The Art of the Ask with Brandon Barnum

Josh (00:00:02) - Hey. Good day everybody. Welcome to the deal, Scout. On today's show, we're going to have a conversation with a guy who's going to talk to us about a few things that I thought was really interesting, and I wanted to learn myself. One is how to create a charity champion. Like, I was like, what the heck does that mean? Because I do a lot of work in charity. But then the second one that I think could help all of us deal makers, the art of the ask. I was like, oh man, that guy's going to get to the front of the table. I want to have a chat with him. Brandon, welcome to the show.

Brandon (00:00:31) - Oh, thank you, Josh. Appreciate you having me. Yeah.

Josh (00:00:33) - All right. So, Brandon, who are you?

Brandon (00:00:37) - Okay, there's a big question. Uh, from a personal standpoint, married for 26 years, have three kids. My, uh, oldest actually works for me full time. And you know what? I became a single dad in my 20s.

Brandon (00:00:52) - And now full circle, he actually works for our company. So, uh, the company is hoa. Com. I'm an author, speaker, trainer. I help people, help people, and really focus on building their business by doing good and creating partnerships that last.

Josh (00:01:06) - Wow. Now when I hear HOA, I'm immediately going to homeowner's association. Is that the. Is that the industry you're in?

Brandon (00:01:14) - It is. And we're on a mission to revolutionize homes. It's not how we started, but it's where we're at. We started as the Homeowner Alliance on a mission to connect homeowners to professionals they could trust. And we realized that the homeowner alliance.com was too long of a domain. So we went out there and we're able to acquire hoa.com. And ever since, we've been on a mission to transform and revolutionize homeowner associations.

Josh (00:01:41) - How long have you had that domain? That is a very valuable domain.

Brandon (00:01:45) - It is. Thank you. Yeah, it's been almost three years now.

Josh (00:01:48) - Okay. Could you talk to us about the details of the acquisition? Because of the domain? I'm a domain investor.

Josh (00:01:54) - Yeah. There's a lot of entrepreneurs like me that have to have a spreadsheet of how many domains they owned. How did you get that one?

Brandon (00:02:01) - Yeah. You know, great story. My partner and I were sitting around one day. We were talking about the homeowner alliance.com. And I'm like, that domain is too long to fit on the side of the bus. If we could wave our magic wand and have any domain on the planet, what would it be? Homeowner Alliance HOA. So I went to HOA. Com there was an existing website there, clearly, but I reached out to the owner and we started a negotiation, and I basically started by asking him about his current monetization of the domain and his plans for the future. I became a client of the service that he was offering, which at that point was vanity email addresses. So I licensed Brandon at HOA. Com, and after I was able to do that, I said, you know, something tells me if Brandon at HOA. Com was available, you're probably not licensing as many of these as you had hoped.

Brandon (00:02:54) - What if we could? And then I shared with him what we were doing at the Homeowner Alliance, and that got us into a conversation which led to a negotiation and then an acquisition of the domain.

Josh (00:03:05) - Yeah. What a great way. If you want someone's attention by their stuff. Right, right. Because then you're a customer and then they have to pay attention to you 100%.

Brandon (00:03:16) - That's exactly what I did. And it was 20 bucks a year. And at that point I had to get him on the phone. He said, I need a little customer support here. Can you walk me through this now? We're in a one on one conversation and he didn't have a team, so absolutely buy their stuff. Vote with your dollars.

Josh (00:03:32) - Ah, if nothing else, today that is gold of of this because you can try all day long calling for something. But man if if there's a a low price like thing think about it. How much would you spend right now to to talk with your ideal customer for 20 30 minutes? I'd pay a lot of money, right? If you look at all my ads or all the things that I've spent.

Josh (00:03:55) - And here you paid 20 bucks. Which led to the acquisition of Holkham. Brilliant job Brandon. Great deal maker right there. That's a good deal maker story.

Brandon (00:04:06) - Well and I actually learned that from my previous company. I was the president of refer com and my business partner went and acquired that domain. We we came together, merged our two technology companies and he was able to acquire that domain. So I was able to learn from that mentorship. And really anything is possible when you're not afraid to ask. Yeah.

Josh (00:04:29) - When you're not afraid to ask. So this is how we kind of start. So I'm afraid to ask sometimes. Right. Because you're like, I, I fear rejection, I do I'm a dude. I'm I'm pretty good at what I do. But like, that's still, that's still in my head. And then how do I do that where I'm not offending blah blah. Right. So talk walk us through. Not afraid to ask.

Brandon (00:04:48) - Yeah. Well so my mentors, Mark Victor Hanson, his latest book is called Ask the Bridge From Your Dreams to Your Destinies.

Brandon (00:04:56) - And he's been mentoring me for almost 20 years now, and he taught me what I now kind of build into the art of the ask. But he says, look, if you want more out of life, ask for what you want and don't be afraid because most people are in their heads worried what the other person is going to say. So we created the Art of the ask, which helps you feel totally comfortable and then feel comfortable at the same time. And there's basically three steps you want to start by setting the stage. Then you're going to listen for the referral triggers. That step two and step three is to ask to get. So let's unpack that real quick. Josh one step one setting the stage. When you first win a new client, before you let them out of your office or off of your zoom, just say, hey, before I let you go, would it be okay if I ask you for a favor? They'll all say either yes, or maybe tell me more. Right then what you want to do is say, listen, I get most of my business by referral and I love helping clients like you get this kind of result.

Brandon (00:06:02) - Whatever your result is that your product or service delivers. Yeah. And I'm so committed to wowing you that once I do, I'd like the permission to ask you for a referral at a later date. Would that be okay? Now you're going to get 100% of people that say yes to this because you're not asking them for referrals. Now you're saying, I'm going to do a great job, and when I do, I'd like to earn the right to ask for referrals later. What's cool is sometimes you get referrals on the spot because they're like, you know what, Josh? I actually have somebody that needs you right now, okay? But that's setting the stage. Isn't that cool? Josh?

Josh (00:06:42) - Yeah, so this has happened to me before, right? Like you're I do, you know, someone does a sales presentation and I'm like, yeah, there's so much pain that I'm going through that I'll pay. And then they go, hey, could you open up your phone right now? And I'm like, oh my God, you're going to Amway.

Josh (00:06:58) - Me. And they're like, could you give me like five of your friends? And I'm like, get out of here. You're go get right. I love the way you do that. Would you be open to if I wow you with customer service? And would you be open to me asking for a referral later on?

Brandon (00:07:13) - Yeah. I'd like to earn the right to ask you for a referral. I'm not going to ask it until I've earned it. Right. So you're also planting seeds now? They're thinking about it throughout the entire service cycle. And now you're in to step two. Listening for the referral triggers and a referral trigger could be something you want them to say, wow, this is awesome. This is amazing. They'll also say, thank you, Josh, thank you so much. This is made a big difference. It's helped me look great, feel great, save money, save time, whatever that result is of your product and service. And once you hear that, that's when you ask them for referral.

Brandon (00:07:52) - That's when you ask to get. And usually it starts like, Josh, I'm so glad that you feel that way that you just said that. Remember when we first started working with you, I told you we were going to just wow you with our service? Well, now that you've experienced it for yourself, we want to help more people. And the real key here, Josh, is it's about serving, not selling. Stay in that heart space, that energetic vibration of service. And it's not about what you can get out of it. It's about what you can give them. And you're really empowering them so that you're the solution to the people in their life's challenges.

Josh (00:08:32) - Yeah. Before we hit record, I said, are there any questions that I can ask? And you're like, no, Josh, ask away. And I'm not trying to, uh, I'm not trying to. Get too deep in this if you don't want to. Energetic vibrations I believe in energy and I believe that we all give this off.

Josh (00:08:51) - And I believe that I only work with people that I like, right? So if I don't like them, I'm just not going to work with them. I don't need the money that bad right now. That's right. There's times in my life where I did and I would do anything right, like I've been there. Woo woo. Is it woo woo? Like, talk to us about this energetic vibrations. Working with people with energy. Like what is your thoughts on this man.

Brandon (00:09:10) - Yeah I mean my thought is sure it's woo woo. And and there's so much evidence, proof and science behind it that I'm convinced it's real. And it's it's in my mind and my experience is how God works. Right? So it's the magic of asking for what you want, focusing your energy on the highest vibration possible. And your vibe attracts your tribe. Sure. And I found that to be so true. And so sometimes I won't vibe with somebody. And just like you, I'm like, you know, you're not my people.

Brandon (00:09:41) - And that's okay. Yeah, it's not about quantity. It's about the quality of the people that you surround yourself with and that you do life with. And some of you that are listening right now, you need to let some people go from your life because they lessen your experience. And so you want to attract and surround yourself with people that raise your vibe and make you feel great all the time.

Josh (00:10:05) - Yeah. Like that. My daughter, I have three kids, ten, six and three, and my daughters grew up listening to frozen. Let it go, right. Sometimes it's good to let people go.

Brandon (00:10:17) - It is.

Josh (00:10:17) - Yeah. As a dealmaker and as you have a company and you serve tons of people right? Throughout the businesses, how many people have you had to compile them all from all the businesses that you've created, built, sold and you compiled all the people you've served, how many would you say over the years?

Brandon (00:10:34) - Well, we had over 5 million members in referred comm. So millions.

Brandon (00:10:39) - Yeah, we were in 195 countries from Antarctica to Zimbabwe, A to Z. And you know, when I look at our database, I'm like, how are people in Antarctica on this referral platform? What do they sell in snowshoes?

Josh (00:10:53) - Yeah, that's so cool. So 5 million people that millions, millions and millions and millions that you've served over the years, there's people who get into your inner circle, and then there's people who don't, but there's sometimes they get into your inner circle and they need to be evicted. What are some, as a dealmaker, as a leader of, you know, an industry leader, what are some things that you could talk to us dealmakers and entrepreneurs and investors about how to evict someone out of your inner circle in a way that's. Fits up with the kind of guy you want to be.

Brandon (00:11:23) - Yeah, well, first of all, I would suggest that you sort of invite people in on a trial basis. Like, we just hired a new team member on Monday, and she understands that this is a 90 day trial, right? We're not hiring her forever.

Brandon (00:11:36) - We're hiring her for now. It's our desire that she'll be a great fit. She'll be a massive contributor to the company, and that will keep her with us for years to come. But that remains to be proven. And, you know, trust has to be earned. I always want to trust but verify. And so in my experience, you just have to be up front with people and let them know you know what's going on, and they appreciate the honesty. So you just need to address whatever issues are there. If there's something that's holding you back, don't be afraid. In fact, be courageous enough to have the crucial conversation that's going to move you forward, both personally and professionally. And what you'll find is the more proactive you are in those conversations, the more that all the stuff, that energetic drag just washes away. And now you're soaring and flying and it's a lot of fun.

Josh (00:12:31) - Yeah, there's something so true to this. Uh, be courageous to have the crucial conversations. A lot of times we're like, oh, I'll just avoid that person at church like, hey, Bob, I'll see you, man.

Josh (00:12:42) - You know, like, whatever the case may be, uh, because we bump into each other and, you know, we don't want to offend or Nick or whatever, you know, like, throughout this, but with everything that you let go, there's an emotional and an energetic drag. And I believe that there is this energy that we exude to this world. And, you know, like my buddy just texted me today, he goes, hey, Josh, how's it going? This was a badass special force guy. And I told him, man, I got my feelings hurt today, and it kind of sucks. I'm learning how to process that. And he's like, yeah, man. And we started chatting with a special force. This guy's. And we're talking about feelings. So like, if a special force guy could feel it, this guy who's 42 years old and does deals in podcasting can feel it too. Back to you, Brandon. I stood up on a soapbox there for a minute.

Josh (00:13:28) - As you're as you're as you're building HOA. So you acquire HOA. What a great domain name. Holy moly, I'd love that. You could teach a course right there in in in that and branding. But you do this. What's the vision for HOA as a deal maker?

Brandon (00:13:45) - Well, the vision is to really create the marketplace in the ecosystem for homeowners. Um, there's really three different client avatars in this platform that we're building. It's all focused on the homeowner. There's they come first and foremost. And what's amazing, you'll appreciate this. Josh, when it comes to homeowner associations, there are over 370,000 of them in the US, and 53% of all Americans who own a home live in an HOA, but most don't love their HOA. And Josh, I asked people all the time, what's the number one brand that you think of when it comes to homeowner associations? I only get two answers. Do you want to take a guess?

Josh (00:14:28) - I have no clue.

Brandon (00:14:29) - That's number one is I don't know.

Brandon (00:14:31) - You got it. Family feud. Ding ding ding ding ding. Number two is there isn't any. And the point is, it's this massive section of America and there's no brand leader. So that's what we're building. And we're building it from the standpoint of really revolutionizing the industry. We want to bring integrity, transparency and accountability to the homeowner association industry. And so we're going to unite and unify the hoa's. But we're champions for homeowners. So for us, it's all about how do we add value to the homeowners. We do that by elevating the performance of the HOA. And so we have a whole property management business unit that we're building to support and increase the way that HOAs support and serve their homeowners. But to the homeowners directly, we're creating a platform that's like next door meets Angie's List meets Zillow. And we want to be kind of the triple A for your home, right? So we're creating community pages online for every neighborhood in America so that those homeowners can connect with each other and then also with professionals that serve them instead of Angie's List.

Brandon (00:15:45) - We think it should be Josh's list. You should have your list of all the pros that you know, like and trust in one location, one mobile app so that whenever you need anything for your home, you know where to go to find a pro. So that's what we're building.

Josh (00:16:01) - Pretty cool. Josh's list trademarked right now. Here we go. There you go. I'm going to bet against Angie. I'm gonna take her. All right, so you got three client avatars. We got the homeowners. That's right. What were the other two HOAs?

Brandon (00:16:15) - A homeowner associations? Yep. And then the third are the professionals who serve them. And so that's how we monetize. It's a referral network. So pros who serve homeowners become a member of HOA comm. We do background checks, we verify verify them. And then they become a certified pro. And then they license the communities that they want to be connected to. And then they become the exclusive realtor, insurance agent, painter, plumber, what have you for that neighborhood.

Brandon (00:16:47) - And then we do live events. So we actually have community events that we help the neighborhoods put on, whether it's an ice cream social or a barbecue or one of our other 42 community events, we help people get together and get to know their neighbors.

Josh (00:17:02) - Do you think that this will play any space in like multifamily apartment buildings and such like that? Because I don't know if they, you know, condos will have an HOA, but most apartment buildings don't write like, well, it connect there. Or am I missing something?

Brandon (00:17:16) - No, I think there's a different level, a different version of it. It's not exactly what. It's not the center of the bull's eye, as I like to say. Yeah, it's an outer ring. I think there can be more community in apartment buildings specifically, but those tenants tend to be a little more transitory, where once you buy a house, you kind of start putting down roots, and oftentimes you build your family there and you raise your kids there. And that's what we want to do, is create a connected community where people get to know their neighbors.

Brandon (00:17:49) - The kids can feel safe playing in the street, and everybody is there, you know, building and doing life together.

Josh (00:17:57) - Yeah.

Josh (00:17:58) - What do we do about that person who's been on the HOA board for 73 years and who's just a grouch? How are we going to revolutionize that position?

Brandon (00:18:07) - You know, I'd say, quite frankly, when it comes to an HOA board, it's not much different than a school board. If you want to make a difference, you got to stand up and sign up and you got to show up. So my wife is on our board here in Phoenix, Arizona, where I live, and she just did that this year. She said, you know what? We've got $400,000 sitting in here in this HOA budget, and yet nothing has been done to kind of refresh this home that we built ten years ago. The neighborhood is about ten years old and it's time for some new stuff. And so she got on the board and she had some people that were a little resistant to making the improvements, because they have to take the money out of the bank account and actually spend it for the benefit of the community.

Brandon (00:18:53) - But that's what it's there for. Yeah. So if you want to make a difference, you got to stand up and join. And then the reality is a lot of HOA boards are only like five people. So if you want to change everything, if you and two buddies join the board, now all of a sudden you're in a majority position.

Josh (00:19:12) - Yeah. So again.

Brandon (00:19:13) - Stand up and enlist your buddies and go do it together for the benefit of everyone.

Josh (00:19:18) - Sure, absolutely. On average. Right. You said that is 370,000 shows. What would you say is the, you know, the larger shows like how many how many homes, how many doors?

Brandon (00:19:33) - There are some very large plan like master plan developments, where you'll get 1500 to 2500 homes in a in a development. But that's that's rare. I'd say 82% of all new housing developments are run by HOAs. The developer is the one that selects the HOA before the homes are built. So, you know, the reality is, I'd say on average, and we're calculating this data as we speak, but the average size is less than 200 homes.

Josh (00:20:04) - Okay. Copy that. I want to have ten acres of land and have my own HOA will be an HOA of one, and I'm on the board. I get to make decision, right? That that's that's where I'm going. But like I, I've lived in areas and we've built, you know, communities and such like that and you know like I love the vision of what you're doing where. Having an HOA where it's not like, oh, here's an HOA, but it's just like, hey, how could this HOA benefit the community? That's right. Events. Let's, let's let's create a list of like trusted people. We're going to do background checks on these people, make sure that they have maybe licensure insurance. Right, right. That's pretty important. Ridiculous. Oh good job Brandon. Good job. And then we.

Brandon (00:20:47) - Do a concierge service to. If somebody is moving, we'll take care of everything for them. We'll do their change of address, set up their utilities, internet, cable, getting quotes on insurance and security and everything else that you need when you move into a new home.

Brandon (00:21:02) - So it's a totally free service. And we actually give it to our pros to give to their clients so that we can help people, help people.

Josh (00:21:10) - You're a referral expert, right? Like that's probably you learned that from referred. Com right. But helping them now they're delivering you know this message. Hey by the way welcome to the neighborhood. Here's a change of address. My name is Josh and I paint houses. Um, I own Josh's list on the side. Right. So really cool idea, I like that. Uh, Brandon, here you go. You got you got this thing going. Um, how long have you been doing this? And, like, give me an idea of the level of some level of success or metric that you say we've accomplished since launch.

Brandon (00:21:44) - Yeah, there's a number of them. Like right now we're creating a portfolio of partnerships for a January 25th launch. We've been in pre-launch beta piloting this in Phoenix and Denver and a few other smaller markets. And now we're getting ready to take this nationwide.

Brandon (00:22:00) - I was just at the National Association of Realtors convention a month ago, and there were, you know, two companies, real estate companies that I went and spoke with. And now both of them want to move forward and launch this to all of their realtors nationwide. So that's the kind of response that we're getting. And we've created some massive partnerships all together. Our partnerships that we have in place represent over 10 million Americans. So as we take this to market at the end of January, uh, things are going to get a lot of really fun, really fast. But ultimately it's about the impact that we make. That's what we care about most. The income will follow the impact. The more communities that we make a difference in, the more money the company will make. I'm so sure of that. And I always tell people that I believe people will fall in love with HOA comm because of the impact events and campaigns. When people see the difference that we can make in a community, that's when it'll make a difference to them.

Josh (00:23:03) - How could you be so sure that income follows impact? I've seen a lot of poor pastors, right? Or or non-profits struggling financially. Like, how can you be so sure of this branding?

Brandon (00:23:15) - Well, I mean, it's been taught to me, it's been mentor to me. It's what's worked in my own life. And that's my personal mission. My my scoreboard in life is to uplift, inspire and empower every person on the planet. So that's just how I see life. The mission that I'm on HOA comm is one way we're doing that. Uh, another is Christian Comm. You know, you talk about domains. I'm working with the CEO, and we're building out Christian Comm as an a hub and an ecosystem for Christians. So that's just my personal belief system. I've seen the rich rewards that come through impact. And, you know, we talked a little bit about charity champions at the beginning. I believe every business owner should be a charity champion. Quite frankly, every person should have a charity or cause that they're passionate about.

Brandon (00:24:03) - But when it comes to business, consumers say 93% of consumers want to know the impact that your company is making in your community. So you need to lead with not just the value of your product, but the value of your organization.

Josh (00:24:22) - Holy moly. What? Another great domain. Like Christian. Com like talk about, you know, niche as you are. You're an expert in in niches and, you know, impact. Um, really good job. Bring him. So you're building this out, you know, you're working with the CEO to to build out that organization. And when we talk about charity champions, what do you mean by that? Like charity champions. Like, I've got this group of charities that I'm going to bat for and I'm sending them tons of money. You know, it's our family mission to try to give away a lot of money, but, like, what's the charity champion?

Brandon (00:24:59) - Yeah. So a charity champion is in our instance. What we're creating is a business owner that integrates their charity of choice into their marketing.

Brandon (00:25:08) - It's called cause related marketing. We're building into the HOA. Com pro profiles that charity champions so that whatever they're passionate about, they can share that with the world. And that becomes part of their marketing message. And we encourage people to share that story on social media, in their newsletters, within their team, so that they can really build that loyalty and help people understand the mission behind the enterprise.

Josh (00:25:40) - Yeah.

Josh (00:25:41) - Interesting. There's. Yeah, I'm super curious in that. But what we've seen within the past three years where an organization pushes a cause or a belief and it doesn't land, right? Right. Like and like think of like Bud Light, for example. Right. They had they they created some marketing. They did it and it didn't land. Right. Yeah. And and they're it affected their stock, their business and such like that. Whether you believe in what they did or not, that's not the purpose of this show. But you could see the effects of of creating a belief system that's not really a beer.

Josh (00:26:21) - And what you know, this thing had no correlation together and it really offended probably both sides of of all the coins. So how do you know your cause? How do you connect your cores in your business without doing that?

Brandon (00:26:37) - It really good question and important question, Josh, because the reality is cancel culture is real. And you know, I know executives and entrepreneurs whose companies have been impacted by that because they took a public stance on one side of the aisle or the other, and it offended the the other side. You know, I don't do that. We don't do that as a company. I think when it comes to charity champions, you've got to you got to understand strategically the positioning of your enterprise and your company. And there are times when it's okay to be far left or far right, and that's the audience that you're attracting. And if you understand that, you know, that's really your market and you're going to serve them, alienating the other side, then that's okay. I appreciated what Michael Jordan said back in the day, which is both Republicans and Democrats buy sneakers.

Brandon (00:27:31) - Right? So I think it's important strategically to choose. But you also have to be true to who you are. You know, I mentioned Christian Comm. There may be some people that are that don't align with that, that don't resonate and therefore don't want to do business with me. And guess what? I'm okay with that.

Josh (00:27:49) - That's okay.

Brandon (00:27:50) - That's okay. So you do have to think about it strategically, but at the end of the day, you've got to be true to yourself and create a brand that is strategically aligned with charities that resonate with your perfect prospects and your client base.

Josh (00:28:06) - Yeah, cancel.

Josh (00:28:07) - Culture is real.

Josh (00:28:09) - So when you're going to link arms with something, make sure it's worth it. Yeah, right. Make make sure that. Hey, I believe in this. I know it might repel something. Listen, I run a show called Uncensored Advice for men, so I get a lot of hate mail, right? Just from the title of the show. But I think I think that this is so vital of, you know, like, how to connect it to.

Josh (00:28:30) - So, um, Brandon, as you're, you're building this out, you've done, you know, served millions of people over the years and you're building this like you're having a really great launch coming up in January. You already have partners. You already have strategic relationships. I already have some brokerages like on board for this. What do you think as a dealmaker will be your biggest challenge in, you know, 2024?

Brandon (00:28:54) - Yeah. You know, our biggest challenge as an organization, quite frankly, is telling the brand story. Because just like you at the beginning, everyone who hears HOA comm thinks homeowner associations. And so we have to help them understand how we're addressing Hoa's and then how they fit in, either as a homeowner or as a professional that serves homeowners. So our biggest challenge is just marketing and messaging. It takes people a little bit to wrap their minds around the totality of what we're building, because nobody's ever done anything like this before, right? We're a tech platform with professionals in the real world that have real relationships and real conversations with people, and we're facilitating that process, and we're bringing live events to be.

Brandon (00:29:43) - And the reason that live events are so important for us is that's where people connect. When you are that cataclysmic event where you bring people together and help them connect, that's where commerce gets created, is when two people come together around an issue or a challenge, they they find a match in the market. And so live events are key strategy of what we're doing. And again, that's where we believe people will fall in love with us. But the challenge is going to be helping people understand the vision and the mission of what we're building.

Josh (00:30:16) - Yeah, yeah. Super cool. Yeah, that there will be an educational process there. And people see HOA and they're like, ah, and then they see and they go, ah, I get it. I see the vision, I see the mission. And I think we've.

Brandon (00:30:29) - Got to bring in the homeowner alliance as a subbrand. And that's actually the name of our company. But we're integrating that more and more into our copy and conversations so that people can align with that, because the homeowner alliance is really uniting homeowners, right.

Brandon (00:30:47) - Creating sort of a master association. And we've got a whole benefits package that we're going to give to homeowners as part of owning a home, that they unlock access to all sorts of special stuff. So when it comes to deals, there's a lot coming.

Josh (00:31:02) - Yeah. Super cool.

Josh (00:31:03) - You've created a guide for helping create referral relationships and sharing those three steps and such like that. Why don't you get that a plug here? Because I think that'll be beneficial for a lot of people listening in.

Brandon (00:31:16) - Yeah. You bet. So over my career, I did 12 years in the mortgage business and did over half $1 billion in transactions by referral. And so I took everything that I had learned and I put it in my book, Raving Referrals. And this really teaches the art of the ask and the whole process of building relationships that lead to transactions. And here at Home Comm, we have the shortened version, which is the referral partner blueprint. This is like the CliffsNotes version, but this is really at the core of the book is it's about partnerships.

Brandon (00:31:49) - If you want to attract more referrals, there's two main sources your past clients and then complement professionals and businesses that are serving your perfect prospects every day. So what we help people do is actually create those partnerships. And we have an automated co-marketing engine so that when they become a trusted team on HOA comm, when somebody invites their referral partners onto A.com, we have a home safe report where you set it and you forget it. It auto sends a valuation report based on the home value to the homeowners in their database. And the beauty is, while I may have a thousand homeowners in my database that I marketing to on an automatic, automatic monthly basis, if I have ten referral partners who also have a thousand people in their homeowner database. Now that message is getting in front of 11,000. So it is a cooperative marketing campaign, completely automated. Set it and forget it. And we haven't seen anything else like that on the market. Yeah.

Josh (00:32:58) - Super cool. Where can people go to.

Josh (00:32:59) - Find that.

Brandon (00:33:01) - HOA.

Brandon (00:33:01) - Com and up at the top right you'll see become a pro and you click that link right now you can get on our waiting list. And if you mentioned Josh's show then we may give you some early access.

Josh (00:33:13) - Oh, cool. Um, Brandon, there's probably a question that I should have asked you that I screwed up, and you're like, Josh, you didn't ask me about this. What was that question?

Brandon (00:33:22) - Yeah, there's not one that stands out. But Josh, what I would say is the most. Sometimes people ask me like, what's the most important business lesson you ever learned? Right? And that's the importance of taking action. I know so many people that think about it, and they spend time in analysis paralysis. And the more action that you take, the more results that you'll make. In fact, the Law of Attraction actually has the word action built into it. You can't attract if you don't act. So if you really want to create more results, be courageous. Be bold.

Brandon (00:33:58) - Go out there and make the calls that intimidate you and success lies beyond that comfort zone.

Josh (00:34:04) - Yeah, make the ask to get right.

Josh (00:34:09) - Got it?

Brandon (00:34:09) - That's it.

Josh (00:34:10) - Awesome fellow dealmakers. As always, reach out and say thank you to our guests who come on the show, who share their mission, who share their deal, uh, reach out and connect with them. Especially if, uh, if they could serve you or you could serve them. Uh, their contact information will be in the little show notes below. And if you have a deal that you're working on that you'd like to talk about here on the show, head on over to the deal scout.com, fill out a quick form, and maybe we'll get you on the show next. Here are some deals that we're currently looking for. We're looking for companies. Uh, one of our partners is looking for companies that are on the path to public. Right. So if you have any high growth companies. Right. I really want to chat with you about that.

Josh (00:34:49) - Uh, companies that are public that need, uh, maybe a private investment. We'd love to chat with you guys about that. And I'm going to stop talking and we'll see you all on the next episode. I love talking deals. See you guys.