In DA CLUB - Chapter 11

While working in radio I had several different kinds of clients that I sold advertising to. I LOVED going into businesses and learning about what they do, who they market to, and how the business works. To this day it’s some of my most treasured conversations.  It's amazing the things you learn when you are sincerely going in to learn about another business.

The insight they give you when you really care!  Because of this I was able to build really successful radio advertising campaigns that had a brand story and catered to their client demographics - and because of this I had very little turn over and my clients stayed with me for years!  To this day, 13 years after leaving radio - I am still good friends with many of them!

One of my favorite clients were night clubs. I had several club promoters as clients, and they all turned out the same. They would be SUPER successful for a while, and I would make a lot of money on commission on the ads they would run on my radio stations.

They would immediately get a big head, get all the girls, start buying drinks for everyone, do drugs in the service elevator, not pay their bill, I would cut them off, new club promoter enters....

Exact same story- next! ....

Exact same story- next! ....

It went on and on with several different clubs and different promoters. I got sick of having to do this over and over again so I decided to take matters into my own hands and I took over all the clubs.

I started promoting the clubs myself, which meant I owned the night. As a promoter I would get the money from the entry fees at the door, and sometimes a percentage of the bar sales. I would then pay for the DJ, sometimes security, and all commercials on the radio. (The beautiful thing about this is I would then turn around and get commission on all the radio commercials I bought for myself!)

I found out very quickly that I was good at being a promoter. I didn’t care if anybody knew who I was, I didn’t care about trying to get the guys, I did not do drugs, and I did not get drunk on the job. All of the bouncers found it humorous to work for a woman, and I paid well, so they all had a fun and respectful attitude towards me, and made sure that my clubs never had problems.

One of their favorite tricks to play, was when a girl walked up and tried to rub against them to get into the club free. I would always be standing in the background and the bouncer would point to me and say, sorry she’s the boss! Because you never saw club promoters that were women, they did not quite know what to do so they just made a face and paid their way in the door.

At the end of the night, me and the bouncers would make bets on how many of these drunk girls would fall down the stairs on their way out of the club.

I was very loyal to my guys, and in return they were very loyal to me. Every night ended with all the bouncers and DJ’s from all of my clubs meeting me for breakfast at 2:30am. I would pay everyone out, and buy breakfast.

Again- a woman promoter is very rare. Whenever a new bouncer or bartender would start at the club they would try to either flirt or call me “honey” condescendingly. The guys would set him straight real quick- but it took my consistent behavior as a “business woman” to make them take me seriously and earn their respect.

Believe me, a night club at 3am is a dangerous place, especially when I was carrying thousands of dollars of cash every night. I needed to earn this deep respect from all of them. And I did.

I ran several night clubs three nights a week. I made a killing and had the time of my life! I got to be the hostess to ALL the parties in town, and got PAID to do it!

If you know me personally you know i don’t drink. But back then- I did. I would never get drunk because I had too much cash to watch over. But when my “Whales” came in buying the whole club shots- hells yeah I would drink with them! And then be back at work at 8am.

Meanwhile, I was still selling radio 8-5 Monday through Friday. But I was also finding that I had a nack for promotions. I was helping the DJ’s with more and more events and realizing that we should be charging businesses for all these side promos we were doing for them. So started my new love of Sales Marketing!......

(P.S. These are fake pictures to protect the guilty! )