Steal His System: How Greg Berney Bought Hundreds of Off-Market Properties & Built a $2M Real Estate Business

Speaker A: The phone might ring at 8 o' clock when we're sitting at the dinner table and they're expensive leads and I gotta return the call within 20 seconds. As long as you balance it, that's gonna happen. But also, she and I have had a Friday morning coffee date that we've missed probably five in the last six years, um, where we just sit and spend time together two hours on a weekday morning. I think too many of us say once I get to a certain level, then I'll be able to create this time and freedom. And I just, I don't think it happens if you're not intention about it.

Speaker B: Welcome to the Evergreen marketing podcast by carrot.com where we help investors build a business of freedom and impact by helping you get more leads and close more deals. I'm your host, Carlos Zamora. Today I have Greg Bernie, a, ah, Joe Homebuyer franchisee who is actually recognized as the 2023 Franchisee of the Year at Joe Homebuyer Triad. He did nearly 2 million in revenue last year and is off to a really hot start this year as well as we're wrapping up Q1, doing all that while maintaining a strong family life, building a thriving company culture. Greg, excited to have you on the show. Thank you for coming on and it's been great to get connected with you recently and get to meet with you a couple of times while we're getting this set up here.

Speaker A: Yeah, Carlos, I appreciate it, man. It's been fun getting the chat a little bit off, off screen and, uh, excited to connect today.

Speaker B: Yeah, man. I mean, we got linked up initially through Janet over at Joe homebuyer. I've known her, uh, almost a decade now through investor Fuse. And what we came to realize was a lot of the Joe homebuyer franchisees are using Carrot for their website. And what we've noticed too is a lot of those members are also using Carrot to send their paid traffic to. Especially talking. I've been talking with Bateman Collective more who I know, I know works with Joe Homebuyer and seeing how many of their clients, even more than I realized, are using Carrot sites for ppc. So before we get kicked off, you know, we start off with a little bit of a pro tip. I want to shout, continue to shout from the rooftops that you can, absolutely can and should be using Carrot to send paid traffic to. Because of our high conversion, how fast the pages are and everything like that. By the time this, this episode comes out, we're going to have some really cool data shared as well. For some testing that we're doing and we're actually moving some really really big people in the space over to Carrot as well. So super excited for that and for Greg since we got connected there. I want to get an understanding man. What were you doing before real estate? What was life like before real estate?

Speaker A: Yeah, I certainly took the unusual path. So I went ah to school to be a social worker. Really I went to grad school to follow uh, the woman I eventually married. Yeah, I got a social work degree, worked in healthcare uh for many years. Um, worked in uh, an emergency department which um, is chaotic, stressful, lots of family drama. So that definitely trained uh me to go into sellers houses for sure. Worked my way up through healthcare administration and then um, the universe uh had other plans for me and a friend was flipping a house and I got uh, connected with him, bought that house from a wholesaler, learned what wholesaling was and kind of jumped in from there. And shortly thereafter uh, it was sink or swim. The corporate role got eliminated. Uh, and here I am five years later, six years later I guess dude,

Speaker B: we, we haven't connected on this much. But as much as I love talking real estate and, and automation, I, I love talking anything about like universe or spirituality, holy spirit, however you want to say it. So I was listening to one of the podcasts that you had done in prepping for this and you said man, if I get like $60,000 or I forget it was 60000 or six months. It was something with six. But yeah, you're pretty much like if I get, if I get this, I'm going to take this as a sign to, to roll and do this full time.

Speaker A: I'll uh, I'll tell you that story real quick and then tell the second part of that story that I don't think I told. Um, so yeah, I was uh, initially had way too much confidence because I think I, you know, nights and weekends writing yellow letters, sending them to, to sellers and I think I, I'd had three people call me, maybe I'd done a deal and made a few bucks but uh, I shouldn't have had the um, probably the excitement and optimism that I did. But I, I said to my wife one night, you know if I had a guaranteed I'd make this happen. Um, and literally like a day or two later I get called into the boss's office and eliminating the position six months sufferance. Um, so that should have been sign number one to listen to sign uh, number two came in the form of um, me going to actually sign the separation paperwork. M still not sure, uh, kind of what to do because it felt like maybe I should stay in the safety of this corporate role. Um, anyway, I checked the mailbox before I leave and there's ah, those marketing companies will send you pins when you create a new llc. Um, so on the day I'm going to sign the separation paperwork to start this new venture, um, there's a pen waiting for me with my new entity's name on it. So yeah, I'm right there with you. I think, um, if we uh, quiet down and listen sometimes we'll get, we'll get the signs for the direction we're supposed to go.

Speaker B: 100%. Yeah, always have that, that type of advice to, to lean on. What does your, your business look like today? And I guess even before we start there, like how did you get started as being a franchisee versus just like a mom and pop shop Private operator?

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. So I started out that way. Um, and as I first got into real estate investing and wholesaling, it was listening um, to a lot of podcasts and you know, doing all the YouTube stuff. And uh, so I got connected with uh, Wholesaling Inc. Um, at the time, ah, that was uh, owned and the podcast was run uh, by Cody Hoffine, one of the founders of Joe Homebuyer. So, um, we just got connected and then I started uh, you know, I was a student of that program and started doing deals and joined him on, on that podcast. And they were in the infancy of figuring um, out the franchise model. And so I was very early in, we, we had a conversation, uh, one day after a podcast and he just said, you know, how's everything going with the business? And I, at that point was um, actually probably the exact avatar of who Joe Homebuyer is looking for now. I was doing a few hundred thousand in revenue. I was wearing every hat in the business. I was working constantly and exhausted and didn't really know how to grow it and scale it in a way that didn't kill myself in the process. Um, and yeah, it was just kind of that perfect uh, intersection of them trying to figure out the franchise model and me looking for a community, a mastermind, a coaching program kind of all in one. And yeah, it's been a, it's been a really cool fit.

Speaker B: That's awesome, man. And what does your business look like today?

Speaker A: So, uh, you know, continuing to grow actually this past year, um, it was cool. I'm, I'm uh, you know, now five, six years in, finally Starting to feel like a real business owner. We, um, you know, did uh, significantly, uh, more net revenue on um, essentially the same number of contracts. And uh, that to me speaks to like, um, you know, I'm in the process of building this business that I really, uh, want to continue to love to run. So I've got, you know, a small team acquisition manager, actually starting, uh, new ones starting next week. Dispo manager, lead manager. Um, uh, we have, you know, third party resources in terms of transaction coordination. But, um, you know, we're continuing to grow. And the goal, um, you know, I don't have the goal of building the 20, 30, $40 million revenue, uh, operation and this massive team. I have the goal of, you know, how can I continue to have a business that I love and, and spend as much time as possible with my wife and we've got three teenagers at home. And um, you know, I just never, uh, uh, I've seen too many people burn themselves out on growing this revenue and then by the time they look up, like the family relationships are gone or not as strong as they could be. Um, so, yeah, that's what the business looks right right now. Um, I love doing what I'm doing. I've learned that I love, uh, growing people and creating a space where people can kind of come inside our ecosystem, come to my team, and fulfill their goals and dreams through the work. Um, so I'm just loving that right now.

Speaker B: I love it, man. Yeah, I love it, man. I, I noticed one common theme with successful people or people that I like. I'm like, oh, I like their life. I'd like my. I like certain aspects of their life for myself is they're, they're proactive with their personal time and their family and their relationships. Like, that's some of the first things they plot. Like our software coach, we've been in the software SaaS Academy for a while. It's like a software mastermind by Dan Martel. A lot of those top guys, when they're planning out their entire year, the very first they. First things that they plot on there is like their personal time, their family time, and then they fit everything else in there around. Obviously, depending on where you're at in business, that can, that can vary what you can do, how much time you can take off or should take off. But I think even coming from that mindset is powerful as you go about doing things.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think, you know, I've been intentional the entire time, Carlos. I think about like when I first started, you know, so I first Started like doing some direct mail on my own and then we had a direct mail provider and then we started getting into um, like paid web ppc. And I remember uh, a mentor of mine, um, really pushing me to have an intentional conversation with my wife of like, okay, now when we turn on PPC, those leads are like the phone might ring at 8 o' clock when we're sitting at the dinner table and they're expensive leads and I got to return the call within 20 seconds kind of thing. Um, but even just that level of intentionality, I think as long as you balance it, which somehow luckily I've been able to be able to say that's going to happen. But also she and I have had a Friday morning coffee date that we've missed probably five in the last six years, um, where we just sit and spend time together two hours on a, on a weekday morning. Um, so yeah, just that intentionality I think is um, where it comes from. I think too many of us say once I get to a certain level then I'll be able to create this time and freedom. And I uh, just, I don't think it happens if you're not intentional about it.

Speaker B: M Agreed. You kind of got to live in the end a little bit as some would say. And, and you kind of get there. Yeah, certain extent. It's a balance. It's a balance getting into marketing and stuff. Now you mentioned direct mail ppc. I want to get an idea of like how did you guys over there first get introduced to carried and what problem or piece of business or marketing was that solving for you guys when you first got hooked in with Carrot?

Speaker A: My first year in the business was, was really like throwing spaghetti against the wall and see what would work. Right. I had zero business background, zero real estate background. So um, as I mentioned, kind of started with, with um, but pretty quickly realized, um, I don't want to build uh, this side hustle. I want to build this sustainable business. And obviously we're um, in a day and age where you've got to have presence out there. Um, and so I think I actually originally, um, I probably found karat even before Joe Homebuyer, um, through just connections through that wholesaling and coaching program and like, hey, I need a website and I, I don't want to build a website. I don't know what the heck to do with it. I just need some way for sellers to find me online. Um, so we've been. Yeah, I bet. I wasn't in business more than a year before we hooked uh, up with Carrot. And um, it's been great. I've never, I think, really been all that involved in the back end of things. Um, uh, we just got out of the box, uh, got it live. It was working pretty quickly. And then you mentioned uh, Bateman Collective. We've been partnered with them for a while and they helped on some of the subsequent, uh, setup. And then, yeah, we also have paid advertising going straight to our Carrot site.

Speaker B: Amazing man. And when we, when we first connected, you were talking about some of your. Which I didn't even know, I don't think at the time, but you're just talking about some of your success in February and, and SEO. If you care to share just some of your results. We're recording this right to end a Q1 here, but sharing some of your SEO results and get a little bit into, into tactics as far as like how you and your team are putting effort and time into doing organic and ranking organically and I guess share, share a little bit about your market too. I should have led with that of, of what area. I know. So I know we said Joe homebuyer, Triad Group, but maybe a little bit about your market and what that's like compared to other markets that you see with the franchisees.

Speaker A: For sure. Yeah. So yeah, when you say triad, people are thinking, what the heck's the triad? So it's uh, a triangle of three cities. Uh, Greensboro being the largest in the middle of North Carolina. So Greensboro the third largest city, um, in the state. Uh, you know, my uh, whole area that I cover, you know, Greensboro is 300,000. The whole um, area that we cover is probably in the 700,000 range. Um, so it's a great kind of almost uh, like I wouldn't say tertiary market but not, not a huge market. Um, our you know, home values like everywhere else, steadily climbing. But our, our bread and butter for um, like after repair value suppose is in the you know, 200 to 350 range. Um, so, you know, it's been, it's been a great market and I think uh, a great market to really start to build um, some branding around what we're doing. So from a, from an SEO perspective, um, probably everybody says this once they find some success in SEO, which is, it's that, it's that tree you wish you planted 20 years ago. Right. Because it, it compounds on itself. And unlike um, direct mail or ppc, um, typically I, you know, ppc, I can spend money today and get leads tomorrow. Um, working on SEO is more of, more of A time investment. Um, but once that train gets rolling, it's really hard to stop. So, um, yeah, I'll tell you a little bit about results first and then maybe kind of talk about what, what we do specifically, um, around building our organic reach. So last year we were right around a 10 to 1 return on our SEO spend. Um, that includes kind of like on page tweaking that we have a third party do, and then also stuff, uh, my team does internally on like our Google business profile. Um, and yeah, depending on, we got a, a few more days left in the quarter here, so depending on when exactly things close. Yeah, I mean we, I, at worst will be in a 10, 12 to 1 return for the quarter, and if a couple things close, it'll be, um, you know, a lot better than that. What I, uh, what I love about SEO, what I found across the board is um, when those hot leads come in, they are the hottest of the hot leads. Um, we, uh, had, um, I've told this story on a couple other podcasts. We had a lady who, uh, we're about a mile from the courthouse where I am in my office here. Uh, lady went down to um, essentially file some paperwork around, uh, a house that she inherited. And she left the courthouse, realized she didn't want to deal with it in her car, typed, uh, in cash. Home buyers near me found us, drove to our office and we were under contract 30 minutes later. Um, and it was a massive deal. And that's the, um. Yeah, that's. I'm always trying to figure out, like, uh, yeah, how could I scale SEO to the point where I get 10 of those a day? That'd be a, that'd be a great problem to have. Um, so again, we uh, we outsource all of the, what the. What the tech folks would call on page SEOs, all the um, backlinks, blog stuff. I don't, I don't touch any of that. Uh, we, we have a vendor that does that. We figured out some really cool stuff internally with the uh, Google business profile. So, um, you know, for people that aren't familiar with that, if you know, when you Google a restaurant near you, it brings up like the map images and it has the rankings in there. So there's a lot you can do with ranking in there. Um, and Happy, you know, we can go into as much detail as you want. Carlos.

Speaker B: Yeah, dude, tell us, tell us a little bit about your strategy there. Because we know some people that do the, the, the on page, but I think this is something that someone could Maybe get like a VA or somebody overseas or an admin, maybe utilize AI to a certain extent on doing this.

Speaker A: Yeah, so you hit the nail on the head, uh, in, in two ways. We have a uh, virtual assistant who does this all. We've built the systems for what I'm about to tell you, um, to the point that it takes her probably an hour a week, uh, if that, um, and she uses a lot of AI for uh, creating some of that content. So there's um, kind of three critical pieces around your business profile. One is um, getting updates in there. So uh, you know, if we were showing this, I could show you. But it's sort of like a Facebook status when you go in the Google business profile. So you can post updates, um, and essentially going in there, attaching photos, videos and you know, hitting all the keywords that we would want to hit, um, around our industry. Uh, and as doing that, um, you know we try to post a uh, minimum of three updates a week. Um, but we're typically in the three to five updates a week sort uh, of range. And so we've just uh, you mentioned AI. We, we have a list of like the cities and towns that we buy houses in. We have a list of the keywords that we're trying to target. We just give that to whatever your favorite AI tool is and say, you know, make us 50 posts on this and then it's just plug and play. So um, those updates are a big piece posting uh, photos that are geotagged. So if you don't know what geotags is, look, just Google it. It's basically making sure your location is on when you're taking photos on your cell phone. Um, so a selfie with a seller, a photo ah, of the exterior of the house, a photo from a team meeting. Um, you can also just, with no description, just post photos on your Google business profile. Um, again we try to do that generally in the three to five times per week range. And then the biggest piece is uh, Google Reviews. Um, that has a massive impact on both ranking and then just on brand recognition. I um, presented on some of this a couple weeks ago and we um, live in the training. I just, I googled from my, from my desktop, you know, cash home buyer near me. Um, we've been really intentional about reviews. It's been a KPI on our team for years and uh, you know we had a hundred more reviews than the company in second place. So you just think from a um, from a trust building perspective, especially in our industry where people are calling Thinking you know, it's the cash home buyer who's going to steal grandma's house and screw us over or something. The, the ability to leverage the technology to just immediately build that trust. Um, and, and people read those reviews and, and they read every word of those reviews. So it's um, it's a, I think a testament to the work that a lot of the appointments like we go on, we're immediately getting the. Yeah, we're going to meet with you first before we call anybody else. We read all your reviews. So like you don't need to tell us you're good. We already know it. Just let's get down to business kind of thing. Um, so really doing those three things. Ah. Uh, and there's a whole process around reviews and how to get them, how to respond to them, et cetera. But um, it has a massive impact. A massive impact. Way more than I appreciated early on. We got real serious about this maybe two and a half, three years ago. I, I wish, yeah like I said, the tree you wish you planted ten years ago.

Speaker B: Mhm. I love that you guys have the, the KPIs for reviews. I think that's something that every company should have. And just having a long term mindset not only in seeing leads coming in from SEO, but just your business seeing it as a uh, a long standing eternal things that I think makes you take different actions and have different behaviors in your, in your day to day. That reminds me like we have a ton of carrot members like Boholis has texted a screenshot of a seller that said she chose to work with him just from seeing the videos and testimonials on his site. She's like as soon as she saw that she knew, she knew it was him. So it's amazing sales enablement tool. It's great for trust and credibility. Obviously I'd be curious to hear if you want to share a little bit just like what your internal company process looks like to get reviews, how you're able to get so many.

Speaker A: Yeah so it's uh, you know we, we follow EOs in our businesses. If you know that that world or you've read Traction, you're familiar with rocks. So it's, it's a, ah, it's a rock for our disposition manager. But uh, our aim to, is to, to be at 90% UM of reviews received from every buyer and seller we work with uh, for every transaction. So um, that uh, we do a few things around that. It's, it starts uh, actually from the very first phone call um, so after we've, you know, we run through our kind of here's what to expect and okay, it sounds like we might be a good fit. Let's set an appointment. Um, we'll encourage sellers to uh, look at reviews before we get out there. Um, our appointment confirmation process is essentially a video um, from me that's you know Carlos, thanks so much for calling us. We're so excited to meet you. Here's what to expect, uh, when we come out to see the house. And then also by, by the way, here's a link to our reviews. Um, we'd love for you to take a look at them before we get out there. So it starts uh, even before the appointment, at the appointment. Obviously if we're going under contract it's uh, you know, we're, we're kind of asking for that pre commitment again. You know, when we knock your socks off and when you've that money's hit your account and you're as happy as can be, uh, that's the exact moment I'm going to remind you to leave a Google review for us. And then um, yeah, kind of throughout the process, right before closing, right after closing, it's uh, you know, templated emails, texts, um, to, to get those reviews. We will also um, you know a quick like trick of the trade. Google uh, really really really loves uh, reviews that have photos attached to them. Um, so we will provide the seller with a, a photo we took of the front of their house. Uh, and hey, when you leave this review, will you upload this photo also? Um, that uh, you know, again because at the end of the day Google's job, especially in that business profile in the maps, is to connect people with the most relevant thing they're searching for. Um, so if somebody's uh, you know, searching for the terms that we want them searching for, that's that uh, in Google's eyes builds the most credibility.

Speaker B: I love that and I'm curious like at some point during the interview, interview I did want to get like a, an idea of like what all comes with being a franchisee.

Speaker A: Yeah, for sure.

Speaker B: What I, what I love about those corporates because they're just. Throughout my wholesaling history and SaaS history with investor fusing carrot, I've known of some other companies that have more of like a corporate approach and that's some of the stuff I love. I get really fired up when there's systematized plays that you run over the course of time. As an example, something like an appointment confirmation or uh, an appointment survey after the acquisition manager leaves. Hey, this is X Corporation house buying company. Want to send a quick survey and it just asks a few questions like how the appointment went over the course of appointments. If you run a thousand appointments over a few years and you do that, it's going to help get more reviews. Definitely going to help your close rate just from. By being very like efficient and the seller, you're going to stick out any way that you can stick out with sellers in a positive way. So I'm curious, is that, is that just something in Greg's operation with, with Joe homebuyer Triad Group or is that something that when you're part of being a franchisee you get access to like kind of all those systems and processes and stuff?

Speaker A: Yes, that's a great question. Um, and it, the answer may somewhat surprise people. I don't know. Um, so, so a. I have the benefit of I'm probably one of the older uh, or more seasoned uh, Joes in the community. So um, like any new venture processes were um, uh, maybe somewhat sparse as uh, when there were five franchisees versus the 50 or 60 that there are now.

Speaker B: Um,

Speaker A: to me what the greatest piece of the community has been is, is that it is a true community. I mean you and I have both been in probably lots of masterminds and that sort of thing. I haven't found a community that is so willing uh, to share all of the processes that are, that are working in an individual business and just immediately you know, figure out how to scale it across all of, all of these other franchisees. So obviously we're all independently owned and operated. There's not a lot of um, oversight in terms of you have to do business this way or that way. But it's, it truly is uh. Yeah, I mean it, it can feel like you know, you're in a room with 50 or 60 creators who are constantly iterating in their business and as soon as you have that moment of like, hey, I just found something that sticks, you know, attach photos to your Google reviews and then it immediately kind of gets spread out to everybody. So um, yeah, we've brought some stuff to the community. The community has brought some incredible things to us that we've been able to implement in our individual um. So it's really that, you know, I just always come back to the idea of, of community. I found that you know, the first year of wholesaling like really lonely. Uh, I mean you're certainly a. I was in a place of just. I didn't know what the heck I was doing trying to figure it out. Um, but then you know, as I found that the more I was trying to like network locally there was a lot of like um, people keeping things close to the chest. Uh and so yeah to have found a community that's the exact opposite of that and just the moment you find something that's working, share it widely. Uh, it's been really cool.

Speaker B: Very cool. Yeah, masterminds are huge. Or anywhere that you guys can get, get community. We have the free Facebook group, Evergreen Marketing Facebook group. As you can imagine it's, it's more specifically around marketing and online presence and, and everything like that. But yeah that, that's huge for any business or just quality of life really being able to, to talk with other people which is huge. I love that man. That's very tactical what people can do to get reviews. If you guys have been, if you guys watching this have been following online challenge, the uh, AI SEO challenge that we're doing every month now, we're always bringing the latest and greatest to what's going on with AI SEO and search and everything like that. But the Google reviews are absolutely huge and it's something you're not necessarily paying for. It's more so having discipline and structure around getting those and of course providing a great experience to the seller which should always be one of the things most top of mind for you guys out there. Um, going back to Joe Homebuyer franchisees man, what do you think? Because you have an interesting vantage point being one of the longest tenured Joes and I want to get your opinion like what do you think is the biggest unlock for companies that you've seen kind of around that 100, 200k range, like doing a couple deals to getting to a million plus in revenue. Whether that's like systems or mindset, anything that you're that's coming up in thought for you as far as like the biggest unlock from get to getting there.

Speaker A: That's a great question. I mean honestly it's all of the above. It's mindset, it's systems, it's community, it's uh, coaching. Um and we've been again lucky to create this kind of ecosystem where we have all of that inside. Joe, you know for me I think um, uh, my, my needs and therefore the value I've gotten from the franchise model have, have changed over time. So initially it was really um, kind of being able to have uh, a one on one coach to help me um, kind of get out of my own way. So um, you know, for example, like wearing all of the hats in the business, which is typically where you're at if you're in that couple hundred thousand dollars revenue, uh, range, um, you know, having one on one side by side support to, um, to not be tied up in the emotion of the business, uh, and just have a, you know, a coach within Joe Homebuyer say, okay, you know, you're spending entirely too much time, for example, building a buyer's list. This is something that a virtual assistant can do. Um, and here's some support in hiring that person, and here's where you need to go for that. Um, you know, so having those resources versus having to go reinvent the wheel, uh, every single time, um, that was the biggest unlock for me initially. Um, and yeah, now it really truly is, uh, the community of, you know, being able to, um, just instantly have, you know, a handful of folks that I know are encountering the same challenges I am because we're like right at the same revenue level or right at the same, you know, team size and just uh, whether it's quick voice notes back and forth or let's jump on a quick call, um, to me it's that, you know, I always say Joe Homebuyers like it's a, a coaching program and a mastermind in a community all in one. Um, and uh, yeah, that's been the biggest unlock for me. Got.

Speaker B: Ah, it. That's cool. Yeah, I love, uh, Cody Hoffine and Jen and everybody over there, so it's awesome to hear. Um, what are you planning for 20, 26, man, or what's on your mind as a business? I know you said when you started off you don't want to scale a crazy business. You know, you talk about being able to have enough time with family, which I want to touch on that. Like, kind of how you plan your days and weeks and, and year and everything like that. But what's on the, the horizon for you? You see yourself as a, a franchisee for a long time in real estate. For a long time. What's on your, what's on your mind for this year and beyond?

Speaker A: Yeah, so, um, you know, it's funny, what. When I first started looking for, uh, something, uh, in real estate, kind of looking for something else in those corporate days, I got intrigued with rentals and, and really that, that's where the search started. Uh, you know, how do you, how do you buy rental properties if you're not sitting on a bunch of cash, uh, for down payments? And obviously it evolved from there um, but we've been able to build a uh, my wife and I, really nice rental portfolio. Um, and we're sitting in this place right now where I think we're wanting to continue to smartly scale this wholesaling operation which right now the majority of the deals, uh, it's our active income and we're doing well, but they all go to other people. And I'd love to be sitting here with you a few years from now where uh, it's the same revenue from the wholesaling business but the end buyers are my rental entities. So that's certainly what I'm growing towards. And then in that process, um, you know, continuing uh, to scale revenue wise with uh, just getting um, a few of the best A players around me. So we have um, some hires and expansion we're doing in terms of uh, uh, another lead manager, acquisition manager here coming up in the next couple of months. Um, and you know I, I uh, I'd say that where I'd love to be a year from now is um, you know we're at, we're at double the revenue but I'm spending half the time in the business. Um, I think if I do that it'd be a really successful year.

Speaker B: I love that. I love that man. I love that man. Well, this has been, this has been great for sure. Great interview, great to get check with you. Do you have any final insights, mental frameworks to leave us through? I mean I, I know I have some tactical takeaways and, and things I heard from you, but anything that's come up and thought for you for last, Last advice for the audience.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean I'm sure the audience has heard it before and it's definitely not tactical. I like that you, you said mental framework. Um, you know I think I'll butcher the Jim Rohn quote, but you'll, Your uh, business will never exceed your level of personal development. Your, your, your revenue, the money you make, your income will never exceed your level of personal development. Um, find a community that fosters that. Find a ah, community that fosters the um, the work on yourself. Challenge yourself. Um, because man, running a business is hard, hard. We, you know we signed up to, to solve problems every day. That's what entrepreneurs did. Um, and that can take its toll. So I think if you're, yeah, if you don't have the frameworks in place, the community in place to really be able to grow through those challenges, it can be a tough road. Um, so that'd be. Yeah, my biggest piece of advice is how are you time blocking your days, your weeks to make sure that um, you know, your development spiritually, uh, physically, professionally, whatever comes first.

Speaker B: I love it, man. You're talking my language. I want to share. I heard in a collective, I heard in a collective genius call yesterday from Steve Trang. There's a marketing call yesterday and he said something along lines of the amount of questions that you ask is directly correlated to how much revenue that you make. So not necessarily directly tied in thing, but just sharing because I, I literally wrote that down for my weekly review today. One of the themes that I really, really liked of the week or just mental frameworks to think through is don't be, be proactive in asking questions. And when you have a community of people that can help you, that's easy to ask questions and get relevant information from and build the social proof, the belief that can be done, everything like that. So that's absolutely huge. Um, where's the best place to connect with you, follow you? Where can people find you, man?

Speaker A: Yeah, really? Instagram, uh, is probably where I am putting out the most content. It's just at Greg Bernie at my name. Um, and yeah, love to, love to connect there.

Speaker B: Awesome man. Well, dude, thanks so much again. We're definitely to get some other joes on here. I wanted to make the, the event last month but I had something going on that, that same day. So I don't know how often you guys do those might be an annual thing, but we're, we're gonna connect at some point.

Speaker A: We'll get you out for sure.

Speaker B: Home buyer for sure. Catch you at a Mastermind. So thank you guys so much for checking out this episode. If you enjoyed it, leave us a like share with a friend, give us a follow and make sure the 1ct I have for you guys, check out the Carrot Challenge, carrot.com challenge. If you guys are a member, you'll see, you should see it on the top bar as well when they come around. But that's literally Trevor and team bringing you the latest insight. What's going on with AI. We all know pretty much every week new stuff is going on. So we do all that hard work and discovery, uh, R D for you, research and development of AI and just bring it to you uh, in a uh, very affordable three or four day challenge. So thanks so much guys. Catch you on the next one.