SkullGuy
Regular Member
- Jan 21, 2016
- 268
- 240
The car and the race go to hell and we were just stunned.
We actually ended up losing a lot of money on this deal after all was said and done. Some good things came from it, lots of press releases and some authority links.
One other thing. This will blow your mind. The girl we hired to be our model and pose with the car and wear our merchandise. She does all that, but then immediately after the race, she takes off with the driver of the car. OK WTF? We wanted to use you on some more shoots and do some publicity and stuff but enjoy your life. Just a weird situation all around. But it worked out because we found this hot AF tattoo model to help us out instead.
Things were going pretty well with the store but it soon became apparent the amount of work and effort weren't worth the payoff. We still have the store but pretty much everything is dropshipped and we don't do a whole lot of work on the site. I just rebuilt it and paired down our offerings and it seems to have helped sales.
We fiddled around with some investing, screwed with the investigations site some more. I dabbled in affiliate crap and just trying to get some kind of foothold in something. We screwed around with nothing for awhile. We still kept the store up, though.
The services industry is where we knew we were going to make our money. A couple years earlier I had incorporated for tax purposes and to also do some side work.
My brother and I started a marketing and internet services company under the name I incorporated under. Our initial mission and what we would do for people was sort of nebulous and not very well defined.
Things started gelling when I came across a guy on twitter that was semi-famous. He was famous for an acting role as a kid. I approached/DM'd him and wanted to offer to make a custom piece of jewelry from our jewelry and clothing store. I was doing this with a few semi-famous twitter people. He was one of the first to respond. It turns out this guy wasn't just some washed up hack child actor. He was a working actor and director. He had just finished directing a movie and I was talking with him about it. It was not going to be a blockbuster or anything of that sort so I said, hey my brother and I do marketing and promotions. How about you come out to Cleveland, we have some great old theaters here. Beautiful art deco stuff. We can promote your movie and have a Hollywood type premiere but right here in Cleveland. This was perfect because the role this guy is most famous for has a strong Cleveland connection and people just go apeshit whenever you mention the movie he was in and in particular, his role. He is somewhat of an icon, even outside of Cleveland. But, anyway, he thought that was fantastic! I thought "oh shit I just invited a Hollywood guy out here to promote his new movie and I have no fecking idea what I'm doing"
This was around the time The Cleveland Cavaliers were doing extremely well. It was also the same time that the RNC was going to be in town. Cleveland had the two biggest news stories they have ever had and I had to try and break through that noise to promote our accidental client's new masterpiece. FUCK ME.
I was having no luck, I put out press release after press release, called every radio and TV station I could find. We bought air time and they were going to interview our guy on the major morning show here in Cleveland. That fell through, though. I used to work for a radio station. I called my old boss and they were happy to help. They are a really great group at that station. If you want to listen to them they are 91.3 The Summit in Akron Ohio. I called the Cleveland film commission and they wanted to help too. These are the people that put together all the Marvel movies that were filmed here together. I met with them and these guys are like early 20 somethings, hip, very nice and extremely helpful.
So even with finally getting some help, it was still difficult to get past the political and sports chatter that was occurring 24/7 in Cleveland.
The big day came and the event turned out ok. Our client was very impressed with our professionalism and was pretty happy despite all the obstacles. He is now a full-time client and we are also friends. He is going to be in the area next month and invited me to go with him to some beer thing. I won't be drinking as I already explained to him I will end up in hand cuffs. He was thankful that I had alerted him LOL.
We have since picked up a few more clients. Another Hollywood type guy and some local Cleveland people including the president of our small business organization here in Cleveland. That is fantastic in itself just because of the work that guy can throw us in addition to a ton of connections. Things are starting to pop.
It's been a long strange trip so far, brothers and sisters. I would not recommend this particular journey to anyone except maybe an enemy.
I still have a lot of fire left in me. I still have a passion for business and, life in general. The furnace has been re-ignited so to speak.
I don't know what anyone would take away from this so I will give you my thoughts.
1) Never fucking give up
2) Treat people fairly and with kindness
3) Sometimes the road you are on takes a turn, go with it.
4) Don't settle. Go big, dream big!
That last one. If all you want out of life is to make 50 bucks a day and smoke weed, great do that.
But if you want to do something bigger, do it. Big change requires big actions. Big rewards require big risks.
I have received all kinds of advice concerning my business ventures. Some of it was warranted and even appreciated. For the most part, I would advise not to listen to the normal people out there.
The cynics, the assholes, the people that want to rain on your parade. Just ignore them or tell em' fuck off. The people that want you to take the 9 to 5 and be happy stamping out car parts or filling out forms. Screw that. There are people here in this very forum that want to tell you to quit. Don't do it. Maybe you are going in the wrong direction, or you aren't doing the exact right thing for you or your business. That doesn't mean you have to quit, it means regroup and try something different.
Here is something to think about and I am sure some of you have heard this: What would you do if you weren’t afraid of…
Fill in the blank: if you weren't afraid of what? "failing" "being ridiculed" "not making money" "disappointing people"
Whatever your fear is, it's what is limiting you. I'm not out to make 100K a year. I am out to become rich. It may not happen, I don't know for sure. I can tell you it definitely won't happen if I give up or don't even try. This shit can be hard, really really hard. It can suck, and it can drive you a bit batty.
You're gonna have bad days, I have plenty. I don't plan on my definition of bad remaining the same, though. What was bad to me last year is barely a blip on my radar now. What's bad to me right now will seem silly a year from today. Like I want my bad day to consist of the color paint I wanted for my custom Dodge Charger wasn't available. I'm not there yet, but I plan on being there!
I am so far ahead of where I thought I would be and part of that reason is BHW. There are some great people and great resources here. Not everyone wants to be a wealthy entrepreneur. Some people are happy just doing their thing and that's great. But don't try and stop other people.
I'm gonna leave with this quote: "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Leonardo da Vinci
Take action
Thanks everyone for letting me indulge myself in this, if nothing else but cathartic, exercise. Maybe someone will find something that helps them
If you think you have a problem with booze or drugs and want to really get help. Feel free to contact me via DM.
Fin
We actually ended up losing a lot of money on this deal after all was said and done. Some good things came from it, lots of press releases and some authority links.
One other thing. This will blow your mind. The girl we hired to be our model and pose with the car and wear our merchandise. She does all that, but then immediately after the race, she takes off with the driver of the car. OK WTF? We wanted to use you on some more shoots and do some publicity and stuff but enjoy your life. Just a weird situation all around. But it worked out because we found this hot AF tattoo model to help us out instead.
Things were going pretty well with the store but it soon became apparent the amount of work and effort weren't worth the payoff. We still have the store but pretty much everything is dropshipped and we don't do a whole lot of work on the site. I just rebuilt it and paired down our offerings and it seems to have helped sales.
We fiddled around with some investing, screwed with the investigations site some more. I dabbled in affiliate crap and just trying to get some kind of foothold in something. We screwed around with nothing for awhile. We still kept the store up, though.
The services industry is where we knew we were going to make our money. A couple years earlier I had incorporated for tax purposes and to also do some side work.
My brother and I started a marketing and internet services company under the name I incorporated under. Our initial mission and what we would do for people was sort of nebulous and not very well defined.
Things started gelling when I came across a guy on twitter that was semi-famous. He was famous for an acting role as a kid. I approached/DM'd him and wanted to offer to make a custom piece of jewelry from our jewelry and clothing store. I was doing this with a few semi-famous twitter people. He was one of the first to respond. It turns out this guy wasn't just some washed up hack child actor. He was a working actor and director. He had just finished directing a movie and I was talking with him about it. It was not going to be a blockbuster or anything of that sort so I said, hey my brother and I do marketing and promotions. How about you come out to Cleveland, we have some great old theaters here. Beautiful art deco stuff. We can promote your movie and have a Hollywood type premiere but right here in Cleveland. This was perfect because the role this guy is most famous for has a strong Cleveland connection and people just go apeshit whenever you mention the movie he was in and in particular, his role. He is somewhat of an icon, even outside of Cleveland. But, anyway, he thought that was fantastic! I thought "oh shit I just invited a Hollywood guy out here to promote his new movie and I have no fecking idea what I'm doing"
This was around the time The Cleveland Cavaliers were doing extremely well. It was also the same time that the RNC was going to be in town. Cleveland had the two biggest news stories they have ever had and I had to try and break through that noise to promote our accidental client's new masterpiece. FUCK ME.
I was having no luck, I put out press release after press release, called every radio and TV station I could find. We bought air time and they were going to interview our guy on the major morning show here in Cleveland. That fell through, though. I used to work for a radio station. I called my old boss and they were happy to help. They are a really great group at that station. If you want to listen to them they are 91.3 The Summit in Akron Ohio. I called the Cleveland film commission and they wanted to help too. These are the people that put together all the Marvel movies that were filmed here together. I met with them and these guys are like early 20 somethings, hip, very nice and extremely helpful.
So even with finally getting some help, it was still difficult to get past the political and sports chatter that was occurring 24/7 in Cleveland.
The big day came and the event turned out ok. Our client was very impressed with our professionalism and was pretty happy despite all the obstacles. He is now a full-time client and we are also friends. He is going to be in the area next month and invited me to go with him to some beer thing. I won't be drinking as I already explained to him I will end up in hand cuffs. He was thankful that I had alerted him LOL.
We have since picked up a few more clients. Another Hollywood type guy and some local Cleveland people including the president of our small business organization here in Cleveland. That is fantastic in itself just because of the work that guy can throw us in addition to a ton of connections. Things are starting to pop.
It's been a long strange trip so far, brothers and sisters. I would not recommend this particular journey to anyone except maybe an enemy.
I still have a lot of fire left in me. I still have a passion for business and, life in general. The furnace has been re-ignited so to speak.
I don't know what anyone would take away from this so I will give you my thoughts.
1) Never fucking give up
2) Treat people fairly and with kindness
3) Sometimes the road you are on takes a turn, go with it.
4) Don't settle. Go big, dream big!
That last one. If all you want out of life is to make 50 bucks a day and smoke weed, great do that.
But if you want to do something bigger, do it. Big change requires big actions. Big rewards require big risks.
I have received all kinds of advice concerning my business ventures. Some of it was warranted and even appreciated. For the most part, I would advise not to listen to the normal people out there.
The cynics, the assholes, the people that want to rain on your parade. Just ignore them or tell em' fuck off. The people that want you to take the 9 to 5 and be happy stamping out car parts or filling out forms. Screw that. There are people here in this very forum that want to tell you to quit. Don't do it. Maybe you are going in the wrong direction, or you aren't doing the exact right thing for you or your business. That doesn't mean you have to quit, it means regroup and try something different.
Here is something to think about and I am sure some of you have heard this: What would you do if you weren’t afraid of…
Fill in the blank: if you weren't afraid of what? "failing" "being ridiculed" "not making money" "disappointing people"
Whatever your fear is, it's what is limiting you. I'm not out to make 100K a year. I am out to become rich. It may not happen, I don't know for sure. I can tell you it definitely won't happen if I give up or don't even try. This shit can be hard, really really hard. It can suck, and it can drive you a bit batty.
You're gonna have bad days, I have plenty. I don't plan on my definition of bad remaining the same, though. What was bad to me last year is barely a blip on my radar now. What's bad to me right now will seem silly a year from today. Like I want my bad day to consist of the color paint I wanted for my custom Dodge Charger wasn't available. I'm not there yet, but I plan on being there!
I am so far ahead of where I thought I would be and part of that reason is BHW. There are some great people and great resources here. Not everyone wants to be a wealthy entrepreneur. Some people are happy just doing their thing and that's great. But don't try and stop other people.
I'm gonna leave with this quote: "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Leonardo da Vinci
Take action
Thanks everyone for letting me indulge myself in this, if nothing else but cathartic, exercise. Maybe someone will find something that helps them
If you think you have a problem with booze or drugs and want to really get help. Feel free to contact me via DM.
Fin
Last edited:
Its good to see that things started to turn out well at the end for you.
