Hey there!

I remember a conversation I had with my dad before he passed.

We were at the dining table and I was feeling a bit confused about what to do with the rest of my life...

He'd said many things that night but one stood out for me as a guiding light through the years:

It's never about what you have or don't have. It's always about your arrangement. - Edidem Bassey Ekpo Bassey

When I asked him what I had to arrange, he winked and said:

Okuk ikpuikpu, ofong ikpuikpu....owo edi iyene.

And no...

I'm not translating it.

#evilaugh

But don't worry...

Consider this an experiment in the syncing of our minds.

I fully believe that by the time I'm done....

You'll get a sense of what it means.

You see at the core of the Community Mastery Method™ is the idea that:

People are the primary assets that gatekeep everything else that we want.

Do right by them and you'll be taken care of for life.

And if you understand that...

Keep that as your reference point for all that you do as you build your practice...

You will make things happen that you previously thought were impossible for you.

But I digress.

Yesterday I promised to share with you...

10 critical mindset shifts to make to be able to build your create and keep the right kinds of Customers..

***For context please read yesterday's issue of TDM: Before you get schooled by skool****

Why are we talking about this?

Because it would give you context for how you think about building your community...

Think about it...

If our primary concern once our message and leadership is validated...

Is to create and keep customers...

Then your job description as you build your practice using the Community Mastery Method is simply to:

Think:

Think through the problems of your people and create solutions to the challenges that they face as they follow you to the future that you've promised.

Tell:

Tell the collective stories that drive home the values and beliefs that support your frameworks and...

Create a buying environment where your people invest in themselves through your products and services without you needing to sell them anything...

Transform:

Help your people transform themselves through effective implementations of your solutions and models of thinking.

That's what you do as a TribeMaster™

(A TribeMaster™ is a committed practitioner of the Community Mastery Method™)

I'll unpack this later...

I just wanted to give further context to the conversation I'm about to have with you.

Here's another important thought:

Don't build a practice (or business). Build a movement (a community of clients and customers who have bought into the future that you are promising) and the movement will build, grow and scale the practice (or business). - CTM

#pause

Think about that for a moment...

#letscontinue

And with that out there...

Let's dig into the 10 shifts I'm encouraging us all to make...

SHIFT 1: It's not about transactions, it's about relationships

If I got a $100 for every time I said this, I'd probably be sitting pretty on a good chunk of spare change by now...

Always prioritize your relationship with your people over the money you want to make from them.

That relationship, when built well is worth more than whatever amount of money you're thinking of getting right now.

In 2015...

Edward who is pretty much now my partner...

Took me up on a pay-what-you-want offer I made for my ActionPlan Consultation.

The only challenge then was Edward only had N500 and it wasn't N500 cash...

It was N500 call credit...

I accepted it...because I'm cool like that

Only to receive it and find that it wasn't even the right one.

#sigh

I did the consultation and by the end of it...

With some coaching he'd made N120,000...

More money than he'd ever made in a single transaction.

It wasn't magic.

We all have unfair advantages that we never actually take advantage of...

Most of the time all I really do is point it out.

Anyways...

So instantly he said he'd want to be a part of the Platinum Program...

(The Platinum Program morphed into what is known today as Expert Business School)

And put his freshly minted N120,000 up as a down payment...

About a year later...

He quit his job...

Married his sweetheart who he'd been loving on credit for 4 years...

Fast forward to today...

Edward is worth more financially than I am...

Makes more money than I do monthly...

But here's the thing...

He's so bought into the Community Mastery Method™...

That as long as I don't mess up the relationship...

I'm his official cornerman for life.

Over the last 7 years...

Edward has willingly and happily opened more doors for me than I care to remember at this very moment.

One day he introduced me to a rather influential business man from South Africa who was thinking of writing a book...

And Edward had somehow persuaded him that he could do something more than just write a book and speak...

So I zipped over to see him (He was in Lagos at the time)..

I ended up recommending he work with someone else as I didn't think I'd be a good fit for him...

But I sat with him and mapped out an actionplan at no cost so he'd have a road map to work with...

Helped him get rid of a bad smoking habit..

And a weird addiction to Coca-Cola...

As he drove me back home...

Edward asked why I did what I did...

As far as he was concerned, the actionplan was easy money and I could have snagged a very rich man as a client...

AKA...

Bragging rights!

I told him I'm willing to lose money on the front end, primarily because if I build the relationship right from the beginning...

I'll make back whatever I lost many times over.

Besides...

Money doesn't always have to change hands in order for me to be a decent human being.

Most people are so focused on what they can get now that they forget the long term value of a great relationship.

Edward smiled and then said

"so while the rest of use are playing draught, you are playing chess abi?

Anyways...

A year later our business man friend reaches out and invites me to come do some work with his company...

The fee?

$55,000 plus travel, feeding, accommodation and expenses.

It's never about the transaction. It's always about the relationship.

That's it for today...

Looks like I got a bit carried away.

So tomorrow...

I'll continue with the rest of the 9 shifts...

Till then

Get out of your own way and play a bigger game than you've ever played before.

CTM