Below is the transcription for this episode:
Dave: What's going on my friend? This is Dave Sharpe. Welcome to Wake Up Legendary. We've got a blue collar breakthrough baby. Whoo I can relate to that. That's for darn sure. I'm blue collar all the way, man. I'm telling you I don't think I've. I don't know if I've ever worn a white collar anyways CJ Welcome to the show, brother.
CJ: Thanks for having me, Dave. Finally, get on here. This is a big goal of mine. actually be here. It's pretty cool.
Hey, man, you're welcome. You actually do have a blue collar on today. So that's kind of cool.
CJ: That's all I've ever known.
Dave: Where are you calling in from?
CJ: Georgia. Northwest Georgia.
Dave: Cool. Cool. I was just in Georgia not too long ago just hanging out. Yeah. Okay, cool. I had to fix the audio, the video settings so I don't like to touch too much because I might break something. Or I should wrap it in the middle of it. Yeah, well, I'm not very technically savvy. Actually. People think I'm like a technician. I don't know what people think, but I'm a technical dumbass. So anyways…
CJ: Which is a perfect example because that's the first complaint you get from our by I can't do this because I'm not technical. Yeah, you really don't have to be. Not at all.
Dave: Yeah, actually, I think the more tech I think the more people know about things. Sometimes they just over complicate it and I think the best way sometimes to be successful is just keep it simple. Just keep it simple. You know, I mean, the best chefs the best carpenters that I worked with the best best business owners best marketers, I mean, countless examples in this community of people who are succeeding are succeeding because they're just you know, if you don't leave the basics, you don't have to go back to.
CJ: That's been a prime example that to just, every time overcomplicate, and then I have to just nuke everything and start from the beginning and take it back. Simple. Like I said, the complicated just, you can really over complicate this if you want to.
Dave: Yeah. So tell us how you like a little bit of a nutshell version of your story and how you found Legendary.
CJ: So I started out back in the swamp guests really. When everything starts, we won't get too much into that but when everything drives everything online, it really wakes you up and sees the opportunity that's out there and that there is money. So just like everybody else, it starts with just the simple Google to make money online. lead to some print on demand. Try that a little bit. Research dropship and didn't want to tackle that and then I found affiliate marketing and went through YouTube channels and things like that try to do things on my own starting an Amazon affiliate account and tried for six or eight months before I actually ran across Megan run Hobbs and got in with them and talk to them and they led me to legendary and then everything just ramped at a huge pace since then. It was a 15 day challenge. Everything was like a big light bulb went off once I started to see the way that you presented things. Somehow this makes so much more sense.
Dave: Then then then the other things that you did?
CJ: Just trying to throw a link out on your personal Facebook and hope that you know friends and family buy. I've done some network marketing stuff and am trying to approach this with that type of mindset of, hey, buy this product so I can make $3 off. You're never gonna get rich $3
Dave: Then you get the pity sales and it's like, yeah, I mean, I've said this and I've kind of been on this kick a little bit lately. If your business depends on you doing friend business with friends and family, you will never have a business that will make you rich. That's where you might make a couple of bucks here and there. You might have a business that gets by. You might have an old mom and pop shop or something sort of business but I mean the truth of the matter is, is that even many of those businesses, there's local mom and pop who just do business by referrals, people are living, if anything, they're self employed, meaning that they have a job if they don't work, they don't get paid. So you have to have a bit, you have to have systems and or people and we're both working for you. And it can't be dependent upon friends and family chasing neighbors, friends of friends, referrals from parents, I mean all that stuff is a means to an end, it's going to end fast, it's going to end badly and it's going to end in disappointment.
CJ: And that's where the value of the email list comes into play. I mean, I can't stress that enough, but you know, not having to do those direct marketing directional links are you talking about having systems that work for you that once I realized what can be done with the emails and how the just kind of take off and become basically an employee for you, your email becomes your really your first employee is just top selling work.
Dave: Content is, you know, video that takes off, whether it be on YouTube or TikTok. That becomes like a little army of salespeople, you know, who are knocking on doors, right? And a list is also an army of marketing and sales people and now you've gone and duplicated yourself truly duplicated yourself, not with people, but with systems in with technology that's predictable. And that works the same time over and over again. And that's one of the reasons why I love just driving traffic to a sales video because that video presents it the same way every time over and over. And I can have millions or 1000s of people watching at the same time versus trying to have a person doing a presentation who every time it's going to be different. Maybe they're not feeling good that day. And it doesn't get done as passionately. This ability to have content systems you know, emails, content on platforms and videos, doing the selling and telling pitching marketing for you, man for blue collar guys like us who are used to if I don't get out on the job site swing the hammer in build the thing I don't get paid is pretty game changing.
Right and I still work my full time job 10 hours a day there from six to 430. If nothing breaks, if some breaks can be longer, be able to define any other systems that have things the way that you showed or set them up. It allows me to still get this role and to get it profitable while working, which wouldn't be possible if I was having to make, you know, direct sales calls that I just don't have time for. there's no way I could possibly do it. But to be able to do this and work those kinds of hours to us. It's incredible.
Dave: Yeah. So, what have been some of the major breakthroughs that you've had that were the most eye opening for you compared to knowledge that you've, you know, learned or knew about making money and about business? What you mentioned some of the aha moments you had in the 15 Day Challenge and so forth. What have been some of those major highlight lightbulb moments for you?
CJ: Like you said, just the ability for your content to sell for you you own your own was the big thing like to be able to have that working in the background because I'm there. You know, one of the things that limited me was time. I thought you know, with the money I'm making, I have to maintain my job that I have now. I'll never be able to do business on the side because I just don't have the time to invest and the ability to batch produce content and do things and have things work and make it realistic. It makes it you know, I can do this. And so once you started I started doing it, you know my TikTok When I first took off and did things using the strategies, the content creation strategies went from like zero up to 20,000 pretty fast. over about a month and a half. It takes off and then you start getting people to come in and just use the tools that have been given and all of a sudden you know the first commission comes in and then you get 10 commissions and then hot tickets coming in. It's all happening in the background. I guess the biggest aha moment for me was waking up in the morning and seeing you know that that hard ticket came through when you knew the work had been done through it like you said through the content. I didn't I didn't have sales pitching but I didn't have to do anything. Just using the systems and everything has been taught you wake up your phone to see that first hard ticket sale comes through. That's the moment where you're like okay, you know, this is real, this works. everything that's been said that isn't it isn't just a bunch of gimmicks or anything like that. This is a game and that's when it becomes more realistic.
Dave: Yeah, I think you're right about that. You know, you can't really compare any bit of knowledge or things that you hear to the moment when you make significant income. In that instant. Your belief system shifts so far. In one direction. You're never the same again. You know what I mean? It's it's, I mean, I know this. It's like losing your virginity, man. You know, it really is. It's like becoming a man. It's like becoming a woman. It's like becoming, it's like having something happen. That's life and just trying to think of other things that are life. It's like having a child, it's like, one of those moments now is in the room for both of my, all of my children being born. It's that moment that is life changing, similar to with when that email notification shows up for a significant sized commission. You're just never the same again, and it's like, I wish we could transfer that experience. But you really got to earn that experience. You have to go through the training, and then you gotta take action. You gotta earn that experience, but it's worth it. And I try to tell people but I think it's more powerful when it comes from people like you and they hear it from students who started from scratch, and you've got to put the work into you know, it's not a get rich quick scheme and everything like that. But people you know, jump something in one day I mean, it takes work, it takes setting your systems up following the training, doing everything that you've been shown to do and getting it in place but then it happens I think. I don't remember what part of the 15 Day Challenge exam but you shared an ATS video if you want it as bad as you want to breathe that. I don't think that really comes through until you hit that big commission. You're like, okay, you know, give me more oxygen at that point. I want more. I want more of that. And that's when it really comes like the burn of the lifeboats mentality of Muhammad Ali and I want to do this more bit more and then that's when it really takes off because your whole mindset changes. I agree that it becomes your oxygen and you will do anything for it. You know like your work ethic, your seriousness, your focus completely changes. It moves from a hobby. You know, I remember when I was a kid, I had a couple of hobbies, you know, mowing lawns, collecting cans, you know, one time I mowed a lawn this guy took me two days to mow his lawn because it was so thick, and then he paid me in off change dimes and nickels those were hobbies, you know, collected, you know, collect the cans and would take them to the recycling thing collecting change. That's another hobby, you know what I mean? And then you go pour it in the machine of the public to your supermarket and it spits you out. But those are hobbies, you know, those are whatever, you know, I got some change here and got a couple of bucks. But when you earn $1,000 plus commission $500 Even commission I mean, it's so and you do it on your own. I mean, even if all the hours that you put in up until that point are only equal, you know 25 cents per hour or whatever it is. It's such a powerful moment. And I think that is such a clear focus for people to go into this weekend with is that you have to work until that happens, because you will never be the same again. And I can specifically submit that memory also inside of your DNA and you will remember it Intel for forever. You know I mean I can remember what I just showed up on the leaderboards one time for getting some you know being high in a community of generating leads. I hadn't even made sales yet. That milestone I was running around the house in my underwear at 12 o'clock midnight. Everybody was sleeping. Who's the wild man now? Like the movie Rudy you know, like shut up. But I was like, I haven't made any money yet. But it was like that first. That first commission. You know, I actually happened to have right up here. Always, always not too far away. Isn't this interesting? I actually took a picture and I wonder if you did. Now I know your first commission probably wasn't a fiscal check. Can you see that?
CJ: Yeah.
Dave: So those were my first very first commissions. Now my very first commissions were about $2.50. Okay, very, very small. But I got the mail out in a check and looked at the grin on my face. I mean, that was a life changing defining moment, I think because it was a physical check and had my name on it. And I kept very, very few checks, if any up until that point that had my name on you know what I mean? So official, dude, you know, I wonder if you're taking pictures. How are you? Embracing the journey here at the beginning, do you realize how important it is to your overall journey over time?
CJ: Yeah, I'm in a couple of different communities, which is something I would stress to anybody that's listening to this like, get involved. This the affiliate marketing community legendaries community and affiliate marketing community as a whole was just like, there are so many people that have got your back and if you get stuck that that will help you but yeah, that's kind of thing it's just sharing it amongst peers and sharing your victories with each other and kind of helping each other. Sharing it that way. And then going back to that that small commission that you said you got, that is it's kind of a roller coaster, you know that the big Commission's great you know, you get that it's good, but you know, getting the first lead and then you get 100 leads and you're getting small commissions. It's like that emotion, it's just kind of rising and rising and then when you hit that heartache, and it's just like you say that it's hard to really explain it to you do it, but if there's been where they haven't got that just keep grinding the process works. And there's sometimes people just stick it here and stick to the process, but stick to the process. There's a lot of people that have made a lot of money with this process. But yeah, I just tried to screenshot stuff, keep stuff I have a Google Drive that I just keep things like that and to go back and share with other people. You know, talking to somebody else and they're having doubts or whatever about No, I'm just a regular electrician I'm not a not a sales guy with zero sales background. I don't. It's not always that I didn't want to be in sales. Sales seemed scammy or slimy. You know, like a used car salesman or something along those lines. I never thought of myself being in sales or marketing or anything. So if I can do it, that would be the biggest message. If I can do it, anybody can do I know that's one of your things, too. You preach a lot to that. You know if you can do it, anybody can but I'm the same way. I've always worked from my hands. And to be doing this is amazing.
Dave: Yeah, yeah. I like your name Blue Collar Breakthrough. You guys can check him out on TikTok. Let me get your arrows from yesterday. Blue Collar Breakthrough. All right. Got it. So that's you. You've got a modest following out there on TikTok as well. You know, another thing that I talked with Sarah yesterday about Sarah who started, you know, four months ago is quitting her job now, and she has a modest following as well of I think 34,000 followers on TikTok, which can happen overnight nowadays. It's insane. So what's your message to people who think that they need a list of 100,000 people and hundreds of 1000s of followers onTikTok to be able to make you know, significant income as something that's, you know, something that's worthy of putting in the work.
CJ: For me I started with zero following. I mean, I didn't have an email list. I didn't have my first social or real so other than the little goofy videos here and there but I started the blue collar break through TikTok when I took Legendary and then start the TikTok then I started in October I think was my first video, a post it's I mean, I'm proof that I started use the process and went with it. You don't have to have it and all it takes is one person locking your message and there's your first commission and then your second cause will come with the second person. It's really that easy. Just bigger sales, spread your message and there I think that was another big aha moment. I know we're getting a little off track with that. But well, thinking you know, nobody wants to hear my story. You know, I haven't done anything, haven't done anything great and it's something talking to people in the community. You will be surprised when you start to share your story. How many people relate to your story, whatever it is, when, wherever your background is just be yourself and share your story. And then you'll find people like you. And that's the cool thing about social media and the way that algorithms work is if you're being honest and sharing your story. It's like the community just kind of develops around your story. And whatever it is you have to share. And then you build that no luck trust factor, you know, just sharing your story and people like what you have and that's going to make them want to take your advice on whatever it is that you're promoting.
Dave: And I think that one thing that's cool for a guy like you who does have expertise in a certain vertical is that, you know, you hear a lot of people on our show, of course as affiliates for legendary and so forth. But, and that's fine. I mean a lot of people get started and just because they love our training, love our community, love our stuff and just want to share with people it doesn't mean that's the only thing that people do. But what I also wondered if you could just touch on is seeing the opportunity in to use the skill sets in any niche for example, how to help electricians learn faster, be safer, and be more earn more at their job or how to grow an electrician business how to get more leads, for your, for your contractor business. Do you see how these skills are what I call transferable skills, and unlike many degrees that we might get in college or something or even going as an electrician, you know, those some of the skills are transferable. But quite frankly, if you're going to move into a new vertical, you're going to have to learn that trade all over again. Whereas the skills that you're learning here, can transfer into so many different places. Even if you know that if you know God came down from the heavens and said CJ you can never do affiliate marketing ever again. But you can use these skills any other way that you want. They transfer over into hundreds of different other ways. Have you begun to see that power and how would you describe that for somebody who thinks that is new and thinks that Oh, I can only use this to promote Legendary or something similar?
But yeah, absolutely not just promote Legendary there. I mean, if you really get out there, I tell people all the time, Google, whatever you can think of that you would buy and then affiliate program and there's I mean, you can literally whatever you're interested in if you're interested in you know soccer if you're a sock, you could sell soccer balls. So you can build a whole business around whatever you want to do using these skills. But then, I mean, there's a lot of people that have made millions of dollars doing this. It's just marketing agencies just doing exactly what you said, you know, no matter what product you have, if you can't get your product out to people and nobody knows about it, you're not you know, it goes back to what you said in the beginning with a mom and pop store. If all they're selling is the only people that know their businesses, friends and family, they're not gonna be in business. So, you know if you took these skills and you bill you know, you got a wedding to pay downs or or grant Ganic traffic and run and push ads out for an electrical company or a plumbing company or whatever. Those companies don't stay in business if they don't make sales. And that's what this is doing and it's marketing the sales you can literally use it on anybody that has to sell anything the skills can be used. So this process is absolutely processed.
Dave: And you know more specifically, can you see this image again? Yeah, the core for what I'm somewhat against is the kind of marketing agencies that have been taught online over the past few years, as you know, fads and gimmicks by people like Tai Lopez and stuff. I don't think the ties are particularly bad, but it's not easy to run an agency. You know, because what you're doing is you're going out and you're getting clients and you're having to get those clients and you're serving those clients. But what is a lot more I'm not gonna say easy but a lot more simple. is to create a course for a contractor to show them how to get more leads. And I think this is what I want everybody to really understand is these core four ways to sell information. Selling information is a lot different than selling services. selling services means that you're going to hire me to run your ads or something like that, where I'm going to be a marketing agency. And the power of the core four is that these are the four different ways to package information and you could do it in any vertical, any niche and it allows you to deliver that information or of course as an affiliate, sell somebody else's information. And you're just delivering the content on say a zoom where you're delivering the content on say pre recorded videos, and there's no delivery meaning that you don't have to do anything for the client after that. That's the real power. And of course, if we talk about affiliate marketing, CJ, I mean, the power of affiliate marketing is the fact that you know, the only thing you're focusing on is the marketing and you don't even have to do customer support, have any merchant processing or anything. So there's so many levels to what we teach here at Legendary and I think that the more that you all for listening, just stick around, the bigger your visions going to get in, the more that you're going to understand what you can do with this information both as an affiliate but also if you want to sell your own information and the fact that you can do any niche, the same principles apply. Those never change. It's just what niche vertical Do you want to be in?
CJ: And yeah, the coaching side of it too. is another big aha moment of just realizing how valuable the skills are. You're learning by doing this. I've already made money in coaching. been at this for three months and you're not an expert by any means. But you're always just a little bit ahead of somebody else and people will pay you for that knowledge. So that's another one of the core forces that you can use. And I'm using it on a weekly basis just every time I learn something, that's something I can pass on to somebody else and they'll pay you for it because it's valuable information. So, like you said, using those core four you can really build a good business and good brand.
Dave: Well bro, keep up the great work man. I mean, just you know I'm really proud of you love to see guys who are hard working guys like me, like my father is like like many men in my family are who are who are you know, not limiting themselves who are open minded who realize and remember that, you know, we you know, from generation to generation, we can change directions, it's okay. And we might even be doing future generations a huge favor by doing so. So I just really got a lot of respect for you. I know that you're going to change a lot of people's lives. And congrats on starting from scratch and building what you've built so far. And just kicking a lot of ass, stay Legendary, my brother.
CJ: Yeah, man, I appreciate you having me on and hopefully next I talk to you it will be at one of your masterminds.
Dave: Sounds good, man. All right, brother. We'll have a Good Friday. I'll talk to you soon, see ya. My friends you can go follow CJ at @bluecollarbreakthrough just exactly spelled how it sounds. Go check him out on TikTok, lift him up, and support him. You know, the best way to support somebody is to leave them a comment to like their stuff. Now. We don't always support people just by direct messaging. You know, that creates more work for them. But by lifting up their content, you know, commenting on great stuff, really love your, you know, liking their stuff, like lifting people up in providing them supporting them with social proof. And then the more people you do that within this community on their content, the more they're going to do it back on your content, which we really can help each other out a lot by doing that. It's a big strategy that you may add to your game plan just today just by doing things like that. But more so than anything getting to the training. If you're not in the blueprints we're just doing a decade in a day today. For all of our new blueprint students are so powerful to game changing. I mean, Sarah, who was on the show yesterday, if you didn't listen to that episode, go back and listen to that she you know, I asked her, you know, how are you quitting your job in four months, she said, literally went into the blueprints followed exactly what it said and took action on that. And so don't over complicate it. Do not overcomplicate it, my friends, and please remember also what CJ and I talked about that there's nothing more powerful there's nothing that's going to change your life more than when you earn that first commission and when you do it'll never be the same again. Alright, you'll never be able to unsee or annfield that so keep working until that happens. And then I promise you you won't need any more motivation. Alright, have a great weekend. Be Legendary, my friends. We'll see you back here for yet another episode on Monday. Check us out you can go listen to these episodes on podcasts just look us up. Wake Up Legendary. You can check all the past episodes on the Facebook page. We even upload them to my YouTube channel. And please text WUL the letters WUL to the number on your screen. So you can get a reminder for us to go live every single day and just click a link and join us. All right, WUL to 813-296-8553. All right. I'll talk to you later, my friends. Get out of here. Have a great day.
