Below is the transcription for this episode:
Dave: Hey what's going on my friends? It's your boy Dave sharp Welcome to wake up legendary. Hopefully everybody's doing fantastic I know that I am and this morning we have a fantastic guest a familiar face and a familiar name have seen him around marketing in the in the industry here for some years I think excited to to to catch up with him hear his story you can see from the headline he finally ditched the MLMs and built his online digital marketing business. And here's why. Nate Welcome to the show, brother. Hey. You doing man? Good to see you good to is this the first time we've talked
Nate: We've probably talked once before at an event very, very subtle, very short, but not too much. Okay, great, man.
Dave: Well good to see you. How did you get involved with Legendary How did you tell us your story here and give us a little bit of background before we get into you know what you're doing right now so people can get a little familiar with who you are and what you've been through. What did you do with MLM before this and why Legendary? Why this business model on the skills and why now?
Nate: Yeah, absolutely. Well, first off, thanks for having me. I started my first MLM back in 2011. So we're, you know, over a decade now, and that was the start of the entrepreneur journey. Basically just you know, wanting that financial freedom back then it was a different world. I think back then, they weren't talking about what they were talking about now working from home, having an online business, all that good stuff and, you know, long story short, over the, you know, over the course of the next few years, I've done multiple MLMs a couple affiliate programs also did drop shipping as well when it was hot. You know, doing like 2015 2016 did well with half and then my most recent MLM, if you want to call it network marketing, if you want to call it direct sale. I joined that company twice. So the first time I built it to a high rank wasn't resonating with the people I work with. And then I joined again and then I got a higher rank from now on. And so now I'm building it, because the thing is for me, I'm not want to have shiny object syndrome, but the thing is, you know, a lot of opportunity that was a part of forcing my hand so basically getting evicted even though you are paying your rent on time.
Dave: Right right well that's the MLM game you know that.
Nate: Now you know now you know it's heartbreaking because you put all you know, you your heart and soul into a company you want to be able to get between for yourself and your family. And then it comes crashing down. And, you know, the last one that I did, same company, of course, I just got burnt out. I was running a community on my own, you know, software, stuff like that, and it was just so much work because I would do it all on my own. And it's just a lot of work and training people you know, dragging them along, you know, they have questions, but they don't do anything with the information that you give them. Stuff like that. And you know, 2020 Because I've known I've been watching you from afar, but you know, I've always been doing my own thing, even when, you know, when you did join him back in 2017 Something like that. And April of 2020 So about two years ago, I decided that I wanted to just sign up for an affiliate account with Legendary. And it went dormant for two years so I did nothing with it because I didn't want to have it in my back pocket just in case. On the lines of you know, affiliate commission will be the same no longer will happen $30 A month and everybody will have that equal opportunity. That day I got emails when I started promoting my funnels and had emailed everything ready to go. And that was the birth of TikTok that week too as well. And it was good timing because there was a five days field challenge a week after when I decided to, you know, go in with Legendary. And I just, you know, every day I'm waking up and thinking about, like, how easy it is now. I mean, actually, let me take that back, actually how simple it is now compared to back then, I mean, back then, there were no Click Funnels, you had to build your own WordPress website, you had to make your own graphics. You had to create your own automation, whatever that was in your head at that time. And it was it was challenging because, you know, a lot of it would just heavily rely on email marketing, which is nothing not to say anything bad about email marketing, because it's still the king today, you know, as we speak, but you have social media outlets, whatever, like distribution outlets of getting the word out.
Dave: Put it on steroids, put the message on steroids, basically, is what it's doing. I mean, Facebook now I think back to the past. Well, ever since Facebook was in existence, you only could advertise to the people that accepted your friend, period and you could only advertise on your business page to the people who liked your page. And do you remember when over the years that reach has gone down and down and down and now you post something to a business page? And you're like you're lucky to get anybody to see it? Now this real thing, TikTok changed the game because they created an app that pushed creators content out to the cold audience, not just the people who said I want to see it, but to everybody and give everybody a chance to at least look at it and then determine if they like it and want to comment and then TikTok we'll push it even further. But then when Instagram and Facebook followed suit with their reels, so now the short form video opportunity, which is similar to the opportunity with YouTube, right YouTube's always been the king. But now and why is YouTube the king folks? Well, because you place a video on that platform in YouTube continues to push it to new people. That's why it's the case in TikTok. And Instagram and Facebook now have this dysfunction function or this feature that will allow you to post not a big name, not a 15 minute video. I mean, I think the beauty is we don't have to talk for 15 minutes in our video anymore. They've made it so simple, and they've trained an entire global audience to be addicted to watching these short little 15 to 32nd videos. And for a marketer like you, for a marketer like me, you know, it's obviously completely changed the game and somebody who's coming in brand new. They don't know how easy they got it, although I don't want to be the old curmudgeon who's like got it. But it really is so different. It's so powerful. And the opportunity is so amazing. I think even if you're in, somebody said it the other day on a show, if you're going to be on social media anyways. Why not leverage and make a little money or a lot or a lot, you know, so that is you seeing the same opportunity and would you describe kind of what you're doing now how are you approaching marketing having some experience and in understanding, you know how to how to communicate with people. I mean, you've been doing email marketing, at the very least, and you've been using social media and I think blogs to generate traffic and so talk about your marketing strategies.
Nate: So in the past, you know, before social media was the thing, when you know, like I'll kind of go back to MLM and network marketing, network marketing going online instead of you know, doing the offline method is that fan blog with a big thing and having to work better and yourself attraction marketing. Added to today's very brand new last days and now one of our ways of attracting new leads just has to have your own website to have your own blog and then also by long form content when the form of love to give out the information. What's interesting now is because back then, you know people laugh, there's like social media or that even when Facebook was, you know, born like you know, back in was the mid 2000s is like you know what people are saying about TikTok now, kids, but they were saying that about Facebook back in the day, too. Yeah, same thing for Twitter.
Dave: For all these things, work for somebody else, you know, it's hard for people to adapt. It's hard for people to do new things, learn new things. So how are you, somebody who's been doing it? You're doing videos, you're on TIkTok. We shared your link. So how is somebody who's traditionally always done blogging? You've primarily done blogging for the most part, right?
Nate: Up until this point, I've done long form videos like you've seen, you know, buying the fancy equipment, the fancy equipment, having fancy editing tools.
Dave: I talk about it because it's hard for me you know, but I do it every day I'm not on any professional stuff. But man, do you get the closet full with all the equipment that you thought you needed that you did now? It's like only the shit. Very, very expensive camera, the tripod, the fancy lighting, you know what I mean? And that's and that's why I hated that.
Nate: Yeah, and it's funny because back in those days, you know, when YouTube started kind of popping up, you felt like you had to compete with other YouTubers because they had fancy cameras, right? They had and, and I'll even say this about YouTube, YouTube. I mean, this kind of PSA announcement to all the platforms where they thought they had it. They thought they were kind of like what blockbuster was the Netflix you know, I mean, they thought like, nobody can touch us, you know what I mean? And they're not no one's safe. Let's put it that way. There's no known safe and you know, going back on the fancy, you know, the camera, the lenses, having the wide angle making sure that you get the blue background, I mean, all that stuff, who does a lot of work and, and then on top of that, you have to be put in that image management. You know what I mean? It's all bullshit.
Why just sit in front of an old dirty wood wall every day? No Lambos, no bank accounts. No bullshit. No diamonds, just, content, just values, just stories. You know what I mean? All I do is listen to stories all day long and then tell stories. I listen to YouTube channels. Like soft white underbelly where they interview drug addicts and prostitutes and in what day? Why would you want to listen to that? Because I like to understand people. I like to develop my empathy. I like to, you know, listen to people's stories, and that's something right now. That's not changed. The platforms have changed. But the strategies in which we can come, you know, both attract, but also then convert people into customers has not changed and I've been telling the same stories for 10 years. And I'm, you know, maybe interesting to somebody at first but then they realize, and this guy is pretty consistent and pretty boring and pretty does the same thing year after year. What stayed the same for you? What are some of the things that worked, whether it be a story that you tell, or a way in which you describe something? What is still the same with all these differences like the game has changed right? In so many ways, but what's still the same, what do people need to like? What can you tell that will never change? You know what I mean? Because people get so afraid that Oh, I might miss something or the new things gonna pop up. And I just found myself not needing to really pay attention to all the tech features and functions and all that. I just go wherever it's hot, and I just start telling my story. And I've just told that same story for 10 years, but I wonder if you can point out a few things that have stayed the same for you and ease people's nerves a little bit about the fact that you know, technology may change but the principles don't.
Dave: Yeah, you know, back then I was preaching the same method, you know, work from home. There's always better options out there. You know, there's always a better way, you know, what I mean? The workforce, even though you know, we went into kind of like a telecommuting situation after the pandemic. But you know, how people work when our parents and our grandparents work is no different than it is now. You don't have the same toxicity, you have the same politics. So where I'm going with that is kind of like, you know, we watch a movie right? But back in the day there were movie theaters and drives to the VHS and the VCR came out and I was still watching movies. And then that became DVDs and lasers. desk and then now we're streaming. So when it comes to marketing, don't send the same message but still kind of going, growing and evolving with the world. I would say another good point too, is marketing and doing direct mail right when our parents were sending out you know, postcards and letters, but it was doing copywriting and like copywriting has a Kindle. It just kind of, you know, went on to the next platform, whatever. In a way right or electronic became or was made to be electronic versus just, you know, a physical where you had to write it out and send it. I think that's, you know, being the major invention that changed mankind in less than 30 years or whatever is just how all that stuff's kind of become digital and people get freaked out by that. But you're right. And that analogy, I'll tell you the other thing that hasn't changed. This still works just as well as when I started using analogies like you just did. Yeah. Are you always good at that? Or or is that something that you've developed? Because I find analogies and stories and like parables, even what you would read in religious texts and so forth, would be more concerned parables, I guess. But MapReduce in stories I find to be the most powerful marketing tools that I have. And I thought that analogy you just used was really, really powerful. Do you do that a lot and and, you know, Could you share any insight or experience you have on, you know, using analogies and stories?
Nate: Yeah, well, we've been doing it. I even do it offline too when I'm out and about and analogy and analogies are kind of like a way to connect with the people right. So sometimes, you know, human beings maybe our egos might get in the way for me, the egos are always at the door, but let me do all the other things and, you know, that is my way of relating to people. I mean, I think people want to sound smart and you don't think they know more than you do. For me, it doesn't matter whether you have discipline disadvantages, you're this age, this age, I want to be relatable, and that could be in a form of one on one just like you and I email and then also do that with the videos as well. Yeah, dumb it down. Make sense?
Dave: Exactly. Dumb it down and use an analogy that two people can relate to like if you're up talking to you know, you're out talking to some tribes somewhere, some native tribe in whether it be in America or Africa or South America, whatever you're talking to a native tribe, you're not going to use you can't use examples of modern times back in Chicago for these people. You got to use an analogy about maybe something that's relevant to them, you know, like if you're explaining something you would relate it to maybe their land or things that they're familiar with. And I think that's the most important thing. Somebody who comes online. They have no experience in affiliate marketing, no experience in email marketing, no experience with sales funnels, and you're not in your videos at some point relating things to them or always trying to relate it to them. Meaning, like you just said, dumb it down. Keep it simple. Don't Don't you know, I think you're right. A lot of us want to sound smart. Don't do it. It's your ego, man. I mean, just dumb it down. Keep it simple, and you'll be more relatable and I think also less intimidating. Can you talk about that? I think that a lot of times when we use professional equipment we try to sound too smart and we try to use too many technical terms to make it relatable to the listener who usually has no experience of what the hell we're talking about. You know, if we really can get away but there's, you know, what, what, uh, you know, how can you speak on that a little bit? Well, just, you know, when you have somebody we're trying to simplify it. So we're bringing people you know, we're talking we're using, you know, we're using analogies, I guess, what are some of the other ways that you can relate to people or what are some of the things that you've done, even if it's been specific videos or specific, you know, like a lot of people have a little thing that they do that that really is a powerful? Is there anything that you took you know, 10 years, that you're still doing that works really well besides like art do like on your tiktoks Do you use visuals do you use props at all? Are there any other tricks of the trade that you found really powerful or helpful?
Nate: Yeah, one thing I always want to keep in mind is that I always want to be interested instead of interesting, too. I always make it about them instead of myself. So perspectives are important to me because I want to understand where they're coming from. So that's when listening becomes a superpower that I believe it's a skill set that can help you benefit in the business. So when I'm able to, you know, listen to them I can also give back what they're speaking to me so you know, sometimes when you're when you're speaking to someone, like you know, like Legend day if they want to kind of you want to understand where they're coming from because not everybody who entered this arena has the same experience. So you have to be mindful that sometimes we forget what in our own daily world we do and I think are sometimes brand new people like we were 10 years ago, and that's all always a kind reminder to myself to think about where I was when you know when they first like being in the shoe. So analogies you know, being able to listen to what they say and then really listen to what they say not just to hear and go okay, I know what you're saying. I know what to say no, really listen to it. You know, feel the energy, know where they're coming from, visualize where they're coming from, too as well. That helps out a lot. At least for me. Yeah, and again, I just mentioned that YouTube channel soft white underbelly, it's really hard to watch that content because it's people off Skid Row. We disguise pulling in and interviewing. And, and yeah, developing that empathy. What is empathy, it's really connecting with where somebody's at right now and trying to understand what they're going through. And way too many marketers have no empathy. Just have zero empathy, zero interest in listening, zero interest in it's not an interest. It's a skill set. It's a skill. I should take that back. It's not interesting. It's it's they've not developed that muscle. And that muscle is a muscle that sometimes comes with maturity, I guess, but it can be taught you can learn it now. Whether you're 18 or whether you're 80. And it's your what you're talking about is similar to what Warren Buffett says would delight the customer at all costs, delight the customer, right and that could mean delighting the customer by listening to aid to you know, or reading a gripe or like you say asking them and checking in with them or trying to do things to over serve them, you know, over deliver to them. Why? Well because it's hard for people because you got to make it not just because, you know, it's part of your program, but because you want to over deliver for them because you know, it's hard out there in your heart because you've developed empathy. And that's, I think, this is so important in 2022 and beyond, because there's going to be less and less balls of bullshit between us I guess, for lack of better terms, and we are going to be closer to each other in our content. You know, right now, there's never been a more transparent way to connect with people all across the world. You can really kind of get a sense you can even sense people's energy and kind of get to know their personality. Because it's pretty raw, it's just being done on your cell phone. It's just, I mean, even right now, this is just done on a couple of webcams. It's like you're sitting here, you know, so, the reason why I do this every day is to serve it's to overdeliver you know, when the big P popped up in March 2020 Right in the world freaked out. You know what I did, what I thought about was, hey, everybody's going to be freaking out. Oh, can I get up in the face? of my community and do something to let them know that we're not going anywhere. And that was my move as an entrepreneur as the CEO. I had to act to over serve at that moment. And so I started going live every day with a client and that's how this started. And then we just never stopped because we're like, oh shit. We don't want to take something away. So really, really over delivering for people and showing the empathy and like you say using the analogies that dumb it down and make it simple for them. Combined with that delighting the customer is that my brother, I think are the principles, you know that I think like the question to my answer is complete because those are the principles that never change. Would you agree?
Nate: Absolutely. 100% Yeah.
Dave: So what's next? Where do you see things are you going to try to build up a huge following on all the platforms from short form video? Are you still feeding content to your blogs and so forth?
Nate: Yeah, so I had a few accounts that had been dormant kind of collecting dust and you know, in the in the hallways, you know, I mean, so now I'm just now dusting them off and getting back so what I'm doing with them we put this in all of my tick tock and even though tick tock is kind of kind of like I kind of look at tick tock now because I know when tick tock was blowing up in 2020, but now they're becoming much bigger, kind of reminding me of what Facebook ads was back in 2014. And before it's not as big of a deal, right? The new people who have never seen how a platform matures are like oh my god, you know it must be a trend it must be over now but continue and speak that game. Yeah, because it would kind of like TIkTok would be like the wild wild west. You can get away with anything. You could rob a bank and walk out in broad daylight. But Facebook ads back in the day did the same thing. Everybody was on Facebook and then guess what happened? Was it 2017 2018 People can ban people, disabled people, businesses getting wiped overnight because they relied on one platform instead. Of being omnipresent on other platforms. And I see that a lot. Because they're coming they're laying down the hammer. A lot of folks you know, they're putting people in jail. Right now I'm polo with an ankle bracelet. You know me because I water out now. I went super aggressive the first week and then TikTok was like, no, no, no. And then they put me in jail. I mean, not even a month. TikTok already put me in jail. And then now I've kind of been watched by the Tick Tock police at the moment.
Dave: Yeah. Look, before Facebook brother. It was Google back in 2009. In 2010 did the same thing. Let me give you a brief history lesson. When I came online, everybody was making money hand over fist with Google ads. This was 2009 ish. And you could just take any old affiliate offer, run a Google ad. There the search results right on that when you do a Google search. It says ad right by those top three results. Those are Google ads. That's where Google makes its billions of dollars from people like us who pay to just have our little link put up there. And people were promoting multiple affiliate offers or the same, you know, the same offer was like on every ad from different affiliates. So it was getting just, you know, it was getting flooded with similar offers, right? Because, as Gary Vaynerchuk says, if you read any of his stuff, and he's the man, I mean, I don't, I don't hustle as hard as Gary does. I don't think so, but he's been talking about these things for a long time. He's been talking about these things for a long time. And he's been talking about just posting and he's been talking about all this kind of stuff. I mean, it's a very, very consistent message. But he also says marketers ruin everything that they do. Right? Marketers ruin everything, not in this industry, but in every industry. Okay? Why? Because marketers are the ones who are putting out the messaging. We're the ones who are okay, so you know, of course we're going to when there's something hot pounce on it, and get everything we can out of it. So anyways, that cools down a little bit. What's the next thing? Facebook, Facebook ads, Facebook ads, so when I got started, Facebook ads were just coming up. That's exactly how I got my start promoting MLM errs training as an affiliate on how to do attraction marketing and how to generate leads online. instead of chasing friends and family that was my whole way I got started. So Facebook ads, then Facebook got so big that what happened. They got a lot of attention. So they had to start cutting back but every company gets a star, like by being the wild wild west where everybody can come over and do whatever they want on the platform because the platform is new, the platform has to figure out okay, what's ruining us, you know, and and so now tiktoks going through that maturing stage, and so the new person is is might be saying to themselves, Oh, it's over, or I knew it was saturated, or I knew it was a trend. I see that chatter all the time and I don't know. I don't say I haven't seen it on our Facebook group friends. We tell you something about that. Nate’s not worried about that oh geez in the Kmart worried about that. Why? Because we've been through this so many times before and guess what? It's going to keep happening. And the only thing that you need to know it or keep an eye out for is the new opportunity. The next opportunity and the net and what's what's weird and then I want to hear your opinion on this too. Is it sometimes it'll be back with a previous platform that just sort of like it is now with Facebook? Right where they busted out this real thing, which was just a copy of what Tiktok did. And now all of a sudden it's hot again, right?
Nate: Yeah, and you know, it did the show. You can never get to copy even though you're on top of the world. You got to stay on top of the world. You can't you can't let your guard down. And it's just the show, like you said about the new opportunity. I mean, we've been talking about this whole conversation. The messaging never changes, but the platform does right. So what's next after TikTok, whatever that is, you know, you just take that same messaging that you've always been doing and you just moving on to that level of kind of like you were saying earlier, making everything digital going from VHS VHS to, you know, DVDs and blu rays going from the landline to the smartphone moving with the times.
Dave: Lori says people keep telling me, you know, people keep there's the key word. People keep telling me. I've said this before, but don't believe them. You know, I mean, if somebody tells you something you should just not believe them. That should be your automatic response. Because I think we, you know, we're too, we're too receptive of everybody's input and advice and most of all their opinions right now, their opinions. Final question to you and you can of course, share any other thing you'd like to add before we wrap up. But my last question to you is, how do you make this stuff thicker? How do you make this stuff thicker? So every time you get a nasty comment, or every time somebody gives you an opinion, right? Like, what are you doing? And I'm sure this happened a lot when you first got started and who knows. It still may happen in your life. I don't know. But people can be political, people can be cynical. People can mock people for ridicule, people are rude and mean and they project their own hurt and pain onto other people and that's where the criticism and a lot of times we can take that, you know, to heart, especially when somebody makes a comment about our business, which is very important to us. And so how do you deal with people's opinions? I thought that that was just a great comment. You know, people keep telling me so how do you deal with people's opinions? And how also, do you deal with hateful comments, in ridicule or anything else that's coming negative out there from the world through your content or via friends and family?
Nate: The first thing that came to mind is and this is it took a long time to realize it because we grow up in a system where we're taught protecting personnel, you know, no one ever teaches you to to take care, nobody ever tells you to, you know, do the way you look at hateful comments to ignore them. And you know, what I always tell myself is like, what they think of me is none of my business. And I believe that it is a dual perspective projected onto me, so whatever they're saying to me or riding on you know, a particular video or whatever content, that they're really projecting, really talking about themselves. That's the way I look at it, because why else would they make that common data frame of reference, they don't just think of just out of out of thin air they think of it because something that based on the video trigger them to pink in that for them to make a comment and something in the past has, you know, made them think that way?
Dave: Yeah, somebody? Yeah, somebody's looking to hurt you, you know, great, Laurie. Hey, I'm glad that you're not letting those people's opinions. Your dedication is built on their ideas. I love that. I love that your dedication is built on a stronger foundation and that is absolutely true for you too. I mean, there's no doubt about that, man. I mean, you are. You're not only you're not only doing something as you know, 10 years in the game is a long time, brother. That's not easy. You know, it's not easy to do anything for 10 years, but to be an entrepreneur and to still be in the game and to be able to have adapted you know, what I mean, to have adapted to all the things that have changed over the years and what we just went through the last couple of years with the big P the big, you know, C 19. Man Wow. You know, but that there's a silver lining isn't there because the good thing that's come out of all this stuff over the last couple of years, is back before it all happened? Nobody wanted to work from home. They all thought it was a scam. And now everybody wants to work from home. All right, my man. Well, listen, hey, absolutely. Brilliant, beautiful to catch up. And looking forward to maybe another one if you'd be willing to come back and join me for a round two. Absolutely. You're Welcome brother, be well Bye my friends. You can follow Nate on TikTok. His handle is @follownate. All right, my friends. Another great conversation to end a great week.
Legendary week in 5000 possible that's what that tells me. That's what that reminds me of that anything's possible and anything's possible in your life too. And, you know, every single day we have somebody new, not a guru, not a not a famous person, not a you know, not an influencer. I don't know what a lot of these terms really mean. But, just a real person who's got a real life and a real family or real issues that they've dealt with and overcame, and they're doing the very same exact thing that you're building towards doing right now. And that is what matters to me. Not smoke and mirrors, not bullshit conversations with you know, leaders of industry. I want to talk about what it takes to get up and get running right now today on August 26 2022. How can I make my first dollar online and feel good about it, not feel bad about it, not feel guilty about it, but feel good about it? That's what we talked about here every day. And that's what we're about here every day at legendary, so stay Legendary, make this weekend, either very restful, so you can be ready next week or productive so you can catch up with anything that you're behind on now and we'll see you back here for another episode on Monday.
