May 28, 2025 • 29 mins
Join Garrett Hammonds and Nolan Rogers on the Think Biz Podcast as they sit down with Dirk Neitzel, the fearless leader of Think Biz Solutions. Dirk, an Oklahoma City local and OSU alum, dives deep into the motivation behind starting Think Biz Solutions – a response to the high costs and inaccessibility of support and networking for startups and small businesses. He explains how Think Biz breaks down barriers with an affordable, no-application-fee, month-to-month structure and prioritizes education, relationship-building, and collaborative problem-solving over pushy sales pitches.
Dirk, described as a "networking king", offers invaluable advice on effective networking, emphasizing genuine connections and diligent follow-up. He also reflects on the challenges he's faced as a business owner, particularly the ongoing effort to motivate and build a successful team, and the importance of knowing when to delegate tasks you're not good at. This episode highlights the powerful community aspect of Think Biz Solutions and its organic, shared-leadership approach to growth, demonstrating how helping people is the core mission.
Find out more at https://www.thinkbiz.solutions and learn about local meeting options in Oklahoma City and Norman.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_03 (00:01):
Is this you?
SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
Excellent.
Hello, hello.
We are here once again, theThinkBiz podcast crew.
I am Garrett Hammons of HammonsMedia.
And I am Nolan Rogers rightacross from you, Garrett.
It is good to be here as always.
Did y'all hear him cut me offlike that?
I did.
Just right in the middle oftrying to say his name.
We're horrible.
We're horrible friends.
(00:33):
We're bad for each other.
Well, I'll tell you what is goodfor us.
It's good for us to have...
So many cool guests come on thispodcast.
And today, we have the one.
The only.
The Dirk Neitzel.
Fearless leader of ThinkBee'sSolutions.
SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
I like how it was cool guests and dark nights.
Wow, guys.
I do have a complaint.
I thought I was going to get tohear you guys sing the jingle,
but I guess you prerecorded.
We did prerecord the jingle.
Solutions.
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
Yeah, you know, you never know where the falsetto is
going to be on one day to thenext.
Got to prerecord it.
Got to prerecord it.
But we have a man of many hatssitting with us today.
the glorious founder, owner, andoperator of ThinkBiz Solutions
on top of all the other thingsthat you do on a regular basis
for yourself, for your girls,for our community and network.
(01:30):
Man, Dirk, it's awesome to haveyou here, sir.
I'm glad to be here.
Tell us a little bit about Dirk.
Who is he really?
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
What does he do?
Well, I was born at, no, I'mjust kidding.
I'm a local Oklahoma City guy.
Went to Northwest class in highschool here in Oklahoma City and
then OSU and I've been aroundthe United States teaching and
doing solar and business and allthe things I can do to help.
SPEAKER_02 (01:58):
And you're not really an OSU fan, right?
SPEAKER_00 (02:04):
Well, I like to say I'm an OSU alum.
SPEAKER_02 (02:05):
As not an OK, I love the OU-OSU rivalry thing.
I'm just like, ah, freeentertainment.
This is great.
I'm from Texas originally, and Idon't even care about any of the
Texas schools.
So I'm just like...
I am an instigator.
That's what I am.
And I'm going to instigatebecause I don't think Texas
(02:26):
cares about the Texas schools,but moving on.
So you have started ThinkBizSolutions.
Where did this originate?
What got everything startedthere?
For that, because you've done alot of things, but this is one
of your new babies, right?
SPEAKER_00 (02:47):
Yeah, this is my new and my favorite.
It is a long time coming ofthere's so many startups and
small businesses that needcertain things and a lot of the
price points.
Or the education is just notavailable to them.
They're really good at theirthing, but they're not
necessarily versed in smallbusiness startup, which is
(03:09):
different than small businessrunning.
And then the other piece of thatis referral clubs.
And I love networking.
And some of the networkinggroups are out of price range or
unavailable to the people thatneed them most.
And so we try to make one thatwas...
In line with our values and thepeople that we wanted to hang
(03:30):
out with the most and serve themost and make it accessible to
everyone.
And so we put, then it juststarted, okay, what else can we
do for people?
And oh, what else can we do forpeople?
And I think it's continuing toevolve and it's short five
months of development.
It is.
It
SPEAKER_02 (03:52):
is coming along pretty well.
And I think it's reallyinteresting, too, that you've
worn so many hats.
You have this wonderful resumeof all the things that you've
done.
But what specifically does theThinkBiz solutions networking
group solve that a lot of otherthings don't?
for our listeners?
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
Number one is price point.
No upfront application fee,which is just a turnoff.
You don't have to pay theannual.
It's month by month.
We do a free month.
The idea is if you're gettingbusiness out of the referral
club, it's already paid formonth two.
And so easy accessibility.
The other thing that we do is wetry to do an educational piece
(04:30):
and discuss concepts and lesspitchy less selling to each
other and more buildingrelationships sharing experience
helping each other solveproblems a lot of which we all
have in common or a couple ofpeople have that problem but a
couple other people on the otherside of the room know the answer
and so unless we can get in asafe space and discuss those
(04:52):
then everybody has the solutionsand they're not connected to the
person with the problem and sosolving each other's problems
and then also passing referralsI think is and honestly just the
fact that you get clapped foronce a week when you say who you
are and what business you do andjust just loving on each other
and a friendly phone call when,when you're not there.
So I'm trying to, trying toprovide the community and the
(05:14):
love in addition to, you know,obviously giving people
financial value for, for theirattendance.
SPEAKER_02 (05:21):
I think, I think we sometimes undervalue the power
of just a good clap once a week.
You know, you may be having ahard week and somebody being
like, you know what?
You got this.
It's I mean, it gets me througha tough day every now and again.
And so that vibes, vibes, I'mdoing air quotes right now.
(05:44):
It makes a big difference.
And I know that.
You know, Dirk has been kindenough to let me work on some
marketing things of theorganization.
And obviously Nolan and I are ona podcast called Think Biz
Podcast.
So we've never heard of thisorganization before.
(06:08):
You know, I love that it's socommunity-based and it's focused
on...
helping people grow it.
You don't have to have to get,um, you know, a hundred million
dollars in being a part of thegroup.
You may, you may be giving as apart of the group.
You may be mentoring otherpeople, you know, there's
(06:29):
businesses of different sizesand that community piece, it
really enriches, um, at least mylife as a, as a business owner.
Nolan, what's, what's kind ofbeen, I know we're interviewing
Dirk, but what's been yourexperience with, with ThinkBiz
so far?
Well, it's the same phenomenonthat I've noted with a lot of my
other friends on the East andWest Coast that are doing
(06:51):
spiritual consultations, arekind of weird, magical folks
that do some weird, magicalthings.
Most of our value hasn'tnecessarily come from people
selling courses and selling us,hey, exchange money for this
knowledge we're going to giveyou.
And instead, most of the valuescome from us just talking to
each other on a regular basis.
And that's the same thing thatThinkBiz does.
I really wish I had...
(07:14):
a year and a half ago, wheneverI started figuring this out for
myself in really just getting tounderstand that I needed a
network of businessprofessionals that I could just
talk to every week.
That would have helped me savelots of money, save lots of
money, get my head in a betterdirection around a number of
(07:35):
things.
And also just know that you'renot, you're not crazy for
wanting to work for yourself andwant to live a better life.
Because oftentimes when you arethe only person in your current
network or community that says,nope, I don't want to work for
somebody else.
Everybody looks at you likeyou're crazy and they tell you
to not do it.
Right.
And just having this group, evenon the back end, has been so
(07:57):
helpful in reaffirming theintuitions and instincts for me
to even start working formyself.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, Dirk, to direct thingsback to you here for a second,
can you share a moment with uswhere something maybe went
sideways when it came to one ofthe businesses that you have
(08:18):
helped grow and even said yousold three businesses over time?
And what did that teach you thatyou want to be able to help
others learn from throughout theprocess?
SPEAKER_00 (08:33):
Nothing at all.
Nothing worth sharing.
Now, I want to say that thehardest thing for me was finding
other people to partner withinside of the business.
Very good at referral networkingwith other business owners that
do their thing.
But as an owner, when you'retalking to other owners, they're
(08:54):
going to treat their businesslike they own it.
And so my greatest strugglestill to this day is finding
non-owners to come in and workas hard.
And so trying to find peoplethat can be part owners and, you
know, how can we take this andgrow it together?
And so that still continues tothis day to be one of the things
(09:17):
that I have to figure out betterand better.
And I was a coach and a teacherfor a long time, but motivating
others to get the most out ofthem and helping them be
successful for their own self.
How can I help this person makemoney for themselves and their
family?
Or add value and have a good,positive, successful company?
(09:38):
to this day is the thing thatkeeps me up at night you know I
get better and better at it andthere's a lot of us that you
know I take advice and read andlisten to all the podcasts
except for this one I wouldnever listen to this one but
finding how to motivate othersand make others successful I
think is always the thing thatirks me the most because you
(09:58):
want to see people be successful
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Yeah.
And if that's kind of the mainthing that continues to be the
crawl in your throat, what doyou notice begins that process
of turning a person into someonethat either can't or doesn't
want to put in the level of workor act like an owner of their
own life, let alone business orbusiness responsibilities?
SPEAKER_00 (10:18):
I think there's a lot of initiative is easy,
right?
Oh, I have this good idea.
It's the determination and thefall through to finish it no
matter what that I think is It'salso like there's other options.
Like, oh, this got difficult.
Let me find an easier path.
And it's like, well, thedifficult path led to a much
greater reward.
And so, you know, selling thevision, I think, but also if you
(10:42):
can make the path easier forpeople, that's great.
But then everybody would do it.
Yeah.
(11:02):
calendar blocking and how totake a to-do list and turn it
into a schedule of things.
And so just trying to findbetter tools.
And the other thing iseverybody's different.
And so you have to learn thatthe tools that work, I have to
learn that the tools that workfor me aren't necessarily what's
going to work for other people.
(11:23):
And so always trying somethingnew is okay.
SPEAKER_02 (11:27):
Absolutely.
Well, I mean...
That goes to show your head's inthe right space with just,
there's so much, there's so muchchanging out there when it comes
to tools and technologies andthings to that nature.
But, you know, there's alsothose constant, those pieces of
drive and where you want to be ahard worker.
(11:49):
There's elements of that thatwill, you know, that can be
taught, but are also just a partof life.
almost feels like our geneticstructure in a lot of ways.
There's this effect in kind ofbehavioral marketing studies
that's called the IKEA effect.
And, you know, I love IKEA justas much as the next person.
(12:11):
Because you take this piece offurniture home and it has a set
of instructions and you buildit.
And then you look at it andyou're like, oh my goodness, I
made this.
But it's a whole phenomenonbecause when we...
put hard work into something, orif we perceive that hard work
was put into something, we valueit more.
(12:34):
And, you know, the best thingsin life are worth working at and
often don't come easy.
And so I think all that stuffmakes a lot of sense to me.
Most definitely.
And it's one of those thingsthat we tend to ask everybody on
the podcast so far, somethingaround the advice they would
(12:54):
give to new entrepreneurs.
But I would argue, well, youshould come on Tuesdays at 9.30
to Think Biz Networking Groupand get some of those pieces.
But I think you're really wellpositioned to also help solve
that beginning portion of theinitiative and the discipline
portion of, can you kind of walka new entrepreneur through the
math of risk?
SPEAKER_00 (13:13):
Sure.
I think...
Most people don't becomeentrepreneurs if they don't
already have a little bit ofeither risk tolerance or just
incredible belief in yourself,right?
And so they already come withsomething.
And so you're building on it.
You're watering a seed that'salready there because people
that don't believe in themselvesor don't have that risk
(13:36):
tolerance, they're not going tobecome self-employed.
We see a lot of...
The other side of that coin isit's a gig economy, right?
And so a lot of people...
You're helping them start asmall business and figuring out
how to make that work with theother business that they do.
right or helping them grow intosomething but they don't
necessarily have the fullschedule that you do and so
(13:58):
again finding it's really aboutlistening to everyone's
individual story their specificbusiness their target market's
different than mine theirschedule is different than mine
and just playing like hey Idon't have a tool that's going
to help you but I will listenand I will get all the creative
people problem solver minds thatI know to come listen to you too
and let's see if we can figurethis out together
SPEAKER_02 (14:19):
yeah yeah I think that's one of the power powerful
things about networking ingeneral and I would almost
classify you as like anetworking king you are so good
at it what's advice that youwould give to somebody who's
trying to get better atnetworking in general
SPEAKER_00 (14:38):
so I always say this like a it's okay to be bad at
your 60 second pitch it's moreendearing than the guy that is
polished it's more approachablethe other thing is Follow up.
I will only go to networkingevents where I'm going to get a
list of everyone that was there.
You can literally go to half ofthem, check in on the QR code,
(15:01):
and leave.
Because nothing actually happensat the networking events other
than it's a new lead.
It's a new set of people.
And so I want to go.
I physically make contact witheveryone I know.
That's just a hard, fast rule.
That's just who I am as aperson.
Somebody pointed out that I didit, and so now I guess I do it
intentionally.
And then I try not to talk tothem because they're there to
(15:23):
meet new people too.
And if you run into the wrongperson you know, they're going
to take up all your time.
And I'm sorry, but I'm workingright now.
It's just like having a closeddoor.
I'm here at a networking event.
I'm working.
I try to feed a family, tryingto bolster a team.
And so I'm working.
I'm going to say hi to everyoneI know, but I'm trying to make a
deep, genuine connection witheveryone I don't.
(15:45):
But more importantly, I'm goingto call, text, and email people
And connect with them onLinkedIn and probably Facebook.
Because to me, I don't separatemy personal connections from my
business connections.
I can look everyone I've everdone business with in the eye
and a lot of us still hang out.
And so...
We don't separate that, but Iwant to be on their social
(16:07):
media, on their phone as a textmessage or call in an email and
try to get a Zoom call with themone-on-one where I can actually
learn about them.
One of the things that peoplesay about me, though, is in a
30-minute phone call or Zoom,you're going to get 30 minutes
to talk to me.
And I try not to just tell mylife story or say much about me.
I really want to learn about theperson, which is important.
(16:30):
A, better for them, they'regoing to like it, but also B,
that gives me a better angle ifI do want to do business with
the person I know more aboutthem and how to help with the
problems they have.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (16:42):
Well, I mean, and it all comes back to that
relationship piece.
You know, we, we often try inand pretend like it's, it's
possible to fully separate, youknow, here's work and here's
your personal life.
And it's like, we, I mean, Idon't stop being the same human
person when I go home versuswhen I'm at work.
(17:02):
Now there are differentboundaries in different places.
Right.
But it's like the fact that you,you do genuinely care.
care about getting to know otherpeople and and then if it's a
good fit for them to to havesomething that you know can help
them and that they can recognizethat will help them it's like
why wouldn't you why wouldn'tyou do that you know but it's
(17:25):
all built on that relationshiprelationship piece which i think
is awesome
SPEAKER_00 (17:29):
yeah and i even even on my companies and my jobs I do
insurance.
I do investments.
I do solar.
I do small business coaching andall the different marketing.
And if I don't do it myself, Iknow the person to refer them
to.
I'm going to change my job tomold to fit the people that need
things rather than try to say,hey, I do this thing and let me
push on everybody.
(17:51):
And so finding out people islike, hey, I don't help with
that, but maybe I should.
Maybe I should learn how to helppeople with that because it
seems like multiple people needhelp with that.
And so if you really just say, Iwant to help people, And my job
is just to do that rather thanthe other way around.
I think warm networking fits.
SPEAKER_02 (18:10):
What we see happen from that, too, is a phrase I
hear you say all the time is,well, I know a guy.
And that's part of the ThinkBizreferral groups.
Maybe there's something that youcome across.
You meet all kinds of people,and our goal for everybody in
the group is to Hey, when youmeet somebody who asked about
(18:35):
something you don't do, you cansay, Hey, I know a guy.
SPEAKER_00 (18:40):
And if they're in referral club, I get to say,
Hey, I know this guy and I havecoffee with him every week.
And that's that one littlething.
It seals the deal before you'veeven had to go talk to him.
UNKNOWN (18:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (18:51):
Well, and it also speaks to kind of the thing that
I have to do for some of myclients in session that are
looking for their career path orsomething to do.
And they're either thinkingabout going to college or
they're not happy with thedegree they're in.
And I tell them, go to the 10people you think are successful
or have a version of happinessthat you like to see in the
world.
And then have them make them twolists, 10 things each.
(19:14):
First list is 10 things youcan't live without.
And the second list is 10 thingsyou hate doing for yourself.
And it came up in conversationtoday during networking.
It's like, hey, so what happenswhen this network grows itself?
And you didn't really have anyissue there because you know how
to just grow and change andshift.
And so I think it would beinteresting to see, like, what
(19:35):
are a few of those things thatyou can't live without that
either you don't already do foryourself or you're willing to
learn?
And then what are a few of thosethings that you hate doing for
yourself and would love to paysomeone to do for you?
Put them in the hot seat.
I'll be
SPEAKER_00 (19:49):
honest.
I have a short attention span.
Okay.
And so reading a long documentor listening to someone's long
story, it makes me, I took, youknow, I worked a long time in
corporate job and then I, Idon't know.
I got to be the self-employed.
Even though I work longer hoursnow, the thought of driving to
(20:12):
an office and sitting in frontof a cubicle, the last time I
accepted a job and I was drivingto do that, I was in tears.
I just had to call them.
I don't know why I used to, butI can't anymore.
I can't sit still.
I don't think I could ever goback to just working one job.
I love working multiple andbeing able to help people with
(20:33):
multiple things.
But yeah, if it comes down tolike nitty gritty, the
bookkeeping, accounting stuff, Ithink I have to hand that off
because I hate it.
And then there's other things Ihand off because I know there's
better people.
Like if I need a digitalmarketer, I'm going to use
Garrett with Hammonds Mediabecause I could do it, but it's
(20:57):
not going to get me It wouldtake me longer, and it would not
give me any return on my time.
Just so
SPEAKER_02 (21:03):
everyone knows, I did pay him to say that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:05):
No, but seriously, there are certain things you
could do, but it's not that Ihate them, but I'm just like, I
know I'm not going to be good atthis.
And so I need to find somebody.
This needs to be done right.
And so just knowing when to handit off.
Absolutely.
So I hate doing things that Iknow I'm not doing well.
SPEAKER_02 (21:22):
I think it's so funny, too, that bookkeeping is
one of the things that you hate.
Because...
Dirk was a math teacher for many
SPEAKER_00 (21:30):
years.
I still am.
That's what financial advisingis.
He's
SPEAKER_02 (21:35):
presently a financial advisor.
He can't talk about it.
We really wanted him to give usall the financial advice, but he
said it was illegal.
SPEAKER_00 (21:44):
It's not that it's illegal.
Compliance is such a big thingin our industry.
I don't know what I'm allowed totalk about and what I'm not.
That's not the story I'm going
SPEAKER_02 (21:53):
to tell.
Different headlines.
Dirk Dietzel tells you the onetrick to save all of your money.
financial worries that's right10 billion zeros in the bank
SPEAKER_00 (22:00):
no math for me is about relationships and not just
with the people I'm working withlike yes build rapport with your
students but really how thingsflow and the relationship I'm
terrible with numbers but I lovemath I think calculus is the
most beautiful art form in theworld but Yeah, I couldn't
memorize a 10-digit number ifyou gave it to me right now.
(22:21):
I
SPEAKER_02 (22:22):
still don't buy for a second that you're terrible
with numbers.
I just don't buy it.
No, but I think that kind ofleads us into, you know...
What's the equation for ThinkBizgoing from here?
What do you see the future ofthe company looking
SPEAKER_00 (22:43):
like?
So I'm down with the ZenFlow.
I think we've got really goodpartners and advisors and people
in place.
For instance, there's this guyGarrett and this guy Nolan.
And they said, hey, we want tostart a podcast.
And it was like, yes.
I don't know anything about it,but I'm just like, yes, y'all do
that.
Right.
I used to have a preacher at achurch that I attended and she
(23:07):
was always like she got reallygood at.
Yes, you're now you're in chargeof like if you gave her a
suggestion like, hey, the churchshould do this.
Great.
You're in charge of that now.
Right.
And so that's like that's thementality I took is, again,
instead of trying to push peopleto do what I want is just
support people in what they wantto do.
And again, if you have goodpeople.
So I don't know where it's goingto go.
I'm not going to try to directit in a place.
(23:28):
That's the thing is even in ourclubs, like it's shared
leadership.
We try to make sure we share thespeaking time.
I want to make sure everybodygets clapped for multiple times
every meeting, but people aredoing multiple things to get
more face time, more follow upwith the visitors and the
member.
And so we're really trying touse that.
But also, you know, people aremaking suggestions to me daily
(23:51):
on how we could change things.
I'm like.
Yep, you implement that andlet's go, right?
And I'm fine with that.
And then if somebody else says,hey, no, okay, then let's get
together and let's talk aboutthat and let's compromise.
But I don't think it has to goto a certain place.
I think there's all sorts ofpotential, but that potential
only gets achieved if the peoplethat are doing it believe in it.
(24:15):
And so it's better if they cameup with that belief themselves
rather than I gave it to them.
SPEAKER_02 (24:19):
And that's really important too, because
relationality, how I have totalk about it to a lot of my
clients is to make it easier forpeople to relate to one another
is responsibility versusauthority.
If you are crying on your way toyour nine to five grind, it
means that you have all thisresponsibility to execute
something, but you have noauthority on the how, when, why
it gets done.
And vice versa, we're upset whentyranny occurs, when someone has
(24:42):
all the authority, but they'renot responsible for getting it
done.
So you really have this goodposition and understanding that,
you know what, you want to havea say in how it gets done, you
do it.
Right.
And that's really cool to justbe in an environment that
encourages that, that I don'tthink a lot of people
experience, even in their ownday to day.
Right.
Well, and we see such powerfulthings happen from grassroots
(25:04):
types of organizations, becauseYou know, I don't know how many
times I've seen a company do arebrand and they're like, the
company means this and this andthis.
And they have like 2000employees and they didn't talk
to a single one of them duringthe rebrand.
And they were like, our companymeans this.
And they're like, we don't care.
And so having a group wherepeople are invested and they're
(25:30):
making suggestions and they aresaying, Hey, I want to be a part
of X leadership position.
It's really encouraging to mebecause it shows that there,
there really is something here.
Um, and I can't wait to seewhere it ends up going.
Um, so Dirk, How can people findyou and support what you do in
(25:58):
all the different ways that itcomes around, whether that's an
email or a website or a phonenumber?
Where can people find you at?
SPEAKER_00 (26:08):
I think the best place to start is
thinkbiz.solutions.
They've got a cool website, andthat's the name of our referral
clubs and where we're showingthe small business and startup
support programs.
ThinkBiz.Solutions is onFacebook and all the social
medias.
But starting there, buthonestly, just Project 3810, if
(26:31):
you're local in Oklahoma Cityand listening to this, if you're
a small business or startupowner, you know, Project 3810 is
where we meet Tuesdays at 930and just show up and we'll take
it from there.
Thursdays at 9.30 there's a cluband Fridays at 9.30 there's a
coffee group.
To really see what we do is comeconnect with the people, the
whole group.
(26:52):
Thinkbiz.solutions is not me.
It's not just the website.
It's literally the community andeverybody that's pouring into
it.
SPEAKER_02 (26:59):
Absolutely.
And I'll, I'll make a plug for,uh, we're getting a Norman group
going too, and it's in the worksand, uh, uh, styles on gray is
going to be where we meet forthat one.
So I live in Norman and that'sa, so that one's, that one's
exciting for me.
Um, eight o'clock AM onWednesdays.
Yep.
You might've said that.
(27:19):
No, no, I didn't.
Definitely do.
Well, it's been such a good timegetting to be able to have you
on the podcast and be able tochat about your experience as
well as the organization.
Nolan, anything else big that weneed to just...
I mean, the biggest thing isjust to quiz him on if he knows
his own tagline for his ownbusiness.
(27:41):
So let's stay sharp.
SPEAKER_00 (27:45):
Think biz.
Is this you?
SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
Excellent.
Hello, hello.
We are here once again, theThinkBiz podcast crew.
I am Garrett Hammons of HammonsMedia.
And I am Nolan Rogers rightacross from you, Garrett.
It is good to be here as always.
Did y'all hear him cut me offlike that?
I did.
Just right in the middle oftrying to say his name.
We're horrible.
We're horrible friends.
(00:33):
We're bad for each other.
Well, I'll tell you what is goodfor us.
It's good for us to have...
So many cool guests come on thispodcast.
And today, we have the one.
The only.
The Dirk Neitzel.
Fearless leader of ThinkBee'sSolutions.
SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
I like how it was cool guests and dark nights.
Wow, guys.
I do have a complaint.
I thought I was going to get tohear you guys sing the jingle,
but I guess you prerecorded.
We did prerecord the jingle.
Solutions.
SPEAKER_02 (01:09):
Yeah, you know, you never know where the falsetto is
going to be on one day to thenext.
Got to prerecord it.
Got to prerecord it.
But we have a man of many hatssitting with us today.
the glorious founder, owner, andoperator of ThinkBiz Solutions
on top of all the other thingsthat you do on a regular basis
for yourself, for your girls,for our community and network.
(01:30):
Man, Dirk, it's awesome to haveyou here, sir.
I'm glad to be here.
Tell us a little bit about Dirk.
Who is he really?
SPEAKER_00 (01:40):
What does he do?
Well, I was born at, no, I'mjust kidding.
I'm a local Oklahoma City guy.
Went to Northwest class in highschool here in Oklahoma City and
then OSU and I've been aroundthe United States teaching and
doing solar and business and allthe things I can do to help.
SPEAKER_02 (01:58):
And you're not really an OSU fan, right?
SPEAKER_00 (02:04):
Well, I like to say I'm an OSU alum.
SPEAKER_02 (02:05):
As not an OK, I love the OU-OSU rivalry thing.
I'm just like, ah, freeentertainment.
This is great.
I'm from Texas originally, and Idon't even care about any of the
Texas schools.
So I'm just like...
I am an instigator.
That's what I am.
And I'm going to instigatebecause I don't think Texas
(02:26):
cares about the Texas schools,but moving on.
So you have started ThinkBizSolutions.
Where did this originate?
What got everything startedthere?
For that, because you've done alot of things, but this is one
of your new babies, right?
SPEAKER_00 (02:47):
Yeah, this is my new and my favorite.
It is a long time coming ofthere's so many startups and
small businesses that needcertain things and a lot of the
price points.
Or the education is just notavailable to them.
They're really good at theirthing, but they're not
necessarily versed in smallbusiness startup, which is
(03:09):
different than small businessrunning.
And then the other piece of thatis referral clubs.
And I love networking.
And some of the networkinggroups are out of price range or
unavailable to the people thatneed them most.
And so we try to make one thatwas...
In line with our values and thepeople that we wanted to hang
(03:30):
out with the most and serve themost and make it accessible to
everyone.
And so we put, then it juststarted, okay, what else can we
do for people?
And oh, what else can we do forpeople?
And I think it's continuing toevolve and it's short five
months of development.
It is.
It
SPEAKER_02 (03:52):
is coming along pretty well.
And I think it's reallyinteresting, too, that you've
worn so many hats.
You have this wonderful resumeof all the things that you've
done.
But what specifically does theThinkBiz solutions networking
group solve that a lot of otherthings don't?
for our listeners?
SPEAKER_00 (04:08):
Number one is price point.
No upfront application fee,which is just a turnoff.
You don't have to pay theannual.
It's month by month.
We do a free month.
The idea is if you're gettingbusiness out of the referral
club, it's already paid formonth two.
And so easy accessibility.
The other thing that we do is wetry to do an educational piece
(04:30):
and discuss concepts and lesspitchy less selling to each
other and more buildingrelationships sharing experience
helping each other solveproblems a lot of which we all
have in common or a couple ofpeople have that problem but a
couple other people on the otherside of the room know the answer
and so unless we can get in asafe space and discuss those
(04:52):
then everybody has the solutionsand they're not connected to the
person with the problem and sosolving each other's problems
and then also passing referralsI think is and honestly just the
fact that you get clapped foronce a week when you say who you
are and what business you do andjust just loving on each other
and a friendly phone call when,when you're not there.
So I'm trying to, trying toprovide the community and the
(05:14):
love in addition to, you know,obviously giving people
financial value for, for theirattendance.
SPEAKER_02 (05:21):
I think, I think we sometimes undervalue the power
of just a good clap once a week.
You know, you may be having ahard week and somebody being
like, you know what?
You got this.
It's I mean, it gets me througha tough day every now and again.
And so that vibes, vibes, I'mdoing air quotes right now.
(05:44):
It makes a big difference.
And I know that.
You know, Dirk has been kindenough to let me work on some
marketing things of theorganization.
And obviously Nolan and I are ona podcast called Think Biz
Podcast.
So we've never heard of thisorganization before.
(06:08):
You know, I love that it's socommunity-based and it's focused
on...
helping people grow it.
You don't have to have to get,um, you know, a hundred million
dollars in being a part of thegroup.
You may, you may be giving as apart of the group.
You may be mentoring otherpeople, you know, there's
(06:29):
businesses of different sizesand that community piece, it
really enriches, um, at least mylife as a, as a business owner.
Nolan, what's, what's kind ofbeen, I know we're interviewing
Dirk, but what's been yourexperience with, with ThinkBiz
so far?
Well, it's the same phenomenonthat I've noted with a lot of my
other friends on the East andWest Coast that are doing
(06:51):
spiritual consultations, arekind of weird, magical folks
that do some weird, magicalthings.
Most of our value hasn'tnecessarily come from people
selling courses and selling us,hey, exchange money for this
knowledge we're going to giveyou.
And instead, most of the valuescome from us just talking to
each other on a regular basis.
And that's the same thing thatThinkBiz does.
I really wish I had...
(07:14):
a year and a half ago, wheneverI started figuring this out for
myself in really just getting tounderstand that I needed a
network of businessprofessionals that I could just
talk to every week.
That would have helped me savelots of money, save lots of
money, get my head in a betterdirection around a number of
(07:35):
things.
And also just know that you'renot, you're not crazy for
wanting to work for yourself andwant to live a better life.
Because oftentimes when you arethe only person in your current
network or community that says,nope, I don't want to work for
somebody else.
Everybody looks at you likeyou're crazy and they tell you
to not do it.
Right.
And just having this group, evenon the back end, has been so
(07:57):
helpful in reaffirming theintuitions and instincts for me
to even start working formyself.
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, Dirk, to direct thingsback to you here for a second,
can you share a moment with uswhere something maybe went
sideways when it came to one ofthe businesses that you have
(08:18):
helped grow and even said yousold three businesses over time?
And what did that teach you thatyou want to be able to help
others learn from throughout theprocess?
SPEAKER_00 (08:33):
Nothing at all.
Nothing worth sharing.
Now, I want to say that thehardest thing for me was finding
other people to partner withinside of the business.
Very good at referral networkingwith other business owners that
do their thing.
But as an owner, when you'retalking to other owners, they're
(08:54):
going to treat their businesslike they own it.
And so my greatest strugglestill to this day is finding
non-owners to come in and workas hard.
And so trying to find peoplethat can be part owners and, you
know, how can we take this andgrow it together?
And so that still continues tothis day to be one of the things
(09:17):
that I have to figure out betterand better.
And I was a coach and a teacherfor a long time, but motivating
others to get the most out ofthem and helping them be
successful for their own self.
How can I help this person makemoney for themselves and their
family?
Or add value and have a good,positive, successful company?
(09:38):
to this day is the thing thatkeeps me up at night you know I
get better and better at it andthere's a lot of us that you
know I take advice and read andlisten to all the podcasts
except for this one I wouldnever listen to this one but
finding how to motivate othersand make others successful I
think is always the thing thatirks me the most because you
(09:58):
want to see people be successful
SPEAKER_02 (10:00):
Yeah.
And if that's kind of the mainthing that continues to be the
crawl in your throat, what doyou notice begins that process
of turning a person into someonethat either can't or doesn't
want to put in the level of workor act like an owner of their
own life, let alone business orbusiness responsibilities?
SPEAKER_00 (10:18):
I think there's a lot of initiative is easy,
right?
Oh, I have this good idea.
It's the determination and thefall through to finish it no
matter what that I think is It'salso like there's other options.
Like, oh, this got difficult.
Let me find an easier path.
And it's like, well, thedifficult path led to a much
greater reward.
And so, you know, selling thevision, I think, but also if you
(10:42):
can make the path easier forpeople, that's great.
But then everybody would do it.
Yeah.
(11:02):
calendar blocking and how totake a to-do list and turn it
into a schedule of things.
And so just trying to findbetter tools.
And the other thing iseverybody's different.
And so you have to learn thatthe tools that work, I have to
learn that the tools that workfor me aren't necessarily what's
going to work for other people.
(11:23):
And so always trying somethingnew is okay.
SPEAKER_02 (11:27):
Absolutely.
Well, I mean...
That goes to show your head's inthe right space with just,
there's so much, there's so muchchanging out there when it comes
to tools and technologies andthings to that nature.
But, you know, there's alsothose constant, those pieces of
drive and where you want to be ahard worker.
(11:49):
There's elements of that thatwill, you know, that can be
taught, but are also just a partof life.
almost feels like our geneticstructure in a lot of ways.
There's this effect in kind ofbehavioral marketing studies
that's called the IKEA effect.
And, you know, I love IKEA justas much as the next person.
(12:11):
Because you take this piece offurniture home and it has a set
of instructions and you buildit.
And then you look at it andyou're like, oh my goodness, I
made this.
But it's a whole phenomenonbecause when we...
put hard work into something, orif we perceive that hard work
was put into something, we valueit more.
(12:34):
And, you know, the best thingsin life are worth working at and
often don't come easy.
And so I think all that stuffmakes a lot of sense to me.
Most definitely.
And it's one of those thingsthat we tend to ask everybody on
the podcast so far, somethingaround the advice they would
(12:54):
give to new entrepreneurs.
But I would argue, well, youshould come on Tuesdays at 9.30
to Think Biz Networking Groupand get some of those pieces.
But I think you're really wellpositioned to also help solve
that beginning portion of theinitiative and the discipline
portion of, can you kind of walka new entrepreneur through the
math of risk?
SPEAKER_00 (13:13):
Sure.
I think...
Most people don't becomeentrepreneurs if they don't
already have a little bit ofeither risk tolerance or just
incredible belief in yourself,right?
And so they already come withsomething.
And so you're building on it.
You're watering a seed that'salready there because people
that don't believe in themselvesor don't have that risk
(13:36):
tolerance, they're not going tobecome self-employed.
We see a lot of...
The other side of that coin isit's a gig economy, right?
And so a lot of people...
You're helping them start asmall business and figuring out
how to make that work with theother business that they do.
right or helping them grow intosomething but they don't
necessarily have the fullschedule that you do and so
(13:58):
again finding it's really aboutlistening to everyone's
individual story their specificbusiness their target market's
different than mine theirschedule is different than mine
and just playing like hey Idon't have a tool that's going
to help you but I will listenand I will get all the creative
people problem solver minds thatI know to come listen to you too
and let's see if we can figurethis out together
SPEAKER_02 (14:19):
yeah yeah I think that's one of the power powerful
things about networking ingeneral and I would almost
classify you as like anetworking king you are so good
at it what's advice that youwould give to somebody who's
trying to get better atnetworking in general
SPEAKER_00 (14:38):
so I always say this like a it's okay to be bad at
your 60 second pitch it's moreendearing than the guy that is
polished it's more approachablethe other thing is Follow up.
I will only go to networkingevents where I'm going to get a
list of everyone that was there.
You can literally go to half ofthem, check in on the QR code,
(15:01):
and leave.
Because nothing actually happensat the networking events other
than it's a new lead.
It's a new set of people.
And so I want to go.
I physically make contact witheveryone I know.
That's just a hard, fast rule.
That's just who I am as aperson.
Somebody pointed out that I didit, and so now I guess I do it
intentionally.
And then I try not to talk tothem because they're there to
(15:23):
meet new people too.
And if you run into the wrongperson you know, they're going
to take up all your time.
And I'm sorry, but I'm workingright now.
It's just like having a closeddoor.
I'm here at a networking event.
I'm working.
I try to feed a family, tryingto bolster a team.
And so I'm working.
I'm going to say hi to everyoneI know, but I'm trying to make a
deep, genuine connection witheveryone I don't.
(15:45):
But more importantly, I'm goingto call, text, and email people
And connect with them onLinkedIn and probably Facebook.
Because to me, I don't separatemy personal connections from my
business connections.
I can look everyone I've everdone business with in the eye
and a lot of us still hang out.
And so...
We don't separate that, but Iwant to be on their social
(16:07):
media, on their phone as a textmessage or call in an email and
try to get a Zoom call with themone-on-one where I can actually
learn about them.
One of the things that peoplesay about me, though, is in a
30-minute phone call or Zoom,you're going to get 30 minutes
to talk to me.
And I try not to just tell mylife story or say much about me.
I really want to learn about theperson, which is important.
(16:30):
A, better for them, they'regoing to like it, but also B,
that gives me a better angle ifI do want to do business with
the person I know more aboutthem and how to help with the
problems they have.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (16:42):
Well, I mean, and it all comes back to that
relationship piece.
You know, we, we often try inand pretend like it's, it's
possible to fully separate, youknow, here's work and here's
your personal life.
And it's like, we, I mean, Idon't stop being the same human
person when I go home versuswhen I'm at work.
(17:02):
Now there are differentboundaries in different places.
Right.
But it's like the fact that you,you do genuinely care.
care about getting to know otherpeople and and then if it's a
good fit for them to to havesomething that you know can help
them and that they can recognizethat will help them it's like
why wouldn't you why wouldn'tyou do that you know but it's
(17:25):
all built on that relationshiprelationship piece which i think
is awesome
SPEAKER_00 (17:29):
yeah and i even even on my companies and my jobs I do
insurance.
I do investments.
I do solar.
I do small business coaching andall the different marketing.
And if I don't do it myself, Iknow the person to refer them
to.
I'm going to change my job tomold to fit the people that need
things rather than try to say,hey, I do this thing and let me
push on everybody.
(17:51):
And so finding out people islike, hey, I don't help with
that, but maybe I should.
Maybe I should learn how to helppeople with that because it
seems like multiple people needhelp with that.
And so if you really just say, Iwant to help people, And my job
is just to do that rather thanthe other way around.
I think warm networking fits.
SPEAKER_02 (18:10):
What we see happen from that, too, is a phrase I
hear you say all the time is,well, I know a guy.
And that's part of the ThinkBizreferral groups.
Maybe there's something that youcome across.
You meet all kinds of people,and our goal for everybody in
the group is to Hey, when youmeet somebody who asked about
(18:35):
something you don't do, you cansay, Hey, I know a guy.
SPEAKER_00 (18:40):
And if they're in referral club, I get to say,
Hey, I know this guy and I havecoffee with him every week.
And that's that one littlething.
It seals the deal before you'veeven had to go talk to him.
UNKNOWN (18:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (18:51):
Well, and it also speaks to kind of the thing that
I have to do for some of myclients in session that are
looking for their career path orsomething to do.
And they're either thinkingabout going to college or
they're not happy with thedegree they're in.
And I tell them, go to the 10people you think are successful
or have a version of happinessthat you like to see in the
world.
And then have them make them twolists, 10 things each.
(19:14):
First list is 10 things youcan't live without.
And the second list is 10 thingsyou hate doing for yourself.
And it came up in conversationtoday during networking.
It's like, hey, so what happenswhen this network grows itself?
And you didn't really have anyissue there because you know how
to just grow and change andshift.
And so I think it would beinteresting to see, like, what
(19:35):
are a few of those things thatyou can't live without that
either you don't already do foryourself or you're willing to
learn?
And then what are a few of thosethings that you hate doing for
yourself and would love to paysomeone to do for you?
Put them in the hot seat.
I'll be
SPEAKER_00 (19:49):
honest.
I have a short attention span.
Okay.
And so reading a long documentor listening to someone's long
story, it makes me, I took, youknow, I worked a long time in
corporate job and then I, Idon't know.
I got to be the self-employed.
Even though I work longer hoursnow, the thought of driving to
(20:12):
an office and sitting in frontof a cubicle, the last time I
accepted a job and I was drivingto do that, I was in tears.
I just had to call them.
I don't know why I used to, butI can't anymore.
I can't sit still.
I don't think I could ever goback to just working one job.
I love working multiple andbeing able to help people with
(20:33):
multiple things.
But yeah, if it comes down tolike nitty gritty, the
bookkeeping, accounting stuff, Ithink I have to hand that off
because I hate it.
And then there's other things Ihand off because I know there's
better people.
Like if I need a digitalmarketer, I'm going to use
Garrett with Hammonds Mediabecause I could do it, but it's
(20:57):
not going to get me It wouldtake me longer, and it would not
give me any return on my time.
Just so
SPEAKER_02 (21:03):
everyone knows, I did pay him to say that.
SPEAKER_00 (21:05):
No, but seriously, there are certain things you
could do, but it's not that Ihate them, but I'm just like, I
know I'm not going to be good atthis.
And so I need to find somebody.
This needs to be done right.
And so just knowing when to handit off.
Absolutely.
So I hate doing things that Iknow I'm not doing well.
SPEAKER_02 (21:22):
I think it's so funny, too, that bookkeeping is
one of the things that you hate.
Because...
Dirk was a math teacher for many
SPEAKER_00 (21:30):
years.
I still am.
That's what financial advisingis.
He's
SPEAKER_02 (21:35):
presently a financial advisor.
He can't talk about it.
We really wanted him to give usall the financial advice, but he
said it was illegal.
SPEAKER_00 (21:44):
It's not that it's illegal.
Compliance is such a big thingin our industry.
I don't know what I'm allowed totalk about and what I'm not.
That's not the story I'm going
SPEAKER_02 (21:53):
to tell.
Different headlines.
Dirk Dietzel tells you the onetrick to save all of your money.
financial worries that's right10 billion zeros in the bank
SPEAKER_00 (22:00):
no math for me is about relationships and not just
with the people I'm working withlike yes build rapport with your
students but really how thingsflow and the relationship I'm
terrible with numbers but I lovemath I think calculus is the
most beautiful art form in theworld but Yeah, I couldn't
memorize a 10-digit number ifyou gave it to me right now.
(22:21):
I
SPEAKER_02 (22:22):
still don't buy for a second that you're terrible
with numbers.
I just don't buy it.
No, but I think that kind ofleads us into, you know...
What's the equation for ThinkBizgoing from here?
What do you see the future ofthe company looking
SPEAKER_00 (22:43):
like?
So I'm down with the ZenFlow.
I think we've got really goodpartners and advisors and people
in place.
For instance, there's this guyGarrett and this guy Nolan.
And they said, hey, we want tostart a podcast.
And it was like, yes.
I don't know anything about it,but I'm just like, yes, y'all do
that.
Right.
I used to have a preacher at achurch that I attended and she
(23:07):
was always like she got reallygood at.
Yes, you're now you're in chargeof like if you gave her a
suggestion like, hey, the churchshould do this.
Great.
You're in charge of that now.
Right.
And so that's like that's thementality I took is, again,
instead of trying to push peopleto do what I want is just
support people in what they wantto do.
And again, if you have goodpeople.
So I don't know where it's goingto go.
I'm not going to try to directit in a place.
(23:28):
That's the thing is even in ourclubs, like it's shared
leadership.
We try to make sure we share thespeaking time.
I want to make sure everybodygets clapped for multiple times
every meeting, but people aredoing multiple things to get
more face time, more follow upwith the visitors and the
member.
And so we're really trying touse that.
But also, you know, people aremaking suggestions to me daily
(23:51):
on how we could change things.
I'm like.
Yep, you implement that andlet's go, right?
And I'm fine with that.
And then if somebody else says,hey, no, okay, then let's get
together and let's talk aboutthat and let's compromise.
But I don't think it has to goto a certain place.
I think there's all sorts ofpotential, but that potential
only gets achieved if the peoplethat are doing it believe in it.
(24:15):
And so it's better if they cameup with that belief themselves
rather than I gave it to them.
SPEAKER_02 (24:19):
And that's really important too, because
relationality, how I have totalk about it to a lot of my
clients is to make it easier forpeople to relate to one another
is responsibility versusauthority.
If you are crying on your way toyour nine to five grind, it
means that you have all thisresponsibility to execute
something, but you have noauthority on the how, when, why
it gets done.
And vice versa, we're upset whentyranny occurs, when someone has
(24:42):
all the authority, but they'renot responsible for getting it
done.
So you really have this goodposition and understanding that,
you know what, you want to havea say in how it gets done, you
do it.
Right.
And that's really cool to justbe in an environment that
encourages that, that I don'tthink a lot of people
experience, even in their ownday to day.
Right.
Well, and we see such powerfulthings happen from grassroots
(25:04):
types of organizations, becauseYou know, I don't know how many
times I've seen a company do arebrand and they're like, the
company means this and this andthis.
And they have like 2000employees and they didn't talk
to a single one of them duringthe rebrand.
And they were like, our companymeans this.
And they're like, we don't care.
And so having a group wherepeople are invested and they're
(25:30):
making suggestions and they aresaying, Hey, I want to be a part
of X leadership position.
It's really encouraging to mebecause it shows that there,
there really is something here.
Um, and I can't wait to seewhere it ends up going.
Um, so Dirk, How can people findyou and support what you do in
(25:58):
all the different ways that itcomes around, whether that's an
email or a website or a phonenumber?
Where can people find you at?
SPEAKER_00 (26:08):
I think the best place to start is
thinkbiz.solutions.
They've got a cool website, andthat's the name of our referral
clubs and where we're showingthe small business and startup
support programs.
ThinkBiz.Solutions is onFacebook and all the social
medias.
But starting there, buthonestly, just Project 3810, if
(26:31):
you're local in Oklahoma Cityand listening to this, if you're
a small business or startupowner, you know, Project 3810 is
where we meet Tuesdays at 930and just show up and we'll take
it from there.
Thursdays at 9.30 there's a cluband Fridays at 9.30 there's a
coffee group.
To really see what we do is comeconnect with the people, the
whole group.
(26:52):
Thinkbiz.solutions is not me.
It's not just the website.
It's literally the community andeverybody that's pouring into
it.
SPEAKER_02 (26:59):
Absolutely.
And I'll, I'll make a plug for,uh, we're getting a Norman group
going too, and it's in the worksand, uh, uh, styles on gray is
going to be where we meet forthat one.
So I live in Norman and that'sa, so that one's, that one's
exciting for me.
Um, eight o'clock AM onWednesdays.
Yep.
You might've said that.
(27:19):
No, no, I didn't.
Definitely do.
Well, it's been such a good timegetting to be able to have you
on the podcast and be able tochat about your experience as
well as the organization.
Nolan, anything else big that weneed to just...
I mean, the biggest thing isjust to quiz him on if he knows
his own tagline for his ownbusiness.
(27:41):
So let's stay sharp.
SPEAKER_00 (27:45):
Think biz.
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