Episode #267 – Turning Real Estate Investing Into Art with Frank McKinney, Part 2

You're listening to the REI marketing nerds podcast, the leading resource for real estate investors who want to dominate their market online. Dan Barrett is the founder of AdWords nerds, a high tech digital agency focusing exclusively on helping real estate investors like you get more leads and deals online, outsmart your competition and live a freer, more awesome life. And now, your host, Dan Barrett.

0:39 Guys, welcome back. You're listening to the second part of last week's episode. Let's jump back in. That was the section I am super curious, I would have to ask about your books. You've written a ton of books, you mentioned this, many of them are Amazon bestsellers, right? You've written them with multiple genres, multiple topics. So one, how did you get started writing? And two, I want to ask, like, what role does that play in your life? Right? There's clearly a drive in you to write because you can have all these thoughts and, and not put them out there. So how did you get started? And what role does writing and being an author play in your life today? Like why put so much of your time which is valuable into that versus anything else?

1:30 Okay, so So remember, all my answers will start from the from the baseline of having a 1.8 GPA, being a linear thinker and a simpleton. So how did it start? I was starting to succeed at the highest level in real estate, people are asking me to come talk to business organizations, Harvard Business Club, commencement speeches, what have you. And I had a piece of legal size paper folded in half in my top pocket. And then on that one piece of paper, I had 50 philosophies that I live by, that I just kind of threw together that kind of got me to where I am. And what I would do if it was a Harvard Business Club, or wherever I went to, when I'm not wherever it was Harvard Business Club, I would hand pick four or five because that's how much time I had. And I would talk about if it was a commencement speech and an eighth grade graduation, it was a different set, right? Somebody came up to me said, Thank you, let me see that you need to really take those 50 philosophies and turn them into a book, which was my very first book make it big 49 secrets for building a life of this dream success. The publisher said you need to do an odd number it's an immediate No. So I love to I one of the secrets and maybe it showed up later. But so so that was that it took me it took me three years it took me 22 rejections from agents over 50 rejections from publishers before it finally got that first book published in 2002. Wow. And it's really a philosophical book. It wasn't a real estate book damn Yeah, sure loved it. Love the results said that's great. You fancy yourself a philosopher Frank, but but you're really real estate guy. So you got the philosophy book out of the way write a book on real estate. Second book, right McKinney's Maverick approach to real estate success, how to go from a $50,000 foot flip to a $50 million mansion. And then it was a first book that took people step by step on how to go from A to B.

And then I realized you know what I am I'm a Christian. I'm a spiritual man I wrote a wrote a spiritual book called the tap, which is based upon the passage from the Gospel of Luke 1240, to whom much is entrusted much as required to whom much is given much as expected. If you're not in the Bible, it's a great like, mantras don't turn me off or turn Dan's podcast off. Yeah, I want my daughter to school every single day for 10 years. As 1652 consecutive walks. I turned that into my only young reader fantasy novel based upon that adventure adventures we've had over that 10 year span. I wrote a second real estate book called bursts that a sprint McKinney's bubbled through real estate strategies. Then I moved into Christian romance, the other thief then I wrote my only mindset book Aspire how to create your reality alter your DNA, then adverse otology overcoming adversity when you're hanging on by a thread, and the new book by the time you enter this, which is a compilation at the end really aspirational thoughts inspirational images, an art gallery and teacher a photography exhibit and mentor. So that's, that's the products you know, not I guess I'm plugging them but that's the products but the I the y's are I think if I didn't have the outlet of writing, like I might look like a lot of fun, but I'm a nerd in sheep's clothing. Like I go to bed at eight you know before my wife calls me that very word like he's a lot less exciting than he looks. That's my outlet. Like that's my I really enjoying the challenge of writing new genres. The ultimate Why is one What if you all go to Frank Deshmukh, can you go to Amazon? One book provides a hug or meals in one of our orphanages in the 31 self sustaining villages that we built in Haiti over the last 20 years. We won't have time to probably get into that. But that's like, that's that these kids are eating. If this is a business of you know, hamburger press, little hamburger kids are eating dirt flavored with Bojan and lemon juice. Yeah, well, one book they're eating two part protein, one pork carbohydrate, one of our villages. So the books I make no money from my books, by the way, I made all my money real estate, but the books help fund the operations Nate.

5:28 Wow, that's amazing. Dude, I didn't realize that I was aware of your nonprofit, we're ready to realize the connection there. That's amazing. That's super cool. Yeah. Yeah, One Book, One book provides 100 meals. So literally, like the cost of a single book pays for 100 meals in Haiti. Not well, not my cough, if you bought one of the books, provides 100 meals
to children. Oh, that's amazing. Okay, well, look, obviously go on Amazon search up Frank McKinney, you can pick your genre that you're interested in. And there's no reason not to do that. That's amazing. You know, that's one thing. And that's why I bought back the title. I bought back the rights to all but two of the titles. I couldn't get the first two titles. But Karen House books is its own publishing entity caring houses, the name of our our nonprofit that builds itself to an end. So we own the rights, we make a little bit more money, each book and more money goes over to Haiti. I

6:20 mean, I love that so much. And we will obviously I'll put links to all this stuff in the show notes. But obviously, you can go to the website, which is Frank hyphen, mckinney.com. You find it or go on Amazon. Just look up Frank McKinney, you'll find them there to trick I know, we're coming up on time, I want to respect your time, there's a million more things I want to ask about it. Here's kind of a random one. But I'm very curious. Man, you got a lot of stuff going on. i Today I'm feeling particularly overwhelmed just by random life stuff, right? It's it's got a lot going on. Like, how do you manage so many different things happening at once? Like, is it the kind of thing where like, in practice for you, it's really only one thing at a time, because to me, it's like, you're in the real estate, you're speaking you're writing, there's like, there's like so many different things going on? How do you manage that? Or is that the wrong question? I mean, by all means, let me know if so,

7:10 first of all, we have plenty of time. So so so take your time, I'm not gonna hurry. people have this misconception that I have all these balls juggling in the air. Yeah, go be a linear thinker. The one point I can't listen to music while I'm working, I can't have the TV on while I'm working. I really have to work on one thing at a time. And typically, it would be like in the morning, I remember when I was writing my my spiritual book, you know, that's when I'm in my Bible, and I'm praying and stuff. So so that would be the time that I might be a little bit more adept at writing during the day, you know, I'll set aside side time for the real estate stuff. And at night, it's family, you know, training for one of my ultra marathons, but I, I've perfected the art of efficiency. And part of part of that process is is how to say no to my own self, not to other people. It's to like that, like if you had a frazzled day today, and you were being pulled in so many directions, it's up to you to say no to yourself to be pulled into that direction. And that's a discipline, you know, that comes over time. And I think the discipline, you know, discipline for me is like an impulse seed and impulse seed is planted. And I make sure when I have an impulse, like, Okay, I want to write a new genre or run a new race.

That's an impulse that I get, I am very impulsive. Is it going to construct an impulse? Or is it a destructive impulse, I really still have to put it through a filter to see if it's destructive or constructive. And it happens quickly. Once it's constructive. I plant that, that I make sure that root grows fast and deep. Because the deeper the impulse seed root grows, the harder it is to uproot it, meaning being distracted into something else. You're not as old as I am. But you're out the generation where you have the ability to stay a little more focused the younger generation, you know that that's something that I focused on even in this new book is how to have manana moto Minocqua, focus, Moto maniacal like the blinders of a hornet racehorse when it's appropriate. And and listen, I people say, Oh, you you've done all these genres. Dan, I didn't do a book until I'd been in real estate for 20 some years. Yeah, like I feel like I want I want to carve my niche a little deeper and wider. I don't want to carve a little niche here a little the chair, but I mean, it's taken me 35 years to carve the real estate niche and the book niche that's in my, in the charity niche. That's all I have. I don't have a lot of irons in the fire.

9:36 Yeah, I think, you know, it's funny, man. I've asked that question a couple different people who you know, very accomplished people. It's very, it's very common thread and the response of, it's more about choosing what not to do than it is about choosing what to do. And okay, you reminded me this I almost forgot to ask about the ultra marathoning which is why Like, in a different interview, that would have been the first thing I talked about, but alright, so we got to dig into this. So at being someone who ran a 5k, like, once was like, That was enough for me. What is the appeal of the ultra marathon? Like, and I specifically I am so curious about this experience for you, you aren't like, halfway. So you are halfway on this incredibly, you know, for anybody really taxing experience? You're halfway right? You still got half to go? What is going through your head? Like, what is that experience like for you in the moments? You know, it's one thing to end it's one thing to be at the beginning, what is that like in the middle for you? And what about that experience makes you want to keep pursuing it and having it over and over again,

10:48 let's start by defining what an ultramarathon is for your viewers and listeners who aren't sure so, so it is a marathon is technically any distance over traditional marathon. So it could be a 50k, which is 31 Miles could be 100k, which is 6162 Miles 100 mile or 50 miler. So, in 20 years ago, I stumbled across I stumbled upon the sport, I'd never heard the word ultra marathon uttered in my life. And I was out of Death Valley vacationing. And I went out for my typical like, 10k fast twitch muscle run. I didn't realize it was you know, 125 degrees and I was running a 200 degree pavement I almost died. I literally, my wife had to bring me back to life because I had brought a bottle of water about the size of this I dried up I wasn't, I wasn't prepared. I went to the general store as and after bananas and Gatorade and the cart looked at me with these little 49 or prospector rim glasses. I'll never forget to you better get back out there. You're in last place. I said excuse me, sir. And he said he yelled at me. I said, Excuse me. Sorry, I just want but as a Gatorade. If you don't hurry up, you're not going to make the cut off. Okay, look, I know I'm looked flushed, and I'm all sweaty and my eyes roll back in my head. But what the hell are you talking about? Yeah, you're not a part of the Badwater ultramarathon. I hadn't booked a vacation during the race without even knowing there was such a thing.

12:07 Oh, okay. All right. So the bat band wanders through Death Valley. It's such runs through death valley in July on blacktop pavement is 200 degrees is 135 miles from point to point over three mountain ranges up and down three mountain ranges nonstop. 40 hour time limit. When I heard there were other people out there running in the temperature. I tried to do a 10 foot six mile run and couldn't finish it yet. They were going 135 miles, I was instantly intoxicated with what I call the three eyes. And this happens to everybody in life, the insurmountable, the incomprehensible, and the impossible. It was insurmountable, incomprehensible and impossible for me to believe somebody was out there running that far in that eat. But wait, they were doing it. Yeah, I'm a human. I've got blood, you know, flesh and bones and cartilage just like they do. Law. Long story short, I hired a coach in oh four, who got me ready. I was I'm a good writer, you had to write an application to get into the race. I wrote like a dissertation to get into Harvard, Harvard, Yale. And I was on that starting line in 2005. From that year to the date for that fateful run. Since that time, I have started the race 12 times I failed by I finished seven. And what it represents to me it it should represent represent to your listeners and viewers forget the fact that my insurmountable incomprehensible and impossible by three eyes is this thing in Death Valley called the Badwater 135 mile ultra marathon.

But there's others there's been others there has been made bigger real estate project, bigger chances I've taken with finishes in a house that were insurmountable, incomprehensible and impossible. So if I can convert my body and mind more importantly, my mind into an ultramarathon runner, I was gifted, I work for every single, there's 250,000 times my feet hit the ground in that race, every single football I have to fight for. And I finished in an average time of 44 hours, Dan, like, I'm not a front runner. I'm right in the back. And there's been times I didn't make the cut off and I didn't finish. But everybody listening and watching, you will have regrets in life. No matter what you do. You're gonna have regrets in life. I made a commitment, a commitment to myself years decades ago to regret what I did, not what I didn't do. So I'm closer than most to be sitting in that rocking chair on my front porch at 80. Some years old, I will take the only regrets. I'll look back on and say man, you know, he really was nuts trying to do $100 million spec house. I kind of regret doing that loss of money. But I would never want to be sitting in that same rocking chair saying you know what? I regret not trying that Badwater race. Think of the things I've learned even with my five times I've failed. Yeah. So that that's the takeaway is pursue the insurmountable, the incomprehensible, the impossible say yes, more than no train the mind is more than the mind and the body. I mean, the body My body is 10% away from race shape, but my mind is probably 30% away from Being in shape to race that race again. Once you pursue the insurmountable, the impossible the incomprehensible, it's not the elastic anymore. Right? It doesn't stretch back to the way it was the mind is much broader. And it gave me more confidence to try other things in life that weren't running related specifically what we tried it in our houses or oceanfront home.

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15:51 Let me ask this then as a way of kind of ending this interview because I think there's, I mean, it's like just my brain is spinning. There. But so with all that kind of as context, right, you've got this, this story of coming into real estate and kind of becoming this real estate artist and bringing this sense of craft to things that sense of marketing to your craft. You've got this kind of part of your life where you're an author and you're doing nonprofit work, and then you've got this approach to Gabino. Love the thing that you said about regretting what you did not what you didn't do. I think that's so powerful, right? So with all that as background, how do you decide what's next for you? Like when you look out in the world? What is exciting to you now? Is it just like I am trying to hone in on, you know, the perfect example of this thing I'm already doing? Are you constantly seeking something new? Like how do you decide what is next for you what you're going to take on next. And as a way of kind of finishing up and wedding people's whistle to go learn more, go learn more? What is next for you,

17:01 once I have replaced bride with gratitude? I can't tell you how many times people said Brian, Aren't you proud of all you've done in your life? And up until I was like 50? I would say yeah, I am. I'm no longer proud of a damn thing. I'm not proud of a single thing I'm done. I am so grateful that I was given the up, I was given the awareness to pursue the opportunity. So whatever's next has to come from that base. If it's and we'll get into what I'm what I'm doing right as we speak and depending on when you release this, but if it's not in service to my professional, or spiritual, highest calling, and now at the end toward the end of my life well for the back half of my life, it's gotta be more in service to my spiritual highest calling that dictates what's next. I don't have to I fight I should say I fight the need to have to better my previous best, you know is always about better. And I believe you can better your previous best until a certain point. And then he defined the word best and then he redefined the word better. You know, so I'm not up there will never be $100 million house so won't be a house bigger than 22 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms at 18 car garage, which was the biggest one we ever did. That's no longer part of the, the unhealthy ego that was the consumers. The material was in the egotist that existed in a younger friend weekend. So you know, i i Because of my faith, you know, and I pray for if I'm feeling a little sedentary or a little like unchallenged, I'll pray for something to be brought to me that might be next.

And what was laying on my heart about a year ago after adversity otology came out which was you know, it's basically a memoir on on a death sentence I got from my doctor and how to overcome physical financial relational spiritual adversities. I want to put together this compilation and compost I've got into photography about five years ago. This is this aspirational thoughts inspirational images at Art Gallery, teacher photography exhibit a mentor. In short, left hand page, oversized book eight by 12 Left hand page beautiful images of photography, right hand page, a collection of a few thoughts, quotes, ideas and sound bites from my entire career. We went back to 1998 unpublished manuscripts, rejected manuscripts books that have been published interviews on Oprah soundbites, I had a 14 go through. We had we had a lead or 1100 bucks quotes and ideas that I cut down to 260. Here's what I hope people get from this. And is there a 1010 category 10 chapters love God breathed. Hope, risk. introspect. It's there. It's there a death family. Let's say you need some hope in your life. Dan, you're going to open the hope chapter, you're going to find about 15 images that relate to hope and that you're going to read 15 pages in succession by have quotes that relate to hope. If you if one of those resonates with you, you know, you're going to remember it, the image on the other side of the page. So there's a beautiful image.

And these aren't just like sunrises and sunsets, they're from the mind or practically they're very evocative images, very creative. That image will help you retain, implement and take action on one of the many quotes in there. It's a whole new way of learning, retaining and implementing. So that jazz better jazz me it's a it's a very difficult book to put together. Yeah, but between now and April one, it's available on Amazon. It's available now from our fulfillment. And April 24. We're doing a big watch book launch party. And then what's what's unconventional is we will do a 52 City 33 State 10,110 mile book tour that doesn't just do TV stations, radio station, a podcast, we're stopping at over 50 homeless shelters, soup kitchens, food, pantries, detention centers, abuse, women's facilities, veterans facility, and treatment facilities to deliver the message of hope found in that book, because if you're a homeless person, and you've gone off the streets, you've lost everything. The last thing I want you to lose hope. And that's why we're making a stop at all these primarily homeless shelters will be your destination.

21:17 Wow, that's amazing. Dude, that's super cool. So your base? Are you like distributing the book? And like is that kind of like what the what the idea is? Well, from from the front of marketing side, the media will follow that because but not many, many authors stop at homeless shelter. And we enter them when I'm done with my little talk. Again, attention spans are really short. I'm not on a stage of standing out a cooler, I'm standing on a chair, you know, wherever they give me is we do a little it's like a game show. This is interesting. When you come in the door, you get a ticket, you know, one of the tickets that you tear and I got the same number of you got the same number. Yeah. And we put all those tickets into I borrow some guys have we put them in there. Because I've done this before. And we draw out nine winners. You'll get in a check this out with with inverted tautology which my last book, you get your choice. Remember, you're homeless, you get your choice of cash, right there on the spot, I give you cash, a gift card to target or McDonald's or Starbucks or something, or copy of the book 67% of the time in my last book, and 62% of the time of the book before that the first choice was the book well, because they want to feed their mind. It's a fascinating observation. And these, you know, listen, this is this a pretty rough environment. I'm usually in the minority with regards to my skin color, and certainly with my hair color. And yet the way that we're the Holy Spirit kind of parts, the Red Sea, and we're able to deliver this message of hope. It's one of the things that I were to put into the top five experiences of my life. It ranks up there in the top one, one or two. Wow,

22:51 that's incredible. They can't I mean, it's really shocking is not the right word. But I guess the pricing, right I mean, it's so fascinating. And just a really great example man of like the approach the drilling just pouring everything. I mean, what a great kind of way to end the interview. So we talked about the websites Frank hyphen, mckinnie.com obviously can go on Amazon look up, Frank McKinney could find many of Frank's books. And we got the new one, which is say the title one more time for people can go look this out. You said it's going to come out sort of April time. So what's the title again of the new one.

23:27 So you'll if you do go to Frank COVID mckinney.com. And there's a rotator at the top of my webpage, the very first image you'll see there, aspirational thoughts, inspirational images, and Art Gallery teacher of photography, exhibit and mentor. That's the guy you'll see there. But when you're on the website, so let's say you're not even into books, you can take tours of the villages we built in Haiti, you can take tours of the houses we built on the ocean, you can read sample chapters, free chapters in any book you can listen to Audible chapters, like that's the Disney on a desktop that PC mag it gets recognized. Yeah, and you know, listen, we're gonna keep doing what we're doing anyway building the villages and right the read the books, but feel good knowing that if you buy a book or if you just go to the caring house page, which is our entity to build the self staying villages, I'm a philanthropy capitalist. Dan, I take the best of philanthropy, which is the heart I get rid of the worst which is charity, I'm a capitalist get take advantage. The best part of capitalism is the money get rid of the worst, which is greed. I'm married philanthropy with capitalism, I become a camp forever philanthropy capitalist. So these villages in Haiti, I've built 31 of them that are self sustaining, that's 14,000 Kids are eaten dirt are now eating a nutritious two part protein one part carbohydrate meal because of our approach to building the self sustaining villages.

24:42 Yeah, I mean that that part of that story is so cool. And I really will second this like if you haven't been on Frank's website, go and check out the homes that he designs a bills These are so cool, you will be inspired by them. Frank McKinney man This was such an awesome in Review you really brought it. Thank you so much for your time. And I really, really appreciate it. Let's put this out there to all your listeners and all your viewers if they enjoyed it. Let's catch up while we're on tour. Maybe from a homeless shelter, let's do an interview from a shelter or you know somebody underneath a bridge or something. I wouldn't if you if you give me that honor, because the books will start to really be rolling, then I would love to come back and do a little encore I would absolutely love to and particularly I would love to dig into that experience. So we will absolutely do that. If you are down. I am 100%.

25:30 Let's do it all on it already. From your viewers comments, I hope. All right, that's gonna do it for this week's episode of the REI marketing nerds podcast. Hope you had a really fun time with this interview with Frank. I know I did. And I hope you got a ton out of it. Please do go check out Frank stuff. You can also find the show notes for this episode over at AdWords nerds.com. You can find all our past episodes, all our past show notes, transcripts and more. Go check that out AdWords nerds.com is the place to be. Look, folks, I just want to say this. I have been doing this a long time. I had been in this business a long time doing this podcast a long time. And you know every now and then you come into a point in your life where you got to stop and say, you know say thanks for the things that you've been given. And I am truly thankful for this time. In this industry. All the clients I've worked with all the investors who have helped me and taught me and mentored me and I'm thankful for you showing up and listening to this episode means a lot to me. I hope you get a lot of value out of it because I love doing them and I just want to say I appreciate all right, folks. I will see you next week.

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