The EASIEST Method to $10,000 PER WEEK in Insurance Sales ft. Arturo Johnson | Ep53

I text my team yesterday 3 times during different DMs I got that were just like the coolest messages ever. And it's always people I don't know, dude, and it's always thanking me for some video or some talk or some message that I put out there that helped them get through whatever they were going through at that time. I'm like, that's the coolest thing ever. That's why we keep doing it.

Yeah, man, it's impact, man. What up, y'all?

John Wetmore back with my buddy Arturo. Johnston, another episode of Insurance Insiders Podcast. Appreciate you getting on, dude.

Yeah, for sure, man. Uh, thanks for having me on, man. I'm so— I'm super excited today.

You got— you got the prettiest setup we've had on yet.

Yeah, man, I've been working on it, man, trying to, to level up. We really focusing, uh, on content, man, branding, personal branding, and really trying to stand out. And there's an amazing opportunity right now with authenticity and, and being unique. And so to, to get people's attention, right, you really got to be intentional about it. And so that's what we've been working on for the last couple weeks. Still got some work in progress, but it's coming along.

Yeah, y'all are doing it, dude. Growing a lot, a lot of, a lot of traction in your social media growth and brand and company and consulting. King of Leads, dude.

Yeah, man, things are growing, man. We're working hard. I'm trying to catch up with you, man. Every time I look up, you're either flying somewhere speaking or you're doing some crazy, uh, extracurriculars like running around a mountain for 8 hours.

Yeah, buddy, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta keep on it, you know. I don't just say to do more, I actually just do it.

Yes, leading by example, right?

Yeah, I mean, it's who I am. The, the title of the book came after realizing like, oh, I guess I do a lot of—

oh, this is This is what I'm doing, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, but yeah, we'll, we'll, we'll cover some of it, dude. I'm excited to have you on. For those that don't know, I'm gonna let him give a little intro, but I know he's helping a ton of people in the insurance space make a lot of money, um, doing a lot, a lot with leads and getting good high-quality contacts in people's hands and, you know, making stuff happen. Got to do your event recently and spend some time with some of the cats selling, you know, $40,000, $50,000, $60,000, $80,000 the hell, I think someone hit 100. I don't know, you, you probably tell us better, but give us a little more, dude. And, you know, maybe tease them a little bit and then we'll give them a little backstory after.

Yeah, for sure. So, I mean, at this point we probably worked with 1,200 to 1,400 life insurance agents and probably it's like 110 issue paid and counting, um, just working with some of the top producers, right? Um, a lot of people have been in this business for a while and they tried everything under the sun, and so I'm like, well all of that stuff doesn't work. We just try to figure out, why don't we just cut through all of the BS that we have to deal with? Because there's sometimes it's a lot, and just get right to people that are interested. And it comes at an inconvenience. It's either your time or your money. And so it's like, which one of those, you know, would you like to, to use as leverage, right? Because when you don't have money, you got to use your time. When you don't— when you got money, right, you don't have a lot of time. So we figured out a way to just kind of optimize the process and really start you know, in the middle of the conversation, um, and let that kind of be, um, the opening, um, uh, intrigue for our prospects. For example, with regards to, um, what we're doing now, which is specifically in the IUL space, which is first time usually people hear about the numbers and the illustration is like, you know, you're two-thirds done with the sales call. So we're like, well, what if we started with that, right? Instead of having to convince people, what if their interest started with them where they were already sold on the process, right? So then you could just go in as a top producer and be a problem solver as opposed to, as opposed to trying to be a convincer. Because in this business, right, it's, it's you're trying to convince them to become a lead, convincing them to pick up the phone, convincing them to book a call, convincing them to show up to the call or the appointment, right? And then convincing them to keep the policy. So much work that we having to do on our end It's like, man, what if we just talked to people that were just open and, um, to having a conversation and actually kind of interested and just wanted to know, you know, uh, if what they had could work for them. And so it costs a little bit more, but again, what agents found out is that you just don't need more leads, right? Like, everybody's got a CRM full of leads that are never gonna buy, and it's like, you need more intent. So, um, that's kind of, uh, what we're doing now, which is I'm Not a Lead Vendor. We're we do sales and marketing funnels for life insurance agents.

So yeah, yeah, so you're not selling leads individually, right?

No, no, no, no, no, no. It's basically, if you think about it, it's a mastermind coaching program with a done-for-you lead generation funnel attached to the front of it, right? So we build a marketing and sales system for you to generate you Um, IUL leads through, uh, marketing and funnels.

Got it. Facebook or online too?

Yeah, so it's just Facebook advertising, um, that we use to a funnel. It's ad to lead capture to AI survey and then to an auto-booked appointment. About 30% of people will go through the whole process by themselves and then— excuse me, Then the rest of them are just people you have to follow up with, 7 to 8 people per day.

So 30% booking appointment.

Yeah, 30% auto booking rate. And then I think one young guy, he's, um, just an anomaly, but he wrote like $229K in January, um, on his own pen, and he just been crushing it ever since. Um, and, uh, I mean, everybody doesn't get those kind of results, but just like at the height of like, you know, one agency we were helping them with like a million ishi paid business a week, you know. So, um, yeah, that's kind of what we're doing at AJC, man.

So there's a good lead, there's such a thing.

Well, you know what's funny? I don't even argue with that anymore because it's two schools of thought. It's like I'm looking for this magical lead, right, which I don't want to be in that realm. But then there's also the people that just like, all these suck, right? And I'm like, yeah, I'm somewhere in the middle. Um, in regards to that, I'm just looking— I'm looking for people who are open to having a conversation. That's what I want to do. I don't want to have to try to convince anybody. I want people to kind of already have been looking, or, you know, I guess it's warm, you know, they're like, I don't— I know a little bit, but I'm looking for more information and building trust through using social marketing, social media marketing. To see if where they are, if they can fit into that component, right?

Yeah. How do you go about finding someone with interest? Obviously some of it's your magic, it is what it is, but give what you— you know what I mean? Like, help people understand, like, why the intent? What are you doing different than everybody else who's running IUL leads? Yeah. So everyone's doing it clearly. Yeah.

So one of the things that I do realize is that, like, a lot of people are way smarter than me, and I just keep stuff super simple. Which is, is, is I'm not trying to explain everything to someone. I'm trying to explain the most important thing, which is how this works, right? So at the end of the day, it's like, okay, here's what this does and how this works. Is this something that you're interested in, right? So instead, I don't talk about like, um, uh, all these other insurance jargons about the, the loss in the market and up and the stocks and this and that. Because at the end of the day, I'm thinking about myself, you know, maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I got maybe $200 to $400 of disposable income left. I might be willing to part with $200 of that. And the only thing I really, really care about is, is like, what is this going to do in the event that something happens to me, right? I want to make sure I got a hedge and what $200 a month can get for me, you know what I mean? So like, um, if you can explain that to me very simply, right, then I'm open to moving forward because that's the main need that I have. But if you start talking about all these other things, now I'm confused, and now I feel like there's so much that I don't know that I need to do a lot more research, and that just keeps me from having the purchasing power because I don't feel like I know enough to kind of get started. So with that, we just try to keep everything super simple, right? It's kind of like with your agents, right? You like, do you need to know all the carriers? Do you need to know all of this to trying to get started to start making dials, it's like, what do you need to know? Do you got a phone? Do you got a list? Do you have the initial script of what to say that we just went over? Okay, perfect, get on the phones. Yeah, so if you have these 3 things, if you, um, understand some foundationally how this policy works, if you're somebody that wants the love, that wants to protect your family, and you see how it works with this amount and you may not have it, but you want to see what the numbers look like for you, then raise your hand.

You know what I mean? Yeah. What are you seeing besides the dude that issued $200K in a month? What, what's a— what's a— I don't want to say average because I hate when people ask me what the average agent does, so I don't, I don't, I don't mean that question. But can you give some more examples of like success stories, things you're seeing people turn around, go to that? Because I know some people struggle in different arenas and they fall into this IUL thing and kill it.

Yeah, I mean, again, it all comes down to skill set. A lot of people have different backgrounds, and communication is a huge piece of it. Um, but I mean, about $10K a week is an average, you know, person that comes in and doesn't know anything, or somebody that's just, uh, hanging on to the low-hanging fruit for the appointments. I mean, there's some people that are doing $40K a month all the way up to $200K. And then like Jeremy Hayes, he does consistently $100,000 a month. And then there's some people that are sharing it, right, that come in and kind of do that. So, but on average is about a 4— about a 4 to 5x on a weekly basis for, um, what people make. And then some people, like the kid that does $229, he doesn't even have a CRM and he only uses his cell phone. And all the thing he does is every single day, they're like, what's the magical script? He's like, I started the top of my list and I go from the top to the bottom every single day.

It is funny how people overcomplicate this industry, dude.

Yeah, I think sometimes a magical lead or magical script or something, people get lost in the, in the sauce of trying to find the easiest way to do it. And what I've noticed is that a lot of times it's typically the thing that you're avoiding most, which is the bridge to kind of get you the success that you're looking for, right? Yeah, you know, with anything, they're avoiding the work. Yeah, exactly. And the work is the thing that's going to get you the freedom that you need, right, and pay off in the future for you to, to have the life that you, that you want to live. Which is sometimes you got to make a little bit of a sacrifice and just commit to a season of shit and suck and just go through it. And knowing that, like, you know, it's a short period of time at the micro the scope of things, that it's going to pay off in the future. But somebody's gonna have to sacrifice something in order for, uh, you know, the, the results to get there, whether it's you or somebody else, right? Somebody's gonna spend the extra dial— the act— the extra hours dialing. They're gonna show up 2 hours before you. They're gonna stay 2 hours later than you. Somebody's gonna sacrifice. And we have that both— we both have the opportunity to do it. It's just, are you willing to stop getting ready to get ready or needing to learn more, needing to know more, and just kind of get to work, you know?

Yeah. Who's your— who's your client? Because I know it ain't everybody.

Um, I think for me, uh, I only want to— the first thing I'm looking for is people that are easy to work with, right? That's the first thing. I don't care how much money you have, um, or how— or your skill set. I'm looking for somebody that's easy to work with. They're eager, they're hungry, right? They're coachable. They're just like, they're really customer-centric, focused on like doing something awesome and protecting a bunch of people, right? Um, now, uh, does everybody fall into that bucket? No. But that's like the first thing I'm looking for is intentionality, right? Because a lot of times what people do is they use their previous success, right, and they forecast that into what they— to to, oh, this is what I've done. So they think that the Leads is just an easy button. They show up and just expect people to just, you know, hand them a check. And so that's a difficult conversation to have because people have had success and they don't really want to hear that. So I don't want to work with people that are difficult. Um, and then another ideal scenario is, is people that love to share what's working, right? Because the way I've structured the program that I have, the Agent Accelerator program, is it's kind of like a flywheel. So, um, Omari comes in, he does— he goes from doing $50K a month to doing a $50K week. The very next week on Wednesday, which is right after this call, he'll hop on and he'll kind of go through his process, right? So now every new customer that comes in the program is able to not only get value from the funnels that we set up, but they get real actionable steps from somebody that just had their best week. And so we use that as kind of a flywheel to make the results better. So if we don't have coachable, uh, uh, unselfish people that are easy to work with, we then don't get somebody to come in and help share what's working for us. And then we become stagnant and people don't get results. And then obviously I'm not able to grow the business that I have.

It's funny, it's like building the agency was the same process, you know what I mean? Like bringing people in, we teach them how to do stuff, they have success, and the ones that are sharing with everybody else in the group is, is a very important part of the growth of any business, I think. You know, it's funny, so we used to do the same thing, and hell, in a lot of ways I still do with even stuff like this, you know, it's highlighting other people that are having success and making it normal.

And, uh, yeah, I think I agree with that because it's kind of like The reason why I like the sharing part is because you kind of, um, it keeps you sharp too, you know.

You—

it's like you, you, you learn it once and then you do it, and then when you teach it, it keeps it fresh in your mind. So, um, anytime we do one of those weekly calls with the people in our program, it's always something directly correlated to what you can use after the call to go and try to either close another sale or to book another appointment or something efficient like that. So yeah, I love it.

What do you, um, I'm gonna ask you in a little while more about the beginning stuff because some people don't know, but I'm more intrigued about other stuff. What do you, what do you, what advice can you give on like the marketing and personal branding stuff? Um, you know, attracting followers. Obviously I've seen your growth in, in the last shit, however many— I don't know how long we've known each other, feels like been a few years anyway. Um, it's been a minute. And, uh, Reese was— Reese was telling me earlier he watches your stuff, obviously my guy, to try to see where we can improve. And he's like, yo, Arturo went up like, I think like, I don't know, 100,000 followers in the last year or some, some crazy number, like 30,000 last month. Like, what are you, what are you doing, bro, to brand yourself and like what, what can other people follow that you've learned?

Yeah, so I think, uh, that's a— man, that's a phenomenal question. And most people— nobody ever asked me that. It's very interesting. Um, well, the first thing is, is this being intentional about, um, like this is something that you're going to focus on because it's not going to just grow just by doing a couple, um, posts or, you know, just throwing spaghetti at a wall. You need to have an actual plan of like what are you going to do and The other thing that I've seen work is I've stopped just like talking to people and just really kind of showing them what I'm doing, um, and making my content more unique and content of one, right? Which is the impact that I'm having, the conversations that I'm having, the things that I'm actually like doing. Because people see the screenshots and like all of that stuff, but it's like, well, what actually do you do on a daily basis? So I kind of let them in because I want them to be sold on the work that I do. I want them to know that if they partner with me, oh, okay, at 6 o'clock every single morning they're gonna see a cup of coffee with the motivational, uh, quote on it, right? Then you're gonna see him driving to the gym, then you're gonna see him on the stair stepper, right? And now all of this is gonna happen before 8 AM. He's gonna do breakfast with his kids, and then he's gonna be doing calls all day. So then it's no wonder that he's not having success, because that's somebody that I would want to work with, somebody that's always busy, working hard. And, um, that just, that just shows the passion that they have. So what do I mean by all that? It's just really kind of showing your authentic self, some behind-the-scenes type stuff, like what are you actually doing on a daily basis. And what that does is it allows people, um, to kind of discover and pinpoint and just find the things that they actually like about you and hone in on those things.

Yeah.

Um, and what that does is that just kind of sells people, that people sell themselves and they convince themselves from watching your content. So I really personalized me and what I'm doing on a daily basis. And that really took me to a whole nother level because people can relate to that. A lot of people have kids, a lot of people go to the gym. So now people that are watching it are interested in the same things, right? And they start to follow, and then they start to see some of the results and the successes that you have, and they're like, well, what is this? Well, who else he's worked with? And then they start doing research on other people. Um, but I really started to make sure that my content was really focused on uh, my authentic voice and sharing, um, the ins and outs of what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis, which is basically show, not tell.

Yeah, I have a sign, uh, it's right, like, right there. You can't see it. It says, document, don't create. I stole it from, like, Gary Vee and Bradley. They say it all the time, so it's not my thing. I just like it. Yeah, we document everything we got going on, versus I don't like sitting down in the corner and creating social media. I don't know. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it feels like that's kind of what you just said. You're an insurance agent and you feel like you're stuck. You've hit a wall. You're trying to figure out sales strategies, the scripts to use, how to get like off the ground and get to that top of the leaderboard type status. Have a course that I've put out, super affordable. I'm getting a ton of great feedback from people every day on the strategies they've learned and been able to implement, from goal setting to sales techniques to calendar under scheduling, everything you would need to get your business off the ground and get running quickly. jwcourse.com, click the link below and get in there today.

Yeah, because it's— you are the content, right? And that's the thing is, is like, we like— we're in an era that's the most amazing piece, that brands were what everybody trusted, big brands, big corporations, and now they're coming to people like us because people are really kind of focusing on— like, for example, if you want to go— this is what a lot of people do now, is they go and look for suggestions to go to a restaurant. They're in a different state, and they could just go to TikTok and type it in, or they can type it in Instagram, and you can see the food. You can see somebody that's eating it, right? So you can see exactly what it looks like, as opposed to, um, watching a McDonald's commercial All right, and then going into McDonald's, the burger doesn't look like that, right? You know what I mean? Fries don't look like that, the Coke doesn't look like that. You can see exactly what the experience that somebody else had that's a normal person like you. And this has become so valuable, right? We're peer to— we're still a peer-to-peer in this community, um, of being human beings. And so what we do a lot of times is we want to find restaurants that we like and then see other people that have gone to them, and then we can kind of relate to that. And that, that experience that was good for them, we can then translate it like that into if we go, we probably will get the same result. So when doing that, I want to showcase what I'm doing and the different types of people I'm talking to, and that does the heavy lifting because there's some person that I'm going to talk to or that's getting a good result on a daily basis that, that the person on the other end of that other phone can resonate with. And you can do this for recruiting, you can do this for sales. This, this is a principle that applies to all businesses. I think all businesses should be really focusing on their personal brand with, with whatever they're trying to do, because it's the new business card.

Sure. You mentioned earlier with the leads, you said like, instead of just more leads— I forget how you worded it, but you said, uh, The word I do remember is the intent. You're like, you need more— you don't need more leads, you need more intent. I think that's how you said it.

Yes.

Um, so like with, with social, it feels the same way, dude. There's a lot of, there's a lot of people that like have more followers, but it's like, yeah, you know, I mean, there's a lot of people full of shit in the industry. Let's just say it like that. Yeah.

As you know, you know, I mean, like, how do you, how do you—

like, I like the intent. I'd rather have the intent than the number, you know what I mean?

So, so this is a fine line, or do you—

yeah, like, how do you look at that?

Yeah, so followers don't mean as much as they did 5 years ago, just like on YouTube subscribers don't mean much. Yeah, um, a lot of times with the, with the numbers, like, I have one post get me like 68,000 followers, right?

Yep.

From— it just went viral, 109 million uh, impressions, and it just, it just rattled off. So I went from— I think I had 2 years ago when I started with Blake, I had 911 followers, and we worked on it, worked on it for 1 year. I think we got to 10,000, and then from 10,000 to 20,000, and then one post that's like 20 words went viral, got me like 68,000, and then it just really blew up from there. Right now, what I learned from that though is that the followers, um, it's just broad reach. Yeah, but, but what that number does is it allows for the algorithm to kind of figure out what type of people are watching your content. And inside of that, there's these small buckets of people who are actually the perfect fit for you. So it's still a lot of large numbers. You need to have, um, a good reach on your account. Right? Because it's just like a funnel, just like a funnel.

Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.

Yeah, well, you have to treat your social media basically like a landing page.

Got it.

And you use the algorithm that, like, it doesn't matter who— like, how many followers you have. It's like the people who are watching your stories are the people that are like the bottom funnel, right? So the reels give you some reach and some push and some suggestions inside that algorithm. This is just organic. And then the stories are the people where you put the deeper stuff. So you can talk very broad, all your personal branding, your speaking, um, traveling, uh, stuff like that. But then your more personal, intentional content is what you use in your stories. Got it.

Where do I gotta get better?

Um, I think you need to share more lifestyle stuff. You got some cool stuff that you just don't show. Like what? Like, I saw last time you got a 911. I'm like, I haven't seen you just like back that thing out of the— you need to show the house, what's behind it. You got all this cool stuff that, uh, it's just sitting there and it's like, this is what you've accomplished, right? If somebody doesn't, um, know you close enough, they won't know. But again, these are the things that make a broad appeal because a lot of people, a lot of people love cars, a lot of people love houses, and it's like, oh, it's, it's entertainment too. And then The only other thing which I always ask you is, is sharing that dang story. You can never ever share it enough because it is so good. And it's probably— you say a lot of amazing things, but when you really slow down and share your story, it is so impactful, um, because you just drift off and go to this whole nother level. And you had so much to overcome, and for you to just like— it finally to click, and for you to do it, it's, it's, it's amazing. Again, when we talk about this off camera It's like we weren't supposed to be here. This is, you know, this is an anomaly for us to have the success that we've had. So, um, those are probably some things, just sharing more of a day-to-day and like some, a little bit more of a lifestyle stuff, and then just sharing that story a little bit more.

Yeah, I always wonder, dude, like how much of that shit do people want to see? I mean, I'm like, I mean, I do have some nice stuff, but it's like how much of that? I don't know, I overthink it. That's what happens.

Well, and I'm like, it's, it's one piece of you, right? And so the thing is, is like there's going to be some people that it's not for. Those aren't your people. And then some people that's like, oh, that's pretty cool. It just— it's not even about showing it off. It's, uh, another anchor of relatability. So if people don't like that you swear, right, but they may like cars, they may be a Porsche person, or they may live in Georgia, or they may be a part of the same sports team Nobody's gonna like everything about everybody, but you know, there's other reasons to like you.

It's just like another bucket out there.

Yeah, so interest, it's all based off interest. So, so here's what I'll say about this. So when I grew up, I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and this was pre-internet and cell phones too. Everything was predetermined— my beliefs, where I went shopping, Like, all of the things were determined by my physical location— the gas station, the church, right? Like, all of these things is there. Once the internet came about and social media, now it decentralized all of that where people are all grouped by their interests, right? So this breaks down a lot of those doors where, um, now you can find your people online based off the things that you're interested in. And so that's kind of how social media is grouped. Based off the things that you're interested to, and the things that you tune into are the things that you turn into. So if people are consistently watching John Wetmore speaking, watching them traveling, watching them doing coaching calls, those people are basically tuning in to turn into a future partner, um, for being in your agency or, um, buying insurance from you if you were selling.

Yeah, what's funny is like when I see like for sale You've seen his, his collection of cars? Yes, I see that, and that fires me up. Yeah, I mean, I'm like, I love it. I love seeing, you know, some of— I like— I've been— I paid to go to Ed Mallett's house.

Yes, I would pay for that, but man, I'm cheap, bro. I'm so cheap. Like, I, like, I was looking when I text you about the, the 911. I started looking at all the models and the test and the turbo, and, and like I'm like, I can't, man. I could take that, put that in the ads, and probably triple that. I'm like, bro, it's, it's really hard for me to do it. I do a little bit of it because it does get attention, but man, I've been like 3 months. You'd be— you would laugh at me how long it's been taking me to kind of pull the trigger on it because I'm like, I got to be able to justify some way. But, um, yeah, I would pay more for the experience than probably a supercar.

I haven't Yeah, makes sense. I'd pay for both.

Yeah, you know, but I ain't—

it ain't the first money, you know what I mean?

Like, I held off.

I always joke, when I got the Bentley, um, my car right prior to that was a Kia. So I skipped everything in the middle, and I just— I, I held— I held on so long before I changed any lifestyle that I was like it was fine to do it when I did it. Um, so what do you do? Plus I'm a little hood rat too, you know what I mean? And I'm like, part of me can't help myself, and I'm like, all right, I got it.

I do. I'm just— I, uh, I'm again, I'm the same way. Uh, it's just been like, man, I don't want to like go back down to zero. I just remember sleeping on the air mattress and moving from house to house and like all of that. I'm like, Like, talk about things being hard. Like, you know, making nothing out of something, miracles happening every day, every week, every month. You know, getting through that was such a challenge. Um, and my mom made it—

scared to lose.

Yeah, that I'm like, I feel that. It's going back to that. So I always just keep a little bit to the side. But now, like, you know, as I'm kind of just talking through that right now, I was like, I'm a— I'm far away from that, you know what I mean? And so Living a little bit is good. Um, I'm just cheap, I guess.

Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that. I, uh, Maddox always tells me, he's like, he says something, he'll always be like, just live, bro. Just live life, bro. You're only here once. Maddox tells me that sometimes. Yes, that's when he's trying to sucker me into buying something I tell him no on.

Of course, that's, that's his sales strategy. Just tell me, best salesman are your kids, for sure.

Yeah. Oh boy, what do you do? Um, talk about— you, I mean, you mentioned the, the difficulties before. Talk about— because you've obviously been in the industry a minute. You're not currently licensed, which we didn't bring up, you know. So you've had quite the journey to getting to, to be who you are in the space, but you aren't doing what most people do in the space, trying to sell and build an agency and all that thing. Um, but you did once. At some point. So I'd be intrigued to hear about kind of the journey a little bit and how you got where you're at now, because I— yeah, I know you didn't always have it easy, that's for sure.

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, so grew up to— my mom was a nurse, single parent. She worked, you know, double shifts for the most part to put me through school. We lived in the South Side, so, you know, that had its own challenges. Um, and she didn't want me to go to public school, so she made sure that I was able to be in an environment where at least I had the opportunity without the distractions to kind of learn. So I went through that. And, um, so where I went to school was at least an hour and a half from where I lived. Um, so what that allowed me to do was have some exposure, a little bit of exposure outside of my current environment. And, um, the sacrifices she made from the hard work was, um, why I'm here today. But that also allowed me to be able to see what hard work could produce, right? Um, and that's kind of where I got kind of my work ethic from. And, um, so that stayed dormant for a while. Um, what came to Nashville from Chicago to go to school, and I realized that school wasn't my thing. It was boring, and I like, uh, I didn't really have the discipline and the habits. I was just trying to, to get out of where I was. Um, so I just started working. Um, had a kid young, and then at that time it was like, okay, Now you got some— you got some— why? A reason. And so at that point, I was working odd jobs, just trying to figure out something that I can hang my hat on. And that's when I got introduced to the insurance industry, probably 2004. That was my first stint. And, uh, I went to recruiting meeting. One of my friends, she got recruited to a meeting, and I went to it. It was Aflac, some supplemental on cancer policy. So I got licensed. Um, and funny enough, it's funny how things work. I Didn't study for the test, drove down to Chattanooga on Christmas Eve to take it, which is like an hour, 45 minutes from Nashville. And I failed the health portion and, um, passed the life portion. So lo and behold, that was the only thing I could sell because you had to wait 30 days to take your test again. Um, and that—

and, and Tennessee gave you the life side even?

Yes.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Oh, no way.

So, so that was the only thing that I could sell at that time. Hindsight's 20/20 at this point. And, um, oh, once I started selling life insurance, right, I get— because I didn't have anything, I couldn't sell the, the cancer and the health policies because that was on the health side. So come to find out, my grandfather started telling me about, um, what he was doing, and then I was— it clicked. I remember my mom used to always say she used to be frustrated when they were kids growing up and she was in high school. They had something called a drive-in, which is like you get in your car and you go to this like park and it's a screen and people watch. They put a speaker in your car. And she said, my granddad, we called him Big Dad at that time, always had to stop by a couple people's houses before we went to, uh, to the drive-in. And that's when I realized my grandfather was a debit man. So that's when I realized that, you know, life insurance is kind of in my blood. My, my, my uncle, he did it as well too. So that's kind of how I stumbled into, uh, to insurance. And I was waiting tables at that time And I just remember going to the library and typing in, in ReferenceUSA, because it was free back then, um, and just typing in like 50 to 100 employees making over a million bucks, and then printing out, um, what was the, the MapQuest directions to this one office building, and then canvassing this area in this, in the heat, door knocking businesses to try to, to try to get in the door. And as I'm doing this, I'm like, man, this sucks. This can't be the way that all these people are making all this money. There's no way. Because there are people that were putting up video game numbers, and I'm like, there's no way that they have enough time to do this. So obviously that didn't work for me. I wasn't disciplined. I fell out of the business. Um, and then probably like 2015, I got back in with, uh, Northwest Mutual. Well, a friend that I went to college with was like, hey man, I'm absolutely crushing it over here. And I was kind of burnt out waiting tables, so I was like, all right, cool. When I got back in, the same thing happened. I'm doing this, I'm like, oh, this is why I quit the first time. I don't have enough quality people to talk to that are interested. And that's when I realized, I was like, oh, I need to figure this part out. So I started using social media and it started working for me, and I booked probably like 50, 60 appointments. Um, and then I started having to take my upline, um, on appointments because these were some doctors and some like really successful people that the, the type of plans that they wanted, I was new, I couldn't do it for him.

Was that ads then?

So it started out with me just using Facebook DM and Facebook groups.

No way.

So I started with that, and then the problem I was having was that the, the keeping up with the messages was too difficult after about 200 to 300. So I was like, well, I've got to automate this some type of way. I was like, what if I could get them to fill something out? So that's when I had to— that's when I got my mentor Sam Ovens, who partnered with Alex Mosey in school back then. He had a mentorship and a coaching program to teach you how to do digital marketing, which was Facebook ads. So I bought that course, and, um, I remember I didn't even have enough to afford it. I had to borrow $900 from my mom, and the course was $2K. I had to break it up into payments, and I paid $3K for the course at that time. And man, that was the best investment, um, ever. That's probably made me over $10 million just buying that course. And I was scared at the time, but I knew I needed to automate this process. And if it worked manually, um, um, there were a couple guys who never sold insurance before that they were like making $10,000, $20,000, $30,000 a month. I'm like, if these guys can do it, they don't even know anything about insurance, I just need to learn how to do the Facebook ads. So I took the course, ran through it Um, and I learned the Facebook ads, and then I started implementing that. And then the agency that I worked with, I didn't realize because I didn't know the difference between independent and captive, they told me I couldn't use the social media stuff. So I had two options: keep starving and doing it the old way that they told me, or this new way that was working that they didn't want me to use. I had to leave. Um, and so that's when I decided to just, um lead that organization and start my own business. And that's how Arturo Johnson Consulting started.

Ah, so you didn't go sell with those leads somewhere else? You're just like, screw it, I'm just gonna make the leads for other people now?

That right there, I was so frustrated. It was like somebody telling me what, what I, what I could do. I had a chip on my shoulder and I was like, I'm going to show you guys, all of you guys in here are going to be my clients, right? So that's what I went to go and do. And then lo and behold, that's what ended up happening. And then the, you know, the rest was kind of history.

That's badass. And that was what year? When did that change?

So the shift happened 2018, and okay, official 2019, uh, was like when I incorporated and did AJC Consulting.

So you're 6 years into this deal?

Yes.

Yeah, sick, sick. I love it, dude. Get effing paid.

Get effing paid.

Get effing paid.

Get effing paid.

What up, guys? If you guys are looking to get to a new level in your career, you may have seen that we've been running some workshops in my office in Atlanta. I have them every quarter now. The last one sold out fully. It was a massive success. A couple different levels you can attend. Just a general ticket, get you in the door, listen to 2 days of training, interactive workshop style. We really dive into what you got going on and how to get to new levels. If you're looking to be in a new crowd, higher level up, um, I have a private mastermind. Last one was at my house. It was insane. Um, all the value that everybody added to each other and we had a good time. And, uh, I heard it was way underpriced relative to what people got out of it. You can check out some of the testimonials here, I'm sure. But if you'd like to attend, click the link below. I do 'em every quarter. The date'll be around here somewhere. Look forward to seeing you there. If you are in the insurance industry and you're looking to scale and grow your business, I highly encourage you to check John Wetmore out. Probably honestly made the cost of the event back in like the first 2 hours of being here. If you want to win and you want to grow, I'd get around John as much as you can.

John Wetmore is a beast. So much value in everything that I've learned here.

Growing, about building, delegating. He's talking about systems and automating right now.

It is worth the price of admission. Make sure you get to the next one.

That's badass. What, um, what's, what's coming next? What are you, what are you building? What are you working on? What's— what are you chasing every day?

So I'm really focusing right now obviously on content and studios. And I noticed that, um, see, when I first started in 2019, all the insurance agents hated and made fun of the gurus, right?

Yeah.

And now I'm starting to notice coaching programs are coming out and, uh, people are more focused on content because they kind of see the power of it, right? And so I'm seeing a lot of stuff online now and I'm like, you know, the fancy cameras and the editing, but the messaging is off. So now I'm really just focusing on kind of showcasing and doing some more, um, content and branding and marketing, um, stuff to kind of expand, um, Artur Jones Consulting and have a media division. So we're going to start flying people in to do podcasts in person like this and shooting, you know, you see my team shooting some content and some reels. So stuff that's actually going to convert so I can put a lot of these things that are in my head to you. So, um, we're gonna start focusing on, um, helping people build a personal brand, especially if you got an agency. I mean, I, I— you can probably speak to this. I'm sure you've gotten serious within the last 2 years, but I bet you're probably thinking, man, I probably should have got it started a couple years ago also. So we're just trying to help people show up online and be more findable for recruiting, for leads, and stuff like that. So that's what's next.

Yeah, dude, I wish I, um, I wish I documented the whole journey early. I did it, but in a closed setting. We only did it like in, in chats and, you know, I mean, just in my world. We didn't— I didn't do it on social. And so like early on, dude, I wish, I wish I had a camera or just recording on my phone out in the field in 14, 15, 16, you know what I mean? Like, I just, I wish I had that stuff. Documented more of the journey. And I challenge a lot of people now to like just start now, because people would be— we'd— I'd be a lot bigger in a lot of different ways had I started that early and started sharing it. You know, people see today and they hear about the struggles, but I wish I got to show the struggle. Like, you know, I mean, there's, there's not a lot of people who work with me today, for instance, that were here when I made the changes I made. And so, you know, I mean, most of them quit. So it's like, dang, it's— I wish I had a lot of that still. That's, that's a mistake I made. I didn't love social media. I'm like, I hate social media, I'm not using it, I don't want to use it. And to me, I didn't understand the difference between like consuming social and creating stuff. I didn't, I didn't grasp that early. I put it in as one thing.

Yeah, for sure. And, uh, the documenting thing, I think I got lucky because it was like the last 2 weeks when things are starting to work, it's when I took that course. And one of the last modules in there was a mythology module, which is basically starting to document the journey. Because people, when you start showing up online, everybody thinks everybody's BSing, so you need to have some receipts. And I just luckily had just enough social proof of as I was leaving and things were working that I was able to have screenshots, and that's really what took me through. But to your credit though, there's a lot of people you know, obviously your numbers don't lie, but a lot of people, they know and seen and been around you and put the work in, seeing you put the work in. So you got a lot of that, um, where you were in person in the field first. So like, you know, um, because I remember watching some of the trainings when, uh, watching some of those videos on YouTube, uh, you and Mendenhall and me doing those presentations, the mock stuff. I remember consuming a bunch of that when I was just kind of learning about FFL back then. When I was starting to work with you guys. But yeah, man, um, it's been awesome.

Yeah, we've probably been doing social since like, I don't know, 2018, '17, '18, somewhere in that range. Started doing it a little bit, you know what I mean, and streaming stuff. And yeah, we've done— we've done it for a minute. I certainly wish I was smart enough to do it when I was a broke agent, but I was so dumb then I didn't do a lot of things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure.

And that's what we got, a coaching call coming up here in just a few minutes, but that's what I want to be talking about with these guys too, is like Kixi's coming on, it's like, you know, um, following up with people, having conversations, like using these tools to build trust. That's really what it is, is you're giving people— the more impressions, the more interactions that you have with people, it just naturally builds this preconceived bias against people that they can trust you by the frequency in which they see you.

Yeah, it's true. True. You're out, and you're out there a lot too, dude. You're getting out there a lot more, traveling a little bit, you know.

Yeah, I'm trying to. I was like, John's out. I'm like, all right, I gotta follow him around. Which one of these you speaking at?

I'll be there. Yeah, I love it, I love it. Um, what do you want to add that we've not talked about that you want to share? Anything I didn't ask you want to cover?

Um, no, man, I think we pretty much covered everything. I think the last thing that I'll kind of follow up with is just double down on this. It's like people are so afraid to show up to themselves, their authentic self, and think that they need to have this and that in order for people to like you. But at the end of the day, this is still a people-to-people business, right? And so whatever you're doing, people are buying you, right? They're not buying the product, they're buying you. So what better way to make your process and your systems and have leverage in your business that's free— because it's free to use social media than to post content, right? Which is just like, hey, I just helped Catherine with this policy. She was 50 years old, was absolutely amazing. And one of the things that I love about her was that she had X, Y, and Z, and she had talked to a bunch of people before, and she was really reluctant to do this. But I shared this with her, and this is why she moved forward with it. And now I have a happy client and a friend for life. And you just share that experience, right? And what happens is, is not everybody's gonna resonate with that, but another person that fits that profile and similarly, and you're letting them listen in, they may reach out to you. Maybe not today, but in the future. But again, you know, it's one of those things that it makes it so easy, and then people start popping up in your DMs, and you know, we're getting referrals from it. I've had people that have never been clients of mine share and introduce me because I come to the— I'm the first person that comes to mind when they think about X. So if you want to be top of mind, as seen as the expert, then you have to share experiences and knowledge online for free.

It's true, that's true. It's wild. I get a lot of DMs now, which is— I get them every day now, which is pretty wild to see the transition, because a few years ago, wasn't that often. And it's always people I don't know, dude, and it's always thanking me for some video or some talk or some message that I put out there that helped them get through whatever they were going through at that time. I'm like, that's the coolest thing ever. I text my team yesterday 3 times during different DMs I got that were just like the coolest messages ever. Yeah, I mean, I watched this video and it got me through XYZ, and I'm like, that's why we keep doing it.

Yeah, man, it's impact, man. And you don't know who is going to impact and how and what day. You put so much content that somebody just needed to hear that one specific thing that you was just feeling that was random that got somebody through.

Yeah, yeah. And I never know when I'm making it, when it's gonna hit, you know what I mean? I don't have a clue, so I just keep putting stuff out.

It is—

it's always the most random video. I'm like, dang, that one got them. That's cool. Yeah. So I love it, dude. Um, how can— how do you want people to go about if they're interested in working with you, getting in the program, interested more in leads, etc., the mastermind? How do you— how do you want them to connect? Yeah, man, just fill out your form, bro.

Just go to Instagram and look me up, Arturo Johnson Consulting, and just give me a follow there and go through some of my content and just, you know, be an observer. Check it out, see if it's, you know, somebody that you want to work with, and then just kind of go through it and then just let the rest happen, man.

I love it, dude. I appreciate it, brother. Thanks for coming on and, uh, sharing, and, uh, we'll chat soon for sure, brother. Go kill it.

Yeah, I'll see you um, in ATL. And I'm sure we'll be speaking on stage at, uh, the next road show or two, for sure. But yeah, man, it's been great. Thanks for having me on, man.

I do, always, brother. Appreciate you.

All right, peace.

See you guys.