Cosmos:

Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. For today’s guest, we have Josh Leon. Josh is a serial entrepreneur, educator, investor, and relationship development guy. He’s the founder of 4in10 and your who’s as well as co-founder of CRE Marketing Group. He helps business owners who need systems for running and growing their businesses. Through software, search engine optimization, blogging, email marketing, social media marketing, tracking results reporting, and creating cohesive marketing strategies across all relevant marketing platforms, Josh has built a life rooted in deep relationships, intentional choices, and lasting impact. 

He credits us with learning how to connect meaningfully with people who matter most. While many approach life with a transactional mindset, Josh chooses a relational path that brings fulfillment in family, business, faith, and community. 

Now he helps others do the same. As a mentor, trainer, and strategist, he equips leaders to become super connectors who build authentic relationships and align their lives with purpose. His work helps leaders create the kind of relationships and results they can be proud of. He’s an extraordinary American, and I’m glad to have him on the show. Josh, are you there?

Josh: 

Absolutely. And thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Cosmos:

Josh, thank you so much for coming to this podcast. Can you tell the audience more about yourself, your background, and how you started?

Josh: 

Yeah, absolutely. So, that can go all over the place, but I need to know myself, my background, and how I got started, just on a personal level. I married my wife, Amanda. We have three little girls, almost six years old, almost three years old, and almost two months old, so there is lots of fun going on there, and then the background. I was raised to be a pastor.

I grew up in Columbus, Georgia, and I was competitively preaching at the age of 8, and many people didn’t know that that’s a thing. Competitively preaching. I was taught how not to say anything during public speaking, as an 8-year-old, which is pretty interesting. And so I went to Pensacola, Florida, where I live now, and I went to Bible college to become a pastor. But I felt very clearly partway through that I’m supposed not to be a pastor. I didn’t know what to do other than help business owners. And that’s not very clear. And I didn’t grow up in a business kind of world. My parents aren’t entrepreneurs. I didn’t know any entrepreneurs. 

And so, it wasn’t very clear, but also clear. Help business owners. So, I graduated with a public relations major and a marketing minor. And a certification in sales. Just kind of hitting the gambit across different business things. And then got a job, multiple jobs, and a mom-and-pop shop marketing job. And I was the marketing budget. I was replacing the yellow pages. Later, the management company hired me to be part of a marketing department. 

And that was a major difference from being part of a mom-and-pop shop. Eventually, in 2015, I started my first company, a marketing agency that still exists. I phased out of operations about four years ago. But that company still exists, and so do other companies, because I don’t do marketing. I own a marketing agency. What I do is I help business owners. And that’s broad. What does that mean? But. And there are different ways I do it. But that’s a high-level overview of my background and where I’m at.

Cosmos:

No.

So, Josh, this is a very interesting story because you went and you were going to, you were on track to becoming a pastor, right? And then you just had the chance and went on a journey that led you to do business. And then, not just that you’re dealing with marketing and sales, but also what makes your angle different is the relationship aspect. Because, you know, many businesses deal with the transactional aspect of it.  It’s all pure numbers and sales. Are you producing results? But your strategy is different. It’s about developing relationships and connecting with the other person. Can you tell the audience why that strategy works versus the corporate America type?

Josh: 

Yeah, and that’s a great question. So, I heard someone say once that people do business with you if they feel you understand them, and they feel you can help them, and they’ll do business with you; they will try to do business with you. People ask me, they say, Josh, I want to pay you money. Is there anyone who can pay you money for it? Because you get me. And my answer is no for them, usually because I don’t have anything they need. But I can refer them to other people. But it works because it’s authentic. It works because it’s genuine. It works because it has to do with caring. And so many, so many business professionals or business owners, they are indifferent. 

So, it’s been said that the opposite of love is indifference. It’s not anger, it’s not fear, it’s not Hate. Because if you have anger, fear, and hate, oftentimes that’s attached to some kind of love. That’s why something hurts. But if you’re cut off and mean nothing to me, that’s the opposite of love. And most business owners end up getting into business, oftentimes because they need to pay some bills. And they might be good at what they do, but being good at what you do doesn’t mean you love the people you’re serving. And when someone is going to build a business and they do it out of love for the people they care for, the quality of work they do skyrockets because it’s out of love. It’s not out of. Let me just give them something. They care about them. When business owners love the people they serve, they want to ensure they provide them with the best resources.

So, if I’m in pest control and provide the best pest control, I’m also looking at lawn care. Well, I want to make sure they have good lawn care people. And then I’m not just in lawn care. I might see that they’re going to sell their home. I want to ensure they’ve got the best realtor and whatever else they need. And so, to holistically take care of someone out of love means you will need to know a lot more than just what you do. You need to know the other people who do great work. 

And so that’s just loving somebody makes a difference. But you, if you don’t love someone, then you often treat them as a transaction. I can say, go networking and find people to pay us some money, and then you can do that. Are you going to find somebody? Maybe, maybe not. Will people run away from you because you’re chasing them with business cards? Probably. Are they going to want to? Want to sit down with you? Probably not. But if you can build a relationship with someone, if you go networking, for example, and you build a relationship, you care about them, and they feel you understand them and can help them, the transaction will come. 

So, I often say that the enemy of the trend, the enemy of the relationship, is the transaction. You can chase transactions and never get relationships. Still, you can get relationships and transactions when appropriate, often leading to other relationships and transactions if you’re not chasing the transaction.

Cosmos:

You’re talking about a relatively new way of doing business, Josh, at least in America. Whenever people think about business, they think about corporate America or big corporations and all that stuff. What do you like? What is the mentality’s ultimate, long-term damage to a nation’s social and cultural state? How can this type of business that you are proposing make things better?

Josh: 

Yeah, well, what happens is there’s a lack of trust oftentimes in an entire industry. So again, with long care or home services. I just had a conversation last week with someone who does renovations. They talked about how their industry is full of people, contractors, and subcontractors who will charge the homeowner to do some work. Then they don’t show up, they don’t deliver, they don’t, they just take the money and go, essentially, many times, or if they do the work, they don’t do it well, they don’t do it on time—just so much frustration. 

And so, when people treat buyers that way, there’s now this reputation that everybody in the home services industry is just a bunch of cheats. That’s the problem. Why? Because there are a lot of people who approach business transactionally. They don’t deliver on what they say they will. 

And if they make a mistake, they don’t own up to it because they don’t care. So many, I don’t think everybody, but so many people are that way. This causes a lack of trust within various industries. Also, what happens is, on a personal level, if I get into business and sell to people, I don’t need any quotas. 

Maybe they’re quotas. I need to get these numbers. Then what will happen is I will go to my relationships, my mom, my dad, my siblings, my friends, and I say, hey, I got this great thing. You should use this because you know, if you care about, you know, taking care of yourself, you should get this, and I care about you, therefore you should use this. But they often end up going to their existing relationships, but it smells wrong and doesn’t feel right. And what often happens, especially in high-pressure sales-type jobs, is that the existing relationship gets broken because they say, okay, well, I recognize you’re trying to sell this thing to me, and yeah, I’ll help you out. I’ll go ahead and be a buyer, and I’ll buy this thing. 

But then the sanctity of the relationship was exchanged for a transaction. And then I know multiple people who wish they hadn’t done that. They wish they hadn’t pushed sales to friends and family, but they did. And now their relationships feel weird, and they’re kind of lacking. And that’s just because it was a transaction instead of a relationship. And it could have been, hey, I care about you, and would this thing make sense? I don’t know. I don’t want to push you. You tell me. But instead, it didn’t go that way. It was pushed.

Cosmos:

Josh, what are you describing here? It’s more of an other-focused type of business. Right. Guide. And you know, like, I know that you’re a relationship development guide, and you’re a super connector. 

So, from your perspective, you see on a national level, there’s more of a narcissistic work culture, which has been given the vibe in corporate America and everything. So, from your perspective, how do you develop proper relationships? What is the means of doing that? Because a lot of people want to connect with other people in businesses, but they. It comes off incorrectly, or they don’t know how.

Josh: 

Yeah, right. All right, I love that question.

So, think about yourself. And I’m saying that to you, but I’m saying that to anyone who’s listening to this right now, in the future, what do you care about? What’s your passion? What do you love? Like, if. If you could think about. If you could think about the world, a better world. Finish the sentence. I believe in a world where every. And then put in whoever it is you care about. So, for me, I care about entrepreneurs. That’s what. That’s who I care about. I may care about a lot of people. That’s one big community. 

So, I believe in a world where every entrepreneur. What? All right, finish that sentence. So, I believe in a world where every. Who. Who is it that you care about? And what. What do they need? So, I believe in a world where every entrepreneur loves with excellence. Every entrepreneur should love with excellence. 

And it’s not just their buyers, but it’s their family. What about the entrepreneur who works 60 to 80 hours a week? And they do that for decades, then they look back on their life and say, I miss my kids, relationships. And my kids don’t even know me, and I don’t know them. Do they love their kids? Yes. Do they know their kids? No. Do their kids know them? No. Is that a relationship that they want to have a healthy one? Yes. But you can’t go back in time. 

So, for everybody, an entrepreneur and a leader, to love with excellence means not just the buyers, but also family members, their faith, God, whoever it is, the relationships that matter, most of them, they should be able to love with excellence. So that’s an example for me. That’s my vision. 

And so, if I say I believe in a world where just change it, my vision is for every leader to love with excellence. And so, if, in the business world, corporations, they could be employees, team members, they could be 1099-type salespeople, they could be realtors. Ask themselves, who do they care about? What is their answer? I believe in a world or a community where every homeowner. I believe in a world where every investor. I believe in a world where every florist, I mean, it could be anything. 

So, I believe in a world where what you care about? And then it goes to your mission. The mission is, okay, so if that’s what you believe, if that’s the world you want to see and create, then what must you do to make that vision a reality? 

So, what’s my mission if I believe in a world and my vision is for every leader to love with excellence? What am I going to do about it? Well, I believe what needs to happen is what I do. My mission is to standardize the process for connecting leaders. Because every leader has a way to help another leader, but they don’t know who to go to. And do I go to this person or this person, or how much do I work with that person? Or they don’t know how to do that. 

So, if there were a standardized approach to connecting with the right people, goodness gracious, what would that do? It’d be incredible. And the right people are other people who care, they love, and they’re relational, I mean, of course. And so, those listening to this and wanting to be relational need to know who they care about to be relational and do a great job. Determine who you care about and what you will do to help those people. How are we going to help them? Then figure out who the other people are who are also helping them. 

So, you, for example, have this podcast that you do to help share education and help other leaders and business owners be better stewards of their wealth, right?

Cosmos:

Yeah.

Josh: 

And so, I need to know you, help you, send people to you, and share light and exposure. Who else? And I just keep making a list. And so, for those who care about focusing on relationships, figure out the relationships you care about and those who also care about those relationships. Build relationships, get to know them, talk to them, figure out how you can help them and how they can help you, and that will make a massive impact. It’s not just transactional, it’s relational.

Cosmos:

Wow, Josh, what you said was profound and relevant today.

But, from your perspective, like, from your interactions with many business owners, what do you think is the biggest challenge they’re facing when developing authentic relationships, as you’re suggesting?

Josh: 

Oftentimes they work in a silo, and they don’t have, they don’t, they don’t get out there. So, so many times, so many times they’ll do what they do. Okay, let’s just talk about marketing, sales, and legal. Okay. If you’re a business owner, chances are you need to invest in marketing. If you’re a business owner, chances are you need to be good at sales. If you’re a business owner, chances are you need to have legal protection and, you know, stuff in place. And I could keep going on and on and on.

But what if I’m a business coach? If I’m a business coach, am I taking the time to find marketing professionals who do great work? Am I taking the time to find sales coaches who do great work? Am I taking the time to find legal people who can provide excellent work? And most of the time, in my experience, just observations, they don’t take that time. They might say, I’m a business coach, so where’s a client, client? Find me and let me help you. And then they’ll provide great counsel. That’s great, but it’s siloed. It’s just what they know within their knowledge and expertise. They don’t know other people who are related and don’t take the time to do that. 

And so, if they were to take the time to get to know someone else who’s a marketing specialist, they’re going to be an even better coach because they’re going to learn more about marketing, and the same thing for sales, which is fantastic. A business coach should be able to give guidance on sales. And they don’t have to be a sales coach, but they know a sales coach. That’s fantastic and legal. So, on and so forth. 

And so, one of the biggest things is they just live in silos and, and they don’t pay attention to that. And if they pay attention to that, here’s the other thing that happens. Let’s say I’m the business coach and not a business coach, but just say I am. If I’m a business coach and I find a marketing person, then what happens is more often than not, I’m going to sit down with that marketing person and have a one-to-one sit-down conversation over coffee. I will try to sell them on my coaching services and convince them to use or refer me. That’s how it goes. That’s not how I’m saying it should go, but that’s how it goes. 

So, I sell to them for half an hour, and then they sell to me for half an hour. And then at the end of that meeting, we say, okay, well, man, great, great to meet you. I appreciate what you’re doing, and I must keep my mind. And if I come across someone who needs you. Yeah, definitely, yeah, ah, keep your mind. And they say the same thing, and you say, All right, man, that’s great. All right, have a good one. All right, bye. And then you leave. 

What happens? Nothing. Nothing happens. Why? Because the whole thing was based on a transaction, a transactional mindset. I sell it, you, you sell to me. Do I win? Nope. Do you win? No, you didn’t win. And then you go on. And so that’s completely, completely the opposite of a relationship. That’s a transaction. And that’s the other thing. Either people are siloed or go out, but they don’t know how not to do what I just described. They don’t know how to go to a first-time meeting and leave that meeting saying, Boy, that was a success. Instead, they say, was that a success, or will it be a success, or when will it pan out? Which is a problem. It’s a waste of time.

Cosmos:

Josh, what you’re seeing is pretty, it’s really, it’s radical and different to a lot of people because they’ve been taught that business is all about profits, profits and results, results, results. So what you’re saying seems counterintuitive to a lot, but ultimately, it ends up giving you more results in the long term.

Josh: 

Yeah. My daughter. This is fun. So, I said that my daughter’s. She’s almost six. My oldest. Her name is Adeline. And I’m very proud of her. If you ask her, if you say Adeline, what’s the reason for work? Why do people work? She will tell you that their reason for working is to love people. Now, she also knows you need to make money if you work. And if you make more money, you can help more people, you can love more people. But she won’t tell you. Most people will say the reason to work is to make money. Well, that’s a kind of pointless existence. For what reason? But if the purpose of work is to love others and love them well, you will make money, you need to make money, and you will be able to love even better. So.

Cosmos:

Yeah, no, I mean, like, a lot of people, they get so focused on, like, making the money that they forget, ultimately forget what the purpose of life is, which is to connect with other people and like, give value and serve others. And when you do that and give value, the money comes automatically. 

Our world tends to be more cutthroat; we were brought up to understand the world in such a way. And so, there are these. The worldview that you’re in. That you’re talking about, and then there’s the worldview portrayed by the media and many others. It’s so radical, especially when you see the movies around Wall Street, and they show you how it’s done. What we’re discussing now differs from what people see in those industries.

Josh: 

Yeah, no. And there are so many reasons for that, and there are so many. It’s like. It’s culture. What shapes culture? There are a ton of things that shape culture. But you’re right that what you’re describing is the culture that we live in. So, how can we be a better culture? How can we be a loving culture? How can we be a caring, relational culture? And that takes intentionality because we’re not wired that way. Well, we are wired that way, but we’re not; we don’t grow up in a culture that is conducive to that.

Cosmos:

Yeah, because right now, many people see the culture, and they’re “Oh, rich business people, they’re greedy or anything”, they see the stories of the healthcare CEO, and what happened. But that’s how it’s portrayed in the media. They show some true cases, but then there’s a different approach to businesses. Many businesses are more empathy-based and more others-focused, which must be showcased in our culture.

Josh: 

Absolutely. I agree.

Cosmos:

So, Josh, there’s one thing I had to ask you, and it’s regarding social media. Right. Because I know you’re into developing relationships and super connecting. A lot of people have claimed that social media has revolutionized the way that we do business. However, other people say that isolated people have stopped developing connections. They’ve lost the essence of connecting on a deeper level. So, from your perspective, how do you see the social media phenomenon that has taken over in the 21st century, especially connected to business?

Josh: 

Yeah, that’s a fun question. So yes, I own a digital marketing agency. Social media is not a service we do a lot with and is not one of our core offerings. One of the reasons for that is that it’s often challenging to prove return on investment with social media. At least back when I was getting started with my agency, it was more challenging than it is now. And I can prove return on investment with search engine optimization, return on investment with paid ads, and ROI with email marketing. But social media is far more challenging. 

So, we didn’t get into that. And I knew if I was going to be good at social media, I needed to focus a lot of energy on it. And I couldn’t do that. 

So, I made the decision not to use social media. So, I have barely used social media for a long time. I barely look at it. And it’s been that way since about 2010, I think. Being someone who’s not part of social media, it’s not an active Part of my life. What happened is, yeah, I got it. My relationships are in person, in real life, kind of relationships. Lots of those, lots of those. And not social media. However, as of January this year, I have decided to embrace LinkedIn. And I have been using LinkedIn. I’ve been on LinkedIn. I just never really put anything, and now I actively put content, create content, and put it on LinkedIn. 

So, looking at it from only three or four months of experience, how does that play into my relationships? And is it a mess? I can’t speak from experience of it messing me up with relationships. I understand that some people get addicted to it or something, and they fail to pay attention to humans. I hope people, I have people who complain to me. I have people complain to me. They say, Josh, the way you can sit down and have a meeting over coffee and look someone in the eyes and ask them intelligent questions, they’ll say that’s missing in today’s culture.  The younger generations, I’m 39, but the younger individuals, people complain that they don’t do that. 

So, I know that there’s a problem there. But simultaneously, people engage with my content when I share something on social media. And I appreciate that. I appreciate that they’re seeing it. I appreciate that they’re saying thank you. Even if it’s just a like, they’re saying thank you. And I appreciate that and that and the relationship that I have. I’m thinking of a guy named Mike and another guy named Neil, and they both. 

And another guy named Jay. I could keep doing that. They are very good at engaging in real-life relationships, but are reinforced with quick social interactions. And so, I feel, I appreciate that. I like that. And so I don’t think that’s hurting, but it just depends on how you approach your use of social media. And that’s something that some people do well, and others don’t.

Cosmos:

Yeah. I mean, it’s basically like, on the one hand, social media has connected us, but I feel people are looking; they spend so much time on social media that they don’t make enough in-person connections.

So that’s why I was asking, because I just find it fascinating, how some with this one technology can simultaneously bring the world closer together, but at the same time make people go further away from each other in their actual family life or friends. 

Because I remember when I was small, when the Internet was not there in the first decade of my life, we would go and play outside, connect and make friends with people, and then understand them. Right? And then, as cell phones came about, and everything that people just did, it’s one of those weird things. For example, you could go on a date or hang out with friends in today’s world. And half of them will be on their phones.

Josh: 

I was at, yeah, Jason’s Deli the other day. A salad. Buffet. It was not a buffet, but I was at this restaurant, and I was looking around and scanning the room. It was afternoon; it wasn’t a busy time. And, there were these older, older individuals.  They’re older, sitting at a little table, looking at their phones and scrolling up and down. I’m thinking, what? That’s supposed to be the youngsters, right? The youngsters, not that. I mean, these are. I’m saying older. I won’t say an age, but they’re like, good night. Here they are. Then I looked over there and saw that middle-aged people were doing the same thing. And like, it’s not just kids, it’s. Everybody is connected. And sometimes my wife and I, when we’re out and about, we’ll be having a conversation and she’ll ask me a question, and I’m like, that’s a really good question. I don’t know. 

And so I’ll pull out my phone to answer that question, which is part of the conversation. She asked me something, and maybe I want to use ChatGPT or something like it, because it’s being used in the conversation. But I think anyone looking at me thinks I’m just disconnected, and I’m looking at my phone, but I’m not. I’m using my phone for this engaging conversation. But that’s not the same thing as being on social media and being completely disconnected.

So I think there are perceptions that people are disconnected when maybe they’re not disconnected. I think there are times when people are very definitely disconnected. And I can’t judge those older individuals. Maybe they were playing a word game or something with each other. I’m not sure. But yeah, you’re right. It’s, it’s, it’s an interesting world.

Cosmos:

No, I mean.

And Josh, I was curious because, you know, American identity is about the pursuit of happiness, right? Everything we do is about achieving the American dream and pursuing happiness. So, from your perspective, how important are relationships, building, not just in building social life? How important is attaining that end regarding gaining a certain level of happiness?

Josh: 

Yeah. So, if you had a billion dollars and all the time in the world, what would people say is the most valuable? Some people feel the most valuable resource is money. Lots of people will think that they haven’t heard about time. 

Other people say, Oh, time is the most valuable resource. So what if I gave you a billion dollars and then I gave you all the time in the world, but you were on a desert island, just you, how happy would you be?

Cosmos:

You can’t do anything with that money, so how would you be happy? You know?

Josh: 

Yeah. So, okay, I could let you play with. I could let you have certain hobbies and interests. But at the end of the day, when you look back on your life, you’re going to most likely think about what you did with other people, the relationships in your life, and whether you reach the end of your life with money, but you don’t have relationships, or you reach the end of your life without money, but you have amazing relationships. I would rather be someone with amazing relationships and not much money than someone with tons of money and a lack of relationships.

And so it’s vital. And the best time to work on it is now. Just money, the best time to invest is, yeah, yesterday. Right. But the other best time to invest is now. It’s the same thing with relationships. And, the question, a great question to ask, is, are you investing in the relationships that matter most to you, and how much are you investing in your time? How much time are you investing in those relationships? Because if you’re not, then do they matter? And if they do, maybe a change should be made.

Cosmos:

So, one of the themes I notice in our conversation is that many people chase success. But the ultimate irony is that success chases those who have good relationships and then develops from the abundance of those relationships. They just naturally become successful by serving others. It’s the ultimate, like, paradox, right? Like, you want this thing, but the way to get it is something that you supposedly think is a nuisance, but when you end up doing it, it feels good. And then you get everything that you want. Any.

It’s something that I realized.

Josh: 

Yeah. Yeah. Do a good job at taking care of the relationships you care most about, and you’ll thrive much more than if you just chase success. Because chasing success, what does that even mean? I mean, hopefully it has to do with relationships. Hopefully that’s what it is.

Cosmos:

In today’s world, many think it’s just becoming, like, having the mansions and cars, immensely successful, important, and relevant. A kind of celebrity, I would say. A lot of people think that success is being a celebrity.

Josh: 

And how many celebrities commit suicide or are depressed because they lack something?

Cosmos:

Is it. Isn’t that wild?  How the people that society worships in today’s society are not happy. Like, it’s one of those, like, what. What is going on? Right. But at the same time, to me, it makes sense. But, for a lot of people, they want to be these people, but you see that they’re on drugs, and they’re just not happy. Yeah.

Josh: 

Yeah. Someone. So. I’m not, I’m not. I don’t follow sports. I don’t really. That’s not my world. And football is huge, especially in the south and the southeast. And so I asked a friend one day, as I was transparently and authentically, Can you help me understand why people are so into football? Like, please, like, I don’t get it. Because I’m not into it. I don’t care about it. But some people are die-hard football fans. I’m not sure. Are you a die-hard football fan?

Cosmos:

 I’m kind to you. I’m surprised you’re not into football because I assume most people are.

Josh: 

Yeah, right. I live in Florida; therefore, I must be there. I’m American, so. Right. But no, you’re right. So. So I asked him about it, and he told me something interesting. He said, Well, I don’t know if it’s right, but it sounds good. He said, well, think about the Coliseum in ancient Rome, and the people who would fight in the arena were gods if they won—the winners, like you, the. The gladiators who were the champions were like gods of the time. And it gave people something to m. Look for something tangible. And it’s like, this is success and this is great. And he was like, we don’t have American, you know, gladiators and coliseums here, but the modern day version of a gladiator is an athlete. And they have reached a pinnacle of success to be admired and appreciated, almost an envy of men. I wish I could be that. 

And so if football players are American day gods, they’re not the only ones. Who are the other gods? Well, celebrity, any kind of celebrity. Celebrities are gods. And so people, people. That’s part of the whole cultural thing and what you’re discussing. And when he said I was like, that makes a lot of sense. People view them as a God in a way, and they appreciate that, and they will never do it themselves, but in a way, they aspire to be close to that.

Cosmos:

So I think the modern-day gladiators would be considered the WWE-type stars. Yeah, yeah. I remember growing up, and I mean right now, I know it’s all staged, but back then, when I was a kid, I thought it was all real. But yeah, that’s the modern-day version of the Coliseum, because you have stadiums, people just. There’s all this entertainment, the drama, and then the fights, and people are just into that.

Josh: 

Yeah, yeah, that’s right. But then if you’re so focused on watching it or even playing the video games, you know, being it, that’s, is it real?

Cosmos:

It’s bread and circuses, right? In Rome, they called it the bread and circus. You’ve got to keep the mob happy. And so, it’s part of the ruler’s way of controlling the masses.

Josh:

Yes, in control. That word right there. Controlling the masses. The masses are just going with the flow. They aren’t thinking; they don’t know what they want. They’re not pursuing anything for themselves. They’re just enjoying the entertainment that’s being provided to them. Yeah, yeah.

Cosmos:

I mean, that conversation goes down a deep rabbit hole, right? Because it’s just one of those things,  how the Roman Empire rose and ultimately fell. And it’s one of those interesting things.

But, Josh, on a different note, I wanted to ask you about your company. You have this company 4 in 10. And also yours. Who. Can you tell me in the audience a little bit more about how you got this, both these companies started, and what they’re about?

Josh: 

Yes, absolutely. Thank you. I appreciate the ask. So you’re a digital marketing agency. Why? Well, the way back, I’m not supposed to be a pastor. I’m supposed to help business owners. If a business owner is going to help people, they need to be able to get their message out there. How do you do that? Marketing. So that was a very logical step. So I created a marketing agency. But I care about the entrepreneur and most entrepreneurs. Did you know that 86% of all business owners in the U.S. are solopreneurs?

Cosmos:

No, I had no idea.

Josh: 

Did you know that the Average solopreneur makes 47,000 in annual gross revenue? No, that’s not very good. And that’s average. That’s not a startup. That’s average. And so if they’re going to do marketing and they’re going to put about 10% of their gross revenue in some marketing, which is a general rule of thumb budget, it depends. But 10% means they got $4,700 yearly, less than $500 monthly. Where are they going to go for quality marketing at that kind of price? They’re not going to have a lot of really good options, and they’re not going to get much traction. 

And so that was a really big pain point that I cared about in that my agency was specifically, how do we help small business owners in a cost-effective way that will help them get actual traction? And so we got good at that. And we reached the point that 80% of our clients weren’t even our clients. Other marketing companies were outsourcing our work; they would outsource to us. And so we got to a point last year where we stopped taking clients. We don’t take clients now. We will not take our clients. We only do fulfillment. 

So if anyone who does marketing doesn’t want to do the work or wants to add a service that we have that they don’t have, that’s perfect. Just, you know, outsource the work to us. We do the work, we’re happy. We don’t have to go finding clients, we don’t have to do the sales, we don’t have to nurture the client. And so it’s a white label kind of approach. So, that’s the first business, and it helps with marketing problems. But I realized in 2020 that I fired my biggest client. And I fired them because they were going against my core values. In case you couldn’t guess, one of my core values is relationships. Another one is health. And they were. Cause they were going, I had to let them go because they were hurting the relationship, and stress is not healthy, and so a violation of health. It wasn’t good. We had to let them go. And I realized, though, working with that client and others, that sometimes the clients aren’t very good at business. And their problems aren’t related to marketing, but rather to other things. Maybe they don’t know their vision, mission, and core values. Maybe they don’t know what they sell and how to communicate it. Maybe they don’t have a strategic plan. Maybe they don’t have goals, and don’t know what a smart goal is. And tons of people don’t know what a SMART goal is. 

And if you’re listening to this and don’t know what a SMART goal is, you should look it up and make sure you have SMART goals for your business. So, all these things are fundamental and foundational for businesses. But there wasn’t a clear solution to helping my clients with these things. 

So I decided that what I needed to do was build some software. A software where anyone can log in and create smart goals, accountability, and deliverables, and their standard operating procedures can be documented and stored. And even building a website, not just looks good, but is designed for conversions, because most websites, hopefully, look good, but they’re not getting conversions. And there’s a reason for that. 

So I built software to function not as a marketing outreach tool, not a CRM, but as the infrastructure for a business so they can manage that. So that’s that. That was my second company. So, first is marketing. Then it’s 4 10 4 and 10. 4 and 10 businesses are profitable. 6 and 10 businesses are not. So the vision for 4 and 10 is to help at least 3,217,501 businesses become profitable by 2040. So help that many businesses, and then the statistics change. We can then say the majority of all businesses in the US are profitable because of. So we make our name obsolete by 2040. So that’s the vision for 4 and 10.

Cosmos:

That is amazing.

Josh: 

Thanks. It’s a lot of work. I appreciate it.

Cosmos:

No, I hope all the successful kids. This is a very good goal, and’ll help many businesses create a natural ripple effect.

Josh: 

Yeah. Can I tell you what the challenge I’ve faced is?

Cosmos:

Yeah.

Josh: 

Here’s the challenge. I built a Software. There isn’t any software that. That’s why I built it. People would subscribe to the software to access all these great resources, but it didn’t help them. And the reason it didn’t help them is that having the platform is one thing. Knowing how to build a business is another thing. And if you have, I mean, you give me a football, that doesn’t mean I know how to throw it, catch it, or play the game. I have to know about the training. And now if you give me the football and the training, man, I’m good, but I need both. 

And so, the challenge was, yeah, I got some software. It’s great. And if you know that kind of stuff, you’ll be fantastic. But most entrepreneurs don’t. They lack the training. And so that launched, training. So now I provide training. Pretty much the only service that I provide these days. I mean, I have a marketing agency, I have people who run that and do that. I have some software, but it’s just a bunch of code. And I have a team, and I’ll direct them. 

But I, I don’t do anything with that. But training is what I do. That’s the only thing I do. Now, we provide a $3,000 training on how to build a business. And what’s your purpose, vision, mission, and core values? Who’s your ideal buyer? What do you sell? What makes you different? How do you make a website designed for conversions? How do you make a strategic plan and mindset? What are the main topics? It’s $3,000. But it’s only for people who are on 4 and 10 subscriptions. They must be on 4 and 10. And two, if they’re on 4 and 10, that $3,000 training is complimentary. There is no cost. That makes it so that it overcomes the hurdle. And that’s been huge. That was kind of an aha. I’m kicking myself for not doing it way, way sooner. But that’s a, ah, big thing as well.

Cosmos:

That’s amazing, Josh. And Josh, how can our audience connect with you and learn more about you, your work, and everything they do? And if they needed advice, how would they reach out?

Josh: 

So, there’s LinkedIn. They can look me up, Josh Lyons, on my website. My website is the best way to learn about me and know what I’m doing. There’s more than what I shared. You know, just from today. So, if they go to who Josh Lyons dot com is, it’s my name. Who is Josh Lyons? L Y O N S. Who is Josh Lyons dot com? And that explains what I do, why I do it, and how I do it. I got a media kit in there. I’ve got even information on joint ventures. If anyone wants to do a joint venture, that’s where they would go to figure out what I’m looking for these days. And so that’s the best way to do it.

Cosmos:

Josh, that is amazing. And I’m so grateful you came to this podcast and shared your knowledge and wisdom about relationship-based businesses versus transactional ones. We need to know this to develop true fulfillment and make profits in the long term, compared to what the culture puts us there. And I hope you take the time to return to the show later.

Josh: 

Absolutely. And thank you again. I appreciate it. I appreciate what you’re doing. I met someone yesterday who I thought should be on the show. So, I’ll make introductions for you as well. I appreciate what you’re doing. So, thank you for what you do to help business owners, entrepreneurs, and those who want to be good stewards of their wealth.

Cosmos:

I appreciate Josh, and thank you so much for that. And I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow starring Americans know that, hey, look, there’s an extraordinary person within every one of us. We must awaken it and unleash it. Until next time, bye for now.