How I Built 3X 7 Fig Funnels and sold over 10,000+ Courses as an affiliate - ft. Drew Burks | TNS 20

We are live, we are live, internet entrepreneurs. Hey guys, how's everything going? First of all, everyone who's watching this show, welcome to the Internet Entrepreneurs Freedom Live, which is hosted by me, Dheenikul Sai. Guess what? We are back with another amazing interview today. We are back with another amazing interview, and guess who is coming today to this show? He's one of the most famous affiliate marketers out there who is pretty well known in the industry from a long time. Been in this industry for more than 10 years, done over multiple 7 figures in commissions, helping a lot of people to escape their 9-to-5 life and just join the internet entrepreneurs lifestyle, right? So let's not waste any time and welcome Drew Burke, founder at Escape Job Life. Hey Drew.

Hey guys, how's it going, Nikhil?

Yeah, I'm excited to interview you, buddy. So it's going super amazing and super excited to have you on the show.

First of all, thank you so much for hopping on time, buddy.

How's the day so far?

No, it's going fantastic, man. The weather is beautiful. I'm excited to get the weekend started and take the kids fishing.

Absolutely. I see the vibe on your face, man. So there you go, like, great internet lifestyle. And everyone who's watching this show, first of all, thank you so much for hopping on. And please make sure to comment #live if you're watching this on live and #replay if you're watching on this replay. And Drew is with us for more than 40 minutes from now. So if you have any more questions regarding affiliate marketing, how to start your own business and scale it up, please make sure to drop your comments and we would love to answer you. So Drew, let's not waste any time. Can you please start with your backstory? Like how did this all get started?

Yeah, it's funny that you ask because I tell people all the time, I will never forget the morning. It was 2008, so I'm dating myself, hence the white beard here. But I was running a real estate brokerage at the time and my wife and I wanted to start our family. And so I said, I'm going to start internet marketing. I'll get rich. I'll get a Lamborghini. It'll happen overnight. Night. It'll be amazing. And about 3 weeks into it, I hadn't made a penny. But when I woke up the next morning, I had an email from ClickBank that said I'd made $25. And it's funny because we've made millions since then, but that $25 was still the best. I was just immediately hooked. I fell in love with it. I was like, man, it was like the, the cliché. I was sleeping, I woke up, I had an email said you made $25, and I was just immediately hooked from that point. And now That really was the point where I went from— there was a fork in the road. I was doing real estate and traditional, and I was like, "Oh, I'm just going to do internet marketing." So, that was way back in 2008, and that was the catalyst that pushed me into this industry.

Absolutely. That's a great journey, buddy. That's amazing. You started back in 2008. That's a pretty long time, and hopefully a lot of people are still having great success with affiliate marketing. What, like Drew, like you're amazing affiliate marketer, you've made, you know, sold 10,000+ online courses and stuff like that through your funnels and all that cool stuff. Like I know that your first sale was amazing and that's what you just mentioned. Like would you like to explain like how did you make your first affiliate sale? Because every new affiliate marketer struggles with this one single point because that one moment kicks in the single dollar commission just like that, it's going to pump them up. To take action to make more. So how did you make your first sale, Drew?

Well, I have great news for everyone listening. It's way easier today in 2021 than it was in 2008. So how I did it then is not how you have to do it, I guess. So really quickly though, what I did is I found a product. I went to clickbank.com, which is a very common marketplace for affiliate products. I found a product that was real estate related because I was in real estate. And I set up a— I bought a domain, I set up a WordPress site, I figured out how to do enough HTML to get a banner image on my site and put an opt-in and set up an AWeber campaign and sent emails out. And because I couldn't afford traffic and I didn't know how to do Google pay-per-click and I'd already spent weeks figuring out how to get to that point, I just manually started sending emails out to people. And then I put a post on Craigslist. And it was actually from the post on Craigslist that someone clicked on my affiliate link and purchased. Now I can tell you, if you fast forward to 2015, a more modern story for people getting started, I was at the first Funnel Hacking Live event in Las Vegas in 2015. At that point, we already had a million-dollar webinar running that was selling an online course, but we said, Man, these people are doing affiliate marketing with these funnels. Let's go up into our hotel suite. And so it was me and my two business partners. We went up to the hotel, we got a ClickFunnels account. It was a brand new ClickFunnels account. We went back to ClickBank, we found products that were trending at that time. There are a lot of products in the paleo diet space. And so we found a handful of paleo products, we built a funnel, we set up the email campaign to go out, and then Josh, my traffic guy and business partner, he turned on ads. We went out, partied that night, woke up the next morning, we had leads in our funnel. We went down to the sessions, and by middle of the day, we had commissions coming in.

Whoa.

And so it was that simple. We went, we found a product, we built what people call a bridge page or bridge funnel so we could drive traffic to our funnel so we can capture their name and email, and then we sent them to the affiliate offer. And one thing I think people gloss over is like Sometimes you get a sale like that, but a lot of times the sale comes in the follow-up emails. And sometimes we didn't get sales until the 6th or 7th or 20th email to go out. But interesting story, over, over 6 months, we built a huge list in the paleo space. We were making between $6,000 and $9,000 a month based on the month. And I will never forget this day, uh, Simon, who is running all of our WordPress sites and our email stuff, called us one day and said, hey guys, who's managing info@thepaleoguru.com? And we're like, we didn't know we had that email. I don't know, we assume you are, Simon. Why? He said, we have 450 emails from people asking about recipe substitutions for paleo. And we were like, oh shit. Like, none of us were paleo. None of us had created any of these recipes. So we shut the site down. Number one, we shut down because we felt out of integrity. We didn't know how to answer these people's questions or provide additional value to them. And then we actually went and found a paleo fitness person to be the face, but that didn't work out. And so we just said, you know, we're doing hundreds of thousands of dollars with digital courses and promoting those as affiliates. Let's shut down this mailbox money.

So That's a great funny story.

Absolutely. That's how we— in '08, we got started doing the rough way. In 2015 with ClickFunnels, it made it super easy.

Absolutely. Yeah, like that's a huge transition in a business. Like when you're using traditional websites to sell affiliate products, to transitioning that to a simple funnel, which is more simple and gives the right call to action and acts as a great bridge page to pre-frame them to the right offer, that's going to convert like 3, 4, 5, 10 times much better than any other website out there. That's for sure, Drew. That's amazing. And Drew, like, every single affiliate marketer who actually wants to start affiliate marketing, like, when they look into the marketplace, they get mind-boggling options. Like, they'll be super confused. Like, they want to start with ClickFunnels, ClickBank, Digistore28. Like, there are a lot of options in the marketplace which actually overwhelms people. Like, do CPA, do like cost per lead, every single thing. Like, it's gonna be a little overwhelming for a newbie affiliate marketer. So like, what do you think is the best affiliate programs to promote, especially as a beginner, to the people who are watching?

It's a great question, and you're absolutely right. There's, there's no one way. There's lots of options, and that adds overwhelm and frustration. And I think that's what keeps most people stuck, is this analysis by paralysis, right? Or whatever that saying is. And so my best advice to you is, if you're just getting started is to pick a program that you use. So for instance, a lot of people use Canva. It can be as simple as that, is pick the tool that you're already using every day and start by sharing that. Now, is that going to make you 6 figures or 7? Maybe not in the beginning, but it's important that you understand the mechanics, what has to happen and how simple it is, because so many people come to me still in 2021 and they go, you know, this affiliate marketing, it feels sleazy or scammy, or, you know, it feels like something's not right. I think people just don't under— understand it. It's the market, right? Like, if you look at every business, someone creates something and then they typically give it to a wholesaler, and then a wholesaler gives it to a reseller, and a reseller gives it to a retailer, and a retailer gives it to you and I, the consumer. That's the same model. It's just someone— there's a profit margin And as an affiliate, you get to be in the middle. Your customer pays the exact same price they're going to pay anyway, but that company is going to give you a small referral for, for promoting it. So my advice, again, you're already using tools, go to those tools and see if they have an affiliate program. If you don't know how to do that, go to their website, scroll down to the footer, and you'll typically see something like affiliate or referral or partner with us. Start there. If you don't see it there, type— go into a URL browser and just type the product name plus affiliate program. So that's where I would start. Beyond that, the other thing I would do, once you kind of figure out that you accept that this is not magic or it's not a scam, that it's legitimate, then go find a niche or a market that has a problem and then create a solution, be it a course or a video or a how-to to teach people how to do that and then drop your affiliate link. So you see a lot of people on YouTube do that, like how to use ConvertKit, how to use ClickFunnels, how to use, you know, StreamYard or whatever on now. Teach people something and then have your link. And, you know, again, is it going to make you 6 or 7 figures by tomorrow? Probably not, but it can add up really nicely. And I have income streams that come in that pay me a few hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars a month. And They're just on autopilot. So, you know, it's not getting me a private jet, but it's nice when it comes in. You're like, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. That's nice." Absolutely.

That really makes sense, Drew. Like, yeah, it's not about just making immediate instant money, but it's about actually getting the recurring revenue. Like, as you just mentioned, like, it would be a great feeling down the line when you're just consistently promoting a product down the line, when you see and you're making $5,000, $6,000 commission every single month. Most of ClickFunnels affiliates do right now, and they feel grateful for that. They don't need to do any more work, but they still make that sort of commission like you do, right? And that's a great feeling to have. I like that.

And so real quick, real quick, just to touch on something because I glossed over it and you kind of touched on it there, but you know, so when you're new, look for products you're using, but also look for products that are either A, recurring, right? So with ClickFunnels we talked about, so if you sign up for ClickFunnels through someone's affiliate link, that person is going to get $40 to $118 a month every month. So, that's recurring. The other thing, if you're starting out, look for something that's a higher ticket offer. So, instead of getting $40 a month, look for something that will pay you $1,000 commission. So, those are just 2 extra add-ons of, you know, if you're new and starting out, look for those type of affiliate products.

Yeah, absolutely. Like, that's the easiest way to actually make good sort of money. Like recurring, you make a lot of money on long time, and high ticket, like you don't need to make 1,000 sales to make $1,000, just make 1. And you'll be good for the week, right?

Exactly.

And Drew, that was amazing, the just one-liner you just mentioned to actually start affiliate marketing. Just pick what you're using, right? Like to sell it, right? So, and that's one of the most easiest way. And people actually, a lot of gurus complicate affiliate marketing with crazy stuff, but you made it as simple as that. Loving the vibe, love it, love your answer.

I appreciate that. I heard someone say this once that if you want to impress people, make it complex. If you want to help people, make it simple.

Whoa, that's a golden nugget right there. Yeah, that works every single bit. Like, imagine it will definitely work. Now, like, let's get into the most questionable thing ever which happens in the affiliate marketing. Everyone sort of has a product, easy to pick. Everyone has an affiliate link, they can actually get it right there. Everyone can create a funnel in ClickFunnels, it's going to take them probably 15 to 20 minutes to sort that out. Now, the question is, what do you think is the best traffic source or the right way to push traffic source into an affiliate offer?

Well, first of all, I apologize if you guys are hearing this dog that just started barking in the background, but I'm outside. I love to be outside. So, it's beautiful here. So, I'm outside. But the best traffic source, you know, that's a loaded question. It depends on a couple of different factors. You know, if you are comfortable being on video right now, I think the best traffic source on the planet is TikTok. Uh, it's something that I've resisted for months. I'm kicking myself for resisting it. Uh, I've only put up 4 or 5 videos on there, but I will tell you, those 4 or 5 videos are not great because I'm learning the platform. But I've already got more traffic on one video than I've gotten on all of the videos I've done on Facebook and YouTube accumulative over the last 12 months. So in terms of volume, there's probably not a better platform right now. Will it be long-lived? I have no idea. In terms of, again, if you liked-vocalize, YouTube is probably the best long-term platform that you can be on, no question. You know, if you aren't comfortable on video, then, you know, you're looking at Facebook or Instagram. If you are good at images, Instagram and Pinterest are great. So there's no right or wrong right or wrong answer. There's just which platform is going to be best for you, which platform are you going to feel the most comfortable and seem the most natural on, and which one are you going to use every day.

Absolutely, that really makes sense, buddy. That really makes a lot of sense. And like, how about like, what do you think is the right way? Like, a lot of most affiliate marketers, like Ninja people, or people who don't want to start, like they don't really want to show their face. Like, how can someone start affiliate marketing without showing their face? Like, technically, while we're talking about YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook, like that's really them selling some other stuff, right? But a lot of people want to do it anonymously and make good money. So like, do you have any quick tip for that?

You know, there are definitely a lot of people that do that. And I think it might be a generational thing. But, you know, if I'm being completely candid, I'm a little envious of those who do that. But you know what they do is, the ones I see doing is, They will do so by going to get free stock music. You know, you can Google free stock music sites or free stock videos, and they take that and then put trending music over it and then link. So an example the other day that I just saw someone doing that, that I was like, it completely blew my mind. They went into ClickBank, they found, uh, some, uh, trending dog training products that were converting, right? So they were trending, but they were getting sales. Then what they did is they went on to Google and they found trending articles from top dog trainers. Then they created an image for like a dog with like a training leash or something. Okay, so what they did— this part was magic— they then took that image they created, uploaded it to Pinterest with a link using a tool. Some— I forget the exact tool it was, but something like Snippli is one example. Where they will allow you to take your affiliate link. It creates a shortened link. And so your— then what happens is your opt-in box shows up over that article. So again, they took a trending dog training article from a top dog trainer. They use this tool like Sniply to put their affiliate link over it, and then they use an image to put on Pinterest, and within minutes people are clicking on it from Pinterest. So that was the traffic. The article was the content with someone else's content, and then it linked directly to ClickBank. And so there was no, you know, it was completely anonymous of how they did that. And, you know, dog training is a huge niche. And, and I think one of the most famous stories is by a guy named Frank Kern that did $1 million in affiliate commissions in dog training 10 years ago. So that's one good strategy, is looked at for what free stock images and music and things are out there that you can use And then in YouTube, I know people do that on YouTube. Like the other day I was talking to someone, they were creating these, um, videos on YouTube where they would get like white noise for people to listen to while they were sleeping. It was like white noise and meditation. And so people would listen to these tracks during their sleep for 5, 6, 8 hours, and they were getting AdSense money on that, right? Because the video was being— the video was being viewed, but it was just listening to it.

So yeah, man, like Drew, that's amazing. Like you literally uncovered everything someone needs to actually go start, like find the right picture. And like that's, that's a complete ballgame right there. Like if someone is really getting the information, they can just take that away and just build their affiliate business with that single tip, my friend. That's amazing, dude. Thank you so much for that information. That's a ninja tip. Absolutely. So let's get into the next question. Like, You know what's happening with the affiliate marketing. A lot of people are doing affiliate marketing. I believe like 90% of the affiliate marketers are doing it completely in the wrong way. So what do you think are the common mistakes affiliate marketers do and how to avoid them?

Well, I think it's the way with in general just online marketing because there's no— everyone's a guru, right? Which I try to stay out of that space, but You know, I think the worst thing people can do, and it's one that I did way too often, is chase the shiny objects, right? You're always jumping from this to this to this. And it, you know, this is— it's difficult not to do that because the gurus are good at what they do, right? They, they make you feel like if you just send them some money, they're going to solve all your problems. So that's the biggest pitfall or mistake that I made, and I see people do is chasing shiny object. What I would do to avoid that is I said earlier is I'd pick 1 or 2 products you're using and I'd focus on building content around that, like how-to and tutorials, and share that. That will help you build a YouTube channel or a TikTok channel or an Instagram brand just to start there. And I would give yourself a goal like, I'm going to make my first $100 or $1,000 or $100,000 before I do anything else. So Russell Brunson at ClickFunnels, he says Focus on one funnel until you hit $1 million and then do something else. So, wow. Yeah, right. I would do that same thing in affiliate marketing is I would pick one, one or two products that you're using and just start promoting those until you see how it's going to work. You get comfortable with how you're going to create content, how you're going to generate traffic, and start there. Beyond that, I would then Go find some higher ticket offers. And I would just rinse and repeat. Some other kind of problems that I see people do is they take on too much. They go, well, okay, I made my first $100 or my first $1,000 on promoting ClickFunnels or ConvertKit or something. So now I'm going to go find 5 other products to promote. And overwhelm is, it's a killer. It just does. So you just have to start small. And Tony Robbins has a saying I love is, you know, most people, I think, go something like, most people underestimate what they can do in a year and overestimate what they can do in a month or something like that, right? It's like you just can't— you're not going to achieve everything today. So start small. Do it every day, week, or month. Look at what you did, look at what you enjoyed doing, and do more of that, assuming that was making you money. And there's going to be some stuff you don't like doing, and give yourself permission to stop doing that.

Absolutely. Yeah, that, that's a golden nugget right there, my friend. Like, you literally pointed out the common mistakes every athlete probably do and the right solution for that, like just being focused on one single stuff, right? Like, I, I really believe like shiny object syndrome is killing a lot of people who has the potential to actually be successful. But because of this, you know, syndrome, they're actually being back and forth and they're going into this stage of analysis paralysis and stuff like that and be completely unmotivated. Like, hopefully they'll find this piece of content or a content piece where they can actually get that, get out of that situation and be in the right track. And, uh, dude, let's get back to like your core, your core actually impact of what you're doing to other people's life. Like, you literally help Tens of thousands of people to escape their 9-to-5 and actually have their own business. Like, that's, that's like the American dream. And not only just in America, like, every single person wants to be financially free and they don't want to be in a 9-to-5 where they're actually being, being in a rat race. No one wants to do that. Like, what do you think? Like, how, how, how can a single person escape from a 9-to-5 trap and be financially free?

I know it's a very broad question.

Yeah, I know it's a very bad—

it's a great, it's a great question. And listen, I love— this is the one thing I could talk about for years and I could do for completely free because I love to help people get out of the 9 to 5. And it starts with way back. If I just go back for a moment. So back in '99, '98, my girlfriend, who's my wife now, we met here in Florida where we're at right now. She moved to San Diego. I followed her out there. It was tough to get a job. It was 1999. The job market was crazy. Huge. It was a way bigger city than I was used to living in. And long story short, took me a few months. I got a job. I got this great job. 6 months into that job, or 9 months maybe, the owner sold the company and fired everyone. On my way home, I stopped by my tax guy's office. His name was Don. He was my CPA. And I said, man, I was just basically crying to him, like, man, I just got fired. I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm out here with Carrie. Like, we have no money. And he said something to me that changed my life. He said, what are you going to do? I said, well, I'm going to go get a newspaper, if anyone remembers those things, and I'm going to look for a job. And he said, why would you go look for a job— sorry, there's a bug flying around— and put yourself in another situation where someone could fire you again? He said, so are you telling me that you would trust someone you don't know, the next employer, more than you can trust yourself to pay your bills? And that was a moment where I was like, no, like, I don't— I never even liked a job. Like, why would I do that? That's crazy. And so since then, I've been self-employed, and most of my income has come from online from that point, right? So from '99 to 2000, I was doing real estate, uh, but I was still meeting most of my clients online, and it was a, you know, it was an offline transaction. And then 2008, I made my first Commissioner, I told you. But it was that story that changed everything. So what I tell people is this: that if you are working at a job right now, like a 9-to-5 type job, the best thing you can do is learn how to sell your knowledge or your skill or your experience. And you can do that by trading time. Time— it's the worst trade we can make, but it's the easiest trade to make. And that's important because when you are used to having to go somewhere 9 to 5, you're trading your time already, right? But you're trading your time for minimum wage or, you know, whatever it is. So go out now and say, what result have I achieved in my life? What skill do I have that people ask me about? Or what experience have I overcome? And look to how do you take that and help someone who wants to know that skill, they're struggling in that experience, or they want to achieve that result. That's the quickest way. When you do that, it usually falls under the coaching model.

Yep.

And you can easily create six figures of income easily. Now here's the trap, my friend. The trap is people get stuck in that trap just like they do the 9 to 5, and they become dependent on their clients. So here's what I tell people. If you're in the 9 to 5, step 1 is learn how to trade your time at a higher price privately so you can make money under this coaching model. Then you have to be diligent about paying attention to what you're coaching people with, what questions they have, what feedback, so you can start to create your own online course. So that now when you talk to people, you can say, hey, my fee is 10 times what it was, but you can get this course. That's kind of the next step. Now, the Mailbox Money System— and that's what I call the Mailbox Money System— is while you're doing that, you're recommending to these clients, hey, use this, use this, how about this? That's where the affiliate commissions come in. If you will do that with a plan, the trading time for clients doesn't become a trap, it becomes a bridge. Yeah, to put that money in. And then the other key that no one told me, and I wasn't that smart with finances, is make sure every time you get revenue in set that money aside to reinvest in the ad spend so that when you get a course or some offers or affiliate offers, you can use that ad spend to drive traffic. And at that point, it really wasn't money out of your pocket, right? You just, you took it out of the revenue from the coaching that you did. And if you'll follow that model, you know, best case you might be 3 to 6 months, but worst case you might be 12 to 18 months out before you have a machine that's just running on autopilot. And now you're free at that point.

So that's amazing. That's amazing. Like, you literally pointed out how someone who is literally stuck in the job can actually start and scale their business. Like, it's like everyone do have a skill set, at least like, like what they're working for, right? So like, let's say if I am an application builder, I know how to build an application. I can teach that and make money of that. That was as simple as that. And everyone who's watching this can be actually picking that simple sentence as we just drew mentioned, and you can actually start your own online business and be making good money on a long term. And you're not just showing them the pathway to make their first 5 figures, but you just explain how they can make consistent 6 figures right there. We definitely appreciate that. Thank you so much. And Drew, like, yeah, absolutely. As you're already at this level of actually doing great affiliate marketing stuff, selling your own you know, own stuff, like having multiple 7-figure funnels out there and doing great business, having huge clients working with you, huge partners. Like, I believe there is a lot of stuff on the table every single time, right? And I wonder, like, what kind of tools and what kind of project management systems or what kind of stuff you do you have for your own routine to make it more productive?

Yeah, it's a great question. Well, I am every day working consciously to accept this belief that discipline and structure equal freedom, because I've resisted that for a long time. I was like, oh, time freedom is important. I'll do what I want when I want, how I want. I'm realizing my older age that that's a false belief, that, right, you, you need to be disciplined in structure. So I am working towards that. But I will tell you what I do currently. I wake up in the morning, usually between 6:30 and 7:30. I don't use an alarm clock. I wake up, the first thing I do is read part of my Bible. So I have a Bible app on my phone and I read, yeah, you know, sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 20 or 30 minutes of the Bible. Then from that, I write down what I want to, you know, my wins for the day, what I want to make sure I get done for the day. And then in the— for me, in the morning is when I'm energized, right? I, I can wake up and go at that point. I make sure I get those things done. And that has been a challenge for me over the years, I will tell you, because I, I, I like to serve, I like to respond, and I would get distracted reacting to people. And I fooled myself for years, like, well, it's okay to do that because I'm helping. What I realized is I wasn't really helping them to my fullest impact because it was always distracted. It was always like, well, this person, that person, this and that. So now I wake up, I read my Bible, I get my coffee, I figure out what I want to get done for that day, and I do that. Everything else has to wait. And if I don't get my stuff done, then I don't pay attention to anything else. If I get my stuff done, then I go into responding and following up to people. And, and that's just— that's how I run my day right now. And I'm not perfect at it, believe me. I, I have a long way to go, but that's what's working for me right now. In terms of tools, I use ClickFunnels, obviously. ConvertKit is what I run my email with. My iPhone, obviously. Dropbox and Google Drive is where I share everything. So if someone steals my computer, falls, you know, off the kayak, I don't— not out of business. And then I use Trello a lot. And then one of my favorites is I use a tool called Lucidchart. And I use that to map out all my funnels. And so that's how I brainstorm.

Lucidchart, correct?

Yep.

Amazing, amazing. Like, do you have like any recommendations of any affiliate tools where they can actually find out ads which are working, funnels which are working, affiliates which are converting well? Like, if you have any—

you mean do I have like something I could send them to, or are you asking do I have recommendations for like products that they can go promote. Yeah, tools that they can go promote.

Yeah, I'm actually asking like tools which you use to actually funnel hack, what's working in the affiliate marketing space.

Well, the best way to funnel hack—

We lost you.

Oh, are you still there?

Yeah, there was a network issue maybe.

Oh yeah, it seems fine here. But so I use a tool called Useloom, useloom.com. So when I hack people's funnels, I do it what I think is the right way. I buy their products. So I go through their, their funnel and I record it, but I pay for it and I don't refund it. Because listen, that's the only way you're going to see truly what's happening. Now there is a software out there that I don't use any longer, but you can Plug in and it will show you all of the internal pages. If you want to do that, you can go Google and find out how to do that. But for me, if I'm going to borrow your stuff, not plagiarize it, not steal it, but if I'm going to borrow it for inspiration, I'm going to pay for the products. That's just, I think, the best way. Now here's something I will tell you. Here's one other golden nugget that will tell you this has been responsible for millions of dollars in commissions. And it's an affiliate strat— it's an affiliate strategy that I don't see a lot of people doing. Is when I go through people's funnels and I buy their product, I will contact them and ask them, hey, do you have an affiliate program? How many sales are you making? What are your conversion points? And I show them the recording of what I did, and I ask them questions that, you know, candidly are smart questions to get them to think like, oh, I didn't know that. Oh, I should know that. That results in what I call a super JV relationship with these people. And here's what happens when I could create this relationship is I don't have to create any product or content because they have it. I don't have to build an audience because they have it. I typically don't have to build funnels because they have it. And most of those people today, over the last 6 years, will offer me a profit share ranging from 20 to 50%. And so if you think of what happens is I go find a product that's already selling that has no competition. I'm not competing with 30,000 ClickFunnels affiliates. I'm not competing with the best of the best to promote an upcoming product launch. And I'm able to immediately step into a list, an audience, trust, credibility, and promote and have zero competition. And that strategy has made me over millions of dollars in sales and millions of dollars in commissions.

Whoa, that's amazing, Drew. Like, thank you so much for that golden nugget, and hopefully a lot of people are getting that. Like, that's a ninja tip right there. I would definitely love to try that out on a long-term basis for sure. So let's give you the next question, Drew. Like, you have came so far, like, building out multiple 7-figure businesses, had huge success, been on stages receiving awards, and like, what will be your main suggestion to someone who is 20-year-olds or Like maybe you, when, like, what would be your number one suggestion? Like if you were talking to your 20-year-old you?

Get started now. Focus, right? I would get laser focused. I would structure my day, right? Like I just talked about in my week. I would accept that wiser people know better. Structure and discipline is actually how you get to freedom. I would focus and I would not— I would— how do I say this? I would avoid shiny objects because here's the thing, there's someone's always going to have something that's sexier, that looks better, that's going to take your attention away. The path to your freedom, the fastest path to 7 figures, the fastest path to freedom is to identify where you're at, get really clear where you're at right now. Look at your bills, look at your expenses, look at Where you are at right now, identify where you want to go, and then don't necessarily be attached to the way you get there, but just stay focused on where you're going and then structure your day and find the products. Do the math. Here's another thing that's crazy to me. People will call me all the time and say, help me build a million-dollar webinar. So great, what kind of offer you have? I have a $1,000 course. Fantastic. Do you have an audience? A small one. What's your ad budget? $2. Like, well, it doesn't work, right? It doesn't work. We were spending $30,000 or $40,000 a month when we were doing millions of dollars. Like, you have to understand the math. And so that would be my advice, is focus on what you want to do, get clear what you want to do, focus on it every day, and shut out all the other distractions. And, and add on to that, I will tell you, is that comparison is going to kill your dreams. So don't start your day on Facebook and Instagram because everyone looks better, right? Everyone's got a better haircut and, you know, better makeup and a better jacket and a better car. You have to be able to shut that out.

Absolutely.

And that's my biggest key. And, and in fact, if I had to just shut up and take back everything I would say, my advice 20 years ago would avoid comparison.

Absolutely. Like, that's a lot of things which is going around, like, especially in teens, like try to compare themselves to someone who is actually doing better than themselves and want to blame themselves because of the situation they are in. And the best way is not comparing, but being impactful of what they are up to. That can really change their life right there. And thank you so much for that amazing tips right there, my friend. And let's get into the next questions. Like, Drew, you, you made multiple million dollars, maybe you had great speaking gigs and all of that cool stuff. Like, what was your What's your life's biggest achievement so far and what are your next big goals?

Well, my biggest achievement by far is my 17-year marriage and my 2 kids. So, I have an 11-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy. So, by far, that's my biggest achievement, no question. In terms of business, in recent years, would definitely be the 2 Comma Award. And that was a project where I explained that super affiliate model earlier. That was a— an example of that. So this client in particular had paid a guru $45,000 to help him with a webinar. He contacted me 14 months after he paid $45,000. He had not even hosted a single webinar. Oh, and he said, look, I, I know it's sad, but it happens all the time. I hear this story at least once a week from someone. So he said to me, like, hey, here's my offer, here's my product, can you help me? I said, sure, here's my fee and I want a piece of the revenue. He said, great. We did it, and 10 months later we passed $1 million. Now, here's what was incredible about that, that story that I want to share with people is that— was what I brought to the table valuable? Absolutely. Did it help us get to $1 million in 10 months? Without question. It wasn't me alone. My partner, my client at that point, he had a great offer that solved an amazing problem. And in addition to the revenue, what that offer did is it helped Doctors create nonprofit charities that serve, to this day, over 10,000 patients every month that can't afford healthcare.

Wow.

So that was the impact of— right, that was the impact is we got to— we get to help all those people. I got an award for it. I got the impact and the fulfillment out of it. And so, you know, and it's a profit share deal, so what better option? There's no other competition for it. Right? It was amazing. So that, that's definitely the biggest achievement. Now, my biggest goal is right now I'm working on a deal to acquire 5 private islands in Belize, and we're doing, uh, luxury villa and hotel developments on them. So that's, that's my big goal that I'm working on right now.

So all the best with that, buddy. You got it.

Yeah, just need $20 million and we'll get it.

Absolutely. But that's a great thing to announce for sure. And also, like, so far, like, you had this huge achievement, and I believe you had some busted out things as well. Like, what was your biggest mistakes in your life so far, especially business-wise, and a couple of things in your personal life?

Way too many to list out, first of all. So that's one thing I want people to understand is you're going to make mistakes, you're going to fail. Right? You just are. You just have to get through that. Um, you know, early on, before internet marketing, probably what I could share is I didn't know how to communicate, and I would add meaning to the words that people would say, and then I would act foolishly or immaturely. And so, you know, in particular, I had one business, I had two partners we had 3 investors and the main partner decided he didn't want to do it anymore. So he shut it down. And although I was the president and co-founder of that company, I was within my legal right to do what I did, but I acted irresponsibly and I ruined relationships. And so that was one of the— still a big regret in my life. Now I've went back and remedied those relationships since then, but only because I was able to learn how to communicate. And I learned a couple distinctions that have helped me do that. But, uh, so that was the biggest mistake, was being young and immature and just not being responsible. Um, another mistake that on that same vein has that hurt me for years was not being responsible or accountable for my own actions, right? I was always looking external, right? His fault, her fault, it's because of this, it's because of that. Where now I've learned it like Hey, none of that matters. It's, it's right here, right? It's within me. It's, it's on me. And, um, yeah, so that, you know, those are my mistakes. Just being irresponsible, having poor communication, making meanings up in my own head about stuff that maybe didn't even really happen.

So absolutely, thank you so much for being transparent. We really feel that deep, you know, incentive of explaining this stuff, like That's amazing. Like, we are getting a lot of takeaways from this deep connections which we are having on this interview. Hopefully everyone who's watching this on replay and live would also love this stuff. And, uh, yeah, like, thanks for being super transparent. But, and yeah, that's it. Like, people, a lot of people just like, you know, assume things themselves, and that's the one mistake everyone does. And, uh, yeah, like, communication will really stop 95% of things which will go wrong if you just do it in the right way, correct?

Yeah. And yeah. And, you know, real quick, if I may, I know we're running short on time, but I do feel that I need— I would like to share this with people. So, uh, and its language is super important. And where you see this show up is in relationships, business or personal, is when you are fighting to be right. So let me say it this way: in your relationships, understand there's no right or wrong, because when you argue to be right or you have a conversation to be right, the impact of that is you're making the other person wrong wrong. And let's be honest, nobody wants to be wrong. And so that conversation can't go forward. And that has been a life-changing distinction for me. It's helped me beyond ways I could never even explain here, personally and professionally. But so, you know, if you find yourself upset with someone, look at it to see why. Are you, are you upset because you're not getting to be right? And, and, and that's where you can take responsibility. You know, it's not saying you're not to blame, just take responsibility so you can move on. And here's a quick funny story on that. Sometimes when clients bring me on to help consult or coach, I will see this dynamic where the group, they'll have this something went wrong. And no one wants to own up to it. So I will just kind of jokingly go, oh, that was my fault. I'm totally responsible for that. And I've done it more than once. And what happens is the conversation moves forward, but it moves forward in this weird way that they're looking around like, well, he wasn't even here. Why is he taking blame for it? But it lets them all off the hook so we can move forward. So let go of being right or wrong in your life, personally and professionally, and I think you'll see an amazing weight lifted off your shoulders, and you'll see that you can progress forward faster than you ever thought possible.

Absolutely, dude. And that really hit me on my face. Like, a lot of people still do that, like, in day-to-day, like, subconsciously, right? They want to prove someone else wrong and actually let not the thing which should actually happen, right? And like, that's a really funny story. I really want to try that out when I actually do some stuff with my team, like take all the responsibility and see where it goes. I'm sure it will turn out right for sure. Like someone who actually did the mistake will be like, oh, like, like I should take up the accountability and they will kick in and be in the right place to make it happen.

Thank you so much. Sometimes they will, sometimes they won't, but, but do use it. Everyone listen, go use it and come back here wherever this video is going to be. And let us know how it works because it has not failed me. It hasn't failed me.

Absolutely, it won't. Like, there is very low risk involved in that case, most probably, unlike when somebody's super hard on you, right? So let's get into the next question, Drew. Like, I see like you're super productive day to day in your whole life. Like, you're getting a lot of stuff done. Like, do you have any particular productivity mantra you follow? Like, what's your number one productivity mantra?

You know, I don't know if I really have a mantra outside of— maybe this would fall into it— is I operate under this belief that done is better than doing, right? Like, I just— I'm not trying to be perfect. I already tried that, right? And I realize I'm not and never going to be. So I just try to get things done. And, and I mentioned earlier, I, I get done the 3 things that are most important to me, and that's it. And then every day— here's another little tip, I'll show you if you can see it on my phone.

Mm-hmm.

So I'm not sure if you can see these labels. Yeah, but, but yeah, but I put an alarm label. So at 4:45, it says be present with family. And so I use these reminders as, you know, kind of a time hack or productivity hack, if you will, just during the day to remind me that I, you know, need to be doing what I need to be doing so I don't get distracted and do some other stuff.

So Great routine stuff. Yeah, you're sticking to the routine with your using the basic tools like alarms. That's amazing. And that's the best way to keep it simple and being productive right there.

Thank you. You always have your phone with you, right?

So absolutely. Yeah, I do use that a lot of times actually, having alarms every single time on. So like, let's get to the next question. Drew, like, like, who are your main inspiration for the success and any key persons involved in this whole journey?

Well, again, not to be corny, but without question, my biggest inspiration's gotta be my wife and my kids. No question, I'm a family first type of guy. You know, God, of course, I'm a believer in God. Beyond that, like talking to everyday people, you know, I'm a big Tony Robbins fan, Dean Graziosi's fan, so I follow them, I listen to them, I purchased most of their courses. So, I'm big fans of them. The other inspiration is, you know, the person next door that you see in a Facebook group that has shared their struggle, that they've achieved some success, whatever that success is to them is seeing that, you know, because it's easy to get isolated as an entrepreneur. It's easy to get isolated and feel like, man, everything's going wrong. And I just draw inspiration from that. I'm a people person, so I love to talk to people. I love to to read stories about people and their success. And that's where I find my inspiration and the motivation to do a little bit better today.

100%, buddy. We definitely appreciate that. And Drew, it was an amazing session. A lot of people would be excited to know if they have any opportunity to work with you. Drew, do you offer any kind of mentorings? Where can our audience find your mentoring?

Yeah, I absolutely do. I coach people both in affiliate and I coach course creators and how to get the course created and launched and sold. Easiest way to find me, I'm a super easy guy to find, is just @drewberks, my name. So on Facebook, it's Drew Berks, Instagram, TikTok, it's all @drewberks. I have a bunch of different websites, but you can go to drewberks.com, you can go to escapethejoblife.com, you can go to themailboxmoneysystem.com. So I'm an easy guy to find. Get in touch, send me a message, and if I can help you in some way, I'd love to do that.

For sure, man. And I also drop your link in the comment section. So if anyone wants to find out, you know, connect with you, you would be more than happy to do that. And that was amazing session again, Drew. Thank you so much for joining on. Any last words before we conclude the whole session?

Uh, you know, first and foremost, I want to thank you because this has been amazing. You're, you're an amazing person. I appreciate what you're doing to help people and appreciate the opportunity to share a little bit about, you know, who I am and what important to me. So that's the biggest thing. Thank you, I mean it. And then my parting words are, I will share a quick story. I have a business partner, his name's Jack. He's a gentle giant. The guy's probably 6'6". I don't know his weight in case he hears this. I don't know, he's a big dude. And he told me one day, he said, I strive to leave everyone better off than they were when I first got there. And he said, so for instance, you're— every morning I go into 7-Eleven to get a drink, and every day I walk in, I make sure that the person behind that counter is smiling and laughing and better— in a better mood than they were when I walked in the door. So that would be what I would leave you with, is, you know, focus less about the money, focus more on the impact that you can do. Go make someone's day today. Like, you know, the revenue is easy. Money is replenishable. Go out there and just, you know, make someone's day today.

Yeah, money is the primary goal for sure. But, and that's super kind and that's amazing. Thank you so much for your kind words on me and the show. And again, thank you so much for this amazing opportunity, Drew. Thank you so much for hopping on on time, providing tons of value with all your cool stories and sharing exactly how to start and scale an affiliate marketing business. So anyone who's watching this, if you want Drew's help, please make sure to click the link in the comment section which I'm going to drop and you can be with Drew. And hopefully it will turn out well. And like, thank you for staying tuned for this, guys, and we'll be looking forward to do another interview with Drew if possible on a long time, as well as with another 2 Comma Club Award winner very soon. Thank you so much, Drew, for this time. Thank you, everyone. Excited for this interview, and bye, have a great day. Namaste.