Making Something From Nothing: Zack “ROI” Williams Of ROI Marketing On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
How to create my “Power List”
How to manage my time
The power of Networking
How to BRAND myself
The importance of “Your Mission”
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Zack “ROI” Williams.
Zack “ROI” Williams is a business owner who has dedicated his career to helping other business owners achieve their goals through sales and marketing consulting. Leaving behind working for Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies for 13+ years, to bring his expertise to the masses. Zack has taken many small and medium sized business, as well as startup companies alike through his “ROI” programs, and produced tens of millions of dollars for these organizations. Zack “ROI” Williams is confident that he can teach anyone how to become a top performer so long they follow his “ROI” program, and have the heart and passion to better themselves.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
From an early age I have seen the power of having a strong work ethic, and putting your time to use when you don’t necessarily want to. Remember growing up when we actually used to play outside? Seems like a distant memory now, but there once was a time when kids would go outside and ride their bikes for hours on end, play basketball several coves over, or even play hide and go seek throughout the whole neighborhood… That was me… I was that kid. I loved spending time with friends and socializing. One day I had to make a choice though. I needed to start allocating some of my time to profit producing activities. I still enjoyed being outside, I still enjoyed being physically active… but what was a 14 year old boy supposed to do? I decided I was going to be the neighborhood yard kid. So, with the help of my dad, I printed out some little flyers, $20 to cut, edge, and bag your yard, one time special. I was going to cut anyone’s yard who would let me, for $20 for a chance to get my foot in the door and start the conversation… Now ambitious as I may be, let’s just say there were a few houses I may have “forgot” to leave this coupon on their door. The yards were just absolutely too massive, or they were the scary woman on the corner! However, I walked the neighborhood and left these coupons on the doors or in mailboxes of every house that I could walk to with a push mower, weed-eater, and gas can. I can’t tell you how many houses exactly took me up on this one time offer, but it was A LOT. However as stated on the coupon, if they liked what I did, we would discuss moving forward what the price would be. Now, I am sure some, ok a lot, of people just enjoyed their $20 one time cut, but I did end up with 22 paying customers! So here I am, at 14 years old with a semi business. I had 22 yards that I was to maintain for $40 each, twice monthly. I alternated by 22 yards, and would do 11 one week, and the remaining 11 the following week… only to repeat that cycle over again for the second half of the month. Simple math tells us that this was $440 a week to work an average of 11 hours worth of work… To say that this opened my eyes to the possibilities of what a little work ethic and time management could provide, would be a massive understatement… This is where it ALL began!
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
The best life lesson I believe I was ever taught comes straight from the Bible itself. “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” This lesson hits most people differently depending on the context it is used it, but I believe we all understand it to it’s core. For me, I understood the lesson it taught in the value of knowledge. I HATE having to ask other people for things if it’s something I can and need to understand. I realized that to be GREAT at something, I had to know it at its core. This helped me, at an early age, learn that the value was not getting a task done, but being able to replicate that process over and over again, but in order to do that, you had to know how. Much like… you guessed it… taking your ideas to launch… If I market someone’s business I can feed them. If I can teach them how to market their business, I can feed them for a lifetime.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Andy Frisella is someone I look up to significantly in this world, and I owe a lot of my success to his hardcore business motivation and fundamental teachings. One of the biggest things we as business owners fail on, is the simple stuff….. like just doing the work. He produced a checklist journal called “The Power List” which is made up of daily critical tasks. It’s a simple concept, but it’s all about structuring your day to the core, and managing your time appropriately for maximum results. It’s nothing earth shattering, it just simply works. He also has a podcast episode that speaks on the importance of these fundamentals, and it’s a must listen. This single handedly has positioned my business in a whole new lane since applying these teachings.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
Most of the critical lessons I have learned in both corporate America as well as the entrepreneurial world is action. Something so basic may seem laughable, but as the question stated, there is no shortage of good information in this world. Especially now… You can find the answer to anything. Most of the time opposing answers too, that when explained, both make sense to some degree. You can consume all the information you want, but if you don’t apply it, it’s for nothing. I can’t tell you how many business conferences I have been to, spoken at, or heard about, where your serial learners go, take lot’s of notes, leave, and never apply what they learned. It’s like a sponge that soaks up all the water but then never lets it out. What is the use? This isn’t just small and medium sized business owners either, I have seen this in multibillion dollar organizations when I have worked there. We will hold board meetings, and sit around for hours discussing great ideas, and once we have discussed 100 different ways to go, nothing get’s accomplished. We would have been more efficient with a 15 minute meeting where one idea gets mentioned and fleshed out, and then we left to go put it into action. Maybe that’s you? This also isn’t the first time you have heard this, and sure won’t be the last… There will be one time you hear this, and a light switch goes off, and you do it. Is that you? Maybe you should stop reading this article now, and go start that one thing that you know in the back of your head you have been putting off… I say this when speaking all the time. If you ever hear me speak, and you get a piece of useable information that you could implement in your business or life immediately … LEAVE… GO DO IT…. NOW!.. I don’t care about how many people are sitting in the audience. I don’t care how many views I have on a LIVE… I don’t care about those vanity metrics. What I care about is changing lives. This is for you not me… so let’s help you make that life altering pivot… and start putting in the work NOW!
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Someone has thought of your idea before. There are no new ideas. “Good artists Great artists steal.” — Picasso. Now obviously this is slightly out of context, and I don’t recommend people stealing in the criminal aspect.. however, there are very few and far between ideas that are not around. That being said too, when you have competition, that just means that there is a demand for your product or service. So at least we know people will exchange money for it. So that is a good thing. Now we just need to find a way to make it more attractive. I could sit here all day and give you book references on this topic, but one that stands out is “The Purple Cow” by Seth Godin. You need to be able to produce something that stands out. Much like a purple cow would. Researching your idea would be looking at your competition closely. What are they doing , what are they not doing, what are they doing well, what could they be doing better? I break down competitors into what I call “Direct Competitors”, and “Global Competitors”. The direct competitors are they ones that you would be competing with in your market. The global competitors are the Fortune 500 versions of your company. The ones you are striving to be like. You should perform a SWOT Analysis on all of them. This shows us what their Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats are. You want to pay attention to the Strengths and Opportunities of the global competitors to see what ideas you can “steal” from them to apply to your business. After all they are spending billions of dollars you don’t have to figure this out. When it comes time to look at your direct competitors, we want to look at their Weaknesses and Threats, and find a way to make those parts of your business AMAZING. This will help you create some market separation and really make your organization the obvious choice when a prospect is comparing who to do business with.
*EDITOR NOTE* (I have a free ebook that teaches people how to do this if you want to add it as an asset to this. If not, no worries at all. I am not looking for a plug, but if you think it will add value to the article, it can be found at www.roiebook.com)
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
The first thing I recommend when coming up with an “idea” is to write it down. An idea is just an idea until you write it down, then it’s a goal. However a goal is still just a goal, until you write out action steps on how you are going to achieve that goal. Once you write down the action steps on achieving your goal you then HAVE TO DO THE WORK! Remember when I was talking earlier about having to do the work. Talking about work ethic. Yeah, it’s because it really matters. However, once you start writing down how to actually accomplish your “dreams”, you will need to start somewhere. I HIGHLY recommend focusing on your company name. When I start up a new brand I want to make sure that the name is going to be available across every platform. Continuity is KEY. So I will do a Trademark search on USPTO.GOV website, I also search for the direct URL name on GODADDY.COM , (and make sure the .com is available. NOT .org , .net, .tv or any other subdomain. YOU WANT THE .COM), I check all social sites. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram , TikTok, YouTube and anything else that’s out at the time you are reading this article. You want to make sure you acquire all of these at the same time so no one else can buy them out from under you, but also so that you are very easily searchable and people can find you even after one brief interaction. Side Note… That also means that your brand name needs to make sense, be easy to remember, and is straight to the point. After you have found a name that isn’t trademarked, and is available across all platforms you need to lock it down. Any attorney can help you start your articles of incorporation and handle your trademark, or you can use services like the one I use, LEGALZOOM.COM. You will want to go and start your business there, but I also recommend creating a trademark as well. Your LLC or whatever business type you choose will protect your business name on a state wide basis, but the trademark will protect your brand name nationally. I then would get your URL Domain purchased, even if you aren’t creating a website just yet, but to make sure it’s yours. Once you do that I would lock down all of your social media accounts, again even if you aren’t going to use them now, or even think you will. Just knowing you have them if you ever want to expand into that market is HUGE. The next step I would do is to hire a coach. Get a business coach that is in the field that you are in, and in a position you want to be in. Coaches can be expensive, so I am not recommending you blow your budget from the get go, so even if it’s just following them on social media, listening to their podcasts, maybe it’s attending an event they are speaking at. Coaches and your circle of influence is massive contributors to your success. Your NETWORK is your NET WORTH. You will get further along in life when you are surrounded by winners and successful people. Pay attention to them, ask questions, learn from them. Where do they source their products? How do they increase their margins? Where do they find their products? How do they do their own research? How do they hire employees? What books are they reading? What mastermind groups are they in? This is a way to skip years of heartache, and millions of dollars in bad decision making. Everything is industry specific, so tools, information, and networks change drastically, but there are pioneers that have done it before, and you can skip most of the mistakes they made by simply paying attention. Get involved. Find ways to add value to people’s lives that could potentially provide value to yours. Make yourself known as someone who gives, and not someone who takes. Your relationships and your network will take you much further than anything else in this life.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?
The Top 5 Things I wish someone had told me when I first started would be:
- How to create my “Power List”
- How to manage my time
- The power of Networking
- How to BRAND myself
- The importance of “Your Mission”
The “Power List” by Andy Frisella is a series of Critical Tasks that are performed every day to make sure you aren’t just wasting time being busy. We spend so much time trying to be busy that we actually don’t ever accomplish anything that moves the needle. Another book reference that I will mention is “The 4 -Hour Work Week” by Timothy Ferriss. This book I only want to briefly mention as I don’t want you to get caught up in attempting to have a 4-Hour work week just starting off. However the emphasis on maximizing your time is insanely valuable. This leads me into the next topic I wish I had learned earlier which was Time Management. This is single handedly one of the hardest things to learn as a new business owner. It can be incredibly difficult to know what is the most important task, and what gravity it will have on the success of your business. Going back to the importance of “The Power List” and how important clearly defining and clarifying what your critical tasks are and making sure they are completed each day are mandatory to your success. Setting clear paths to your action steps as I stated previously are how you get to make sure that you can create profit producing activities on a daily basis for your company. This also will allow you to set aside dedicated time to creating relationships that will lead to massive informational gains, and revenue in the future. The power of networking is the 3rd thing that I should have implemented sooner than I did, so if you are reading this and haven’t started, NOW is the time. If you start focusing a portion of your time to growing your circle of influence, you will take larger steps along your journey than you ever anticipated. You will surround yourself that have gone down the same path you are, and have paved the way. You will start to make a name for yourself in the industry, and branding your company as the next thing to look out for. Branding is the next thing that I should have implemented sooner than I did, so listen to me when I tell you that now is your time. Finding a way to put yourself out there and create that authority figure will help produce opportunities for you that you never thought imaginable. Lastly, getting serious about your mission will lead you down a path that you can hold your head high on, and stay focused. When you are fully aware of what you are doing and why you are doing it, the journey comes with less resistance. You will be able to make decisions quicker, achieve higher rewards, and feel better about accomplishing your goals.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
Market research is key to ensuring that you are not going to waste a lot of time and resources chasing a dead end. People spend money usually to save money, to make money, or to save time. People also spend the most money in the areas of Health, Wealth and Relationships. These are where I would focus a majority of my time ensuring that my product is marketable in any or as many of these categories as possible. I then would see what are the similar products out there that do all or some of what mine would and should do. I would read reviews. What do people like about these products, and what do they not like? I would then create a SWOT analysis on them to see how your product can stand out in the marketplace. Research is absolutely key and is arguably the most important part of creating your own products, so spend some time on it. If you rush into this without finding a way to create your “Purple Cow” you will be in a constant race to the bottom (cheapest priced product). Believe me when I tell you that this is not a place you want to be. Another book reference is “$100M Offers” by Alex Hormozi. This book will teach you how to do what I am discussing here. You have to create an offer so good that people feel stupid not buying it. This starts with the product you want to sell. This starts with the research before you make a product to sell. You have to know what your end goal is in order to get there.
*EDITOR NOTE* (I have a free ebook that teaches people how to do this if you want to add it as an asset to this. If not, no worries at all. I am not looking for a plug, but if you think it will add value to the article, it can be found at www.roiebook.com)
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
Hiring an invention development consultant is a risky world to be in. As I think these are EXTREMELY valuable if you plan on inventing a product, they can be expensive. Also, as you know that you get what you pay for….. There are cheaper alternatives out there, but I have heard horror stories of people going with these type of “companies” (loose term), and getting their ideas stolen from them because they didn’t have NDAs (non disclosure agreements) in place. This brings me back to several of my points, research, and your network. If you start finding your industry leaders, and joining their networks, you will be able to find trustworthy sources and recommendations on invention development consultants. You can also attempt this path on your own, it’s cheaper that’s for sure, however now you are trading out money for your time, your most valuable resource. What is your time worth?
*EDITOR NOTE* people reading this article that need to be pointed in the right direction here for what networks to start joining based on their industry are more than welcome to reach out to me on any of my social sites @zackroiwilliams and I will point them in the best direction.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
One of the most valuable mistakes I learned as a young entrepreneur was not taking investments or partners. I didn’t realize the power of having strategic partnerships, or operational capital. I thought to be a good business owner you had to do everything yourself without handouts from anyone. BOYYYYY was I wrong. This ended up being a very costly mistake, or should I say lesson, for me to learn. I call it a lesson because now I don’t repeat that same mistake. There is obviously right and wrong investments and partnerships to take, which I have made bad decisions there too, but they again are lessons. You can absolutely build any business by bootstrapping and putting in the work. However there is a lot of room for rapid growth when you start to consider two heads may in fact be better than one, and with cash reserves you can scale your business faster, getting you to a point where you can work more ON your business instead of IN your business. The short answer is you can do both. Both have their risks, and both have their rewards. I just simply want people to know that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, and it’s up to you to know which shots are more educated shots you should shoot, and this takes me back to what seems to be the theme here, and that is RESEARCH !
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I left corporate America making $140,000 a year with amazing perks and benefits to offer my knowledge and skills to those who may not have had access to it any other way. My mission is to help educate and equip as many people as I can in business. Who am I to not listen to my own advice. Here I have been preaching that your network is your networth, and here I am trying to teach you. I want to educate you as much as I can so that you can bring value to my network. It is inevitable that if you have read this far that you have gotten something out of this, and therefore want to join my network by connecting with me on social medial, come to one of my speaking engagements, download my free ebook, become a client, or connect some other way. However I truly believe that you are the average of the 5 people you spend your time with, and you are only as strong as the weakest link, so I am trying to bring everyone up with me. The more people that are around me, and the more educated and successful we all are, than the more chances we have at taking off. Again, as I stated before, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. This is my attempt at taking a shot with you, by putting my all into this article so that you get something out of this, and in turn it will come back around in a positive light to me. Wether that is business, wether that’s relationships, wether that’s connections, wether that’s a thank you… it will all be worth it to me if this helps just one person!
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
My movement is to create a network of likeminded individuals who bring more value to the table than take away. If we have hundreds of thousands of successful people meeting in one place offering up the best information they have and making connections for people, we will all become successful. The power of your network is extremely important, and should be something you work on every day. In business they say if you aren’t growing, you are dying. This is something I believe to my core, and therefore want to help as many people grow on a daily basis as I can. If we can all get 1% better each and every day, we can change the entire trajectory of our life and our families lives. (a reference from “Atomic Habits” by James Clear) This is the true reason we became business owners in the first place, so let’s make the most of it, and we will get more done quicker if we work together.
*EDITOR NOTE* I have a Facebook group that I have as a community just for this. If you would like the link I would be more than happy to provide it.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Andy Frisella is someone that I look up to on a massive scale. Not only do I look up to him, but I owe all of my current success (for what it is at this point) and all of my future success to the teachings he has put in place. He was my light switch that went off that caused me to start implementing things into my life instead of just “soaking up the information.” There are 2 pivotal moments in my life and business. “75 Hard” , and “The Power List” both are his programs and both have been monumental to where I am today, and where I am going. To personally thank him for that would be the upmost honor!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
