74: Anthony Johnson (The 21 Convention)

Leverage Podcast

This week’s episode features one of the best interviews we’ve had in a long time! We had Anthony Johnson, founder of the famous 21 Convention. We discuss his personal history, how he hosted his first event, how a meetup group evolved into a massively successful company and convention, how pursuing his passion turned into a business and a career, mistakes and what he learned from them, and how Anthony creates win-win business and personal relationships. He also opens up about the shocking revelation that lead to his divorce.

Still need tickets for this year’s convention? Use coupon code “IC50” for $300 off your ticket! Hang out with Robbie and Anthony in Miami.

[00:24] Want to welcome Anthony Johnson, the founder of the 21 convention.
[00:45] If you go to www.the21convention.com it has an insane amount of amazing knowledge from some of the world s greatest dating coaches, health and fitness guys, political guys, etc.
[01:52] There are several guys in Leverage that actually found the program through the 21 Convention.
[02:50] 2011 was the first time that Robbie Kramer spoke at the 21 Convention.
[06:00] People always see the convention as speeches, but it s really the experience of being able to interact with the speakers and attendees.
[06:20] We talk about with the guys in Leverage too. It s really great to be a part of the group and get the coaching, but the really great value is the people you meet. That is certainly true of the convention and when you go there you get so much more out of it.
[06:55] One thing that is really unique about the convention is that you get to hang out with the speakers. A lot of other conventions get really huge and you can t interact with the speakers.
[09:35] When Anthony was 17 and just got out of high school he moved to Orlando in a local pickup layer, but most of them were 30, 40, even 50 years old sometimes. So he was 17 and was the only minor they let in. Got to meet a lot of guys that were older that were pursuing better success with women and dating skills, it made it difficult to relate to them because of the age gap.
[10:25] He had the idea to create a meetup group for under 21 guys. And it started spiraling out of control and started having speakers.
[12:08] Started this little hobby business unintentionally to meet guys who were close to his age so he could learn from them and provide value to them.
[13:34] After the first event, was able to get more recognition and then had another event back in 2008.
[15:40] That year we started trying to charge for footage instead of giving it away for free, and that did not work. But reversed that a few months later and that transpired into the third event where we had had a huge number of attendees.
[16:53] Let s talk a little bit about how you monetized it and how you survived. It s tough, you are running a startup and getting attendees, but it is tough as an entrepreneur if you are not seeing the money.
[17:20] At the time had another business he was running that was a small coaching company that he ran. With that business and some other odd jobs, Anthony was able to get by.
[19:40] At some point, realized that the convention was a lot more impressive and impactful than the coaching was and didn t want to compete with the speakers at the convention for clients.
[20:00] In 2010, transitioned fully to YouTube after a couple years selling DVD s.
[25:00] Ad revenue has become a lot more completive in recent years because of Facebook and other services so they have started doing other things including launching 21 University which is like a small Netflix they have built for the company. It give direct access to the customers and they get early access to the content.
[28:00] It is interesting how you have been able to compliment versus compete and find a bunch of win-win s in an area where there may have been a bunch of conflicts. It s an area where you are using other people s content but they are still promoting you. You could have stepped on other people s toes but found a way to help the other guy and give value, and that value just comes right back.
[28:42] Robbie mentioned the win-win s and Anthony has really tried to develop close personal relationships with the speakers over the years.
[30:40] Robbie remembers seeing a few videos from the 21 convention and seeing the marketing about how it wasn t a pickup event; you had dating coaches there, but it also had the health and fitness aspect to it, and business stuff. Finally an event that fits how we see things about this business.
[35:00] Sometimes it seems better to wing a speech rather than plan it out. The information can be okay but he s been on stage and after finished didn t feel like it was great, versus sometimes it s great to just wing a speech.
[35:20] There is merit to going both ways with preparing a speech. Anthony talked with James Marshall about his speech one time and said one of the best speeches he gave was at his first 21 Convention and didn t have a clue what he was going to talk about besides a few key points. Rolling up and winging it with passion can work great sometimes.
[36:10] Going up on stage is often the same as talking to a woman. You have to connect with the audience, you have to connect with her.
[37:00] One thing we don t talk about on this podcast ever is divorce.
[41:20] Robbie an an experience not too long along and was hooking up with a girl, and the girl made a comment about how intimate he was during the experience. It seemed like it was scaring her a little bit because it creates a really deep connection really fast.
[41:40] A lot of guys forget about the first time they are having sex with a girl to enjoy the moment versus worrying about their performance. You will have a much bigger impact on women.
[42:50] Women love seeing you have a good time during sex. It is a big priority for them.
[43:02] They focus on the mechanics too much rather than focusing on the intimacy. Or get too focused on getting off.
[43:40] Women can enjoy sex a lot even without an orgasm. She just wants to feel like she is being enjoyed.
[47:30] Anthony s experience with his ex-wife led him to start studying personality disorders.
[50:03] In the span of 10 days, he went from thinking his wife was monogamous to finding out that she was cheating for their entire relationship.
[57:30] He has a talk about this whole experience that he is going to release soon.
[57:55] You can see the differences in male vs female dynamics in different locations around the world and all the political stuff the occurs because of these dynamics.
[59:47] Study personality disorders, especially cluster B because if you go out and keep meeting women, you will come across some of these women and it s an experience you would rather avoid.
[01:04:00] Get tickets to the 21 convention at the21convention.org.

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