The impact of building your own Personal Brand

 

In this episode of The Progression Show Andy Audate interviews Karlton Dennis who manages one of the fastest running Accountant offices in Southern California. Karlton talks about his experience from the Brand Marketing Summit. How his overall experience has been so full of energy and not just boring facts. He talks about the importance of showing up to events and how you can take advantage by getting the best strategies that you can leverage. 

Andy shares in this podcast that when you show up physically and  when you show up powerfully, you are bound to receive an opportunity and that was what Karlton did. Karlton shared how he transitioned from being a sales person to being a tax accountant and created his own process that has given him financial freedom.His athletic mindset has contributed greatly in his business, grinding harder than the rest

Finally, Karlton shared how 70% of his business comes from making most of social media & marketing. Emphasizing that the old model strategy does not work effectively in modern times.

You will learn:

  • What you can expect in a Brand Marketing Summit
  • How you can get the best opportunities when showing up to events
  • Importance of building your personal brand in any kind of business
  • The most effective types of marketing strategies in 2020

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Transcriptions:

Andy Audate

I want to change lives. I want to show people how to progress and their money. I want to show people how to progress their mindset. I want to show people how to progress in their brand so that way they can take care of their family, take care of their finances and experience freedom.

All right. So today we have my man karlton dennis man, who we just finished wrapping up the brand marketing summit. And today I'm going to do a deep dive to get into the brain of a young, black, hungry entrepreneur, taking it to the next level. I'm so excited to have Karlton dentists. He runs karlton dennis, this man right here literally is running the fastest grown tax accountant office in Southern California. And I'm excited to have him on the progressive show. Welcome karlton.

Karlton Dennis

excited to be here, man. Excited to be here. Thank you for having me. 

Andy Audate

Hey Karlton. So look, we just, you know, I want to, I have to bring this up, man. We just wrapped up the brand marketing summit. It was an event that I held here in los angeles.Teaching entrepreneurs, how to scale their marketing and scale that businessman. What was your overall experience? In that event. 

Karlton Dennis

Yeah. My overall experience was energy. I feel like there was so much energy in the room. These entrepreneurs were in there to try to learn different tricks and secrets on how they can grow their business and automate systems and process.But it really required a lot of energy for them to be able to get that knowledge and leverage that value to be able to apply it. And so one thing that you did was she brought in the music, you had them getting out of their chairs. It wasn't just you hitting them with a bunch of facts, but you also sharing stories with them.And that contributed to the experience that they had. 

Andy Audate

And how important is it to go to these types of events? You know, you showed up and I recognized that you showed up to speak, but I also see that you're showing up to advancing your networking. How important is success for you to show up to these types of events?

Karlton Dennis

You have to go to events. You have to put yourself in the environment. Because when you put yourself in the environment, you're surrounding yourself with other people who are trying to accomplish some of the same things as you. And so they may have tips or tricks that you just don't have that you can leverage once you establish a relationship with them.Although I was at the event to give a presentation, I actually connected with another speaker her name was naus and she was just speaking to me about some of the things that she's doing with wfg and you know, her as an attorney and the types of clients and estate planning that she's doing. And I was able to get some tips and tricks from her and might even use her as a reference in the future.

So when you go to these events, it's very important that you connect with people that you introduce yourself to people, because you're not just there to learn something. You're there to connect with people. 

Andy Audate

Yeah. A hundred percent. You know, I recognize that the opportunity is in the short run, that when you show up.Physically and so powerfully, you're bound to receive an opportunity. And you did just that. So Karlton, you know, brings you back to prior to you doing taxes and working with clients. Well, you know, I see that you're an athlete and share with me that experience. And how does that athletic mindset have to do with, what does that athletic mindset have to do with business?

Karlton Dennis

Yeah. So I'm just a little background on myself. I'm a retired football athlete. I played football my entire life was blessed enough to be able to get a full scholarship, to go play at Cal poly San Luis Obispo and I've always been the person that made my name for myself in the weight room. I was a little bit of an undersized athlete so I had to get up early to get into the weight room earlier than some kids to work out longer than them, because my advantage was my strength and my speed.I really didn't have a lot of the size. and so. Having that mentality of getting up earlier and grinding a little bit harder than some of the other people that were born with some of those characteristics and talent was how I was able to shape myself into the entrepreneur that you see here today.Who's a tax accountant. And when I was able to graduate Cal poly, I had the opportunity to work for Gallo wine company in a career in sales. And I learned a lot of sales skills that I was able to. Yeah. Yeah. I worked for a gala wine company. I didn't tell you about that. 

Andy Audate

Gallo wine. 

Karlton Dennis

Yeah. Gallo wine company.Right. When I graduated college, I worked for a gala wine company, which is a family owned business. And when I joined the company, what was that? 

Andy Audate

Alcohol wine. Alcohol? 

Karlton Dennis

Yes. Alcohol. Yeah, alcohol like spirits, beer, different things like that wine.so when I worked for Gallo wine company I noticed that they had really good sales training.And so I adopted their sales training process. I learned everything that they had to teach me. And I started applying it as a sales rep for them. I became very successful and they wanted to promote me to become a manager, but I had a kind of  moment when I was like, you know what? I'm working for a family owned company.

My mother, who has been running a tax and accounting firm for 20 years, doesn't have the sales team. What if I bring some of my sales skills and create a sales team inside of her firm. And so that's what I did. So five years ago, I moved over from the yellow wine company, each side, my mother's firm. I created my own systems and process and created my own products and services to sell within her firm and now we are, you know, running a seven figure firm here  you know, doing quite well in our sales department. So that was kinda my transition from becoming an athlete to becoming a salesperson. To transitioning to becoming a tax accountant and where my passion really started for tax strategy was, um, when I was at the age of 24.And when I was at the age of 24, looking at tax returns for the first time I ran across this tax return of this retired 75 year olds. And when I was reading through his tax returns, I noticed that he had multiple businesses. He had multiple real estate. And after adding back the depreciation and factoring of these expenses, he was doing about 200,000 of just straight cash flow a month.And after looking at his taxes, he was barely paying. Anything, are you sharing that? If you've got profit? Yeah. His net profit, his net profit was 200 grand a month. Okay. And so you know, after looking at his tax returns and looking to see where his income from, I realized that real estate is a very powerful vehicle to grow your wealth and to avoid taxes at the same time as well as business.

And so I started doing tax planning for real estate investors and business owners. 

Andy Audate

Gotcha. So, you go from doing sales for this wine and wine beverage company, and he transitioned into working with your mom and her organization. 

Karlton Dennis

Right. 

Andy Audate

And then at 24, you see someone's someone's tax return and you're like, Oh, shoot.This is the capital that type of money that this guy's making, man, I'm interested. You go in and you go in heavy all in real estate. 

Karlton Dennis

I started swimming in the Kool Aid. Andy, like when I saw those tax returns, it was a turning point for me. It showed me that I don't need to just continue to work for a paycheck.I can work and put my money inside something a vehicle that's going to pay me for the rest of my life. And that's what looking at those tax returns did for me it gave me peace of mind and it gave me a goal to strive for. 

Andy Audate

So let's talk about where you are right now. So right now you're working in karlton dennis and associates which is a tax re tax accountant offers, correct?

Karlton Dennis

Correct. 

Andy Audate

And you're essentially one of the one of the one of the people that's running the organization. 

Karlton Dennis

That's correct. 

Andy Audate

And in running the organization, how important has it been for you to market yourself? How important has it been for you to build a personal brand outside of karlton dennis and outside of taxes?

Karlton Dennis

It's everything because at the end of the day, you know, word of mouth only goes so far in the tax and accounting field. And when you're a tax strategist, one of the important things is for people to understand what you're very passionate about. We're very passionate about helping business owners and real estate investors avoid taxes.So in order for us to get more business owners and real estate investors, We got to market ourselves as the real estate firm, as the business owner firms, and we can help those clients. And so being on outlets, such as Instagram, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, making sure our contents on YouTube is so important because right now, as a 20, 20, 70% of our business comes from social media and marketing. 

Andy Audate

70% of our business that's a lot of money man.Yeah. Coming from this stream of the, of the online platform. Now let's look at your accounts. Let's look at your counterparts in your industry. What are, what are they doing? Like, let's talk about the, so your, that was two years ago. That experience, when we were 24, cause now you're 26 now. And so you like myself are young, a young, hot rising entrepreneur.They're with me, other people who are in your industry, what they're doing. So I want to know what the 45 year old tax accountant is like. What they're doing for their marketing. What's the standard norm for your industry in marketing? 

Karlton Dennis

Yeah. So the standard norm in our industry for marketing is sending out little news cards or little flyers to your mailbox, letting you know, Hey, I'm a tax accountant.If you're ready, I'd be happy to help you file your tax returns. That is the old model. And then if you happen to get lucky enough to get someone's email, you're going to send them an email probably in the month of December, letting them know about all of your different rates. So they might give you a phone call in January, February, March before the tax filing deadline.But we know as experienced tax accounts, that's the wrong time to do marketing should be done every single day, 365 days out of the year. And what type of marketing should be done should be webinars, video training, because clients want social proof on how you're helping their clients. So that way it's easier for them to make a decision on working with you.

Andy Audate

Yeah. So what, what they're doing, what people in your industry. Are are typically doing or the norm in your industry is to do some type of marketing, where to do their direct mailers, where they send the direct mail out and what you're suggesting and what supporting you and thriving is doing online, using online platforms and offline platforms.Like my stage, for example where you're speaking, where you're speaking, as well as building a personal brand. Using webinars and so on and so forth, social media. 

Karlton Dennis

That's correct. And part of the reason why even the stage is important for us is because I can reach more people on the stage. Right. Let's just say, you know, I have an audience of 30 people.

Well, those 30 people may know 30 people. Right. And if I take care of one, now that one is going to want to take care of others. Right? So my goal is to make sure that I can get in front of as many people as possible. Google Facebook allows me to do that. And then speaking on stage allows me to allow other people to market for me.

Andy Audate

Wow. Wow. You know, I share so much about speaking and using, speaking as a platform. And I think that a lot of them. Brands are starting to understand that. And I know that you're someone who definitely understands that and uses it. Having every system correctly this weekend at the brand marketing summit.Ironically, what I shared was what I shared was, Hey, you need to be able to, when you speak on other people's platforms, you need to direct them to a platform that you own. Did you hear me share that part when you came in? So at the brand marketing show I was saying like, I was sharing like, Hey, if you go on someone else's platform and it's a platform that you don't own you need to capture that data somehow.And you drove so, so you were a prime example of that. Where after I did training on how to create landing pages at the brand marketing summit, how to create landing pages and how to drive traffic from other people's platforms. So your landing page, so you can gather the data. You go on my platform, you go on my stage and you pass out these cue cards with the QR code that once you scan the QR code, it brings them right to your platform to schedule a call. And so you are a prime example of that. You were completely a prime example of doing, doing that and doing it successfully. 

Karlton Dennis

That's correct. That's exactly correct. Because when those people scan my QR code and get dropped to my calendar, now I have their, their names, their phone number, their contact information.If you're really smart, you'll even put a questionnaire in there. So you learn a little bit more about their financial history. Now that I have all this information, I can put them into my own database and market to them. So just in case they're not sold with me on their very first time they chat with me.

Now they're going to start receiving email campaigns and be put into a followup campaign where they're getting material, being resurfaced to them. So even though they're not ready right now they're still being provided value and they're still being followed up with, even though I'm not the one who's always calling them on the phone, following up with that.

Andy Audate

Yeah. And that's, that's very important because that allows you to be able to to work with the clients, not only with me, but, but past me. So for a year, from now, or two years from now, you know what many times that there were people at the brand marketing summit that shared with me that they entered my funnel a year and a half prior.And it was until then they did a business with me, you know, I said, cause I asked, Hey, when did you guys get acquainted with me? Some people were like, Oh, I've been following you since 2018. Or I, I actually got acquainted with you last weekend. Someone calls me that I bought the ticket, but there are people who are going to say, Hey, I've learned about you, you know, two years ago from Andy's events.And then now I'm doing business with 10, 2022. So you want to get to a place that people are listening to, you want to get to a place where you're able to get people's data. From other platforms and put into a platform that you own. That's exactly what karlton has done. Now. How has, how has literally speaking this a speaking circuit you spoke on my stage you spoke on other stages to gain more business.Because that's the overall goal, but in addition to gaining more business, how has speaking on other people's stages supported you in the growth of your organization? 

Karlton Dennis

Well, the first thing it does for me is it's confidence, right? Because as a person who's running an organization, you want to come from a place of confidence as you lead your other employees.And even as you head into the marketplace, you know, things are always changing. And when you're speaking on stage or reaffirming your ideas, your beliefs and what you're trying to do in this society And so speaking on stage, just appeals to my confidence. First off, what also has done for me is it's helped me increase my social media engagement because those people who will come to the events will also want to follow me learn more about me.If they're not ready to engage with me. So then they'll go to my Facebook or they'll go to my Instagram and then they'll follow my path. What that also means is there might be sharing my content with other friends and followers that they have. Right. Because now if I have a new follower and I'm posting something of value to that person, they might share with another business owner, another real estate investor.So it's of value to them. So what I would say is just speaking on the stage not only does a lot for my confidence it's just a lot for my social media engagement. And for me also being able to repurpose the content from the videos that we get from speaking on stage. 

Andy Audate

So karlton karlton dennis going from the app that the collegiate athlete athlete to the now renowned business operator of called dennis and associates.What is next for karlton? What are we expecting? You know we're still early on in 2020. Yeah. We haven't reached 20, 21 yet. What are we to expect for karlton Dennis? 

Karlton Dennis

Yeah, absolutely. I think what you will expect from me is definitely a lot of growth in the firm. I want to get the firm to grow even bigger than what you guys are seeing here today.I know it's already big to a lot of people, but we definitely have a lot of aspirations to grow the firm. And we plan on getting into more of the real estate market. So we'll be dropping more courses. For real estate investors on tax strategies for them. So they can follow along with us on video training so they can leverage different tax codes to formulate strategies at their homes instead of always having to contact their cpa and spending, you know, thousands of dollars just to consult with their cpa on different strategies.so we'll be working on some additional programs for a lot of our investors in our business owners and then what you can also see is hopefully some books. I'm like the book no more average than Andy wrote. I'm looking forward to becoming an author in the near future. 

Andy Audate

So you're going to be writing it.So you're essentially right now, what you're doing is you're, you're expanding on your personal risk and expanded on that. So, you're going to be writing books, creating courses. Now what the fuck does a book have to do with the, with, with taxes? You know, like, like you doing taxes, what does it have to do with it too?

Karlton Dennis

It has nothing to do with taxes,

Andy Audate

But why do it? 

Karlton Dennis

Because I want to have this book, because this is no longer about karlton dennis. It's about the legacy karlton dennis is trying to leave. And I realized that at the end of the day I can't take anything with me. Right. The only thing that I can do is leave a footprint on this earth.And it's a shame if I don't give people some of the tools that I've had and share with them a little bit more about my story. So that the person who is the athlete, who's waking up at four o'clock in the morning, needs that extra bit of motivation. He now has someone who does to look up to. Right. He has someone to be a resource to him.And that's the person who I really want to write the book for is I want to write the book for the person who, you know, may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but, you know, they realize that after reading my book, wow, there is an opportunity for me to become financially free. There's an opportunity for me to become a real estate investor, a business owner.

There is someone who's already done it. That might be the same skin color as me. And you know, he's doing it and explaining it in a very simple format. 

Andy Audate

That's powerful. Now, explain to me the, like some strategies or tips for an entrepreneur or solopreneur who is between year one, two through six in their business.They're generating let's let's say top line revenue of let's say a hundred grand and then making a hundred not even that they're making 75 grand a year and and in revenue revenue. So they're making 75 grand in revenue and they're solo North. They're completely by themselves. No teammates got it. How do they take care of the money to the point where they can keep more of their taxes?

Karlton Dennis

Got it. The first thing that we need to make sure is that you're organized because a lot of the  overpaying in taxes happens from a lack of tracking your expenses properly. So the first thing that we need to make sure is that you have the full awareness of what is a deduction. What's not a deduction that you have a proper accounting system set up that all of your bank account transactions are going into some type of program where someone is reconciling those transactions.So you can see your profit and your loss for every single month. That is always going to be step number one, as a new business owner. Once you get past just the regular accounting rules and you, you are now, you know, doing best practices. The next thing is really choosing the right entity structure. If you're making anywhere between 75 to a hundred thousand dollars in net income, chances are, you're probably gonna need some type of S-corporation, an S-corporation will help you eliminate your self employment tax.Then you get to place yourself underneath payroll, which gives your business a deduction. So those would be two very important things to know as a business owner, just kind of starting out is proper accounting and setting up your entity structure. If it does make that person a w two employee eliminating the need to pay into.15.3% in self employment tax which could definitely hurt a lot of our business owners who are starting out because as you know andy 86% of all business owners fail in their first five years. And it's not because they don't know how to make income because they don't not have work taxes. 

Andy Audate

Oh, okay.So what you're saying is that essentially the goal is to be W2 W2 company. That's an a company that our own 

Karlton Dennis

that's correct. 

Andy Audate

That's what you should be telling the world, man. Because the world is thinking that W2 is bad. Now the goal is to be W2 but in a company that you own. 

Karlton Dennis

That is 100% correct because everyone wants to become self employed.But what they don't know is that their self employment tax which is 15.3% on top of your federal taxes. On top of your state taxes. So in order to avoid that you need to become a two employee underneath your own business. And the only way you can do that is by electing yourself to be taxed as an S corporation.But most people go online and what's the first thing they see is legal zoom set up an LLC start here and they just go ahead and file an LLC. And they think that they're set up correctly. But you know, Andy, after being at the brand marketing summit everyone found out that you know, maybe they shouldn't be in an LLC after meeting with me.

Andy Audate

That's so interesting, man. So you're going against what society is saying, saying society is saying, well, not society but a large portion of the entrepreneurship space is saying, fuck W2. Well, you gotta be a 10 99. What I'm understanding Karlton is saying is no, you gotta be a W2. However, you gotta be in a w two and a company that you own underneath your own.So, so you, you, you own the business. And in addition to that you're, you're saying, Hey, you got to build a personal brand in your business because although you're someone called in is running a tax accountant business, which is not something sexy he thrives in it because of the personal brand recognizing that.70% above about 70% comes from online. That is online efforts. 

Karlton Dennis

That's correct. 

Andy Audate

That means his business would drop to 30% of what it is today. If you didn't do anything online. So all these other brands, all these other tax accountants that are suffering and their business, trying to get that one client. Is suffering because they don't have a personal brand because our well known because not on stage speaking but that's what makes you successful is that right karlton. 

Karlton Dennis

that is 100% correct. And I run into clients, you know, who are, you know, a little bit older sometimes that will tell me all the time, you know, karlton, I don't really believe in social media. I don't believe in having a Facebook and Instagram account setting up things on Google, but then I showed them the numbers that I'm receiving.Right. And then they stopped for a second and they thought about it. And that thought right there is everything to me, because if you're even for a second thinking about it, then you probably already know it should be incorporated into your business. And that's what's important.Andy Audate

Amen. karlton. Thank you so much.What would be one last tip for the audience that's listening. Thank you so much for this opportunity to have you serve my audience but also what would be one last tip for you? For my audience? 

Karlton Dennis

One last tip for the audience is just understand the difference between tax preparation and tax planning, because tax preparation just happens between the months of January through April.

We're in that season right now where you're getting your 10 99 is your W2's. Your mortgage interest statements. So it's the time to value returns but immediately after tax season is when you should be meeting back with your tax provider to do tax planning because you're making most of your financial decisions throughout the year.And that's when your tax accountant can leverage strategies to formulate tax codes and strategies to reduce your tax bill. 

Andy Audate

Cool and powerful. And how could people get in contact with you to learn more about how they came to save more, more money and bring their tax liability? 

Karlton Dennis

Absolutely, you can visit us at karltondennis.com again  karltondennis.com spelled with a K you're more than able to reach out to us at our office line at (714) 252-5822. Again, that number is (714) 252-5822. And ask for karlton. 

Andy Audate

Hey karlton. Thank you so much for the opportunity to have you serve my audience. I'll see you on the progressive conference story.Let's win this year, baby. 

Karlton Dennis

Thank you so much, Andy, for the opportunity and I'm happy to be here. Thank you so much,

Andy Audate

Right on..

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