They did employee benefits. I’m doing like consumer frigging coupons. So but they, they wanted to sue the crap out of me, but there was like nothing I could do. So I ended up having to take the site down. Took everything down.
And with me being optimistic, I printed ten thousand cards. So I ended up giving them to churches. I’m like, screw it. I’ll take this risk. I don’t care. I gave them to churches. I want people to use these things.
You know, I said I was going to get foot traffic in these businesses. I’m going to do it. So I was giving the cards away.
And I asked the business owner, or actually the attorney and said, how on earth, and why are you even wasting your time on this? Why are you coming after me like, how the heck did they even know who the heck I was?
And it was because I ranked number one nationally on the first page of Google for basically their name and their keyword and I was taking all the traffic. And what was crazy is after I figured that out, I tried to just, if I could have only just gotten off that first page. But I couldn’t.
Jack:You’re the only guy I know that a Google slap is because you can’t get your site off the first page of Google.
Nick:(laughter) It was unbelievable. I literally was like, can’t I just get off the first page of Google and then I keep my site? You know what I mean? And they’re like, it didn’t work that way. And so Google’s algorithm, for whatever reason, and you know, this was quite a few years back. It was not sophisticated.
It saw so many unique IP addresses from all over the place from these commercials, it perceived me to be relevant. It put me number one and bumped them out. They said, who’s this competitor? We need to squash him like a cockroach. And they came after me.
And it was, from that experience, it’s one of these things. It was so devastating. Everyone, friends, family, everyone was like, just imagine. You know, my brother’s got this amazing corporate job. Amazing lifestyle. Works from home. His wife doesn’t have to work. Beautiful kids. He does everything right.
And here I am. The black sheep and it’s like your friends and family look at you and it’s like, well, isn’t it time to just get a job? This is one of these situations, like you need to get a job. Just pack it in, you know?
And I looked at it and I was like, no. Absolutely not. This is the time where I’m going to get up even stronger and you know what? This is, my aha moment from this is not only just following my gut and how you should follow your gut, too. Being very careful whose advice you take.
But it’s also my aha moment is that I am going to make it my mission to figure out how to market online and how to target in a way and specialize in online marketing that earns a profit. Because it is so disgusting to me that people can take someone’ s money and just grossly lose it and that’s normal. And that’s marketing.
And in 2008, that was normal. People were throwing money at stuff and it was not working nor getting any results. And my mantra became learning Facebook marketing, becoming a Facebook marketing expert. And when I worked with clients, I would guarantee that I would earn them profits. And if I didn’t, they wouldn’t pay me for my time.
And that right there blew my whole business up because my story, which everyone has a story. Whether yours is like mine or yours is a struggle or whatever. But it’s your story. Your biggest challenge. Whether it’s from your childhood or your biggest challenge from the moment in your life, oftentimes, can be your biggest blessing.
And when you look at it in that frame of mind, nothing can ever stop you. I took my biggest challenge. Turned it into my biggest opportunity. Became a Facebook marketing expert. When nobody knew what the heck they were talking about.
Shoot! I wasn’t even on Facebook. My girlfriend at the time said, Nick, are you nuts? You don’t even have a Facebook personal profile. And you’re going to be a Facebook marketing expert? And I’m like, baby, I’m going to figure this thing out. I’m going to buy a couple of courses. And she’s like, oh, great, more debt. And I’m like, I’m going to buy a couple of courses and I’m going to figure it out.
Because, you know what? No one else knows how to do this either. So someone’s got to figure it out. And I modeled Mari Smith. Got off the ground running. And the rest is history. That was the start of the rise. That’s when everything started clicking and coming together.
Jack:I’m just thinking that in an alternate universe, you could have made the decision to make it your mission to figure out how to help people get off of the front page of Google. Which probably wouldn’t have been the best career move, right?
That you thought, I see a problem that needs solving. How do you get, how to get people off of Google.
Nick:Oh, my God.
Jack:Yeah, luckily, you took the Facebook route.
Now, I actually read a post of yours a while back that really struck me. You talk about, it was, I guess, during this time, you ran into that fifty-thousand dollars in debt. You had all these, you know, the financial pressures. And I think you had an attorney that was trying to get you to file bankruptcy.
