The Real Estate Freedom Formula: Actionable Strategies To Help Investors Successfully Profit From Wholesaling Real Estate with Cody Hofhine on Episode #0201

Intro [0:00]
EA Interviews Episode 201. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview.

Mario Fachini [0:13]
Have you ever thought about profiting from real estate? I know I haven’t. Frankly, I still do. There’s been a lot of people on the show already that continually pique my interest, and today is no exception. I have speaker, trainer, and podcast host, Inc. 5000 business owner, and founder of the Real Estate Freedom Formula, Cody Hofhine, on today’s episode. I’m going to bring him up right after we thank our sponsor.

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Mario Fachini [0:53]
Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Cody Hofhine. Cody, how are you feeling today?

Cody Hofhine [0:57]
Good. How are you doing, Mario?

Mario Fachini [0:59]
I am feeling fantastic. And I can’t wait to get into the real estate side of things because I have considered this many times in the past. And it really is interesting, because I know real estate’s been around. It’s not going anywhere. And it’s a very great industry. So what’s the first thing you would advise someone, whether they have an existing business or not, what is the first thing they should consider going into real estate?

Cody Hofhine [1:27]
Going into real estate, well, first of all, I would say do it if you love it. Because at the end of the day, I know plenty of people that make great money, doing a lot of things. In fact, things that I would never love. I interviewed a guy that made millions of dollars making rings. But if you’re going to get in real estate, do it out of love. Don’t do it out of because everyone’s doing it. I think it’s kind of like the American dream. Everyone wants their piece of real estate. But do it if you love it. Because if you love it, yes, real estate can be an amazing vehicle that can set you up financially very well.

Mario Fachini [2:01]
Now, if you don’t love it, why would that be a hindrance?

Cody Hofhine [2:07]
I just think, in general, you learn from history tends to lead like crumbs of success. And if you follow them, you’ll see that most people, when they are succeeding, when they’re winning big, if not all of them, they have a passion for it. They have a love for it. I mean, on my desk, for example, I have this statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse to always remind me it just started with this little dream with this mouse. And now it turns out to be this huge, amazing empire. And it all came from this passion. He was sitting at a park with his kids and he’s like, “Gosh. I just want more people to have fun with their kids at these parks. So I’m going to develop this park.” And here he is, he lives this legacy and leaves this legacy behind. But it started with a passion. It started with a love for doing something that he loved to do. Because then you can get really enthused about it. You can really start to get people interested in it because they see your interest and love for it. Think about sales in general. If you buy a car, if you go to a car salesman, and you’re not buying the car because it has all the features. I buy a car almost for the fact that they’re like, “Man, this guy really loves this car. I must buy this car. Like, he really loves it.” People buy because they see that you love the product. The same thing with coaching and everything else you do, people are buying that confidence that you have in whatever you’re selling. And that goes a long way. Without that passion, I have a hard time seeing a lot of people success.

Mario Fachini [3:37]
You know, I would agree 100 percent. And I’m just playing devil’s advocate there because I tell people all the time about video podcasting. You know, if you don’t have a passion for it, when you encounter those times where it’s not going, let’s say, 100 percent perfect, what’s going to pull you through it? And it’s not going to be some line item or spreadsheet or even probably $1 amount. And I love that you’re starting with the passion for it. What is a reasonable expectation for someone that wants to learn right now today how much time would you say they should invest for reasonable expectation to go, you know, it’s going to take three to six to 12 months before I actually see some results with it.

Cody Hofhine [4:20]
Yeah. There’s so many strategies. So I always try to pick one, pick a strategy. Even though people say real estate, real estate is so big. It’s such a big market. And so you got to be very direct on what is going to be the strategy you’re going to use. For me, it’s a term called wholesaling. So if you haven’t heard of it, it’s very searchable that you can look it up and see what it is. But, essentially, it fit me because five years ago, Mario, I was broke, my friend. Like, I had a hard time wondering how I was going to pay a mortgage payment. I came home early from work. I was working insurance. And my wife was crying at the table. And I just remember walking thinking, “What’s going on? What is she going to tell me?” And I tapped her and I’m like, “Wen, What’s wrong?” And she looks up to me, she’s like, “Cody, I have no idea how we’re going to pay for our bills this month. I have no clue.” And I felt like a complete failure as a husband, as a father. And so I had to dig deep in that moment. And I had to think of it. It’s not a coincidence that I happen to sell insurance for a lot of investors in real estate. And I was going to a meeting later that day, and I go there, and they’re talking about this word wholesaling. And so this guy gets up, he’s like, “I found this deal. Pennies on the dollar. And I just found it three days ago. And I’ve already sold it. And I made $29,000.” And I’m like, “You, dirtbag., I made 19,000 for the whole year, last year. Like, what’s going on?” And so at that point, I just like, how do you do this? Like, how do you get into it? And then I thought, I’m like, “You can’t get into real estate. You have to have money.” But I talked to this individual afterwards, he’s like, “Cody, that’s the best part about wholesaling. You only need enough marketing to drive around and look for distressed properties or enough for marketing dollars. But you don’t need to buy the home. So you don’t need to have money other than your marketing dollars.” And I’m like, “Okay. But how much does it cost to be a realtor?” He’s like, “You don’t have to be a realtor. That’s the other best part.” And I’m like, “Well, how long will it take me to be an expert?” He’s like, “Actually, you don’t need to be an expert. You just need to be good at solving problems and you can do well. The byproduct is you’ll get real estate.” So even though it didn’t make full sense, it was enough for me to be like, “Okay. I don’t have money. I don’t have a license. And, yeah, pretty much not an expert at this.” And that’s all I heard. And I’m like, “I think I have a shot here.” So I jump into it and just start going down this journey. And there’s a lot of failure and frustration, but it didn’t last long. I lucked out. My first deal was 39 days in. I did a deal that made me $24,000. And it was more money than I received for a whole year of insurance work. And so that’s when it turned from faith to fact. And I was like, “Oh baby, let’s throw some gas on this. Like, I love this.” People say money doesn’t buy happiness, but it doesn’t buy sadness either. At that point, it changed things in the sense of I could pay for my debt. I could make my bills, my mortgage payment. And, yes, that brought happiness to me. So I was super excited at that point, Mario.

Mario Fachini [7:15]
Wow. That is awesome to hear. And you’re absolutely right. Because, you know, I’ve played both sides of the coin myself too. And one of them is a lot more fun. You might still be struggling internally with different things, but at least you can buy food, heat, lights, a roof, and live without everything else piling up on top of you. So I have to ask, how did you start the first one with those massive qualifications of no money, time, expertise, or pretty much anything? But you have the best one, desire and a passion for it? What did it take? And how do you do it?

Cody Hofhine [7:55]
I actually performed better with my back against the wall. And there was probably never a better time for me to have my back against the wall. I had, at that time, three kids. I have four now. Four no more. But at that time, it was three kids. And so my back was against the wall. I had nothing to lose. I felt like I was at rock bottom, to be honest. But I felt like rock was a firm foundation for me to build this platform. Like, let’s get to rock bottom so that I can start from the foundation and go my way up. So it did take a lot of drive. It took a lot of determination. But it also took committing to not being perfect. Meaning, massive imperfect action. I think about a trade that I’m willing to do better than anyone, and that’s failure way forward. For whatever reason, I’ve never been scared to knock on a door. I’ve never been scared to pick up the phone and call someone. I’ve never been scared to go out and look like an idiot. And plenty of times, I looked like an idiot. When I go on these appointments, they could tell I didn’t know anything about real estate. I did it completely wrong. But I would always record on my phone. I’d always have it in my pocket recording. And I would listen to it on the way home and I’m like, “Holy crap. I did not say that. I don’t remember saying that. Like, why did you say that?” And those taught me. I failed my way forward. I don’t believe in failure. I believe you’re either going to win or you’re going to learn. And those recordings taught me a ton. They told me what to never say again. And then I saw some moments where it’s like, “Oh, this is going well. Let’s repeat that. Let’s make sure I do that again.” And I just got better slowly. It didn’t take, like, overnight. It took a lot of commitment to massive imperfect action. I wasn’t waiting to build a perfect plan. I didn’t get stuck at YouTube University. I just got a little bit of instruction. And I took a ton of action. That was basically it.

Mario Fachini [9:47]
And it was all in 39 days?

Cody Hofhine [9:49]
Thirty-nine days from the day that I said I’m getting in there and you can do it. And again, I’m not an expert, like, at all. I was so green. The only thing I knew about a mortgage was the home that I owned. And I felt like I signed a stack of papers like I signed my life away. That’s all I knew about real estate. And then from there, once I did the first deal, it’s like, wash, rinse, repeat. It’s now at that point, it’s like, not only does this work, it worked for me. It worked for someone that knew nothing. And now I’m just going to throw a lot of gasoline on this and get going.

Mario Fachini [10:23]
What I’m hearing is, you know, you basically just need to find the property and let someone else know they can buy it.

Cody Hofhine [10:32]
Yeah. The simple process is, think of a pawnshop. Someone doesn’t want something. There’s a guitar sitting in the corner and you’re like, “I don’t want this guitar.” So you take it to the pawnshop. They’re like, “Hey, I’ll give you five bucks.” Sweet. At least something to get me for lunch. And then they turn around sell for 20 bucks and they make 15 bucks. The same exact concept, just different. Instead of a guitar, you’re you’re playing with real estate. So what you have to be good at is, just being a deal finder. How to locate the deals, how to locate the distressed properties, or it could be that certain people are in a distressed situation. Last week, we had an individual that lives in Utah. But in two weeks, he has to move, transport the whole family. They have to up and leave because they got a job transfer. And I believe it’s Arizona. And with that, he’s like, “I have to be gone in two weeks.” And so we’re able to solve a problem by being able to close quickly. A normal transaction is going to take minimum 40 days, but it could be two months, three months, six months, who knows with a real estate agent. And so they’re willing for speed and convenience, sacrifice some of that price. And so I’m able to get these homes at a discount. Or it could be a home we got two weeks ago, that, yes, although had meth smoke in it. It had distress. It was a distressed property and it had signs of distress. We found it from just driving for dollars. We have a guy that drives around and says, “Oh. This home is in bad shape.” We call the individual and we come together with a way that helps them with solving their problems. And in lieu of that, we’re able to get a home for 40, 50 cents on the dollar. And then we basically take that contract that we put the home under contract. And you can simply assign it or sell the contract to cash buyers. So it’s all about having a pool of cash buyers, which they’re easy to find. There’s people on the sidelines that don’t want to be the deal finder. They want to be the ones, like, when you come across a deal, bring it to me, I want to fix and flip it, or keep it as a rental. So then you just market that contract to those cash buyers. They’re the ones that come to the closing and close on the home. And if you put a home under contract for 100 grand, and when it’s all fixed up, it’s worth 200 grand. And you market the contract for, let’s say, $110,000. They’ll come to closing with $110,000. A hundred grand check gets cut to the seller. And a $10,000 check gets cut to me, the guy that found the deal. And then it’s wash, rinse, repeat, I go on to the next deal.

Mario Fachini [12:56]
That is awesome. And, you know, whether there’s methane or not, that’s what shampoo and Fabrizia’s for. I’ve heard people do this with cars. And they’re like, “That one’s all messed up.” Or even buying normal homes. You know, and I’m not talking distressed. I mean, they’re okay. The people won’t buy them because they’re like, “Well, we need to put in a new kitchen.” Just change it. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’ve always liked to customize stuff, obviously with the show. But whether it’s car, computer, house, whatever the case may be, and I’m like, “Why would you not change a single thing to make it your own?” So it’s interesting, just like you’re saying, some people don’t want to deal with it. You know, some people don’t want to have to do all the legwork. And they just want to go, “Hey, I just bought a home today. And I’m going to make 90 grand when I get my crew on there.” I mean, that wouldn’t suck either on the other side of it.

Cody Hofhine [13:51]
Yeah. It’s a win-win. And they may, after they put in their own little repairs, make $30,000, $40,000 after everything’s said and done. But, again, they’d have to find a deal. So they’re gladly lining up saying, “Bring me your next one. Bring me your next one.” And so that’s the name of the game. And that’s how you get involved in real estate if you have no money, like I didn’t have money, if you were not a licensed realtor, if you’re not an expert. That is the easiest way. I hate referring to as like the gateway drug to real estate, but it’s the gateway drug to real estate. It’s what opens the doors so that you can make a lot of money in the amount of time. And then you’re able to now reinvest that and cherry pick. So, now, it’s like, “Okay. Now, I cherry picked some of my best deals.” Some of the wealthiest people I know are the ones that don’t just keep selling their real estate. They’re the ones that actually hold on to it.

Mario Fachini [14:40]
Yeah. Buy and hold it and rent it out.

Cody Hofhine [14:43]
Yeah. And so I’ve been able to do that. And, again, this has been five years. So I’m telling you a story that it wasn’t like a lifetime. I mean, this is five years ago. I’m struggling making payments every single month to the point where I’m able to say I can buy rentals now. I’m able to be debt free. I paid off all my debt. Because I hate debt. I don’t like debt. Yes, there was necessary debt. But it doesn’t mean I want to maintain it. So I wanted to be financially free. And that was a goal in 2017 to pay off the home. And it just kept snowballing from there. And it just keep growing. And it’s slow and steady wins the race. But I feel like it’s in a very great asset that continually appreciates, on average 3 to 4 percent a year. And, plus, people are making payments to you. And it’s just a great asset to own that continues to produce great wealth and it will be generational wealth that I can pass on to my kids.

Mario Fachini [15:39]
Well, I’m happy to hear that, you know, those are your values, because a lot of people think the mortgage is the secret. And I looked up mortgage and I believe it literally translates to debt contract. You know, when you’re going to the morgue, the mortgage. Some fact checker is going to be like, “You pronounced it -” whatever. The point is, you shouldn’t have one. You should be debt free. And you know, are you happy? Let me ask you this. Here’s a million dollar question. Are you happier now than you were before?

Cody Hofhine [16:15]
I’ve always been a typical happy guy. But let me tell you why it increases happiness. You don’t wake up every Monday thinking I got to go to work to take care of the bills. There are no bills. Other than just to sustain yourself, food, water, energy, all the power bills, things like that. But as for debt-debt, I don’t have any. Even including my rentals. Everyone thinks I’m a fool. They think I’m crazy. Like, “Why don’t you leverage it? You’re nuts. You can have 100 rentals. Right now you only have 15 rentals.” I’m like, “But those 15 rentals are free and clear. Like, I owe nothing on those.” And so happiness, yes. And here’s where the added happiness comes in. You serve a fantastic audience. This podcast is reaching incredible people teaching them incredible principles. I’ve listened to a few just before we got on this. And I sit there and think of the value that you bring to other people’s lives. Here’s where the increased income and being debt free has made me happier. And I didn’t think about it this way. I just wanted to be able to be debt free. And if you think about it, $1,800 mortgage, if you were just given a raise of $1,800, is that game changer? No. It’s 1,800 bucks. But it’s much more than that. Here’s the difference, instead of waking up on Monday saying, “I have to go and work for myself so I can pay the car bill, so I can pay the home bill, so I can pay this debt off.” And I didn’t think this was the result. It just happens to be the result. I woke up and I thought, “Man, there’s a lot of Cody Hofhine out there still struggling to make ends meet. How do I genuinely wake up today and serve someone and help them be in a better spot today than they were the day before?” And what’s unique about that is, when I turn my model of my coaching business where I help people nationwide how to do what I do, or just genuinely talking to people, I noticed that’s when my income also quadrupled. Because it’s not about me. It’s about genuinely serving people. And it’s adding value to people’s lives. Much like we were saying about this podcast, you’re adding value to people’s lives and that’s why they come back and listen. And in doing so, yes, you can monetize that. You can make money off that. And it’s a very healthy – it’s almost reciprocity with what goes on with the law of harvest. You add value, you’re going to get paid. If you want to be a millionaire, add a million dollars worth of value to the world and you’ll be a millionaire. If you want to be a billionaire, you better just find a way to add a billion dollars worth of value to the world and you’ll become a billionaire. It’s all to do with your pay is directly proportionate to how much value you bring to others. And that’s when it changed. I started thinking about other people. And inherently that’s my business quadrupled. So I received more than $1,800 a month. It was a great investment because I now genuinely was worried about other people, not myself.

Mario Fachini [19:12]
I’m glad you brought that up. I’ve been praying for years, Lord, take everything off of my plate so I can focus on everyone else. Because the reality is, you know, whether it’s financial, emotional, spiritual, physical, relational, whatever the case may be, if you’re so wrapped up with your own things, because you know, life isn’t perfect. There’s been days where it’s just like, you know, you’re so focused here. It’s like what just happened? There’s movies that people talk about, I’m like, “When did that come out?” It was like over a decade ago. I go, “Oh, that year.” I remember what I was focused on and it was nothing but one thing. And when you have that tunnel vision, you know, for business, it’s great. But if you’re just floating around through life with no aim or direction or anything, you can miss out not just on a lot of opportunities for yourself. What’s worse is, like you said, there’s people out there that need our help. And you’re dealing with what? The same problem you’ve had for 10, 20, 30 years. Meanwhile, you do have the capacity, the talent, skills, and ability to help this person in record time. All you need to do is five minutes of clarity, but you haven’t had that in a year. So they’re struggling, too, now.

Cody Hofhine [20:25]
So true. So true. And be willing to sacrifice. I think sacrifice is huge. I think that’s where the reward comes. We didn’t live where we’re trying to keep up with the Joneses. In fact, now in real estate, it’s like you just wait for the Joneses to foreclose and you just buy their house at a depreciated rate.

Mario Fachini [20:46]
That’s an Expert Authority Insight.

Cody Hofhine [20:49]
You don’t have to keep up the Joneses. Be willing to sacrifice. I believe sacrifice brings, actually, the greatest blessings you can ever receive in your life. And we were willing to give up what most people are not willing to give up. We didn’t have the incredible direct TV package or the cable or Comcast package. In fact, the only thing that we were debt free before we got into entrepreneurship and got into this was, we owned our cars free and clear, but we own our home free and clear. And we were willing to sell our truck and our Honda Accord in lieu for a $3,500 forest green minivan that was in kilometers, not even in miles. It came from Canada. And it was like 300,000 kilometers on it. I don’t know if that is in miles. And then I drove $1,000 Civic. So we got like $18,000 for selling the two cars. And we picked up $4,500 in value of cars. And we had some money now to have marketing. We were willing to sacrifice. When people would ask us to go on, like, date night and join them. And, “Hey, guys. Let’s go out to dinner.” We would say, “Ah, man. So sorry. You caught us. We already ate tonight.” It wasn’t that we already had eaten. We quite frankly couldn’t afford it. We had to make those sacrifices. But no one remembers those times, but us. And now, my own parents are like, “I don’t remember the green minivan.” I’m like, “Ah, we do because it meant so much to us.” And that left us with more money to really start our entrepreneurship journey. So be willing to sacrifice because I just feel like you have to be a good steward of the money you already have if you’re going to be blessed with more.

Cody Hofhine [22:31]
Dave Ramsey? Oh, 100 percent. Big, big fan of that as well.

Mario Fachini [22:38]
What do you call it? I facilitated FPU a couple of times so far through the church and it’s a great program. I’ve loved it myself. And some of the things you were saying, I’m like, it’s great advice. And years ago, I was so geek to get my wave runner. But after a couple of years of, you know, I could do what I want timewise and I was kind of like okay with business, but I didn’t full throttle it. Being on the lake on a Tuesday or Wednesday is cool, but not if you’re alone. And something else is on your heart, you know, you should be doing so I sold that. Similarly, I took everything I had and just went forward with business. And I go, I’ll be able to buy a whole fleet of these and whatever I want in the future. And, you know, I’ll have people with me that can enjoy it. And I love hearing that because so few people are willing to do that. I literally am going to make sure that makes it into the show notes for the Expert Authority Effect Insight of instead of keeping up with the Joneses, you know, you can just buy their house when they foreclosed. That’s great. I don’t want that to happen to them. But there’s enough to spare. No one we know. But that was good. That kind of just made the whole show right there. So what are you finding is the most effective ways to help all the people that you can help now?

Cody Hofhine [24:10]
Believe it or not, you think it’s real estate. Again, I wasn’t an expert. So I had to remember this. As I got into coaching. I had to remember, “Cody, you were an expert.” So it’s not that we’re trying to give them just expert advice on real estate. What was crucial for me to keep pushing forward – because entrepreneurship, I don’t care what journey you take, what path you take to achieve entrepreneurship. Mario, you have your own journey and how you did it. It’s hard. And for people to tell you it’s easy would be a complete lie. And everyone knows that has been on this journey, it’s tough. It’s going to test you. It’s going to try you. And so the crucial thing I always try right out of the gate is, I help them with mindset. And as much as we don’t think about personal development, because we’re always chasing the money or always chasing the deal. What’s funny is the deal or the money will follow your level of personal development. So you’ve got Jim Rohn. He says, “Rarely does income exceed personal development.” And that’s profound. Because so many times we’re chasing the dollar first. Where he’s saying, you want to be a millionaire? Have a million dollar mindset. And then just simply watch your income follow. But don’t chase the dollar. I mean, we see that all the time. If someone wins the lottery, most people have a low mindset that’s winning the lottery. That’s why in three years, they’ve lost everything that has enough money to provide wealth for generations and many families. And it’s gone. Because they didn’t have the personal development. All they had was the money. So I try to work on mindset first. Making sure that people are willing to commit to instruction over education. Education is what’s got our country into over a trillion dollars of national debt. Where instruction is like, “Today’s day one. Here’s what you’re going to do. And here’s how you’re going to do it. And you don’t get instruction number two until you’ve accomplished that. So come back tomorrow. And we’ll unlock number two.” So just little pieces of instruction day by day, not getting them stuck at YouTube University and watching this, like, analysis paralysis, building a perfect plan. It’s like, “Here’s today’s plan, go do it. Here’s the day’s plan, go do it. Here’s the days, go do it.” And we just line upon line, precept upon precept, start stacking and building this foundation to where, at some point, it all just unlocks and deals are coming in.

Mario Fachini [26:25]
That is fantastic. Let’s talk about the people you’ve helped specifically. I’m sure you’ve got dozens of them. But who were the top one or two that come to mind the biggest transformation that you were able to give someone?

Cody Hofhine [26:39]
So there’s some incredible people. I’ve had a few thousand go through the coaching program nationwide. There’s a few that come to mind. I love this couple dearly. They’re called the Raymond’s. Husband and wife duo, they got into this. And they kind of are like me and my wife. So maybe that’s why I have this like drawn connection. They are great people. And their whole thing was, “We just want to serve people. We just want to serve people.” Like, “You, my friend, are going to win and win big because it’s all about serving.” So they get in and sure enough, they start pumping out deals. I just got off the phone with them a couple days ago and they just purchased a second home. Like, a second home for themselves, secondary primary home that they live in, in Wisconsin. They buy a home now in Florida. And they have a place to now go when it gets super chilly in Wisconsin. They head on down to Florida. And they’re able to do this. But more importantly – here’s what some cool – they have 107 rentals. And I just looked at them, holy cow. The student started outperforming the master. It was a perfect scenario. I love seeing these big wins and 107. Bob Antony, he is in Memphis. And here’s an individual that worked his whole life for corporate America. And then come to the point where he only has a few years left before he gets retirement. And, coincidentally, he gets cut. And I just sit there and I hear the story time and time again. It makes me tear up because how much we invest into someone else’s future versus just going all in on ourselves. Like, go to the casino life and go in on you today. Because you’ll see that you can accomplish more than you will accomplish. And if you don’t know what goals you want to accomplish, someone else will use you to accomplish their goals. That’s the truth. And so Bob gets fired. And Bob’s older in his age and the sense of he’s not 20 and 30. He’s probably an individual in his late 40s, early 50s. And he’s probably thinking I’m too late to the game. Bob is now thriving, more than surviving. Taking care of his family. Has more time than he ever had to hang out with his family. Going on vacation that’s been on hold because he never got freedom from his job. And I just spoke to him. I see him almost every Tuesday on another little call that we do. And he’s doing five to six deals a month. And he’s just rocking it. He’s loving his life. But, again, I think the natural thing is, they’re all humble, coachable, teachable, service oriented individuals that are winning big.

Mario Fachini [29:11]
I love how you just rattled off, “Oh, a few thousand went through the program.” And it’s one of the greatest blessings I have with the show is there’s a lot of people out there that have good businesses and I’d say they’re good people. But I really look for people who have demonstrated it time and time and time again. And I used to think like, wow, should I be looking for people who have done it five or 10 or 20 or 30 years? You know, if you’ve only been doing it five, you put in the work of 10 to 20 years. There’s people who have done it 20, 30 years and have never taught it to anyone else. They’re good at what they do but if you can’t pass it forward – like when I’m doing my books and trainings and courses, I’m thinking what’s the end result I want you to have to get your business book published or your video live stream show started or whatever the case may be, but maybe better marketing. You know, refining your messaging. If I can’t get you to the finish goal, it’s not successful. I don’t care how many people I’ve helped. If you can’t teach it, you don’t know it. And you just real nonchalant,” Oh, yeah, thousands of people.”

Cody Hofhine [30:22]
That almost goes back to the beginning though. It comes back to passion. I love my students. And so I have no problem selling them – that would be the word right? Letting them know that they found the right person. They’re investing in the guy that’s going to invest everything and give them their best shot possible. I never guarantee results. It’s impossible. We talk about it. The only guarantees are what? Debt and taxes. But I’m able to give them their best shot possible. And because I’m so passionate about it, it’s very hard for me to get off the phone. You think about most people fail because they either don’t have marketing or they don’t have sales. At the end of the day, those two things are the breath or the oxygen to every company. It doesn’t mean they don’t have a good product. It just means they don’t have a way to get the message out to the public and they don’t know how to close it. But I’m so passionate about it, I have no problem selling people my program. That’s the beauty behind all this. When you’re so dead set that it’s going to give them their best shot possible and you want to be involved in their life to help them be the hero. I don’t want to be the hero. I’ve done that for my family. And so as my wife, I don’t want to be their hero. I just want to be their guide. I just want to help them. I just want them to be the hero. I want them to feel like they’re the father or the mother that they’ve always wanted to be. I want them to feel like they are winning and winning at a high level. That’s why I’m fine with getting on the phone and saying, “Listen, you found the right guy. Let’s go. Let’s get out the credit card. Let’s get out whatever it is. Let’s get you going.” I have no problem doing that because I’m so passionate about it. If I wasn’t passionate about it, I would also be like, “Okay. Yeah. You want time to think about it? Oh, yeah. I totally understand.” I’m like, “What do we want to think about? You told me you’re at a dead end job right now. At what point do you realize that change isn’t going to happen at that job? Change only happens when we change. Life only gets better when we get better.” And then they’re like, “Yeah, I know. I need to do it.” So every now and again, you got to turn into like Tony Robbins and be their biggest cheerleader. And then they get in and they’re grateful that they do because I put my whole heart and soul into this thing. It’s not just a money grab. I think coaches get a big bad wrap because most are out there for a cash grab. It’s just simply not my style and it’s not my model.

Mario Fachini [32:40]
Yeah. It’s interesting you say that because I’ve heard a lot of people say that about real estate or banking or pretty much every field, you know, online marketing, if you will. They all have unscrupulous people. And I’m glad we’re not one of them. But there’s also a ton of great people and you definitely exude it. And I’d venture to say that it’s probably not even a real hard sell because you do have that passion. And it’s for sure coming across. I’m going to ask you at the end as part of the show, but I know there’s someone listening right now that’s like, “Okay. Where do I find more?” So where’s a good place for them to find more?

Cody Hofhine [33:19]
Yeah. They can always go over to CodyHofhine.com. You can find me on social media, Cody Hofhine. Hofhine is a little bit weird spelling, but H-O-F-H-I-N-E. And, again, that’s CodyHofhine.com. That’s where you can learn all the fun stuff. And there’s so much free content out there, whether it’s my YouTube channel, whether it’s the podcast, whether it’s just on my site. So there’s so much free stuff already to just start to learn where you don’t have to pay to get it. You can get a lot of stuff for free.

Mario Fachini [33:48]
And I’m glad you have that available because it’s one of my favorite things to do too, with, like, books and training. Because I remember when I was down to my last $5 and what do you do with five bucks? When you said $5 selling the guitar for the pawn shop. I’m like, “Where can you even get food anymore for $5 like after tax and everything?” But what I did with it was, I think I treated myself to an ice cream cone for a buck. And I bought books and highlighters. I think the book was actually a penny on Amazon at the time. It was like whatever it was for shipping and it was highlighters. Because if you have that mindset, I was like, there’s no way this $5 is pulling me out of much more than that. But I’ll tell you from getting the books I did, as you’re suggesting over the years, it’s been worth millions. And that’s fantastic because anyone can do it. And now being able to do multiple in my own books, and like you’re saying the podcast and show, there’s no reason anyone nowadays. Even 10, 20, 30 years ago, I think about what Ford and Rockefeller have to do. There was like zero access to anything and they figured it out. We have the world at our fingertips. And it reminds me of – do you remember the show Boy Meets World? I remember one episode from – gosh. How many years ago? And Mr. Feeny – this was a while back. I don’t want to say an exact date – he goes, “You walk out of me all the time. This is the first time I’m going to walk out on you. You have the world at your fingertips. And what do you do with it? You use it to fight King coupon save the princess.” I didn’t take any offense to the Super Mario reference. But, you know, we have the world at our fingertips. And what are we doing? Playing Angry Birds or whatever the thing is now. Conversely, there’s Harvard and Stanford and all these classes online, our shows, books. The world’s at our fingertips and what are we doing with it?

Cody Hofhine [35:51]
So true. So true.

Mario Fachini [35:53]
I got one more question before we thank our sponsor, and it’s what I was trying to keep hidden beforehand. But it was just trying to get it into range. This is the Wheel of Whatever, it always ends up where it needs to on the question it needs to. And I want to thank you, Cody, for giving me your question about a little bit ago. Bam. Entrepreneurship right there. See that? Where do you think the country and the world would be if everyone started their own business five to ten years from now?

Cody Hofhine [36:27]
Sheesh. Whoo. I am a firm believer. A lot of the joys outside of – guys, I’m a man of faith. Besides just being a blessed country. I know there’s some disarray going on and stuff. But I do believe this was a God blessed country, first and foremost. I believe a lot of sacrifice came from the military that fought to keep our freedoms here with us. Outside of that, I feel like a good weight comes to the entrepreneurs. The ones that are willing to think outside the box. The ones that are willing to go through the tough to taste the good. And realizing that our success is really found on the other side of comfort. Too many times we live a comfortable life. Too many times we don’t leave the comfortable life because it’s too comfortable. Too many times I hear people like, “Oh, this would be fun. But I can’t leave my job. I have insurance.” And I’m like, “There’s probably plans out there for 300 bucks.” But instead of making 40 grand a year, you could be making 100 grand a year. Like, $300, that’s now 45,000. You still have a lot of money that you’re gaining. So if everyone was an entrepreneur, it would be interesting, right? Because we all need a team to grow, so it’d be interesting. I don’t know how we play that because I do rely heavily on a team. But there’s also –

Mario Fachini [37:56]
As do I.

Cody Hofhine [37:56]
– and they’re winning with me. Meaning, I don’t keep it all up top. I pass that down. And I find ways uniquely to help everyone win that’s bought into the mission, that’s bought into the culture. And if not, really it’s like James Collins Good to Great, I pull over the bus and it’s their time jump off and maybe it’s someone else’s time to jump on. But my whole goal is, when I win, it’s not just me that’s going to win. I have big goals but it’s because when I when other people are going to win as well. And one of my big all time goals driver would get into entrepreneurship was so that I could retire my parents and also retire my wife’s parents. And I just realized when you have intent, when you have purpose, when you have goals that are in line to bless other people’s lives, the actual, the reality of that being coming true, is that much easier. When you have it based on you winning, gosh, I can give up on myself. But when I know, “Gosh, Cody. Don’t give up today. Because when you give up, your kids lose too. When you give up, your wife loses too. When you give up today, your mom and dad won’t be able to retire. When you give up today, your in laws won’t be able to retire.” I get back up and like, “You’re right. You’re right. I have to move forward.” I think people would be more resilient if they got into entrepreneurship. I think our world would see a lot more trust in themselves, confidence in themselves, versus relying on a government. I don’t think anyone should rely on government. I’m not downing our government. I think everyone should realize, “Gosh. You’ve got some incredible gifts. You’ve got some incredible talents. You’ve been endowed and blessed with incredible gifts. And you only find them when you get tested and tried.” Not from living a comfortable life and not relying upon anyone but yourself. Get out there you can do this. And when you do so, you’re also going to bless a lot of people’s lives and give a lot of people hope. How many times were you inspired because someone took the journey? Yes, it was hard for me. Like, “Ah. That inspires me because he was once like me.” We have that opportunity to inspire and motivate other people to come up behind us because they watch our story. They watched our story take place. So that’s what I thought.

Mario Fachini [40:11]
Powerful words from a powerful entrepreneur. We’re going to bring him right back after we thank our sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action Round.

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Mario Fachini [41:50]
And we’re back with the Imperfect Action Round. Cody, are you ready to take Imperfect Action?

Cody Hofhine [41:54]
Always. Let’s go.

Mario Fachini [41:56]
When you were talking earlier on, I’m like, you’re going to love the second half. All right. First question, 60-second rapid fire. What is the fastest path to the profits?

Cody Hofhine [42:09]
Going all in on you. Going all in on you. No more going to corporate America. Going on you.

Mario Fachini [42:17]
Sold. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way for them to fix it?

Cody Hofhine [42:25]
Building a perfect plan. If it’s looking for perfection, there is no perfect plan. So what you’ve got to do is be willing and commit to what this round is massive, imperfect action. Progress, not perfection. Just get out there and fail your way forward.

Mario Fachini [42:41]
Love that. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

Cody Hofhine [42:47]
By giving more value than you ever charge in price. Always remember this, that is the secret sauce. Always give more value than you ever charging price and you’ll have happy clients that come back and want more stuff. You can have an ascension model that always buy because they’re like, “Well, whatever I spend, I always get more in value.”

Mario Fachini [43:06]
Excellent. What are some books you’d advise for Expert Authority World?

Cody Hofhine [43:11]
Couple ones that I started out with and I thought was great for my journey was the Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. Incredible how that works. It’s just a little compound effort that turns into massive results. The Slight Edge, and I believe it’s Jeff Olson. And then I would always say anything, Jim Rohn. Leading an Inspired Life is probably one of my favorite books. It’s like little short reads that you can do during the day and not get stuck in a 20 page chapter.

Mario Fachini [43:43]
All great titles. Thank you for those. Well, we did it once but I want you to tell everyone where they can learn more.

Cody Hofhine [43:52]
Yeah. Find me on social media. I’m big on Instagram and Facebook. It’s Cody Hofhine, H-O-F-H-I-N-E. And then always at my website, CodyHofhine.com. And that’s where you can get some great free content. Love to connect with you. If you have questions, I’m a guy that’s here to serve you. So don’t feel hesitant to DM me, pm me, whatever they want to call it the social media world. I’m always glad to respond and see how I can serve you.

Mario Fachini [44:18]
Cody, it’s been an absolute pleasure. Thank you very much for sharing.

Cody Hofhine [44:24]
Thank you for having me, Mario. I appreciate it.

Mario Fachini [44:26]
All right. Expert Authority World, we have another great episode here today. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. And God bless.

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Mario Fachini [45:07]
Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.