The Fateful Day: A Dollar Bill And A Chinese Fortune Cookie
It was lunchtime on a cold and rainy Saturday in December. I was sitting at home with my five-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. They had been so well-behaved all morning, I wanted to give them a real treat. What tastes good on a cold rainy Saturday that I can order in? Chinese food! The kids love the sesame chicken from the local spot down the street. I ordered us some hot, delicious sesame chicken and fried rice and french fries. We watched a movie, waited for the food, and the doorbell rang. As the delivery man came to the door, the mailman arrived. I took the food inside and the mail, and sprawled it all out on the table. As the kids started eating, I started going through the mail. I saw a large envelope addressed to me. I opened it up and saw a dollar bill stapled to the first page.
My first thought was “Who is this crazy redhead sending me a dollar bill?” But I’ll take it! I put the dollar in my pocket and just laughed quietly under my breath and called her a sucker. The day went on as I was playing with the kids, and the dollar fell out of my pocket. My curiosity was piqued as I thought about this free dollar I got in the mail. So I went back to read the letter that had the dollar attached to it. Little did I know this was going to be the very moment that would change Mazteck for the better.
The Turning Point: Realizing The Need For Change
Now, at this point, my business has been a one-man shop for 15 years. I was making a pretty good living working out of the house. I had a very low overhead and was operating on a completely break-fix model, with the exception of some VoIP customers. This was making me a few hundred dollars of monthly recurring revenue. Now looking back, I see what my problem was: I was content. I was able to afford a new home, provide for my family and drive a nice car. I’ve always had the mentality of “Why would I hire someone and pay them $50,000 to $60,000 a year when I can just work a little harder and do it all by myself and save the money?” That is where I had been going wrong; I can’t do this all by myself if I want to grow. I learned that being content is the worst possible thing a business owner can do. Being content meant I was limiting myself from growing. As an owner, as a partner, as an individual. I realized that what I had built was not a business, it was a job. A job that was 24/7 with no downtime for me to be able to step away or even take a small vacation with my family.
The Fateful Decision: Embracing The Opportunity
As I read Robin’s letter, the phrases “You can add thousands of dollars a month with this Toolkit” and “cancel with a 100% money back guarantee” intrigued me. I ended up reading the entire letter and even read all the testimonials she included. Part of me was still skeptical, so I started googling the people and companies that were on the testimonials and thought, “Either this is real and she is good at what she does, or she took a lot of time to make up all these people and created a lot of fake websites – all these sites do look pretty similar.”
After spending hours of reading her material, I still had some doubt. But I was telling myself: No more being content. No more waiting for the phone to ring and profiting only when a client is having an issue. But what if this is one of those pyramid schemes? I’m just going to waste money. Or one of those companies that cost thousands of dollars that “guarantee to generate leads” and just send you a home user that needs help opening their Facebook. After finally putting down the letter and testimonials, I found a fortune cookie the kids must have missed, so I opened it and the fortune read: “Don’t be afraid to take a chance when the opportunity of a lifetime appears.” And there it was, my sign from the universe that I had to take this opportunity of my lifetime. I was going to either sink or swim!
Taking The Leap: Signing Up And Implementing TMT
First thing Monday morning I called Aaron to sign up and even booked my Rapid Implementation class in Nashville that same day. I was laser-focused on doing everything they said with their tools for success. I also figured I only had 90 days if I wanted my money back if it was all just a big hoax. Those three days in Nashville, and the following three months, were game changers for me and Mazteck. The first campaign I ran was the Good News, Bad News letter. I scheduled a Quarterly Business Review (QBR) with all my clients to tell them we were increasing the prices and presented to them my new model of managed services. I was able to convert the majority to managed services, which resulted in $18,875 in monthly recurring revenue.
Now I had the ability to hire a technician. Once I was able to do that, I knew I needed to continue the mailers at which point I needed an administrative assistant to help move into the next campaign, which was the Aspirin. The Aspirin campaign letter quickly added two more clients – with $4,685 in MRR and $26,400 in project work.
By the end of my three-month Rapid Implementation, my entire business was born again. I was no longer content but hungry for more. I ended up winning my Rapid Implementation session and became the Genius Of The Month. From that point on, I have been a student of TMT and knew that crazy redhead who sent me the dollar was the real genius.
Sustained Growth And Milestones
We are currently sending 150 to 200 mailers every week and have seen the results along the way. I went from being a one-man shop for 15 years to a 10-person team in just over four years. We are sending at least three different campaigns at a given time and are making all the calls, just like Robin tells us. Even though the direct mail campaigns have yielded the most success, we have built additional oil wells to keep the leads coming. Some of those campaigns have been pay-per-click, monthly newsletters and retargeting, and we have started with monthly webinars.
These campaigns have helped my company grow from a $200,000-per-year company making less than $2,000 a month in recurring revenue to closing out 2023 at just over $2 million for the year, with over $145,000 in MRR. Of course, it is not all about money, it’s the accomplishments along the way. I had my own book printed (Dirty Little Secrets), and we were awarded #85 in the MSP 501. We were also awarded the title Power Partner by Inc. Magazine. The year 2023 has taught me a lot of things about running a business, some of which are:
Lessons Learned
Never Be Content
Just like Jesse Itzler says, “I didn’t come this far to only come this far.”
Trust Your Team
For the first time in 20 years, I was able to go on vacation and never open my laptop. Trust in your team and provide them with the right tools to do their job and take things off your plate so you can focus on growing the business.
Accountability And Goal Setting
Weekly Accountability Groups are a must. If you’re not being held accountable to things you’re supposed to do, that is when you’re going to fail, make excuses and become content again.
Documentation and goal setting: You cannot reach the next level without setting goals that you want to reach. Without entering KPIs and initiatives, you will not have a road map to that next level. If it’s not written down, then it’s not a goal, it’s a dream.
The Future And Aspirations
Mazteck is a perfect example that TMT’s marketing works. If you invest the time and effort to market your company, you will be able to grow it and take it to the next level of success. When I attended my first Boot Camp, I watched Sitima Fowler win the Better Your Best award. I thought to myself, “Wow, imagine being one of these winners and owning a multimillion-dollar company. Does the company work out of my house? How do you even find all these customers to service? I can’t start from scratch and build something to the level of these five finalists.” And now, thinking of that fortune cookie: “Don’t be afraid to take a chance when the opportunity of a lifetime appears.” My biggest regret is that I wasted 15 years without this Toolkit to grow Mazteck to what it is today. One day, I aspire to stand up there with the best of them.
