work from. We are going to provide that onshore capability that has been missing, you know? At least from our business, so we’re moving in that direction as well.

Oz Konar:            Absolutely, so if you were to be talking to someone whose considering to work with you, what is one of the biggest takeaways that you have from our time together?

Gaurav:                All right, so there’s so many takeaways, but I think … Let me say the three most important takeaways, right? I think the first most important takeaway is to find a domain that you can expertise in. Of course, with your skills and your capabilities, finding a domain that you can understand as an industry and really go deep into it, then going just wide in too many industries. I think that was one of the main things that we got from you and that has really helped us. Second, I think finding a focus on geographically market as well that you can have to build those relationships as well. Have a face to the customer and not just a logo, as you said before. I think that’s the second most important thing that we got from your training.

Gaurav:                The third most important point that we got from you of course, which I think is very important is to have a real focus on margins for a business and how do you productize your service so that when you are in front of a client every time you’re not starting from scratch and the work that you have done how do you put it together as a product so that you already have a platform that you can bring it in front of your customers? We have done a lot of work in healthcare domain, so that is what we are doing as we speak. We are trying to create a platform for healthcare both in digital marketing and technology so that when we are in front of a customer we are already five steps ahead of our competition.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Gaurav:                I think these are the three main points I would say.

Oz Konar:            No, I appreciate it. Yeah, you guys are very smart business owners, and you love implementing new things to separate yourselves from the other people because on one end if it was someone else that person would’ve thought that there was just too much competition. You’re out of India, everyone is doing digital marketing and things like that. You guys didn’t see it that way, you wanted to just kind of grow out of that crowd and became one of the biggest as far as I know, so that’s awesome. This interview will be seen by many people, and I know some of them will need help with their digital marketing or website design or maybe on larger projects, so if they see this and if they want to work with you guys, what is the best way to reach out to you guys?

Gaurav:                Absolutely. You can reach out to one of our websites. Main one Saffrontech.net.

Oz Konar:            Okay.

Gaurav:                And just fill up a form and somebody will be able to get in touch with you and we’ll take the conversation ahead or reach out to me on Linkedin. My name is Gaurav Sabharwal and I’m one of the founders for Saffron Tech, and we’ll take the conversations from there.

Oz Konar:            Perfect. Yeah, what I will do is on the description of this video, I’m gonna put both your Linkedin profile and the website, so people can connect with you if they have any questions about any projects or anything that they’re working on, so because obviously guys if you’re watching this I trust these people, Gaurav and Vibhu. They’re the best in what they do, so I have no doubt in recommending and in anything they do. I’m not … I would not even hesitate for a second, so I love these guys. Gaurav, I don’t want to hold you any longer, but thanks so much for your time. I appreciate this. It’s been great having you. Let’s stay in touch and let’s build this thing to the sky.

Gaurav:                Thank you, of course. Thanks for your time today and have a good day, and I’m happy to help, so anytime. No problem at all.

Oz Konar:            Perfect. Thank you.

 

Lawrence

How Lawrence Went From $0 To $14,000 in 3 Weeks Working From Home – Merchant Cash Advance

Oz Konar:            Hey everyone. Oz here. I have my guest here, Lawrence. He recently signed up to my program Merchant Cash Advance Success Blueprint and has been having a massive success so I wanted to bring him on and have him share with us his journey so far in his business and where he was and where he is right now. Hey, Lawrence. Thanks for joining. We appreciate it.

Lawrence:           I’m really happy you have me. Thank you.

Oz Konar:            Yeah. Let’s get started. I want to go back to what it was like when you first started out. I know that you kinda knew about the industry when you came in, so let’s go back there. How did you get introduced to the industry? What you were doing before and how things were working out?

Lawrence:           Previously, I was a stock broker series seven. I had a ton of success working for different firms on Wall Street, got good enough to where I was able to have my own office, run my own branch in New York from a Florida based company. I was alone in New York. I had a few partners. Did really well. High intense. Really, really immediate gratification kind of business to where I can be on the phone with someone and when I’m hanging that phone up I know I just made X amount and it’s done and it’s trade purchased, done.

One thing led to another where I had to leave that industry and more so out of desperation I got connected to someone who knew someone who knew someone in the merchant cash advance industry. I’d heard of it before. Never really knew much about it. Had really little knowledge in regards to what it entailed. Jumped in at an office because, again, I had really no choice. I’m in Long Island. I have a ton of expenses and I had no job, no career. My whole career was pretty much cut short. So, 30 years old and I need to make a move and I had to go back to working for someone in this industry and that’s what I did; someone who runs an office. A merchant cash advance office. Was really slow. Was really not what I was used to. The salesmanship tactics and the salesmanship skills that I learned as a stock broker really did help as far as just keeping guys on the phone because I was doing cold calling, so I wasn’t doing anything other than reading a list like a UCC-

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           A bunch of sheets, just going through them, talking to secretaries. Never had a problem with that based on my previous experience, but it was something that was just slow as anything and I wasn’t getting paid anything. I had no salary so I was just sitting there dialing my butt off and getting out [inaudible] and getting them in-

Oz Konar:            How many phone calls were you making, Lawrence, on an average day?

Lawrence:           I would keep track. I have a dial sheet. I was doing between 200 and 300 calls a day.

Oz Konar:            Yep.

Lawrence:           Yeah. I would go in. I wanted to start really early but they were running the ship where they would start at 10 AM. Don’t know why. I would be forced to take a break around 12. Take an hour, come back and go from basically one o’clock to six o’clock every day, six, six 30, as late as I wanted to. I was seeing nothing. I’m seeing no results. Every deal that I was getting in as far as files with bank statements … I learned how to do it, but when I would pass it along to my manager who would then look at it and go forward to submitting to lenders, one thing always seemed to happen.  Always was something different.  This file’s no good. Throw that one out. This guy’s not gonna get much money. Blah blah blah. One thing after another after another after another. I did that for six months.

Oz Konar:            Wow.

Lawrence:           Yeah. And it was … I felt that … I was scared, honestly, because … And I’m sure a lot of people are, too, about the industry, itself because if you don’t feel that immediate gratification you just wonder how is there money being made here? For me, personally, the situation is that I’m in a position where I have a ton of expenses. I own a home, I own cars, I own a ton of things. And having zero income-

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           -Is a scary thing. I felt that there was no money to really be made in the industry at all because of what I was seeing. And in six months I only funded two deals.

Oz Konar:            Wow.

Lawrence:           One was-

Oz Konar:            And that’s like hitting the phones every single day. It’s not like you sitting around and waiting for deals to come to you. Because there are two types of people. One is well, you’re simply lazy. You’re looking for a reason to blame the boss or the product or the industry. Or you’re working your butt off just you did but something was off. I’m yet to figure out what was going on with that company, honestly, that you were funding two deals and they were defunding deals right and left.

But you’re 100 percent right. Usually the perception of someone who comes into this industry and they look at the commission charts and what the potential income is while our crocodile brain immediately kicks in and says well, this is a scam. There’s no way you can make this much money. And combine that with your previous failures, then it becomes a fact. In fact, it’s not a fact. It’s just the way you’re feeling about it based on your … It’s the mindset thing. Thanks for touching on that. That’s where a lot of people get stuck and they can’t get beyond that and see the real opportunity because their brain is telling them run. There’s something here. But, in fact, that’s just being exposed to the wrong source of information. Maybe the wrong people in the wrong company. Is that how you felt at the time?

Lawrence:           Yeah. And the funny thing is when I first joined that company it was myself and I believe it was the manager and he had six other guys with me. And every single one of them was doing the same thing I was doing.

Oz Konar:            Okay.

Lawrence:           And one by one they would fall by the wayside and they’d be gone. They would just disappear. There was no resignation. There was no this guy got fired, this guy … No. Just one Monday, this guy’s not here anymore. People were just falling by the wayside because you’re waiting and waiting for something to happen and how long can you really do that? For me, I felt that pressure because I literally had no way to cover a ton of expenses and now my credit, which was once an 800 when I got this house in Long Island … Now my credit’s getting hammered because I’m missing every bill and I’m feeling all these pressures and I’m getting threats. It’s like this is not a life I ever wanted.

So, I was literally standing there because my desk … Literally standing because I had one of those Varidesks that you actually can stand at the desk. So, I would literally stand there, work as hard as I could. I’d get a ton of app outs and everything that would come in … What I found out later, now coming from this perspective, is that everything that needed any type of legwork … If the merchant that was submitting the file wasn’t just a supremely A paper, flawless online checkout, on deck kind of client, that they would take two seconds to get funded just submitting the paperwork, this guy, my manager, would not want to touch it. He was all oh, that’s a shitty deal. Throw that out. Ah, that’s a shitty deal. Throw that out. You’re not gonna make any money on that.

The reason … This is what I figured, too. The reason I wasn’t … Those are shitty deals that I’m not gonna make money on and pass them on is because I was only getting 25 percent of that commission that would come through and he was splitting it with his partner 75 percent. They would split. If a deal would come through where the commission was only a few hundred dollars he would just say no. Or a few thousand dollars, forget about it.

The two deals that I ended up funding, one was 80 thousand and one was 100 thousand. It stinks because the commission that I saw come through was 12 thousand dollars for the 100 thousand dollar merchant and I got, I think 20 something hundred dollars or whatever it was. It was just rough. It was rough.

Oz Konar:            Oh, that’s hard to swallow. Yeah.

Lawrence:           One more thing I’ll tell you is from January up until just July when I was really there full-time I made a grand total of eight thousand dollars in seven months. Where I’d previous been working as a broker, I made 500 thousand dollars in 15, 16 and 17 and then to have eight thousand dollars in for seven months my parents are coming to help me out. It’s like a place I don’t want to be as a 30 year-old. I’m like I’m in [inaudible].

Oz Konar:            Yeah, yeah. Plus, you’re not used to … You’ve never been there before. When was the point that you said enough is enough and what did you start doing, then, at that point?

Lawrence:           I’ll never forget it. It was July 4th, to be exact. I needed something to give me a spark, in my opinion, for there. I mean, I was dialing … I’m getting all outs. I’m looking how many applications are going out and what’s coming in and I’m like what more can I do? And I would ask him what more can I do? And he’s like nope, you’re doing great. Just search for the whales. Just search for those whales out there. The guys that need a few million or need a few hundred grand. I’m like … For me … With respect, I would tell him I don’t give a shit if I have to fund 20 deals that are-

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           -10 thousand a piece. I have real expenses. But all he would tell me is just dial the phone, man. It’s gonna be great. Then I found out later his expenses were nothing. He lived at home with his family and I don’t have that luxury. I have a [inaudible][crosstalk]

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           -Here, you know? So, he couldn’t really relate. But on July 4th I went on YouTube and I was just looking for some information, really, on how to not so much hook the guy because I was fine with that. It was more so just am I missing something in the follow-ups? Am I losing it? ‘Cause I would get the apps out. I would get some contact and then the guys would vanish on me over and over. And I’m hitting my head against the wall like what am I doing? I found you and you were the one person or one YouTube channel that I found that it wasn’t just some merchant cash advance company advertising this-

Oz Konar:            Okay.

Lawrence:           -Is what’s good about a merchant cash advance and it’s a great thing and the video is like 12 years old and it’s a guy in suit and it’s a big video background. It’s like you were the one person that seemed to hit every single thing that I was hitting; all the resistance that I was feeling. And the sucky part is by the end of June I was the only one man left in that office. The other six guys quit in that office and exactly to what you’re saying because you’re either gonna tough it out because you know already from whatever … My past taught me that you have to go through a lot of shit sometimes to get things to go so just stick with the process.

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           But not a lot of people can trust it, especially when they’re in a desperate mode and they don’t have any history in a commission only kind of business like this.

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           So, I understand why guys that you’re talking about … People sometimes give up on this just right before the things gonna break through. I know to push through that but not everyone does, so I would advise anyone listening to … You’re always gonna hit that big resistance and you’re gonna wanna just turn around and say this is just too much for me. But if you can just weather that big punch that you’re taking, there’s another side to it.

And so, I found you. And I didn’t have any money, either. I had nothing. I mean, I had to break up the payments to you of 475 dollars in two payments and I didn’t have that. I think I just barely had 475 in the bank. But I said to myself, you know what? I know better. I’ve been at zero before. I’m at zero now but I’m gonna invest in myself. I don’t care if it’s 475. That 475’s gonna go towards me.

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           I’m gonna make something with that, you know? And one of your presentations had something about doing something today that your future self will thank you for. It said it on there. It was like do something today that-

Oz Konar:            Yeah, I have a canvas in my room. I read that every day because as you know, there’s no yesterday and tomorrow is not here. We only have today.

Lawrence:           Yeah.

Oz Konar:            And five years from now when you look back the decisions we make today will shape where you’re gonna be five years from now. I think we all have experienced that. Either you have two options. You can say oh, shit. Life is not treating me well. It’s not my fault or whatever you believe is punishing you. Or you can say well, I’m the product of my decisions.

Lawrence:           I do.

Oz Konar:            You make certain decisions and they have certain outcomes. And I’m a firm believer of that and I know whatever will happen to me in the future is a result of me thinking right now and deciding at that moment.

Lawrence:           That’s right. Never be a victim, so to speak. Don’t ever be a victim.

Oz Konar:            Oh, don’t. Do not. Because it doesn’t help anyone.

Lawrence:           Nope.

Oz Konar:            Have you ever seen a case that becoming a victim helps you? It just does not, right?

Lawrence:           It makes it worse. It makes it a lot worse, actually. And believe me, I could tell you. Anyone, again, listening. I was in the bottom of the bottom because I lost my entire career and I was literally spending days where I’d be on the couch until one o’clock just laying around. I stopped going to the gym. I just hit this awful down swooping thing and now I’m in a new industry that I can sell guys on the phone. I’ve been cold calling my whole career. I have a lot of fun with that. And I have a lot of success with it. But it wasn’t translating to money in my pocket.

I funded two deals. I made five or six grand on those two deals and I got a couple extra dollars from other things to make eight grand. I sold some stuff on eBay. I made eight grand in seven months. For me, that was hell because my expenses in my home at the time were as high as 17 thousand a month. I got them all the way down to 10 thousand a month but I mean, I’m making nothing.

That resistance that everyone feels where they want to turn back or maybe it’s not right, this business is a thousand percent real. It’s a thousand percent not a scam and it is exactly what you make it. It’s exactly what you put into it. If you give 100 percent, you’re gonna get it. It doesn’t happen like that and you can’t expect things like that to happen like that. When you run your own office, you run your own business … Man, I’ve heard of guys going a year without being profitable or two years without being profitable, but if it’s yours and you’re working for yourself, you give yourself that respect and you tough out those waves …

That 475 that I sent you that day was the best money I’ve ever spent in my entire life and that put me to zero dollars and I had no fear after that because I was watching and I was going through your modules and I was flying. I was so immersed in it and I knew that if I can be that way in the whole business and just get myself to know all these aspects, which by the way, to this second I still don’t have it all down. It’s so many different pieces-

Oz Konar:            Yeah. Oh, there’s so many. It’s an entire business model. People see it as a one product deal. I’m gonna sell merchant cash advance. No. Yes, you will sell products but this is a comprehensive business model-

Lawrence:           Yes

Oz Konar:            -With many products. And that’s the beauty of this. You never want to put your eggs in one basket and rely one product, right? You want to be a consultant because as you know, I’m big on being a consultant, not just a sales person pushing products down a client’s throat because you wanna make recurring revenue from each client-

Lawrence:           Yup.

Oz Konar:            -And that will only happen if your clients like you.

Lawrence:           That’s right.

Oz Konar:            If they hate your guts, well guess what? They’re not gonna come back to you. So, let’s get to that point where you are. You decided to join the program and I tell everyone. Thanks for being a testament to that. When people tell me about the pricing and the investment I’m like listen, you’re not doing this for myself. This is just for you. If you feel like you’re worth it, make the investment.

Lawrence:           That’s right.

Oz Konar:            If you think you’re not worth it and this is not gonna work out, well I’m not a magician and this is not a get rich quick scheme. You’re gonna have to put in the work and this is just you giving yourself a little bit of commitment that you’re gonna make it happen. That’s why you’re paying for this.

Lawrence:           100 percent.

Oz Konar:            You took that major step. What has … I know you’re very passionate about our program and what you’re doing here. I wonder from you, what was different than what you heard for the past six, seven months that you’ve been calling, calling and trying to transform everything. What’s been happening?

Lawrence:           So many things. Number one, the fact that money can be made in this business. I’ve made more this month than I made in … And I mean August is brand new. I made more in the month of August than I made in eight months combined. All it takes is you to put … You gotta respect yourself first and foremost because your name is on this business and you’re the one running this show. There’s no one that’s gonna come save you and no one’s gonna bail you out of anything. So, if you gotta put the extra work in, the extra nights in … Become a student, I would say, more than anything because there’s never a time where there’s something you can’t learn in this.

As far as the things that I was steered wrong with, number one, I would say that all you can do is merchant cash advance in this. All you can do is MCAs. If the guy wants that daily or weekly payback, that’s the only way to make money. It’s nonsense. I passed up and I was told to throw away so many guys that are overqualified because I couldn’t bring them anything but a merchant cash advance and I’m on the phone with these guys and the conversation’s going great. I’m intelligent. I know what I’m talking about. Then they get to a point where it’s like well, if it’s a merchant cash advance I’m not doing it. I’m looking for an LOC. I’m looking of a line of credit.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           I’m looking for an equipment lease. And I’m like oh, I’m sorry. I gotta let you go. And I feel like an idiot and these are guys I’m now calling back today because there’s actually lenders that you can work with this stuff-

Oz Konar:            Oh, absolutely.

Lawrence:           You just have to open your eyeballs to it. That’s one thing that was really misleading; that merchant cash advance is the only way. You can have … And you touched on this, too. That struck a chord. You have to have, I should say, multiple streams of income in this.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           Because you can’t just fall back on one thing.

Oz Konar:            No.

Lawrence:           You can be a specialist when it comes to merchant cash advance, sure. But you’re gonna be passing up on so many opportunities, whether it’s just even credit repair. Most candidates for these MCAs … I mean, I’m talking to them. They’re in the fives or 600 credit. If you tell them you can get them to a credit repair program, you’re gonna get maybe 50 dollars for a referral. Who cares?

Oz Konar:            [inaudible].

Lawrence:           You just do something to always … Every day you gotta move the chains, I like to say. Every day you gotta add to your business ”cause every day you don’t add to your business it goes backwards. That’s one thing. This has so many different aspects. Be a student. Immerse yourself in it. Literally, the word immerse. It’s not a part-time thing as far as I’m concerned, anyway. This is not a part-time job. If you want to do it part-time, that’s great. You’re gonna get the part-time results. Remember, when you give 100 percent, you get back 50 percent. You know? It’s just how it works in these kind of commission things. If you give 10 percent, you’re gonna be applying for a job somewhere else or looking to work for someone else. And you can’t do that when it’s your business and your name’s on it. Give yourself that respect.

It’s not a scam, K? I was in a business before. I know what scamming is. I talk to a client I’m telling them I guarantee you, this stock is going up. Well, if it goes down I’m fraudulent. I’m into some big trouble. I didn’t do that, by the way. But I’m just saying.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           In this world, everything’s out on paper. The merchant knows what he’s going with, what he’s getting from you, what he’s paying back on what structure. And all these contracts are so intricate and so detailed. There’s no secrets. There’s no back doors. There’s no trickery. You can’t lie to the guy because the guy’s gonna get it on paper and he’s gonna have it in front of him before you guys proceed.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           So, there’s no tricking. There’s no scam. And if you’re cold calling and the guy’s like oh, that’s big scam, they just had a bad experience. Just tell them I know you had a bad experience, but this is different. And you paint a picture different about how you’re different. That’s all.

But I am barred from the stock industry and when this happened I was afraid and I was sad. I was really upset because I felt like that was my calling; that was my thing. It was like I had a whole career ahead of me. I’m only 30 years old. I’ve been doing it for five years. I had immense success, built my whole life out in Long Island on it. I was dead wrong. This is the business that I am in love. I’m in love with this thing and I just … There’s not enough hours in the day, really, in this business because I just want to learn and I’m seeing the results and I don’t mind talking about anything you want to talk about. I will disclose any information that … I’ll be happy to disclose-

Oz Konar:            Yeah, that’s fine. I think people who want to know where do you see yourself by the end of August as far as the revenue or commissions are concerned with the way things are going so far?

Lawrence:           Sure. As of now, what I did do was one of those deals that I funded at my previous employer … Of the two of them, one of them was 100 percent gonna fall through because the merchant did not like speaking to my manager and he told me so. I don’t like the guy. I’m not gonna talk to him anymore. Can I speak to LJ? They call me … My name is Lawrence but they call me LJ, right? And my manager went as far to write me this long email, which I have on my desk upstairs as a nice thing I look at and he’s like LJ, don’t waste your time with this guy. He’s not coming in. He’s messing around with the contracts. He’s gonna not come through. He’s just fucking around. I don’t want to deal with this bullshit. If you want to call him and waste your time, by all means go ahead. And I have the email upstairs.

The next morning I called this merchant. I got the contracts in. I got all of his truck leases that I needed to get in. My manager was so angry at me out of just … I don’t know what it was. Maybe jealousy or envy. By the end of that day the merchant was funded 80 thousand dollars-

Oz Konar:            Oh, God.

Lawrence:           -Trough … It wasn’t On Deck. Through … And not a top tier company ’cause I think he had some issues, but it wasn’t one of the top lenders. It wasn’t Yellowstone. But he ended up getting 80 thousand dollars by the end of that day and I have this whole email upstairs and a breakdown of all these notes that he was writing to me telling me how it’s never gonna happen.

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           And I just look at that and I’m like … That’s when I knew … That day I actually opened my S corporation and I said I know I’m gonna do this for myself. The second merchant got 100 thousand dollars through On Deck, who is … That’s a name you definitely want to be associated with if you can. They’re fantastic. He was funded 100 grand. This month, I got him funded in a second position for 61 thousand through Pearl. Pearl allows you … If you’re gonna go ahead … In my opinion, anyway … And look through these lenders and try to partner up, Pearl Capital gives you a calculator where they’ll show you, okay, this merchant. You can get them 75 thousand and you’re gonna charge zero percent but they show you a scale and you can charge up to 16 percent on this, 16 points on this thing, but the merchant will only get 60 thousand.

I know the merchant. He likes me a lot. I pitched him the idea of 60 thousand, see where he stands. He wanted contracts. He was ready to go. 16 points. And then Pearl says as a brand new member or affiliate they’ll give you three extra points. On a 60 thousand dollar second position I ended up making 12 thousand dollars. They wired it into my account the day after he makes his first payment, so within two days of the funding.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           I wake up in the morning and I’m like holy crap, 12 thousand dollars for that guy. And then you tie that together with another small … Not my … Oh, sorry. I’m sorry. The merchant with Pearl, you look at the days on this thing. I think it was 140 days of daily payments. You already know, since I roped him in, I brought him in-

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           -He’s going to come back for more.

Oz Konar:            Of course.

Lawrence:           And he’s coming to me when the time is right. He seems to reach out to me. And he went ahead and reached out to me today and said listen, is there anything else we can do? And sure enough, I submitted his file to Yellowstone Capital and they approved him for 40 thousand dollars and they’ll give me nine percent and he’s going to accept it. He requested the contracts. You build a rapport with the right people and you become their money guy. They’re happy to talk to you. And the one thing I learned that was different is that you don’t have to be so professional. Don’t be so uptight with these guys.

Oz Konar:            Nah. Yeah.

Lawrence:           They’re regular guys. These are construction workers. These are the guys that are digging in. Contractors and truckers. These guys … You can just shoot the shit with these guys and talk to them. Don’t be … You’re not Wells Fargo. And you can tell them that and they’ll appreciate that ’cause they can’t go to Wells Fargo, some of these guys. They can’t get into a bank and get a bank loan.

That, alone, was 12 thousand. A file that I was told to throw out in the garbage I submitted and he was funded 12,500 through Yellowstone Capital on Friday and that got me an additional 1000 dollars and they wired that the same day, so that was 13 thousand so far.

Oz Konar:            Okay.

Lawrence:           And then another merchant was 5000 dollars, which got me 400 dollars. Now, listen. You add those up, you put them together and in one week’s time it’s 13 thousand and change. This is coming from someone who made 2600 and 3000 on two fundings in seven months, so this has been amazing. And I’m retreading through things I was told were not worth it because I built such a good rapport with those guys initially and they remember me. You gotta do that.

Oz Konar:            And that’s how you build recurring revenue as well, right? You don’t need a ton of clients. If you have a good 20, 30 clients who like you and they’re gonna come back for more and more and you’re gonna make up your month. I mean, look at this. This is the 7th of August and I think you’re beyond 15 thousand dollars in commission so far and you have three more weeks to go with pipeline and things like that. That’s why being a consultant is important. You hit the nail in the head.

People are not looking for a corporate guy who’s following the strict rules. They don’t want to call the 1-800 number. They want to talk to a human being ’cause just like you said, most of the fundings you’ll do will be small mom and pop businesses. As long as you show them that you understand what they go through every day, like their fridge breaks, the employee doesn’t show up, they have no money in the bank account, they wake up and [inaudible] because they don’t know 100 percent how to manage their money. If you ever known a small business in your life, you know the problems they go through. Be the guy. Show them … Or lady. Show them you understand what they go through and people just do appreciate it. That’s what it takes.

Lawrence:           Yes. You have to work smart. One thing I told myself I needed to do was to learn what each business really spends their money specifically on. As I get better rapports with these guys I’ve learned … You have a trucking guy on the phone. You say how many trucks do you have? And he tells you how many he has. Maybe he has one. And you ask him how much he’s making a week on that? And then all of a sudden you put the numbers to them because these guys, they’re workers. They’re not corporate guys. They’re not behind a desk with calculators. They’re on the road. They don’t even think about that stuff until you actually put it out there and-

Oz Konar:            Correct.

Lawrence:           -If you sound smart to these guys and you actually give them something like hey, wait a minute. I’m making 10 thousand a week on these trucks. I know I can buy another truck. I do have an employee lined up for it. But how much is the truck gonna cost? And he’s like oh, it’s 40 thousand. I’m like well, look at what you’re making on that over a year? If you work smart. They’re like oh, shit. I didn’t realize that. Yeah. That is true. And it’s like oh, if you went down there … 40 thousand. Well, what if you went down to a 35 thousand cash. Would they give it to you? And it’s like you have to put the numbers in their head and get them spending it, you know?

Construction. You talk about their works in progress report, the things they have upcoming, and they start thinking. I’m owed this money. They’re future receivables in construction. I know in 30 to 60 days I’m supposed to get this and this, but I could really use it now to start this other project. Start-up money. You’d be smart instead of just being a salesman with these guys. You don’t gotta push the money down their throat.

Oz Konar:            No.

Lawrence:           It doesn’t work.

Oz Konar:            You got to be an active listener. Things like that, you gotta catch only if you’re actively listening at somebody. Or if you’re thinking of what you’re gonna say next, that means you’re not listening. You’re gonna just keeping the product. And when you do that, people are not stupid. I think people in finance have this idea that small businesses don’t get it. They don’t know how to spend money. So, they treat them like lesser than they are, which is a bad idea because that person controls our income. Don’t be stupid. Show them the respect that they are experts at their business. They don’t know how to finance 100 percent. It’s your job to be a consultant-

Lawrence:           [inaudible][crosstalk]

Oz Konar:            -Expert and show them how it can be done, right? 100 percent on that. That just makes a ton of difference when you show them that you’re really there to help them out with the products and the portfolio; things that you have in your arsenal, pretty much.

Lawrence:           Yeah. Yeah. You have to be … Don’t just be superficial or on the surface of things.

Oz Konar:            No.

Lawrence:           Don’t just be a typical salesman. Okay, this is what I’m gonna do. Can you use 100 grand today? Yeah? Okay, good. Take the application. And they’ll yes to death to get you off the phone because they just don’t want that conversation. And you’re never gonna hear from the guy and he’s gonna know that your phone call is coming and they’re gonna block you forever.

If you can show them hey, listen, I know you’re in construction. You have a project that you’re working on. How much do you have to start up with? Or how much money do you have to lay out to start that project? That’s coming out of your own money, right? Oh, 30 grand. Well, you need 30 grand to start that project. Instead of using it out of your own operating capital. Then the guy starts to think huh, that’s true. I can use … You can use my capital. It’s gonna come at a fee. I’m not Wells Fargo but at the same time, you use my money, you roll my money over and over and you don’t ever have to touch your money. You’re sleeping well at night kinda money. You put to the side and you keep that in your account. They start to put that in their head and you sound different than these other hundred people that are calling them-

Oz Konar:            Yep.

Lawrence:           -Or speaking to them, especially when you get in these UCC leads and things like that, which I’ve gone through. And it’s hard but they’re in there but at the same time you have to sound different. You have to bring something different to the table other than the same thing because just like a car dealership, yeah, you can buy a Mercedes Benz at the dealership over there. Maybe your payments gonna be 1500 a month. And then the dealership across the street is gonna be 1499 dollars. There’s not a big difference in price. Basically, we’re all gonna be offering somewhere in the same ballpark.

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           But who is gonna give them that warm, fuzzy feeling like this guy is actually different. He actually has something different. That’s the difference because we’re all gonna be bringing them the same numbers, going through the same lenders, bringing them the same ballpark rates. They know their own skeletons or how their credit is. They know these things.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           They’ve been through this before. Why are they gonna choose you over the other 20 people that call them today? Those kind of things. ‘Cause it’s all gonna be the same going rate. It’s the person that has to bring something different to the table. You can’t just be a salesmen kinda thing, you know?

Oz Konar:            Absolutely. Absolutely. So far, you’ve been through the program and you’ve been really active. What is your biggest takeaway from the program since you joined? What would you say the biggest thing that shifted things for you?

Lawrence:           The biggest thing for me was working with lenders and learning. You gave a really good list of the right lenders to work with and I was apprehensive because I thought, or at least I was led to believe, that you have to have a long list of credentials and a lot of connections in order to get these lenders to partner up with you.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           I have a landing page thanks to you. I have an email. I have my name. I have a registered S corporation in New York as of March 22nd, I think it is. And they just have you fill out a simple form. You fill out a form, they tell you what you’re thinking … Pardon me. They ask you what you’re projecting to do for this year, this month or how much have you done. I was very honest with them. What have you done in the last whatever? Year in this business? Zero. This business is just starting. I am partnered with On Deck. I am partnered with Yellowstone. I am partnered with Everest. I am partnered with a ton of these names that people are very familiar with and it didn’t take much.

That was surprising to me. I thought it would be a lot harder to partner with lenders and start submitting the files. It was a same day kind of thing for the most part.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           That was a-

Oz Konar:            A lot of lenders scare you that way or the companies you work  … I hear that a lot from people who used to work for another lender. They come on the phone and they’re like yeah, I want to do my own business. I want to be an ISO but I know that it’ll take me six months to build a relationship. I’m like six months? Six months for what? Well, they don’t accept the application and I heard the application … That’s all bullshit.

Lawrence:           100 percent.

Oz Konar:            There’s no application process most of the time. They’re looking for honest ISOs to work with most of the time so if you are that one, they’re gonna jump on it. That’s how they do business. That’s how they make their money, right?

Lawrence:           That’s right.

Oz Konar:            But you don’t know. That’s just what it comes down to.

Lawrence:           I was told it was really hard and you have to have connections. That pulled me back a little bit and that’s why I was very nervous that day. But when I spent that money with you, the first 475 part, I had a list of lenders. I went and emailed them all the same day. The next morning I had a bunch of ISO agreements in my email. Just sign this, sign this and tell us basically you’re address and that was it. It was that quick. There’s not one lender that I can think of that I had any real trouble with. It was a same day thing for the most part and they’re all right away, thank you for wanting to work with us. Please fill this out but in the meanwhile you can still submit to this thing. It’s like they’re right in the mix. And you keep a nice relationship with them.

I have lenders that I deal with and submit to their text in my phone. Hey, how’s this file doing? What’s going on with this one? We have this. What do you think he’ll do? Do you think he’ll … They’re really just like you. They’re out there. It’s not what you think. That was really surprising because that was the biggest piece of this puzzle and that’s the thing that excited me the most. Getting that information back from them like oh my God. My business is going to be partnered up with these people.

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           I can really do this. You know?

Oz Konar:            Yes. It’s good to hear from them and know you’re backed up by lenders. Obviously, you are very passionate about this and this was amazing. You’re gonna be such an inspiration to many, many people.

Lawrence:           [inaudible].

Oz Konar:            What would you suggest to anyone whose kinda on the fence about joining my training and getting started with this industry. What would be your one suggestion to them?

Lawrence:           Firstly, you have to look at yourself I would say. If you’re tired of working for someone, you’re tired of being told what to do, you’re thinking that you can do better and you believe in yourself and maybe you earned your stripes in your own regard and you feel like, you know what? I think I can do this on my own. Then take the risk. Take the risk on yourself. That’s my advice because the last thing you want to ever have is a what if or regrets, right?

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           In life, I feel that especially when it comes to business, the biggest regrets are not the things that we actually do; they’re usually things we don’t do. And I would be sitting right here, probably laying down at this point. And I wouldn’t know what I’d be doing if I did not go forward and say, you know what? I might have had 500 dollars in the bank. How much is it gonna cost? And I see the numbers on the screen and its-

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           -Worth this and I’m like … Ah. And it could be this. And it’s gonna be this. I’m like where do I sign for this?

Oz Konar:            Right.

Lawrence:           Because you know what? If you’re not gonna take a chance on yourself, then who else are you gonna take a chance on? And nobody else is gonna take a chance on you, either. So my advice would be to jump in with two feet all the way. Ask questions because it’s silly not to ask questions. Be knowledgeable. Don’t take it lightly. Do not take it like it’s just something you’re gonna kill and you’re gonna nail it no matter what your past is. And if you’re gonna do it, go 110 percent and give it all you can because this is yours. It’s yours.

And I would be happy to speak to anybody and give any honest, open testimonial what your program has done for me. I never thought I’d be sitting here talking to you about this at all, man. I took a chance on myself and I advise anyone else that’s-

Oz Konar:            It hasn’t been long.

Lawrence:           No.

Oz Konar:            I think you’re just barely a month old in the program.

Lawrence:           Yeah.

Oz Konar:            A little more than that.

Lawrence:           It’s been a month and I got sick for one full week, so I didn’t actually work for one full week [inaudible] but the coolest thing about this is that it’s given me a flexibility to where I take my breaks but I’m home. I can be with my dog. I can be out in the yard. I can relax. But at the same time, my business is in the house. And you’re running the show so, again, give it the respect that it deserves and give it 110 percent. If you’re on the fence, then you jump with two feet. If you have fears, face them because, again, you’re only gonna live one time and you’re gonna regret it if you don’t.  Believe me. You will. You definitely will.

Oz Konar:            Yeah. Just like you said, I think it belongs to Mark Twain. I think he says that when you reach the end of your life you’re not gonna regret the things that you have done, you’ll regret the things that you could have done that you said well what if? And then you end up not doing it, you know?

Lawrence:           That’s right. It’s a [inaudible][crosstalk]

Oz Konar:            That’s one of the things … I think that’s what makes an ISO entrepreneurial successful. Just believe in yourself. It’s usually not the product or things and that. It’s just your belief system that determines your success or your failure. Yeah. I mean, it’s a month and you’re already here and we’re doing this interview-

Lawrence:           I know.

Oz Konar:            And you’re [inaudible] other people.

Lawrence:           I’m so happy, man. I’m really happy and I’m really thankful. I can’t really say enough how … And also, to anyone listening, don’t ever let anyone tell you anything negative. Don’t take negativity.

Oz Konar:            No.

Lawrence:           Because usually it’s the person’s reflection on their own past and their own failures. They just wanna put it on you. You are different and you can be different in this. You can be something really special if you want to. You have to be able to dig it and also weather every storm. If it feels really heavy like it’s too much, that means you’re getting somewhere. It means something good is going on. You gotta stick it out.

Oz Konar:            Yeah. And also, Lawrence, would you say that it’s good to get vocal? We have a tight community. Like Facebook group. If you’re stuck or if you’re feeling emotionally down, just reach out. We have a ton of people who are super positive and they’re killing it like yourself. Sometimes it’s good to talk to someone whose actually doing it. You can call your friends and buddies, your girlfriend, boyfriend. That’s fine. But we’re all going through the same thing every single day. It’s okay. If you’re feeling not good today just talk to one of us and I think you’ll be fine. What do you think about that?

Lawrence:           I would agree 100 percent because that’s how I found you.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           On July 4th I was home, I was doing nothing all day and my family was in Queens. I’m over here and I needed something and it wasn’t my manager because when I call him he’s oh, just dial. That’s not the answer. There’s more to it. Just dial sounds great when he’s not leading by example. He’s not dialing. Why do I have any motivation to do that? So, I found you and I looked for that help on YouTube of all places. I was just bored. I said I gotta take a stab. Maybe something. Found a bunch of nine year-old videos of old guys just talking about how it’s beneficial. And then I saw you and I was like …

And it was that. I’m telling you. Man, I can’t believe it. It’s August 7th. That’s something that’s gonna change my life, man. I’m deadly serious and I’d be willing to talk to anybody that would ask any questions or anything they want to know. I’m more than happy to talk about it, too. I’d be happy. I think it’s a great idea to have a place where everyone can come together on a forum because someone, somewhere in this group I’m sure has been through all of this already. Whatever someone’s facing, there’s someone in there that has been through that before, you know?

Oz Konar:            That’s what I love about our community like the Facebook group. We’re a bunch of positive people and people helping each other out. Outside, you know, and the merchant cash advance industry, people steal each other’s deal and back dooring it. In our community, people always jump in and help each other. That’s unheard of.

Lawrence:           I don’t think it’s-

Oz Konar:            That’s very unheard of.

Lawrence:           Yeah. I think it’s a wonderful thing and I’m telling you, you’re making such a path that has not been traveled. I could tell you because I’m lucky I found you ’cause I didn’t see anything or find anything like you before you. And I’ve looked before and I just got lucky to find your channel. I’m telling you. It’s without a question one of the best things that has ever happened to my life and I’m extremely-

Oz Konar:            Aw, these are … I’m humbled. These are great compliments, man.

Lawrence:           You’re welcome, man. It’s a great-

Oz Konar:            I know you’re busy. I don’t want to take a lot of your time but I truly do appreciate it. It does mean a lot to me and I hope people are listening. Even if they get a bit of inspiration out of this and that spark sometimes turns into a wildfire and you gotta watch out for those things. Once you see it, don’t miss the opportunity. That’s the spark that changes things. Usually things that transform our lives are not seen to us as obvious as maybe it should, but they’re just small sparks and the person who catches that just like yourself, it doesn’t even take 30 days to change it because you already had it in you. You didn’t need more sales training. You didn’t need this. It was just that mindset switch that would open the route for you.

That’s, I think, what I try to do best as much as possible. Not just teach product but show people hey, there this a way. If you’re serious and if you’re committed you can just-

Lawrence:           That’s right.

Oz Konar:            -Jump in and make that happen.

Lawrence:           100 percent.

Oz Konar:            With that, any other last thoughts before we wrap up?

Lawrence:           Besides the fact that I’m extremely gracious and thankful that I found your program, I would advise anyone out there … Besides weathering storms … Again, I can’t stress that part enough because there is times when even though I had experience I wanted to give up on this. I was like this can’t be right. I’m making nothing and there’s no way. You can change your perception but you are the person that’s ultimately gonna be in control of that. Like you said, you have those sparks.

What I like to say is you cling to the positives. If it’s a small positive, you cling to that and you start going from there. You cling to every single plus. You don’t gotta sit there and worry about the bad stuff. Oh, this deal fell through. Oh, boy. And don’t hang on one deal, either. You got a bunch of merchants out there but you got a few in or you got a merch to submit your deal documentation and you submit it to a lender. Don’t just sit there. Go after new guys. I believe big time in business karma.

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           It’s like you have something big on the hopper. If you go lay down and you know it’s a big deal and it’s gonna go through and you’re so sure of it. It’s perfect. I feel like if you just go relax it’s gonna fall through. It’s just the way things … Of looking-

Oz Konar:            Yeah.

Lawrence:           What I used to like to say is go dial it in or … ‘Cause I do a lot of cold calling. However you prospect your business. But go do that and go after new people and put that current deal out of your mind. It’s already on the back of your mind. It’s in process. Don’t harp on anything. Just go after new stuff and keep that fire going and you now will build on that and clean to those positives. Don’t rest ’cause it’s your business.  This is your business.  Give it 110 percent while you still can. You don’t want to be 60 years old and looking back with regret. You don’t want to do that. Trust me.

Oz Konar:            And you’re 100 percent right. You want to give it a hard push for a short while so you can just take advantage of the fruits of your labor because in this business you can take off for a while. You can work from any place you want. You can be down on the beach and still close deals. We have members who do that.

Lawrence:           That’s right.

Oz Konar:            It doesn’t matter. You’re not gonna have customers knocking on the door to your office. This is not how it works.

Lawrence:           Right.

Oz Konar:            And once you have a client base, they’re the ones who are gonna come back to you and you’re gonna close the easiest deals you ever do.

Lawrence:           That’s right.

Oz Konar:            Because it’s just gonna be a phone call. Hey Lawrence, I need another 100 thousand. Boom, done, and your commission is paid. You might be all the way in California. Different areas. Wherever you are. Overseas. It gives you the flexibility and it doesn’t take a ton of clients.

With that, I want to thank you again, man. Great to know you. Great individual. I’m humbled to have you as a member of the community. But, yeah, we’ll definitely stay in touch. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Lawrence:           Anytime. Good luck to everybody and just keep at it. That’s it. Thank you.

Oz Konar:            All right, man. Thanks so much.

 

 

Jacqueline

How Jacqueline Made over $8000 and Quit Her Job After 1 month – Merchant Cash Advance

Oz:                         Hey everyone. We have Jackie here with me today, she’s one of our successful students within the program, and she has an amazing story. I wanted to bring her on to ask her some questions so you guys can get your questions answered not only by me, but by someone else who joined the program, and also I want you guys to hear from someone else besides me, and see what is possible with being in this industry, Merchant Cash Advance and Alternative Lending, so Jackie, thanks for joining me. I appreciate your time. I know you’ve been running around, but you made time for yourself and you’re actually joining from a hotel room, so I appreciate it.

Jacqueline:         Happy to be here.

Oz:                         So Jackie, many people who join the program, Merchant Cash Advance Success Blueprint,, or who talk to me about joining, they all come from different backgrounds, but there are some commonalities. Either they thought about becoming an entrepreneur, or they tried it before, or maybe they had a job for a long time, but always had their eye on doing their own thing and being independent. So you kind of fit that story to us, can you tell us how you got to making the decision to get into this business or get in any business pretty much, leaving what you were doing before?

Jacqueline:         Sure. I had worked in the medical field for years, did hospice care, and just prior to joining your club, was employed, and I have an adjuster’s license, I was going there to do some adjusting for some storms, and I decided to do something different. So came back to Dallas, and I did some research. I knew I wanted to do something, I just wasn’t sure what it was.

Oz:                         Yeah, and I know it was a big deal to get your license as an adjuster. What is it that you didn’t like about that, so you wanted to get into an industry like this?

Jacqueline:         Well, when there’s a catastrophe, for instance, the hurricanes that hit last year, Harvey down in Florida, you have to crawl under people’s homes, you have to get up on the roof, and it’s a very difficult time for them, it’s high stress, and it’s just … it just was very intense.

Oz:                         Got you.

Oz:                         And so how did you find out about the industry before you decided to join? Did you know about this, or did someone recommend you get into this industry?

Jacqueline:         I didn’t know anything about it, and I’m still learning, but I answered an ad, actually.

Oz:                         Okay.

Jacqueline:         On CraigsList, of all things, I was just looking around, trying to decide what I wanted to do, and I answered an ad.

Oz:                         And that’s how you found out about this industry all together, as far as, you didn’t have any exposure.

Jacqueline:         None. Zero.

Oz:                         Well what was it that you liked about the industry that you decided to be a part of it? Prior to joining my program?

Jacqueline:         Well, I know that there … businesses always need money, I had no idea that they had such a difficult time borrowing money from banks, and given that scenario, all the businesses that we have in the US, they need money, and I knew that I could find them, but I just wasn’t sure how.

Oz:                         Yeah. I mean, the product is super hot, right? It will never go out of fashion for businesses, especially small businesses, they need money to grow, prosper, survive, grow out of their current situation, buy multiple businesses. So the product itself is super attractive, it’s just a matter of offering, getting in front of them, and being the right consultant for them. So then, you somehow came across our program, maybe through one of our ads, do you remember how that happened?

Jacqueline:         I sure do. I was looking for different ways to find businesses that needed money, and I was looking online, asking questions. “If I needed money, how would I do it?” And I love YouTube, I go on YouTube all the time, so I checked there, and I saw you, and I saw your website, and I read everything, and I watched all the videos at least a few times, and I watched some other videos. And I was actually in training with the company that I was going to work for, or with, should I say, and I did go through their training, it just wasn’t enough. They gave you the highlights and some ideas how to market and how to find customers, and it just wasn’t enough for me. I needed more. I needed a little bit more structure.

Oz:                         And you came through the commercial capital training, then you decided to join. Then, how was that different from the training that you were getting from this other company versus what you found after you joined our training?

Jacqueline:         How much was it different or what are the differences?

Oz:                         What are the main differences that you noticed?

Jacqueline:         This is much more in depth. We can have our questions answered, which, I didn’t expect that at all. It tells us so many different ways to market, so many things. If you want to get online, or if you want to do this, or if you want to do that, there’s just so many options, and one of those things will fit everybody, but for me, at least three of them are going to be good for me.

Oz:                         Okay. So what kind of transformations have you had since you joined? You learn about the product, you join our training system, you’re going through it. I know that you found a deal, so let’s talk about what happens, and your commissions, and how it all worked out.

Jacqueline:         Well, I found a client, a merchant, who needed money right away. And I submitted his application through the company I was working with, and it was declined, and I thought that was just it. I didn’t know what else to do for him. I thought, “Well, if they’re not going to do it, I don’t know what else to do. Maybe we’ll wait three months and see if your credit gets better or whatever, and we’ll try to find somebody else.” Not find somebody else, but maybe resubmit it. And when I got into your program, a whole world opened up. Oh, I can do this, and I can do that. It was a thrill because I didn’t know that all those options were available. I didn’t have to stop there with being declined.

Oz:                         Normally, when it comes to getting your training and being an ISO or being an Alternative Lending Specialist, there are really few options, and most of them come from the lenders themselves. So whether they’re a direct lender, or they’re the large ISOs, they do provide training to people. But what happens is when you get your training from them, they ask you to exclusively work with them, which is okay, but the problem is that when you send deals to the lenders, if they do not approve it, then the students have their own idea that that’s just end all, be all. That deal is done, shot dead, and you can’t really do much. Well, since we’re dealing in the alternative lending space, this is not like traditional banking. So if you go through national banks, their approval process is very similar to each other because they’re highly regulated, so no one can go out of their way to approve a deal if other banks shot it dead and it was a total no-no.

Oz:                         In our industry, in alternative lending, that’s sometimes the total opposite. You can submit a deal to three lenders, and they can get a flat no. You can send it to the fourth one, and it would be welcome and it would be funded. So that’s the problem that Jackie was having, she generated a bunch of leads and tried to close that, and she got a no from the underwriter, and she thought, “Well this it then. This deal is not fundable.” Then we talked about the option, no, not really. The reason we teach that you have to have a portfolio of lenders for specific scenarios is that you submit it to one of them, and that’s exactly what you did, so I’ll let you explain what happened after that with the large merchant that you funded.

Jacqueline:         Well, I took the information and the blueprint, and I found another lender, and I submitted the paper there. And he was given … my merchant was given a pre-approval, and we had to gather some other documents and things, but he was funded, and it really came at a great time because this merchant, his oven stopped working that day, and so did his air conditioning, and this was a restaurant. You can’t run a place of business like that without air conditioning, especially in Texas, 120 degrees outside. Yeah, so it was really very timely, too.

Oz:                         And he got … how long did it take for him to get his money from the point you got the pre-approval to the point that his bank account was funded?

Jacqueline:         Well, through no fault of the lender, the merchant, it took him a long time to get the documents, and I actually had to work with him quite a bit. In fact, there was a time during that time of getting his documents, I thought that he just wasn’t interested anymore, and I let you know about that, and I said, “I’m just not going to call him anymore.” And you said, “No, you should call him. Call and check on him often.” And so I did, and I found once I did talk to him, I saw that there was a big misunderstanding between us about, he thought I was doing something, and he thought I was doing something, and it just … it ended up, it worked out. I finally had to go to his place of business and sit down with him and get his documents for him because he-

Oz:                         Yeah, I remember that conversation very vividly with you because that’s usually what happens, because you feel like you’re bothering the customer because they already heard from you, and you don’t want to be this pesky salesperson just badgering him with phone calls. But on the other end, the merchant thinks you’re working on something because they don’t really know the structure of the approval process, and especially if they try to get an approval from a bank, they know it’s a very lengthy process. We send documentation, someone sends it to the underwriter somewhere else in a totally different state, you wait for an answer. It can take weeks. And that’s what was happening in your case, too, he thought that you were working on something, and you thought that you might be offending him by calling him too much, but when you just reached out, you found out that he was dealing with a totally different problem at his business, and still needed the money very much, and was counting on you for that to happen.

Jacqueline:         Exactly.

Oz:                         So once you guys resolved that, he got the money in your account, and he was happy, obviously, he’s a happy camper, he took care of the problem that he had, and you were happy, but you really were not sure how much you were going get paid out of this deal, right? So what-

Jacqueline:         I had an idea, but-

Oz:                         You had an idea? But I know you had bonuses and things like that, too. So what did it total up to be after it was all said and done? What was your total commission from this deal?

Jacqueline:         Well, one was … the first commission was $6800 and change-

Oz:                         Wow.

Jacqueline:         And then, about six weeks later, I received a bonus of over $1600.

Oz:                         Okay. So that’s, what? Close to … a little over $8000 on that deal? So what has changed-

Jacqueline:         It’s actually almost $9000. I’m sorry.

Oz:                         $9000. You’re right. So since then, I know you’ve made some major changes. One is you decided to quit your job, right? Which is very courageous behavior. How did you get to that decision? Because I know that’s not an easy decision to make, relying on a business that you recently started, but obviously you see potential. What was going through your mind and why did you make that decision?

Jacqueline:         I quit my job because I was working nights and I had to. I wasn’t sleeping enough, and I wasn’t able to spend enough time working on this, and that’s what I really want to do.

Oz:                         Okay, so you found out that you wanted to work on this more. Yeah. Perfect. So right now, you’re focusing on this full-time, you made the transition. Obviously you’re your own boss, and you’re helping businesses out. So we have people, a good percentage of people, come through the webinar, the free training, or the videos. I have a lot of videos, as you know. Some of them immediately join, some of them have questions.

Oz:                         Obviously, we’re living in the age of internet and there are people out there who claim to be gurus and experts of things that they’re not, and people are naturally on the fence, because they see this character online, let it be me or another person, they can’t really verify if that person is the real deal or not. That’s why I wanted to bring you on. Obviously you are a real person, and you are funding deals, so what would you say to someone who might have their questions and, naturally, doubts? I’m never offended on anything like that, but what would you tell someone about what they would be getting if they joined the program, especially if they’re committed to being in this industry? If they’re still like, they’re not sure if they want to do this, that’s a whole different story, but if they want to be in the industry, but they’re doubtful if they should get the support from my training or not, what would you tell that person?

Jacqueline:         I would absolutely, I would have paid a lot more for this, too. I don’t want to say that too loud, but yeah, it’s meant the difference between A and Z. I’m sorry, tell me the question again.

Oz:                         Yeah. So someone who already made up their mind about starting in this industry, right? If someone is comparing one industry to another, that’s a whole different conversation, but they made up their mind, but they’re not sure if they should join my program or they should just go on, have a shotgun approach, and try to figure it out themselves. What would be your comparison, what would your recommendation be to that person?

Jacqueline:         I did try to figure it out myself, and I do have resources. And I can tell you that there’s a big difference between trying to find all the things that you need and the resources and the things that work on your own. You can do that. It’ll take a lot of time, and it’ll take a lot of energy, and there’s no telling how much money you’ll spend, versus joining or becoming a part of this. It’s like we’re a group, and the difference … I mean, I can remember watching your videos and thinking, “Yeah, he sounds pretty good, but what if he just sends me a piece of paper and it’s got some instructions on it or something? I don’t know if it’s going to be a rip-off or not.” And it took me a while. It did. It took me a while, but one of the things I knew was going to work, you used your own strategy on me, and it worked. So I knew that you were good, I just wanted to learn what you were doing or how you were doing it.

Jacqueline:         I can say that I would definitely, I would have paid more for this. I’ve told my own friends about this. I have friends that see me doing this, and they’re interested in doing it. They want to wait a little bit, they’re still on the fence. But they’re saying, “Well, are you going to let me go through his training?” Oh no. They have to sign up, too, because it’s a whole different world. It’s almost like you’re holding our hand through things. The people who need it. There are some people in our group, like myself and a few other people, who chime in quite a bit because they have a lot of questions, and then there are the others, I don’t know how much they might email you or anything, but you get back to us, and I really didn’t expect the one-on-one sessions you provide for all of us, and that’s been a big deal for me. I wouldn’t have funded that deal in particular had you not gotten back to me. I would have just let that go.

Oz:                         I appreciate it. Thank you. This is a passion of mine, as you know, and I want to see people succeed because I’ve been through the same process. I had a corporate job, and I was making pretty good money, but I was not happy with the amount of hours I was putting in, and I wasn’t making the decisions on what would happen to my career if someone let me go a couple of years later, or if I wasn’t in line with the decision making process of the business that I was working under, which is what happened. I had disagreements with the ownership, but that did not make a difference because I was one of the 3000 employees they had at the time, so there was no way they would hear my voice. And I made a transition, and I know the fears involved with that and frustration people might go through, sometimes sleepless nights. Decisions are important, but at the end of the day, I want everyone to do what feels right, and this is a great product. They are lucrative, and businesses do need it. Unfortunately, there are not enough number of people who do it the right way.

Oz:                         People sometimes, especially if they go with what they read online, there are a lot of resources created by lenders who just want you to submit their paper through them. That doesn’t reflect the truth. When someone starts in the industry, they think that they need to be a type of wolf of Wall Street guy or someone who’s telemarketing out of their basement, and just dialing 300 times a day to badger people and take advantage of them. This is far from it. Starting a business is very difficult, and if you’re passionate about helping people, these small businesses need funding. Especially after 2008, they’re not getting the funding from their banks that they’ve trusted for many, many years, and it might not be the banks’ fault, I don’t really know how the mechanics work, but they can’t get the funding they need, and the programs under alternative lending allow people to do that. And when you become a consultant for them, they just welcome you. And as you know, it doesn’t take a lot of clients to create a healthy lifestyle within this because people come back and get more funding. There are a lot of referrals involved, repeat customers, and things like that.

Oz:                         So it’s a matter of choosing that, or choosing to go back and do what you’re doing, although you might not be happy. What I see is a lot of people are doing things just to make money, although, whether they’re happy or not is secondary because they’re in survival mode, and I want to make sure we put together something. And it’s not just me, as you know, we have veterans in the group who jump in and help out. That’s the only time I’ve seen this in the merchant cash advance industry in the years that I’ve been. Usually if you look outside of our community, people are taking each others’ deals. Even within the same company, I have more clients that sales reps, just grabbing deals from each others’ desk and calling on them and closing within the same company, and we have veterans who are just helping each other out. Helping you close deals, and Renee, and a bunch of other people. So that’s why I want to make sure it’s clear that our intention is to help people build a business, not just share a couple of closing strategies, or, “Do this and it will work.” No.

Oz:                         This is a comprehensive program for people who want to build a business, and I appreciate you joining me today to help people see that, and I know that you’re working really hard. Even when you’re away, you have your computer with you, and you’re dialing in and making things happen, plugging yourself into the system. So what’s next for you? What’s your goal within the next 30 to 45 days to accomplish by utilizing the system that we have and the training?

Jacqueline:         Well actually, I have gone through the module several times, and sometimes when I’m just driving, I’ll listen to our training calls because I always pick up something, and I would like to set a goal for myself, between four to six deals a month, as far as working to find clients, merchants. I think that I’m going to be utilizing two or three of your strategies, and that’s something I really love about your program. I mean, it is comprehensive, like you said. It’s not just a, “Well, this is what you do and this is what you say.” It’s a whole program. It’s from beginning to end. And you even … you give us more content. So much more than I expected. Honestly. It’s a good program.

Oz:                         And what do you think about our Facebook group? I know when you first joined, we did not have that. So [crosstalk 00:19:58] of the Facebook group, and I love it myself because there’s just so much going on, but did you benefit from that-

Jacqueline:         Absolutely.

Oz:                         Becoming a member?

Jacqueline:         I could jump up there and ask questions, and if you’re not there right away, somebody else that knows, or people just chime in. And I think we’re all trying to help each other. It’s nothing more than we’re just all trying to help each other to do the right thing. And it’s not just trying to sell something and trying to make money. It’s actually, we’re trying to help people. We’re trying to help businesses when they need help. There are other groups on Facebook that I’ve noticed, they’re a little bit different from this one, and I just as soon not go on that page anymore, those pages, but this one, it’s a good one, and it’s [inaudible 00:20:43] and there are some things that you taught us that I don’t know that other people would learn maybe on their own, maybe when it’s too late. You taught us … I don’t know what you call it, things that you’re supposed to do and things you can get away with, but you better not because this will happen. There’s a lot of that, too, and I appreciate that. And that only comes from somebody who has experience, like yourself, whose been in this business a while. Or by being in this business a long time and making mistakes or seeing other people do it.

Oz:                         Oh yeah, that’s the best learning. You make a ton of mistakes, you face the consequences, and teach yourself, “Well, let’s not do that again.”

Jacqueline:         Yeah, I’d rather learn from other peoples’ mistakes. I don’t want to make them.

Oz:                         That’s it. And just like you said, you can’t … at some point, if you give it enough time, you can figure it out, but why? Why would you do it yourself? The most successful people, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Tony Robbins, they all modeled someone else because it just shaves off many years of failures pretty much. You will still fail at things, but not at the proportion you would if you were to do it by yourself. That’s how everything is built, so that’s what we’re trying to emulate here. Just a ton of resources that can be seen by the members as well, and for those, I want people to be plugged in and ask questions. Honestly, that’s the only way I know that people are actually using the system because there’s no way I can cover everything 100%, so if you’re going through a specific situation, you’re going to naturally have questions, so that’s kind of my measuring stick. The more questions we have, the happier I get because I know something is going to happen out of those questions.

Jacqueline:         Oh yeah.

Oz:                         We’re going to find something. I know you’re really busy, so I don’t want to hold you up. I appreciate you doing this with me today. I’m sure people will benefit from this. This will be posted on our YouTube channel. So yeah, with any questions, whoever’s watching this, you can definitely ask your questions and get back to us. There’s going to be a link below this video, but Jackie, thank you again for being with me today.

Jacqueline:         Thanks, Oz.

 

Danny

How Danny Made $5500 Working From Home – Merchant Cash Advance

Oz Konar:                            Hey everyone, Oz here. Today I’m doing an interview with one of my students. I have Danny here. Hey Danny, how you doing?

Danny Kellas:                     Good Oz, how are you?

Oz Konar:                            Great, thank you. Danny has been with me for, how long has it been Danny, since you joined the program?

Danny Kellas:                     I think we’re probably going on six or seven weeks.

Oz Konar:                            Okay, it’s been about six, seven weeks since he found me online and he joined the Merchant Cash Advance Lead Generation program, so I wanted to bring him on to kind of walk you guys through his journey so far. It’s relatively … I hasn’t been even two months yet. We have people from all walks of lives. We have people with kids, and we have people with two jobs. We have a ton of single moms who are trying to make it happen, they’re looking for a way to make a better living, not having to work for someone else, or be able to make a comfortable living while spending more time with their kids and family without having to dedicate pretty much their entire life to survive.

Oz Konar:                            I think that’s … we have something for that and instead of me talking about it, I want other people to share their experience, so you guys get to hear that. Danny’s a perfect example of that, so Danny, if you can kind of take a minute to introduce us. Who you are and what you have been doing, and how you decided to start your merchant cash advance or alternative lending business.

Danny Kellas:                     Yeah, sure. I have been in commercial mortgage lending for about ten years. I worked for a smaller banking institution. I’ve been in a salary position, so for me, I have seen the income potential, if I can create my own business with, whether it be commercial mortgages or business loans. I started doing a little research probably three or four months ago into certain … trying to find opportunities that I could work from home. Bring my own leads, build my own business from the ground up, so that’s when I found one of your advertisements and we connected and I believed what you were saying, ’cause I feel like I’m a good judge of character, even if I don’t really know the person, I feel like I can tell if they’re shooting straight or not.

Danny Kellas:                     After talking to you a couple times, and one after your video, I felt like just the initial investment was gonna be worth it to me. There wasn’t a lot of risk, but at the same time, I felt like I could trust you.

Oz Konar:                            So let’s talk about the specifics. I know you recently funded your first deal, let’s talk about that. What happened? What kind of situation it was and how commission you made.

Danny Kellas:                     Sure. It was actually an individual that makes very good income. I think he’s an overseas electrical contractor, but he got to a point where he wanted to start a business in the states, in his hometown, ’cause he’s getting to the point where he’s at the age 45, 50 that he doesn’t wanna travel anymore, he wants to stay home. He had this piece of real estate that was free and clear. He had the income, but his credit was the worst credit I’d ever seen from, you know, divorces. He had a bad past, as far as that goes, bad string of luck, and his credit was four something.

Oz Konar:                            Wow.

Danny Kellas:                     I don’t know.

Oz Konar:                            How much was the funding for that? How much did he get funded?

Danny Kellas:                     Funding amount was, I believe, the approval was for 50, and I made 11 percent, so that was 55 hundred.

Oz Konar:                            Okay, ends up 50 thousand dollars and you made 55 hundred dollars from that?

Danny Kellas:                     Yep.

Oz Konar:                            How long did it take for you to get your commission to your bank account?

Danny Kellas:                     It was pretty quick after we got it funded and everything. I think it was less than a couple days.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah. Usually that’s the case. It can be next day or two, three days. It’s pretty fast. That’s awesome you got your first deal under your belt within a couple of weeks, literally of starting a brand of business. Most businesses do not make any revenue within their first year. Any profit I should say, but that was-

Danny Kellas:                     No, that guy actually, he’s local. He’s close to me, within 30 minutes. He actually came back last week and said, “If you want part ownership in this business I’m starting, I’ll let you buy in, ’cause I really like you.”

Oz Konar:                            Wow.

Danny Kellas:                     Just throwing that out there.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah.

Danny Kellas:                     That’s the kind of rapport that we built through the process.

Oz Konar:                            Wow, that’s quite amazing. It opens all kinds of doors, right, that you didn’t know existed before?

Danny Kellas:                     I didn’t really see that coming. That’s what I was talking about, I don’t know, just really making good connections and making good relationships if you do.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah. Now you have another option to-

Danny Kellas:                     That guy will be back.

Oz Konar:                            A lot of money. What’s that?

Danny Kellas:                     He’ll be back.

Oz Konar:                            I’m sure he’ll be back. Oh yeah. It’s very difficult to find a good hearted partner, especially who keeps his promises. You told him what you can do for him and you did it. Now he’s happy, and you’re happy. I know that you’re working on a bunch of other deals too, right? How have you been generating those leads so far?

Danny Kellas:                     Yeah. All those leads have been from working the LinkedIn training that you have in your program.

Oz Konar:                            Okay.

Danny Kellas:                     The first, I would say, it really doesn’t take that long to start, for leads to start flowing in. I think it was literally int he first couple days.

Oz Konar:                            I remember, I know you hit me up on messenger. You’re like, “I got my first lead,” and you’re working on this or giving details, that’s just amazing.

Danny Kellas:                     My first coupe leads, they’re not ready to do anything now, but we have a time to meet up in the future when the time is right, and we’re gonna move forward and do something. I don’t know, the first guy, he had a very successful some kind of trucking business, and he has good credit, good income, and he signed a contract to expand his business with a local warehouse or something, and he’s gonna have to buy another truck or two, and hire some people. That’s gonna happen sometime in the next couple months.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah. I remember you talking about, and this person is from your local area?

Danny Kellas:                     That guy was from Seattle.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah. You live in a very remote place, but you can do business pretty much all over the place that’s not even close where you are right now, right?

Danny Kellas:                     I have apps for Seattle, New Jersey, Charlotte, North Carolina, Dallas, Texas, another guy in Texas just off the top of my head. That just shows you where … yeah, it’s been all over the place. I kind of intentionally did that just kind of messing around with the LinkedIn training and doing different areas, and just seeing what kind of response I’d get, in different industries. I’m just trying to feel it out and kind of get the hang of it.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah. One question I get quite a bit from people who wanna join the program is usually, “Hey, how would people … what would people think of me since I haven’t been doing this for a while? I know you talk about being a consultant, but I don’t have any experience in the industry,” and things like that, and you’re coming in within a week or so generating leads, what would you say to that?

Danny Kellas:                     Well, anybody could’ve done what I did to generate those leads, if you just follow the program. I’m not just saying that, ’cause that’s all I did. I never done anything like that before, but I just took the time to go through the training and implement each step.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah.

Danny Kellas:                     You learn as you go, but then you get to a point where it’s just automatic.

Oz Konar:                            It’s just automatic. Gets to the point of just rinse and repeat, right? You get a number of leads, some of them will turn into super high quality leads you’ll fund today, some of them will be funded next week, next month, all you’re doing is building that massive pipeline that keeps coming back. I think people get stuck on this idea of how the others would see themselves when they meet them for the first time, but the reality is people are usually thinking of their own problems. They’re looking for a solution, a business owner who needs funding, they don’t necessarily go dig you up and look to see how much experience you have. It’s all about how you position, how you present yourself, and I think one of the things that you did greatly, and a bunch of other members did is you just set the foundation to the right way so that way it doesn’t leave any room for any questions, and became a true consultant by being upfront and telling them what you can or you can’t do.

Oz Konar:                            You gotta be realistic sometimes, but that doesn’t change the size of the opportunity. There is a huge segment of the market who needs funding, and they’re not getting that much help from the traditional banking system.

Danny Kellas:                     Yeah. To go back to what you said, there’s a lot of these people that I’ve dealt with that if I was trying to sell them hard and not just be upfront with them and more of a consultant, I just treat them like people, like they’re my friends. That’s just how I do business. People really do appreciate that. They really do.

Oz Konar:                            We have a ton of people who’ve come through my YouTube channel and other sources, and they have questions in their minds, so what would you, what would your biggest recommendation be for someone whose kind of on the fence about either joining the program or starting the industry, what would you tell them?

Danny Kellas:                     All I can do is tell my experience and basically what I’ve done but, I would just say that the investment is very minimal for what the possible return can be for any of us that have signed up. On top of that, there is no get rich quick, but this is, I believe, that this is a foundation in a program that if anyone wants to, and they’re committed, that they can become successful and then just, like you said, rinse and repeat and just scale your business.

Danny Kellas:                     When I start making more sales, that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna scale my business, I’m going to bring in other options to increase my revenue, by [inaudible 00:11:43].

Oz Konar:                            Absolutely. That’s what it comes down to. What is one thing that you liked the most about the training so far that you received from me and the program?

Danny Kellas:                     The training is very simple. It’s literally, what is it, one through 30, or one through 31, right? It’s 31 videos, they’re all in a category and you watch one, you go to the next one, they’re all aligned. You’ve designed it to where they’re in order on purpose. You need to go through those in order to set up your account and go to the next step. It was very obvious to me that you did that in a way that was very beneficial to someone starting out. Certain things you do first, before you ever start anything else, so I appreciated that.

Danny Kellas:                     Outside of the training, the group that we have on Facebook, the Facebook group the cash … wI’m sorry.

Oz Konar:                            No, it’s okay.

Danny Kellas:                     The people on there are awesome. I’ve made some really good friends, but everyone in that group … I’ve not seen one person that’s not willing to help and that’s not positive.

Oz Konar:                            I think that’s the biggest asset that I’m really, really proud of. The training is great, but I think we hand picked amazing people and built a community of individuals who are so positive and everyone is just … they go out of their way and I know members who jump on the phone to other members to help them out. Obviously there’s no financial interest to them, they’re just doing that. The rest of the industry thinks that this is super competitive. They would hide from each other. We have the total opposites going on, so I am so happy for that.

Danny Kellas:                     Yeah. I don’t know how you did that Oz. I don’t know how you created it. I really don’t. I don’t know how you created a group of people, or gathered a group of people like that, that they’re all so like-minded and positive and willing to help. I don’t know. I think it’s rare, especially in the industry that we’re in.

Oz Konar:                            Especially in this industry is right, and it’s design … I’m not surprised that it is that way, because honestly to this day, if someone wants to join the training, I still talk to them in person. For example, today. Besides the agency stuff, our agency part of the business is almost fully automated. It doesn’t need my overseeing that much, but the program I had about 12 meetings today, and the purpose of the meetings is not to sell the program, it’s for me to filter people. I literally declined three people. They wanted to pay, I didn’t let them in because you have a really good community and if I feel like someone’s intention is not in the right place, or that a little pushy sales person a little sleazy, I don’t let them in. I think that’s one way that we accomplish what we accomplished so far.

Danny Kellas:                     I would say that would probably be it, because I don’t know, I’ve been really surprised in a good way.

Oz Konar:                            Yeah, that’s definitely great to hear that you’re noticing that too. Any other last thoughts before we wrap it up. I don’t wanna keep you long. I know you’re a very busy gentleman and your family’s looking forward to spending time with you.

Danny Kellas:                     Yeah, I’ve got my little two year old boy, he follows me everywhere and he’s been dying to get in this room ever since I came in.

Oz Konar:                            Awesome, yeah.

Danny Kellas:                     No, I think I’ve said a lot, but just that for all the people that are already doing it that might watch this video, if it’s in the group or whatnot, or for anyone that’s thinking about it. We all start at the same place if we’re new to it. We all know Danial [Diaz 00:15:47] is part of our group and he’s very successful.

Oz Konar:                            Superstar, yeah.

Danny Kellas:                     He said something the other day on Facebook I saw that was just … it was incredible because he’s very successful now, but he made a comment, he said, “I didn’t start on top, I started at the bottom.”

Oz Konar:                            Yeah.

Danny Kellas:                     I don’t know, what is he, is he five years into the business, this industry?

Oz Konar:                            Yeah. Five years and he’s tried pretty much everything once until he decided that the way to go is to do online, otherwise for him, I think he broke 50 thousand dollars in commission last month, right? I know companies, in order for them to get to that level, they probably would need to have five, six people on the floor, an office, overhead, and things like that, and they would be super miserable because their team is dialing thousands of people every single day. He’s a father, he works from home, and he’s able to accomplish it by himself by using the same strategies that you’re using, and all the other people. Yeah, that guy’s one amazing dude and he doesn’t mind, I’m sure basically he doesn’t mind helping others too.

Danny Kellas:                     Oh, he doesn’t. He’s been big help to me. I said all that just to make the point that I think he would agree that he didn’t start on top-

Oz Konar:                            No.

Danny Kellas:                     And none of us do, but he’s an example that if you are determined and you’ll put the work and the time in and you stick with it, that could be the end result. That’s the example right there.

Oz Konar:                            Amen. I can’t disagree with that. Listen Danny, thanks so much again. I really appreciate your time. I know you had a long day, so I’ll let you go. [crosstalk 00:17:38] great to have you in the program, and great to meet you as individual, so I guess I’ll see you soon at the [Mastermind 00:17:44] event. I’m looking forward to spending more time with you. All right?

Danny Kellas:                     Yep, looking forward to meeting you in person, and everybody else. I appreciate it.

Oz Konar:                            Take care buddy. Talk to you later.

Danny Kellas:                     You too. Bye.

Oz Konar:                            Bye, bye.

 

Mike

[Success Story] How Mike is building his dream business – Merchant Cash Advance

Speaker 1:           Next question is, obviously you recently joined Merchant Cash Advance Training program, and you’re having a lot of success, and so far I think you’re really active in the program. What would you say about the training that I put together to someone who might not really know about it yet?

Speaker 2:           Can tell you this, what you have put together as far as the information, and the knowledge that is needed to be able to take the first step is there. And another thing that I’m very impressed with is that you’re always trying to improve because just recently you came out and said we’re gonna be making some changes to the training platform, which I think is great because what I’ve seen from you for the last three to four weeks that we’ve known each other, I know you care about the people, and that’s what counts. Also, to where we as budding consultants can excel above the competition.

Speaker 1:           I appreciate it, thanks so much. There’s always room for improvement, we can never rest on our laurels and say, “Hey, we’ve done the best we can do,” right? That’s never enough, because everything is changing. It’s an evolutionary process, either you change, or you die. There’s a constant change and it’s our job to stay with that.

Speaker 1:           What would you say to someone who wants to do this, but they’re maybe on the fence about joining the program, they’re thinking about it. What would your recommendation be to those people?

Speaker 2:           Something that I’ve known, ever since I started back in ’82, but one thing that you really bring out, what is your why?

Speaker 1:           Oh, wow, great point.

Speaker 2:           Really. It has to start there. If it doesn’t start there then basically, I feel, it’s gonna be like a hamster running on a cage wheel, and you’re never gonna get to the destination. You gotta identify the why.

Speaker 1:           And for each person it could be different, and even on the calls that I have with people, and I remind them, “Listen, this is not about me, this is about you.” I do what I do, it satisfies me, but on your end, if we were able to fast forward this moment to five years, would you be in a different place than where you are right now, because of the decisions that you make today.

Speaker 2:           Oh yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1:           If you don’t think that you’re gonna be at a better place, because you’re staying where you are, how do you feel about that? Because, sometimes there are moments in people’s lives that are really transformative. A small enough decision that you make can make a two degree difference in your life, but if you fast forward those two degrees, the divergence becomes 80 degrees five years from now, and it lands in a totally different spot, either positively or negatively. It could be that you started drinking one beer a night, then you start repeating, and repeating it after two months, you cannot go to sleep without drinking, then fast forward five years, you have a drinking problem. Same thing with other things.

Speaker 1:           You built the right habits five years from now, with those right habits, you’re not making 50 grand, you’re making half a million dollars, have a better lifestyle. It could be your health. It works with anything, you’re definitely right. It is a great  Merchant Cash Advance Training system for the right person, as long as they know that they’re clear on why they’re doing this. It can’t be just, “Hey, I wanna make more money.” Well, yeah, everyone wants to make more money, that’s not a real why. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to make money, there’s so many vehicles to make that money, but it’s just why you’re doing what you’re doing, and is this the right vehicle? I think that’s the main question.

Speaker 1:           Anything else you want to add before we wrap up?

Speaker 2:           I would just like to say just a couple of things, and, of course I’m looking for your feedback, but one thing is that we’re all different, and each one of us is going to be taking one step at a time moving forward, and one of the things that you bring out that I think is very important, don’t be worried about imperfection. Because imperfection is proving, when you get imperfect results, it is proving that you’re taking the steps to work towards those perfect results.

Speaker 1:           Absolutely.

Speaker 2:           And it takes knowledge. Another recommendation I would make, get knowledgeable. I would say to the people to get knowledgeable, go read a few blogs here and there. Get a little bit of knowledge about the industry that we’re in. And I think that would be invaluable, also pay attention to what’s going on around you with other people. Pay attention to what’s going on in the group, comments that are being made and things like that, because people that are in the group had the same dream, and maybe the same type of vision that I do. And anything I can do to help them move forward, what it’s gonna do is, it’s gonna make the industry better, it’s gonna make the aspect of the title of being a consultant instead of a salesman better, and you’re gonna beat the competition every time.

Speaker 1:           You touched on a great point. I think we’re building a great community of people, while the other people out there focus so much on the competition, they steal deals from each other, and they keep repeating that this is so competitive, people are gonna take our deals, and things like that. As a community, we’re helping each other out. That amazes me, and I’m so respectful of the people in the community.

Speaker 1:           Just like you said, there is enough opportunity for everyone out there. When you think about it, the number of clients you need to reach the financial goal, whether it’s half a million, a million, it is not a lot. We’re not in a business that you need to sell to half a million people to be able to make this much revenue. If you built a small enough client base, that just could be enough for that to feed you for the rest of your life with the referrals you get, and the additional needs that they have.

Speaker 1:           I’m just so happy that together as a group we’re building this community, and I’m definitely thankful that you took your time today to join me. I appreciate it, thanks so much for doing this.

 

Luigi

Local Marketing Stars Client Review- One Source Financing

Luigi:                      Here at One Source Financing, we try to be a one-stop shop for financing for small and medium businesses. We try to spend a lot of time with our clients to really understand what about financing that they need, whether it’s a term loan, an SBA, it could be financing, or in case they need cash really fast, we can set them up with a cash advance. We really try to take a holistic approach to our offering where we try to give our clients a path where they start with maybe a more expensive product and over time we coach them and help them to get eventually to the top of financing, and the cusp of financing, that they’re hoping for.

Luigi:                      Prior to you guys, we really didn’t do any structured marketing. We were buying some leads online. We were calling UCC s. We were doing a lot of cold calling, and results were really not that great, and we missed completely on the organic development of our reputation, and organic growth or organic generation of leads until we met you guys, and you guys spend the time to really explain what was the advantage, or really the benefit of investing time and resources to create a brand, a [thread 00:01:34] of some presence online, to engage potential customers, and we’ve enjoyed it, and we saw some results. Better than what we experienced just buying leads.

Luigi:                      I would not buy data. I would not buy leads. I would try to generate leads. I would start slow. I would start developing the online presence. I’ll try to get involved in as many forums or groups as possible. I would try to promote myself and the company first, and build come confidence in the public to reach out to us and ask for our help. Again, we spent a lot of money buying data and leads online. First thing, that data and those leads are sold to multiple people at the same time, so when you call those clients the client will say “Well this is the 16th time that people called me today, offered me capital.” That problem does not happen when you generate your own leads. So especially in the beginning, when people are getting started and budget is very tight, I would use the resources to really develop the brand and the online presence.

Luigi:                      Unfortunately people want to start big, and they want to put big numbers on the board from the get-go. It doesn’t work, at least in our … we learned the lesson that the hard way is better. Small, slow and steady. It’s just throwing all your money, all your resources, trying to come off strong, off the gate, because when you’re paying $60, $70 a lead and you have a closing ratio of maybe two, three percent-

Speaker 2:           Yeah.

Luigi:                      … you really don’t make any money.

Luigi:                      I appreciated and liked the multi-prong approach that you guys offer. Taking care of all the social media platforms, generating leads that are done directly, and I liked the leads. I liked the results that I was getting. And I also liked that I was you guys always very available, every time I send an email, within 10 minutes I will get a reply. There was never any hesitations to show and explaining that it was you guys were doing. One of the major reasons why I never engaged any other marketing company in the past was because most of them are a black box. They want you to pay a fee, and then you’re supposed to wait and see what happens.

Luigi:                      You guys have no problem to give me access to accounts, what [app 00:04:25] to follow, how the money was spent, what’s done, how the app look like. You told me a lot of ideas, and advises, pointing out mistakes that I was making. So it’s more than just a marketing company, it’s like having your own marketing department in house, where they really care what you’re doing. They definitely care about your well being, and they also give you ideas on how to get better.

Luigi:                      Honesty, integrity,-

Speaker 2:           Yep.

Luigi:                      … and loyalty. One problem that we see that really creates a lot of time wasting for everybody is progress that they’ll send as a deal, at the same time to other five companies. What happens, there’ll be five, six companies working on the same file, calling the clients at the same time. That causes a lot of frustration for the client, for the lenders, and all time wasted.

 

Berkman Financial

Local Marketing Stars Client Testimonial – Berkman Financial

Geoffrey B.:                       We’re focused on the small business sector. We really lend where the banks don’t or can’t, or the end customer doesn’t have time to wait for the bank. Any time the customer needs money now for things like purchasing inventory, handling a payroll need, a project, and our value prop is really that we can deliver the money to you quickly, smoothly, and really credit is not a threshold for us.

Joseph Mann:                    At Local Marketing Stars, we were focused heavy on direct mail marketing. As the months went on, the space got more competitive, and we feel we weren’t seeing the exact conversion rates we were hoping for.

Geoffrey B.:                       We were searching for someone to help us with our digital marketing. We had looked high and low. We’d used a bunch of different firms, we tried it on our own, and we found very little success. The things we were running into on the digital side were we were getting very little return for our dollar.

Geoffrey B.:                       Oftentimes, we were chasing expensive Ad-words. Then we brought in a couple different firms to do it, and we felt like we’re still not getting the return that we wanted on the volume side, and they weren’t really looking for value. They were buying the same type of Ad-Words that we were buying, and in turn it wasn’t really helping us, and we were just paying a fee for no reason.  For example, I think when Oz came in, we really had no landing pages. These Google Ad-Words were just kind of clicking directly to our website, and we weren’t giving them the ability to accurately track how many we were getting, where they were coming from, etc., etc. That was a big pain point for us because we were spending I think at one point $15,000, $16,000 a month digitally and not getting any return from it.

Geoffrey B.:                       We interviewed about five or six different people to help us with our digital marketing, and we decided we were going to try digital again. The only person who came to a face-to-face meeting was Oz, and I told him in our first meeting that that was a big deal to me. It was impressive, and believe it or not, he’s still showing up here.

Geoffrey B.:                       One of the things I think was differentiating was he really wanted to hear what experiences we had. You weren’t just trying to shove your program down our throat, and you were very honest with your experience in the space, whether you had experience, and you also used parallels from other other spaces to explain to me how you thought we could best hit it, and you were also honest about the time period it was going to take for us to gain any level of traction or success so that we didn’t have false expectations. You didn’t come in here and tell us that 30 days from now everything’s going to be grand. Now, I think we’re six, seven months in or five months in, and we’re really hitting stride. We’re pleased, and we’ve upped the budget, and we’ve given you another project through our website. We’ve been very happy with [inaudible 00:02:59].

Joseph Mann:                    When we met Oz, we started focusing mainly on digital marketing, social medial marketing, and things like that, and we saw our conversion rate go up roughly around 25% to 30% month over month. In a short amount of time, we’ve seen roughly around 400 applications come through of leads that are considered warmer, so the information was already and they were well-qualified targeted prospects. Aside from us doing regular cold calling where we would just be reaching out to merchants and offering our services, we were actually getting a lot of inbound traffic coming to us where people that were highly interested in our services.

Isaiah R.:                              When we get warm leads, it’s like a gift because these people are actually looking for financing. They’re actually expecting your call, and those are the ones that [inaudible 00:03:40]. With what we’re doing with Oz sending us a lot more warm leads, people who qualify, people who are looking for funding, it just makes it a lot easier for the guys to call and myself to call.

Geoffrey B.:                       Say that the service is top notch. You’re going to get exactly what you want. There’s a lot of great feedback in conversation. We’re constantly changing what we want and what we’re looking for, and we’re trying to grow something together. And I feel like we’re growing together. When we had the initial project, we had an initial monthly fee that did digital marketing, now we’re doing the website. We’re hoping that as our business grows, we can grow to do more things, and one of the nicest things about you is you’ve become an extension of us. We could probably put you on the phone with a customer at this point, and that’s great. That’s exactly what we’re looking for.