I was handed a wad of over a thousand dollars cash - more than once - over the ten years I waited tables while acting.
In fact, I was once handed $1500 cash ON TOP of my $500-ish tip which was already far over the standard 20%, along with an offer for a six-figured salaried job. Not bad for a slow night at the bar.
What does this have to do with you, your business, and making big money?
That $2k tip night started out as a slow, rainy night with zero customers.
I was given the option to go home and let the bartender stay for any stragglers because it was dead.
Instead, I offered to stay and tend bar so the bartender could go home - he wanted to, and I know there’s always opportunities to make money when you’re open to them, and I was there to make money.
An hour later a small party in suits came in. I worked in a trendy part of NYC at the time, and business attired people were not our usual customer base or who I’d expect to get a roll of bills from.
But, waiting tables and tending bar has taught me the golden rule of treating and serving everyone like royalty, and ideally leaving people better off than you met them.
So, I did what I did best: serve, listen, pay attention, know what the client wants, make a suggestion for what you didn’t even know you wanted, anticipate needs, and make the host look good because of how well everyone was treated and the great time they were able to have in our otherwise empty bar.
They felt like they temporarily owned the place and had a private high-end venue instead of being stuck in a dead bar they ducked into to avoid the storm.
Imagine if I had gone home that night with the story that it was pointless, and I wasn’t going to make any money anyway.
Or if I had been cranky at my luck, and annoyed when the only table that came in was a bunch of boring suits I just knew wouldn’t order much or tip anything over the standard amount.
If I had begrudgingly taken their order and phoned it in so I could get my 20%?
If I believed it was a waste of time and had an attitude of you’re lucky to be here while I scrolled my phone behind the bar.
If I told myself what I needed was more people to make any real money.
Here’s what that night taught me that has everything to do with your business online: making the kind of money that doesn’t make sense actually DOES make sense and is very practical and logical if you break it down:
Get your brain on board and KNOW there’s always opportunities to make money - whatever the circumstances might initially appear to be. Decide you’re here to make money and show up for those opportunities.
Stick around and work what works. When everyone else says it’s hard, it sucks, and it’s not working, when everyone else decides to go home, quit, or try a new strategy, be the one who seems crazy and is willing to stay - it might just be your biggest cash day.
Serve the people in front of you and treat them like royalty instead of wishing for more or “better”. The best clients are the ones you have.
It only takes a handful of people to change the entire trajectory of most businesses. Don’t let the size or appearance of your audience fool you (or turn you into a snarky, entitled a-hole 
).
Serve with your whole heart *without* expectation. Do what you do best unapologetically. Listen. Hear and see beyond the words and appearance. Know your people and anticipate needs. Make people feel wanted and welcome.
I had NO idea that table, my only of the night btw, would hand me a wad of cash with a job proposition on the way out. Zero. I treated them like they were the most important people in the moment because that’s how I like to serve and leave people.
This approach works in business as well - my million dollars revenue in the last four years, and $700k in the last 2 from a 1:1 coaching model (think: all personalized service) and the collective millions my clients made last year in a slower economy are evidence for you that you can make big money, too - however “dead” it seems or small your audience when you focus on what matters.
Wishing you your version of success!
P.S. Have you signed up for this month’s Free Masterclass Words that Sell?
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