Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover: Marketing Plays to Get You Paid in 2024 ft. Runway Billionaire
This week we're joined by Marketing & Digital Product Expert Runway Billionaire. Runway is a self made millionaire, TedX Speaker, and has been featured in Forbes for his rags to riches story - inspiring people of color to bet on themselves and build their wealth online via digital products.
If you want to sell products online but note sure where to start, need marketing plays to make more money online in 2024, or struggling with confidence and identity, this episode is for you!
In this episode:
The Power of Being Different
Steps for Building a Solid Brand
How to Develop a Millionaire Mindset
Strategies for Marketing to Gen Z
How to Build a Buying Community
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Full Transcript:
Welcome back to Banking on Cultura. I am your host, Victoria Jen Rodriguez, and today I’ve got a superstar on the show. You’re going to see in a minute, but let me run down his little bio so you get the full scope.
This gentleman is a TEDx speaker, Forbes-featured businessman who empowers individuals to transform their online presence from zero to over 100k. AKA, he’s a marketing genius, a self-made millionaire, philanthropist, and all-around dope.
So welcome to the show, Runway Billionaire.
Thank you for having me, man. I’m so pumped about this conversation cuz they don’t even know what’s coming their way. They don’t even know what’s coming their way.
How we matching though? Yo, like literally how we matching? I got the feather thing going, you got the… what is this, the cas going? This is like a little something, showing out. You come talk big money on a podcast, you got to—you know what I’m saying—you got to bring it.
So yeah, and plus I knew you was going to be a little… you know, you were going to throw a little something. So I’m like, all right. And we just so happened to coordinate, so I love it.
You got to [__] it up.
Yeah, so we like to start the show with some bones, some gossip. So give us some tea—what’s the latest and greatest?
So, tea for me would be—and a lot of people probably would not resonate with this—but tea for me is just being in a space in life right now where I get to utilize the word no a lot. That’s my flex. Protecting my peace and really just being able to say no to some opportunities, no to some environments, no to some situations. Just being able to use that power of the word no.
And using it in business, using it in friendships, using it where I feel like it’s applied. Like yo, if I’m not feeling it, if it ain’t thriving, if it ain’t right—it’s a no for me.
That makes me feel even better that you gave me a yes.
Yeah, I’ll say no to everybody.
I feel very special. Very special.
So my W is you and I met on—well, we didn’t meet on the yacht, we met after the yacht. Shout out to Sonia Lewis, the Student Loan Doctor.
And what I loved about you is you had this energy already. I mean, look at the gentleman—he’s got energy, he stands out, okay? That was number one. But you literally broke game down to me for like 30 minutes straight. You were giving me crazy plays, first time I met you. And you just gave it so willingly. You didn’t say, “Oh yeah, by the way, here’s my invoice.” You were just like, look, you’re in this room, you’re Sonia’s homie, we’re here, let me run this play by you.
And I remember when people do that because it takes a special type of character for somebody to come from a place of serving, to realize the environment that they’re in, and to be offering to give. And now, several months later, you’re here on the podcast, we’re potentially talking about business—we’re doing all the things. But it started from that one moment of you serving, which I thought was really dope.
So thank you for that.
Thank you for allowing me. Thank you for allowing me. Everybody don’t allow it, and that’s why I feel like I’m in that season where I have to know—because I got to reserve some of that. Because you give so much, and I’m not pouring from an empty cup, but not everybody takes advantage of the opportunity or actually listens and executes on the information.
Like, you heard the play, you received it, you ran the plays. And also, that’s one of the reasons why I say yes. Because who wants to say yes to somebody when I gave you information but you don’t use it?
Facts.
It’s like a waste of time.
Of course, yeah. We don’t got time to waste in here.
Absolutely not.
I appreciate you for that. So, I want to address perhaps the elephant in the room. I don’t know if this happens to you often, but I was really excited to have you on because obviously you’re a marketing genius and we’re going to get into all of that.
But you have this—I said it earlier—this aura to you. You’ve got all this artwork all over your body, you’re rocking the bling, you’re rocking the latest fits, and you just show up and show out every single time. And I know in the world that we live in, people like to judge you by the way that you look and the way you choose to show up.
And one of the things I like to drive home on Banking on Cultura is owning your authenticity, owning your power, owning your individuality. And you do that so well. Where does that come from?
I mean, you know, when I was little we lived in a shelter. We were very poor. So a lot of the stuff I had to embrace hand-me-downs. I had to embrace being creative. Like I would put art on my uniform and I’d be the only one. I had to embrace and be creative with the things that we didn’t have to pretty much make the best out of the situation.
So from the start it was always different. For me growing up, when I see people differently, I feel like everybody needs that one person in their life—or that one person in their family—that’s just the black sheep. They just do stuff different than everybody else. And it takes that person to inspire a nation of people or just turn on that light bulb for somebody that might not have been thinking that way.
And I’ve just always been that person. So it was easier for me to do it because I never wanted to do the stuff that other people done. Like, I grew up, mom was doing drugs, dad wasn’t there. I grew up with people selling drugs on my block, and I never looked at those type of people like, “Oh, that’s cool, that’s the thing to do.”
I looked at those people like, “Oh, he just got locked up and just got out last week. That can’t be a way of life.” And I was just like, it has to be some other way. So it really just drove me to just be different and just be myself.
And to be honest, just be comfortable in the skin that you live in. Like sometimes I don’t even notice when people are acting awkward towards me because this is the skin that I live in every day.
and I’m 100% comfortable with it. So it’s like when I go out and they looking at me crazy, they are actually the ones that’s looking crazy — because you’re staring at me. I live like this every day. So yeah, like, you know, it’s just really that.
I look at it even from a family dynamic. When I talk about the black sheep and you talk about, like, you know, your family dynamic, you got that one person that’s just different. And I feel like that was me. That was my calling — for me to be different. Because my mom, my grandma, got 50 years, 100 years of experience and knowledge, but none of them have done what I’ve done.
And even when it comes down to like investing or financial literacy, we are taught so many different things, like “oh checking your credit mess up your credit.” Like, it’s little things like that that become habit, and become the thing for your family. And it’s just like, who breaks that cycle? You got to be different to break that cycle.
So from a young age, you’ve always had this courage, like, to stand out. Like, “I need to be seen.” Right? That’s just you. So what is your advice to people? Because there’s people walking out here without all this art on themselves that are beautiful people. You’re beautiful too, I’m not saying that you’re not. But what I’m saying is, like, they don’t have what you have in terms of what society would deem as like a no-go. Like tatting your face, like “nah, son, we not doing that,” right? And they’re so insecure, and they’re not comfortable in their own skin. So, like, what is your advice to someone who is struggling to kind of like get comfortable in their own skin and find themselves?
Well, I think the first thing — first thing that I did for me — was the personal development. I had to be sure about who I was and who I wanted to be, and I had to be okay with that, flaws and all. Like, you have to accept your flaws. And you could use me as an example, right? Like most people would look at me and they probably think — like I was having a conversation with a guy in the hallway, he’s like, “oh what, you’re an artist?” And like most people would think that. And to be honest, that actually worked in my favor, you get what I’m saying?
So it’s just like, I think that the biggest thing this year and beyond is that people are looking for more people that are authentic. Like just real. Yeah, they looking for authentic. Like nobody wants to… you know, the guy in a suit. Just because you see the guy in a suit doesn’t mean that he’s successful, right? And like a lot of people that I know that are successful, they are in gym gear every day. They in sweatpants every day. And I’m meeting these people and they’re like, “oh yeah, we just cleared $100,000 today.” Like not this year, or not this month — like today. And I’m like, “alright, what did you do?”
And when you start to see more people that look like you every day, it really really helps you. So for one, I’ll say just work on that personal development, that self-awareness, that self-love. Like, master yourself. Like, all the conversations that you’re having every day with people — are they talking about their baby mom or their baby dad? Is it toxic conversations? Like, really take inventory and ask yourself, “how is this a deposit?” You know what I mean? And how is this a withdrawal? Like, is it depositing positively or negatively? And if it is a withdrawal, is it withdrawing positively or negatively? Like, take inventory of those conversations, and you’ll find out some of the things that you really have to cut out.
And I feel like that’s important. Like, as long as you can say, “these are the things that I like, these are the things that I don’t like,” and then really start working on your personal development, becoming that better version of yourself, then you good. But it takes work though, like you got to work on it.
Did it take you a while to get comfortable with sharing so transparently about, like, your mom and your dad and where you come from?
Nope.
He’s like, “nope.”
No, since day one. And I feel like, that was just the real me. You get what I’m saying? And I’ll give you like a little story. Like, I started tattooing. Like that’s where the authenticity and being authentic came from. Because like, I had tattoos…
Wait, you was tattooing other people?
Yeah. Like, I got facial tattoos — that was like my third tattoo. So it was already like, “ohhh, oh my God.” And I was the only one in school with facial tattoos. And everybody was like, “yo bro, you messed your whole life up.” And my mom said that to me. And you know, like most people, that would hurt. But my belief in myself was so big that even when my mom was like, “tattoos, son? Like, is you serious?” I was like, “yo no, I really believe that this is the thing that’s going to take me out the hood.” And it was, you know what I’m saying?
But my belief was bigger than the person that gave birth to me. And that’s what I mean by like you got to believe it even when nobody else believe it.
So I did tattoos. People cut school, you know what I’m saying? I didn’t cut school — people cut school with me. And then like, that became such a big thing because that… like I remember March 16, 2008 was the day that I made $380. And that was the day I was like, “yo, I’ma be an entrepreneur.” Like that’s when a light bulb went on for me. And I was like, “yo if I could do this every day, like what?” At 19 years old I’m like, “oh it’s lit.”
So my mom — my mom is a firecracker. She’s so transparent and she’s been that way her whole life. She’s going to say what’s on her mind, she don’t care who’s around, and she don’t care what she say. And she’s been like that her whole life, you feel what I’m saying? So for me, I always heard a lot of just real tones, especially when… you know what I’m saying, you know she drank, you know what I’m saying, she going to speak her mind. So for me she would say things in front of people that I was doing tattoos on like, “oh my God, that girl what?!” And I’d just be like, “Mom, you can’t do that.”
So for me, like expressing the real version of myself — that was my household every day. So I really had no problem talking about that. And what I really realized is that when I was tattooing in the beginning, people were sharing their experiences with me, you get what I’m saying, in a real home environment. So literally in 6 months, an apartment became available up the street from my mom. I moved in that apartment, ‘cause I was like, “yo, I really need my own space because that’s how big…” Like, and mama messing up business. Talking [ __ ]. Mama messing up business. She like, “these is not going to be sitting on my…” cuz like,
Like I've got the perfect freebie for you. So I just dropped a 17-page workbook to help you get your mind right, especially in this climate of so much uncertainty. So if you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur and you're just feeling stuck, you're not feeling too good about what the future holds, and all the turmoil, the politics, all of it is just throwing you off your game, this workbook is actually going to act as a journal for you.
It covers goal setting, efficiency tips, how to manage your time, financial management tips, strategies on how to wrap your head around the next big thing that's coming down the pipeline to bring you consistent revenue in your business. It covers what you should be doubling down on in terms of your well-being, and it is just my favorite jam-packed journal full of marketing and sales strategy to help you get clarity — but most importantly, to help you secure the big bag.
So make sure to tap on the link in the show notes. I've linked it there so that you guys can get really clear on the top hacks that you can put into play in 2024 to set yourself up for success. I hope you love it.
It got so crazy to where though, like I'll have people that I'm tattooing and then I'll have people on the steps in my house waiting for me — like to the point I had to go grab chairs, like I had a waiting room. And she was like, "No." And then I, you know what I'm saying, I give her a couple dollars and she'll chill out, you know what I'm saying.
But like I moved up the street and she'll come up the street and talk the same stuff like, "You can't be having all these…" I'm like, "Mom this my something, like get out of here." But just being able to speak out loud, I think that's one of the things that, you know what I'm saying, that I adopted from her. I just utilize it in a more, you know, in a more positive — a positive way.
MH yeah.
All right, so the entrepreneurship bug came to you when you started tattooing?
Yeah.
And you did that for how long?
No, it came to me before that.
Oh, before that?
Yeah, like the entrepreneur bug came to me I would probably say when I was about 14, 15 years old. And I was like, cuz I would have to be creative like, cuz we ain't have a lot, so I would paint on my sneakers when they get old and then rock them to school like they was new. And that's how I kind of got the name Runway, you know what I'm saying, cuz I was always — I took what I had, I made it look good, you feel what I'm saying.
So anyway, like you know I had the opportunity, I worked for a company called Sneaker Freaks at the time, they was on South Street and they would paint Air Forces for celebrities. So I had that job, I had some other job where M was big, that's where they paint on shirts. And I had some other jobs like that just came and like I would sell, I would sell t-shirts to like my friends, other people, my uncle’s car club, like all those type of things. And I was like, "Damn, I could really, you know, I could really make, you know, a couple dollars off of this."
So that was like the first introduction. And then like tattoos, I didn't even really want to do tattoos. We cut school and we went to — we went…
I thought you didn’t cut school, now you cut school?
I mean, we cut school, I had a work schedule so I didn’t cut school. They cut school, I had a work schedule, y’all. But we cut school, you know what I'm saying, and we went to some guy house, did tattoos. And I knew this guy from like the neighborhood, you know just being out like local parties and stuff like that. And I like, I always draw in my classwork, my teachers cuss me out all the time cuz I draw on my classwork. Basically the guy was like, "Yo you should do tattoos," cuz I had just drawn like the couple clients. He was like, "Yo you should do tattoos." And I took that as LeBron James telling me that I should play basketball — that’s how I took it.
So it still didn’t hit me until I was like, cuz I was like, I was like blood need, I was like, "No," but like he told me like, "Yo you should do this." And I called the guy and he was like, "Yeah I’ll show you." I called the guy, he act like he didn’t know who I was. So like now my mind is on it and I'm like, like once my mind is on something I can’t unsee it. Like I have to explore, I got to see it all the way through to know like, all right, I can’t do it.
So I did all of this research and like literally just taught myself how to do it.
Okay, so entrepreneur bug came when you had to repaint your sneaker.
Yeah.
That’s also how Runway came — a part of your name. So it’s a childhood name. I want to ask you how it shifted to billionaire in a minute. You started doing the tattoon thing, like when did you tap into like this marketing element?
I was, I was always marketing and I didn’t know it. March 16th 2008, that day I remember it like it was nothing. Because like that was really the day like where I understood like what I was doing, I could really make this a business and I can really, like I believe like, "Yo this is going to take me out the hood." Like that’s what I really believed. There was nothing that can, you know, change my mindset about that.
So — and you made that when you were tattooing?
Yeah, and you made your first that day.
I still had a job at dietary, like you know what I’m saying. So I was like, I was like, I was in the bathroom. I tattooed a couple girls, I went to the bathroom, I counted the money cuz I was just charging like 20, 40, you know what I’m saying. I did a couple tattoos and when I went to the bathroom I had 380 and I still had a couple more tattoos to do.
Okay.
And I was like, "Should I go to work or should I call out?"
Right, right, right.
"I’m calling out."
Okay.
And that’s what I did. You know for me the dynamics of a job, cuz I only had like two jobs. I worked at like McDonald’s, Checkers, and a nursing home. That was like the only like three real jobs that I had that I got a paycheck for. Other than that I just never — the structure, I like to work, yeah, and I like to be busy. So like when I worked at Checkers and I was young, like my mom had to sign papers for me to stay past 12:00 because I’m like, "Yo I’m going to work, I’m going to get this money."
Because we’ve been poor our whole life, like I want to get us out. It was just me — structure of having, who don’t see your vision, like and don’t realize like what you going through outside of the work and won’t allow you to work these other hours and really be able to make this money. Like I wasn’t doing it for new sneakers, I’m doing it to like help mom pay the bills, you know what I’m saying, so we could get ahead. But that’s where, that’s where it came from.
Okay, so I’m going to take people on the journey, right? So you’re tattooing, you’re doing your thing, when did you get into like the online marketing space, like when did that pop off?
So to answer that question, it semi popped off when every day I used to tattoo from like 12:00 to 9:00. That was like my business hours. And what I did was, a lot of the marketing that I did was on Facebook. So it started while I was in school, I graduated, and then you know friends, other people, clients, they would recommend people X, Y and Z.
And then I would post. At that time Facebook maxed you out at 5,000 friends. So I had to make a new account, and then I maxed out at 5,000 friends again. Then I had to make a new account, and I maxed out at 5,000 friends again. So I had three Facebook pages that all had — was maxed out of like pretty much like clients and referrals.
It got to the point where people were at my door at 11:30, 12:00. I still lived there, but it was like a private studio to where though like I’m waking up and it’s clients at the door. And I’m like, "Bro, like I’m booked, I got appointments."
So I didn’t even realize the marketing that I was doing until I would say about 2012. That’s when I realized I was marketing because that’s when I moved from the house, tattooing out the house, like you know private studio type, to actually having a shop.
So 2012 was the year that I was like, "Oh I do know this marketing thing, I do know this." And then 2018 was when I opened up five businesses on that same block. So I opened up — I had my tattoo shop, I had a hair salon, a nail salon, lash studio, barber shop, and event space, all on the same block. And like from there that’s when I was like, "Oh yeah I know this marketing thing."
And the only reason why I had the confidence to open up those businesses is because I knew how to work social media and I knew marketing. And I know as long as I got the people with the talent, I could get butts in seats.
Yo yeah, you literally were like the definition of like by the block.
Yeah.
And are you the first one in your family to be an entrepreneur?
Yeah.
Well not like at this level, but like not be an entrepreneur, but at this level, yes.
Okay, yeah, at this level.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, nobody did it at this level.
And what level is that?
The biggest level.
The biggest, the billionaire level.
And that’s why I had to embrace the billionaire. Because like for me, I would say affirmations every day like, "I’m going to be the first millionaire in my family, not the last." And it really was just about being a millionaire, like setting — like, "Yo, anybody from our bloodline or our upbringing can be this, and this is the standard."
Right.
And I would say, "I’m going to be the first millionaire in my family, not the last," because I’m claiming it over my kids and my kids’ kids. And then we hit the million dollar mark and I was like, "Well I need some new goals, that was too small thinking."
And it’s really like just really challenging yourself, manifesting, and really putting in the work to be able to hit that, hit that level. So that’s really what it was about.
And the whole time, like because again my mom told me don’t do tattoos, my grandma which I love so much was like, "Don’t open no more businesses." Like the whole time every time I open a business I’m like, "Dang this going to be another stream of income. I get to employ people, I get to really help people who utilizing their talent make money, and we get to make money together, we get to build this thing up together."
So it’s economics, but we get to do this thing together and we get to do it in our own neighborhood, you get what I’m saying.
So it was like super big, it was impactful. Like the neighborhood got to see it — we got to do block parties, block off the block, whole kids get ice cream, bring the fire truck out, school drives. Like it was good, you know what I mean, for the community to see. And it was, you know, it was good.
And you know everything good sometimes comes to an end. It came to an end in like 2020 where I really just, I had a different vision. And that vision wasn't to be tied to a chair where I was spending 15 hours tattooing, checking on all these different businesses, you know dealing with the cattiness of women like, you know — we ain't going to just talk about the good. Like it come with some, you know, not so good things as well. And I really just had to weigh it out.
The pandemic gave me the opportunity to really, really hone in and think about like what I wanted to do. I just was like, I really had some time to like really think about the question that you asked me right now. And it's like, I want to go from brick and mortar to click and order. And that's when I really decided to take everything online.
So I was already telling — like I was telling my wife, I was telling my team, I was like, "Yo we need to take this thing online. Oh you do hair, you do nails, we need to take this thing online, we need to create online courses, programs." Like I was telling them this years before we ever did it. And I was like, cuz I had the vision and I was preparing them for it.
And they was like, "Oh no, it's not going to work online." And the same thing my grandma and my mom was telling me, "No it's not going to work." I was telling them this for years. Like could you imagine telling somebody like, "Yo this going to work," for years, for years, for years, and nobody listened? My wife was the only one that listened, and I kind of had to like drag her. And then when she finally saw it I was like, "I told you so. I told you so."
But that was another, that was another moment that I know like, oh I wasn't crazy. Like I know what I know and I know I wasn't crazy. So the pandemic gave me that time.
And what we had did — because my wife was pretty much involved in the lash business — and I was like, again, I'm saying for months like, "We need to take this online." Because we would do classes in person and we'd make 15–20,000 every class. And girls would come from DMV, Atlanta, LA, and we would have people on the social media like, "When y’all coming to Michigan? When y’all coming to Baltimore?"
And I'm like, who goes to Michigan? You get what I'm saying? I was like, "Yo we need to make this thing available because online is going to become the next thing for people to access these types of education." Like that’s what it is — it’s really just education. I was like, "Yo I'm telling you, it's going to be big."
So we set up a webinar. I set her up a webinar, wrote the whole webinar, set up all the automations and all of that. And I was like, "Yo we going to run this thing." I know she was nervous as hell cuz I was nervous as hell. I was like, "Man, I don’t know." Cuz my wife is like not like a, "Oh I'm on live," she not like a presenter. So I'm like coaching her the whole couple weeks, like trying to get her in the mindset cuz I know what it take.
First webinar that we did, like 360 girls show up.
Wow.
I'm nervous, okay? Like when I say I'm nervous, I'm nervous. Cuz I ain't even had 360 people show up. And that's our first time doing it. And I remember me being like behind the laptop, like coaching her, like prepping her through the slides, like, "Yo you got to hype this part up." And I remember her put her hand up like, "You got to relax, I got this, you got to relax."
And that first webinar we did 20,000.
Wow.
And then the next webinar we did 30,000. And like it was like for me — like cuz at this part I was just building the idea, the concepts that I have to what I have now. So that was like my guinea pig, that was like my test. And when that thing worked I was like, "Oh yeah, it's on."
Cuz all you need is that proof of concept. You just need to know that that one thing works, and then it's game over. Game over. It's game over.
All right. So I've got the perfect freebie for you. So I just dropped a 17-page workbook to help you get your mind right, especially in this climate of so much uncertainty. So if you are an aspiring or current entrepreneur and you're just feeling stuck, you're not feeling too good about what the future holds, and all the turmoil, the politics, all of it is just throwing you off your game — this workbook is actually going to act as a journal for you.
It covers goal setting, efficiency tips, how to manage your time, financial management tips, strategies on how to wrap your head around the next big thing that's coming down the pipeline to bring you consistent revenue in your business. It covers what you should be doubling down on in terms of your well-being, and it is just my favorite jam-packed journal full of marketing and sales strategy to help you get clarity — but most importantly to help you secure the big bag.
So make sure to tap on the link in the show notes. I've linked it there so that you guys can get really clear on the top hacks that you can put into play in 2024 to set yourself up for success. I hope you love it.
Marketing genius. At this point you understand the industry. It was a very different time when you were selling in 2020 versus the time that we're in now. So what kind of shifts are you seeing in the industry and how can people prepare for where we are right now?
Yeah, so the biggest shift, especially because during that time that I was working with my wife I also was working with some other entrepreneurs, like entrepreneur friends that I had, that they saw the success that I had with that. And I ain't going to lie, a lot of my friends was like, "Yo you should start an agency." And I was just ignoring it like, "I don't want to start no agency."
Cuz you know when you get this bad rep about agencies, you know what I mean. They never fulfill, they take your money, they do all those things. I was like, "I don't want to start an agency. If I start something I want to be different."
But one of the things that I see different from that time of selling to now is people are looking for more authenticity. They looking for more authentic people that they can connect with.
They do that through community, they do it through content, right? So a lot of the content that used to work, like the overanalyzed editing content, which I think is like — people are going to get tired of that. And they just going to want something more real, of you holding your phone selfie-style like, “Oh yeah, she talking right to me and not at me.” I think that's going to be really big.
Another thing is like low ticket. I think a lot of people slept on just having a low-ticket product, following the Walmart model. Like Walmart, they buy something for $2, sell it for $4, and they re-up. That was the model that I followed that made me my first million dollars, and I still do low ticket to this day.
And a lot of high-ticket coaches will tell you, “Yeah, don't do low ticket, do high ticket,” and then they turn around and sell a low ticket because it's a customer acquisition. So I think that you having a low-ticket product is definitely going to be monumental to your monthly income.
A low-ticket product is like how much? $17, $27, $47?
Low ticket could go all the way up to what I would consider in today's time as like $97.
And with the low-ticket offer, yep. Like is it difficult if you ain't got a community? Because if you only selling to 10 people and it's $20, you're not really making money.
Well, it's the point that everybody has it, you know what I mean? So it allows you to do value, and it allows people to be like, “Oh well, you know, if I buy it and it's the best stuff that I ever bought,” they spend more money with you. And then you don't just sell one product, that's the thing. Most people just think like, “Oh I'm going to put a low ticket out.” No, you put a low-ticket customer acquisition funnel out.
So what that looks like is, okay cool — let's say that you were putting out a product that was showing people how to secure the bag with corporate contracts. And you had an eBook showing them how to basically craft a pitch. Okay. And then I will also sell them something on that page where it’d be an order bump.
So an order bump is I'm in line at Target, I got my kids, my kids like, “Yo can I get this candy bar?” Dang, they got me for that sale, right? So order bump is like what goes to that. So I'll give you my exact script that I used that secured me a $75,000 contract. So now it's like, “Dang, you going to show me how to craft the pitch, but I want your script too, so I'm just going to pay for that as well.”
So you increase the amount of money that they spend. And then you go to a one-time offer or upsell essentially, and you offer them something else. This might be a mini course or some type of training where you show them step by step how to do it. And then they spend $97 or $17. So now you turn that $20 client into a $200 client.
And then it essentially leads to them getting on a phone call with you to be like, “Okay cool, I want to book your $5,000–$10,000 program because I actually need help with this.” So what I've seen is like a lot of people release these products and then they don't have the extension behind it, right?
They don't treat it like the airlines. The airlines, they get us. They get us — book your ticket, check your bag, pick your seat, trip insurance, wi-fi, yeah, car, hotel. It's just in the same process. And I think that if a lot more entrepreneurs understand that, that you know it's not physical product — so it's not like the Shopify “add it to your cart” type of deal. It's more so of a customer journey.
And keeping that in mind that when you walk in Walmart you getting sold from the door, but they're conscious about their customer journey. That's why they place those things there. So you go to Walmart and you're like, “Shoot, I just went for toilet paper and paper towel and you come out spending $138.” Duh.
So I think that's going to be one of the biggest things that business owners and entrepreneurs online can take advantage of in this time — by giving the opportunity to your clients to spend more money with you while they excited.
So for somebody who's just starting, doesn't have the volume yet, but they buy into this low-ticket idea — like what would be your recommendation for where they should start? Because listening to you, yeah, you need someone to build out the bump, then another bump, another, and there need to be an email that comes from here, something that there. So that's like a whole system. So for somebody who's just starting, what would you recommend?
Just starting I would say just get one product. And pretty much like, definitely want to be present on social media because you want to put out content that helps solve the problem. Like most people be like, “Oh should I create a lead magnet?” And it's like, well I don't want to build a bunch of list of a bunch of free people cuz then they never buy.
So if I'm going to do all the work of making content, you know, getting behind the camera, posting three times a day, like doing all the necessary work — I want to make sure that I'm solving a person's problem that actually wants to buy my stuff, and not just go and become a free person. I want a feeb, not a freebie.
So that would be one thing: just get you one, and then solve one particular problem and let the client ask you other things like, “Hey, do you have this?” Cuz if your stuff is good — and it has to be good — but if your stuff is good, they'll naturally ask you for those other things. And you take those frequently asked questions and you make more products out of that, and then you build on top of that.
And then also, if you're not a social media person, the only other way to get traffic to your website is run ads. Like, so you either have to pay somebody to do it or learn how to do it yourself. Like we can't use the excuse.
Because what it was is people be mad at these influencers and these creators for actually taking the time out and building a brand and making the content. And that used to be the frowned upon thing: “Oh they just an influencer, they just a creator.” But the creators is getting paid now because they got over the mental hurdle of, “Oh I'm going to show my face.”
Everybody want to do it without showing their face. Look at some of the biggest businesses. You look at some of the brands. You look at Elon Musk. Elon Musk owns Tesla, but Elon Musk got more followers on god dang Twitter, Instagram, and everything. He got more followers than Tesla do. Jeff Bezos got more followers than Amazon got. Amazon makes the money, but the personal brand — they know him. Tesla couldn't go buy Twitter. Elon Musk can.
So it's the thing of you being present because that's the thing that people are searching for. So when people be like, “Oh well I don't want to show my face.” Look at me, you know what I'm saying, as motivation. I'm scared of my voice, hear me. I'm not talking in big words or saying stuff that you can't understand. So like just utilize what you have cuz that's enough, and those people who see it will resonate with it.
And I teach my students an 11-11 framework, which I feel like is so important. Because 11-11 framework is just like the one day, the one week, the one month, or the one year. So you identify where you're at in that process and then you just teach behind it.
So if you at one day — like cuz you saying like hey if somebody just wanted to get started, let's just say you at one day. And I don't mean figuratively one day, but like let's say you just started. Do you know how many people are at zero and have not gotten started and just want to know how to get started?
So your whole thing could be “how to get started.” And it's a lot of money at zero, cuz people have the biggest trouble with getting started. So it's a lot of money at getting started. You don't have to be a decade of experience, you don't have to be at one week. I specialize in just showing people how to get started, just like I got started. It's a whole lot of money there.
Oh, you getting me excited over here.
Whole lot of money there. Whole lot of money. Get me excited.
Okay, so you said authenticity is a play, community, low ticket is a play. Yeah. Anything else?
I would say omnipresence. Just being visible on all these different platforms. So many different things are changing, and I think that you should be building up your community on all these platforms as much as you possibly can. So that way, when something changes with one platform, you still build the audience. Or one goes down.
Like I lost — I'm on my sixth Instagram page. So my first one got disabled, 275,000. Got another one to 170,000, disabled. Another one at 10,000, disabled.
Why? What you was doing?
I don't know, I was turning them up. But the good thing is, I lost those, I lost those, you know, followers, I lost those pages. But I didn't lose my email list, I didn't lose my contact list. Which my business would have crumbled if I didn't have a list of people that I could communicate with, if I didn't have a community that I was pouring into.
So like that was the thing that got me here right now. Cuz I would not be talking to you if I didn't have those things. But you know, had I took the time to put more energy into other platforms like YouTube — where like my YouTube is growing right now, right — like you know doing podcasts and things like that, giving the opportunity for my clients to experience me in other settings.
Right, cuz like on Instagram it's like oh you get 30 seconds if I'm lucky, you get what I'm saying. On live, you might stick with me 15 minutes. But on YouTube, that content is going to live longer than I am. And people could go watch it and be like, “Dang Runway and V was talking about this stuff, you know what I'm saying, years ago. They was touching about this stuff.”
So you now could go clip this, and you know what I mean, it could be one of those things where like, “I've been talking about this.” Because Instagram doesn't highlight that.
And what are your thoughts around like the community building piece? Because it's [__] hard to build community. Yo, I'm out here and I'm like, it’s a science, it's like magic — like to really be able to build a community that's like loyal. Like I feel like artists, like rappers, singers, etc., like their fan base, yeah, is different.
But I've also seen how like coaches, agency owners, entrepreneurs also have their own fan base. But I feel like for artists, I don't know why, I feel like it's easier for them to build a fan base. Maybe because some of them have the machine behind them. But it's really [__] hard to build community. So what are your thoughts on that?
I think it's hard to build it if you're not sure how you want to go into it. So I think a lot of people, they look at community and they look at the artist, they look at other entrepreneurs, and they think like, “Oh I want my community to be like that.” And then they go in and they look at it and they like, “Oh they do four calls a month.” And that don't fit your life.
So now you're forced to show up to something that don't necessarily fit you. So when I tell my students to build out a community, I would say build out a whole year. What does a whole year in a community look like? Because for one, it'll give your audience a roadmap of where they going and what they can expect for the whole year, right?
It give them something to look forward to so they can continue paying a subscription. What does it look like you showing up? How available do you want to be for your community? And what is the value that you essentially want to give them?
So I think most people don't actually think about it. They just want to, “Oh I want to make a community cuz I want passive income, I want the revenue.” And then they don't like what they have to do to show up. Are you going to have a community manager? Are you going to have VAs? Are you going to drop little things throughout the week that's like, “Oh it's Friday, like yo what are y'all working on? What's your biggest takeaway? What's something that y'all want?”
Like what are you doing inside of your community that makes them feel like they're a part of the community and not just a payment every month? So I think if you really outline those things — like I'm big on building the business to where the business is around my life, and not my life around the business.
So if I go model another coach on the internet and I'm saying like oh he do a four-week mentorship program or eight-week mentorship program and that don't fit my life, I'm screwing myself from the very beginning before I even go into it because I can't show up and serve my clients the best way possible.
So I think that's like the number one mistake that people make when they go build a community. They do it for yeah, it sounds like a good idea, but does it actually reflect how you can show up? And can you show up authentic? Like can you show up authentically, like can you match the time and like be attentive? Like can you really make that time to pour into your community and what does it look like?
So once you get clear on those things, I don't feel like the community aspect is hard because I think that people will know and they'll see like dang, I made it to where though I could pour into the community. I made it to where though I could show up for you guys authentically. I made it to where as though like you guys have tasks, you guys got a whole road for the whole year, and I think people need something to look forward to.
That's really great, I like—cuz what I'm hearing is what will help alleviate some of the overwhelm that comes with community is having a 12-month plan. This is what's happening every month, this is what you can expect. Also getting real with yourself on how much time you're actually able to commit. Like you don't need to show up four times a week if you don't have the bandwidth for it—like it might be once a month, right?
I mean it might not call you to show up for like, let's say that people—like you, you got community to show people how to acquire contracts, right? It might not cause you to show up every week because it might be weeks where they got to execute on some stuff. You get what I'm saying?
And I really started to see this. Like one of my friends, she does one call a month in her community and I was like dang that's so dope. And I was like why did you make it like that? She was like, well I put all of the stuff inside of the course, and I made it very detailed. And I constantly update it, so whenever a new update comes out I go back and I update it.
It's no way that I could do that, keep it updated how it needs to be updated, and be on calls with y'all every week. So no. And then also what do I have that holds y'all accountable? So look, we going to do one call every single month and before we get on that call y'all got to fill out a Google questionnaire. So that when I sit down and I'm answering these questions, I'm answering it because I know you went through the material and you asked your question.
So it's like dang, she must got the magic wand because even holding people accountable to that level—for them to actually do the work. Cuz you got people out here that'll buy into your community, buy into your program, never open [ __ ]. But it's like thank you for believing and supporting me, but show up, like you know what I mean?
Cuz it gets a little like demotivating a little bit when people don't show up. Cuz it's like yo, like I'm out here, I'm trying to teach you something, like what's up? I need you to show up. It's a brain [ __ ] for sure. It's definitely because you got information to help them change their life.
But some people think that just invest and fix the problem—and it don't. You got to do the work. The work has to come behind it. And it's definitely frustrating when you see somebody who got the potential. You like yo, you got this good business idea, you got good energy, like why you can't do it? And it's really just them. They're in their own way.
And that's why you know mindset is important. A lot of times when I start coaching we start with the mindset, cuz there's no skill set without mindset. I can sit here, I can tell you how to run the play, but if you ain't got the mindset, if you don't got the mental fortitude, if you not thinking on a level of what I'm explaining to you, it's going to seem impossible.
So it's frustrating, you know, dragging people essentially to the finish line. And that's why I'm very cautious about just how I show up. Because it's like I show up in a way to be like—if you're not truly ready to commit to the process, don't invest. I'd rather not. I'd rather not work with you.
I'm in the season of no, baby. I'm in the season of no. Because it's like pay me to take on your problem? You could keep your problem. It ain't no amount of money you can pay me to take on your problem, I got my own. You know what I'm saying?
But like I feel like—and I'm guilty of this myself, so this is not like talking about anybody—I'm guilty of this myself. I paid $20, $30, $50,000 for programs, never opened them. Opened them one time, jumped on one call, you get what I'm saying? So I'm guilty of that.
But I also live by a rule: the 48-hour implementation rule. Like I learn something, I implement it in 48 hours. Cuz I know after that, nine times out of ten, I'm not going to do it. That's a good rule. I'm not going to do it. So when I learn something, I go to a mastermind, I go to these places, I take three things and I'm like all right—prioritize them one, two, three. What's the things that I can implement in the next 48 hours?
Cuz I know I'm not going to be able to implement all of them, but what's the thing that I can implement in 48 hours? Another thing that I do—and I'mma give y'all a hack, y'all can take this, woo give us the play—another thing that I do is I leverage VAs to be able to knowledge hack.
So what I'll do is I'll have VAs, four or five dollars an hour, I'll have them go watch the program, take notes, and come back with the synopsis. Like hey, this is what I learned. I'll have them go set it all up so that way I got three different things that I was supposed to do. I'll have the VAs go watch the course, take notes, and then have them come back—this is everything that was done, I set everything up.
And then you think about it—let's just say I do full-time, you know five times 40, or I do part-time five times 20, that's $100. I probably paid $1,000–$2,000 for the course, but I paid $100 to knowledge hack, for me to not have to sit in front of it. That's a good play right there.
That’s a play. That’s a good play. I don’t know if they understand a good play, I don’t know if they get it, but that’s a good play right there.
Man, we don’t even got time to go into the Talk That Talk segment cuz you just giving crazy game. I just want to like stay right here.
Yeah, so what I want to know is how you’ve been able to stay in the game, cuz you’re a dad, you’re a hubby, you got a lot of pressure, yeah, and a lot of [ __ ] on your shoulders. Like how are you staying disciplined? Like how are you still going to get it? Is it your family that’s motivating you? Like what is allowing you to go get it every day?
It’s something different every day, you know what I mean? I always say to myself that I did a lot more with a lot less. And what I mean by that is like I grew up with nothing, so a lot of the things that I accomplished early on, I didn’t have everything that I have now. I ain’t had the resources, I ain’t had the knowledge.
So a lot of stuff that people complain about every single day, I don’t complain about those things, you get what I’m saying? Like I’ve been working on my mindset so long I got the mentality that I go to sleep when it’s done. Like if I got something on my plate, I know that 15,000 people didn’t wake up today and 150,000 people won’t wake up tomorrow, but 1,700 millionaires is created every day.
So it’s like with that on my mind, it’s like every day I get an opportunity to have gratitude over attitude. The hell am I mad about? I ain’t got [ __ ] to be mad at, I woke up today. 150,000 people did not wake up today. Gratitude over attitude and just being grateful to have the ability to do something every single day. So that’s one of the things that keep me driven.
Then I got my little ones of course. Seeing them grow and seeing them talk about the things and being able to really seek the knowledge and be able to help them—not just as a parent but as a friend—and also have them pull up in the baby Lambos next to your Lambo.
Yeah, all of that.
So cute, when you posted that I was like…
But also being able to provide them, you know what I’m saying, with a life of comfort but still, you know what I’m saying, still show them that they got to work at the same time.
And then also like I don’t even feel like I hit my prime yet. Like I don’t even feel like I got the best years of my life yet. So it’s like I’m still in a space where most people like oh yeah my 20s cuz I had my youth. I’m like man, my 40s going to be my best years because in my 20s I was working super hard, you know, I was making probably a lot of not-so-smart decisions.
I’m a lot wiser and a lot smarter, and my kids are going to be older, so I’m going to have a lot of time to enjoy some of my stuff that I want to enjoy. So shoot, we just getting started. So for me, in a nutshell, like those are all the things every day. I still have a lot of life to enjoy and I still got a lot of stuff that I want to experience that I did not get to experience, and I know that I had the money and the opportunities to.
It’s nothing better than waking up every day knowing that the work that you did years ago and yesterday is going to pay for your tomorrows. And for me, it’s like how many more tomorrows can I pay for? How many more years can I pay for? And really just operating in a mindset of abundance and wealth—that’s what it is for me. And I feel good waking up every day.
Every day. That’s a beautiful note to end this on. Tell the people where they can find you and get involved and hire you.
Yeah, so you definitely, definitely can hire me for sure. No, we definitely have—cuz you talked about the building process—and one of the things that we focus on now is we know that the building process for a lot of entrepreneurs is heavy. So we have a lot of joint ventures that we do where we come in, we do all the heavy lifting, we do all the sales, all the marketing for you, so you can just show up and do what you want to do, and that’s be the entrepreneur and focus on your gift and your passion and serving people.
So all you got to do is shoot me a DM. Runway Billionaire. Run Runway Billionaire on all platforms. So yeah, and that’s where you can find me. And I’m a DM guy, so you DM me, I’m going to hit you back. You know what I’m saying, I love to talk to people—especially if it’s about a business opportunity.
So yeah, I love that 48-hour rule y’all. He should be getting a DM once this episode drops within 48 hours. From 48 hours! Thank you so much for being on Banking On Cultura.
It was an absolute pleasure. I’m so happy that—I love having guests on that I’m building relationships with because it allows me to like learn more about you and ask questions that I have for my own business, and be like yo, pull on that expertise. But I’m also very intentional about who I have on the show, 100%. And I just love your energy, I love watching your success, and I look forward to us making some coins together.
We going to look back at this interview, I know, like baby remember—yeah remember when we was in that baby studio, now we in this big studio. There you go, here we go.
But thank you so much.
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