I Hosted a $100,000 Event!

That's how good this event is. It's so good that Presley is literally spending his birthday here. How does an event like Client Ascension compare to an event like you've experienced with pbd?

We get asked all the time, do you guys make a profit off this?

I think that's what makes Client Ascension so unique.

I keep some members with me in the fridge, get co seeds. They some cannibals, eaters. They like to get geek, drink a whole bottle, wake up and repeat. She took a look, Mr. Window.

Chill out.

Now she says.

She's saying 3D. I go in the jungle, and they got a coat.

Yeah, we'll do some questions. Let's start over here.

I feel like I need an operator. I'm like, max out what I can do.

You got to know what an operator does to know what to look for, right? So one thing I do is talk to a lot of good operators and see, like, what goes into the day to day of being a good operator, because I think that's the one thing everyone, not everyone, but, like, a very high percentage of people in our space are missing is a business partner. Most people are going out business alone, which there's nothing wrong with that. But up to a certain point, you hit a limit. The big thing happened for you at last year's event that completely changed things for where you're at today.

Obviously, I met Cam. We started talking. We felt we had complimentary skill sets. And then two weeks later, he calls me up and he's like, let's partner up and run this thing up. I had no intention with partnering him, like, the second I met him, but we just clicked and then it just made sense. And I think people just have to, like, find themselves in more serendipitous situations like that where, oh, maybe something works out. Let's give it a shot here and see what happens with no attachment or expectations.

One of the things I really attribute to, like, why you and Cam partnered up and were able to just go and run quick in business was because of the trust that was established by being in person. Like, if you had met Cam through Zoom or through a Twitter dm, there's no way you would have had that level of trust to say, hey, this is the guy I want to be in business with.

Like, I didn't go into the event with the intention of, like, coming out with a business partner. It was kind of a byproduct of being willing to put myself out there. Entrepreneurship is luck, but, like, the luck is something that's like, up to you. You have to, like, create that luck for yourself by putting yourself out there to begin with. It was just a testament to, like, that whole concept of, like, you're not even trying to, like, accomplish anything by these. Going to these events or network or anything. Like, that kind of just happens by being in the space. And then, you know, you put yourself in rooms and talk to people, put yourself in a more social environment. For the time in a while, you just get a realistic perspective of what people are dealing with, realize it's not all sunshine and rainbows. And then you're like, well, it's not just a me problem. And you kind of accept that challenges all this stuff, it's part of business. And you talk it over and you learn how people have different coping mechanisms and then maybe you can take some and use them for yourself. Can you guys talk a little bit about, like, process improvements specifically for, like, employees?

I think a lot of people, they don't do the actual work, which is checking in and managing the team until it's the quarterly meeting. And it's like all of a sudden, oh, like, I'm going to find, like a ton of room for optimization and make a huge change. Whereas the guys that really win is they're making those changes and implementations and improvements every single day. And when they get to the quarterly review, they're already way ahead of the guys that waited until the quarterly review.

They think about you or they think about the topic. You are the first person that comes to mind at that.

Really understanding who you want to conduct business with is number one. Number two is what are the key factors that you look for in your ideal customer? And then just straight up asking them, do you match their criteria? If they don't, they're probably not a good fit for your business.

The next dimension now is I want to promise you revenue. Then the next dimension down is I'm going to promise you Lamborghinis. The next dimension down is I'm going to promise you it's all the way down.

Today's been extremely helpful and I've learned a lot already just in terms of, like, looking at how I need to adjust things. And I'm really pumped to kind of just use this as a platform that's going to launch my agency and really dive from there.

One of the mistakes that I think we made last year was only making it one day. People are going to come in from all around the world, the uk, Ireland, Australia. We should maximize their time here.

I can't wait for this to be A week long event.

What are you looking forward to most tomorrow?

I mean, for me, like selfishly, it's like a full circle moment. Because it was cool coming to this event last year as a student and now having a chance to participate in the panel alongside the people I watched on stage last year. I think it's really cool. I think it's just going to be interesting to see how the information will resonate differently. Because last year I was like very new to the space and a lot of the stuff that previously went over my head is now going to resonate a lot more because I'm at the stage where that advice is applicable. If you're just starting out, you'll be in stages where you'll hear a speaker say something. And because it's level five advice and you're on level level one, it doesn't click. It kind of goes over your head. Once you progress to a certain stage where you're like level four, that level five advice almost starts to progress. It resonates with you because it's at the stage where it's actually applicable and you can go and take that advice and run with it. And so I'm excited to really just get the most out of like these keynote speakers. I know there's some really cool guys sharing some insights here and I'm just excited to see how I'm able to pick up on that information now and actually go apply it. Whereas previously it was just like so far out of reach that it didn't even really make sense to me.

I think that's enough. Let's see. Long day. The afternoon lineup for this event is absolutely insane. These guys are the real deal. These are the guys that are scaling to eight figures a year, nine figures a year.

I found that like the, the videos that actually do really well, and maybe you can agree with this, is they're kind of like lightning in a bottle. I was like drunk in a hotel. It was like 2am and I suddenly had a great idea for a video and I just made it, no script. And that one ran to like 8 million views.

If I don't make fucking videos, who else is going to do it? And I'm better than all these other fuckers at making videos. Even if you're not, you're going to.

Make this shit happen. And you just keep saying it over.

And over and over again.

It's so easy to go in that negative spiral where it's like, this isn't working. This isn't working. If you keep saying it doesn't work, it will for sure not work ever.

It's just because we're all constantly applying pressure onto each other because we all like have our departments of the business.

You make a TikTok video. The function of the TikTok video is to lead to a YouTube video. The function of the YouTube video is to lead to the landing page and an opt in which leads to a call. The function of the call is to get a client. The function of a client is to get a case study and the function of the case studies to put it on YouTube to continuously move that process.

As soon as you are not deeply passionate about the outcome. If you win, you should not be playing the game.

Why are you here on your birthday? What does client essentially mean to you? Why are you on an in person event like this on your birthday?

These events have a very special place in my heart. I mean, that's where I met my business partner. Cam is filming this testimonial right now. Last year at the same time. That's the coolest and pretty cool that it's one year. Never going to pass up an opportunity to just meet more cool people. Obviously way more connected in the space than I was last year. This is like the yearly meetup where everyone kind of gets together, they put all their responsibilities aside and take some time to hang out and talk shop. So really glad to be here.

Dude, you saw some of the most badass marketing and business events during your time working with pbd, right? Like the vault events. Like the events that PBD puts on are absolutely legendary. How does an event like client ascension compare to an event like you've experienced with pbd?

The thing with the events that we had advitement or they were a lot more broad, they were more holistic in that aspect. But when it comes to the client session events, it's dialed in when it comes to like agency offers and structure on that end. And I think that an event like this for people who are in that space is going to serve them way more.

And I think we've all been to business conferences that almost feel soulless. You feel like you're obligated to go up and talk to people and exchange business cards and the conversations really just lack depth. How have you experienced client ascension in our community specifically to be different?

I think the biggest thing is that you guys are very exclusive and selective about the people you bring in. And I think it's really important because the frame of the interactions are very different. Like everyone pretty much has their own thing up and running. Everyone's in different seasons, everyone's in different stages of the journey. Everyone's already kind of got their own thing going on and no one's really trying to, like, pick anyone's brains or anything like that. It's really just people having conversations and being vulnerable about some of the difficulties that they've experienced and feel like people are actually here to, like, help each other out. Back in April, May, one of the smaller events, and like, we've gotten nothing but like, non stop support and suggestions and stuff like that. Because we asked, right? You know, no one's here giving unsolicited business advice. Hey, bro, like, you should do this. Like, everything's coming from, like, a very genuine place of, like, just guys wanting to help each other and not really, like, having strings attached or doing it for their own personal benefit. And I feel like that's really rare, especially with, like, young guys and there's ego involved in all this different stuff. But I feel like at these events people are able to, like, really just get outside of that for a second. And it's just a bunch of guys that are in a similar pursuit of being their best selves, or we're all just here trying to share advice and trying to help each other out.

Tickets for Client Ascension events are not cheap, Right? And so what would you say to people that are on the fence? They're in a program, whether it's Client Ascension or another program on Twitter, they're trying to grow their business and they're thinking, like, is it worth it? Like, I'm traveling from out of state or out of country even. Why should I make the effort and the investment to be on an event like this?

And the biggest thing is putting your money where your mouth is when you want to commit to something. I think taking a piece of yourself and like, putting that, like on the table and sliding your chips across the table is super important because you can mentally commit. But for me, putting like a deposit, so to speak, has been really impactful. Whether that be like moving to Miami for the first time and incurring a lot of personal expenses, or, you know, buying a ticket to this event. Back when I didn't know anyone and I was kind of just like, okay, maybe this will be cool. Maybe this will be a complete waste of my time. When you're at the event, it's like, well, I paid for it. I might as well go talk to people and socialize. You know, when you're on social media or you hop on like a free webinar Some kind of event like that, you don't really have that same pressure to really put yourself out there. Why put my money here? I might as well just like, make the most of this event. When you go in with that frame, I just think you view interactions and the experience is a lot differently. You want to squeeze the juice out of whatever situation you're in.

What goes into planning an event of this magnitude? Picking a venue, taking care of all the payments, all the logistics, all the food, everything. How far in advance do you start planning these?

I mean, as soon as the idea comes to mind. Right? I mean, for me, it's the day after the past event ends. Like, you do an event like this, all you want to do once it's over is do the next one. And so that's when I start thinking, how can we do it better? How can we do it different? How can we get a new crowd of people here with the different experiences we have all lined up? The way I think about events is you're creating an experience. And so a lot of people are like, oh, just outsource and hire an event planner. And why are you doing so much work? Why are you so stressed? It's because I really care about creating an experience that is going to impact and change the lives of everyone that spends the time, money and travel time to be here. And so that's what really goes into is envisioning what's that experience look like.

Now I'm talking about the team. Team behind the scenes. Because people on Twitter, on YouTube, they see the event itself, the speakers, everyone having fun. I'm having a good time. But like, talk about the behind the scenes, camera guys, event planners, the people that, you know, coordinate everything, like Trina, like talking about that process and find the right people they can to put the event on.

It's just like in business. The way I best describe what running an event is like, it's just like running another business. You do the same thing. You just find the best people to do the different things that are required. Content, venues, experiences, speakers. Right. Like this event, we paid some big speakers to come and share what we can't share with our audience because we know it's just going to deliver such value to our students, hiring the right people. And I feel like we're just so blessed to be in a community like Client Ascension because so many of the people that are helping with these events, they're part of the community. And it's just finding people that care as much as we do about having an event like this to help out.

We get asked all the time, do you guys make a profit off this? We transparently don't make a profit off these events. What is the motive to run an event that loses us money?

This specific event, Tampa 2023. We're probably going to look back at this in a couple of years and laugh, but we threw 130,000 DOL into this event. Like that's how much some people spend on their business in an entire year. That's where we were just a couple of years ago, spending $130,000 a year just to run our business. So to think that we just dropped that amount on a two day event is crazy to think about. With ticket sales, sure, we make some of that back, but we're still 20, $30,000 in the hole. But that's not the point. The events have so much value in and of themselves. We're not pitching on stage and hoping to convert people at the event. We just know like the goodwill that comes from getting people that share the same values, that have the same beliefs in the the right conversations that's always going to kick back to us. Business is tough, right? Like it's not always fun. And so these events, honestly, we're just trying to maximize fun because business owners, they work so hard every other day of the year outside of these events. They really just deserve to come to a place that they feel welcomed and a part of something bigger than themselves. They just have a good time and have fun. And so we're just paying for a lot of fun.