The 5 Questions Podcast
Join us as we unlock real estate and business insights, one question at a time.
The 5 Questions Podcast
Podcast Guesting: The New High-Powered Networking with Nicky Billou
Nicky Billou shares his powerful journey from war-torn Iran to becoming a thought leader who helps experts build influential personal brands and reclaim their greatness.
• The concept "this isn't business, it's war for greatness" stems from Nicky's father's sacrifices during the 1978 Islamic Revolution in Iran
• The difference between an expert and a thought leader is visibility—being known for what you know versus simply knowing something
• True thought leadership means playing "original music" instead of being a "cover band" in your industry
• Shifting focus from yourself to the people you serve creates both financial success and meaningful impact
• Podcast guesting represents "the new high-tech form of high-powered networking" that can transform careers
• Finding someone who believes in you, committing to your best life, and investing in yourself are critical steps for those feeling stuck
• Personal growth requires embracing being bad at something initially before becoming good, then great, then the best
https://www.ecircleacademy.com/
Sponsored by: The Wisdom, Lifestyle, Money Show (https://podcast.lendcity.ca/)
Like it's so awesome, dude, that's not work for me, man, that's fun.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the 5 Questions Podcast, where we unlock real estate and business insights one question at a time. Welcome to the 5 Questions Podcast. I am your host, Mario Lamar. I am so excited for today's guest. Our guest isn't just building businesses, he's building legacies. He's the firebrand behind eCircle Academy, where experts become thought leaders, and the founder of Sovereign man, a bold movement reclaiming masculine leadership in a culture that desperately needs it. He coached best-selling authors, helped entrepreneurs 10x their income and leads two top-ranked podcasts that reach tens of thousands weekly. So excited, Welcome, Nicky Bilou. Nicky, welcome to the show today.
Speaker 1:Mario so excited to be here. It's an honor. Thanks for having me on the show.
Speaker 2:Nicky, the concept of the podcast is I ask five questions about business or real estate and we get straight to the point. You ready, ready, okay, first question I have for you you often say that this isn't business, it's war for greatness. What personal moments sparked that mindset for you?
Speaker 1:Well, that's a great question. Honestly, it comes from my father, so I may have told you this privately, mario, but I'll tell this on the show for your listener. My backstory is pretty interesting because I was born in Iran, a Christian in an overwhelmingly Muslim country, and in 1978, the Islamic Revolution began in Iran. Okay, and it was a wild time. There was gun battles in the streets. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:That's wild.
Speaker 1:It is wild. Mom and dad are like around going we got to get out of here, we got to get our kids out of here. This isn't a place to raise a Christian family. So they took their time, they did it right and they got me and my two brothers out of Iran. And you know, at the time I was a kid right. I had friends there, my home was there. I didn't want to leave. But as time goes on I started to see what a noble sacrifice mom and dad made for my brothers and I. They left behind everyone and everything they knew to start a new and better life for me and my two brothers. Thing they knew, to start a new and better life for me and my two brothers. Right.
Speaker 1:And my father was a very incredible guy. You know, if you were his friend and you were looking for work, he if he could not give you a job himself, he'd come bring you in his office. He would call all his friends who owned companies or were high up officials in government and say to them hey, it's my friend, mario, you know he's this, he's that, can you get him a job? Until someone gave you a job and then he would tell you hey, I got you a job. It pays this much. You start right away, drive over here, go. And if you were trying to start a business, he would say, hey, mario, what do you need? And he would listen to you and give you his best advice. And if you were trying to buy a car or a house because the banking system in Iran is second world country, not a first world country, so they would only give you so much you would come to see him and you'd go, hey, listen, I need this much money to buy this car, to buy this house. And you go okay, here's a check, you know, go, thanks for the loan. And then, if you tried to pay him back, he'd say come on, get out of here, get out of here. It wasn't a loan, it was a gift. You go, do something good for someone else, okay, go leave.
Speaker 1:And everyone who knew my father was blown away by him, right? He would always say to me son, everyone has greatness in them, everyone has amazingness in them, but sometimes they forget, sometimes they lose faith in themselves, they lose belief. And he said your job, son, is to bring belief to people. Everyone needs someone to believe in them, right? Someone to see how amazing they are. And he said you need to be a professional believer in people. And to me, what I am all about, you know the programs, the books, the podcast, that's all great, but what I'm really about, man, if I meet, meet you is to see your greatness and to believe in you, especially when your own belief starts to go a little wobbly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah and it happens to everybody. You know we all go through these moments. Uh, I mean, we we've we've met each other in person a couple of times and I know that what you're saying about seeing and believing seeing the potential in someone can dramatically change someone's life, because all sometimes that we need is that spark, that little kick from someone else to say, hey, man, you can do it, you can do what you want, just go and go for it.
Speaker 2:And if they need help, then you know, you just lay a hand and you help them get started.
Speaker 1:You know, jordan Peterson is one of the men, the thought leaders, I admire the most in the world today, and he talks about how little encouragement people get, especially men in this day and age. And he said that little bit of encouragement, man, is like giving water to a man who's dying of thirst. You know what I mean and that's the truth. Man and Mario, like I see you, I know you're doing big things. I know you have what it takes to be as big as anybody out there, and that's the beauty of me.
Speaker 1:I see that in you and I want you to know that. I see that in you. I want you to know that I believe in you at the highest level and I want to collaborate with you, maybe even provide some of my coaching for you in the term of the services to get you to the next level. And I love coming on your podcast as well, because you give me an opportunity A to speak to other people, but also man, you're amazing and what you're doing is so great. I want to make sure that you feel someone who's a guest on your show, like me, sees that. So when you leave this podcast and this meeting, you're on a nice high for the rest of the day and you make some big things happen. You follow what I'm saying.
Speaker 2:I certainly appreciate that, Nicky.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course.
Speaker 2:We'll go to question number two. And most people build businesses okay, but you build something else you build taught leaders. So what separates someone who is just good at what they do from a true industry leader?
Speaker 1:Man? That's a great question. You know, someone put it like this once. His name is Matt Church and I thought it was pretty brilliant.
Speaker 1:He said the difference between someone who's good at what they do or an expert and a thought leader is well, an expert's just someone who knows something, right, Right, but he's invisible. Nobody knows him. A thought leader is someone who's known for what he knows. He's very visible, he's celebrated and he's the person people go to. So, you know, let's talk about our mutual friend, Alfonso Cuadra. Right, yeah, Alfonso Cuadra. Right, Alfonso Cuadra has become a thought leader in the world of real estate investing. He's also become a thought leader in the world of putting on world-class events and he's become a thought leader in the world of helping people speak and sell from stage. These are three diverse areas of expertise, but he is truly, truly being seen in the world as okay, this guy, he's a real estate expert. This guy puts on big events and has great membership, and this guy knows how to sell from stage. And everyone knows this about Alfonso, who's in his world. Now, somebody else may have equal skills in all those areas, but nobody knows who they are. That's a problem right?
Speaker 2:Well, and it brings the point to you know what do you do and what's the reason why you do certain things? Do you do it just for yourself or do you want to be fulfilled and feel like you can help others by being invisible? Who really do you help? You help your own business, but by being visible, that's when you start helping other people. People get inspired by you. They want to follow your tracks. Some people might even change their lives because they met you or someone you know like. So it's much's much different.
Speaker 1:You're right it is, and another difference between someone who's just, you know, good at what they do, or an expert and a thought leader. Another man said this on my show. His name is david meerman scott. He is tony robbins's advisor on marketing and branding and this is what he said to me. He said an expert is like a cover band in music, while a thought leader plays original music. I mean, think about this man. That's brilliant. That's brilliant, and you want to be the person playing original music, like you saw me speak at a couple of events for Alfonso at Expand, and I spoke about podcast guesting. So I know you know a lot of people who are doing podcasts. You do a podcast yourself and they're probably very good at being a podcast host right, but besides me, do you know anybody who talks about podcast guesting? How to be a great guest, how to make money from being a guest, how to get clients and leads have you heard, besides me, anybody talk about this?
Speaker 2:As far as far as I know, you're the only one.
Speaker 1:So that makes me the thought leader, that makes me the guy, because I'm the one who talks about it and everybody else is going on is having shows. I'm going go on shows. Be deliberate about going on shows. Learn how to make money from going on shows. Let's go right now, because if you do this, man, your life becomes beautiful. Yeah, beautiful, like I'm doing this, um, this three hour bootcamp on podcast guesting this week Friday, as you know about this right, and when people come to my bootcamps and they learn, they go. Oh my God, I never heard this stuff before. And once they start to apply it, they go. This is good.
Speaker 1:I can make money from this, because the beauty of being a guest on a show, if you do it right, is you don't have to have your own show, so you don't need to like have a schedule. You don't have to have technology. That's great. You just need, like, a computer. Basically, you don't need to be some great sales guru, you just need to be honest and articulate and you don't need to have a big marketing list, because you're leveraging the list and the audience and the host. It's beautiful, I love it.
Speaker 2:It's so amazing it's it's you can get free marketing on other people's platform, right and build relationships and build relationships.
Speaker 1:Yeah, think about this. In the old days, you went to meetings, you met a guy, maybe you had coffee. You built a relationship. Right now, on this podcast, in 20 minutes, 30 minutes, we build a relationship. Yeah, people need to get this through their head. It's the new high-tech form of high-powered networking. You and I talked about this. Networking is how you can add $10 million to your net worth. Net worth network. Same thing, exactly the same thing. So podcast guesting is the new networking.
Speaker 2:That, my friend, I agree with you. We're going to move on to question number three, and you've helped clients 10x their income while creating legacy level impact. What's the biggest mindset shift that unlocks that kind of transformation in people?
Speaker 1:You know that's a great question. A lot of people go into business and the first thing that they're doing is they're in survival mode. You know what I mean. They're just trying to make money. They're just trying to is on what you need and people feel it. You start to have impact on people when you take the attention off of you and you put the attention on the people you're going to serve. You see, here's the beauty of it, right, when I talk to you about podcast guesting here, yeah, I have programs, I have books, I have workshops and obviously this is a part of my business, how I make money, and let's not in any way pretend that's not so, because that is exactly so.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But the first thing that I'm thinking to myself is I'm going like man Mario, he's a great guy, he should do my podcast guesting work because it's going to help him. He's going to learn some things he can use to expand his network. I know he loves networking. I know he gets networking. So the thought in my head is I got to get Mario to come and do this. It's going to make a big difference for him. I'm not thinking, hey, man, I want that $88 sale or $2,000 sale or whatever I'm thinking, this is good for him.
Speaker 1:And you know what I could even say Mario and I are have friends. I could give it to him for free. But here's what I noticed when I give something to my friends for free, they don't really pay attention to it. But when they pay even a little bit of money, they pay attention to it because they want the return to come forward. So that's the idea that's in my head. Now you're doing your, your amazing summit at sea, and you're inviting people to come to the summit at sea. If you're thinking to yourself when you're talking to someone, I need one more sale, I need one more guy on my thing, that you know, they'll feel that. Why, if you're thinking, wow, this guy, he comes out on summit at sea, he's going to make great connections, he's going to make great relationships. His eyes are going to be open man. He has to be there for him, for his family. They feel that too, brother. That's the difference.
Speaker 2:It's all in the approach and it's as basic. As we know different salesmen. There's two types. One is going to try to push a product. I'm trying to show my pen but it doesn't work. Try to push a product on someone, so all they focus is what that product can do to anybody, is what that product can do to anybody. But the great salesman will listen to what the person needs and then find a solution to help them. That's the difference where, like you said, mindset is a total different game when you start thinking customers first and their needs instead of trying to push things on people. I agree with you, 100%, beautiful. We're going to go to question number four. I have a podcast, but you have two. You run two top-ranked podcasts, one on business leaders and one for men of purpose. First of all, I know how much work it is to run a podcast. How do you keep the message clear for each one and the fire alive in both of them?
Speaker 1:You know that's a great question. So the messages are different, but the meta message that informs both of them is the same, and that meta message is I want good men and women to be free to live their best self, their best life. So that's it. And, in terms of the fire, nothing makes me more excited than either having a great guest or being a great guest. Like it's so awesome, dude, that's not work for me. Man, that's fun Coming on this show. People are saying what are you after you working? Today? I'm working but honestly, it feels like playing, because I'm going to be talking to a good guy who's a good podcast host and I get a chance to say what I say. Boom, that makes it really powerful and really simple. And I'm constantly on the lookout for good people to bring on both shows right, like I have for my men's podcast people who help men specifically with their mindset as a man. Right, not just general mindset of success, but the mindset of being a good, powerful man. And then I look for for men and even some women have been, you know, uh, on my show as well and I and what I do with those guys is I look for a beautiful, beautiful message that's going to make a difference for my audience and it's really, really cool. And then finally, brother, I'm looking for people on the thought leader podcast who are number one, two or three, top three in the world at what they do. Yeah, I bring those guys on my show and I get to learn from them. It's like they give me an hour of free coaching.
Speaker 1:I had Brian Tracy on my podcast. You know who Brian Tracy is. I have heard of him. Yeah, he's one of the legends in personal development. I had Jack Canfield, one of the legends in personal development. I had Jack Canfield Chicken Soup for the Soul 600 million copies sold on my podcast. I had Dr John Maxwell, the man who wrote the biggest selling leadership book of all time 22 Laws of Leadership on my podcast. I had Dr Robert Cialdini, who wrote the book Influence the Psychology of Persuasion. I had a billionaire from Silicon Valley, tj Rogers, who built two multi-billion dollar companies, on my podcast. Dude, are you kidding me? This is fun, man. I just keep looking for great guys I want to meet and I tell them hey, let's talk.
Speaker 2:That's how we do it, brother, that's the way, and I mean you've already built a big circle, but for people out there who are listening, if you want to expand your network, this is what I teach. This podcast is not about me, but I'm going to just say this is one of the networking ways I do is I call it network upward is you surround yourself with people that are, you know, better than you, more successful than you, that have been doing it longer than you, and you learn from them. So absolutely, you do it.
Speaker 1:You know you do it 100% and I say this to you guys if you're listening to the show, you should come and learn about podcast guesting. So there's a few ways. One is I have this book I wrote about it right called Get Booked and Get Paid how to Generate Six Figures Plus a YouTube Podcast Guesting. The Kindle version is $4.99 on Amazon. Man, invest in yourself. The best thing you can do today is invest time and money and attention in being better. You get this book.
Speaker 1:Secondly, I've got this webinar that's happening right, this amazing masterclass, three-hour bootcamp. It's $88. Guys, if you can't invest $88 in yourself, you're a fool. For $88, you're going to learn and you're going to get fantastic level tips on how to get on this type of podcast easily. Because I tell you something, mario I can get you on a hundred podcasts in the next three months. If you want it to, I could show you for, for, for, for 50 bucks a month. I could show you on how to get on on 30 to 40 podcasts a month for $50 a month. Mario, is that a good deal?
Speaker 2:Is that? That's an amazing deal right.
Speaker 1:Would you pay $88 to find out how to do that? Sure you would. You have to be stupid enough. And then I show you, man, what you got to do to learn how to be great on the show. Specifically, though, you got to be very specific. So these people go and say to you okay, maybe I need to have a conversation with Mario, and that's how you can sell people to come and be on your cruises, be a part of your coaching programs and all that good stuff. The more you do that, the more money you're going to make. And it's beautiful man. If you're not thinking about podcast guesting right now, it's crazy, bro. You have to be thinking about this, you have to be doing this. This is important. Let's roll.
Speaker 2:Final question for today. Nicky, If someone I want to leave with value, if someone is listening right now and is feeling stuck between who they are and who they could be, you touched a little bit on this, but what's the first thing you challenge them to do today, Right?
Speaker 1:now, if you're feeling stuck, find somebody who's going to believe in you and listen to them. Someone who's on your side. You know what I mean. Someone like a Mario, someone like a me who's going to say man, listen to them. Someone who's on your side. You know what I mean. Someone like a Mario, someone like a me who's going to say, man, I see you, you can do it. You're amazing. Because that all you need is encouragement. You need encouragers around you, and your friends should be that way.
Speaker 1:But the second thing I'm going to say is make a decision today that you're going to live your best life. You're not going to like settle for BS anymore. You're going to live your best life. Commit to getting better. That means you're going to be bad at it at first. You're going to stink at it at first, but you'll get better and then you'll get to be okay. Then you get to be good, then great, then the best.
Speaker 1:And then, thirdly, invest in yourself. Invest in coaching, invest in masterminds, invest in programs Like Mario. You have this amazing summit at Sea. You know. You have a coaching program for real estate investors. I've got coaching programs for entrepreneurs. Invest in yourself and listen. I'm also gonna say this to you okay, very, very important that you learn about podcast guesting. Very, very, very important, because podcast guesting is gonna change your life, if you let it. And what are you talking about? You can invest $4.99 in a book. You can invest $88 in a master class for three hours, a boot camp you can do this and you can invest $50 a month to get on 30 to 40 shows a month. Trust me, all these are minimal investments. They're going to take your life from tragic to magic, nikki.
Speaker 2:We're going to put all those links in the descriptions because it's very, very valuable and I agree with you you can spend $8 on a Big Mac. You can spend $4.99 on a book that's going to change your life. So thanks, thank you for being on the show. I hope that our listeners will take some of your valuable insights on their journey and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 1:Mario, I'm looking forward to it. Brother, Thank you so much for having me on the show. You are one of those guys who ask good questions, who cares and wants people to succeed, and the world needs to know who you are. You have to become more visible.
Speaker 2:I'm working on it. We'll see you at the top. Thanks for tuning in to the 5 Questions Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, like and hit the notification bell on our YouTube channel so you never miss an episode. Stay tuned for more insights and tips to transform your real estate and business game. See you next time.