Episode 30: Success After Prison

11. Spreading Awareness:

Although our growing portfolio of rental properties had become an integral part of our wealth-accumulation strategy, I remained determined to build a digital-products business. With hopes of finding more institutional buyers for the program, I accepted 12 speaking assignments in the fall of 2015, keeping me in different airports every week. I traveled to various cities between Tacoma and Washington DC, striving to create market awareness for Earning Freedom products.

 

Some of those speaking events provided memorable experiences, and opportunities that I hope to leverage in months to come. Earlier I mentioned that the Washington State Department of Corrections was a client of the Straight-A Guide product that I created. When I made my initial sales call in Washington State, I had an opportunity to build a friendship with Michael Colwell, assistant director of Correctional Industries. He introduced me to his colleagues, including Bernie Warner, Dan Pacholke, and Scott Frakes. At the time, Bernie served as Secretary of the state’s prison system. Since then, he retired and went on to lead a private prison system. Dan took over as Secretary in Washington’s prison system, and Scott Frakes advanced to become Secretary of Nebraska’s prison system.

 

Those were powerful allies for me, and I hoped to persuade them to use the Earning Freedom programs in their prisons. Through those relationships I’d built in Washington State, I received an invitation to give a keynote presentation at a regional training conference in Spokane. Representatives from correctional industries in 11 Western states would be in attendance. Business entities that served the corrections industry sponsored the event with vendor booths.

 

Keefe Group and Union Supply were two of the vendors in attendance. I approached the sales representatives and introduced myself. They didn’t know that I’d been incarcerated previously, so I played a hoax.

 

“I was a loyal customer of yours for more than 25 years,” I said. When the sales representatives smiled, I told them that I’d never buy another one of their products again.

 

Keefe Group and Union Supply were two of the most influential vendors to prison industries. They not only supplied commissaries and food services, they also were creating devices to deliver digital content. The devices were designed in such a way that they would not compromise security, and inmates could use them to download music or entertainment. After getting to know representatives from Keefe Group and Union Supply, I suggested that they connect me with decision makers. I wanted to make a case that those companies should make Earning Freedom products available to people in prison.

 

As a consequence of those meetings, I received invitations to visit leaders of Keefe Group at the corporation’s headquarters in St. Louis, and I visited with leaders of Union Supply in Los Angeles. I also received an invitation to visit with leaders from New Mexico Department of Corrections, including Secretary Gregg Mercantel. Through these relationships that I’m developing, I anticipate that I’ll succeed in building interest for digital products I’m creating with Earning Freedom.

 

 

Sales Funnels and Webinars:

The more I worked to generate purchase orders from giant corporations or government agencies, the more I realized the time commitment necessary. Complaining about the challenges of selling into this market wouldn’t advance my cause. The market existed, but as Tim advised, I would need to invest significant amounts of time to build the business model. By continuing to create content, make sales calls, and bring awareness to the value of Earning Freedom products, I’d sow seeds that would lead to the multi-million dollar business we aspired to create.

 

Meanwhile, by learning more about the digital marketplace, I learned techniques that would allow me to offer products and services directly to consumers. Again, masterminds taught that we could create value when we trained ourselves to think about issues that were beyond our personal experiences. Every individual in society faced challenges. Those people could overcome challenges if they learned strategies that masterminds taught. In an effort to bring products and services to their attention, I invited Tulio to work with me.

 

Earlier I wrote about Tulio Cardozo, one of the first graduates of Chris Redlitz’s The Last Mile program. I admire formerly incarcerated individuals who successfully transitioned into society. Tulio was especially impressive because he trained himself how to code computers and use technology while he was locked inside of solitary cells. Using the same strategies that empowered me through my journey, Tulio wrote letters to peopl