Through LinkedIn, I met a young man who works at a swanky 5th Avenue club called:

230 Lounge

 

I reached out to him and asked for a meeting.  He viewed my profile and we met.

230 Lounge has a spectacular view of the Chrysler and Empire State Buildings from a penthouse garden.  This young man was speaking about how much work he had created for himself, not getting paid enough and all the late nights he was putting in.

I offered to help lighten his burden and started to tell him all that I can do.  After 10-15 of this he said: “I’m going to be honest with you.  I believe that you can do everything you say you can.  I  realize how much more money we can be making but, if I hire you to do it, then I can’t say that I did it myself.”

“Idiot“, I thought.  “Put me in touch with your boss or the owner“, I wanted to say but, we stood, shook hands and departed.

I suppose if I met with the person more concerned with $$$ aspect of the business, we’d have come to a good arrangement in time.  Instead I met with someone more concerned with their personal accomplishment.

However,  I soon realized that I was the idiot here because what I’m about to share may shock you.

5 Trees in Cape Cod

A women I’ve asked to mentor me was the first female Industrial Real Estate Broker ever in NYC. Industrial real estate before, Suzy Kline was an ‘all-boy’ game.  She was not only the first to break into it, she did it with style.

Her and I still argue about who did what in Williamsburg.  She’s one of the first to convince the manufacturing and industrial landlords to rent their vacant loft buildings to artists and did this way before I launched 11211 Magazine.

She’s extremely tall for a woman and stands above most men.  When she feels like it, she can intimidate the bones out of your skin.  She’s also read more books (1000s) than 99% of the people I’ve ever met.

She practically reads a book a day and has been doing this all her life and never hesitates to call people out on their shit.

She’s given me a reading list over 10 years ago that I’ve finally got around to starting. I’ll share only one of book of her sacred must read book list:  Winning through Intimidation (Circa 1977).

She’s been telling me to read it for 13 years and so many times, I’ve lost count.  I finally read it a few weeks ago.  She said: “You’re really fucking stupid sometimes, Breuk.”   I just smile like a brat to cover my ignorance.  She nods her head side to side.  We are having fun.

Suzy told me that when she first started to make “real money” she was terrified.  It completely conflicted with a long held belief in herself.  She’s said: “I never expected to make so much money and had to go to therapy for help because I would start shaking, sweating and waking up at night.”

When I made my first million at my design firm on Fifth Avenue, instead of a therapist, I would drink myself into a stupor every night and just keep plowing ahead never facing the reality of my subconscious conflict.  I was also 86ed from several bars and restaurants along E21st Street.  I’m pretty certain Gramercy Tavern was not one of them.

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Ok.  So here’s the point:

Business owners (and I’ve literally met 1000s of them):

1) have a deep-seeded fear of success but, more importantly

2) want to accomplish their own fate on behalf of their own efforts and self-mastery.

There’s nothing wrong with self-mastery.  There’s nothing wrong with accomplishment either.

Suzy always speaks about people’s hidden agendas.  “They say they want one thing and do another,” she might say.  We see this all around today: an internal conflict.

Every business owner will tell you that they want a lot more money but, hidden under the surface (subconscious), what they really want is to do it themselves.

By me coming up with a system to serve businesses in a superior way directly conflicts with their internal system and beliefs.   What I’m doing is robbing them of their personal or business accomplishments.

Oh, the horror!

When I offer to make 3xs the amount they pay me for services:

1) do they believe me?

Yes, I have dozens of businesses I’ve tried it on and several years of testimonials.

2) would that rob them of their ultimate ‘Do It Yourself (DIY)’ victory?

Indeed, it would.

3) it also removes and conflicts with their own sense of Autonomy.

This is another problem in the ‘hidden agenda‘.

Marketing and advertising is like playtime for many entrepreneurs.  In telling them that I can guarantee the results really does mess with their own self-worth.  They want to do it themselves.  And they believe that they are saving money.

Consciously, hiring me makes perfect sense.  I generate my own paycheck. Subconsciously (makes up 90% of the (emotional) decision making process), they see this as a direct conflict to their own hidden agenda.

HIDDEN AGENDAS

1. I can save so much money by ‘Doing It Yourself’.  The problem is they have the knowledge of a brass farthing to actually get it done properly.
2. If they do accomplish this (most won’t), they have gained another medal in the great “entrepreneurship” of the American Dream—battle against the odds and hopefully win — the stuff all good novels are made of.

Shortly after starting school and looking to open my own design firm, I realized I wasn’t in the business of doing DESIGN.  I was in the sales business.

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Well, let me know when playtime is over and you get tired of the struggle, I’d be happy to help. : ))

If you want to make money and take advantage of some painstakingly, rarely acquired marketing knowledge, please do.  If you want to make steady millions over the next couple of years, let’s get to work.

Getting through this massive gap between what is believed and what is perceived as possible is something your going to have to figure out with a therapist.  I’m not a therapist.

[ One side note to remember here is that even when you do become successful, your “business model” and success will attract others to copy what is that you are doing.  I call this “the copycat effect”.  Competition is hot on your trail.  When and if this does happen, adjustments have to be made to the Brand-ID, at least perceivably. ]

Hey, I’ve been there.  Back in the day if someone told me how to do 11211, I may have told them where to go.  I did want to do it myself, fight the fight, win, and learn all the school of hard knocks lessons myself.

It’s my self-professed Masters’ Degree.  The results of what Williamsburg looks like today earned me a “self-professed” doctorate.

Finale:

My personal issue was owning up to the fact that “I did more promote Williamsburg | Brooklyn than anyone else alive.” Once upon a time, it seemed like a leap for me.  After a solid month of fact finding; combing through websites, reading city transit figures, identifying when the L Train subway became overwhelmed with passengers, real estate property values, Brooklyn tourism visitor statistics, reading BIDs, and finally compiling 100s of applicable facts, the claim is 100% true. [ see infographic ]

Corresponding with the launch of 11211 Magazine, things rapidly changed.

Manhattan distribution of the glossy, heavy weight paper magazine and it’s artistic and diverse cultural content, its unusual “freedom of the press” and multi-lingual articles approach had everything to do with what it brought into the minds of a regional, national and finally an international crowd.

Before 11211 Mag, Williamsburg was a cesspool of potential.  The potentials were its central location and proximity to the city.

There are plenty of other places around NYC that have great potential.  People talk about Long Island City and everything that is happening there.

I’ll ask directly: “Like what?”

<crickets>

Thank you for reading…

Have a great day.

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  Neurochemical Publicity in the Aquarian Age.

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        < Let’s connect.

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