I've mentioned many times before how it is important that you have a few spots in your area where you are a regular. If that requires you to go once or twice a week, then so be it. Creating a lifestyle takes time and commitment.
So if you've reached that point where you are a regular and you have befriended the bartenders and waiters then you should notice that you've been treated a little bit better. Maybe the bartender serves you quicker on busier nights or you get a few drinks "on the house." Not only are these things beneficial to you but your social circle as well. Remember the whole "giving value" thing? Yeah, they'll appreciate the fact that you get hooked up and are sharing that with them (and they'll tell their friends about it, too - increasing your popularity).
I don't take advantage of situations at all for my personal beenfit - but I love doing it for other people.
Case Study: My buddy's birthday.
I want to make sure that my buddy has a great time at a place where he wants to go. I also want him to be treated well at this particular venue. So using my strings, I have been able to get him a table for little to nothing for this weekend (pending we meet requirements and he decides that that's where he'd like to have his party). I'll give you a small breakdown of how I was able to pull this off.
Over the course of several months, whenever I go to this place, I brought different people every time. I always made friends with everyone that worked there and checked in on them every once in a while throughout the night. I always sent a text to the bouncers to make sure that the amount of people I was bringing was ok. Above everything else, I thanked EVERYONE when the night was over. And of course it should go without saying that the people that I bring here are always model citizens who have a good time and not cause trouble.
A couple of weeks prior to my buddy's birthday, I talked to the manager about possibly wanting to hold a party there since they've always treated me well. I pretty much told him that if I can bring a ridiculous amount of people there, would he be able to hook me up (the venue is pretty small so an amount of 30 people would be pretty substantial). He said that he'd look into it and when I have official numbers, he'll "make it happen."
I tried my best to keep in touch with him, letting him know of my progress and he appreciated it. Today, he finally said he'd hook me up so I'm pretty excited about that. Once my buddy says that he'd like to have the party there, if it's possible, maybe I'll surprise both my buddy and my manager and bring more people there. But we'll see.
In the end, the important thing about being treated like a VIP is building and maintaining relationships. Going to a place once a month isn't going to cut it. You have to be out there in the scene, "working hard."
I'll have a follow-up post here about how all of this worked out in the end.
And my next post will actually be about how who you know can make your lifestyle infinitely easier.
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