The Gorilla Pimp only knows one way to communicate, “It is my way or the dead way.” It is effective even if it does seem cruel. Other pimps steer clear of the Gorilla Pimps because they are likely to set you on fire in the middle of the street just to make a point. But their tactics work. Girls are too terrified to leave or disobey and competing pimps would sometimes just move to another neighborhood.

Real pimps an players will tell you that true smooth pimping is when the girls actually love their pimp. They WANT to give them all the money. The loyalty is to the death and those girls will go out and recruit other girls to help out their “family”.

Gorilla pimps go after the weak and strong. They don’t care. They scare their employees into submission and their competition into leaving. Every pimp and hustler has a litle Gorilla in them, but the smart ones keep him in the cage unless absolutely neccesary.

So now that you know what a Gorilla Pimp is, lets talk about the business equivelent – Guerrilla Pimping. And yes that term is copyrighted and no you cant use it. I am writing a book about Guerrilla Pimping so sit back and get  a sneak peek.

I had a phone call yesterday froma  friend who was looking to bounce some ideas off of me. He had been going to networking meetings and different mixers to listen to marketing experts. They had all kinds of ideas but none applied to what he was doing. He was feeling like he was wasting his time.

I told him that it was time to take his marketing to the next level. Publicity Stunts. Street level guerilla marketing.

People have a funny idea of what a publicity stunt is. They think it is cheezy and obvious. It doesnt have to be. But even if it is…so what?

The point of marketing and advertising is exposure. Rememebr what they say? “Any press is good press.” I would be willing to go to jail on a $500 trespassing ticket to get front page and news media exposure in the right context. A $500 ticket and a slap on the wrist for $15,000 worth of exposure? Yeah, that math works out.

The second thing people are afraid of (other than embarrasing themself) is creating a war or pissing off other businesses. I don’t get this. If you have no relationship with these other businesses, why do you care? I have sent people to stand at other clubs and stand at the end of the line and tell people to come to my spot. Give the people a free pass to not pay a cover charge or whatever. That’s Guerilla Pimping. My team did this and drove 20 or 30 people to my bar. That equated to $600 in “free” money and exposure. What did the other club say? Nothing.

I sent 12 people out to crash a big business shopping center sponsored event. This shopping center is a block away from my restaurant and bar. They will not let me participate because I am not in their shopping center. But thats ok. I have other ways. By the time the security guard found one of my street team members and notified a Sheriff to remove them from the property, the other 11 had already distributed 1,600 flyers – in 40 minutes. This resulted in $1,000 in extra business. It cost me $40 and free t-shirts for the kids doing the flyers.

Next week at the same event (they do this event 4 times duing the summer) I will have a guy in  mascot costume go out and pomote. I’m not going to say exactly what I am going to do, but if I get caught, what will happen? The photographer I have going with my mascot will be photographing the local Sheriffs escorting my mascot off the property. My photographer has press credentials and does work for the local paper on the freelance basis. The next day that picture will make the paper. Hopefully front page. Either way I will have video and photos to distribute online and off. I will make wanted posters of my mascot and have them distributed. I will make the mascot character an infamous local figure. I will put a bounty on his head and offer cash prizes to anyone who can catch him and bring him back – alive and unhurt of course. My first reward will be to the Sheriffs who catch him this Friday. I may even show up with a giant check made out to one of their sponsored charitable organizations. Of course, with a photographer and press release in hand sent in advance to the local media with an apology from the mascot. No reason to make the cops look bad. We might need them later.

Yes this will make the paper and probably make the local news.

How many people will be on the look out for the mascot? How many people will talk about it? How many people will come by the business after seeing the exposure, news, mascot – whatever? How much will it cost? $50 for the guy to walk around town for a few hours and the cost of the costume. Photos of the winners will be posted inside on a wall of “Bounty Hunters”. Is this all goofy? Hell yeah. I won’t lie. It sounds dumb as hell.

But where and how else will I get $50,000 in media placement, exposure, free advertising and word of mouth marketing for $250 total out of pocket expense?

Thats Guerrilla Pimping.

That’s Hustling

Take some notes. Some of the greatest marketing takes place without any money out of pocket. Think about those smooth pimps who go out and talk those women into selling their bodies and giving the money to the pimp. What did that cost them? Nothing but time to learn the game.

I’m giving you the tools, you just have to work your hustle.

What can you do to put your business between the customers you want and your competition. Thats Guerrilla Pimping.

Keep Hustling

Now this post isnt about rap or rappers. It just goes to show that everyone recognizes that there are times in life where you make a decision to move and make moves or stay where you are and let the moment slip.

The challenge to this scenario, in grabbing this opportunity when it presents itself is that we dont usually see the opportunity until it has passed.

How many times have you been driving and look back just in time to see you have missed your freeway exit? Happens to me all the time (usually because I am on the phone or singing). I have my mind on other shit and I end up wasting time heading to the next exit to flip around to head back to the right exit. Once this happened to me driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I missed the 99/I-5 split. I had to double back. That minor mistake cost me an hour of lost time or 1/6th of the total trip time.

Instead of being on the freeway you are bumpin through life. You are sweating the husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, parents or whoever. You have your head up your bosses ass to get a raise or your own trying to figure out how you are going to spend your weekend. You have your eyes crossed while trying to ake a U-turn – whatever. You have so much going on that you forget where you are going. Sometimes you are so focused on where you are going that you miss the detour signs telling you that you are heading for a dead-end.

You have to be focused, but not too focused. You have to concentrate, but not so much that you block everything else out. You have to move quickly, but not so fast that you can’t make a turn if a dog runs out in front of you.

Your brain is powerful enough to take in a lot of information if you teach it to filter out the bullshit.

There are people around you who want you to fail. I have touched on this before. These are people who have their own mtives. Sometimes their motives are even hidden from them. They don’t knw they are sabbotaging you. They tell you things like:

• Hey, slow down and smell the roses.
• All work and no play…
• You are going to work yourself to death!

Are they right? Only you know for sure. You have made the decision to get on that road, put the keys in the ignition, and start the car and go. It is your foot on the accelerator. You determine how fast you want to go. The question is – how soon do you want to get there?

I like driving at night. People are out of my way. Roads are clear. I can go faster. But then I hear

• But that’s when the drunk drivers are out!
• But no one is on the road; you are more likely to get pulled over.
• What if you fall asleep, crash or have an accident? No one will see you!

But for me, those are minor riskes that I can prepare for. I can drive without speeding (too much). I can keep an eye on traffic – fewer people on the road allow me to be more maneuverable in avoiding accidents. I can take a nap before I drive away. I can have all my fluids and tires checked for safety. All those things that they say to stop me from going are relatively preventable. The gain is that I get to my detination 2 to 4 hours faster (depending on L.A. traffic).

The benefit outweighs the manageable risks.

So, I’m going to keep this one short. Here is my point. If you have something you want to do or somewhere you want to go then pull the trigger. Make sure you have extra gas in the tank. Make sure you check the tire pressure and fluids. Make sure you are rested and ready. Make sure yu have your course plotted and planned and an alternat route in case there is trouble along the way. When you have done all that – smash on the accelerator.

It is the only way you are going to get where you want to go before everyone else, with time to spare.

Keep Hustling

1. Give good advice.
   At some point, someone is going to ask your opinion about something personal. Short and sweet is the key. If someone tells you their wife is sleeping around or their kid is an asshole – they don’t want to hear a 2-hour lecture on your childhood (unless you are buying the beers). Give advice that helps in one or two sentences. If you can’t do that, then you haven’t thought about the question hard enough.

   Friend: “My wife is sleeping with my best friend. It is driving me crazy. What do I do?”

   You: “Anyone sleeping with your best friend is not your wife and anyone sleeping with your wife is not your best friend.”It may not be what they want to hear, but it is an irrefutable statement. It also may give them a new perspective to start from.

2. Tell if someone is lying to you.
   Everyone has a theory. I like these: Liars change the subject quickly. Liars like to say “Honestly”, “Can you believe it?”, “You know you can trust me.” or swear you to secrecy. Liars will sometimes stare straight at you and employ a dead face. Liars place objects between themselves and you during a conversation. Forbes Magazine published a little on this too.
3. Shake hands.
   Steady, firm, pump, let go. Use the time to make eye contact, since that’s where the social contract begins.
4. Read some non-fiction.
   You may enjoy Stephen King or some other horror or romantic novels. But no one gets rich reading this stuff. Also in business company, these authors never come up. However, Larry Winget, Suze Orman, Seth Godin and authors like that – all the time.
5. Not monopolize the conversation.
   When I was younger, I suffered from this affliction. You want to be heard. You want people to notice you. You take it from the fact that everyone around you is letting you talk because you are saying some smart stuff. The fact is the opposite. There is an old saying – “It is better to be quiet and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”
6. Buy a suit.
   Avoid the $99 suit sales if you can. Know your style and what you need it for (work, funerals, court). Squeeze the fabric into a fist — if it bounces back with little or no sign of wrinkling, that means it’s good, sturdy material. And tug the buttons gently. If they feel loose or wobbly, that means they’re probably coming off sooner rather than later. The jacket’s shoulder pads are supposed to square with your shoulders; if they droop off or leave dents in the cloth, the jacket’s too big. The jacket sleeves should never meet the wrist any lower than the base of the thumb — if they do, ask to go down a size. Always get fitted. Labels aren’t that important until you start running with the $2,000 to $5,000 suit crowd – but fabric and patterns matter. Stay with the basic colors and patterns. Get creative with the shirt and tie. That’s where you add flavor. I found this video too.
7. Talk out a fight or know how to throw a solid punch.
   You may be in a restaurant or bar with a client or employer. Someone may get stupid. Learn to speak softly and let the folks involved know why it doesn’t suit their interests in pursuing their current course of action without assaulting their manhood. This is an important and difficult skill to master. I was a bouncer for about 4 years and learned how to squash fights before they happened. This is important for me today as sometimes people look for trouble. A few words in private and they are usually willing to walk away. Knucklheads will say this makes you a bitch. Going to a meeting with a black eye or a broken nose is stupid.If all else fails, you have got to know how to throw down. You have to stand close enough, but not too close. Swing with your shoulders, not your arm. Long punches rarely land squarely. Follow through; don’t pop and pull back. Remember, the bones in your hand are small and easy to break. You’re better off striking hard with the heel of your palm (I like to use my knees and elbows). It doesn’t hurt to take some boxing or fighting classes. I like (and studied) Krav Maga.
8. Tie a tie.
   I am talking a Half Windsor knot or Full Windsor knot. Not that half-ass “Four in hand knot” crap that you learned in the boy scouts. And it doesn’t matter how tall or short you are. Make sure the bottom point of that tie comes over your belt buckle. Nothing makes you look like a country fool faster than having a tie that ends above your waist. Do I really need to say anything about clip-ons?
9. Know how to order a social drink
   When I was younger, all I drank were Tequila shots, Kamikazes or whatever was being passed around. This got me in trouble when I went to a business meeting that took all day and into dinner and everyone was drinking scotch or some mixed drink. You need to know what you can or want to drink in this situation without standing there, looking like a dumbass.Always call the liquor; never go to the “Well”. You need to know Brand, amount, style, fast, like so: Booker’s, double, neat. If you need help finding “Your Drink” go to a nice bar or restaurant and ask the bartender to make some suggestions. Try some things out. Find something you like and memorize it.
10. Speak a foreign language.
    You don’t have to be fluent. Grab a copy of an at-home study course – there are even free ones online. I took two years of Japanese and two years of Spanish in high school. I speak no Japanese, but understand the culture. I also like freaking out my border brothers when they try to run game on me and find out later that I understood everything they were saying about me to each other.
11. Sew a button.
    I can’t tell you how many times I have been on my way to meet someone and had a button pop off, break or whatever. Most hotel rooms either have a sewing kit or you can get one in the gift shop. It is not hard and beat the hell out of looking stupid because your shirt is missing a button or your fly keeps dropping. Learn how now.
12. Talk Politics without starting and argument or expressing your specific views.
    The rule is that you never discuss politics or religion. But just a few weeks ago I was talking to 3 different clients in a social setting and the election came up. Not knowing where the political views of my client lie, I did the non-committal two-step. I said something to the effect of “The whole process is driving me crazy. It is almost making me lose faith in the process. I really just wish I could find a candidate that I truly felt had the best interests of the country at heart”. No matter which side of the fence they were, they all nodded in agreement.
13. Know how to play Gin, Poker, Blackjack, Roulette, Craps, Dominoes, Billiards (Pool) and Chess.
    One of the richest guys I have ever met has reached a point where he travels the world to visit kings and leaders to have tea and play Gin. That is all they do – travel the world and play cards.Learning any game based on strategy will help you out in life and give you a point of connection with the people you are trying to know.I don’t gamble recreationally. You will rarely catch me in a casino unless I am there with a prospect or part of a group trip. That being said, I have a strategy for Roulette, and all those games above. I learned how to play pool when I was eight years old and played competitively in local tournaments. I am not a great player, but I am pretty good. Plus, if you are playing pool at a bar with a client, they don’t notice that they are drinking and you are not.Make three different bets at a craps table. Play the smallest and most poorly labeled areas, the bets where it’s visually evident the casino doesn’t want you to go. Simply play the pass line; once the point is set, play full odds (this is the only really good bet on the table).Learn to shuffle a deck of cards. I have played cards with guys who can’t shuffle, and they lose. Always.Know when to split his cards in blackjack. Aces. Eights. Always.
14. Know how to speak to a waiter.
    You don’t own the restaurant, so don’t act like it. Act like a guest in someone’s house. Don’t speak into the menu. Make eye contact. Say please and thank you. Women will tell you that they will size a guy up by how they treat the server at a restaurant. I do the same thing.
15. Say no graciously.
    You can’t do everything, but you don’t want to burn bridges. Learn how to say no “this time” but leave the door open for a future relationship. “I would love to do that, and normally I would, but right now I am just not able to devote any time to that. But let’s plan some time for next month to get together and take a look at what projects you have coming up.”
16. Throw a ball.
    Company picnic or a pick-up game of ball at the gym – you have to be able to be part of the team. Learn how to throw baseball over-hand with some snap. Throw a football with a tight spiral. Shoot a 12-foot jump shot reliably. Learn how to drive a golf ball, even if it is only 50ft off the tee. If you can’t, play more ball.
17. Iron a shirt.
    I hate to iron. Usually I just dry clean everything. If I am out of town and the clothes are clean and they just need to be ironed, the dry cleaners will press them for about $2.00. But if you are really in a spot, you have to be able to break out an iron and get the job done. Rolling in a wrinkled shirt is never allowed unless you just got mugged. And in that case, you had better be bleeding.
18. Write a thank-you note.
    Make a habit of it. Follow a simple formula like this one: First line is a thesis statement. The second line is evidentiary. The third is a kind of assertion. Close on an uptick.

Thanks for having me over to discuss your business. I hope that I was able to answer your questions satisfactorily. I will be thinking about our conversation and if I am able to come up with some more ideas I will definitely give you a call. Next time, let me take you out to lunch so that we can get to know each other a little better. Thanks again,

So that concludes this list. Obviously this isn’t everything you need to know. But these are some things that come up pretty regularly in my day to day life. This is just a pimer to get you set up with some basics so that you can focus on the real skills to get your hustle going.

Keep Hustling.

So the reader said that he wanted to know, as he develops into his carreer as a teacher, how to keep an eye out for a hustle that he could jump into and take advantage of.

Hustles present themselves to you every day, no matter where you are. They show up, hang around for a minute and pass on to the next guy if you failed to grab onto it.

I dig teachers. I have a bit of an envy for teachers which is probably why I set this blog up in the first place.

I have friend who is a teacher that got into real estate as his sideline hustle. He now owns a few houses hat he rents out. He isnt making a killing on the month to month. Each house only brings in a hundred bucks or so a month – but in 20 to 30 years they will be paid off and worth a few $100k each. I have another friend who is a professor at a pretty large university. He took his expertise to the next level and saw that an educational and theraputic tool used in the field hadn’t been changed in 50 years. He and I modernized it and made it cross cultural. He invested $25,000 and flipped it into $125,000 in a year.

I have another teacher friend who has written and published three books. Another teacher friend that owns an ice cream shop. One more teacher that runs an after school tutoring school (think Sylvan or Kumon). I know that one of my teachers (economics teacher actually) went on to open a couple of drive through sub shops (think ToGos or SubWay).

The best thing you can do is find something that you are an expert in and something that you care about. Find a way to use your resources as a teacher (other teachers, your union, your students) or review your environment (antiquated tools or teaching materials). You can take a look at your goegraphic location (empty retail spots across from the school). As a teacher, you are exposed to a few hundred kids a day. This is not only a test market but also a potential client pool.

The district probably has an issue with you actively promoting your business in class, but if you work with other teachers to host a fundraising car wash in the parking lot of your business for the school band, or host after school study lounge at your coffee/ice cream shop – there is likely no conflict

If you work in a poor school and see the things that happen to students in that area, think about writing a book or teaching guide for other teachers. Offer to lecture (for pay) at a local college. Think about hosting workshops for educators in the same environment.

As a teacher you have a world of opportunity around you. Plug into it and you will be surprised at what pops up. If you work in another field though, the same types of opportunities are around. I have worked fast food, retail, industrial and almost any type of job that you can think of. Every job presented an opportunity, if you were looking for it. Think about your job. What sorts of contacts are you making? What types of people come to your employer? What niche is your employer missing?

Answer these questions and you are on your way to developing your hustle.

Oops. I almost closed this one out without this final thought. Even though you are working for your employer, think about them as a potential customer, partner or test group. You may come up with a way to help your bosses do something more efficiently or less expensively.  Tread lightly and talk to your attorney first, but give them a shot. If you are a good employee and a hard worker with a million dollart idea, they may be first in line to throw some dough your way.

Keep Hustling

I talk to a lot of people about a lot of things. I just got back from an event where I spoke to a large group of people. It was a little intimidating; there were hundreds of people there. Most of them were highly educated professionals. They were the tops in their industry.

I got off stage and was greeted by their positive feedback, requests for personal consultations with their companies and general adoration of my grasp of the subject matter. I was feeling pretty good.

It took me almost two years to get that speaking gig. Since then (about two weeks ago) I have been offered two more bookings to speak – paid, all expenses covered for travel to cool locations. I have been offered a few paid consultation projects and even an offer to be a consulting partner on a new business venture.

I am not saying this to brag. Truly I am not. I am saying this because I have been organizing this hustle for two years. It started with establishing myself as an expert in this particular field. I read everything I could get my hands on. I started talking to others in this field. I worked my ass off to be taken seriously. I took on small projects, anything, that would allow me to gain credibility, no matter how small the projects were. Some of those projects got bigger as I finished the smaller ones. I used those small projects to meet more people.

I looked at each small project, connection, conversation and exercise as a small step up to the next level.
And now, I see it beginning to pay off.

Along the way, those in my employ questioned if I was making the right moves. My wife and I even talked about changing strategies. There were plenty of reasons to give up, but you see, I was moving. I was moving forward. I was moving up. I was building a platform from which I would launch my next business. Each small success was a brick, mortared into place.

In the process, I have met two other influential individuals who want to hook their wagons (and resources) up to my train. They know I will do the work. They know that I will bring the money. They know that with their money and resources, they can keep me moving forward and upward. I have proven it. They have seen what I have been able to do so far on my own. They want to stand next to me with buckets as the money rains down.

So why am I telling you all of this?

Too often I hear about people who set goals and spend their time trying to jump up and catch them. I used to do it myself. Almost like I expected success to fall on top of me and knock me on my ass.

I would envision it like winning the lottery. No one plays the lottery without thinking that they are going to win. It is ridiculous to pay for the ticket without thinking you are going to win right?

Odds are you are not going to win, but you buy the ticket again next week.

But the same people will not put $10 into a savings account or spend 1 hour a day developing a business strategy or educating themselves. They will spend $3 or $4 on cigarettes but not $5 on a used book on something that would make them $500 in a year. The big goals are too huge and too high to reach by jumping.

What I am telling you is, you can do it. Obviously you are motivated. If you weren’t motivated you wouldn’t be reading this. So you have the most important part of making that goal, that dream, a reality – motivation.

Now you have only to define your goal and take that first step.

Even if that first step is to read a book, or a blog or a video on youtube, that will move you forward. That step will move you upward. The next step is to get off your ass and meet someone. It could be someone interested in the same thing that will help you start your crew or a new customer or client.

Just keep moving forward and keep hustling.