Mike Dillard Net Worth: $20+ Million
Mike Dillard is the host of Self-Made Man, one of the world's top self-help podcasts on iTunes. However, little do many of the people know about his journey and his net worth. Mike Dillard was earning millions via network marketing in his early twenties. He lived an extravagant life spending thousands on cars, boats, world tours and whatnot.
It was not until he was 30 when he realized he was spending wealth instead of building it. His perspective on doing business changed. From building a financial education center to making a successful hydroponic system, Mike Dillard's net worth reaches over $20 million. Here is an overview of his life to explain how the big spender boy turned into an inspiring entrepreneur who has helped hundreds of startups.
Early Life
Mike Dillard was born on 29 September 1977, in Austin, Texas. Dillard's family belonged to the middle class, and he dreamed of having luxurious cars and an extravagant lifestyle. He had posters of Lamborghini pasted up on his bedroom wall.
In 1990, when he was completing high school, he dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur while waiting tables at a restaurant. However, Dillard knew nothing back then about how to begin a startup. He learned from and received inspiration from entrepreneurs Tony Robbins and Carleton Sheets. His entrepreneurial spirit was starting to grow, and he nourished it. In deciding he does not want to make his schedule and money according to others, Mike set big goals and began planning about his startups.
Career
The Entrepreneurial Dream
Mike Dillard stepped into network marketing to begin his endeavor into entrepreneurship. However, things did not go smooth for a long time. Dillard lacked the proper knowledge he needed to make his way up in the marketing industry.
On top of that, he was shy, introverted, and lacked connections with people. He despised making connections and building relationships with people. Dillard struggled for about five years. He did not earn a dollar and made no sales.
Early Success
Shortly after, a friend approached him, gave some advice and became his mentor. He told Dillard that to become a person who makes $50k to $100k a month; he has to become capable enough of doing that. This hit Dillard, and he realized where he was wrong.
Dillard now knew that he had been chasing marketing opportunities that he thought could work for him. He was supposed to build his system and results rather than looking for the results to come to him on their own. Dillard began investing in himself. He started gathering knowledge and improving his skills. He worked on becoming a person who not only chases success but also catches it.
Dillard realized one more thing. Instead of forcing himself to fit in the traditional mold of a network marketer, he can come up with a new game. He read Dan Kennedy and Yanik Silver and took inspiration, and stepped into the world of direct response marketing, which involved specific CTA sent in writing rather than network marketing.
He practiced writing sales pitches, and studied lessons on Google AdWords. As he became an expert in making sales presentation Mike started putting them up online. He sold various products like nutritional supplements to customers, and built his team of salespeople to generate better revenues. Dillard thrived in the marketing industry, which once confounded him.
Within eighteen months, Mike Dillard went from waiting tables to running a seven-figure business. However, Mike still had a long way to build his net worth of $20+ million.
Magnetic Sponsoring
Mike began writing about his strategies and methods he used in his network marketing. He wrote an instructional manual to teach people how to increase their value in network marketing. He included lessons for being a better salesperson, selling the manual online for $39. Soon he began selling around 40-50 copies of the manual per day. Magnetic Sponsoring became a bestselling book and set Dillard’s career on a completely new trajectory.
Spending the Fortune
Mike Dillard grew up having photos of expensive cars on his wall. He always dreamed of living extravagantly. When he made a good fortune in his early twenties, he almost spent it all. He earned millions of dollars per year, and so developed a habit of buying expensive exotic cars. Dillard is still fond of exotic cars.
Mike did not just spend on cars, but he also bought boats and yachts, going on expensive worlds tours. Dillard ticked off everything from his bucket list at the time.
Change of Perspective
Now, Dillard was running his network marketing gig, and earning from best selling book Magnetic Sponsoring at the same time. Dillard had more than he dreamed of. He broke through his target of earning $50,000 a month after pulling $500,000 in some months of 2010. He had ever-increasing wealth, which he could easily and lavishly spent on anything without thinking twice. Despite all this, something did not feel right. Dillard found that he achieved everything he could. He felt bored.
He needed to find a new passion, to find his weak spot and improve himself. He soon began to lose interest and did not give much attention to his business. It seemed that anything Mike Dillard did was profitable and yet, he knew he lacked somewhere.
Dillard then realized something. He knew how to make money but did not know how to spend it. Dillard has spoken in several interviews that the industry teaches people how to make money, but does not teach what to do with the money. Dillard said he did not know anything about true financial freedom, and set out to learn it.
Dillard needed the second half of his financial education, as does most of the world. He saw that people, including himself, do not know the real meaning of prospering their wealth. It was the year 2008, and Dillard saw many people not leveraging their wealth.
The Elevation Group
Mike Dillard wanted to give people a real education about finance. Dillard wanted to create something simple, which he could run from his home. He came up with a solution and quit network marketing entirely. In December 2010, Dillard created The Elevation Group. It was a members-only website for people who wanted to learn to manage their finances.
His first webinar on the website cost $97 a month. He sought out financial experts, successful entrepreneurs, and top investors then interviewed them and documented tips from them. He then shared the information with the subscribers on the website.
The Elevation Group generated around $3.2 million in the first seven days. Moreover, the group gained around 8600 customers a week. Mike Dillard made over $10 million in revenue in the first year. He became a top mentor in the world of investment.
The Downfall of the Elevation Group
Mike Dillard interviewed a man who had a private investment fund. Dillard and his audience decided to invest in that man’s company. Six months later, Dillard found out that the man was a fraud. He faced over a 50% loss.
Thus began the nightmare of calling authorities and lawyers and appearing in the courtrooms. The procedure went on for three years. Meanwhile, the business began to sink. The company, which once made millions of dollars, was earning $200,000 monthly revenue.
Dillard’s darkest times began. The court found him and his company guilty and prosecuted them. His partner had cancer and almost died from the stress. To make matters worse, Dillard went through a divorce. He lost his company, his money, and his wife. Dillard sold The Elevation Group to his partner in 2014 who later sold it to an entrepreneur.
EverGrow
It took Dillard some time to muster his courage. He suffered a major blowout, and his entrepreneurial spirits got numb. He attended a Tony Robbins Date with Destiny event in 2014 after a friend insisted. After a week of motivation and inspiration, Dillard learned to let go of his pasts. Listen to Dillard explaining how to get past through the failures here. His spirits were alive once again. However, Dillard needed to start something he was passionate about. He considered solving a major problem regarding the decentralization of agriculture.
Buying clean and organic food in the US is only easy for the rich and wealthy ones. Otherwise, whatever food and vegetable you get undergo genetic modification, usually covered with pesticides. Dillard thought that it is not fair and everyone should have access to fresh and healthy produce.
Dillard began learning about hydroponics- the method of producing plants without soil. He planned to design an in-home replacement for the grocery store. He wanted to build systems and a product that allowed people to grow fresh produce in their kitchens.
Dillard's idea was to make fresh, healthy, and organic food available to all. His plan could feed a family of four for less than $30 a month. Organic food prices go down by 90%. Moreover, the plan involves reducing water usage by 95% and pesticide use by 100%. Therefore, the idea of Mike Dillard's new startup, EverGrow, came to the fore.
Self-Made-Man
Dillard needed huge funding to begin this project. He had to find a way to generate fast income while paying bills and investing around $100,000 per month into his hydroponics project. In 2015, he came up with Self-Made-Man, a business-coaching platform. He began training future entrepreneurs along with the already successful entrepreneurs, including Tony Robbins, Mike Rowe, Gene Simmons, and others.
What Happened to EverGrow and Self-Made-Man?
After generating millions with Self-Made-Man for a year and a half, Dillard had fully automated working prototype for EverGrow in his living room. He had 36 plants growing well at once, without any soil or fertilizer. However, he was running short on funds and had already used twice his budget. He could not hire any employees nor do further testing with the plants.
At the same time, a competing company Click and Grow, was about to launch. The company had the same mission to provide healthy and organic produce and received nearly ten times more funding than EverGrow. This was when Dillard realized that being an entrepreneur is not only about pushing forward but knowing when to call quits too.
Dillard found it better that someone else with better funding provides the hydroponic solution to the food problems. He invested six figures from EverGrow, into Click and Grow. Despite EverGrow not making it to the market, it is one of the biggest achievements Dillard is proud of.
What came from EverGrow is Self-Made-Man. Dillard set up Self-Made-Man to generate income for EverGrow, but this business-coaching program is still booming as you read this. He is serving the next generation of entrepreneurs, training them in the art of managing their finances.
Self-Made-Man has several videos and podcasts that cover finance, entrepreneurship, and much more. The website has lessons and training programs for maintaining a better family life, getting in shape, and much more.
Mike Dillard Podcasts
With his podcasts having received more than 5 million downloads, Dillard’s are among the world’s top for personal development. On Self-Made-Man, Dillard shares his life lessons and inspirational stories while having top businesspersons and entrepreneurs as guests on his podcasts.
Summary
Mike Dillard net worth is currently $21.6million, from starting as a network marketer. The early years of his career were a rough road until he changed his marketing game. He developed his skills and learned to sell products online and earn millions within a year. His book Magnetic Sponsoring was the best seller of its time.
Dillard spent time being into buying expensive cars and living an extravagant lifestyle. It wasn't long until he realized that he should not be spending wealth but rather learn what to do with it, and with his knowledge he made a financial-educational website to teach others regarding financial management. With his website, his business went on generating millions until it shut down after being the victim of a scam.
Mike Dillard knows how important it is to look past one’s failures and when to change lanes. He did not allow his failures to stop him. He learned from the ups as well as the downs of his life and is teaching hundreds of people with his Self-Made-Man coaching programs. Dillard continues to inspire and help the future generation of entrepreneurs.
