Last month I met a billionaire.

Julia and I were having lunch at this spot in the Bahamas when an older gentleman walked up to me and asked if I knew where the resort's gift shop was.

My first instinct was to jokingly say, "Do I look like I work here?"

But I never stay stuff like that to strangers because you never know who you're talking to, their life journey, their struggles, etc.

So instead, I just politely said that I had no idea.

About 30 minutes later, he came back, looking really excited with a huge smile on his face, and asked what we do for a living. I mean, you could see the genuine happiness.

Maybe it was because I had my laptop out & was sending some messages & voice notes to my team... And he was able to relate? Who knows?

Anyway, I was caught off guard since I was not expecting anyone to come ask me business questions while in the Bahamas. So I weakly bluttered out, "I own an email agency..."

But before I could finish, Julia jumped in and said, "No, he owns e-mailMarketing .com!"

Instantly, the guy perked up and started asking more questions, my revenue, etc. Game recognizes game.

So I explained that we’re a full-service done-for-you email marketing agency handling copywriting, deliverability, strategy, and automation.

I could tell he didn’t fully understand what I do (I'm sure you can relate lol) but he was still super excited.

Then, he pulled over three more people from his table - who turned out to be both family members and members of his team. One of them started asking deeper questions, and I could tell he had a lot more understanding for what we do.

They mentioned that they sell paper products (more on this in a sec).

We had a great conversation, exchanged names, and I told his exec that I’d find him on social in case they ever had any extra questions about email.

A few days later, I reached out - not to pitch anything, just to continue the conversation & offer support.

After I sent the message, I figured it would be a good idea to do a little more research to learn more about who I'd met.

So I did a little homework and found out that this family manages a 100+ year old portfolio of paper products that did around $2 billion in 2024.

Well, I'd met a billionaire. I've gotten to know some very wealthy people in my career (and in more ways than finances), but I'm not 100% sure if I've met a billionaire before.

It was funny because when I started messaging with the exec I mentioned, we barely talked about business at all. Instead, we talked about normal things - travels, places we’d been lately, and everyday life. And he would ask questions about my posts about LASIK or other real-life stuff.

We still chat a little bit back and forth. I don’t know where this will lead, but at the end of the day, a good connection is a good connection, and it’s cool to keep building my network & try to help out however I can.

New levels of wealth have new levels of needs. I know a few people in similar industries, who are in retail, searching for deals, or looking for funding. So those are things I try to help with when I talk to high-level people.

Give value to other people as they see it - and good will follow.

Why am I sharing this? Well, I'm a storyteller at heart - and it's a way of journaling. But here are a 5 "Billion Dollar Thoughts":

1. You never know who you're talking to, so be nice to everyone. Even if you see someone who doesn't seem "super successful", it doesn’t matter - just be a good person.

2. If you see an old dude selling a mass-market, low-priced commodity... He's probably doing well in life. The internet marketing world is SO small and the richest people in IM don't even compare to markets like this. Tanner Chidester also emphasized this when we chatted at FHL.

3. Branding matters. Owning e-mailMarketing .com has made a real difference in every conversation I have. If you don't take your brand seriously, neither will anyone else. And get a name with authority. Authority helps you make a bigger difference in the world, faster.

4. Be ready to talk about what you do at any time. Business, hobbies, personal passions - it doesn’t matter. When your opportunity comes to talk about your passion, you better be ready.

5. Human connection matters more than business. If you don’t build relationships first, business conversations will go nowhere. Doesn't matter if it's in-person or online. Share, connect, post, etc... Or else you're preventing the world from discovering you.

6. Get out, travel, and start conversations. I grew up an only child and was an introvert. Over time, I’ve shifted somewhere in between introvert & extrovert. I would not be successful if I was still an introvert. The rule that saved me is: DON'T AVOID THE CONVERSATION!

I hope you enjoyed this email & learned a thing or two. Leave your thoughts below, I'm happy to help.

Talk soon,

Troy "Billion Dollar Lessons" Ericson

CEO e-mailMarketing .com