Welcome to the “Making of a DM.” My last show of the year, 2021. More importantly, today I'm going to do a rapid-fire round of Q&A. I hope you're ready for this because it's going to be epic. So, with that said, let's get started.
Mark: Hey there, it’s your boy, Mark Evans DM, coming to you from Kirtland Hills, Ohio, near Cleveland, Ohio, out here in the treehouse, a little bit of snow on the ground as I'm recording this. [01:01.8]
This will be my last podcast show from Ohio of the year. I'll be leaving in about 48 hours, hopping on the jet, rolling down to Parkland, Fla., for the next six and a half months or so and I'm excited. I'm excited to get down there. I was hoping to have a lot more snow than we’ve had this year before Christmas and during Christmas, but hope you guys absolutely had an amazing Christmas. I had the family over, did some cool stuff. Kids got some toys. I got some neat things. My wife got some neat things.
The truth is I don't really need anything, and I don't know about you guys, but in all seriousness, I just hate wasting. Our kids have everything they’ve ever wanted and need and beyond and multiple houses, right? They have toys here in Ohio, toys in Florida, and it just almost becomes wasteful. [01:54.8]
I teach the kids about give 10 gifts away, give 10 toys away to get one, and just explain to them why it's so important not just have a bunch of stuff because you can, and it's cool to have stuff, but just understand, one, how you’ve got it and appreciate it and earn it. You know what I mean? Teaching the kids is a never-ending thing. The truth is I'm still learning, and everyone here listening, that's why you're here. You're learning as well.
As I'm sitting here, I just want to say thank you, guys, so much. I had so many people reach out to me over the last couple days during the holidays and just say, Merry Christmas, you’ve made a huge impact in my life. Here's what you've done for me. Some people sent some really neat gifts as well.
One guy, Chris, he sent me a really cool custom painting of me on stage at the Lions Not Sheep event I did earlier this year, really neat with a cool message, “Haters aren't creators,” which is the truth. But it was a really neat piece, very thoughtful. [02:53.3]
Another guy sent me a DM. It was a doormat for the treehouse here, customized, and this is a cool story. The guy, actually, I loaned money to. I do day funding. I have a company that does a lot of day funding and real estate deals and such, and we day funded this guy's deal. His name is John. I’ve never talked to him, never met him in person, but my team has talked to him and we funded a deal and he paid us a decent amount of money. We did the deal and made money, and everyone was happy. He did a very smart thing. He sent a cool gift after the fact. He follows me, pays attention and it's a great gift, very useful, very thoughtful.
It doesn't have to be expensive gifts, by the way, to be thoughtful. I don't even know what a customized doormat cost, but let's say $100 or so, but he got my attention and it's very appreciative and those are people I want to always invest more in and with, so that's really cool.
I got some golf stuff and things like that, even though I don't golf much, but I do have it and I will put it to use when I am golfing. Cigars, cards, emails, videos, those always go well. Then also a lot of people said, “Hey, man, I got to indulge in your show over the holidays and it really made a massive impact in my life and I just left you an amazing five-star review. [04:11.0]
That's the best thing you could do for me, honestly, and for the people who want to listen and learn about this show. It’s just to leave a five-star review on Spotify, iTunes, or wherever you listen to the show at, take a minute or two out of your life and pay it forward. It's a good way to pay it back and you never know. You're very important to this world and that message could be seen by many, and it could just be seen. Shit, even if it's seen by one and it changes their life, you had a part in that and that's very powerful.
I think that's what some people forget in life. It's not about the huge things. It's all about all these little things that oftentimes I don't feel like it means dick, but it means a lot, you know what I mean? Waking up early, a lot. Going to the gym means a lot. Saying thank you and hello, and being proper, standing up shaking hands, looking people in the eyes, all these little things that you don't think mean anything, they mean absolutely pretty much everything and it's pretty cool. [05:06.5]
If you have a chance, leave a five-star review, I'd appreciate it. Let me know. I always like to hear it. As well as MEconomy and Magician vs. Mule. A lot of people are reading the book over 75 Hard by Andy Frisella. It's a great mental challenge, 75 days. You can get over to 75 Hard and check it out and see exactly what it is.
I've done it several times, a couple times actually successfully. It's very intense in a good way. It's not even intense. It's just a very clear structure for guys like me, where I could pretty much wake up and do what I want when I want, and it really gives me a very clear path daily of execution mode. It's a very powerful thing. Check it out. 75 Hard. A lot of people are reading that book Magician vs. Mule and MEconomy and that, so it's kind of cool to see me being tagged with all those guys, very honored and excited to hear you guys' results. [05:57.0]
As I'm sitting here, like I said, looking overlooking the ravine, checking out a couple deer running around and some squirrels and all that fun stuff, I asked a question a couple weeks ago, hey, guys, Q&A, if you could sit down with me for 30 minutes, what question would you ask? And very interesting, and, again, I want to be transparent with you guys, out of hundreds and hundreds of questions I’ve got asked, to be honest with you, the truth is most people suck at trying to figure out how to ask a question.
It's true. Most people suck at asking questions, and until you get better at asking questions, you're going to continue to get shitty answers in your life and this is why most people don't have results. They're asking themselves the wrong questions. They're asking themselves shitty questions. They're not in the game of what they really think they are. They’re talking about it, but they're not really asking the questions to get the real outcome they're seeking.
I just want to share some Q&As today with you and I'm just going to fire. I literally had my assistant print them off. They're sitting here in front of me and I'm just going to go through some. I have not looked at them yet. I did look at them two weeks ago when they were coming through, and I'm like, Oh my god, some of these or most of these are shitty questions. [07:04.8]
But this stuff is important to me and I just kind of want it to be that today it's going to be you and me talking, right? You're sitting across the desk from me for a half hour and I'm just going to fireball or fire around, go back and forth. I might answer five questions or 20 questions, I don't know. I'm just going to answer and go down the line. Pull up a seat. It should be good.
Before I get too excited here, again, 2021 was my biggest financial gain year ever and also my biggest, what I'm most proud of, it was my biggest giving year ever. We gave away more money, not in direct correlation with growth. I actually kind of committed to giving before I was growing anything, but I'm very, very honored, very excited to do that, and I’m putting it even harder in 2022. I want to give away double of what I gave this year and it's scary. [08:01.8]
Literally, as I say it, I'm swallowing really hard about to gag because it's a lot, a lot of money, millions, what I want to give in 2022, so it makes me feel weird. I'm saying this out loud, one, for public commitment. I don't need that, but I kind of like to share it with you guys, kind of let you know where my head is at, because I truly do believe the biggest givers are the biggest getters and I'm not talking about just the people that are giving their time. You have to save yourself before you save the world, number one, so I'm not taking food off my table to give to someone else necessarily and I’ve seen a lot of great people do that.
Actually, I grew up like that. My mom and dad would give their shirt off their back, but into the problem they'd create. Other people's problem became their problem financially and some people would take advantage of that, but I always worked really hard to kind of find my path. It's different for everybody, but I’ve got to take care of me. I'm taking care of me where I'm at today and, more importantly, where I see the biggest miss is a lot of people are taking out where they're at today, but not thinking about the future. Right now, today, I'm healthy. Tomorrow it could be a different story. I am definitely thinking about the future. [09:15.0]
Another quick thing to share here and everyone listening to my voice should get over to Facebook or Instagram ASAP, seriously. I talk about saving some money on taxes. If you're an entrepreneur, which most people listening to the show are, if you're an entrepreneur, a way to pay your children $12,550. Not tax advice, not financial advice, but something I'd recommend checking out is paying them. It's a tax-free play to be able to reduce your earned income, move it over to them, and give them a head start on some cool stuff.
I break it down. I give you how we buy stuff with my kids’ IRAs and all that good stuff, a hundred percent free. Just put your name and email on there and you'll get to reports, so check it out. You'll see it over there, how to get free money before the end of the year. Do it sooner than later. [09:59.7]
Let's get to it. Like I said, it's going to be a Q&A session. Dan asked, “What are the most important business and personal lessons you have learned?” Business and personal to me, again, a lot of people may understand this or may not. I don't have a difference. My personal business life is the same. I'm about doing the right thing even when it sucks. If you say you're going to do it, fucking do it. That's very important in personal and business, so these are two main things that are very important to me.
There are a lot of business lessons like hiring people. I wish I'd have known what I'm sharing with you now 10 years ago, actually 15 years ago. It was to hire better people than you, hire people that can make you better, hire people that want to drive you harder, pay people real money.
When I say “real money”, oftentimes they're getting paid more than me in the beginning of the business if I’ve started it. It's something most people don't understand. I didn't understand it until I actually did it and executed it. But what's cool about it is when everyone around you is making real money, and I'm talking six, seven, eight figures a year, they want to help you make more money, too, and because that's what keeps the machine rolling, so a lot of lessons there. [11:08.0]
“Hey, I'd like to thank you for the information you’re sharing and for the inspiration you manifest.” Thank you, Hurley.
Don. “Describe one or two of your most recent turning points in your think mindset.” I don't really think about that kind of stuff. Gratitude, number one, will always change your life. If you're very gratitude-driven, you're going to see amazing things in front of you at all times. I do see the world in a positive manner. I write about this in MEconomy, but I focus on me. I genuinely do. I'm very conscious that I don't know everything. I'm very conscious that I'm wrong often. I'm very conscious that I need help around me all the time.
My hardest part is asking for help. Sometimes I think it's my old-school mentality that kicks in. It's like, hunker down and just do the job. Nothing wrong with that, but it also constrains my growth. Don't get these ideas in your head that you can do it all on your own. I mean, there's only one of you. [12:03.8]
That was probably the biggest thing, but I don't really know the turning points. This is something that I learned a long time ago to turn off the fucking news. I learned that at 15, 16, 17 years ago, maybe longer. Me and my wife have been together 16-plus years and I haven't watched news from way before her. I saw my grandmother go to bed with the news on and wake up with the news on and sleep with the news on, and it will fucking wreak havoc on your brain. It is a massive manipulation at the highest level. I've always known that as a kid.
One thing I heard back in the day, it's like, Hey, listen, if you don't turn on the news for another year, you're going to turn it on a year from now and the questions, it's going to be the same shit, who got killed, racism. Is that full of fact? This or that. I mean, it's all the same shit. Someone is always dying. Someone is always bleeding. If it ain't bleeding, it ain't leading. Shut the news off and focus. [12:56.2]
Another thing, too, again, I'm sure some other people ask these questions as well, so it might be a little bit of duplication here, but we have to think bigger. So many people are trying to figure out how to make five grand a month, 10 grand a month, 20 grand a month, 100 grand a month. Listen, that's awesome and, when you accomplish that, you look back and you're like, Fuck, why didn't I go for a million a month?
See, the thing is, when you're going to make 10 grand a month, and I'm using that as an example—by the way, it's, it's not hard to make 10 grand a month doing anything. If you have any hustle muscle at all in this day and age, to make 10 grand a month is very, very, very, very, very [easy]. It has never been easier, let's just say that, as long as you provide value and do work—but picture this. If you're sitting in your brain and you're used to making five grand a month in your business or your job or whatever, the only way you know how to make 10 grand a month is to work harder, to work twice as hard.
That's what our brain does to us, because it's semi-reachable, because you can see it. The problem with going from five grand to 100 grand, your brain fucking wigs out. You don't know how to do anything, because if you did, you'd already be at 100 grand a month, right? What you have to do is you have to start asking yourself better and different questions. See what I mean? [14:09.8]
Like I said, even a lot of people here, the majority of the people suck at asking questions. Therefore, they're retrieving the wrong answers, and the problem is you’re pissed off because you're like, Dude, I want to make this, but all your actions are X. You'll never get there. There’s a reason you're always frustrated, feel like you're spinning your wheels and never getting any closer than you are. Actually, a lot of times you're going backwards because you're losing time.
But to go from 5,000 to 100,000 a month, your brain has to start thinking differently. You have to start working on different things. You have to start letting go of small things and start focusing on big things, and I see too many people at the five-grand-a-month mark, 10-grand-a-month mark, Mickey Mousing the way they're trying to get to 10, to 11, to 12, to 13, to 14, to 15. Dude, fuck, you have to take a massive leap, and until you do so, you're going to always be stuck in that small-minded thinking. [14:59.0]
By the way, 100 grand a month is not a lot of money. Not to say you can't live on that, obviously, but in the grand scheme of a business to make 100 grand a month, if my company is not making, all my company is pretty much, if they're not making 100 grand a month within the first year or less, maybe way less depending on the product or service, I'm shutting it down. It's just a waste of your time.
A hundred grand a month is not hard to accomplish, and pretty much a lot of industries, all the industries if you're looking at it properly, you’ve got to look around. There are people in your industry that are making way more than 100 grand a month. The question is, are you? And what does that look like? What path are you willing to take? What are you willing to do? Those are some different, not necessarily turning points, but mindset.
Another thing I talk about in all my books is called thought-auditing. Thought-auditing has got me really to where I'm at today in my life. It's like, dude, I want to be rich. Okay, cool, take out a pen and paper and write down, “What does rich mean to me?” because to me and you it could mean two drastically different things. “I want to be wealthy. I don't want to be poor.” Stop being fucking poor, right? [16:11.5]
That's what it means to me, by the way, for real. Right? I don't focus on being poor. I didn’t focus on me having been broke back in the day. I focus on what I can do and what I’ve done and where I'm going. If you focus on the negative, you get more negative. If you focus on the positive, the positive starts turning up a lot more.
A lot of the reason, everyone is like, Dude, you're just lucky. I'm fucking lucky because I have a lot of things I'm not lucky on. It's just you don't see those. You only see the wins. You don't see the losses. That's why I like to share the losses. I just shared how I lost over 560-something grand recently in a month at one of our companies. It's not the end of the world. That company still would generate millions of dollars in net revenue this year, but at the end of the day, it sucks because that money is not in my pocket. I can manage that money better, but it's part of business, part of life, part of growth, and that company will go on to do massive numbers and 2022 and beyond, so I'm excited to share that journey with you. [17:02.8]
But we’ve got to start thinking bigger and thought-auditing does that. My question to you is, what is a lot of money per month? Because when I'm sitting here talking nonchalantly about 100 grand as nothing, it really is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Where I come from, growing up, at 18 years old, when I got to 18 years old and I bought my first company, 100 grand, I was trying to make 100 grand a year gross in my company, not 100 grand net a year in my company. Different worlds, right?
I got what I wanted and beyond, but I struggled. It was very tough, and thinking, thought-auditing is like, Why did I think 100 grand was a lot of money? The truth is I never knew anybody who made over 100 grand, so I didn't have any point of reference.
That's what's cool about social media if you look at social media in a different way. There are fakers, it is what it is, but there also are a lot of genuine people sharing real shit. I like to be in that category. I share the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between, and that's why I share my big losses, my big wins, my mediocre losses, my mediocre wins. I'm just sharing life with you. [18:07.0]
People are like, Dude, you're fucking flexing. Dude, my life is a massive flex every day. You could look outside looking in and think all I'm doing is flexing. Dude, I'm living and the truth is I'm not doing shit for where I'm going. I'm just getting started. It's funny to me, the perspective of one to the other. That's why I don't hold any weight when someone is like, Dude, you're rich. What does rich mean? Because rich to you and me is probably drastically different.
Using social media to look up to people and say, Damn, that’s what's possible? Making millions of dollars a year is doable? You might be from a small town and just be encouraged or inspired. Maybe you're having a bad day, bad week, bad month, bad year, and you pop on and listen to this show or another video or podcast of someone else that's sharing real shit with you and it hits you in the face like a ton of bricks. You're like, Dude, if that dickhead can do it, why can't I? That's what I'm here for. I know this is real shit. I live it. It's my fucking life. It's real. [19:03.6]
To generate millions of dollars a month, let alone a year, is doable and I wouldn't tell you it's doable if I wasn't doing it and I haven't done it many times in a row. Multiple, many, many, many, many times now at this point. Not to say there's not good, not to say there's not bad in between all that. It's called life. I hope that gave you a little bit of insight.
“What was your big turning moment that made you who you are today?” Again, Sinead asked that. The truth is October 8, 2005, was my biggest turning point in my life and my business-career life. That's when my grandmother passed away. She found out she had Stage-IV cancer and she only had a couple weeks to live. She was like, Take my ass home. We put her in the dining room in the bed, and I'm very emotional, by the way, so I can't talk to her like, Grandma, I love you, blah, blah, blah. I actually did a recording. Went there, held her hand and we cried for about 15 minutes listening to an audio I put together for her letting her know how much she meant to me, and it was one of the most amazing things I got to do in my life because I could tell her goodbye. I could tell her what she meant to me. See? I'm getting emotional now. [20:08.7]
But there are people out there that have never had that opportunity, and if they did have the opportunity, they never took the opportunity. They saw the obstacle. They saw the pain. They saw the suffering. I saw it as a magical moment to go there and let her know that if this was the last thing I could ever say to her, that was what I shared with her. It depends on what you're trying to do and how you see the world, but if you ever get that chance. I got to do it. I was lucky enough to do it to two people in my life. A very powerful moment in my life, if you can't tell, but it made me realize there's more to life than just working.
I was a workhorse, working 16, 18 hours a day, seven days a week. I absolutely loved it because I didn't know any better and that was a wakeup call for me. Like I said, that was October 8, 2005. I had a girlfriend then, now my wife Deena. She was like, Hey, let's take a trip for a month. I about pissed my pants because I was like, That's not possible, and I figured out how to make it possible. I didn't say, It's not possible. I said, “How do I make it possible?” Again, change the questions, change the results. [21:08.5]
It's like you see something very expensive and you're like, I can't afford that. That's a dumbass question. By the way, if you think you can't afford it, you're right. You can't. The next question, the real question you ask yourself is “How can I afford that?” because if you ask yourself that question, the brain starts going to work subconsciously and consciously of how to find that opportunity and not the obstacles.
There are obstacles in the journey, for sure, but if you shut it off immediately, “I can't afford that,” okay, cool, you're right, get the fuck out of here, as opposed to like, Dude, how can I afford that? What do I need to create to make that mine? Right? This could be a house. This could be a car. This could be a trip. This could be everything.
This is still what I do every day in my life when I'm looking at a jet, looking at a new car, looking at a new house or a new property, just to kind of buy, to kind of do some stuff with. I don't say I can't afford that, ever. Ever. You can afford whatever you want if you're willing to do the right things and do the right work and get the right team. I mean, there's money galore if you believe in abundance. The problem is it just might not be in your account today. Cool, let's set a plan and execute the plan and get the results, right? [22:12.5]
That was the turning point for me, when my grandmother passed. Like I said, it made me really realize there's more to life than just hustling. That's when I became a lifestyle business owner, truthfully. I can make a lot of money. I can have the life I want. I can do them Both. It's not like, how do I do this or that? It’s, how do I do it all? That was kind of cool.
“Favorite cigar?” I smoke a lot of tobacco Especials. My favorite is the Gordito Dulce 6x60, so if you ever send me a gift, that's what I smoke. I smoke boxes of those or that's my cigar of taste.
“What is the one thing about business that you know now that you would tell 20-year-old Mark to do first?” Stop dicking around. No one cares about the name of your LLC. No one cares about your website address. No one cares about your specialty’s phone number. Just get the fuck to work. [23:01.3]
A lot of people are like, Dude, I’m setting up my LLC, but I don't know my name. I want to create a logo, but I can't get started until I get my logo. I’ve got to go to UPS. No, start fucking making money today. Stop procrastinating and it's a very real way. I see so many people do it. It's so dumb. I've done it many times and that's what I tell myself, stop talking, start going, and I’ll talk more about that here maybe in a few.
My boy, Jim Cramer. Amazing guy, by the way. “I would ask about how you think about things, your belief systems? For example, how do you think through your own personal development? How do you think through monetizing your next project?” He's asking a lot of questions here, so let me see here. What's he saying here? I can't see everything. “What are you working on now that's moving the needle for you? Those types of things.”
Let's start with question number one. “How do you think about your own personal development?” The truth is, this is kind of something I’ve never really talked about, but I actually consult myself. I don't take all these crazy drugs or anything like that. Not to say I wouldn't, but I’ve never done any kind of crazy weird drug that gets me outside of my body and all that. I know some buddies that have, and they love that experience. [24:10.5]
But I actually sit down with myself. I have some quiet time, and if I'm going through something, I’m consulting myself. It takes the emotion away. It takes the ego out of the question and I just tell myself facts. Data, not drama. If I'm working through something, it's like, Mark, what would you tell yourself? If you're a client of yourself, what would you tell yourself? And then I just say it. I don't edit it. I just say it out loud or write it down.
In essence, I’m consulting myself. I do this often, actually pretty much daily. Shit, if I'm having a bad situation with an employee, a bad situation with private money guys or trying to raise or give money, or if I'm having a situation where someone is not paying me back, I mean, it's real life. I mean, it's a lot of things every day, so I’m a professional consultant to myself, for sure. [24:59.4]
That's what I do in my personal development. It’s asking where I can get better. Where are my blind spots? And I listen to people. I don’t judge it. I have a lot of empathy for people, but if someone says something I'm paying attention, especially if they have weight. If your buddy came up to you, your best friend is like, Yo, man, you're packing on some lbs, what's up? I would take that more seriously than if someone's like, Dude, you're a fatass, that I've never heard of and has a dog meme, a character meme or whatever. Again, it depends on where the data is coming from. I'm going to listen to it all differently. That's kind of what I do. I don't know if that answers the question.
“How do you think through monetizing your next project?” My first thing I'm always doing is looking at the jockey. If the jockey is top notch, we can make a product work no matter what. Then I'm going to dig deeper. Once I'm cool with the jockey, then I'm going to look at the product, right? Because you could have the best product in the world, but a shitty jockey. I'm not doing the day-to-day work, right? That's not where I shine. That's not my strength. That's actually a big weakness of mine and I'm very clear about that. But if the jockey is top notch, then I can move to second level. [26:00.7]
Most people do the opposite. They look at the product and I think that's the wrong approach. I think the product is going to be top notch if the jockey is top notch anyway. If the jockey is not top notch, why am I even considering this? Because if I do consider it and I get excited, now I’ve got to bring on a COO. I mean, it's a lot of work, you know what I mean? Products are easy, I believe. Finding great people and great jockeys, if you will. I call them partners, jockey, it's all the same shit to me.
Not to talk down to it. It's just that I don't look at that any differently than at a horse. You could have the best horse, but if you have a shitty jockey, man, it's not getting to the finish line in first place. You can have the best jockey on a shitty horse. I'd put my money on him before I would the guy that has a good horse with a shitty jockey. At the end of the day, that's what I'm looking at.
In regards to monetizing a project, I'm not focused on the money. Obviously, money is important as a business owner. I'm more focused on what can it do in the future? Where are we at today? What do I need it to do for me today? Honestly, I have a massive advantage today where I'm at. I genuinely don't need to make money today to pay my bills. That's good and bad. It can make you complacent. I'm clear about that. [27:08.8]
But I genuinely am focused on jockey, product, solutions, and what does it look like and how big can we get it? I don't like being in companies that are small. Like I said, minimum 100 grand a month is the goal, minimum. Minimum, because there's no reason if you have a real product that you can't do that, and if it's not doing that—by the way, I'm not talking shit to you. I'm just shooting straight with you—if your business is not doing at least a million to million two a year minimum, you're either in the wrong industry or you're the problem in the industry. You're the problem in your business.
If someone else is doing it and you're not, it's not because it doesn't exist. It's because you can't get out of your own way. You haven't figured it out. You have to work on yourself. You have to become a higher-level thinker and start doing different things. This is easier said and done, but it's the truth. You have to do that. [27:55.2]
“What are you working on now that's moving the needle for you?” Honestly, man, I'm working on me. I'm working on my health. I'm working on my financial future. I’m working on my dreams and goals with my fam. That's what moves the needle for me. It's not about money. Money is always going to move, move around, but, for me, moving the needle is taking care of me. That will always [be so]. If I'm here, I can keep moving the needle. If I'm not here, the needle stops, so that's what I'm really focused on.
David. “What's your best investment for me to net 25k monthly?” Again, that's a dumbass question. Why is that a dumbass question, Mark? I'm glad you asked. Number one, there's no context to that. I could show you a lot of ways to make 25k a month net, but how hard do you want to work? How much do you want to put in play? What's your risk tolerance? What's your timeframe? I mean, there are a million questions that go deeper than that.
This is why most people get ripped off in the world of investing, because someone promises them a world based off their limited information and they're going to tell you what to do, what they would do, and they're going to take your fucking money and run, I promise you. I guarantee it. It's pretty much a guarantee. [29:02.4]
The question needs to be reframed. Hey, Mark, I have $500,000. My risk tolerance is that I'm all in. If I lose all this money, I can still pay my bills, I can still make money. I don't want to, but that's my risk tolerance. If that happened, it wouldn’t be the end of the world and here's what I'm willing to do. Right? That's one way.
Not only that, I do have people and partnerships in my e-commerce company. By the way, if you are interested in that, it's about 35 grand to join, only 35 to 55 depending which program you take, the partnership level, but shoot me an email, Mark@MarkEvansDM.com. Make sure you put in there “podcast show, e-commerce. Let's talk.” I mean, the subject line. Again, “Podcast show, e-commerce. Let's talk,” so I can put you to the right person on the team to help you. But we have people over there making more than 25,000 a month net. [29:57.8]
Now, you’ve got to be clear, though. I want to be crystal clear, though. Not everyone does that because they have big cash availability to make that a reality on their credit card and, two, they have risk tolerance. They understand that this thing could pause for a minute. It's going to go up. One month they're going to make 42,000. Next month, they might make 12,000. Up and down. It's called business. It’s called life. I think this is where a lot of people get confused. They think they just give some money and get 25k a month doing nothing. I think you probably have to give the bank probably about 2 billion to make 25k a month on their interest.
Bobby. What's up, man? Haven't seen him forever. This guy, actually from ’06 and ’08, I lived in Georgia and I got to meet him, great guy, but he said, “Hey, where would you start if you had less than 10k in cash to play with?” I would start by investing in myself. It's the best investment you'll ever do. You'll never lose money. You're investing in your brain, your knowledge, and you find a path and go learn how to become better. Learn about investing. Learn about building a business. That's what I would recommend.
Mark. I get this asked all the time. As you guys know, I do believe this is one of the dumbest questions out there. I like Mark, so I'm not knocking him, but he said, “Hey, if you had to start all over today with nothing in your pocket, just you and your work ethic, how would you build up your lifestyle again while you have family?” [31:11.8]
Number one, I’ve never met anybody that starts with nothing. You always have something. I'm very good at relationship capital. I make lots of deposits daily and I’ll continue to do so my entire life, so I'm never starting with nothing in my pocket. I kind of understand where you're coming from in your brain, but most people think the destination is where the progress is made. It's really the journey. The journey is where progress is made. The destination is just a checkpoint in the journey, that's it, because you'll realize once you get to the destination, you're like, Shit, there's more out you here, and you're going to edit and change and grow.
But, again, my work ethic is I'd be more focused on one to many. I'd be focusing on getting the efforts done. I don't understand when people have a problem with building a lifestyle with the family. I have a family, that's number one to me. Business, I could give two fucks about. If my family doesn't love me and know who I am and what I care about, I'm a failure. I don't care how much money you have. [32:08.2]
I think people get really delusional about this whole business-lifestyle-family thing. If you said, Mark, here's a million dollars, but you can't see your family for a month, I'm out. I don't want your money. I'm out. I'm not going to do it, right? I'd figure out my question I'd ask myself is, okay, fuck, I'm going to show you how to make a million dollars without doing what this person is offering me. How do I go do it on my own and not affect my daily lifestyle?
Right before this podcast show, I was just hanging out with the kids. I just had lunch with them and they were playing with their chalkboard, and I'm talking to them about goals at the end of the year. What's their goal? Because Mark got his cool whatever it's called, Nintendo Switch, so he plays an hour a day now and now he has got new goals. He needs new things to focus on, right?
I would just execute and call people. Honestly, the phone is your friend. Mark, it’s a true story. I'd just sit there and rip through the phone.
“Hey, what's up, Steve? Hope all is well, man. I haven't talked to you for a while. Do you need anything? Anything going on? Hey, cool. Awesome, man. If you need anything, I'm here.” Boom. [33:05.7]
“Hey, Nancy, what's going on? Haven’t talked to you for a minute. What's going on?” Boom, boom, boom.
I would fucking rip out the phone and just do that all day long until shit started popping. I'm just a connector like that. I genuinely have worked really, really, really hard because I'm listening. I'm listening. What do they need help with? A lot of times they’re not even asking for help. They just don't know what they need help on, so I'm just going to listen to them what they’ve got going on and where they're at, and if there's anything I can do to help, and oftentimes they will say stuff and you'll connect the dots and make money by connecting the dots. Cool.
Greg. “Which of your books would you rerelease with updated advice?” It's a good question. I would definitely. I’ve looked at updating the book, Virtual Real Estate Investing Made Easy book. A lot of things have changed. I wrote that book in 2006 or 2007, I believe, so it's not that it's outdated. It just needs to be updated. The same strategy, same technique and all that shit still work, but links are probably different now and the truth is it's actually easier, so it's easier. It's more acceptable across the board. [34:09.0]
Back in 2006 and 2007, I was buying houses, sites unseen, never talked or never even met the people. We just did it virtually. Back then, people were like, Dude, there's no way, and they'd come to an event and I'd show them right there on the spot real life, and then they're like, Oh, shit, this is real, and so I would definitely probably update that one.
Let's see here. Doug Shelton, great guy here in Cleveland. “A lot of good questions here and I'd ask, how did you learn how to treat people throughout your life?” That's a good question. The truth is my parents and my grandmother and my grandfather, and my uncles and my aunts, treat people with respect. My mom and dad are amazing people here. They really did give me the tools to be a good human being and what I do with them is up to me obviously, but I can tell you I like the way I feel when I treat people right. [35:03.2]
Treating people right doesn't always mean being nice and easy with them. It just means being real and direct because I want to help people. I always hated going to things and being like, Man, so rough out there, and then the person that's trying to help is like, Yeah, man, it is, it's so rough. No, it's not. It's fucking rough because you’ve got your head in the sand. Pick your ass up. Let's go to work. What's rough? What's going on? To me, that's when you really care.
“ … Because I know you know how to treat people good from every walk of life, people you look up to, people who work for you and look up, and everyone in between. I feel like I have a decent gauge, a lot of room for improvement on this, but I'm really trying to instill this in my kids. I'm interested in where or who you learned this from. It’s very important in life. Please keep inspiring.”
Again, one, thank you so much. I do work on this. This is something I'm very conscious of. I want to help people. I'm not a but pleaser, but I do want to help people and oftentimes it takes hard love, tough love, right, where you have to tell them directly because you know it’s best, because you've been there and done that. [36:06.5]
If they're coming to you and asking, I'm very clear on … another thing. I'm confident in who I am. I guess that's what I'm trying to say. I'm confident. I don't need anything from anybody genuinely. I never have, never will. I've always been the guy like, Dude, I'm not going to call you to borrow your car. I'm not going to call you to borrow your house. I just always want to do my … I’ll go rent a car. I'll go rent a house. I don't want to be a pest. I don't want to be calling you for favors that, to me, it's like it’s amateur hour.
I'm very insightful. I'm paying attention to what you're doing online. I take notes. I learn from people. Yeah, Doug, again, I don't think about it a lot. I just kind of do it and it's probably subconsciously because, not only that, let me be honest, I like it when I'm treated good. You know what I mean? And probably the biggest lie is to treat people how you want to be treated. In my case, I like to be treated good. Therefore, I like to treat people good. [37:05.5]
I do know people in my life that treat themselves like absolute shit, like dog shit at the highest level. Therefore, if you treat them good, they don't know you're treating them good because they're always a victim. I match people, typically, honestly. That's what I usually do, but I hang out with mostly great people. Actually, everyone I hang out with on purpose are great people. There are some people in my life that I have very limited association with that sometimes you’ve just got to connect with them, but that's what I do. Good stuff.
“Favorite cigar?” William Bronchick. I answered that. Tobacco Especial Gordito Dulce 6x60. [37:45.0]
This is a cool story. Antonio Messias. This is neat.
“Fourteen years ago, I reached out to you when I was investing in real estate in California. You just happened to be in California, too. We met up in Malibu the next day. We had a great conversation, and at the time, it was just not right for us to do business together. I thank you for taking the time to randomly sit down with a stranger. You were kind enough when we realized things weren't a good fit at the time. You were in no rush to leave. Honestly, we hit it off pretty well. I pray for the opportunity to do business with you in the future. Currently my focus at the moment is to take care of my wife who has cancer, but something within me tells me one day we will find ourselves sitting down for a talk once again, Mark.
“Love you, Mark. You're a really cool and down-to-earth man. I enjoy seeing your success because I remember our conversations and how, even after business did not work out, you still stuck around and we just hung out like a couple of regular guys. Looking forward to seeing you again one day and possibly doing business together.”
That's cool. Number one, 14 years ago. Doug's question is about treating people right. Dude, a lot of people I’ve rolled with that I end up doing business with in the future are people that it didn't work out with today. By the way, if I'm talking to you and it doesn't work out, it's not like, yo, fuck you, get out of my way, I’ve got shit to do. It's more like, dude, it just doesn't work out and, anyway, what else is going on? Right? We’re connected, planting seeds. [39:01.0]
I'm not meeting people to make money. I'm meeting people to connect with. It just happens oftentimes we make a lot of money together, today, tomorrow, in the future in 10 years. This is from fucking 14 years ago, folks. Amazing. I've been planting seeds for 25-plus years. Actually, on June 20, it will be 26 years that I've been in my adult life in business. I'm not a one-hit wonder. I’ve been doing this shit every day for many, many years.
Another cool thing, too, just, again, to expand upon this. I hang out with my boy, Corey G.—if you don't follow him, you should—he was my trainer about 20-something years ago. I used to give out books, and when I gave out books, I'd always put a stamp in it, like, Hey, this book has been gifted to you by Mark Evans DM, and then put my website and my phone number on there. Why? Because I fucking wanted to help people. If I read a book and it made an impact on my life, people I'm rolling with, it might help them, too.
I handed out thousands of those books, Conversations with Millionaires that my buddy, Mike, wrote. He and I have become great friends. We've actually traveled as a family together multiple times, many, many years in a row, and through that book, I connected with him. [40:12.5]
People read my books. I've become friends with a lot of people that have read the books that are great advocates of it, because birds together flock together. Corey sent me this. Actually, on Christmas day, it happened. He said, he was like, Dude, you're not going to believe what I found. He showed me the book that I gave him 20-something years ago and it has my stamp, and he was like, Dude, this fucking book catapulted it. It changed his whole direction and his life. Again, you just never know. Never, never, never know. That was February 2011 in Malibu when I met this dude, so that’s pretty cool.
“What market are you looking in for acquisitions?” I acquire lots of properties in a lot of different states. In the last 30 days, we've done stuff in Georgia, multiple parts of Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Ohio, multiple parts in Ohio, Florida, multiple parts of Florida. Probably about 12 or 13 different locations. [41:07.5]
I don't do much stuff on the West Coast, not because I don't want to. It's just that I don't have a lot of people that hit me up to do stuff on the West Coast. It's just a lot of Midwest and South kind of projects, but I'm interested in all great deals, depending on the size, too. I'm not interested in a shifting market on a single family. That's not my thing, but if it's one of our core markets, it's probably a no-brainer. We should do business together.
Frank DiFranco. “Mark - Frank from Montreal. Met you back in 2009 in Atlanta at your millionaire mansion experience.” There we go, 2009. That's what? 12 years ago, planting seeds.
Jim Whalen. “Mark Evans is clearly the coolest and most generous guy on the internet.” I don't know about that, but I try my best to do what I can. You’ve got to love it. By the way, I met this guy, Jim Whalen, I met him at a mastermind event probably about 18 years ago. Eighteen years ago. [42:05.3]
I have a company in the media side. I still send this guy high five figures a month minimum, maybe more. The truth is I don't even know, but I know it's in the five figures, minimum, and my team has been doing so for many, many years, and so you just never know. You never, never know.
Chad Smith. “Why do all successful people smoke cigars?” I don't know if all successful people smoke cigars. Actually, true story, I've been smoking cigars. I had an uncle. He passed away actually a year ago, and about 12 days ago, it has been a year. My uncle Benny, I called him Boss Hogg. He had to always drive around in his truck and smoking cigars, Swisher Sweets, and for some reason I always thought that was cool.
I never smoked cigarettes or any of that shit. Maybe as a kid, I'd try one or two here and there to try to be cool, but I never really did. My whole family smoked cigarettes. I kind of always thought it was disgusting, to be honest, but the cigar thing looked cool to me, like it had a presence and I kind of never really did any of that. [43:10.3]
But then, once I graduated high school and I was driving to jobs, I always told my dad, like, I want to try a cigar, and I bought these cheap Phillies Blunts, small cigars you’d spend $5 for five cigars. I thought that was a lot back then. I'd be in my 1987 Chevy truck. This thing was trash, burning one to two quarts of oil a day, smoking a cigar, Tony Robbins CD with a rubber band around the CD so it wouldn't skip as much, with my window down because I didn't have air conditioning in the balls deep of heat of summer in, Ohio sweating my ass off, but I was in heaven, man. Honestly, smoking the cigar, it relaxed me.
It's a true story. I actually smoke cigars kind of as meditation for me. I don't want to say I don't enjoy it because that's not the right word, but I don't really smoke around other people. I sit in my office or in my basement, in my cigar bar area, and smoke by myself. It's what I'm reading. It's what I'm writing. It's what I'm thinking, thought-auditing. It's kind of more like my meditation. It's probably not the healthiest meditation, but it works for me. [44:15.7]
When I didn't have a lot of money at all in the bank, I was probably negative, I'd be sitting in that truck, literally driving down 70 east or west, because I was going back and forth to Columbus every day, and I was like, Dude, fuck, I'm in heaven. I was like, I’ve got life by the balls. I know where I'm going. I'm smoking a fat stogie. It wasn't fat, but it felt fat in my brain. I'm driving a Rolls-Royce and this was a 1987 truck that definitely was not a Rolls-Royce with a ladder rack on it and all that, and I was in the moment.
You could not have told me that that was not happening in real life because I made that my real life, and if you fast forwarded to 12 years later, I bought the Rolls-Royce I dreamt about, a Rolls-Royce Phantom, smoking cigars in that fucker Day 1, and I still do today smoke in every one of my cars because I can and that's what I do. [45:07.8]
Like I said, I love just driving. I don't drive a lot, but when I do, I go get lost on purpose. I smoke a cigar or two, depending on how long I want to drive around, and I think, expand my brain. If you're in Florida, I go down A1A, 25-, 50-, 60-, 100-million-dollar mansions everywhere. You know what I mean? Some people are driving around.
When I used to drive, back in the day, just hustling, I was driving around seeing 20,000-, 30,000, 50,000-dollar houses I didn't want to be a part of, but that's where I was grinding and out and I should have been rolling around in Upper Arlington, looking at the million-dollar houses everywhere, making that my new norm, and it's amazing what you do when you do that.
But cigars, to me, honestly, I don't know what one else does, but this is what I do. It relaxes me, puts me in meditation mode. It's kind of my time to think. I get a solid hour when I'm smoking. I'll just do my thing. [46:00.5]
“What does your 4:00 a.m. look like, Mark?” Clark is asking. Guys, I’ll answer a couple more questions here because I don't want to keep you here. I know you guys are busy, but hopefully this is helping. I'm just kind of firing around. “What does your 4:00 a.m. look like?” I get up at 4:30-ish, 4:44 a.m. pretty much daily. I keep track. I keep a scorecard. Actually, over the holidays, two days in a row, I got up at 7:00 a.m. Actually, I got up earlier than that, but the kids were up kind of grumpy and one wasn't feeling so good, so I was kind of up at weird hours, but ended up at 7:00 a.m.
But my 4:00 a.m., typically, boom, get up, read, turn on the coffee pot, get some work done, just check out my messages. I send my wife an email every day, kind of let her know what my schedule looks like, what I’ve got going on. It's good for me. It's good for her. It kind of keeps us on the same page a little bit. That's kind of a newer thing for me, and I get to work.
I go work out at 7:00 a.m., 7:00 to 8:00, and then clean up, get up to the treehouse by 8:30-ish and I’m hustling. I’ve already done a lot of reading. I've already done a lot of learning. I've done a lot of implementation while it's quiet and I I'm working. I don't have a packed schedule. My schedule is pretty open. I do have structures throughout the day, a couple call here and there, but I don't like to have a packed schedule. Hopefully, that helps. [47:18.2]
Mark Cuda, great guy. “What will you be remembered for?” What I want to be remembered for is by being a great human being to my family and the world. I just want to be a great dad. I want to be a great husband. I want to be a great son, a great son-in-law, a great leader to my team. I want my team to be wealthy beyond belief, all of them, every single person on the team from the bottom up, top down, whatever. I want them all to look at me and say, Man, this guy changed my life.
I want my kids to be respected, respectful, I should say. I want them to go out and hustle on their hustle. They don't have to be Dad obviously and they don't have to be Mom. I want them to be the best they can be and want to be, and in their special niche. I just want to be a great leader, honestly, man. I hope that makes sense. [48:11.3]
Angel. “How can one get mad enough to take action on the things that will make you money, but you sit there and freeze and don't take action? How does that work?” Angel, I have no fucking clue how that works. I'm mad for you. I don't know. You're obviously not mad enough. That's why you're asking the question and that sucks because, I mean, dude, you're smart enough to know that you're mad. You're smart enough to know that you're freezing. What are you afraid of?
It sounds like you're afraid to disappoint yourself. It sounds like you're afraid to fail. It sounds like you're afraid to separate because you might separate from the people that you hang out with right now because you're excelling, and you keep getting pulled back into their bullshit and making it your bullshit. I don't personally have that problem, but you’ve just got to get mad enough to do something about it, and you'll know when that point comes because you’ll just get so off, you’ve got to do something. [49:03.5]
Dude, to me, what's crazy about that con that statement is if you went to the doctor and they said, Yo, Angel, you have cancer in your left arm. If I don't cut this fucker off today right now, you're going to die. Do you want to lose your left arm and fucking live or do you want to just freeze and die? It's a choice. Most of the people take the wrong choice from my experience because they're scared of growing. They're scared of excelling. They're scared of changing their old thought patterns and who they used to be. Don't be scared. Just do it.
What's this guy's name? I don't know his name, but he said, “Hey, I'd ask you about the ways you build your business around your lifestyle and learn how to be a better dad and business leader.” I mean, again, the way to do it is to make it a priority. A dad and lifestyle to me are number one priorities. If I can't be a great dad, I don't care how good the business is or bad the business is, it's just business. Again, my priorities are very clear, very crystal clear to me, to my family, to everyone who knows me, and that's what I do. [50:13.0]
“If you were 23 at this exact time, what would you do to make money?” I would work. I'd find a niche and I'd work, and I'd get around great people that are crushing it in life. That's what I would do.
Again, a lot of weird questions here. “I have a question for you in all areas.” Okay, genius, you didn't fucking ask them. I would've answered them.
“What steps do I need to take to get invited on the jet the next time you do it to a mastermind event?” We’ll see, Miller, again when I post it. I do it once or twice a year. It's something newer I’ve done. It's worked out absolutely amazingly. Every single person that hops on yet with us or the yacht even does amazing things or they're doing amazing things. That's how you get on it, just keep doing your shit, and when the opportunity pops up, take action, pony up and join us. [50:58.6]
I don't know what this means. This guy said, “I would ask what is it that you're saying? Do you believe most of us are not understanding?” Again, terrible. I don't even know what that means.
“Mark, I'm 21 years old. I have $10,000. What would you do?” I'd invest in myself. I really would. I'd read books. I'd go to mastermind groups. I would network and in niches that I’m very excited about, e-commerce, real estate, crypto. Actually, this year, in 2022 coming up, I’ll be attending a lot of crypto events just learning and knowledging up, because I’ve got some cool things I'm working on behind the scenes, but meeting some guys at high levels, becoming valuable to them, sharing their message to my audience and just being a value-add, honestly.
“What's something you would tell your younger self?” Like I said, think bigger. Surround yourself around other people. Hire better people than you. I mean, list goes on and on and on. The truth is I actually did a report. It's probably about 15 pages long. It's not even a report. It's a letter I wrote to myself, what I would write to my 15-year-old self, if I remember right, and it's kind of a cool thing. [52:05.6]
I might do something with that. I might share it with you guys. If that's something you'd like to see, I haven't looked at it for a while, but if that's something you'd like to see, shoot me a message on Instagram @MarkEvansDM that’s saying, “Send the letter to your younger self, please.” That would let me know if you guys are even interested in that. It’s me sitting down writing a letter to myself.
Just to kind of set the framework, it’s that I'm having lunch with myself when I'm 15 years old at the age I was at and I'm talking to him, and he's asking me questions and I'm answering him, and I'm asking him questions and giving him direction.
Again, I do this a lot. I talk to myself all the time. Pretty much all successful people I know talk to themselves all the time. I really am very conscious of what's going on, good, bad, and ugly. I know my weaknesses. I'm very clear. I know my strengths. I'm very clear. I know my vices. These are things that I'm a work in progress. I'll never stop learning. I'll never stop growing. I'll never stop trying to understand certain things and evolve. [53:14.5]
I just want to be better at all aspects of my life all the time, because once I think I'm good, I know there's a blind spot. I know there's another level. The truth is that's why I hang out with great people. A lot of people challenge me at all levels. I talk about peer pressure. Positive peer pressure is a positive thing.
I know we get caught up on the peer-pressure thinking as negative or bad because that's how we've been taught, but, dude, fucking peer pressure with my boys is real and I love it and they love it. It pushes us, gives us confidence, gets us excited, lets us know what's possible. You might be excelling in health and I might be excelling in wealth, and we're going to collaborate and figure out how to get better at both and it really does create some really neat things. You're going to make bigger decisions, bold decisions, faster decisions when you hang out with proper people, and it's going to be scary, but it's going to be fucking worth it. It will definitely be worth it. [54:08.8]
Folks, I could sit here and talk about this shit all day long. I absolutely love you guys. I'm thinking about you. 2021 was fucking epic even with all the crazy shit going on in the world, but, listen, I can't control that. I can control me and what we do and what I do and how to do it, and I know you're doing the same thing.
I hope 2021 was amazing for you. It is what it is. If it wasn't it, fuck it, let's move on to 2022. If it was, great, let's catapult to 2022 and everyone is winning. You’ve got to win. Keep winning. Even when you're getting punched in the face, you're winning. Why? Because you're still fucking alive. You’ve still got your brain. You’ve still got your hustle muscle and you’ve just got to keep your feet moving.
That's all you’ve got to do, and as life grows and gets bigger and bigger and bigger, the opportunities become very big, so you’ve got to stay in the game. Stop thinking so small. Start thinking bigger. More importantly, for real, get around people that are doing and doing big shit, not talking about it or thinking about it, but actually fucking doing it, because it started with a thought and now you're actually seeing the outcome. [55:13.0]
Here's a really huge thing and I just want to say this and be very real and crystal clear. The number one thing I see most people doing wrong is the thing called comparison. They're comparing their Chapter 1 to my Chapter 20. They're comparing your Chapter 3 to my Chapter 40, and when you do that, comparison is going to steal everything, all your happiness through your progress.
Don't do that. Get inspired, not to compare, but to know that it's possible. I'm not here to share with you to compare against me. I'm here so you can borrow my belief, understand my process, and more importantly, know what's possible. Take that shit and go implement it. [55:59.0]
My goal, I'm 43. You might be 22, 10, I don't know what your age is, but whatever age in business. I’ve been doing business now for almost 26 years and I'm still learning. I'm just getting started, truthfully. But my goal and my job and my thoughts in truth, for realness, I want to make you wealthier, give you a better life faster than I got mine, so I want to condense my 26 years into your two years or five years or 10 years, anything under 26 years. You're fucking winning, right?
You don't know when this time is going to come, but, listen, I'm executing at fast paces. Most people are sitting around freezing and waiting, and hoping and praying. Listen, that shit is cool if that's what you want to do, but I don't do that. I get to work. Pick a plan, execute the plan. I use other people as inspiration, not comparison. I'm very grateful for where I’m at. I'm very grateful for where I'm going. I'm very honored to be in this position. [56:55.3]
You are in that position as well. You sharing the show to people by leaving a five-star review helps build all of us, build the community of the DM Family. We need more people like you. We need more people out there hustling, grinding, pushing, driving, succeeding, because we're going to meet up one day. The question is are you going to be at the table or are you going to be outside looking in, watching all of us at the table?
It's a choice. It's one you’ve got to make. I’ll be here to support the ones who want to hustle and grow, but if you just want to talk about it, you want to think about it, you want to say, Man, but I'm just thinking, man, I don't have the fucking time to think. We execute and go do it.
I appreciate you guys. I'll see you next year, 2022. Have an absolutely fucking amazing day. With that said, make today count. Peace. [57:47.4]
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