Living The Red Life - From Burnout to Systems: How Justin Day Transformed Everything

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

SUMMARYJustin Day, founder of Swarm System, joins the show to unpack the systems and mindset shifts that have helped him build and scale his business with intention. With a background in operations and deep knowledge of automation, Justin offers a refreshing, tactical take on how entrepreneurs can avoid burnout while still growing their impact and income.In this episode, Justin shares his journey from solo operator to systems-driven founder. He dives into how Swarm System helps entrepreneurs offload low-value tasks, leverage their time, and build businesses that don't rely solely on their personal effort. Along the way, he and the host discuss the realities of delegation, the power of structured thinking, and how to install systems that actually stick.CHAPTERS02:00 – From Freelancer to 6-Figure Agency04:12 – Scaling Through Word of Mouth06:03 – Building a Rockstar Team07:55 – The Mindset Shift to CEO09:04 – When to Hire (and Who to Hire First)10:30 – Systems That Saved the Business11:48 – Posting Content Even If It Sucks12:50 – Leveraging AI to Automate Work13:44 – Creating Offers That Sell ThemselvesConnect with Justin:Biz Instagram: Swarmsystem.aiInstagram: JustindaydigitalConnect with Rudy Mawer:LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitter

Most people don't do that. It's like they feel like they've got this one strong enough and they believe in it so good and it's worked maybe for a year or two, but it's not scaling well. What can you bolt on? How can you position it differently? Only one out of every 10 offers can really hit.

And instead of building an entire course, an entire system on the backend, if you have an idea, go ahead and put it out there, just test it and see if it's biting, if you can get something to happen versus spending a year to build something that may or may not work.

What are five ways to use AI? People are probably not using it right now. So the number one thing I always tell people. My name's Rudy Moore, host of Living the Red Life podcast. I'm here to change the way you see your life in your earpiece every single week. If you're ready to start living the red life, ditch the blue pill, take the

red pill, join me in Wonderland and change your life. What's up guys welcome back to another episode of Living the Red Life. Today we're going to talk all about AI systems, automations, becoming more profitable and a bunch more. Justin is joining me, he's been a friend and member for many years, an epic journey you know as he really started to scale his agency, he's gone from, I think when he joined, you were about half a million revenue, now multiple million. Growing a big team,

getting on stages, speaking, growing your personal brand. So really been epic to see that. A to Z, and we're gonna dive in to some of the tactics, strategies during his growth period, and also what he's doing with hundreds of entrepreneurs to automate their business,

speed their business up and get more done. So welcome. Thanks for having me. So let's start with the journey. Yeah. Right? So you kind of started agency, more typical maybe local agency and stuff, right? Yeah, local.

Now you're worldwide. Yeah, started out on the local agency, kind of all the carts instead of, you know, where I am now with the system base. But yeah, it started about five, six years ago. And yeah, it's been a journey, man. And what would you say, like, what were some of the biggest lessons

and also stepping stones or achievements where you're like, okay, I'm getting traction now. Yeah, I mean, it really started out as a freelancer, right? Where I was just doing graphic design for friends, they'd pay me for this and then get word of mouth out and then I started to get bigger and bigger deals. I was like, yeah, I might have something here. It's like, okay, I don't have to go.

What was your biggest website build where you were like, damn, that's like a year on? I was like 100K deals. Like, wow, okay, they just gave me this money I mean let's do this but okay money let's go yeah yeah yeah 100 K and and and what about where did you what was your first website your smallest deal when you first started oh I mean one for myself and then two just for friends that you know trying to build a WordPress and it took you know forever and it just looked ridiculous. You charged a few

hundred dollars. Sure yeah. The friends, yeah people, that's funny. So and what about some of the stepping stones through this where you were like really felt you were getting traction, you were proud? Yeah I mean where I felt I was getting traction was just honestly the organic word of mouth because I mean until I really started working with you I was all word of mouth because I mean until I really started working with you I was all word of mouth and I was able to grow my business to half a million just without any marketing on my own So it's like it just kept I just kept getting more and more leads from my people because I did such a good job It's like okay. Well, this just keep going and keep going and keep going. So I was just like, alright, I got a business here

I'm committed. So I was just like, all right, I got a business here, I'm committed. So it just organically grew. But then what were the, so what, and then the big jumps, because I mean a lot of people listening are at that half a million mark, right? I see so many people there and they get stuck there. Yeah. Right, so what were some of the big jumps

to get to multiple millions? The big jumps were one, outsourcing, not having to do it all yourself, and then two, obviously the personal brand, big development there to get more traction out there, to stand out in a saturated market, but also having different offers and then testing like crazy. You know, just because you have one thing

doesn't mean that's gonna last forever or can you scale all of it, right? So three big things that, and you know, we were working with you on, so let's break each one down. So number one was the team. So who was some key hires? Where did you, you know, what are you paying them,

where did you find them, where should people listening that were in your old shoes start? Yeah, I mean the first place anywhere is like Fiverr up. That's easy, I mean where I really needed help was finding my first W2, getting my ops manager in, because I didn't want to learn how to do all the ops and develop it in that time. And actually through networking through our group,

I found somebody, it's about like 80,000 a year and you know he's completely changed my business over the last couple of years and now I have a team of 30 so it's just gone like from 0 to 100 very fast. And what were some of the other key at work hires or like VA's what would you recommend? Absolutely I mean virtual assistants are the key for sure in any business especially in the agency world you know I think it's a lot of people have doubts if the A's can really handle the workload or do everything It's not I'd say they are 80% of the way there They're not necessarily a hundred percent, you know, like in America, but you know done is better than perfect

And a lot of clients will take that it's like the perfectionism can kill you and yeah I know VA is too like we we you know, we do hire some ourselves Yeah, and I think VA is too like we we you know we do hire some ourselves But we use a couple of recruitment firms that get really like VA is in overseas But they have like PhDs or they were like accountant right now like more expensive But still cheap, but they are more expensive than a $400 VA If right, but but they actually they're stronger than some of our US staff like we've actually replaced US staff and saved You know 80% yeah, and they're just than some of our US staff. Like we've actually replaced US staff and saved 80%. And they're just dead on.

Absolutely, I think a lot of people would be surprised how powerful they can be. So the first one was the team, I think the second one you said was personal branding. Absolutely. Talk us through that, what changed. Well, I mean, from my word of mouth, I was always just posting stuff

and I'd get a lot of people making fun of me or whatever, but you get those people to business. My people's like, okay, this guy's putting himself out there. I can see he does websites. Oh, he does social. Oh, he does X, Y, and Z, and that's really starting to accumulate to build a business.

And then standing out, putting your story out there, making it a personalized approach versus business first. Like no one wants to follow or look at a business. They want to follow a brand and a story. So that really breaks through and creates that unique view for people to get inside. And was there a couple of posts that or, you know, techniques or times you posted where you're like, okay, this is good. I'm getting the hang of this now.

Yeah. I mean, I would just bring GoPros. I started out with GoPros and I learned to actually use the cameras and all of that. All the vacations are just going throughout the day to day and filming and just posting and just getting my feet wet in the reps in. I think the content perspective side, right, is getting the reps in. You don't just start by being good on camera or whatever.

It's just like, feel free to just put stuff out there. Who cares if people don't like it? Who cares about the vanity metrics? Just go, go, go and it'll eventually come back. You never know who's gonna see those posts. Yeah, I love it. And the last one was testing. I know I always hammer that around. I really do and

everybody, most people don't do that. It's like they feel like they've got this one strong offer and they believe in it so good and it's worked maybe for a year or two but it's not scaling. Well what can you bolt on? How can you position it differently? You know only one out of every ten offers can really hit and instead of building an entire course and an entire system on the backend, if you have an idea, go ahead and put it out there. Just test it and see if it's biting, if you can get something to happen

versus spending a year to build something that may or may not work. That's where people really get stuck. It's like, just because you think it works doesn't mean other people will. Yeah, love it. So I love asking you those questions during that journey. I mean, it's so valuable.

Let's talk now about the AI side, right? So what are entrepreneurs listening? Most of them are probably playing with chat GPC. Where does AI go beyond that that they're probably missing? Yeah, I mean, definitely in the video side it's coming more and more out, like leveraging Sora to get kind of some very interesting videos out there to break through the mold

if you're not comfortable with the camera, you can use things like Hagen for AI and avatars. There's so many ways on a content perspective to leverage, whether it's for scripts, ideas, testing new offers, and just understanding your target audience. There's ways to use it to really break through the mold. Good, and what are, you know, five ways to use AI people are probably not using it right now. So the number one thing I always tell people the target

audience is that it's key right so leveraging it for your source of truth your foundation. Well what if they already go I already know my target audience. Okay well then I would challenge you say do you know ten things that keep them up at night do you know where they shop you know who their best friends are like if you're not at a very detailed level then I'd really challenge you to like understand how important that can be. Good, so that's one. Next one, number two, what would you say?

From an AI perspective, I mean just connecting the dots in your business, so most platforms now have integrations whether it be for your billing or for your onboarding process, connecting the dots to create a personalized and streamlined experience will increase your LTV, will reduce your CAC and really give that personalized approach when people are just coming on. So I think that connecting all the dots, but not overdoing it because a lot of people get overwhelmed really quickly with AI

and trying to just connect all the dots. Just start looking at where's, where are the things that are like holding you back, maybe saving 10 minutes here, 30 minutes here. And I think really for the first space in AI is like get your billing connected with contracts and everything like that so that the onboarding process is super easy. Yeah good and number three? Number three I would say leveraging it as an AI assistant right you can connect it to your email so you're not just buried in

it you can set filters in there to notify you when an important client comes through or just crap comes through right so that you're not just buried in it. You can set filters in there to notify you when an important client comes through or just crap comes through, right? So that you're not spending your day in your email because people get distracted, shifting in and out of work is super hard, but you have to be there in front of your clients or being aware of what's going on. So having that as an AI assistant to kind of safeguard you.

Good, and last two. Yeah, so the last would be just generating content on an ongoing basis, whether it's for SEO, for social. You know, being top of mind is so key and to do that you've got to be posting every day, whether it be on social, whether it be SEO, but to do that yourself is so cumbersome. Leveraging AI to be able to get through that and actually do it is really the way to execute, not having a team to do that for you. Good. And then let's talk now a little about the future of AI. How do you see it changing in one year, three years, five years? Yeah, the

future of AI is kind of here. I said this about a year ago and I think it's gonna stay in this position. I keep moving forward as a conversational AI. Instead of typing things out, you're really now you can have conversation with it in a more organic way and I think there's gonna be more and more embodiment of AI maybe in a more avatar way. And I think there's gonna be more and more embodiment of AI, maybe in a more avatar way where you can have a conversation with it and get things that wouldn't take you hours to type out. And really, it's gonna be developing a brain

that can remember who you are, what you're talking about, and all that kind of stuff. What about further down the line? Three, five years? Is it gonna be creating entire videos and taking full sales calls? Like do you mean? Oh, absolutely, yeah.

So we're actually working with a company right now that's doing all of our qualifying and everything like that so that we don't have to spend time doing that. I think later on down the road, we're gonna have AI agents so that you can have an AI at the top managing different AI bots to do all these different things. So if you're getting in now and understanding how to use it,

you'll be enabling yourself for the future to really scale at the speed of light. Good. And I would love to just ask you now on the agency side, a lot of people listening, maybe like you, they're making 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 grand a month like you were doing gigs, right? Yes.

Websites or whatever. What are some lessons with the agency side going to multiple millions, 30 staff? Yeah, so all the cart will kill you, stop doing that. There's no reason that like, if you wanna be an expert, I'd say niche down and creating systems, repeatable things that you can offload to your team and scale.

Like having just so many different divisions that don't talk to each other or departments that don't work together in a system was really the biggest thing that held me back for so long. And that's when I developed my swarm system where it all cohesively works together so that you can scale and again having other people come in so that you're not in the day to day. So the systems is the number one thing and definitely niching down to whether it be your target audience or an offer, not trying to boil the ocean. Yeah, good, so that's one great one. What about getting clients?

Like, not obviously referrals, but like from a marketing side. From a marketing side, I mean, I definitely, you're just putting yourself out there nonstop, just getting content. If you're not posting every day, you need to be posting every day two, three times a day, just getting your brand out there,

again, being top of mind, tip of tongue, and leveraging your network and going to networking events, connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs. I mean, that's the thing that really caught my business on fire, especially from an agency perspective, because there's so many agencies out there. I think going to events like if you're masterminds and stuff like that, connecting with people, you actually open up another world and doors that you would have never known. Good.

Last couple of questions I always like to ask as we come towards the end, more personal, more about your journey, biggest failure? Biggest failure would be filing for my business right before COVID hit, yeah. Yeah, and what happened? Well, right when COVID hit, I mean, before that, I was a freelancer and solopreneur,

I was already in a little bit of debt and then I filed, and then all my business went away. And then I ended up in about a hundred grand of debt. So that was, you know, that was a big lesson for sure. And how long did it take you to get out of the debt? Well, when COVID kind of started coming up, you know, they lifted it up, it took me about eight months to get out of it.

Wow. I mean, I really hit it hard because, you know, after those restrictions came up, people came back flooding in, and then I just raised my prices too, which is just to get out of that hole. And I mean, it was a big lesson in understanding how to put your eggs in specific baskets,

not all in one basket. Good. And I always ask, you know, if you could go in a time machine and tell your younger self one thing, what would it be? That's a great question. I would tell myself to not try and be everywhere all at once and like doing everything as an expert.

I think being focusing on one thing and then bolting things on. And obviously like we talked about testing like crazy, I think the model of just trying to be an expert in everything is just too much, just focusing on one thing, because I was trying to do websites and social and all this by myself, and also even further than that, I would say, if I could have gone back five years ago,

I'd say go get a VA, go outsource, because doing this by yourself, I wish, I mean, it took me years to get through it, and I could have scaled so much faster if I would have started doing that earlier on. Good, love it. And last question, where if they want to learn AI or HIE,

where do they find you? Yeah, it's swarmsystem.ai or ai-marketing-tools.com on Instagram, Justin Day Digital. Love it. Guys, that's a wrap. If you want to learn AI, go see this guy. If you want to keep apprised of all the latest and greatest developments,

which is basically a daily thing in the AI world. You need to follow AI experts and also if you're growing an agency service business then obviously you know Justin's been through it and you know I've watched him grow and implement while he's been in our community and it's been so fun to see. But that's a wrap, keep living the red life and I'll see you guys soon.