Leveraging Video to Close More Deals with Todd Hartley – EP 64

Interview with Todd Hartley

Leveraging Video to Close More Deals with Todd Hartley

Today, I’m speaking with Todd Hartley, known as the rockstar of remote selling, video marketing, and sales optimization. He’s one of Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery faculty speakers, trained each of Tony’s 74 businesses how to sell remotely, and delivers high-octane keynotes all over the world.

Todd’s tactics as CEO earned WireBuzz, (his ROI Focused Video, Marketing & Sales Optimization Agency) a spot on the Inc5000 list as one of the fastest growing privately held businesses in America in 2020.

His track record for being years ahead of his industry is why billion dollar companies, celebrities, and world leaders hire him to develop their sales and marketing strategies. His clients include 23andMe, Justin Timberlake, MD Anderson, Home Depot, and many more.

In today’s episode, Todd shares his journey from the kid who struggled in school, to becoming a digital marketing expert and super successful entrepreneur.

In our discussion, you’ll learn how video can be used as an effective tool for your business to hook prospects attention, prioritize follow ups, and shorten sales cycles.

Featured on This Episode: Todd Hartley

✅ What he does: Todd Hartley is the CEO of WireBuzz and master at training sales & marketing pros to sell remotely using video. He is also a keynote speaker, angel investor, and a video, marketing, & sales optimization trailblazer.

💬 Words of wisdom: “When your prospects know what you know and believe what you believe, buying from you becomes an absolute no-brainer.” – Todd Hartley

🔎 Where to find Todd Hartley: LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Spotify | Apple

Key Takeaways with Todd Hartley

• Going from the “slow kid” in school to becoming a digital marketing expert and award winning entrepreneur
• What it’s like to work with Tony Robbins and speak on some of the biggest stages in the world. 
• Why video is one of the most powerful tools for your business.
• Why the primary form of selling is going to be done remotely. 
• How to turn your website into your greatest salesperson!
• How to leverage video to identify buyers and close more deals. 
• How to reduce friction in the sales process. 
• Getting more comfortable with video—and Todd’s bootcamp that will fast-track your success!

Todd Hartley | Turn Your Website Into Your Greatest Salesperson

Resources

• Todd Hartley Website
• Todd Hartley on LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
• Bootcamp: Learn the Basics of Using Video with Todd Hartley
• Video Marketing Mastery with Todd Hartley on Apple and Spotify
• WireBuzz
• Awaken The Giant Within
• Unleash the Power Within: Personal Coaching to Transform Your Life!

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Read the Full Transcript with Todd Hartley

Justin Donald: Todd, what’s up, man? So glad to have you on the show. Welcome.

Todd Hartley: Always great spending time, Justin.

Justin Donald: This is going to be so much fun because, man, you and I, we can talk for hours. I’m glad that we can capture it because so much of what we talk about I just think is so applicable to the masses. I know certainly it’s applicable to my audience and so I’m appreciative for having you on the show and for you being able to make the time to join. And I’m looking forward to being out in your neck of the woods in Scottsdale next month, where we get a chance to hang in person.

Todd Hartley: Yep. I look forward to it. Always great when we get together and the information is always really valuable, so I can’t wait.

Justin Donald: Well, I love having experts on my show. You know, it’s interesting because there are so many different genres of expertise but I feel like your expertise, in particular, is so important today. It’s so imperative. And so, I’m excited to dive into really just this world of video messaging and video content and how to stay relevant, how to captivate. And so, I’m excited for today’s show. But before we even get into that, I think it’s fun to kind of celebrate some big things. And I know you just recently bought some land. You have a new home. You’re kind of at the top of this mountain with a gorgeous panoramic infinity-type view. And I’d love to hear about that because you’ve worked hard. It’s a labor of love but you’ve worked hard to be able to get to the place where you can have something so nice. I’d love to hear about it.

Todd Hartley: Yeah. Thank you. Well, Wendy and I looked for four years and it was like my hobby became going to open houses. And so, we were looking for something very specific. We were looking for like a retreat where the two of us could recover from just being around people and we’re always so in the mix and involved at events and all of this excitement that we wanted a place that we could have our friends over and everybody felt like they were just dropping out from the world for a little bit. It’s 25 minutes away from my office but it feels like it’s three or five hours out of town. And so, the weekends, like the recovery just is on a completely different level and the views, as you mentioned, are infinity views from every room and every room has giant glass and like big open sliding doors. We just found the perfect place for us and I’m so grateful to not have anybody in our proximity because we could play our music loud or we could have a band over if we wanted to have some friends. Like none of it matters anymore. It’s great.

Justin Donald: Oh, I love it. I’m so happy for you. And I just think it’s great when you work hard and you put in the time and you’re a guy that I really admire and respect because you’ve had a lot of success. You could have splurged early on in your career. You didn’t. You waited. You waited until you were in a place where it really made sense and you’re a guy to me that has really lived beneath your means. And so, you really are the perfect voice for sharing that with other people and you also have a message that helps empower people to scale and grow their business the way that you’ve grown yours with WireBuzz. And so, I’d love to hear your story and how you became an entrepreneur. Like what was it like? Some people they just wake up and they know that they’re going to be a business owner. I remember in high school, I don’t know if this was a thing with you, but we would at the end of the year kind of trade books and have people sign it and do different things. I remember in my freshman year, it was really important to me that for whatever reason that I was going to be a business owner. And so, I knew kind of early on. So, I’m curious for you what that looked like.

Todd Hartley: Well, I actually started off in a very unusual way. I struggled miserably and in silence or in secret for the first half of my life with learning disabilities and attention disorders to the point where I was in all of the slow kid classes. And my family, I have a family of four generations on both sides of entrepreneurs like the most brilliant people and they all had successful businesses. But here I was, the kid in the family that had a secret. And I didn’t ever give up on myself and my parents were instructed that I probably won’t graduate from high school. College is out of the question but the deal was my parents instead of doing what the school asked, which was to medicate me and send me off, my parents chose to teach me how to compete. My grandfather is a or was a believer in the power of the mind. And so, whenever we get into the car and sit in L.A. Traffic, pop would work with me on how I can strengthen my primary muscle. And that became the foundation of everything. And before I knew it, I just got into the pattern on a daily basis of strengthening my weaknesses and developing my strengths. And by the time I was 25, yes, I had graduated from college but nobody would have ever known that I used to struggle. I went on to be a talk show host on the number one station in Arizona.

My first web project in 1999 went crazy viral and within a couple of years was generating 36 million visitors a year on zero ad dollars. And iHeartRadio hired me to go out to L.A. to run digital for seven of their largest nationally syndicated talk shows. In fact, one of those talk shows reached out to me today about doing a live event for them. And these are shows that are on like 600 stations across the country like their names. And so, I just went on to have a storybook digital marketing career and I was employee number one of a company and this gets to be my entrepreneurial – I never thought I was going to be an entrepreneur because of my limiting beliefs. I started a company. I was employee number one for a company. We grew that thing quite large and then the employees that I trained and hired and brought in, laid me off and escorted me out the door. And it was such a kick in the gut that I was devastated. And then from that devastation became this fighter out of there that was like, “I know what I’m doing. I don’t need people’s authority or approval.” And I just went ahead, opened up my own marketing agency, and we served companies like MD Anderson and Home Depot and AAA, and 23andMe and major universities like my alma mater, the University of Arizona, and celebrities like Justin Timberlake and Tony Robbins. And I went on to continue doing what I always did, having a storybook career where I could serve people and help lift up their brand, and just fires me up to no end.

Justin Donald: It’s incredible. I love your story. And it’s interesting because I feel like people that live in a victim mindset or a scarcity mindset would look at, “Hey, I got fired or I got let go,” and, “Look what they’re doing to me,” and, “Gosh, this is the worst thing that ever happened,” but you can take that same situation if you have an abundant mindset or if you’re willing to say, “Hey, what’s the gift in this situation,” and say, “Hey, this was my biggest turning point. You know, the thing that could have crippled me the most and left me out in the back alley is actually the thing that propelled me into the career that I’ve had and onto the platform that I serve the world from.” And so, you’re a great story for that.

Todd Hartley: Thank you.

Justin Donald: It’s neat seeing what you’ve been able to build even in the face of that circumstance. You know, it’s kind of the classic story of the two brothers that had two different situations going on where they had basically let’s say their father committed some atrocity. And the one brother ended up in jail and it’s like, “Well, why’d you end up here?” “Well, look at my father. How else did you expect me to turn out?” And then the other brother is a multimillionaire, very successful, start his own business and they ask, “Why are you there?” “Well, look at my father. How else did you expect me to turn out?” And so, it’s all a mindset shift. And I love that your grandfather taught you that early, and I love that you are open enough to listen to it because sometimes when we’re young, we think we know everything and it’s like, “Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. I got it. I’m good.” But you were open. That’s cool.

Todd Hartley: Had to be. I had to be because inside I had a vision for myself that was larger than what was playing out in real-time in front of me. I always, Justin, pictured myself standing on the largest stage in the entire world, and I did not know if I was going to be giving a speech for getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame or winning Mr. Universe or an academy. I didn’t know what it was but I had a vision from as a little kid that I was going to be speaking one way or another on the biggest stage in the world and I held true to that vision. And as a kid, even when I had despair, I continued to work on my ability to communicate with people. And that’s always been my primary passion. And my parents, when I told you that they taught me to compete, I was in all of the slow kid classes growing up, and in a time when schools treated learning disabled kids like they were troubled or lazy. There was no accommodations. So, I just kind of thought there was something else. Every time the school had a speaking contest, my parents always signed me up and I always won and I always presented in front of the parents when it would be like open house night or something. It just became one of those gifts that I was just so grateful to have been given.

Justin Donald: That’s amazing. Now, I do have to say I’m surprised that you weren’t on the largest stage for being Mr. Universe. I’m a little disappointed here on this. But speaking of the largest stages in the world, Todd, you have spoken at many of Tony Robbins’ events, his biggest events. I mean, so I’m an avid Tony Robbins fan. I’ve attended every event he’s done. I’ve gone through his leadership program. I’ve been a team leader with them. So, each event I’ve attended multiple times as a participant, as a leader, and some of these stages are huge. I mean, some of these groups are 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 30,000 people. He fills arenas. It’s just incredible. And you recently have had the privilege, I remember when you did your first one, there had to be nerves. Actually, I know there were because we talked about it. But what happened was you crushed it so much, Tony is like, “I want to have you on everything.” So, you’re on the circuit. You’re going to all the events that Tony does and you’re teaching from stage. And so, I’d love to know what that has been like because that has to be kind of living out your dream of being on one of the biggest stages in the world. And I saw one of your cool photos with just a gigantic stadium full of people. Tell us about it. It’s so cool, man.

Todd Hartley: Okay. So, I agree. Like, I get chills thinking about it. What I didn’t tell you is my grandfather was a doctor in metaphysics. He believed in the power of the mind, and when I was 12 and sitting in his car, my grandfather had purchased one of Tony Robbins’ boxes or books of tapes. These were like not the audiobook that came out when Awaken the Giant came out or Unleash the Power. These were like the ones that you really paid a lot of money to get. This was the good stuff and pop and I just listened to that all the time. So, I was raised on that material. So, one of the unique things that happened is at the beginning of the pandemic, Tony’s team reached out and asked me if I could start training each of his 74 businesses on how to sell remotely and help those companies and the staff be able to sell from a safe place, which is one of my superpowers. So, I mean, that was like my magic moment, and I started training his companies. And, Justin, you might remember this because Justin and I are friends but at the beginning of the pandemic, right when I got booked to start training Tony’s company, I also the very next week after I scheduled an entire summer of training for his companies, the next week I was diagnosed with skin cancer. And I had done all of my trainings for Tony, with my face totally gauzed up.

And that was part of the magic moment even though I did not want to represent myself that way. I got up and served instead of allowing my vanity to override my willingness and desire to serve, I just put myself out there like Bozo the Clown all taped up, and that audience just bonded and resonated with me. And so, since then, I’ve been training his clients and they’ve been getting freakish results, and it is an incredible honor for me after being a lifetime of greedy toadying taker to be able to give back. And so, now I’m speaking at I think almost all of these events which is just mind-boggling. I leave in a couple of days to go to his business mastery event and do a training there, which I’m just incredibly honored to do but it’s the biggest stage. So, what is it like? First of all, I know you saw that video where it’s a stadium full of people and I’m getting miked up and I’m just about to go out there, and Tony’s got them to a point where they’re like, in my mind, it’s like a Metallica concert going on out there. And all I can think of is I’m going to screw up this energy because it’s the greatest energy, and if you can step out on that stage, you’ll know when you’re talking to them that they’re just so engaged and so interested.

Justin Donald: Well, Tony is a master at getting people into peak state. And so, it’s incredible, right? So, you walk out and this energy has to be electric. I mean, I’ve experienced this energy because I’ve been the participant in that audience. And you’re on cloud nine. It’s amazing. And when you’re in that space, it’s so much easier to learn. You’re more focused. You can absorb and retain information. And so, how cool to be showing up not only on the biggest stage out there but to an audience that is just hyper in tune and engaged and ready to go like hungry, can’t wait to learn from you?

Todd Hartley: In what world is there that many people that are that hungry and excited to learn? Right?

Justin Donald: Right.

Todd Hartley: And they want to grow like they want to get into their uncomfortable place so they can push through onto the other end to be a bigger, better version of themselves. So, when you’re standing there just about to get out that door, the thought that’s going through my head is, “Are you sure you can do this?” And the next thought is, “Do you have something that you’re going to be providing that’s going to radically change and improve their life?” And if the answer is yes, get out of your own way and get out there and serve them. And I go through that process and I’ll tell you, I’m like, my first sentence is the only thing that’s difficult. And once I get out of that first sentence and I get out of my way, I’m like right into my material and I’m training and I’m having a blast and it’s like it’s just really enjoyable. And now that he’s got a virtual stadium that he built in Florida, not far from his house. He could be doing these things in the pandemic or he could be going back into stadiums. It’s just a really exciting time to be somebody presenting and giving to an audience when you could do it virtually.

Justin Donald: Yeah. And it’s so nice. I mean, there’s going to be a lot of pressure no matter what but it’s probably like there’s some peace of mind in the backdrop where you’re like, “Yeah, but Tony’s teed him up. Like, thank goodness, I can just walk out and they’re hungry. They’re ready. I don’t even have to warm them up. They’re warmed up.”.

Todd Hartley: Yeah.

Justin Donald: There’s something to be said about that.

Todd Hartley: I’m incredibly spoiled is what it is. And when I do other events, it’s obvious to me that the greatest speaker of all time did not just warm up the audience before I walked out there.

Justin Donald: I’m sure it’s night and day between a busy conference that you’re at for this company and you’re just walking on and whoever it was, whoever the president of the company or whoever is introducing you, the marketing director, they’re just horrible at introductions and it’s like, “All right, go on up.”

Todd Hartley: I’m like, “What? No smoke machine? I don’t do these things without smoke machines anymore.”

Justin Donald: That’s awesome. Well, I’m excited to learn more about just the things that you’re teaching people, the things that you’re teaching Tony Robbins’ audience, and all these companies, I mean, you speak all over the globe. So, what’s WireBuzz? What are you all about? What’s your organization about? I know that there’s so much that you can offer our audience because everyone today can use the tools, the skills, the things that you teach. Everyone, every person listening, every person watching this can use what you’re going to share with us today.

Todd Hartley: Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Like, I’ve been trailblazing in this space for 12 years, and for a vast majority of that time, people were like, “Yeah. Well, why do I even need video?” And then the pandemic happened but my business has been growing and thriving since we got started in 2010. But here’s the deal, video is the most powerful tool in the business world, and we can’t get face-to-face anymore, Justin, like you can’t like walk into somebody’s office and press flash and go and develop a relationship and work all that Justin Donald: charm like it just doesn’t happen the way it used to. But you still need to transfer knowledge. You still need to develop a relationship. They need to know, love, and trust you. You need to be able to transfer everything from your big, massive brain into their brain with ease so they can understand that you are the logical decision. Because when your prospects know what you know and believe what you believe, buying from you becomes an absolute no-brainer. So, we transfer all of that into video. Now, why video? There are three primary things we’re trying to do with video, and the first is we’re trying to earn attention and then we’re trying to transfer knowledge. You can’t transfer the knowledge until you earn the attention and the last thing you want to do is convert them into customers. But people are four times more likely to watch video than to read text.

Text is boring, and if you want somebody to learn about your business, don’t make them work hard to burn mental calories to understand why you are the best for them. Instead, give them the easy button and after they are four times more likely when you go to transfer knowledge, they are going to retain 95% of the message when they watch it in video but only 10% when reading it in text. And the last piece, which is converting them into customers after watching a product, a service, or a solution video, people are 85% more likely to buy. That’s a game-changer. All we’re trying to do is accelerate the path to the magic word of yes. And when we use video and in this world right now, there’s a really interesting dynamic at play. For our entire life, sales has been traditional face-to-face sales but at the beginning of the pandemic and where we are now is actually going to be what the rest of our life is going to be like and not because it’s going to be pandemic forever but because of personal preference. You see, remote selling right before our very eyes is becoming the primary form.

So, right before our very eyes, traditional sales is secondary and the primary form of sales is all going to be remote selling. And it’s a preference decision like 75% of buyers, 75% they’re going to work from home at least 50% of the time, which means being able to go and meet with people. You want to go ahead and make an investment pitch to somebody, it’s going to happen remotely. And people are willing to take pay cuts to never go back into the office again. And then people are making decisions. 70% of buyers are willing to make decisions on purchases over $50,000. So, like all the limits are gone. Now, it’s about how can you get in front of them? How can you transfer that information? How can you convert them into customers in the least amount of effort possible? And video is the tool.

Justin Donald: That’s awesome. Well, you mentioned this, it’s a way to engage deeper with people, right? It’s not just surface level. I feel like when you get into a conversation with someone, for me, there’s only so long I can talk about surface-level stuff like I want to get deep. I want to really get into someone’s being, who they are, what they’re about, like what fires them up. And so, I feel like video is the component that kind of helps you go deep in a relationship or go deep in a potentially new relationship.

Todd Hartley: Right. Some videos are going to be one too many. Those are the ones that live on your website or you’re going to put out on social media but then other videos are going to be personalized one-to-one. And the more dexterous we are, the easier it is for us to use video with our phone to influence the deal.

Justin Donald: Yeah. You know, there’s something that I love that you talk about. So, there are videos where you are kind of targeting someone. You’ve got a company. You’ve got a client. Maybe this is something for social media. But then one of the other cool things that you get into and one of the things that your company is the best at is turning your website, turning someone’s website into their greatest salesperson. So, instead of hiring someone, spending all the time training them, having the turnover that so many people experience, especially today, today more than ever, how do we do that? How do we make our website our greatest salesperson?

Todd Hartley: One of the things that most marketers don’t realize is what salespeople do intuitively. Salespeople change the conversation based on the needs, desires, and interests of the person that they’re talking with. Websites don’t do that very well. But the reason salespeople do it is they’ve already optimized the path to yes. And they know that there are different types of persona groups or different types of buyers, and they adjust for them, almost like The Karate Kid adjusts based on what his opponent is going to provide. So, the easiest thing to do is to start identifying the different types of persona groups that you are or avatars that you’re trying to engage. And most companies got two, maybe three. Start creating individual pages that are designed for that type of buyer. And instead of starting the page with why you’re the best, start talking to them about what their needs, pain, and frustrations are. Move them through the knowledge transfer. And on that page, have videos that are relevant to what their needs are. By the time they get to the bottom of the page, they’re like, “Ooh, this company is for me. They get me.” Dating’s the same way. Like the people that have success with the – I know nothing about dating because I’ve been married for 22 years. But the people that do the best, their shtick changes. Their conversation is about the person that’s with them.

So, positioning your website to be appealing to people is really the trick. And that means you can’t have a one size fits all approach anymore. And then the trick is, hey, think about Tom Brady for a moment like Tom Brady’s the greatest quarterback of all time but he’s not the most athletic. I hate to break it to people like the dude is clearly not the greatest athletic gift to sports fans. But what he is really good at is he adjusts the play based on the defense, just like the greatest salespeople. So, when you now have a different variety of pages based on your persona groups, when you’re interacting with a different type of a prospect, you select the right play just like Tom Brady would. You run the right play at the right time and you score more often. And video is a key component to that. So, on your journey page on your website, put videos on there, and on the back end, if you’re using the right video player, your sales team should be getting alerts when people are going through it. So, your sales team should be able to spy on the back end. Yeah, it gets super creepy. Let your sales team know when people are going through like over 80% of the video because if somebody goes to 80% of the video, yo, they’re a buyer and they should be prioritized over people who are only watching like 5% of the video. Like, once we start doing that with our clients’ companies, people just start, they just start prioritizing the right people to invest time in and now they’re closing deals at freakish rates.

Justin Donald: Yeah. It’s interesting because the analytics are just staggering. And so, what you’re saying is just the return on even just knowing the numbers here, most people don’t know the numbers and when you know the numbers, then you can make change, you can make improvement because what gets measured gets improved. And so, most people don’t know the numbers. Most people don’t have, they’re not incorporating video. If they are incorporating it, they’re probably not analyzing it like you just said. So, just a couple of small tweaks, one, putting video in, two, tracking some of these things. This could be a game-changer. We’re talking night and day success. We’re talking 100% growth in many cases and I know you’re working on a lot of these companies where they’re experiencing even beyond that over the course of a year. So, I just think it’s so fascinating that the moves to make today can be so small, so simple, so easy to implement but you just have to do it.

Todd Hartley: Right. And you have to stop being afraid like fear cripples people from doing it. And really, I think most of it is pretty simple. If you understand, get rid of the YouTube video player on your website because it doesn’t serve you, it serves them, and it creates all these off-ramps back to YouTube and start using a video player that’s going to connect with your CRM and start providing you with real, actionable intel that’ll help you prioritize who you should be following up with. Like, Justin, in my agency when we started using video in 2015 to prioritize who to follow up with, we went from having a nine-week sales cycle to a three-week sales cycle. Basically, we were wasting 66% of the sales time because we were following up with everybody with the same level of urgency.

Justin Donald: Well, and you were just doing what you had always done. You were doing the old model. So, it’s like that model served you because you didn’t know better and you got results. But the moment you innovated and you cut the learning curve, you cut the results, you streamlined efficiency. And I think that’s what happens when you take chances, when you add something different, when you track the numbers. And I mean, you’ve told me the numbers that your business has grown by year-over-year, it’s staggering.

Todd Hartley: Yeah. Well, it’s really a fun time to be an entrepreneur. And really, if you love serving people from your heart like this is the greatest time because you can do it from anywhere. You can be a lifestyle entrepreneur and you can engage and get that company to the next level but you’ve just got to do really smart tactical things in the process. And sometimes it means identifying where the confusion is in your prospect’s mind. Like there’s a saying, right, if you confuse, you lose. And if you’re really sensitive, like I don’t mean like culturally sensitive like everybody’s freaking out about every little detail now. I mean, like sensitive to what people are saying in the business meeting, almost like you’re feeling your pulse. If you could be sensitive to the questions that come up or the confusion after the meeting, you could follow up with a personalized video for that prospect through your cell phone where you answer the confusion and you give them a video that they can share with their team. And before you know it, now you’ve moved them to the next stage because you’ve resolved the confusion. That’s the role of salespeople today. And instead of being in front of people, they’re now migrating into their phone but they’re still resolving the confusion and moving people faster to the word yes.

Justin Donald: Yeah. And another thing that I think is really important is one of the things I’ve learned is at the beginning, I was like, “Oh yeah, you want this like nice, polished video, very clean, nice background, like all these things.” But in the reality, a lot of things that convert are just like, hey, you’re outside, you grab your phone, you’re on a walk. It’s almost like the unplanned plan, the non-plan plan and you’re just showing up kind of as you are, an idea, a message spur of the moment. And so, it doesn’t have to be like totally clean, polished scripts memorized. It’s better when there’s a little flaw in it and the camera’s not as maybe nice or the angle is not perfect or whatever it is. Wouldn’t you agree?

Todd Hartley: Yes, but it depends. Like a lot of my companies are billion-dollar brands and they can’t afford to wing it because when people see them wing it and they associate that winging it with a lack of quality around their brand. But for most businesses, yes, and for most people listening to this, nobody’s expecting you to create a Spielberg video. They’re not. And that would be unrealistic. But what they are expecting is to be able to engage with you. And in this world where you’re not hugging people at a meeting and sitting down in front of them, they want to engage with your eyes. They want to make eye contact. They want to know you’re real. They want to make sure all your chicklets in your mouth are there and that your company looks like it’s made for prime time. And so, once you get comfortable in sharing those details and you bring people behind the scenes, you lift the veil of confusion that makes people think that, “Hey, maybe this is going to be a bad company,” and instead you show them that you’re legit and that you’re a real person. You identify that they’re confused going through the process and you are their sherpa to guide them through to make the right decision for their business. And once you do that like everything great happens, you become the trusted advisor. Before you know it, it’s just like it was before when you could get in front of people. And you’re just influencing them through the process to help them make the right decision.

Justin Donald: Yeah. That’s fantastic. And some of the cool things I’ve learned from you is just even to speed it up, slow it down, kind of move in and get your head in the camera and then move back. You are fantastic from stage or on camera. It’s so natural for you at this point and it’s very inspiring to see what it can look like with time. But I think it’s important to recognize you don’t ever need that to have effectiveness in videos.

Todd Hartley: You don’t. But repetition, like Tony Robbins says, repetition is the mother of skill. So, the more time we get comfortable engaging with the lens as if we’re engaging with the human, the more the normal skills that we’ve developed just start to come on out but we have to get out of our own head and stop pretending that we’ve got to look a certain way or we’ve got to have the right budgets to pull it off. And so, it’s a little bit of training, a little bit of tweaking, but before people know it, it feels very natural and very intimate.

Justin Donald: Yeah. That’s awesome. Now, you’ve got a boot camp coming up on kind of getting started in this world of video like, how do you get started? How do you get comfortable? I’d love for you to share some of that with my audience because I’ve got to imagine this is something that is very relevant to a lot of people, maybe even most people.

Todd Hartley: Yeah. It’s relevant to most business people today, and I teach over five weeks how to get your mojo on camera and how to create the three types of do-it-yourself, DIY videos through your phone that every professional needs to know how to create at a moment’s notice to impact the deal. And so, I teach those. It’s a lot of fun. For me, the greatest reward because this isn’t something I really need to do because I’ve got a thriving agency but I love the transformations that the students go through. Their confidence increase, how it impacts their business. I love the stories that I get that are jaw-dropping, people that went through the boot camp and they’re now using video and they’re winning a $4.5 million deal by the end of the course. Like people who go through the training and in the first 24 hours of the training are using the strategies to close a $100,000 deal. That’s why I do this and I get so much joy out of it, and I’ve got my next one starting January 26 and it is a five weeks, one hour a week, first thing in the morning when I teach people my tricks and then after I teach them, this is the video we’re going to teach you how to create today. Then they’ve got a week to submit a practice video.

And the cool thing is they submitted that practice video and we give them feedback on 9 points on how they can make that video even better, more impactful. And in doing so, they get the feedback from us. And by the end of the five weeks, they’re like legit. They’re creating videos that are impacting business, and that gets me. I grew up in L.A. I have no interest in Academy Awards like that doesn’t inspire me or excite me at all. But videos that close revenue faster like that totally fires me up. So, to be able to do that with people is a lot of fun.

Justin Donald: That’s awesome. I love it. I love the place that you’re in today, the ability to serve your audience and other people’s audiences. I think it’s incredible because I know you don’t have to do it but it is fun for you and you get to see those transitions. You get to see the scale and the life-changing aspects of it. And it’s so cool. So, where can my audience learn more about you?

Todd Hartley: So, my website is ToddHartley.com and the bootcamp if you want to sign up for it, learn about it, what we’re going to do in each of the five weeks, ToddHartley.com/Start. It’s just that easy. All the info is there, but that website talks about my speaking and my trainings and all these, and my book that will come out later on this year and trying to follow in your glory, dude. Like, I was so inspired. I’m writing the book when you started having your success and I was like, “Oh no, if I could just get like a third of that, it would be amazing.”

Justin Donald: You’re so kind. I feel just blessed and privileged every day based on kind of the mind of its own that my book has had but I think when you’ve got a great message that just resonates with people, you’re in a season of life or even economically a certain season. I think that’s where it can take off and really kind of become its own thing. You’re in this incredible space where you can do that. Your message is exactly that. And by the way, I have the privilege and luxury of getting a chance to hang with you once a month. We do monthly calls. Actually, it was bi-weekly calls. Now, we’re doing a little bit more monthly calls. And so, I mean, I have the luxury of hearing you all the time, and every time I’m like, “Man, this guy is good. I just need to keep listening to what he’s doing.” I mean, it’s really cool seeing you in your zone and I’m excited for your book to come out and I’m excited to support you through that process because it’s an incredible journey as long as you keep it fun. Writing a book isn’t always easy or fun but if you can show up in a place where it is fun, if you can be on your timeline, it can be such a different and better experience. And that was what I learned in the process is that I had to do it my way and I had to do it on my timetable. And people were putting demands on me for schedules and stuff. That didn’t work for me so I had to push them off and I just had to get to a place where I felt good about what I was doing.

Todd Hartley: Yeah. I get it back from the editor this coming week and I’m super excited because we poured into this. And when I say we, I mean, like me, myself, and I. I poured in some of the most remarkable life stories that relate to topics that I am teaching that are hilarious. And when people see this when they read this book, it’s just hilarious. And as I’m going through it, I’m laughing out loud and people are really going to enjoy it. It’s going to be great.

Justin Donald: I love it. I think that’s incredible. I just am so thankful for our time today because you truly are a master with video. You are an expert. Your agency is top of the charts. I mean, you are literally best of best, best in class, the guy that Tony Robbins goes to. And so, I just appreciate you sharing all this stuff with our audience. I want to end this call the way that I end every call on our show, I think is just so important. But I really just want to challenge and ask my audience this. What’s the one step that you can take today to move towards a life of financial freedom, a life that’s by design that is on your terms, not someone else, not by default, but a life that’s inspiring, full of passion that you desire. Take that step today. Thanks so much for joining us, and we’ll catch you next week.

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