SPEAKER_00 0:00

There is no shortcut to success, but if there was one, it would be relationships.

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Well, wait a second. How am I ever gonna get in the things that I need if I'm always focused on giving?

SPEAKER_00 0:10

But the truth is, is like I'm very intentional while acquiring relationships through strategy. Be the type of person that this person wants to be friends with. Do you want to be right or do you want to be rich? Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?

SPEAKER_01 0:27

What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Partner and Profit Podcast. I'm your host, Grant Wise, and I'm pumped for our guest today, somebody I've admired for a very long time, gotten to work with in numerous capacities, gotten to speak for, and uh just admired what he has built in a lot of different lanes. Mr. Sam Karamian, hopefully I said that right.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

What's going on, Grant? Thanks for having me on the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Yeah, man. Yeah, thanks for being here. So diving right into it. For anybody that maybe doesn't know who you are, give us a little bit of the backstory. How'd you get to where you are today?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Yeah, uh happy to. So again, name is Sam Karamian. Uh I've been an entrepreneur pretty much all my life. Didn't go to college and got into selling mortgages very early on. Back then we were selling 125% loan-to-value second mortgages. Uh and that was uh right before the market crash of 2007-2008, and then transitioned into real estate, uh, did some investing, and then ultimately uh started a brokerage. Uh at the time there was really no, there was, but no prominent 100% flat fee models in our area. Uh, so we kind of went all in on a company called Big Block Realty and managed to grow that pretty rapidly, ended up on the Inc. 500 list, 26 fastest growing company on our third year, and then stayed on that list, number 31, 33, 56, on the list for eight years, and uh got to you know over almost 1,500 agents and over 30 billion in sales, and you know, we started expanding and getting into ancillary services, uh, like owning Mortgage and Escrow and uh a bunch of different ancillary companies. And then about a year ago, we met Robert Palmer with a company called LPT and decided it was the best move for our agents and for ourselves to do a partnership with them and joined over there and moved everybody over uh now as a team at LPT, number one largest team in California and number three largest team in the nation per real trends. Over the course of time, I've built some strong relationships that have helped me get into different verticals. Like, you know, I I own uh auto repair chains and uh software companies and kind of everything in between.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

That's awesome. I um I've definitely, like I said, I've followed you guys for a long time, followed the success. Obviously, we're we've got mutual friends all over the place, but you you've done some deals with some pretty big people. Do you mind elaborating on that just a little bit? Just to give everybody a little bit of context.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

I'm a student more than anything, right? So I I've always believed and still believe that there is no shortcut to success. But if there was one, it would be relationships and it would be the environment you put yourself in. So, you know, while all my friends were in college, I was in masterminds, I was hiring coaches, I was, you know, I was a seminar junkie, as some would say. And my goal was always the same, regardless of the room I went into, which was I want to be the type of person in the room that the person that's running it starts to notice me, like me, love me, and eventually want to work with me. And we can walk through like some of my strategies behind that. So, you know, I just started doing that from the very beginning with Mike Ferry, all the way to uh, you know, one of the biggest partnerships that that had a great impact on my life uh is Roland Fraser. Many of you probably heard of him, or at least Ryan Dice. Uh, they they own Digital Marketer and the Scalable Company, their big event, Traffic Conversion Summit, which they sold a few years ago to uh Blackstone Company. I joined their high-ticket mastermind called War Room and did the same thing. I went in there with the number one goal of eventually becoming partners with these guys. And then fast forward to today, Roland is a business partner in our real estate holding or partners together on several other businesses like Mango Automotive and uh software companies and some seminar businesses. So, you know, from people like Roland to Greg Reed, uh, who's the kind of like the new Napoleon Hill appointed by the Napoleon Hill Foundation, uh, all the way to doing deals with people like Damon John from Shark Tank and kind of everything in between. And it's always just been the same thought process. Let me step in here and and be the person that provides them value. Where a lot of times, Grant, and you see this, when you're the person in the front of the room, everyone's coming to you to to like extrapolate, to pull from. Uh, and always just taking the different positions, like, how can I add value to them?

SPEAKER_01 5:47

I love it. It's been a constant theme in a lot of my conversations, is just focus on giving, focus on contribution. How can you how can you improve somebody else's life? And typically that has a very reciprocal effect. But I definitely want to go back to what you said, your process of getting them to like you, to love you, and and on and on. Kind of walk us through that. What's your strategy? How do you attack that?

SPEAKER_00 6:09

It's not, let me say another way, it's very custom fit per the person, right? So I remember the first the first time that I was like, okay, I'm on to something, was this is even before big block. Uh, Greg Reed, I I met him through some different events, and the Napoleon Hill Foundation wrote, uh gave him like this letter of recommendation to go write the new Think and Grow Rich, which was called Three Feet from Gold. He was launching the book, and he had uh like little mini events, tours that he was putting together to get the word out. And he didn't ask me to, but I was like, man, I know a lot of people. I'm I'm just gonna start promoting his events. And then I called him and I said, Hey, why don't why don't I put one together for you in San Diego? Like, let's let's get 100 people in the room so you can come speak. The book launched and then went and got him a plaque. And the plaque had a gold shovel on it and with an inscription on the bottom that said, Thank you for being an inspiration to all of us that are just three feet from gold. Once I gave that to him, like I all I did was enter a pattern, right? I I asked myself, what's important to Greg or to Roland or to whoever it may be? What's important to them? And what resources do I have to support that agenda? So with Greg, it was getting the word out for his book, and we leaned into putting events on for him. And then also, like, let's not forget that a lot of times the people at the front of the room, like, they're always being asked for things. So to step out and interrupt the pattern and gift them something, you have just separated yourself from almost everybody else that they talk with, right? Yeah. So, you know, I did a video about this years ago saying I buy my friends, and it was, you know, half the people hated it, half the people got it. But the truth is, is like I'm very intentional about acquiring relationships through strategy, you know, and it worked like a charm. Greg, you know, he was at my wedding and speaks at all my events, and you know, so that was kind of the first one. And then the same thing with Roland. Like when I joined the mastermind, I was one of the small fish. Started to just be very active in the group. I knew that he was into wine, so I started getting him some gifts here and there. And then I asked him to come speak at some of my events so I could get him more exposure. Um, so it's it's always been kind of like the same thing is like, what is selfishly important to the person that you want to build a relationship with? What is their selfish goals? And then how can you support in them like achieving more of that? And then I think gifts are always a nice way to kind of like separate yourself from the noise. And then the last thing is I mean, there's a lot more here, and I'm happy to go deeper, but what has always rung in my head is be the type of person, like this is me talking to myself, be the type of person that this person wants to be friends with. And when you look through that lens, you start to pick up everybody has different, you know, different buttons, different motivations, different like uh internal desires and and everything. So when you look through the lens of like, how can I be the type of person that this person is going to like? This person is going to want to be around, backed by your versatility to be that person, to show up the right way, uh, I think is the foundation of it, right? Like so many times in these events, there's people that are complaining, or there's people that are just asking, and there's people that don't participate, and everything in between. So I think that if you kind of step into it with the baseline of be the type of person that that this person needs me to be, and have the versatility to show up appropriately, then you'll start to see the opportunities in which you can serve them best, gift them best, and keep following that track.

SPEAKER_01 10:43

What have you noticed to this to the person that's listening to this? Is like, man, that all sounds amazing, but like when do I get for me? Like, I I know that for a lot of people, there's a this is a mindset shift. It's like, well, wait a second, how am I ever gonna get the things that I need if I'm always focused on giving?

SPEAKER_00 10:57

It's such a good question, and uh the answer is probably something that most people aren't gonna like. But before I say it, I'm gonna say this is the challenge. Yes. But for people like me and people like Grant, it's the opportunity. I don't do all these things with a scoreboard or a timeline in which I'm gonna get reciprocated, right? Like I will just keep going if I believe and I have the conviction that this relationship is important for where I want to end up, then I just keep doing out of the kindness of my heart. And here's the thing: there's been people that I poured into and nothing came out of, and that's okay. But I believe that the karma that that creates is an unquantifiable value and benefit that will, you know, show its head somewhere else down the road. I don't think that you you should be asking yourself, man, like how long till I get something back? No. If you just stay in the position of adding value and being of service, eventually something beneficial will come from it. And it might not be with that direct person. Um, I remember with with Roland, we were already business partners uh on a couple of things, and then he started uh this new mastermind about acquisitions, buying businesses. And I I wanted in on that thing, bad. So I just started like coming to the events and speaking for free, hanging out and helping him talk to prospects. Like I acted like a staff member, like I went above and beyond for probably a year and a half. And my business partners are like, dude, like why are you doing this? Like, what are you getting for it? Eventually, maybe 18, 20 months into it, I got the call, like, hey man, I you've just been so instrumental and so powerful in the group. And would you be interested in in coming in as a partner and supporting with you know X, Y, and Z? So that was an example of just playing the long game and being the type of person that he needed me to be.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

I think it's so powerful. Like, if you can get this shift, and you know, obviously you're a man that's built a life for yourself, you've got a lot of resources now, but I think it's important for people to realize like this is also something that applies to you if you if you almost seemingly have nothing. I remember so so clearly I had a a client so many years ago, and they were in New York, they were in New Jersey, right off the just right off of uh the river from Manhattan, and they were struggling. They called me. It was like near Easter. They're like, dude, I'm not I'm not doing good. I've got so much debt, I've got this thing going on, and that thing going on. And I was like, Well, you know, what are your plans this date? And uh he was like, uh nothing. Why? I was like, I'll I'll be there. Uh uh. I'm gonna fly to I'm gonna fly to Jersey and we'll we'll figure something out. I got nothing out of that, right? Like, I I'm not getting anything out of flying to Jersey uh conceptually to to help him. He didn't pay me to go. He just was a client that was a f that became a friend, and he I knew he needed help. And so I remember we got into his office, he took us to a Yankees game the night before, but we got into his office the next morning and he was he was just freaking out from the jump, like I'm not good, this is not good, I got this debt, I got this going on, I got this going on. And I was like, Look, brother, before I'm gonna say another word to you, I've got a question. And he was like, What? I was like, Do you have 10 bucks in your pocket? And he was like, Yeah, I think so. And he pulled out ten dollars. And I was like, Do you know anybody? First person that comes to your mind that if you took them flowers right now, it would just change their entire week, their month. And he was like, What? And I was like, Do you know anybody? And he was like, Yeah, yeah, I got somebody. I was like, go to the store, get that person some flowers, take them to them, and then come back and we'll finish. And he was like, Are you serious? He's like, I don't have time for this. I was like, I won't, I'm not saying another word until you get back. Just beaming from ear to ear. And he's like, I get it. He's like, Thank you. We didn't talk about movement, we didn't talk about movement for the rest of the day. He was like, I know exactly what I need to do. And it was like, Man, that powerful shift when you think you have nothing and everything is like against you, just flipping the mindset and then starting to help somebody else changes the entire perspective. He all of a sudden could think clearly and knew exactly what he wanted to do. He ended up going and selling his company, which is what he wanted to do, and was happy, you know, headed towards some type of like early retirement. And uh I just think like, man, everybody's like, I'm like, nobody could possibly imagine the satisfaction that I got personally from being able to go spend time with him, changed his attitude, sold his company, changed his whole life. Like that for me was enough. I am certain I got taken care of somewhere else along the way. But this just creating a line of people that are focusing on giving to somebody else instead of oh whoa, it's me, oh, what's happening to me, man, it just changes the entire dynamics in everything.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

It really does. It really does. And I love that story. Uh you know, I think that there's people that are hearing this right now, and and they might be thinking, Man, I'm not Mother Teresa, like I ain't got time for all this. And and you're right. I I understand to a degree that perspective. But on the flip side, if you're not, like Grant just said, if you're not like feeling good about yourself by just serving people, then there's something else going on with you that you know really needs to be sorted out. It's giving without a scoreboard, right? Because the scoreboard is what's going to get you in your head. Like, man, I've been given, I've been given, I haven't gotten. But what you can't calculate, again, it's unquantifiable, is how that karma shows up in other places in your life. I'm fortunate enough that, you know, probably 70, 80% of the time, it's worked with the target, right? It's worked with who I wanted to end up doing deals, business, whatever with. But I know that there's other things that have happened that were just because I put good out there. And then it goes like, let's let's talk about some like practical stuff for all of us in our business. I believe that doesn't matter if you're a real estate agent, you know, a plumber, whatever, whatever it is. What you really are in the business of is customer service. And whatever service you're selling, plumbing or real estate, uh, that's the vehicle to deliver good service. So, what's my point? At Big Block, when agents would join, we would take an intake form of all the things that were important to them. So we really started to get to know them. And our team was actively on social, like watching to see if any sort of life event was happening for people. And, you know, if someone had kids, we would send them something. If someone had a death in the family, we would send them flowers, right? I remember one time one of our agents, his house ended up burning down. So we went and we got like uh some blankets and a uh like Yeti type cooler and uh all these different things to like give him some sort of comfort in that turbulent time. And and that's something that you can't pay for that sort of relationship, right? You can't create that sort of uh bond and and connection any other way. So if you think about like as a business person and as an entrepreneur that's seeking opportunity outside of your business, if you just step into being the person that is looking for ways to make someone's life better, it's sometimes as cheap as flowers, like you just said. And other times it's just you know, promoting their event or whatever it may be. So good.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Man, I feel like I could sit here and talk to you about this all day, but I want to respect your time. I uh cannot tell you how much I appreciate the masterclass you've given everybody on relationship development and just how integral it is to the to the growth of a business, but I think it's also just integral to the growth of a person. There's an abundance principle in everything that we're talking about, and you will become such a better person if you focus on doing some of this. I always like to wrap up these interviews. This last question is how can we, the listeners of the podcast, how can we partner with you? What's important to you right now? How can we help you grow what what you're working on?

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Oh, that's a great question. Thank you for asking. Uh, I'd say, you know, what's really important to me right now is I'm very heavy in the in acquisitions of all sorts. You know, anyone that's looking to sell a business or or someone that's thinking about selling a business, like I'd love to have those conversations second to that. Right now, there's just so much uncertainty and doubt and all these wars and everything that's going on. What's important to me is if we all just step into a little more empathy and a little less finger pointing, then we'll all be better for it, right? Like you have to ask yourself, do you want to be right or do you want to be rich? Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy? And those of us that want to be right are always gonna find the next thing that keeps us down, that that gets us frustrated. But those of us that, you know, we can have our opinions and we can have our differences, but like we can still support and love one another, like that sounds like a very selfless thing for me to say, but it is selfish because the more that we ripple this through, you know, society, the easier my goals become. And you know, so with everything, you know, top of mind for me that's going on in Iran right now, my family's from Iran, like, man, I I hate seeing that, and and seeing on social, like, there's people that are on both sides of it. And I'm like, what why can't we just agree that killing people is bad? Right? And and pour loving. So I'd say those are the two things. And if you uh want to shoot me a message or a follow on Instagram, uh my handle is well, you can find me on Instagram. Uh would love to help you, or also if you have any opportunities, would love to explore them.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

I love it, man. We'll make sure that we do all the ways that people can connect with you. I can't say how much I appreciate it, man. Appreciate you taking the time. Appreciate uh your closing message. As well, it's much needed in today's times for sure. Um, and we'll make sure that we do the best we can to support you and your growth. Uh, as you're talking about acquisitions, I've got some stuff on my mind as well that I'll definitely share. So I appreciate it. Uh thanks again, man.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

But wait, Grant, Grant, real quick. Yeah. What's important to you, dude? How can we support you?

SPEAKER_01 22:18

Um you know, number one way that anybody can support me is let me help you grow your business and make more money with co-marketing.com. That's that's what's the most important to me right now for sure. Love it. Thanks again, brother. Love what you're doing over there. Yeah, no, I appreciate it. I know we've talked a few times about it. It's it's definitely uh it's fun. It's definitely fun.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Beautiful. Well, thank you so much, Grant.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Yeah, yeah. Thank you, man. And thank you all for continuing to listen to the Partner Profit podcast. This was a good one. We'll see you on the next episode. Peace.