From Viral Fame to Authentic Success | Jeremy Bishop

What is the goal? Why? You know, why would you want to do something like, you know, this or whatever this is, right? Grow the brand, grow your name. If you can find a clear and strong reason, okay, that's what's going to pull someone to actually do things that they need to do to have a successful brand inside of their business, inside of that kind of ecosystem. So, you know, you'll hear people say things like, It's not worth it. It's a waste of time. I don't see an ROI. You know, these all correlate to not having a clear or big enough end goal that would pull someone to do those certain things.

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Welcome to another episode of The Profitable Creative, the only place on the interwebs where you will learn how to turn your passion into profit. I am your host, Christian Brim. A special shout out to our one listener. Yes, one in Tokyo. Actually, I said Tokyo last time. Let's take that again. Special shout out to our one listener in Washington, Virginia. Uh, never been to Virginia. I've been to Washington, both the DC and the state, but never Washington, Virginia. Hopefully I can get there. Joining me today is Jeremy Bishop of Influencer Club. Jeremy, welcome to the show.

I appreciate it. Thanks so much. And I actually just got back from Tokyo, so shout out to that Tokyo listener.

Yeah, it's in, it's, it's on my bucket list for sure. I, I've tried, I'm trying to talk my wife into it. She, she doesn't like traveling that far, but I'm like, eh, you know, you're not getting any younger. And everybody that I've spoken to that have been to Japan, uh, said it's like top shelf, top tier, top destination, have to go. What was your experience?

Yeah, 10 out of 10. So excited to book another trip back. Well worth the long travel. I understand that that can be— that can definitely be rough. It was a bit of, you know, bit of jet lag and kind of getting into the groove of things. But overall, I mean, Tokyo, the city was absolutely incredible, very inspiring. I could probably— we could do an entire, you 2, 3 hours.

So was this business or pleasure that you went?

It was pleasure. Yeah, myself, my wife, that was actually just— that was the honeymoon, was very nice. Japan for 2 weeks. Yep.

Well, that, that's interesting because a dear friend of mine got married, uh, in September— no, October— and that's where they honeymooned was Tokyo.

So nice. Yeah, yeah, really great time.

So for the benefit of our listeners, Jeremy, give us the, the brief introduction to who you are and what you do.

Sure. Well, hey everybody listening, great to meet you. My name is Jeremy Bishop. Started as an entrepreneur when I was about 19 years old. I got introduced to a company and had an opportunity to represent a product and build an affiliate network. And I— this is kind of where I had my first little tiny bit of success. And I built this affiliate network of like 5,000 people. And after a few years, I get a phone call. And basically the company had a problem and they basically shut down overnight. And so I was sitting there and I looked back and I was like, man, you know, if I could have done one thing more, I would have focused on building my name just as much as any company or product or service that I represent. And so that kind of, that led me down this mission, this path, this journey of, I guess, what we would call now kind of personal branding, right? And so all things considered, growing your own name, you know, growing your, your, your reputable brand, your credibility through social media and everything that can come along with that. And so, you know, fast forward 6, 7 years later, now we have Influencer Club and was very fortunate to have a mentor that in my early 20s that helped people like Patrick Bet-David and Grant Cardone and Daymond John, Kevin O'Leary. He helped these individuals go reach their first, you know, 1 million plus followers on their social media and build a really strong brand. And so that's what I spent a lot of time in and reinvesting in myself and my business in my early 20s. And, and now we have Influencer Club where we help hundreds of other high performers do the same, build a really strong personal brand for themselves.

I, I was watching, I think it was on Netflix recently, um, a biography on Martha Stewart. And I don't know if you are old enough to remember Martha Stewart, but I didn't— became aware of her right before she got really big because I wasn't her target market. Clearly, but my wife sure knew who she was. And the interesting part of that story was that the, you know, one was that she was— she was a billion-dollar brand and the first one to really in the modern age accomplish that. And that was fascinating to me because it was like, what exactly is the value here? Well, it's her. And the second thing was the, uh, when she took her company public, uh, a lot of the investment bankers were real shy on the deal because it was all centered around her. And like, if something happened to her, uh, reputation, then the whole thing collapsed. And they were a little prescient in that because that's, that's exactly what happened. But I guess what you're talking about is creating little mini Marthas.

Yeah. I mean, look, she's— that's a great example. But the thing that everyone wants to have, you know, if you look at it like the tipping the scale, okay, most people have hardly any control or ownership over their industry or their any given service or what they represent that brings, you know, that earns them money. Or allows them to do business. Okay. So, you know, whether it's the company, the real estate company that they work for or the corporation that they work for. And so this is not just for the individual solo entrepreneur that needs to build this brand. We can, we can get into this. But, you know, the first 5 years I was working or partnered with someone else, I was working for another company and I built my personal brand inside of that company. So that one day if I ever needed to switch companies, make a move, or go out on my own, you know, as an example, Martha Stewart, she's by herself. That was the entire business was all her. But people out, you know, everyone out there can start building some, some personal brand equity, right? No matter what they're doing so that they have a little bit of control and a foundation as they move forward.

So, do you at Influencer Club work primarily with entrepreneurs or employees or both? I mean, what's that breakdown look like?

Yeah, I think, well, it depends on, of course, you know, kind of what someone might consider themselves in any given position. Okay. So, they might be inside a big mortgage company. They might be a real estate agent, right? Or then you have a solo real estate investor who truly has their own their own company, their own fund, or you just have a serial entrepreneur, right, who has many companies as an investor. So I would say high-level producers in any industry that are ready to, that are ready to now kind of reinvest and start correlating what they've done in real life, okay, the success that they've created in real life, and start correlating that with their, with their brand, their credibility on social media.

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Oh man. Well, I think the first is understanding that you have to do something special in real life first. That's kind of the, you know, we have a saying in our company, which is we don't want to make bad people more popular.

Okay, there's enough of that.

Yeah, and what I mean by that is, you know, you really have to create a foundation if you decide that you want to create some sort of reputable big name for yourself. You have to have something to be able to really back that up, right?

So, you know, people just— do people come to you without their bona fides wanting you to like create something that isn't there?

Well, at this point, at this point, not necessarily, just because we don't really cultivate conversations with, you know, with maybe let's say the individual that hasn't already, right, created that foundation. But of course, you know, over the past 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 years, I'll say there are— we have all seen many individuals that, you know, want to create the facade first and then, and then try and fill in the blanks after. And Again, hey, you know, someone can go viral and create a brand, but I would highly encourage most to build something real first and then, and then it'll make everything else easier.

That's kind of interesting because you look at, you know, people like the Kardashians or, uh, just to a lesser extent Paris Hilton, you know, people, people that became famous for being famous, like, you know, and, and versus a Damon John who had, you know, bona fides before he became really popular, I mean, or a household name. So I mean, how does it, how does it work that, that, that people like the Kardashians become billion-dollar brands without really ever doing anything?

Well, look, you know, there's a lot done, right? First off, we can't say that there's that they're not doing anything right. I mean, that's a whole journey in itself.

No, I'm not disputing that they're successful, but initially, it's like those two are flipped. Damon and the Kardashians are flipped in how it works.

There's two foundations, right? And this is exactly what people have to be clear on is, on one hand, you have the 1%, 0.0001%, of what could happen. Okay. Right. You could go viral. You could be the next Justin Bieber that gets picked up, you know, by someone coming across a YouTube video. And the next thing you know, you're on the way to become, you know, the hot girl.

Sure.

As an example. Exactly. So and again, that could have been something that died in 24 hours or somehow, you know, it caught enough traction and the person leaned into it enough that they ended up, you know, starting a journey down their brand and business. So again, that is a 0.001%. And for most, okay, not to discourage anybody from trying to reach whatever that is and create that, because again, there's not much of a layout as to how that may or may not happen. But for someone who has a business and wants to create their social as a business tool, Okay, somebody who wants to— someone who is already in the journey of their business in their life and wants to add, uh, to their ecosystem. That's this, that's this other side, which is, um, the Damon John as an example. Great example. I mean, this is somebody who, like many of our members, they've built extremely successful businesses and they have zero social media presence. They're not being invited to the interviews, they're not being invited to the speaking events. They don't have some, you know, high level of credibility on Instagram or any platform, but they have a massive company and they've done some incredible things, right? So that's most people. Even if you are, even if you are a, you know, even if you're worth $100 million, there are still individuals that go and hire a team, build this thing and grow and put money behind it and push it. So those are kind of the two different things. So there's the 0.001%, you know, going viral for, for a reason that could be luck mixed with timing, you know, all of these things. And then there's building and growing, you know, for the, for the purpose of growing a business tool and, and building the brand. And so, yeah, those are certainly two different journeys.

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I have a colleague who's, uh, very successful, and I— he and I were talking about, uh, this podcast. He's not in the creative industry at all, he's in IT, and, uh, He's like, well, tell me about it. And I was like, well, you know, I should have you on the show, joking. And he goes, why would I want to do that? And I'm like, well, for popularity. And he goes, popularity is a tax. He said, like, I don't want popularity. I don't. And it's true because, like, he is very secretive. Like, there's no public persona of him anywhere. And that's the way he wants it. So how would you convince him that he needs to build a social brand?

Yeah, I probably wouldn't. And I think that's, that's kind of the, the really important conversation that everybody has to have with themselves is what is the goal? Why, you know, why would you want to do something like, you know, this or whatever this is, right? Grow the brand, grow your name. If you can find a clear and strong reason, okay, that's what's going to pull someone to actually do things that they need to do to have a successful brand inside of their business, inside of that kind of ecosystem. So, you know, you'll hear people say things like, it's not worth it, it's a waste of time, I don't see an ROI, you know, these all correlate to not having a clear or big enough end goal that would pull someone to do those certain things, right? So for that individual, it just simply might not be in the cards and it might not make sense whatsoever for them to do it. Or one day there might become, you know, there might be a goal that shows itself. As an example, maybe he doesn't own his own company, maybe he works for a big corporation right now, but one day—

Oh no, he owns the company. Like, okay, perfect. And, and I— but he's one of those people like He got in trouble because he had an event for his customers and it was a CEO event. And he, the CEO of his company, didn't show up. And like the feedback at the event was, uh, this is a CEO event, but the CEO of the company is not here. And so like he begrudgingly went the next year. So like maybe it's a social aversion. Maybe he just doesn't like people. Uh, I, I don't know, but. My head of revenue, when she started, she's huge on brand. And since we published the book and launched the podcast, she's started talking to me about my personal brand. And initially I was very resistant to that idea. And it was probably more along the lines of, I don't like self-promotion. I was raised with a value system that like, if, if, if you're good, other people will talk about you, you know, you don't need to talk about yourself. That, that's kind of been, been my value. But talking to my business coach about it, you know, he kind of reframed it and is like, if, if you're trying to accomplish your goal of helping creatives with their businesses, don't you want more people to know about you? And I'm, I'm not 100% there yet. Uh, I still have some mental block around it, but I'm starting to see the value, um, to, to the cause, to the purpose, not, not to me personally. So if, if you were gonna pitch me on why I need to use Influencer Club, what would that conversation look like?

Yeah, I think we would, you know, I would start by asking about those goals that you have in the business, right? And a lot of people's answers are very contradictive. And so that's kind of the conversation that we would have to have. And I would have to kind of present that to you. And again, what I do for my members is not something that I can convince them to do. Nor is it, nor is it something I want to convince them to do because it's not like, you know, you need, you know, you need this new dishwasher. It's going to make your life better. And once they buy it, they're good to go and they walk out the door. No, I mean, this is, you know, this is like an 18-month journey together, minimum. You know, this is a relationship that's going to grow and grow and grow. And by the way, I only would like to build success stories that represent my company. So I'm not looking necessarily to help somebody, you know, get their feet wet, have a bad experience, turn around, regret it all, and add to the— add to the negativity around building a brand or using social media. We want to— we want to help people kind of figure out how this can be a helpful aid to their business and to their life. And so you know, you just mentioned the goal of wanting to impact more people, you know, and, and building a brand and social, you know, I'm sure you have great relationships with the people that do business with you now, you know, and I'm sure they do business with you because they like you, not just because you have a great product or service.

Okay.

Right. I'm sure you've probably had people refer you because they like you. Okay. And so you know, you have a podcast, you're literally, you know, here building relationship and building face value with your listeners. And so, you know, there is kind of this tough love that a lot of people need, which is, you know, we got to get over some of these little things that are holding us back from doing what could make a bigger impact in your business, in your life, and for others. And so, it's like, if you're not going to do it for you, do it for you know, the next 100 people that would know about you, right?

So, yeah, because, yeah, I think at the core of it, it's the resistance I have is, is it seems egotistical, right? And, and self-promotion seems egotistical, and I'm not comfortable with that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I just, I just, I've never had anyone go out of their way to promote me. You understand? And, and even when you, you mentioned, you said you had a great line, which is, you know, if I'm great, you know, others will, will see it. I think about my mentors and my grandfather. He's, you know, 96 years old. And, you know, maybe years ago, you know, in, in, in his little hometown of Delaware, if you're great, people will see you, you know, and they'll find you. You know, maybe that was, maybe that was the case. Now, you know, there are people out there that are terrible at what they do, and they are better known than you are. Yeah, right.

Yeah. And yes, and, and I— maybe, maybe that's a little bit of it too. My hesitancy is, is that— and, and, and, you know, I, I think this is a valid question. Like, if you're going to put yourself out there, uh, and promote yourself, then you better be able to deliver the goods, right? I mean, the worst thing would be to promote something that isn't real, to, to your point of, of, of, of making— because I, I'm thinking there is a, there is a tax group which will go unnamed, but they're, they're extremely popular on social channels, and we, we've kind of been, you know, spying them along the way And, and some of the stuff is just flat out fraudulent. I mean, like, you know, these, what they're saying is going to land somebody in jail, but they're, they're very, they're very good at promoting themselves. And I guess, you know, that's marketing in general, right?

I mean, you know, you, you can put a lipstick on a pig and, and, you know, so, so that, to your point, I mean, that's the, that's the the phrase about, I don't want to make bad people more popular. Right. Okay. Right. So I don't know, for anybody listening, take this, you can take this with a grain of salt, but I do believe that if you are, if your intention is to go do great business and make an impact, and it could be any industry, okay, it doesn't need to be, you know, launching a rocket into space and all of that, you know, you can do great business just by entering the marketplace, you have a little bit of responsibility to, you know, if there's so much of this BS out there, yeah, then really the one guy who has something special, he— you don't want to self-promote and you're going to let, you know, all the rest of— so, you know, I mean, I've, I've literally watched, uh, tax, uh, strategy companies, uh, grow massive brands, become extremely popular, show up to every single networking event and dominate on social media doing the wrong things for many years. And then at one point they just shut down. They couldn't— there wasn't enough business. It wasn't real. And it died because that's what happens to a lot of things that, you know, aren't real, right? So you let that— you let that kind of have its journey and have its life. But I do believe that that's a great point because a lot of people spend so much time analyzing what everyone else is doing and this person's great and this person's bad. And I don't wanna be like this person or I don't wanna be like this company. But, you know, self-promotion gets kind of a bad rep. You know, self-promotion comes in many forms, okay? Self-promotion is this podcast. Self-promotion is all of the great clients that have amazing things to say about you. We've got a testimonial page with 200 amazing members and all of the nice things they have to say. So, you know, all of that is, That's important too, right? You know, not just, not just you shouting about how great you are, right?

Yeah. No, that's, that's a good, that's a valid point. So let's pivot a second. Um, you, you were involuntarily, I don't use the word terminated. This relationship that you had initially at 19, uh, went away. What was that like making that transition to being on your own?

You know, it wasn't a light bulb moment. It was definitely a slow burn. It was okay. You know, for anybody that's out there and young in business, you know, I was in the mindset of, man, this is gonna be a company I'm gonna be with, you know, forever. Right. Maybe, right? So I learned very quickly, okay,. And I looked around and I was like, what do I still have? Okay, I have reputation with the people I've met. I have relationships with the people I've connected with and done business with. And it was through that network that I found my next partnership and venture with someone in that network and moved into growing in helping others with their social media. And again, that's kind of what led down a really long path of, you know, personal branding and growth and went down to South Florida. And but, you know, I didn't start my own company until many, many years later. Okay. And so, you know, again, this, this journey of the personal brand was happening inside of more opportunities as you continue to grow and move forward. So my lightbulb moment now looking back is I'm really glad that I did spend time focusing on building my name. Even when you might say there was no point because I wasn't, I wasn't a solo entrepreneur at the moment. I was, you know, I wasn't, I didn't own my own business and then decide, okay, this is now important. I kind of started building that so that no matter what happened, I'm kind of building my own home over here that I can always come back to, right? So yeah, I hope that gives—

Yeah. So, so did you start out when you started your company? Did you start out doing personal branding? And I mean, or was that something you came to?

Yeah, I was in a previous partnership and, um, and had grown a company with a, with another another guy and in South Florida and again had the privilege of working around a lot of the people like around Grant Cardone and a lot of these individuals. We helped some pretty big names grow to their, you know, first large numbers and brand. And, and so I had built a lot of relationships through, through that time period. And when it was time to kind of make a decision and make a move and you know, go out on my own. My wife and I started our companies and, and continued on and better, you know, created a better service and something that we owned.

So, so that was my next— my follow-up question is, is that you, you decided that you wanted to do it yourself because you wanted the independence, or you saw a better mousetrap, a better way to do it?

Yeah, all things considered, um, one of the biggest real motivators was I didn't like the way that clients and individuals were being treated, you know, in a pre— in this previous partnership. And, you know, and in that, in that position, it's tough because, you know, I only have so much control, I only have so much say. And so, you know, I left in a time period where I would have earned more money that year than I ever had before, right? The company was doing, you know, revenue-wise extremely well. But, you know, it was, it didn't feel too good. Right. And so there was a point, there was a point where, you know, that, that move and transition had to be, had to be made. And, um, so yeah.

Yeah. I, it's interesting the number of guests that I've had that have left, you know, some, some, you know, knew from the outset that they wanted to, to start a business. Some, uh, were forced into it because of life changes, and then others left really good jobs, uh, or situations, even like changing, changing, you know, they, they had one business and then they switched to another and left money on the table in doing so. Was that a, was that a mental challenge for you?

Was that tough to do? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, it was, it was, it was tough to, it was tough to come to terms with the fact that, you know, this relationship that I had built with this other, this other individual after many years, you know, I mean, we had, again, I was, I was more or less the VP of this, of this company. And, you know, we had become extremely close. I mean, we were best friends. I mean, we, you know, we ran this thing from sunup to sundown and watched the company grow from a few thousand dollars a month to $300,000, $400,000 a month in revenue. By the time that I walked away. But, you know, things change, you know, with the times and with the growth. And so, you know, it's tough to come to terms with some of that. You know, I had to have some really tough conversations with myself and with my now wife. And, you know, again, sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes from, from the outside looking in to just kind of,, you know, help you see what you might already know is there and happening. And so, you know, I was, I was pretty aware of just, you know, kind of the tough stuff that I was dealing with. And you know what, I'm, I was really, really great at dealing with problems and challenges and when clients were, you know, having bad experiences.

Okay.

Right. Uh, my, one of my skills, not that I want to use it for bad, is to have and build really great relationships with people. And so I noticed towards that tail end that, you know, this— I don't think I'm— I don't think this is, uh, for the better, right? Right. So, uh, yeah, it was tough. It was, it was really tough.

Did something change with, with your partner, or, or was it that they weren't who you thought they were?

No, something, something was changing. Yeah, some— something changed. You know, it's, it's really a shame. I mean, this is, you know, an individual that once, once I once we broke off the business relationship, you know, I haven't spoken to in, you know, 6+ years. But yeah, something changed, you know, and hey, maybe it was a growing pain, maybe it's a growing phase and, you know, hope for the best later on. But at that time, yeah, it was definitely a pretty clear indicator, you know, your parents teach you right and wrong. It's just that simple, right? And so, you know, the more time I'd spent in that environment, you know, I would have, I would have been leaning further and further and further over, you know, over to, over the edge.

So yeah, yeah. Well, kudos for you, uh, identifying that and making that choice.

And I want to, I want to say something because you, you mentioned, you know, owning your own business, becoming this entrepreneur, that, you know, there's the, there's this big excitement around starting your own company. And if you've ever heard someone like Gary Vaynerchuk talk about this, I love his message because you don't have to be the individual that has to start a company to have incredible success and to be in the best position. And so me leaving and having to start my own company, look, there are a lot of things that I can, that we can talk about that are big challenges that I did not have when I was a part of that, uh, when I was in that previous partnership. Okay, I had it, I, you know, in fact, I was in a great position. I did what I did best, and I, you know, earned my, earned my, my, my, my revenue, earned my money, and, and, uh, I didn't have to think about payroll. I didn't have to think about the office space and the overhead. So, you know, there are a lot of things that, that are not so sexy about having a business, and it's important that people also know that they can succeed at a high level without needing to go be the—

No, I, I think you're 100% right. And I, I think there are a lot of entrepreneurs that aren't cut out for it, so to speak. And, and they, they would be better off, uh, financially for sure, but mentally too, uh, just, just going back and being great for somebody else. You know, oftentimes they have to go through that process of, of starting a business and then not working to, to come to that conclusion, but And that actually segued into my next set of questions is what were the challenges that you didn't know you were going to have in starting your own business?

Well, you know, I really had a lot of training and a lot of great experience in working so closely in the growth of that previous company. You know, that gave me a lot, that gave me a really great foundation. You know, I like to create something from nothing. I really enjoy that process. It's fun, it's an art. And again, like you said, not everyone, you know, can wake up not knowing how they're going to get X, Y, and Z done by the end of the week, and how they're going to make sure that there's food on the table and money in the bank account. And so I enjoy that side. Actually, I think there was a week or two in that previous company where I was put on salary and it was like, I mean, it was just the worst 2 weeks of my life, right? So I hated it. I hated it. I hated it. I would rather not know what's going, what's going to happen for a potential incredible week or the worst week ever, right? I want to experience that. And so that's, that's just for me. But the challenges Yeah, I mean, again, it's like I'm going to tell you, it was, it was, it was fun to figure these things out. It was fun to have zero business. In fact, we made a— we kind of made a test out of it. I remember telling my wife, hey, let's— before we create a website and do all this fancy stuff that everybody likes to do when they start a company, I said, let's not do any of that until we at least just do our first $100 grand. In revenue. Let's just do $100,000 in revenue real quick before we have a website. And let's just see if people are going to believe in us and believe in maybe our personal brand, social media. Let's just do any of that before we do anything else. And we did that before we started, before we even created a website. Right. And so the boots on the ground, pick up the phone, get to it, get to the point, you know, get to the, get to the real MVP, which is what is your most valuable action step that you could be taking, when you focus right on that, that's going to help you start really actually get to the point of starting a business and getting some money through the door, getting some clients and relationships happening. So the challenges come later when it's time to grow and scale. Okay. And you have to take care of a team of people and, you know, you need to make sure that, yeah, you need to make sure that everybody's taken care of. That's a big responsibility. You know, I wouldn't call it You know, scary, but I mean, it, it's a big responsibility. Can be, right? Yeah, it can be. It can be.

Yes. Hey listeners, are you ready to turn your passion into profit? Then grab a copy of Profit First for Creatives. Click the link in the show notes to purchase a copy. And if you're not ready to make that full commitment, you can download a free copy of the first chapter. Check it out right now. Yeah. Well, no, I love that, that you started with first things first because it's easy in business to get distracted by things that don't really matter. And it's, it's, I think there's a safety, an intellectual safety of, of dealing with those things that you can control. Like, so like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go build a website because I know how to do that and I know what the outcome is going to be. But if, if I start picking up the phone and soliciting clients and I'm just starting out, I haven't, I haven't, uh, done it yet in the business, that's, that's something you don't know what the outcome is going to be. And so you're, you're naturally hesitant to do it.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, and again, that kind of falls into a lot of other questions like, you know, who you decide to partner with, um, if you decide to partner with anyone, uh, you, you have to kind of take a look at your, your skill set and be, you know, and be very real. Um, if you are the individual that can do everything but pick up the phone, um, you need to make sure that you fill that, you fill in that gap, you know.

Yeah, I, I would say that it'd be difficult. I mean, maybe if somebody had a lot of experience and a lot of uh, social capital to bring to the table. But I think every entrepreneur starting out has got to be able to sell at least a little bit. They, you know, they, they may not be great at it, but it— my, my, um, attorney, my business attorney, uh, describes, uh, business partnerships as marriage without sex. And, uh, you know, in a lot of ways, people get into partnerships because they feel like they have something that they can't do and they, they see somebody else that's good at it and they, and they think that that's a good match, not looking at maybe to your experience, um, what, what the quality of that person is. Because, you know, it is, it is an intimate relationship. It's not just a combining of skill sets.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, we could, we could have another 2-hour conversation about how to pick the right business partner. And, and you know what? I don't think even with 2 hours of advice from your experience and mine and many others, I don't think you could still give someone the, the how-to on, on that. Right. So, you know, I mean, there are stories of entrepreneurs um, you know, taking 1,000, uh, 1,000 interviews before hiring the right person. Now that's a, that's a brilliant concept because it is so easy to be swayed by one thing or another, whether it's because you like the person, you like their personality, or you like their skill set and you're willing to deal with the personality. I mean, there are so many ways that this could go, but, uh, there was, there was someone who, um, interviewed 1,000 individuals to find their business partner. And again, you know, if you have a real foundation like that and you're willing to go through the hard work, truly the hard work, to find that right person, you're definitely going to be a lot, a lot better off.

Yeah. And, and to that point, I, I think a lot of people are reactive, you know. They, they're fearful of like, I've got to have this, uh, and I, I, and I need to have this. And so they, they latch on to the first thing that looks good, uh, instead of doing what you call the hard work. You know, I, I think my advice to anybody, any, any business owner that is thinking about a, a business partnership would be, you know, just like, can, can you hire it? Like, you know, can you hire an employee? Can you hire a contractor? You know, I even If you have the bandwidth, can you learn the skill yourself? I mean, you know, is it something that you're just telling yourself you can't do, you know, versus you just don't want to do it?

Yeah, partnering and writing up the percentage is, again, one of these fancy fun things about creating the business, right? So it's the same as the website. It's the same as the business cards and the t-shirts is—

it's the honeymoon, right?

Exactly. It's the honeymoon phase. You know, you're going to get— you're going to get 25% because you're really great at this. And yes, I promise I'm going to do this, this, this, and this. These are my responsibilities. This is the value I bring. Look, the reality is a lot more black and white than— than we make it sometimes. You know, it's like, yeah, are you— are you bringing money to the table? Do you— do you— do you have a list of clients? Do you have a a track record, skill set, etc. Um, and yeah, like you said, is it even— is it even necessary, uh, for, for, for you to partner, uh, to some capacity, right? So, right, yeah, these are definitely great questions before getting in, before just doing the exciting thing. Um, because partnership is a long, long road, you know.

Yeah, and, and I think a lot of those principles, you know, apply to hiring employees as well, because you it, you know, it's, it's an easier relationship to get out of than a partnership, but, but a lot of the principles still hold true.

Yeah, absolutely. Um, I think that the, the, the, the kind of type 1 or type 2 decision, right, meaning there's one that's easily reversible and, and right, you know, you can fire, hire, make the decision the minute somebody shows you the dark side, you know, you can get rid of them, or you love them, you can promote them and push them, push them up. On the partnership side, you know, again, things might come out way in the future when, when things are a lot bigger and more complicated. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, so, you know, my grandfather, whether anybody thinks this is good advice or not, my grandfather told me, you know, Jeremy, you don't want to necessarily own a company with somebody just because. You know, having the percentage sounds really sexy. You know, I'm going to be an owner of this company, he said. But you could also just take the money. You can also just find a way to have a great deal and earn that money and be paid very well and not have to. As an example, if I had been a partner, which I was not, if I had owned part of that company in the past, that would have been a hell of a lot more complicated than just walking away when it was time. For me to move on.

Yeah, 100%. So Jeremy, how do people find out more about Influencer Club and you and what you do?

Yeah, um, well, hopefully there will be some links or something here to check out. Yeah, so, uh, yeah, I think we'll have an Influencer Club, uh, VIP page here that everyone can take a look at, just some other members' examples, some individuals that have kind of gone through this big personal brand journey that we chatted about. And if you like anyone or you're interested in kind of their stories more in depth, or if you'd like to do kind of like a free brand audit overview with one of our team, feel free. I'm sure there are lots of links there to kind of book a call from that page and our team would obviously love to chat with you.

Perfect. Jeremy, I appreciate your time today and your experience share, your candor., your honesty. Uh, listeners, if you like what you hear, rate the show, follow the show, share the show. If you don't like what you hear, shoot us a message and, uh, I'll get rid of me and Jeremy. Until then, ta-ta for now.

And that's a wrap for today's episode of The Profitable Creative. Until next time, you money lovers. And don't forget, Profit First for Creatives is live via Amazon.

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