Don't Be Afraid To Be Dumb Enough To Succeed

I had a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine over the weekend. I was in Beverly Hills, staying for the week at the Beverly Hills Hotel, which is a pretty swank joint for a cowboy like me. I was out in La La Land for the L.A Film Festival, or whatever they call it, and I was working on fnding some new clients.

I like film industry clients because...they have money, and they like to spend it. The first film industry client I landed years ago put my business on the viability track. What I mean by that is they were the first elephant account I landed, and they paid all my bills and then some. They are still a valued client today, and in my Top Ten.

So, heeding some advice I heard years back, I like to go fishing where the fish are. And this year some of them were biting. I landed a couple of very nice new accounts, so that at least paid for all the caviar I was having sent to my room.

(I ate caviar once, and it made me violently ill.)

When I called my friend to tell him of my success, I had to
ask him who some people were. He laughed because I didn't recognise, or even know who they were.

But then he said, "It's probably better that you don't know. That way everybody you see is no different than anybody else."

And that is very true.

If I knew for instance, that Dustin Hoffman was Hollywood royalty, I probably wouldn't approach him. But since I don't, he is just as approachable as the bellboy.

There is no shock and awe involved. I just treat everyone exactly the same, and believe it or not, the Hollywood crowd is much more interested in who I am.

They want to know all about the guy who wears a tuxedo to work every day. And I oblige them. Then I reel some of them in, and we do some business.

And I'm convinced that if a guy like me can do business in Hollywood, then anybody can do business anywhere.

I think it's what I want chiseled on my grave marker, hopefully a long time from now.

HE WAS JUST DUMB ENOUGH TO BE A HUGE SUCCESS

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• Afraid

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