Dominating Digital Marketing - Active Campaign with Jason Wright

Welcome to Ladies Kicking Assets. Robin and I are super excited, of course, about our guest that we have today. We, we just want to remind you that we are not financial advisors. This is for educational purposes. But we are super excited to have Jason Wright with us. He has an active campaign system that he puts in place for people and he is now involved in short term rentals. So welcome, Jason. I'm really excited to kind of dig into your story and see how, you know, other people can relate to it.

Yeah, thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

Yes. Well, okay. So I met you here recently at a group that we are mutually in called Race Masters, which is an awesome group with Hunter Thompson. And I kind of dug into you because I learned that you are involved in helping other people with activecampaign. And I am on this path to really streamline my processes and work smarter and not harder. So can you tell us a little bit about what you're doing with ActiveCampaign and how that's helping other people?

Yeah, sure. So my business is a very niche digital marketing business. Right. Started wide, has got more narrow as time's gone on. What we do is we've kind of built our business around ActiveCampaign and it's specifically focused on active capital raisers. So we help with new potential investor nurture. We use pipelines and automations to teach our clients, you know, how to do that, how to set it up, how to use it. We help with active capital raises and even keeping in touch with your current investors by using marketing automation. So it's a lot of fun. It works if people use it and it's super scalable.

Well, that's awesome. So I don't use anything like that right now. In fact, I still use an Excel spreadsheet for pretty much everything I do. And you do an amazing job. Thank you for that. When you say digital marketing and active campaign, I mean, what does that. Does that mean? What does that look like? So for people like me who are kind of just starting to really break into some of these technologies and, you know, things that are out there, I mean, what does that. As an active capital raiser, what does.

That mean for me, the active campaign? I should probably define this because sometimes people don't know what it is, which is totally fine. It's a CRM. It's a marketing automation tool. The biggest Competitor would be HubSpot to ActiveCampaign, but it's what I call the back end of the sales funnel. Right. It's what happens after people join your list. I ask people this question every week. I say, hey, if you meet a new potential investor and they don't invest, like what happens next? Or if somebody joins your list, what happens next? And usually the answer is nothing, nothing at all, which is a big missed opportunity for sure. So what we do is we create an easy way for people to see their contacts, see their past conversations or history, but also work on kind of nurturing them through the different steps of that, that customer journey. You know, once people become investors, I mean, that's really just where it gets started. You've got to maintain that relationship and, and keep it going. And it's a relationship business, just like my business is. So I can use a lot of my, my, my own success and put it into this industry and, and see it. And we've done this with like 107 people now in the last 15 months. So it's, it's working well and the more feedback we get, the, and it's completely built around what people need. So we've done a good job listening there.

So can I ask you with, with that, with someone, let's say, who's. Because active campaign can meet the needs of someone who's new and it, it, it is scalable and it can, it can work for someone who's got 5,000, 10,000 plus folks in their database. Do you help the new syndicator who's trying to figure out their investment philosophy with building their brand, with their mission, vision, values, or to what level do you really craft your encircling that individual? How do you, you know what I'm asking, How do you work with that person that's just been an LP and now they're wanting to get bigger and they're so, they're like at ground zero. Really?

Yep, yep. It's a great question. So what I do is I, I kind of teach the three pieces of the funnel. So you've got traffic, which is going to be that branding, that social media, that podcast, right. Grabbing attention online or offline and putting it somewhere online. You've got that front end, which is the website, the landing pages, etc, and then you have the back end. I help exclusively with the back end. Okay, so not the person for branding and nailing down the avatar and that type of thing. I can speak to it, I can speak to it from a strategy and an entrepreneurial perspective, but that's not our focus. So we build part of the machine and we say this is what else you need. And we give people great direction that way. I'm a big believer. You've got to start with the foundation of the digital marketing. That's what I do. And then from there I'm like, these are the other pieces. It may not be me who does it, but without my piece you're going to get frustrated at some point or you're going to figure out you can't scale so well.

It's such a journey, you know, as, as I've discovered. And Courtney, you too with you know, syndicating and your brand and, and there's so many layers to it. I had no idea when, when getting started and one of the things that you had had mentioned, I just kind of want to morph over to this real quick and then come back and talk about activecampaign. As you've been in the marketing, very niche specific. You mentioned how that's opened up so many opportunities for you for different business lines. And I think that's a reality for anyone who's listening today to be open and receptive to those opportunities. You want to maybe speak to what this other amazing fund is that you've got and how that has happened.

Yeah. One thing I'll say about what you said first from a high level is it's. It's been a great lesson for me to be not so married to my ideas that I don't pivot when it makes sense or I don't accept new opportunities when it makes sense. So you know, getting yourself surrounded by people that you share values and interests with is. It's a beautiful thing because successful people are generally into more than one thing and you pay attention and listen. There's opportunity. So it's really exciting. Last summer I was talking to my wife and I was like, hey, we should consider investing in a deals in lp. I said I know so many people that are active capital raisers. I know so many good opportunities. There's a lot of people I've met face to face, a lot of people I trust. So we made the decision and became an LP investor last year with 121 door unit in Chattanooga. And then at the end of last year around Christmas, I always get very reflective on the year and the plans for next year. I was like, we should start our own capital raising company of some kind. And what we decided to do is a short term rental fund. So we have a sister company called Wind River Equity Partners. Wind river is the mountain range behind our property in Wyoming. And yeah, we're into a short term rental fund with TechVestor. So I know those guys over there really well. And it fits very nicely into my interests and my skills. Right. It's going to allow me to use marketing really heavily, get new potential investors on calls and do what I do best with the marketing automation. So I think it's a really good fit for what we're going to want to do.

Well, that's funny. I feel like that's a natural. Yeah, that's a natural progression because I went to speak in an event and I didn't even know what syndication was, and I was talking about something totally different. Learned about that, and literally in like a year and a half, you know, it has gone from being a speaker to now I'm syndicating things in oil and gas, then I'm syndicating things in blockchain, and now I'm about to move into real estate. And so. But you're right, there's something powerful about getting in that room, surrounding yourself with the kind of people that are doing that and, and pivoting and moving and actually taking action on opportunities that come your way. So that's awesome. I love to hear that.

Isn't it interesting how in some circles, like, your goals are so big, other people in the room are like, we don't know what you're talking about in other rooms. You're like, man, everybody's way ahead of me.

You know.

The guy that's like, not done anything yet, you know, no, you know, but.

But that's. That's so important that what you just said, like, right there. I was on this call earlier and we were really, you know, we're doing this book study on the gap in the gain and just, we define our measure of success. And you just cannot, you've got to shift that mindset and, you know, be thinking about that in such a different way. And so I love how you're talking about being in two different styles of rooms, how that can really. That can cause you to. To think very differently. You can think about your successes and opportunities, or you can think about, you haven't done enough. You're surrounded by all these powerful people. They're doing all these amazing things. I'm not doing enough. I'm not marketing enough. I'm not showing up enough. I'm not doing enough. And we can control that, you know, and you've done those.

Those rooms where everybody I feel like is so far ahead of me. Those drive me to work harder and push harder and do more, you know, and that's why it's always important to not be the smartest and best person in the room, there's always somebody smarter.

And better than you're.

A win with you guys. It's super relevant to what we're talking about. So January of this year, we had our best revenue month ever in this business, this digital marketing business.

And I was, congratulations.

Thank you. And I was like, wow, I didn't think we'd get here this quick. Okay. So in my mind, I had two different monthly goals beyond that for the year. Right. And I had this plan, or this will probably happen, Q2, Q3. And I never acknowledge limiting beliefs to myself. I'm like, nah, I don't have those. Right. This last month of March, we more than doubled January. So I hit all of my goals for the year already. And I'm going, what in the world? So then I realized I go, okay, so it's clearly possible. So I, I had told myself it wasn't possible for reasons it didn't make any sense. It's not real. So everything always comes back to mindset. Yes, back to mindset. So now I'm not going to go in these rooms of super successful people and say they have something I don't. I'm just going to say they're further down the same path. That's my mindset. Right. Because anything's possible. You got to believe that's true and you got to believe you're worthy and ready. So it's, it's pretty amazing. It's a pretty weird feeling. There was almost like a letdown. I was like, I hit all these goals already, now what? And I had to, like, work through that for a day or two, which is really weird. But now it's like, it's, you know, it's just about going to that next level and who I can impact. Not only my team members, but my, you know, businesses I work with as well. So really cool stuff.

Well, and I think that plays into confidence. I think the one thing that really shifts everything is confidence and having the confidence and going about it. So I think probably in this last couple of months, going, holy crap, you know, January is amazing. And then March blew that out of the water. That. That is going to totally boost your confidence in what you're doing and, and make it grow even faster.

Yeah, it's funny because, like, I was a confident guy before, but it's like, I almost feel like I'm more humbled now. I'm like, okay, so I'm. It does. It helps a lot with confidence, but it also is a reaffirmation that this seven and a Half year journey. I was right about my instincts with some things, right? I had a guy last week on a call, and I'm getting a bit off. I'll just tell you this so we can.

Oh, this is good. This is what?

This is a guy last week that was an employee to a company I was talking to about working with me, right? And he's like, the call's over. He's like, I, I want to say something. It's not really relevant, but I really want to say it. I was like, okay, there was like six people on this call. He's like, your model's never going to work. And I just, I was like, what model? And he, I thought he was talking about, like the, the active campaign. He's like, your business model never work. I just had a big booming laugh and I was like, thanks for your input, buddy. Like, it's, it's not even worth having the conversation because I don't know what it's grounded in, but it's not relevant to me. You know what I mean? So, so weird.

Who is he?

Nobody. I mean, effectively.

I mean, did it, was it Apple or was it. I mean, I, I'm trying to remember how many times, I mean, these people were told that they'd never make it. How about Michael Jordan, who didn't even make his high school basketball team? There's so many stories like that. And you can't listen to these other people that have their own limiting beliefs that they are pushing out onto others and what they think the right model is and everything else. There's, you know, when you're doing what you're supposed to do, there is no stopping it.

And I think the, the punchline is there. Don't ever let other people define your limits, because it's not.

Oh, that's such a great nugget right there.

And you don't have to talk to him again until he's had a ship in his. You can choose who you surround yourself with and, and share with, but not him.

Wow.

Well, how amazing. So, you know, I, I, what I really, I love hearing you sort of radiate is, you know, you, you have a daughter, right? You have one or two kids.

One daughter who's 12 going on 25 maybe.

Yeah, well, that seems like that happened real fast.

17 here in two weeks. Exactly.

Okay. So they're watching you grow wealth and pour into people, like, behind the scenes, and you don't even realize how they're really watching all that. How has this sort of changed or impacted your family and Your wife, it's.

It's been interesting. So the first two and a half, three years, this business, not good financially. Brutal. Heavy strain on the marriage. And I mean, just. You go from benefits and income for an employer to zero. And my wife's like, hey, what's the plan? I'm like, I don't know yet. I'm working on it. Like, that's. That gets old. She gets sick of hearing that after a couple years.

Scary. That's scary to. To take that on because, you know, as a. As a husband and a father, you know, your job is to take care of your family. And when you make that big shift and you've gone from being dependent on a paycheck and everything else, that's. That's. That's a scary ride.

Yes, we quit. I quit corporate, and I ran out of money in about two months and had to go back to corporate after about six months. I had to quit corporate twice to make it stick. But my son remembers the struggle. My daughter does, not. My son. Now, my son's a pretty, like, frugal dude, so that's good. But my daughter remembers last year and this year so far. So we have to be very, very careful to keep some of those financial conversations, you know, away from the kids. Like, they know we're doing well, but we're trying to be like, hey, it's because of all this work. The stuff didn't happen overnight, you know, doing stuff other people aren't doing. So you try to use it as a lesson that, hey, you can create a life, too, where you can travel and do things and bless people, but it does not come easy or free or overnight. So it is an ongoing teaching environment, but it's challenging. You know what I mean? It's. It's. There's challenges with being broke, and there's challenges with not being broke as well. So we're trying to do the best we can with that.

No, and I really like that. That's a really great point because I think with. With our children and just the way you talked about your son and your daughter, Your son, you know, the success is like an iceberg. We have this little tiny part that sticks up above the water that, you know, everybody currently sees. But then everything underwater is all that work and sleepless nights and hustle and everything that went into getting you to that point in, your son remembers the tip and everything under the water, and your daughter's just seeing this success above the water. And so. But there's a lot of work and sacrifices and so much that went into getting you to that place. And that's kind of where, you know, social media makes me think about that, because everybody just sees this, you know, this iceberg tip, these highlight reels of everything that's gone on and they don't.

All the beautiful.

All the beautiful. And, you know, you're. You're missing all of the, The. The hustle and the sacrifice and everything that went into getting to that point. And so, And I, I like that you threw some timeline in there, because I think people think that, you know, you can just hop into stuff and it's an overnight success and it's. It's a timeline. I mean, I've been working on stuff for a year and a half now. I mean, syndicating, but I mean, it was, you know, a couple of years, you know, that progressed that got me even into that space. And so this is something that I have been, you know, working on and improving and changing, you know, who I'm surrounded myself with and all of these things and, and learning constantly to be better and do better and, you know, be better for my investors and my children and my husband, and it's constantly a work in progress. But, you know, I would not all happen yesterday.

I would take that a step further because it's, it's beyond the last couple of years. I was asked the question the other day, what in your life would you change if you could? Where would you go back to? And, and, and my answer was, I wouldn't change a thing, really, because I have been subject to, like, some things that we don't want to talk about. But it is because of that 20 to 30 year preparation that my mind is where I am now, and I have the ability to. To kind of build on all of that. And so it's real easy to say, oh, you know, I wish I'd have known about whatever and I'd have done whatever. But the truth is, you know, God wouldn't have us here had we not gone through 20 to 30 years of preparation for where we are today. Yeah, and it's just a gift. It is the tip of the iceberg that people see. It's the lifetime under the water that gets you here. And so that was kind of just kind of a bit of a. A mind shift for me when I had to really think about that and answer that question, you know, because I think what we want to make sure we share with our listeners today is, you know, if this is, if there's something you want to do here in real estate, you want to be an LP and have passive streams of income. You want to get into bigger projects and learn how to syndicate. You've got to have a, a way to manage your database and do all of that. But put the stake in the ground and start, start somewhere. You know, that's the most important thing because you've had tremendous success. I mean like what, 15?

Yeah. What led you? Okay, what was your job that you quit before you got into activecampaign?

Yeah. So in the corporate world I was in sales and I was in HR and I was in safety. Like the thing, the common thread is people. So I've always been a communicator and good with people. I started doing digital marketing on upwork just to this business. Intentionally inspirational. I thought I was going to be a motivational speaker and it's ironic that now it's leading to speaking cakes, you know, seven and a half years later. But I was like, there's no money in it. Nobody knows I'm here. I'm preaching about quitting the 9 to 5, but I haven't done so. So I started learning a bit of marketing online and then there was a little bit of a demand for it with upwork and I started making money that way. So that's how I got into marketing. It was never the plan, but I happen to be really, really good at it. The way my mind works and it just went from there. The way I focused on active capital raisers was January of 22. I spoke in LA at Hunter's event and afterwards he's like, hey man, you should consider making this your niche. He said, you do activecampaign like nobody have ever seen. You're a great teacher, great speaker. Nobody's doing that in this space. Like you could do it. I was like, I don't know if there's enough demand. He said, well, there's only one way to find out, but that's up to you. So we jumped in and that January we had our best month ever in business. And it didn't come till the very end of the month. I was like, I don't know if this is the right move, but it feels right. And so I had worked with a couple syndicators before Hunter, but nothing super consistent at all. So once we kind of made that our focus, we've worked with almost 110 people in about that 15 month period. So last month was, was huge. And we're definitely getting great feedback and helping people and educate people. So it's again, never the plan. But saw an opportunity and kind of created our own niche in that regard. And it's been. Been interesting.

So powerful.

Yep.

Yep. I. That's amazing. And that really, at the end of the day, all of these different businesses, it's figuring out what people need, you know, what are their problems and solving that problem. You know, it doesn't matter if you're doing marketing, it doesn't matter if you're capital. Even, even coming from the raising capital, it's okay, what are my investors problems and how can I solve that problem for them? So in everything, all businesses, it's really just a matter of figuring out a problem and solving that problem.

The best way to get that problem dialed in, have conversations with people and listen. When you start hearing the same theme, can I address that with what I'm doing? People keep mentioning that thing if I could, because then what you do is you eventually have a value proposition that's so unique, it creates polarity. Right. Some people are like, this is not for me. And other people are like, I need this thing. That's exactly what I'm looking for. And when you, when you reach that, it's great because it makes. Makes everything much easier and much more successful as well.

That's awesome. And you made another really good point in that it's not going to be for everybody. And that's okay. Everything is not always going to be for everybody. And that's something I had to learn, you know, within myself that, you know, what, what I'm doing is not going to speak to everybody and that's okay.

Yeah. You don't need. I forget what the number is. You don't need a whole lot of people to convert into investors. You just need the right kind. It makes a really big difference because if you do that and they have a good experience with you, they're going to go find other people like them and bring them to you. Right. When you start having the people you serve, bringing more people like them, that's when you really know, I'm doing something important here. I'm doing something right here.

Right?

Yeah.

Well, you know, Zig Ziglar says, I mean, and, and we've all, you know, love this quote. I imagine you can have everything in life you want if you just help enough people get what they want. So the listening to the needs and then figuring out what's in your wheelhouse that can help that individual or make that connection that can connect them to the right deal or person is go so far. I mean, it, it will multiply thereafter. You know, in so many ways you can't be looking at what do I get out of it.

Yeah.

So clearly that's happening in your life on steroids. So that's amazing.

Yep.

Yeah.

Well, that leads me to ask. Okay, so you, you got into digital marketing. You're obviously a total rock star at that. So what made you decide to get into the short term rental space? Because there so many different, you know, types of real estate and I mean really, at the end of the day you can syndicate anything. So what made you move into that direction?

So I met and I know two of the GPS of the company, TechVestor. So one Sam Silverman, one C. And they're really good dudes. And what they've done is they've created basically a fund manager type of role for people like me that don't want to deal with the taxes and the legal stuff. They have the back end support. This is really, really strong. The fund, the approach. They're doing what they're doing with short term rentals. It makes a lot of sense. As a person who rents a lot of short term rentals, it just is a, it's a great opportunity. I've worked with, you know, nine or ten people who've worked with those guys as well and got to asking, hey, what's your experience been like? So it passes that social proof test for me personally, really Well, I think it'll be something that'll be very natural for me to be excited about because I believe in it, I would invest in it. And there you go. It's. It's something I can focus on the marketing, focus on the calls and do what I do best. And you know, it might, might cross pollinate a little bit with the other business that could be part of the big plan. Who knows? So stranger things have happened. Yeah, it should.

Yeah. And I'm familiar with Sam. I don't know his partner, but Sam is so great. I actually met him at, in person at the best ever conference here last month, which was awes. Awesome. And so, yeah, so that's amazing. I, I love that. I'm super interested in the short term rental space as well. So I've been kind of going into a deep dive here this last couple of months.

Yep, it's. It's worth looking at. They're, they're kicking butt and taking names big time. So.

Yeah, for sure. That's awesome. Well, Jason, how can our listeners today get in touch with you? What's the best way for them to. They've got questions or interested in your fund or any and all of those.

Things interested in hiring you to help them with their digital marketing?

Yes, absolutely.

All those things. You can find out info@intentionallyinspirational.com awesome.

And I have a totally different question for you. Just to kind of finish this out. So if through all of this, you know, seven year journey that you've gone on, what is. What's one lesson that you've learned or one great little nugget of information that you would pass along to help anybody else that is either going down a journey of starting a job or syndicating or investing or in anything.

I have a two part answer. Can I do a two part answer?

You can, yeah.

Equally passionate about both answers. So I got to give you both. One is, this is not something that comes natural for me, is you have to be patient. The timeline's not up to you. Right. I thought I was going to recover my corporate income in three months and it took like two years. So be patient. And the other thing is embrace the struggle. The worst, the better. The reason why I've built something great from absolutely nothing. Nobody handed me this. It's not a franchise and I'm not taken away from those people, but I'm a different level of entrepreneur because of that. And it comes from the struggle and the pain. So all of us are that way. If you find yourself in those situations, as much as it may be difficult, find value in that. Because you can't go buy that off the shelf.

No.

Your pain is the best teacher you'll ever have. And it'll teach you a whole bunch about yourself when you come out of it. The other side.

That is absolutely. We, Robin and I are in a group and they are always talking about embrace the suck. And it's like, embrace the suck.

It's so true. It's so true.

And.

And you're right, because, you know, if you've got grit and you can hit the brick wall and then you've got breakthrough, you know, Courtney and I know that's your word for the year, right? Breakthrough. I mean, the. You gotta, you gotta have some serious struggle even to just hit the wall.

Yeah.

You know, and then the other side, it's like, oh my God, now I see, now I know. Now I.

Well, and it makes me think of. I was. I've been reading Think and Grow Rich. And I can't think of the guy that was, you know, digging for gold. But, you know, he got to a certain point and he quit. And then the next guy this guy sold his stuff to came in and three feet away was where all the gold was. And so you've just. You gotta press on and keep going and don't quit and embrace the suck and have that grid. And you learn so much through the struggles and the hard times. I mean, you really do.

This is the craziest thing. When the. When the tank runs empty and I have nothing left, I always think about one quote from Frank Sinatra. The best revenge is massive success. And I would always think about the people that said, what are you doing, dummy? You can't do that. And I was like, I'll show them. So that's the thing that always pushed me to prove a point without saying a word at all. And I've done that.

I love that. That's awesome. I love quotes. Quotes are amazing.

I do, too. They're speak. You know, they're like living. They speak differently at different seasons of your life, so. So I wrote that one down. I love that. I love that. Well, my goodness. Well, thanks so much for your time today. I mean, you have shared, like, all over the map with us, Jason, and I really appreciate that. I appreciate how just transparent you were about, like, how hard. How hard it's been, you know, and then. And then the just. And you're not bragging about it, I don't mean this, but that you've had on. You've had success far beyond what you thought in a short window of time. And it's sort of like, okay, pivoting. What's next? I've gotta. I've gotta allow myself to go bigger in my thoughts and, you know, the humility that you've got with that, I think speaks volumes. So I just really appreciate that you've shared with us how to. How our listeners can get in touch with you. And we just want to make sure that our listeners today will like and subscribe. Ladies kicking assets and, you know, share this out there on social media. There's ways to powerfully use social media, and we just, you know, want to share what we've talked about today. It's been really, really good. I've had some great takeaways, so I appreciate your time.

Yeah, thanks for having me. This was fun.

You bet. Thank you.