Branding Matters

How to Create Compelling Content with Ray Higdon (The Higdon Group)

• Branding Badass • Episode 49

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My guest today is Ray Higdon - Top Keynote Speaker, Co-Creator of the Play To Win Reality Show and Co-Founder of The Higdon Group - one of Inc. 5000 fastest growing companies in the U.S.

Ray is a two-time best-selling author and former #1 income-earner in a network marketing company he joined while in personal foreclosure.  He's also a sought-after speaker and has shared the stage with Tony Robbins and Grant Cardone, along with many others. 

I invited Ray to be a guest on my show to talk about his unbelievable story. I wanted to learn what motivates him to pay it forward and help others. And I was curious to get his POV on the role branding plays in the success of his business.

💥IF YOU WANT HELP GETTING YOUR CLIENTS TO FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR BRAND,  REACH OUT TO ME ON SOCIAL AT BRANDING_BADASS OR EMAIL ME AT JGOODSON@GENUMARK.COM

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About Me
Hey there, I'm Joelly - the Branding Badass. My BADASS superpower is helping you build a brand that matters. From branded merch to keynote speaking, when you work with me, you get results!

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Joelly Goodson :

Hi, I'm Joelly, your Branding Badass, and welcome to season two of Branding Matters. Today is my very first show of the new year. And I wanted to celebrate by having on a guest who, when I first launched a year ago today was one of the first people I reached out to to have on my show, and it took a year, but I'm going to tell you, it was so so worth it. His name is Ray Higdon. And Ray is a top keynote speaker, co creator of the Play To Win reality show and co founder of the Higdon Group, one of Inc 5000 fastest growing companies in the US. Ray is also a two time best-selling author and former number one income earner in a network marketing company he joined while, get this,he was in personal foreclosure. He's also a sought after speaker and has shared the stage with Tony Robbins and Grant Cardone, along with many others. I invited Ray to be a guest on my show today to talk about his unbelievable story. And I have to stress it is really unbelievable, and wait til you hear it. I wanted to learn what motivates him to pay it forward, and why he's so determined to help others. And I was curious to get his point of view on the role branding plays in the success of the business. Ray, I am beyond thrilled to have you here today. Welcome to Branding Matters.

Ray Higdon:

Thanks for having me.

Joelly Goodson :

It's really great to have you here. Just a quick backstory before we get right into it. I was introduced to you back in 2017. I had gone through some personal things, and I started a side business. And somebody had recommended that I go to this online group called Rank Makers. And then you know, I really knew nothing about you. I knew nothing about the industry, I knew nothing. And I was just blown away by just how authentic and real you were right from the get go. And you just, you're not that good of an actor I don't think, so I knew it had to be real. And I was really impressed by that. And let's be honest, there's tons and tons of trainers out there everybody on social media, and you just stood out because of that authenticity and that realness and your passion. And I decided to launch this podcast, and I wrote a list of who I wanted, you are at the top of my list. And I don't know if you remember when I reached out to you about that. And I said, Hey, I'm sorry, a podcast, you probably don't even know me. But would you consider being guests, and you're applied? And you said congrats. And when you reach 50 episodes, like, let me know. And we stayed in touch. And here we are. So I'm just completely honored and flattered and blown away by you being here. So thank you. My pleasure. And congratulations on being on Inc 5000 fastest growing companies in the US. That is pretty impressive. Were you surprised about that?

Ray Higdon:

You know, I didn't really know how it worked, you know, you submit your financials. And you know, they compare you against all the other companies. And so it was it was pretty cool, for sure. Very cool. Well, congrats on that. So you and your wife, Jessica, you've been referred to as two of the hardest working most consistent, most likeable public figures in the network marketing space. Do you know that? I'll take it. You've got millions of faithful followers, and one of the fastest growing online education companies that we just talked about. So before we dive into all that you talk a lot about your wife and how important she is in your life. Can you share how you guys met? Yeah, so I had been through divorce when I lost everything in real estate, not that the two were exactly, you know, mutual, but it happened. They both happened right around that same time. And then I was engaged, then disengaged. And I was in this period of my life where I wasn't in a relationship and I just hated the dating scene. And my buddy, my best friend actually told me he goes, Hey, man, you should come and pitch your marketing consulting to company that I work at. And there's a really cute Secretary here. I'm like, Okay, I go there, and you know, meet her we go out on a date. And because I've lost everything, I was a little messed up mentally. But then one day, she went into work, and she I knew she went into work and she was sick. And so I brought her some soup and tea and just, you know, little things, and I liked doing that kind of thing. And so I brought it in and she was so grateful. She started crying. It was the most overwhelming feeling I'd probably ever had. And so like that's what I knew. I was absolutely totally in love with her. Wow, y'all been married as of last month. 10 years.

Joelly Goodson :

That's amazing. Congratulations. Well, I mean, it's clearly obvious that you guys are in loan you respect each other so much. It's great to see so you mentioned bit about your childhood. I want to back up for a sec in your book time money freedom which I have great book by way that you both wrote together, you're very, very open again, this is your personality. I see it online and you're very open in your book, you know, you share a lot about your childhood. And in your book, you recall a time when you were on a family drive, and your stepmother asked who's hungry. And I think your dad said he was and someone else in the car, your maybe one of your siblings said they were and then said, I am too. Can you share both that story because as a mother of two kids, that story really touched me. And not only that, but also how your childhood has impacted your life today.

Ray Higdon:

Yeah. So I remember we were outside of a restaurant. And you know, I think my dad asked the question of, hey, who's hungry? And you know, my stepmom answered, I could eat. And then my stepsister said I could eat. And then, you know, I'm just trying to fit in, I say, I could eat. And at that point, my stepmom was like, well, we just have we have food at home, let's just go home. And so whatever. Okay, so we go home, and she beat the hell out of me, because I wasn't meant to have an opinion I was the correct answer that I should have said was I'm not hungry. And that should be my answer. Always, regardless of reality, how old are you this kind of thing happened, you know, from four years old, up to 12. So if I had to guess I'd say, six, seven, maybe. And, for example, I would come home from school, and I'd have to stay outside by myself, play by myself until the sun came down, and then come inside, go to my room by myself play until, you know, they went too bad. And that was my life, I was not really a part of the family. I was just, you know, her punching bag pretty much. And that's how it was.

Joelly Goodson :

Wow, that's crazy. And then fast forward, there was another story that you shared, where you didn't trust anybody. And you went to your school and you trusted your guidance counselor, and then she betrayed your trust.

Ray Higdon:

Yeah. So with a lot of work, I determined why I had social anxiety and why I just didn't like it and personal with people, because I never knew what why am I that way. And so in the third grade, my teacher knew that something was wrong, something was off. And so she had me start meeting with a guidance counselor. And it was nice, I got to speak to somebody like, this is kind of cool. And so I start sharing some of the things that are going on at home, you know, some crazy stuff. And one day I show up for our meeting, and it's her, my dad and my stepmom. And she proceeds to tell them everything I've ever told her, because she thought it was too outrageous. And then I was just wanting more attention. And so that was one a very bad day. And two, that was the day that I stopped trusting anybody. And so when you don't trust anybody, well, then you just put up walls so that no one can get in. And if you just assume everyone's gonna betray you, then you're not surprised. But the problem is, you also show up energetically that way. So you actually look for people to betray you, which, you know, they'll typically fit your needs when you're looking for it. And so, you know, doing the work and digging in has allowed me to say, hey, wait a minute, that doesn't have to be a life sentence. I don't have to project my past on to everyone that's never cut me here, you know, whatever. And so doing that internal work, which is the hard work that's allowed me to change the dynamics around my relationships.

Joelly Goodson :

And that is the hard work, right? I mean, done, I'm sure. So how did all those experiences make you into Ray Higdon today. You went from not trusting and sharing to you're very open now. And you're very open in your book. You're very open online. What did you take me from that? And what's driving you to do what you're doing today? And how has that impacted your life today?

Ray Higdon:

I saw Jerry Seinfeld special, he was talking about his social anxiety. And he said, I can talk with all of you, but I can't talk with any of you. And what he meant was, you know, on stage, no problem, he would do whatever coming off that stage. I suspect he had some different issues in his life. And so I think the biggest moment that really impacted me and made me realize that I had to be different is I was asked to go and speak but when I was building network marketing team, I think it was 2010. And I was asked to go up and speak in Myrtle Beach. And so I go up there, and, you know, I'm just doing my thing, I do a presentation and I'm about to do a training and I get this overwhelming feeling to share the story about my dad, which I had never shared to anybody before. And so you know, I share in the story is that I went to a seminar, it was a three day seminar. And this was when I was dead broke personal foreclosure, million dollars in debt Chase, my bill collectors, sleeping on my buddy's couch, just a mess. I go to the seminar, hoping that I would learn how to make money, you know, or some kind of opportunity would show up. And what I got out of it was that it was important for me to repair a relationship or at least try to repair the relationship with my dad who I hadn't talked to in 13 years. He had never met my son who at that time, I think we're maybe eight, nine. And so I call them on day two. And I go up to Indiana to see him, you know, that was 2009. And I come back and one week later is when I find that network marketing company that I go on to become the number one income earner of. And so the lesson The reason I share that story is, you know, hey, sometimes when you let go of the past and let go of past resentment, new, amazing things show up in your life. And that's, that's what happened to me. And so I share that story. And I never shared it before. And as soon as I finished, the guy that invited me to speak, he's walking down the aisle with tears pouring down his face, like it was dramatic. And I mean, he's just like, you know, not little tears, like, he's, he's bawling. And I'm like, wow, you know, that really touched you. And he said, I can't believe you just shared that story. I haven't talked to my dad in 17 years. And tomorrow, I fly out for his funeral. Oh, my God. And so I'm like, Whoa, and back, then my first reaction to pretty much any kind of stimulus was blamed myself. And so my initial reaction back then now, I don't have that. But back then it was man, I was on a webinar with him a week ago, if I would have shared that, if I would have been so selfish. And I shared that he would have called his dad probably, you know, after processing for a second, it was like, You know what, I gotta be more vulnerable. And looking back, although I didn't know it at the time, that was a very pivotal moment for me, because that was when I realized that I needed to stop being Superman, I need to stop being perfect. And no problems here. You know, hustle, grind, and I needed to share some of those things, because it was going to help people. And so I've shared that story now for you know, 10 years, and I have hundreds of letters of emails of Facebook messages of people that have reconnected with moms, dads, sisters, brothers, sons, daughters. And interestingly enough, three of them, they reconnected with their father after many years of being apart. And shortly thereafter, the father died, wow, three times. So literally, they had to hear my story in this little time slice, had they not heard that story, they would not have made that and the father would have died and they were lost their opportunity. And so there's two quotes that really run my life right now. And that is help the person you used to be there's a lot of people I used to be, I used to be the workaholic, I used to be the person with extremely low self worth, I used to be deeply depressed, I used to have social anxiety, I used to try to be perfect and keep smiling even though I was you know, really in bad shape. So all of those things. And then the second mantra is, we have to be as brave as the people who need us. Those are two kind of mantras that really run me and you know, me seeing someone break a pattern, or forgive someone or change their life or transform. That's what gives me significance. That's what makes me feel good. I do it not as a martyr, or, you know, some selfless act, I do it selfishly, it makes me feel good. And so that's how I roll. That's such a great story. And you know, I can think of people right now that need to hear that they're, you know, aren't talking to their parents. And you know, you hear that all the time. And it's just so tragic. You just got to ask the question, here's the very simple question. If they died, without me making an effort, how would I feel and if they did so much against you, that you wouldn't feel anything, then? Don't worry about it. But for most people, that's not the case. For most people. They think they got an unlimited amount of time to reconnect, forgive or apologize or whatever. You don't, you don't have an unlimited amount of time. Yeah,

Joelly Goodson :

I totally agree with you and speaking of that by the way, I did want to also acknowledge I know recently that a friend of yours, Thomas Boeman, passed away suddenly. And so I'm really sorry for your loss. I know that was tough for you. Yeah. No, it's true. Another example, right of just you just never know, life is so short. The one thing I really liked about that story, you talked about how everything seemed to come to you as far as abundance and your business and everything when you became vulnerable. And I've talked to a lot of leaders and on here, and we talked a lot about branding and how good branding is being vulnerable, right? And you said like instead of putting that facade on when you are vulnerable, that's how you are able to connect with your audience. And then when they connect with you, that's how you create relationships and trust and everything. I love that parallel is between you connecting with your dad and then being vulnerable. And then by being vulnerable, your business really took off. So I think that's a really great lesson, I want to talk a little bit deeper about your book, we talk about your why. And you say knowing your wine businesses in business is critical to its success. And in your book, you talk about the difference between your why and your vision. And I don't think a lot of people really understand that. So can you elaborate on what that difference is and why it's important?

Ray Higdon:

I've learned a lot even since the book I've I thought last year was the most transformative year but this year has actually been the most transformative year. So when people go through the exercise of a Y, typically, they're picking something that sounds good. That is what I call commercially digestible. Meaning if I say my Y, whoever hears that, thanks. Oh, that's cool. And so there's a lot of people that, you know, have a great way, right? They want to retire their spouse or build schools in Kenya, or build water wells or feed the homeless or whatever. They say them, the other person hears it. Oh, yes, yes, I love that. But often, they never do anything for it. So I know people that have had great wise for the last five years, they haven't actually progressed one inch toward that, why? And I remember, you know, we had a reality show called play to win. And in season two, you know, I asked someone, hey, what's the big wise? I want to buy a house for my parents? Okay, great. That's awesome. How much is that going to cost? Where's it going to be? You know, what, what kind of price? How much downpayment? How much per month? Are you putting in the bank account to go toward it? Are you going to a cashier and a loan, and at the end of the day, there was no plan? There was just the why. And so you know, the why is it sounds good. And a lot of people operate off when I say my why I get accolades. And it makes me feel good, even though I haven't actually accomplished it. So a vision is, who do you want to be? And if we took that up a notch, if you really want to change your life, it comes down. If you want to change it fast, you need to become vibrationally incongruent with your current results. So that's a little heavy. And so what is what does that mean? Most people, they're extremely congruent with their results, because they talk about them all the time. I don't have much money. My relationship sucks. I don't have a big business or no one's following me. I'm not an influencer. So they're extremely congruent with their results. There's no change needed no change required, because you're so addicted to using your senses to notice what your results are. That you're just you're congruent, right? You mean you're not happy? That's different, right? You're not happy, but you're congruent. When you want to make a change, you need to become incongruent with your current results. And so my favorite example, because I think, you know, not everyone may be able to resonate or relate to me when it comes to money results, right, we we've generated over 30 million online and Gunson cool stuff. So I like using a different example. And that is one of dance. So a year ago, I bought dance lessons for my wife and I, and I sucked. So here's how bad I sucked. So can

Joelly Goodson :

I just have to ask you, why dance lessons?

Ray Higdon:

To be closer to her, I knew she would like it. I didn't know where it would go. But you know, we got two little kids. And we're both busy. And I just want to time with her. To be honest, I had no idea. You know what we would end up doing with it. So we start these dance lessons. I'm going twice a day, this is how bad I was. So I'm going twice or not twice a day, I'm sorry, twice a week. So I'm going twice a week for four months. And I'm still stomping around like Frankenstein. I don't move my arms, right. I'm just flat out horrible. And so bad that there was a guy who he had a lesson after me. And so I finished and I'm just like, man, you know, like, I just know, I'm just not good. And this guy rushes over to me. He goes, Oh my God, I am so glad I saw you dance. How do I feel better? Like, thanks. Thanks for that. And so I realized something, I realized that I have all this mindset stuff that I've learned over 15 years, being a full time entrepreneur, I had all this stuff that I've learned and I wasn't applying it. I'm just showing up dance lessons. This was as good as I am. And I would make a bad stab wound just tried. And I'm like, Okay, no, no, no, we're gonna we're gonna change this. So if you want to change something, and you really understand this kind of stuff, you become incongruent with your current results. So I started seeing myself I started visualizing and seeing myself first person through my own eyeballs. As a good dancer, I asked the question, okay, how would I know that's true? Well, people would compliment me, right? What would they say? And so I literally saw Irina, one of the dance studio owners say she's Russian. And she said, very much improved. And I saw Victoria, my dance instructor say, Wow, impressive. And so I just hold on, I create the emotion as if those things have already happened. I see myself as good dancer, I eliminate all focus of current results. So if I make a misstep doesn't mean I all of a sudden, I'm a magical dancer. But if I make a misstep, I don't dwell on it. I don't say who you know, I don't do what I had been doing. And so I go in for one lesson. And the next lesson I go into, I do a salsa move. And Irina says very much improved. A little bit later Victoria said, Wow, impressive. Wow. And the instructors later told me They're like, yeah, there was just one day that you showed up. And like, it was weird, like, you just got really, really much better a lot faster. It was very strange. And it's because I became incongruent with my current results, I started seeing myself at a different level than my current senses were seeing. And that works in anything that you ever want to accomplish. If you want to have more money, stop logging into your bank account and being negative about what you don't got, you got to be willing to not pay so much attention to your current senses, if you want to really transform. So a vision is you seeing yourself as if you're already that person. And so what would that person experience? What conversations would they have? Where would they speak on stage? If that's your deal? What podcasts would they be on? They'd be on this one, of course, right? And what guests you'd have on Exactly. And so you know, just seeing yourself as who you really want to be a guy named Dr. Joe Dispenza. He says you want to live more in memories of your future than memories of your past. And so literally creating memories. So a practice I do every single night, is I spent 12 minutes before bed and I see myself as the person I want to be first person I see the different things that I'm doing, who am I hanging out with? What private jets Am I on? Who am I impacting? What villages Am I impacting? You know, I see the Hazzard house that we built for foster care, I see the different charitable works that we're doing. And so every single night, I live in that vision, I go to sleep my subconscious kicks in. And so all of that is being drawn toward me because I'm incongruent with my current results.

Joelly Goodson :

I love that. I mean, there's so many good nuggets in there and listening to it, whether you're an entrepreneur or small business owner, to me, I what I got from that is live who the person that you want to become or the business that you want to become

Ray Higdon:

You in the role, not the third party, you can be the person that builds the schools. But don't just third party, see the schools, you got to see yourself in that role doing those things, feeling those things? Yeah, that's great. One of the many reasons why I want to have you on here too, is because a lot of things that I would learn from you, I would actually use in my traditional business. Sure, I'm not the first person to tell you that. But there's a lot of things that you teach that are very transferable. In a traditional business world, you teach a lot about branding and marketing. You've done some courses on that. One of the things you say is, uh, you refer to a few times, it's funny that David Ogilvy quote, you aren't advertising to a standing army, you're advertising to a moving parade. Just a little back note, I used to work in advertising. And I used to work at Ogilvy and Mather, which was his agency. And I love that quote, and I love that you repeat it. So can you elaborate what exactly that means and why it's relevant? Yeah, I remember in 2013, I was the number one income earner of a network marketing company, and myself and the other owners decided to merge into another company. And so what that means is, you're going to take the entire downline and move it into another company, you have to have permission to do that from each rep. Okay, not to make the move, but for them to move. So we're on this blitzkrieg, marketing campaign. I'm sending text messages, I'm making phone calls, I hire people to make phone calls, we're sending postcards, we're sending emails, we're running webinars, we're doing just everything besides smoke signals, and faxes, like we're doing everything we possibly can to let these people know, hey, you got to check this little box, it's free. And then you'll move over to the other company, we need you to do this. And so we're just hammering. And I remember, I get, I haven't in a while. But for five years, I would have people message me, hey, I'm trying to log into my back office. And I'm like, Oh, God, we tried so hard. When he says you're not advertising to a standing army or advertising to a marching parade. It means that people are busy. They're chasing kids and doing laundry. People aren't just glued your social media and finding every single announcement you ever make. And that's whether they're a client, that's whether they're a student or a customer or prospect. They're not seeing 90% of your stuff. And you're making the assumption that Oh, check it off. I've already marketed that thing. Well, 90% of your people have no awareness about it at all. So it's keeping the hammer down. I'll give you a more recent example. This year, actually, we ran our rademakers live virtual event. And so my goal was 6000 registers. And we are like 40 days away. And we're at like, 2200 I'm like, man, like, alright, we got it. We got to bone up. We got throw down here. And so we just go hard. I start doing free webinars, we're sending postcards or sending text messages wherever and we actually hit 6800. So we added 4800 People in the last, you know, 40 days and it was amazing. accessible event. But we had been marketing that thing for five months. I mean, we had been pounding the drum for five months. And there were still people saying, Oh, you're having an event this year, we're having an event. And so don't assume that your customers are seeing your offers, don't assume that all the people that you just blast in one broadcast, everyone's covered, you're going to have to do that a lot more, you're going to underestimate how much effort to put into an actual marketing campaign to get everyone to see it. Right. I mean, how many times have you had someone say to you, did you see my post? Or did you see my post? They assume, because they put it out there? We're talking about social media that you've seen it? And what did you say the statistics were? How many people have actually seen it? Like it's super low? It's super low

Joelly Goodson :

Yeah. So I love that, especially now, because especially I think, since COVID. And I'm curious to get your point of view, there's more people online than ever before. I've heard of being called Digital saturation. Everybody's on social media.

Ray Higdon:

Yeah, I mean, just coming up with ways to make them want to see your message. You know, that's branding, branding is making people want to see your message. And I'll give you an example. Every time every single time I see a hardrock store. I'm like, oh, cool, I want to buy a shirt. And the brand literally makes me want to buy a shirt. And so that means their brand has made me want to see their offer. And so I'll go in there and I'll scour and most of times I don't find a shirt that I actually like, but but sometimes I do. But the fact that whatever they've done in branding makes me want to see the offer is very powerful. Absolutely. Well, branding is really about getting people to fall in love with your brand. I mean, that's that's sort of the simple way I heard someone watch ask you describe the difference between marketing and branding. And they said marketing is asking someone on a date. And branding is proposing marriage. And I thought that was a good analogy. Because it's really more of that emotional, right? When you're marketing, you're just going out there. And you're just saying, This is us, this is who we are, this is what we do. But when you're trying to do proper branding, it's really getting them to connect and fall in love with your brand. So I would say branding is making them want to date you. And marketing is asking if they want a date. That's that's what I would look at.

Joelly Goodson :

Sorry, can you repeat that?

Ray Higdon:

I would say branding is having people want to date you. Right?

Joelly Goodson :

What's gonna make them want to date you?

Ray Higdon:

The qualities that you exhibit to others. So the qualities that you exhibit, to your connections to your friends, to your charitable organizations, to your networking peeps, to the people around you. Two weeks ago, I spent an hour with Michael Gerber. And he's the author of the E Myth, just legendary book, legendary author. And in his book, he talks about this hotel, where he goes to this hotel, and all of a sudden, the next day he opens his door and his paper is there, the New York Times, but he's in California, he goes to the bar, they have his drink ready, you know, like all of these amazing things to make him feel really good. Well, that story makes me want to stay at that hotel. And so like, I don't know, that hotel, I don't I don't even know if he says the name of it. But I would like to find out, it makes that story that a third party person is sharing about that brand makes me want to date that hotel. And so that to me is Brandon when people are talking about what you do in a positive manner and saying, Yeah, they did me right. Yeah, they helped my problem. Yeah, they gave me a great solution. They treated me good. I'm gonna remember that I'm gonna, you know, next time I'm looking to date, I'm going to check them out. Well, it's kind of going back to the beginning when you talked about your wife and your first aid and how you made her chicken soup and did all these things for her. So you got her to fall in love with you. I didn't know that.

Joelly Goodson :

I know. But it's just funny when you said that. But I totally agree. Do I meet him today? I think it's really about connecting on an emotional level with people because that's how they're going to make their decision to like you said go into the store to buy their product. Another thing I want to talk about with you that I think is really been helpful for me. And I think more people need to take this on is you teach about ILT E. And I love that. And it's helped me so much. So can you share what that is? And again, why it's so important, especially today on social media, because I think there's all people that can need to hear this.

Ray Higdon:

Yeah, so 10 years ago, we started teaching at least the IoT part. There are some things that kind of have come naturally for me like just thinking about creating content, I just kind of naturally think about who am I trying to attract? What do they struggle with when we find something that would interest them, but a lot of people they just they just don't think that way. And there's a lot of people that they struggle with what to talk about what kind of videos to create, what kind of content to create online, and when we're teaching 1000s and 1000s of people I have to have training that is very simple. This gets lost in a lot of traders, a lot of trainers become influencers and they teach what works for them, which an influencer is about 5% or less of the population. So a lot of times you learn from this influencer that is truly teaching things that work for them, but only work for an influencer, I have to have things that work for people with no influence, right. And so I mentioned Michael Gerber earlier, in his book, The E Myth, he says the reason that McDonald's franchise is successful, is it was designed to be ran by the person with the lowest level of skill, as I mean, no one has skill there. But it could be ran by someone with no skill. And so that's how we look at our training, we look at our training, especially for the network marketer is a has to be able to be executed by the person with no skill, no influence and extremely part time. And if we violate any of those tenants, then we're not serving the community. We're only serving people at a different level, a very small percentage of people. And so I L T stands for invest, learn, teach, and it's a process that I have witnessed, anybody can do. And the reason I know this is I remember one day, my stepdad came over to me and my stepdad blue collar as they come construction worker doesn't watch Shark Tank never seen or done anything in business or sales or anything like that. That'd be very strange. And he starts telling me all these facts about the environment. And I'm like, this doesn't sound like you like, where did you learn all this? They said, Oh, I watch this Matt Damon documentary. And I'm like, wow, he's IoT in me. So he invested his time to learn something i L. And now he's teaching somebody me. And so IoT is a process that anybody can do. So if you read our book, and you get a snippet out of it, teach it right, you can create content and edify the source maybe three years ago, or two years ago or something, we expanded IoT, because I realized that there were a couple things that I also did, that gained me a lot of results. And that came into the IoT II. So i lt invest, learn, teach, execute, edify. So an example of sugar right now, an example of execute is I read this book, first week of July 2017. It's a friend of mine, Russell Brunson expert secrets. So first week of July, I'm actually he invited me out to one of his masterminds. And I was the only network marketing type there. And I read this book, the first week of July. The next week, I launched rank makers, because in this book, he talks a lot about membership services and things like this. And so I launched rank makers. And anytime someone asked me, Hey, how'd you launch that group? Or Where'd you get the idea? I edify Russell Brunson. And so I invested my money to get this book. I invested my time to learn in this book. I taught from this book, I executed from that book, and then I edified Russell. And so two cool things happen. Number one, over on my other wall, I have a $10 million plaque 2019 We had ran $10 million through rank makers, because of his book and I edify him. And number two, Russell had me speak on stage and there were 5000 people there. And so because of the full picture of invest, learn, teach, execute edify. I've actually been able to get on a lot of stages, Grant Cardone had me on his stage, I gave him$100,000 for six hours of his time. And in the first hour, he gave me a different way to look at events that made me a million dollars extra that year. So I edify them. Thank you this amazing is, hey, once you jump on my stage in Vegas, and so I went on after Magic Johnson,

Joelly Goodson :

Were you nervous?

Ray Higdon:

You know, I don't I get nervous in certain situations, I actually don't get nervous when it comes to the stage. I don't know. I just I really used to because of issues with self worth. I used to really struggle with getting around people that were higher net worth than me or whatever. I used to be a little awkward around those people. And the last two years for sure. I've just worked on self worth so much that I found I just don't get that anymore. Last month, I was on a pretty big podcast. And you know, they've had Daymond John and all the sharks and grace because thisvery close. And so I'm in I'm in the room. Yeah, you know, two different people that run a $700 million business. And I found myself not intimidated. I'm rolling with the punches. They're giving me an idea. And I'm telling them like, Hey, I'd suggest this. Like I'm actually giving them suggestions that they actually take Believe it or not, you know, I've worked on self worth so much, because from childhood that was very damaged. And so you mentioned a little earlier about consistency. You know, that's something that I used to wear as a badge of honor, because I am very consistent, but honestly, you know, for most of my life, it was a self coping mechanism. So for me to avoid spending time with me, I just worked. I was just a workaholic, no joy, no fulfillment, no, like, hurray, I did something awesome. Just next, next, next. And so working on that self worth has been very beneficial. That's amazing. I like that you share that because people would look at you and the success that you've achieved and you know, you're on stages with grandkids on all those things, and they wouldn't think that of you. But the fact that you say I've never felt that self worth up until recently, probably is surprising for a lot of people. So I appreciate you sharing that again, vulnerability, because I think a lot of people probably feel that way. No matter how much money or success you have, doesn't matter what's inside of you. And that trauma from your childhood. Right, you have to do the work to be able to get to where you are and not feel that sense of worthlessness for sure. And you'd be surprised at how many people at the top have these kinds of issues. Yeah, you know, one of my one of my clients, he brings home $2 million a month, and, you know, doesn't have joy or fulfillment, we're working on that. And And with that, you'll find that the person that's always pushing hustle grind, they're probably suffer with the same thing. Almost almost everyone I've ever actually gotten to deep conversations with that were the hustlers, the grinders, the bosses, who you know, whatever, they often struggle with that, and I'm not sure where I was going with that. Sorry, I threw you off. You were talking about you were talking about going on the stage and Grant Cardone, and we're talking about IoT II and how because of Russell Bronson's book, you were able to do rank makers and all the rest of it. Yeah, it's interesting, that journey. You mentioned walking by that Hard Rock store and going in and getting T shirts. And I want to talk a bit about swag. Because you're a firm believer in swag. You guys do a lot of swag. I don't know if you actually even remember this. But back in 2017, when I first was introduced you and I remember you were sharing all your swag. I sent you a message. I said, Hey, I see you do all the swag. You know, that's what I do. And I could help you. And you're like, you always reply to every single one of my messages. First of all, which I have to give you kudos for, because a lot of people don't. And you said, Oh, I really appreciate it. But I have great relationship with someone who's a friend of mine and did it or whatever. So I wasn't too offended. But I just you know, of course, I had to ask right? You miss 100% of the shots you don't take as Wayne Gretzky always said, I love your swag. So how important is swag to you and in promoting your brand? Yeah, you have to keep a close eye on it. And if you're just selling swag to sell swag, that's a tough business. But if you're selling swag for your brand, especially in the manner, like what we do so and I know with COVID, you know, things are a little weird. But a lot of our customers go to big events. So for them to wear our stuff on stage, which many have for them to wear our stuff in the room where there's 1000s of other people. That's really, really cool branding, because you got your target market looking at your stuff. And so it is a balancing game, you can get too crazy with it. We've definitely had swag launches that didn't do as well as we thought they would. And then sometimes you just get something that people really love. And it's awesome. And so yeah, I'm definitely a fan of swag. And it's fun. And there's a guy out there, Dan Kennedy, who's one of the greatest marketers and copywriters of all time, and he said, there are three people that did something very unique over this last and they just all happened to be in this last, you know, 50 years or whatever. And he said, this is his words, Walt Disney, Stanley, and Hugh Hefner. Okay. And what they did is they created worlds, they created a different world for people to live in. And I heard this and it's like, okay, how do we create our own world? How do we create our own space where people feel good, where they feel included, where they feel happy, and they're garbed up. And the last time I went to Disney, you know, I kind of looked around. And I would estimate 99% of the people there had some kind of Disney paraphernalia on. They had to have the goofy years or the Mickey had or the watch or some had every piece of clothing. They're in their own world. So when they step into that park, they're in a different world. They escaped to this world, and they're proud of it. And so as a brand, that's like the ultimate How do you create your own world? How do you create it where people are living in your world? So if you look at investment news with the metaverse and I got a buddy that just dropped millions on a virtual Vegas penthouse, and I'm sure he'll make a killing but there's all this virtual real estate, I'm part of a virtual real estate investment trust that is actually buying blocks of virtual real estate. It's just crazy. But that is a very interesting way to create your own world because literally it is another world and that's kind of where we're headed to. It's crazy. It is crazy when people wear something with a Rank Makers logo on it. That's the ultimate not only compliment to you, but they're proud to wear that you know, I loved you have that. I don't know if you still have that wear your T shirt. It's like asked me about my T shirt, right? So you're trying to create engagement with your audience as well. So you're using it as a great marketing branding tool. We have one that says asked me about my wife wife's business and one of our early ones, and you know, the wives bought it up like crazy. I mean, that's, you know, we're trying to help them make more money they may not ever mention right makers, but we want to help our people. And so like we always come from that angle of is this going to help our people? Let's do what we can

Joelly Goodson :

Well, I love that. And I love that you're so you have so much swag and you believe in it, because obviously I believe in it. And I do think it's a great tool and another way to help with your branding when you're trying to connect with people. Last question based on your experience and your history and your childhood and everything else. If you could go back in time, any time and change anything, would you?

Ray Higdon:

To me, it's tough to go there. Because I needed those tough lessons. If I don't go through what I go through, maybe I end up being a very different person. You know, I think a lot of people can relate with me because I wasn't born with a silver spoon because I wasn't the perfect childhood. And so you know, I don't know that I would change any of that even foreclosure. I mean, I was not a good steward of money, I would make money and I just not that I like partied and whatever and blew it on stupid stuff. But I would make stupid investments, I would invest in things I didn't even research because I just assumed it was just gonna keep rolling in. And so I needed that I needed that kick in the face. You know, I don't I don't think I would. I mean, I think if there was one thing I could do differently, is start meditation sooner. I'm a big fan of meditation, and I meditate every day, I would take that more seriously sooner, I think that would lead me to some different paths a lot faster. Okay, great. But I like that you said you wouldn't change anything else. Because I agree with you. I think everything that happens to us, it's you are who you are because of where you came from, right and what you experienced. So this is surreal. By the way, I just want to tell you this whole conversation with some person that was on top of my list too. Now sitting here face to face. I'm just so honored to have you here. And I appreciate you so much. And you're being so vulnerable. So thank you again, Ray, I really appreciate if people want to learn more about you and about what you do and about rat makers, what's the best way for them to connect with you? Yeah, I mean, if they want to learn more about rank makers, it's rank makers.com. We teach marketing and sales and mindset strategies to help you get more customers and grow your business and yourself. That's rank makers.com, or whatever your favorite social media is, you search me, you know, probably on there. Well, thank you again, I appreciate it. Great book Time, Money Freedom. I highly recommend it for everybody and have a great rest of your day. Thanks for having me, bye.

Joelly Goodson :

And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the conversation and maybe learned a few things to help you with your branding. But most of all, I hope you had some fun. This show is a work in progress. So please remember to rate and review on whatever platform you listen to podcasts. And if you want to learn more about me and what I do to help my clients with their branding, feel free to reach out to me on any of the social channels under you guessed it, Branding Badass. Branding Matters was produced, edited and hosted by Joelly. Goodson awesome. So thanks again and until next time, here's to all you badass is out there

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