Jose Escobar—The Power of Connection: Build Relationships That Grow Your Business

Jose Escobar  0:00  
Become a reader. Reading is quite literally what positioned me to grow the way I grew, outside of coaches and mentors and getting in the right rooms. And it's accessible to all of us. You're compressing 2030, years of experience and wisdom from some of the most successful people out there into a week or three days or four days, and you can now implement these things.

David Bush  0:22  
Welcome to the Business Builders Playbook, the show that breaks down the systems and strategies behind predictable revenue growth to win in business. In each episode, we're diving into the proven strategies that separate the winners who scale from the losers who fail. This show is sponsored by BDR AI, the AI-powered business development platform that automates your outbound prospecting, so you can focus in on closing deals instead of chasing leads. Let's get started. All right, well, welcome everybody. My name is David Bush, and I'm the owner of BDR AI. And today, I have the distinct pleasure to be your host and moderator on this exciting Q and A topic. And we're going to be talking about the power of connection and how to build relationships that grow your business. And if you're live here with us, I would love to see you put a one in the chat that says that you are ready to learn, you're ready to grow, you're ready to build relationships that grow your business. And today we have a an expert and a master at the power of connection, Jose Escobar has been radically transforming businesses, and he has got some very specific strategies and techniques that he's going to be sharing with us today. He's also going to be answering some common questions, barriers, and challenges that a lot of business owners face when they're trying to build relationships and to grow their business. So, Jose, I am so excited to dive in. We've got so many great questions. We had such an amazing interest in this particular topic. We do these Q and A interviews all the time, and we've just got a tremendous amount of people that are interested in this topic. We've got a lot of people asking for a recording because they had a conflict. We've also got some people here that are live and ready to go. So, would you mind just welcoming everybody and then just letting everybody know what got you to the point that you're at right now, where you're leading an organization of 1000s of entrepreneurs that are growing their business through the power of connection?

Jose Escobar  2:20  
Well, first of all, thank you so much, David, for having me here. I'm excited to be in collaboration with BDR AI and love all the things you're doing. And listen, I am here today because we're talking about a topic that is so meaningful to me, and that is connection. It is collaboration. It is the expanding of the network, which I think we all know. Your network is your net worth, as they say, right? We've heard all the the cliche statements that are just really true. You know, collaboration is king, right? Collaboration is a new currency. So, if you're here watching today, I assure you to bring you some value based on the questions that you ask. Thank you for being here live, and for those of you catching a replay, well, good to see you too. So, in terms of your question, what led me to create the Connected Leaders Academy and where I am today, and we're now in 46 countries, 50 states with tons of members, and we're growing to the tune of one new member a day in the Connected Leaders Academy. And how does this happen? Where did this all come from? So I can tell you right now, dating back to elementary school, if we pull back the curtain a little bit, I have always been a galvanizer since I was a kid. During recess in third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, I was the one setting up the games on the soccer field. I was the one selecting the captains for the basketball game. I was the one who was just bringing people together to have fun. Fast forward to middle school, I became a bit of a troublemaker, and I was doing the same thing, bringing people together as the NWO on the you know in the recess time doing professional wrestling with a bunch of guys and they thought it was a gang and it wasn't a gang we were just being silly and obnoxious and we got in trouble and it was a private school and it was kind of what it was and but I was still galvanized and bringing people together then in high school guess who was the one in charge of all the house parties right it was me I was the one that knew all the people. I knew who was old enough to buy the keg. I was. I knew who was a who had a house that was disposable to use for that particular you know party, and so on and so forth. I just knew the people. So I would make these things happen. I was bringing people together. And fast forwarding, as I got into Amway, and when I was 18 years old, and I got into college, and I did all these other things that I did along the way. I ended up realizing that I am just a guy who loves to see other people have a good time, whether it's positive, negative, indifferent. You know, you live and you learn. So now, married, have six kids. I'm very much. I said, okay, historically, what am I good at? Where's my skill set? What am I passionate about? And what does the marketplace need, right? A lot of networking groups out there today are very salesy, very pitchy. It's there's a very niche town. There's certain types of people in there, and I can go on a long list of the things that are out in the marketplace now. So I said, I want to create something different, and I said, you know, I need to create a community of entrepreneurs because that's what I love to do is bring people together now for good reasons, and that. That's why I decided to start a network, a community, the Connect Loaders Academy, and it's taken off, and it goes back to the marketplace wanted it. I am good at it, and I love

David Bush  5:10  
it. Yeah, well, and I've seen you in action, and you definitely are using using your gifts and talents and abilities. And for those of you that don't necessarily resonate with that skill set or that gifting, or that talent, you're going to be excited to hear some of the strategies that Jose is sharing because he has a group of people of all walks, sorts and sizes, and different backgrounds. He's got introverts, he's got extroverts, he's got in between verts, he's got a whole bunch of collection of people. And what's interesting is is that everybody can do their own connection process in a way that resonates with them as long as they're using some basic fundamentals and some strategies and skill sets that are duplicable. There's something that everybody can do. So, let's jump in and talk a little bit more about this process because I know that there's people that are just hungry right now, they are starving for the very specifics of how do I go about doing that. And you've built seven-figure businesses organically in just 15 months. So, talk a little bit about what are some of the most important strategies, decisions, or even relationships that made rapid growth possible? Because that's a powerful question to start.

Jose Escobar  6:21  
I can just say most of us, if not all of us, I would venture to say all of us right now, currently in your Rolodex. If you pull out your cell phone and you look in your phone numbers, just there alone, I promise you, you have three to five power connectors in your phone right now. And when I say power connectors, I mean people that are well connected to influential people that are going to open up doors that continue like a domino effect to open up more doors, right? But the problem is, so many of us think linearly. We think like this. We don't think laterally, and we don't even pay attention to what's right in front of us sometimes because we're always looking out there when we're not looking right in front of our front doorstep, right? I want to change the world. Well, why don't you sweep your front doorstep first, right? So, if you want to expand to a global network, look in your media network and ask yourself, who are the power players already right in front of me, right? I promise you, you already have those people in your rolodex right now. That's where you start, and you serve those people, and you build relationships with those people, you establish no like and trust, as they always like to say. And you say, "Hey, you know what else can I do for you? Hey, you know I just met somebody the other day. I want to introduce you to. Hey, by the and and check in on them, nurture the relationship. Too many of us are waiting for people to reach out to us. We have to proactively reach out to others. We have to be the proactive individuals that are saying, "Hey, I just wanted to check in on you today. I was thinking about you. Hey, by the way, I saw on social media the other day your son graduated. Congratulations. God bless your family. You know, things like that go a long way. I'm telling you, they go a long way. So make the effort to look immediately in your immediate circle. Serve those people at a very high level. Engage these people consistently. Not just these people, other people, to interest your network. You have to do that. Relationships is a two-way street, right? Too many people have 1000 people in their. You know how many people I've met, David, that said, "Oh, you know, my Rolodex has 1000, like 10,000 people in it. Right? The the question is how many people are in your Rolodex. The question is how many people will return your call. How many people will answer your call, how many people will actually reply to your message? If you're not getting that many people replying to you or answering your call or those types of things, that means you're not nurturing the relationship. So this the single most important key, which is low hanging fruit and is not some golden nugget ninja secret, is quite simply nurture the relationships that are right in front of you. Become get into the habit of truly caring about serving other people, and when you start doing those things, doors will start to open up, and like a domino effect. And one domino hits the next, and it hits the next, and it hits the next. And then it's just a matter of having the right verbiage to get people into your world that want to meet you. Nobody wants to meet you if you're going to say, "Hey, David, by the way, I have this community that you should join. He's gonna be like, I don't know. I already am a part of some other things. I've already been in some things before. I'm not sure I want to join your group. But if I say, Hey, David, listen, you know what? I have this this thing I'm doing over here, and I see the thing you're doing over here, and I think there's some potential win win here. We should hop on a call and get to know each other a bit more and see where this could go. Oh, he might have a conversation with me there because it's a win-win. So strategy does matter too.

David Bush  9:26  
Yeah, I love that phrase that says people don't care about what you know until they know about what you or they know how much you care. And I think that that's yeah the authentic side of what it is that you're successful with is that you're not into it just to build Connected Leaders Academy, you're into it to help the person that's other on the other end of your reach out and trying to figure out what's a value that I can bring to this particular person. Is it introduction? Is it an insight? Is it perspective? Is it something that could just be friendship, without trying to think about what can I. From that person, so I'm curious, what kind of experiences really shaped your belief that relationships and community could actually become powerful drivers of business growth? Because there must have been something in your world other than just being gifted and kind of uniquely talented at it as a young person. Was there anything that just kind of spoke to you and said, "Hey, this is a strategy that I can use to scale my business.

Jose Escobar  10:25  
Thank you for calling me young. That feels really good. So, it's I still feel 21. Okay, but in terms of that question, I think it's a powerful question. And for me, it's I've always looked because I always I take time to reflect, right? And proper reflection turns into new insights. And as I start to show up in life, I come back with new insights that allow me to navigate properly. If you're going to walk through a my through a minefield, follow somebody. That's good advice. If you're going to, let's say, if you're going to go on some new journey of some kind that is going to cost you time and money. I would rather learn from somebody else's experience than learn it on my own. So, who do I know that is a good coach or a mentor that I could hire or maybe could pour into me by saying I could serve you in this way? Can you serve me in this way? Right? There's so many people out there right now in your world as well, that would be willing to mentor you with no money if you don't have it, you just haven't asked. And I can tell you, 100% of the shots you don't take don't go in, and I can also tell you closed mouths don't get fed, and I can also tell you it's okay to ask for help. Nothing wrong with that. So going back to the point is what allowed me to see that this could be a path for business. Is I said to myself, every single opportunity that has improved my life personally or professionally came through the power of a new connection, came through the power of a collaboration, came through the power of a personal touch relationship, and I said, oh my gosh! I have been in so many rooms. I've been in personal development for 25 years before I ever had a business. David, I was hiring coaches and mentors. I was buying. I've been buying books for a long time, as you could tell. I have a personal home library of 1000s of books, and I read about two books a week on average. And for every book I read, I buy five. I've taken all kinds of courses and mentor courses and programs. I've I've paid for all kinds of masterminds and events and seminars and boot camps. And what I found is that every time I go to these places and I do these things, my network expands, and I'm just naturally building relationships. And my Rolodex has got so big to where it came to me, and I said, "Oh my gosh, you know what? I know so many successful, amazing people. They all know me, but they don't know each other. So I said, "I can just be that conduit to be the person who creates the environment. I don't want to be the Tony Robbins or the John Maxwell. I never signed up for that. All the speaking engagements, the things that I do now is because by default, because people ask me, not because I wanted to do that, right? So at the end of the day, for me, I just love being that central point to say, "Hey, I'm the guy who will bring you guys together, so you guys can create more, and I win by default. As you know, Zig Ziglar said it best: "If you help enough people get what they want, you'll get what you want, right? And that's what I've created a community and environment because I found that all the opportunities in my life came from connection, and I also found that I know a lot of people, and I haven't monetized it. So I said there has to be a way to bridge the gap and marry the two.

David Bush  13:30  
Yeah. Well, I know that there's questions that are coming in from the participants, and I want to get to some of those. One of the questions is when you talk about power connectors, is there a specific process that you used to be able to identify them, other than just somebody that's highly influential and affluent, that would be a good place to start. But is there anything else that you kind of determine this is what I would consider to be a power connector?

Jose Escobar  13:56  
So first of all, you always have to look at the fruit on a tree, right? I'm not going to hire a marriage coach if they've been divorced three times, right? Just to be honest, nothing wrong with being divorce is a real thing, and I get it. Things happen, right? We we live and learn, and we grow, right? But I wouldn't hire that coach. I wouldn't hire a parenting coach who doesn't have kids. I wouldn't hire hire a personal trainer who's completely out of shape, right? And this is me being real. This is me being direct and frank, right? I'm a very straight shooter, respectful all the time. So, when it comes to these pieces of power connectors, do they have the fruit on the tree? Are they where you want to be? Is the question. Are they in position to not only have authority and influence, and and they're doing the things, but are they doing the things that that you want or that people in your world might want, right? That's I gage it in that way, and I also look at how do they move. Are these people serving other people, right? I know a lot of people that have a lot of success with no impact, right? Is is what you're doing actually serving and impacting lives, creating transformation? Are you a world changer? So. I'm looking for people that are creating impact, but are creating that ripple effect of of service to others, right? Are you service driven? Usually, I find power connectors are servant leaders, right? They have look at their character, that's important as well. Look at their character. Look at their their the way they show up. You know, is the way they show up on social media directly in line with how they show up in person? I've met some people where they show up on social media and say a big game, and then you meet them in person. You're like, that is not quite in alignment, right? They behave like this over here, and they say these things over here, but they say and show up differently over here. I want to see congruency. I want to see what you mean is what you say is what you mean, and what I see is what I get, right? So, power players, power connectors are people that are in alignment, that have all the things, the influence, the authority, all the things. They're servant leaders, and they are actually doing the things that you want to be doing, or at least in the direction of where you want to go. Very, very important to really pay attention to those details because sometimes it's hard to tell, and the only way you can tell is by engaging with them.

David Bush  16:06  
So if this show is resonating with you and you're ready to take action because you want to scale your business faster, smarter with more AI and technology and less labor, check out BDR AI. We help entrepreneurs and executive sales leaders to automate the grind of prospecting, so you can focus your time on closing deals and growing revenue, where you should be spending your time. With AI-powered data, digital outreach automation, and done-for-you prospecting systems, you'll connect with more qualified leads, book more appointments, and build predictable revenue without adding more hours to your week or the week of your staff. Visit BDR today and discover how our AI Prospect Finder and digital BDR agents can help you to build your pipeline and your profits. Visit BDR AI, where business builders learn how to automate and scale their playbook. This is a jotter downer. Take the time and identify who are the top five power connectors in your phone, in your social media network. Who are the top five people? Come up with a list of five people. If you want to expand it to 10 or 15 or 20, that's up to you. But come up with a list of five people, and next to each one of their name, identify something that you can do to add value to them. What is something that you could do? It could be an introduction, it could be a compliment, it could be a recommendation on LinkedIn, it could be sharing their content, it could be just letting them know how much you appreciate them. You know, forms of compliments that are authentic are oftentimes well received by affluent people. You know, not doing something inauthentically or just to get something. But think about what you could do to those people. So let's keep moving on because I know that there's a lot of people that are watching this right now. They're wanting to grow their business. They have a passion. They're attending the networking events. They're collecting contacts and they're building connections, but they never develop meaningful relationships. What kind of coaching would you give to that person to tell them, "Here's how do you separate transactional networking from actual relationship building that produces business growth and long-term opportunities"

Jose Escobar  18:20  
Well, first of all, you have to truly care about the person. Okay, genuine being genuine is a real thing, right? Because we can be after profit and and the bottom line, and moving the needle financially. We all want to do that. We're all entrepreneurs, and there's nothing wrong with that. I believe there's nothing wrong with taking as a result of your giving, right? But we have to be willing to give and be willing to serve and be and be genuine and real about it, right? So I'll give you an example of something. I had a a friend of mine who was like a like a mentor as well, right? And he said to me, Jose, I noticed something about you that you do, that I've never done, and I've got to ask you, why do you do that? And the thing was, is that I tend to buy people's books as 20 bucks, right? I'll just throw a book, an example. So there's a book. Let's say you wrote this book, David, David, and you have this, right? And and I'm like, oh, let me, you know, send me a signed personalized copy. Hey, David, send me a link. I want to buy your book. I would love to read it. And then what happens is, I get your book, I read the book, and I give you a review, and then I go on my social media and I talk about your book, and I talk about you, and I talk about how amazing you are. Now, without me realizing it, that's just my inner nature of wanting to serve people, and because I care, I realized that turned into a strategy. And I was like, "Oh my gosh, this is producing all kinds of results. Because what happens is those people, all of a sudden, are like, "Oh my gosh, look at Jose's heart. Look at how he's serving. Look how he's helping. Oh, that means so much to me." You know how many people don't buy my book? Even family members haven't bought my book, right? And the fact that you're doing that and then promoting me and talking about me-that is amazing. I truly appreciate that. Then we have a conversation. Then they join my network, and then they do other things with me. And some of these people, when they join the network, that's just the beginning of the relationship. And then other things happen along the way. I can attribute easily, David, $15,000 of ROI from a relationship that came from me buying a 20-dollar book and actually reading it and actually caring. And I'm telling you, when you show up in a genuine, authentic, real way, it's amazing the the possibilities that can come from that, but you have to truly care, right? Remove the idea of what is the end result here, and give without the expectation of receiving in return, and then you're no longer tallying, and you're no longer feeling resentment or bitterness towards other people because you're not you know reciprocating. Just remove it and do it because it's the right thing to do, and the world will you know give you what you need in return?

David Bush  21:02  
Yeah, that's so good. And and some of you that are watching this right now is that that's you're saying I don't have time to care. I care about building my business because if I don't go out there and build my business, I'm not going to be successful. And I've tried being generous and helping other people, but I didn't grow my business because of it, and it led me to not having what I wanted, or I didn't have enough income, or I didn't have enough opportunities, or enough clients. And so, you're probably in your mind, you're shaping your opinion of what Jose is saying right now. And so, I want to have Jose just break down, like, how can an entrepreneur provide value and build trust with influential people without appearing like they're being overly promotional or immediately asking for something because they're trying to get what they want fast versus just helping that other person without any strings attached.

Jose Escobar  21:52  
So it's quite simple. You just have to ask, what would best serve you right now, David? So let's say you're one of the top five people in my network right now that is a power player, right, or a power connector, and I know you're doing your thing. I would reach out to you and I would say, "Hey, David, listen, I know we've been in each other's worlds. I have your cell number, so we obviously know each other, but we haven't really been very close. And shame on me. And you know what? I was thinking about you today, and I just wanted you to know that I was thinking about you, and I want to create a deeper relationship here. I think there's more we can do together because I think we can do more together than apart. And let me just start off by saying, how can I serve you today? Is there anything that you're currently working on that is meaningful to you, where I can show up and maybe support you? I would love to learn. And then you you close your mouth, and then you just listen, and people will tell on themselves, and they will say, "Yeah, this, this, this, this, this, and I'll be like, "Oh, okay, wonderful. Of these three things you mentioned, what is the most impactful needle moving thing for you right now? Oh, I would say this. Excellent. Is it okay if I try to go to bat for you to deliver on that this week? Would by Friday would that serve you? Yes, wonderful. All right, listen. I appreciate you, David. Just know that my heart's here to serve, and I want to, you know, continue for us to fly closer. I think we've been flying too far apart, and just know where my heart's at. And great to hear that you're doing well, and would love to maybe catch up over coffee. I'd love to buy your coffee sometime, or or maybe a virtual coffee sometime. But yeah, I'll go ahead and deliver on that, and I'll circle back when I'm done. All right, thank you so much, and that's it. And then you show up and you do the thing, and I'm telling you, that is low hanging fruit that we can all do today, right now, myself included. And that will move the relationship like this, because your heart is there to serve without expectation. It's amazing what can help.

David Bush  23:39  
Yeah, Joey made the the comments about Dale Carnegie saying, "Be interested first, then be interesting. And what I have found is is that if you're interested in what other people are interested in, you automatically become interesting. You know, I I've had some conversations, and maybe some of you have had the same type of thing where it's, you know, you go to a dinner party, or you go to a wedding, or you're sitting next to somebody and you're eating a meal. And I learned a conversation cue that's called salt. Start a conversation, make an observation, ask questions, ask follow-up questions, listen to their answers, and continue to get them to the point where they're talking about what it is that they're passionate about. Then tell them what you're excited about, and they'll oftentimes just regurgitate the questions that you ask them right back to you. And a lot of times, I've gotten through a 30 minute conversation, and they've never asked anything about me. And then they walk away from the meeting, and they go, "Man, that David Bush was really interesting, but they never found anything about me. But because I ask questions skillfully and I listen carefully, which Brian Tracy taught me that 25 years ago, listening to one of his cassette tapes on how to become better at sales and managing and things of that nature. So there's a lot of really good people that are coming in here. Angeline says we're world changers and change makers. And that's the kind of people that Jose brings into his community is people that actually believe that they can make the world a better place by helping other people. So you've grown this Connected Leaders Academy into a global community of successful entrepreneurs. So what did you do in the early stages to attract the right types of people and to create engagement within side of that network.

Jose Escobar  25:23  
Well, I started with again going back to what I said earlier. Everything is interconnected, so I went to my power players, my power connectors. Who are these people? Let me serve them, nurture them, and let me start there. And then I said, "Hey, and I didn't sell them connected leaders academy in the what it was in the moment because I had it was me, right? And then it was like five people or 10 people. I had to get really amazing at selling the dream. I had to get really good at painting the vision. Just imagine, David, where this is going to be in three years when there's 300 members, 500 members in 25 countries. Think about all the possibilities and what you just told me that you're interested in. That's what I'm. That's why I've created this environment. You understand, don't you? As I'm doing, as you understand, and I'm going down this this this path of tapping into something that you can feel connected to, and you're like, oh my gosh, you know, I I could see myself being a part of this movement, because that's what it is. It's a movement, and everybody wants to be at the front of something special, right? So it's really like, hey, let's do this. Let's let's let's tap into this, and that's where, so I've tapped into my initial power connectors, and then from there, I serve them, and as I serve them, naturally the inclination is they're going to say this is a good thing. I actually know some people that could use this, and then what happens? They naturally want to send me their friends, and naturally in the process of that, what I was doing so it became internal referrals, internal consumption. The best compliment somebody can give me is a referral, right? So they would start to say, "Hey, I know somebody that that should be in here. I'm like, "Excellent. Now the key is let me tell you what to say, because the problem is if you don't equip people on how to refer to you, they do it one time and they get shut down. They don't want to do it ever again because that didn't feel too good. So I coach the members on how to refer people if you want to refer people, right? And we're growing 90% referral based, right? Which is phenomenal. And the other percentage along the way was, hey, I go to events a lot. I'm an event goer, right? For the longest time, many years prior to actually having a business, I was a seat warmer. I was a professional seat warmer going to events, just learning and growing and planning and learning and growing and planning some more and learning and growing and planning some more and never executing, right? And I I soaked up all these things, but in the process, guess what I was doing? I was building my rolodex, and I was serving people for free. And eventually, I started meeting people at these events. And every event I go to, I'm always asking myself, "Who are the power connectors in this room? Who is here that I should know? John Maxwell said something powerful. I'm a John Maxwell certified coach as well, and John Maxwell said, "Who do you know that I should know? I use that question all the time. Based on what you learned about me today, David, and based on all the conversation we've had, who do you know that I should know? Now, if you've shown them value and you've served them, they're going to be like this, this, and they're going to tell you all these people. Would you be so kind to maybe make two or three interruptions for me? And in the process, tell me how I can best serve you. So, I mean, and that's how it grew. So it was just a matter of like, sort who's who are the power connectors, leveraging their audience of power connectors, and then it becomes this compound effect, and everything compounds over time, good or bad.

David Bush  28:58  
And I think that there's an an important formula in what you just shared-that is very simple in its concept-but very few people are actually applying this formula. So we know that one plus one equals two. Zero minus one equals minus one. Right. So you got to put something into something before you can ever think about drawing something out. So if you have a conversation and you show appreciation, and then you try to do something to help that particular person, you've got a positive balance. You've got two deposits. Now you can make a withdrawal. Now you wouldn't withdraw three from somebody that you just deposited two. You would you would make a withdrawal that would be equal to one of the two things that you did for them, because then you'd still have a positive balance. And what I see a lot of times, Jose, is people go out there and they make withdrawals. Hey, who do you know that I should know? And they've now. Made a deposit. So what you're doing, and I want to make sure that everybody understands that the reason why Jose is successful is not because he came up with some clever tactic or strategy to get people to do things for him or to get people to join his community. He did it by serving people and helping people, and people do what people do. And when you go into Connected Leaders Academy, you'll see that the speed of the leader dictates the speed of the team. The reason why this is growing by referral is because of the work that Jose did, and he modeled it. And then now the other people in the group see that the leader's doing it, so then they just model it and and reproduce it, and then it becomes a culture, wouldn't you say? Because that's really where I see your culture is that you have a culture where members actively refer, you collaborate, you promote each other, and you really provide a baseline structure to make sure that there are some adherence to some guidelines, so that the poachers and the people that are, you know, not necessarily the most wise when it comes to building relationships, they don't come in and taint the entire community. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Jose Escobar  31:11  
I can tell you right now. You said something powerful before I go into that. I vet everybody myself personally, so if I forget, remind me to say that. But I can tell you right now that you said something powerful of simplicity. I believe complexity is the enemy of execution. Okay, now too many of us, myself included, at times tend to overcomplicate the simple. We tend to take something that's this basic and turned it into this level of complexity, and we start to analyze it from 50 different angles, and we start to do all the metrics and the data and all the things. Everything I built in the first 15 months from zero to seven figures, I did it organically, 100% I had no website the entire time, no paid ads, no funnels, no automation, no tech, no CRM, no AI, no podcast, no YouTube channel, and zero emails went out because I am a simple guy, David. I understand that it's not complicated. It's actually very simple. The problem, the biggest challenge, is not the strategy; it's the work ethic. It is the consistency. It is the commitment to be all in, no matter what happens. It is the ability to focus and keep the main thing, the main thing, and not have like 1000 things going on and be super distracted. Those are the challenges that entrepreneurs are facing. It's not so much the the all the other things all the other things they help and it's amazing but it's not going to get you that long term growth that sustainability that we're talking about so going back to we were saying earlier I become I became a master executionist right massive action I just pull the trigger and I keep things so simple it's it's ridiculous some people are like Jose where's that golden nugget where's that ninja secret that you have? That I know you know this technique that you only you're doing because you seem to be doing it. I'm like, no, there isn't, right? I can just tell you the the simple basic steps that I do, and I had a the K I S S keep it simple silly, right? For the say the nicer word, right? And that's what it comes down to. So when it comes to the group itself, I have enrolled all 697 members as of this live recording year. I have enrolled every single person myself personally. There is no backdoor join my group. You can go on my website and just throw a credit card and sign up, even if you wanted to. There is no email blast that goes out, not even on Black Friday, trying to mass enroll people. And there is-I host over 23 events a year, in person, virtual, domestic, international. I have never once put up a QR code trying to mass enroll people or recruit people at a very high level, and I have no sales rep selling for me. Everybody talks to me directly, right? And I've turned away over 700 people in the last four and a half years. Why do I do that? And why do I even tell people that? Because my motivation is not headcount or paydays. My motivation is having the right people in the right rooms, and that goes a long way. And that's what makes all the difference in any environment, in any culture.

David Bush  34:10  
Complexity is the enemy of execution. Is that what you said? Yeah. Yeah, that's a jotter downer, everybody. That's a good one to take notes on. So, you know, just thinking about the type of culture and community of connectors that all of you would like to have. What are some of the values? What are some of the beliefs and principles that you would want your culture to write upon? Because what's going to happen is, is that as you start to identify these power connectors, you may not decide to create an academy or a group of your own, but you're going to create a collaborative group, most likely, and there's going to be people that you're going to collaborate and introduce to each other, and all of those power partners are going to become bigger and greater over time. And so, start thinking about what is the culture that I want to build, because you know what we tolerate becomes the culture, and if you tolerate you know bad apples and you talk. People that are selling and talent, or you know, not you know, they're pitching and they're doing all the things that many people do not want to have done. When you're first getting a relationship started, then you're probably not going to have a big following. I think that John Maxwell says, you know, if you think that you're a leader and you turn around and there's nobody behind you, you're not a leader. You're going out for a walk, and if you really want to create a power partner connector group, it's going to start with you, and you need to accept radical responsibility for the culture that you create. And if you're wishing that somebody else would refer you more, the question would come back to you: How many people have you referred? How many people have you made an introduction to? What have you done to go out there and give compliments and give recommendations and share a post or like Jose did, buy a book? So let's. You've got a whole army of books behind you. You know. So what role have books and speaking engagements and virtual conference coaching and other authority platforms played in the actual expansion of your reach and growing your business personally. The

Jose Escobar  36:07  
lowest hanging fruit to go from point A to point B in life and in business to me is a book. And if you don't have money to go buy a $20 book at Barnes and Noble or on Amazon, it's called the Library, and they have the same section there too: personal development, business, self-help. Right. The problem is self-help for many people is just shelf help. They buy the book, they get the book, and it collects dust on the shelf, and they don't actually engage with it. Right. So it's not about how many books you get through, which is very important as well. It's about how many books get through to you, and that requires you to dissect, engage, and really take on the book. Right, have a conversation with the author with marginalia and notes and sticky's and all the things. That's what I do with my book. I've read enough books. Let's just say that. And when I read books, I read I I have them well read, right? I have all I have my own index in the front of the book here of the things I like the most in the book. I have three points that I take away from every single book that I'm going to actually implement in that given month, and then I have these little sticky pads here of just things that I like, and dog ears and highlights and underlines and little conversations in the margins. It's called marginalia. So for me, reading is one of the most impactful things I have ever done in my life. And I've been reading for about 10 years, but I've been reading really aggressively for about six years, about one book a week. Now I've upped it in the last year to two books a week on average, right? And for every book I read, I buy five. So there's that because I'm a book collector, but I'm also book reader, and I can tell you there's this phenomenal quote that I don't actually have here in front of me. Actually, I'll tell you right now. It's if I have a book I wrote, right, which is I talk about reading. It's called Waying the Day, and in here there's a powerful quote, Mark Twain: The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read. Become a reader. Reading is quite literally what positioned me to grow the way I grew, outside of coaches and mentors and getting in the right rooms. It is reading, and it's accessible to all of us. You're compressing 2030, years of experience and wisdom from some of the most successful people out there, and taking it down into a week or three days or four days, and you can now implement these things. So get the books, read the books, invest in those things, and take the time. And you know, I'll expand on that. You know how many people? There's a great book by Austin and Cleon called "Show Your Work. Show your work. Do you know how many people are telling me over the years, Jose, you read a lot because you know you know you you make the time you have the time to do that. Like I don't have the time. I'm so busy. I just don't understand. Oh, I understand. I'm married. That takes time to have a happy, healthy marriage. I have six kids. That's a lot of time. I take kids kids to sports and things. I'm involved in in the things. I was in martial arts for many years, 15 years to be exact, and I have two companies with multiple streams of income. And one time, I had a full time job while I was building everything in the first 15 months. And you know what? I always had the time to read. You know why? Because we had the same 24 hours in a day. The difference is, to me, reading is a priority. To you, it's not. And frankly, we are going to create the time for what we feel is appropriate. If you look at my calendar, you will find a great discovery in my calendar. God is first, my wife is second, my kids are third, and then my business. And in between all that, there's all the other things that I do: my health, my reading, my different things that I do.

Jose Escobar  39:56  
So it really comes down to what is important to you. Is reading a non-negotiable? Where do I find the time, Jose? Well, in the nooks and crannies of your day, where you find spare change, like Austin Cleon says. Where do you find spare change in the nooks and crannies of your car seats and your couches? Every single person's day has nooks and crannies of time that you can cram in five minutes here, 10 minutes there, whatever the case is to finish a book, so read, read, and read some more. And I'm telling you that is low hanging fruit that anybody can implement. But it takes effort, it takes time, it requires you to force yourself to do the thing. Oh well, Jose, I'm not a fast reader. Neither am I. You think because I read two books a week, I'm a fast reader? No, it's because I just make the time to do it. So don't worry about that. Oh well, Jose, I like Kindles and I like audio books. Nothing wrong with that, but I can tell you, a physical book like this that I engage with versus an audio book, it's like free weight and resistance machines. If I'm doing bench press on something that's assisted, can I tell you something? I'm using less effort to do the thing. If I am using a Olympic bar with free weights, now I have to incorporate more muscles. I have to focus my mind more. I have to be more involved across the board to actually do that same thing. So nothing wrong with audio books and Kindles. I would have that in addition to, but I would never replace physical books in reading them and digesting them because that makes all the difference. I could go on for hours on this subject, so we should probably ask another question.

David Bush  41:30  
Well, and I would just say that for those of you that are currently watching this recorded or live, is that if that's an obstacle for you, you know, Jim Rohn used to say that, and the philosophy of an ant is that the philosophy of an ant is this the obstacle is just the obstacle. So I'm going to go around it to the left or to the right. I'm going to go over it. I'm going to go under it. I'm going to go through it. So you can push through and you can do all you can do. That's all we're required to do is to do all you can, nothing more and nothing less. So if you can do 10 minutes a day of reading, and if you can't do 10 minutes a day, what can you do? Don't tell me what you can't do. Tell me what you can do, and then if for some reason you know because some people have learning disabilities or they have you know issues with their sight or there's just something where they're just not wired to read a book, then do the audio book and come away with one thing. So you know, Jose does the dog ears and does. You know what I found is is that I wasn't getting exercise in as often as I should, and so I started reading books or listening to books on audio, and I would walk and listen at the same time, and that was getting more books consumed and more exercise minutes than doing it the old-fashioned way of opening up a book. So I adopted to something that was able to work for me at the time, and I don't retain as much because my mind is racing across the different things. But I'm still listening. I'm learning, and I'm educating myself. I'm nourishing my mind with exercise, and I'm also exercising my body, which is the healthy alternative. So, what can you watch? What can you listen? What can you read? What can you write? You know, Jim Rohn talks about writing down his journals. Those were some of the best books he's ever read. Were his own thoughts and his own feelings. And then the next one would be: Is who can you talk to? Sometimes it's just in that engagement, and that's what the organization that Jose's built out with the Connected Leaders Academy. Just showing up to the Connected Leaders Academy, you're going to get a chance to learn from the experience of others, right? And the experience of others compresses time, so you'll learn faster from others than you will oftentimes learn from just reading something on your own, so you want to have that collection. So let's talk about advice that you would give an experienced entrepreneur who's had significant life experiences. They've got expertise, they've got you know knowledge and accomplishments, but they still feel like that they're the best kept secret in their industry, what would you give them in terms of advice?

Jose Escobar  44:04  
Well, if you're the best kept secret, then you're just, in my opinion, not doing enough on social media. All right, now you don't have to get paid ads and do all those things, right? For me, I still don't do paid ads to this day. Well, I consider it one day perhaps, but just haven't done it. So, in the beginning, for me, my my wife always asks me, Jose, why are you always posting pictures of your food? We're having dinner at a restaurant. Why are you posting pictures of your food right now? Why are you? We're here at a King's Dominion park with our family. Why are you taking pictures of us about to get on a roller coaster? You know, like because we were. I was always taking pictures, and to this day, always taking pictures of the things I'm doing in my day to day with my family, church, friends, happy hour with some former coworkers or prospects or clients or whatever it is I'm. Vacation. I mean, you name it. Just a date with my wife, and she felt like, man, I was saying, like, there's no private privacy to what we're doing here. And I said, because what I'm trying to do here is change the world, and I'm trying to impact people in a very particular way. And the only way I can do that at the highest level is if people see who I am all the time, the real me. I don't have a business page. I have a Jose page, and the Jose is the business. Jose is the brand. Jose is everything I'm doing. So you will not see a different Jose at church, and you will see me in a business meeting. You will not see the same Jose at an outing with my family, as I am in a late night meeting with business people at a bar, having a couple drinks. I'm the same guy, and I speak the same, and I behave the same. I'm this just the same dude, and I think that's important. So, when it comes to the things that we're doing here, I would say, as eventually I said, Katie, watch one day as things are going to take off. You're going to start to see that the engagement will start to grow. People will start to connect. Oh, Jose is a real guy. Oh, I see who he is because people don't do business with Connected Leaders Academy. They do business with Jose Escobar. People join because of Jose Escobar. Oh, and there's all these things he's telling us that's going to happen. I like you, Jose, and if I like you, I can only imagine liking the opportunity. But if they don't like me, forget the opportunity. It's just not going to happen. So I have to be the guy, and I have to show up a certain way. But I am not the guy who, before I get on a call or a sales call or whatever, I flip a switch like on. Let me turn into the sales Jose Escobar. No, I'm the same guy. I had, I was behaving the same, talking the same right before you on that call. And as soon as I get off the call, I'll be the same guy. If I walk into a speaking engagement, I am not going into the speaking engagement putting a switch, saying, "Okay, I'm on and on mode now. And then when I'm done off the stage, I'll off mode now. No, it's just you have to be genuine, real, and the same across the board. So for me, if that person who's best kept secret, you're just not doing enough. And all that means is the next level. Because guess what? We all have a next level. I don't care how influential you are. I don't care how much money you make. I don't care how long you've been in the game. I don't care how much of anything. There's always another level. None of us have arrived, and if somebody thinks they've arrived, I don't probably don't want them in my circle, because that just tells me enough already. The minute you think you know it all, is the minute you start learning, right? So we, I'm a white girl at all times. I have a white belt mentality, right? I don't care how good I am.

Jose Escobar  47:37  
There's more to do, and I there's more to learn because things are evolving at all times. So going back to the whole piece, I would say, go on social media, create content, be visible and be genuine and be open to what's to the world. Because now people can see you in a different light, and it's not just business, business, business. Too many of us show up as just business. I am Jose. Oh, and then there's a business.

David Bush  48:02  
Yeah, and I I heard something a long time ago that really helped me to shift my perspective because a lot of us have head trash. You know, we're not a big enough expert to post something on social media, or we don't know enough yet. We're still finalizing our thoughts. Or you know, what would other people think if I shared this on my social media and this is my Facebook page, right? This is, well, this wall behind me, that's my wall. My Facebook wall is my wall. My LinkedIn wall is my wall. I get to put on my wall what I find is valuable. So if I want to show pictures of my food, if I want to show a picture of me up on stage, if I want to show a picture of me with a group of people that are networking, that's my wall. I don't care what you think. You just keep on scrolling. And a guy told me one time. He says, "You know, Dave, when when you say that, what are what will other people think? The reality of it is, most of the time, people aren't thinking about you. Believe it or not, they're really not thinking about you all that much, and if even if they did, if they thought negative about what does that matter to you? There's going to be people that are committed to misunderstanding you, so why are you trying to please those people? Why don't you just go out there and share, like Austin said in one of his books, "Steal Like an Artist. Why don't you just go out there and share your work with people and let the people that are interested in it be attracted to it, and the people that aren't aren't. So I got one more question for you, and then I want to talk to you a little bit more about the Connectors Leaders Academy. So, how do you move people naturally from building a relationship to actually discussing business or business opportunities or you know a sales related activity without damaging the trust that you've established. I'm curious how you do that.

Jose Escobar  49:44  
So it goes back to the verbiage and the approach, right? So win-win. I always use win-win as my verbiage. You know, so let's say I just met you, David, at an event. I would first of all compliment you, right? Everybody's worrying. Sign around their neck that says "Make you feel important. I think we've heard that before. How to win friends and influence people. So, but I'm not going to give you a disingenuous compliment. I'm going to make sure it's very genuine, it's very real. If your shirt is hideous, I'm not going to say, "What an amazing shirt you have. You know, I'm going to give you like a real compliment, right? So, I'm going to give you a real compliment. I'm going to talk about you. I'm going to focus the energy on you. It's kind of like a 7030, 8020, 6040, where you're doing most of the talking, as you said earlier, right? And and you like me more. And then as we're building that rapport, that I'll use the verb, hey, win win. I see more here. I think there's more ways we could serve each other, and that's really what comes down to. And then I got to be the first to find a way to serve you. So I have to. This is assuming that it's not a referral. I'm talking about relationships that I'm building. Right? Referrals are different. I handle that very differently. But if it's just I'm meeting you and we're building a rapport, I will compliment you. I will focus the conversation around you mostly. I will say, hey, you know, there's some things we can do together. I feel win-win. And by the way, let me serve you in this way. I notice this, this, this. Would it help you if I did this? Is there a way, something specific right now, since we're building a relationship, that I can serve you in some capacity? Now you're going to tell me, and you're going to be honest, and then of course I'm going to go to bat for you. So as that happens, then I say, as that's phase one. Phase two is, hey, let's get on a virtual coffee. Let's get to know each other a bit more. I think there's more here. I think we know each other well enough, but I think there's more to you and more to me that we should be aware of. And I think there's some ways that we're not exploring that we can create a win-win. And there's that. Now the key is you have to really explore that win-win, and that's what happens. So that's what I do, and that's been working for me masterfully. I never go to into the pitch immediately. I never go into hey, you need to join my group. I never go into any of those things because a, I don't even know if you you're a good fit for my group, right? You you have to ask the right questions. You got to determine is it so. Phase one is the rapport, the chemistry. Do we get along? Do we like each other? Is there some possibilities here? And phase two is we dive deeper into that. And if and only if it makes sense, we talk about working together in some capacity, right? Sometimes I might end up working with them, or sometimes they might work with me, or sometimes it might be a combination of both, right? But there's a lot of stuff there, and it's just a matter of making sure that you're not aggressive in terms of trying to like hammer your product and service over their head, just being real and genuine, trying to serve them with the right heart of service first, right servant leadership, and of course, just being very careful with your verbiage and how you approach it. People can smell a shady person from a mile away. I can just-I'm not an intuitive, okay-but I have great intuition, and I can just tell-I've gotten to the point in my years now, in just sales in general, and and in leadership that I've been doing for many years prior to having a business, but specifically in the last five years, almost five years in business, I can tell you, I can meet somebody today virtually or in person, and within two or three minutes, I will know yes or no.

Jose Escobar  52:59  
Not so much are we going to do a deal of some kind, but is this person for me? I can just tell very quickly based off of energetic kind of feelings and vibes and those types of things. And usually I'm right. Every now and then I'm not, but because people will surprise you sometimes, right? But for the most part, I'm right. But that's just it, and this is a thing that evolves over time, so those are some very basic things that I think are important. And remember, guys, don't get complicated. Make your life easier. Make make your life easier by just looking at simple principles. Sometimes, if your business stalls, if your business plateaus, if it starts to take a slump, I promise you, you're straying away from the basics, you're getting too complicated. And sometimes, if you go back to the basics, prospecting and selling, prospecting and selling, prospecting and selling, and developing your skill sets along the way, while expanding your network with the heart of serving first, sky's the limit.

David Bush  54:00  
I love that complication is the enemy of execution, and really coming back to that. And I think that it's so important. This is kind of a another jotter downer for today. Would be is making sure that you separate the approach from the presentation of the services or what you have. So right fit conversation first, and then maybe an invitation to a presentation. So, if I could show you how we could partner and help each other, would that be something that you'd be open to exploring? Ask that clarifying question, and you'll have so many more people that will be open and receptive to having the conversation, and that'll be very natural when you talk to Jose. You'll see that he separates the is this the right fit? He's using his intuition, making sure that it's the right fit, and then once he feels that, it'll be a natural transition into an invitation to a more presentation or a commercial application. So, talk about Connected Leaders Academy. If somebody wants to explore further. What that looks like, or events that you're hosting, because I know that there's a. And this, I want to make sure everybody goes to your website so that they find all of the events that you're doing. Because you have so many amazing events. Where do they go to get the information about next steps to learn about Connected Leaders Academy events? Contact you, Jose. What's the best place?

Jose Escobar  55:20  
Yeah. So the best way to do this is simple. My website www.connectedleadersacademy.com. Okay, connectedleadersacademy.com. Go to the website. There's information there. It's a really short, I don't know, seven eight minute video of me sharing some basic over overview of some fundamental things you know about my group. And if that resonates with you, of course, there's numbers on there of members and things like that. There's details or testimonials. Just check out the website. From the website directly, you can actually book a call with me. So my calendar link is on the website. Just click on that link, schedule a virtual coffee with me. Again, I vet everybody myself. If you notice and you go to my site, there is no link to just pay. Even if you love everything you heard, or even after this, you're like, "Oh my gosh, I should check out this group. You can't join. Everybody joins directly through me, so you meet with me on a virtual coffee. We'll get to know each other, and if it makes sense, and if it's a win-win, fantastic. And remember, a mentor of mine told me, Jose, if it makes sense, it makes dollars. Okay, so if it makes sense, we'll do something together. If not, no big deal, no harm, no foul. Guess what? We're now in each other's networks. We can establish a friendship and a rapport and a connection, and we can serve each other from afar. It doesn't have to be you being in the group, but again, if if you're out there and you want to get more speaking engagements, you want to get on more podcasts as a guest, or more guesting on podcasts, you want to build some really cool lifelong friendships with some high-level entrepreneurs around the world because entrepreneurship can be lonely if you're not careful. Community is important. Referral partners, collaboration, endorsement, more clients, more revenue. I mean, all these things. If it's some of these things, one of these things, or all of the above, this is the hub where we do that. We do it at a very high level. Okay, so if that is you and you want to learn about it, just reach out to me from my website. We have numerous events coming up. We have my global virtual conference coming up, which David is going to be a speaker for that. We're super excited about that. That's going to be Saturday, september 19. The website is www.connectedleadersacademyvc, as in virtualconference.com, which you can go to there from my actual website as well, and then we also have in September, late September, the NYC Mastermind Experience is an amazing event that we do high level entrepreneurs in Atlanta, Georgia, and then November is the Omni Bedford Springs. October I have the Global Titans event in the DC area. December we have a Christmas mastermind we're doing in Jersey. I mean, every month there's something going on here, and sometimes multiple events a month, right? So stay tuned. All of that can be found on my website. But I would love to connect with you. Again, I'm not looking for everyone. I'm looking for people that are serious about their business, people that are servant leaders, people that are experts in their field. They're established entrepreneurs. I'm looking for entrepreneurs, not want entrepreneurs. You know, there's a gap there, right? And and people who are just looking to create more impact around the world. They're mission purpose driven people with big visions, and they want to be in alignment with the right people. And that's kind of what I've created. And and of course, the the open invitation is there for those who feel it would be a good conversation.

David Bush  58:19  
That's so good. Well, you're ending us on a high note. Thank you so much for sharing. So, www.connectedleadersacademy.com is the go-to site with all of the resources. We'll put the link in the show notes with the recording and all the other details about how to get connected with Jose. And hopefully, all of you got something that you were looking for today. I don't know what you came hoping to hear and the power of connection and how to build relationships that grow your business, but I think Jose did a great job of breaking it down, and it really comes back to how are you going to serve others, how are you going to show up in the lives of other people and make deposits so that when you do have a request or an ask, they want to respond to you because you're one of the most valuable connections in their world. So, thanks everybody for joining us today. If you have more questions or concerns, reach out to us. BDR AI. We'd love to be a great connection in your network. Thanks, Jose.

Jose Escobar  59:10  
Thank you.

David Bush  59:14  
Thanks for tuning in to the Business Builders Playbook. If this episode gave you some plays that you can start running in your business today, hit subscribe and share with another revenue leader who's tired of the pipeline grind. Building predictable revenue isn't something you figure out alone. Whether you're looking to automate your prospecting with BDR AI, or you just want to talk through the growth challenges you're facing, reach out. We help business leaders just like you to build systems that actually scale, and if you're ready to stop being your company's highest-paid prospector, let's have a conversation. Reach out to us at BDR AI. Until next time, let's keep building.