Show Notes:

3:11 – Who is Billy Gene? “I consider myself to be so basic — like, Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte basic. When people catch me outside, I got on basketball shorts and a T-shirt. I always think of myself as the customer. Never, never above, never smarter. I go into conversation with someone I’m about to meet like, ‘Damn, what can I learn from this person?’ I’m just regular, relatable because I just had basic upbringing.”

5:31 – On being an example of success. “People don’t realize it’s a privilege to dream — dreaming and hoping, that’s a privilege. That’s not a standard. Most people will never see success, and we’re blessed to have that. That’s why I have a Lamborghini with the license plates that says ‘I’m black.’ I want other people of all colors, but specifically brown or black kids who haven’t maybe been exposed to a level of success, to see me and say, ‘Oh shit. Somebody who looks like me can make it.’”

11:29 – Making money the wrong way. “When I was going downhill, so to speak, all of my friends that I went to school with were going up, buying their first house with a solid income cracking six figures, while I was cracking open another packet Top Ramen. So it was like, am I doing this right? Is it supposed to be like this? What I learned about making money is that I was trying to acquire it the wrong way. I was trying to make money because I just wanted to make money, therefore I would just do anything I thought was a good money idea, versus actually getting money to solve a problem. That’s why they get paid a lot of money — they’re solving a big problem. I had no problems that I could solve. So I was making the exact amount of money that I deserved to make, which was nothing.”

14:13 – Forging his own path. “I stumbled across this thing called Facebook ads, and that changed my life forever. I got to put up this little image ad on the right-hand side of Facebook, and people can click it. And if they went to my website, they can buy something. I spent $80 on a test, and one person bought. I lost a bunch of money and they asked for a refund immediately, but something clicked. I knew it was possible. I knew it was possible to actually make money online.”

17:38 – Make them laugh. “I think the ability to articulate what you’re selling and what you’re offering in one sentence is extremely valuable. It forces people to be concise, but the skill that really gets you paid today is entertaining — making people laugh. The ability to make someone laugh is insanely monetarily valuable right now. Because, in short, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube charge you less money when more people engage with your stuff, meaning when they click it or watch for X amount of time. If you’re putting out funny things that people like to watch, it’s much cheaper to show them advertisements. So, monetarily, it could save you a ton of money to make people laugh and give them content or a sales pitch that they enjoy.”

22:53 – Trial and error. “An advertisement is nothing more than a message that you put in front of somebody. It’s a billboard. Think about it, a billboard cannot not work — just the message on a billboard might not work. So, when I think of a Facebook ad, Facebook’s only job is to take the message that you create and put it in front of the people that you tell it to. If you’re not getting results, it doesn’t mean Facebook’s not working — it means your message sucks. The light at the end of that tunnel is that if your message sucks, just make a new message.”

31:33 – Just start posting. “Don’t overcomplicate it. You don’t have to have a brand like mine where you have a full in-house media team and all that jazz. It’s not necessary. I recommend just putting it out there and letting people know you’re human. People just want to know you’re not a creeper. The ironic part is that people understand this, and they’re not doing anything about it. But it’s the same people who won’t go to a restaurant unless they have four or five stars on Yelp. But then they doubt the power of social media, asking, ‘Should I be on social?’ It’s like saying, ‘I’m going to go outside today. Should I breathe?’”

34:34 – Helping others reach success. “I just realized I got so lucky. I don’t want anyone to get that twisted — I’m by no means a victim. I’m controlling my fate. I make things happen, but I am no way, shape, or form arrogant enough to believe that I did this on my own. That would be so foolish. I’ve been so blessed to have so many mentors, and I know there are so many people who don’t have mentors, who feel like they are hopeless. They don’t have access to experiences and certain people and processes and knowing the difference between right and wrong in a lot of cases, too. If I can be the guy to reach those people, I win. That’s my focus. We’re doing it, but now let’s expand it. Let’s go bigger. So, a hundred thousand students — that’s cute. How do we get to a million? How do we get to 10 million? 10 million is cute. How do we get to 100 million, right? I’m 32. What’s the next chapter like?”

36:32 – What does success mean to you? “I think success to me is really tapping into my potential. I can be doing a lot more, which means there are a lot more people I could be helping. Success to me means not being selfish, putting myself aside. Financially, I don’t need anything else. I need nothing. I don’t want anything. So to me, success is now taking that very fortunate position and just doing a massive amount to pay it forward. Success to me is waking up in 20 years and watching the people that I’m helping help other people and to have a ripple effect — seeing it in action.”

43:12 – The trick to staying relevant. “People ask, ‘Billy, how do you stay relevant?’ I stay learned. I stay studied. I stay equipped in my mind so I can stay relevant. I stay relevant by talking about the newest marketing innovation stuff. The one thing I know that’s going to happen for sure is marketing and tech will always change. So, if I continue to stay on top of class, then I can stay relevant by just talking about the things that are already going to be relevant. I make it beyond me. So, that’s my big secret — stay really good at this stuff.”

44:26 – What does being a game changer mean to you? “Being a game changer means I created an opportunity for somebody else. A body of work, a content piece that I put out has created an opportunity for someone else that either didn’t exist, or that they didn’t know it existed or that they were too afraid to tap into. That’s a game changer. If someone goes to one of my trainings or works with me or something, and let’s say they don’t learn anything — which would be really hard to do because it’s just good — but they left with the idea that it was possible, to me, that’s a game changer.”

EPISODE RESOURCES
Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
University of San Diego
Lamborghini
San Diego State University
EY
Deloitte
Top Ramen
Facebook Ads
Donald Trump
LuluLemon
Dollar Shave Club
Poopourri
Instagram
YouTube
Yelp
Tony Robbins
Shark Tank
Daymond John
Bob McNeely