Chapter #4 Reality Sets in

Around 2010-2011 is about the time the economy really changed the face of the club scene in Chicago.  I remember sitting in the office of one of the clubs with the GM and him saying, “We all need to get used to making less money.”  Being a large city with the a lot of industry Chicago and other major markets tended to have a delayed reaction to the changes going on.  That, along with really good social networks like Facebook, sites like Match.com, and apps like Tinder have forever changed the nightclub scene in local markets like Chicago.

Think about it, back in the day in order to get laid you had to drive to a club, pay a valet, maybe cover, pay for $10 drinks or a bottle, and maybe, just maybe, you would get lucky and meet a girl.  The average Joe would have to drop $100+ for a chance to maybe meet a girl. People relied on me to bring hot ass to the events, and it’s what I was good at and what really drove my business for many years.  Nowadays and back around 2010 it started becoming really easy to met people online, hence a major decline in bar revenue from a combination of the economy and the the lack of week day business since people really didn’t have to go out to get laid anymore. They still would enjoy an occasional weekend bender or a big DJ show, but the club scene was never going back to the hay day.

I really felt like I no longer had the power to make a bad club good and a good club bad anymore and hence the power shifted from the promoters to the venues and with that shift can a huge downturn in revenue for my company.  People were not going out as much, money seemed to be tight around the city. Around this time I was searching for answers like many people. I had been killing it for years, money never seemed to be an issue, I had a hot girlfriend, nice house, yacht, things were good, so what the Hell happened!

I was leading a $20-25K a month lifestyle and my income dropped to around $10k a month after expenses.  It didn’t take long before I was swimming in credit card debt.  I knew I had to do something to supplement my income, but what?  I was working 6 nights a week, close to 100 hours a week and I was still not able to get the ship righted. So, I figured I would start another business, since I had success in the past and I figured I could do it again.

I started a party bus company in the Fall of 2012.  I willed it to happen and it did and I was off to the races with the purchase of a couple of old party buses in the September of 2012, I basically took out a business line of credit and borrowed money from my Mom.

Surreal Limo Buses

Surreal Limo Initial Fleet

I learned a lot here, invested a pretty hefty amount to get it all up and running in the $100k plus rage.  Bought an existing company and with it a couple of older buses.  Learned a little about SEO, Google Adwords, QuickBooks, and Facebook ads.

This was not my main gig. I was looking for a change in the Chicago Market as I was approaching 40 years old and the local club scene crowd was not getting any younger.  I hit one of my Vegas accounts and asked about a position at the soon to be much anticipated Hakkasan Nightclub at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.  I flew out for an interview and was offered a position of the Promotions Manager.

Here is how is went done I found a friend to keep the promotions company going in Chicago, the party bus company was 6 months into business and breaking even at best, and I had the new role of Promotions Manager at the Largest Most Expensive Nightclub in the world.  Talk about not much of a life easily 100+ hours a week between the 3 roles.  I was making decent money between the all three, except I was so far in credit card debt I was just about breaking even making all the payments for the house in Chicago that was running negative every month, the yacht in Chicago which I owned 1/4 of at the time, the about $1,800 month in payments to the cards, and the occasional losing month in the party bus business.

I freaking hated my life, I was slammed with business for Hakkasan, and I still had leads pouring in for the Chicago Business and the Party Bus Business, but when it was all said and done, there was nothing left at the end of the month after I covered my nut.  I used to tell people “I meet 1,000’s of pretty girls in Vegas, but I have no time to hang with any of them.”

I knew something had to change, I was looking for something, anything, that could make more $$$ in and that would scale, I  felt for the last few years I was in the wrong business.

via Giphy

I was invited one day to an Internet marketing seminar by this girl on Facebook, this was really my 1st seminar in a long time, keep in mind for about 10 years life was good, business was good, so this was a real eye opener for me.  I was exposed to YouTube Marketing, and various other online strategies.  It really made me feel like I was dumb!  There was so much that had just passed me by over the years.  Now I knew promotions, and I knew Facebook, but there was a lot more to this Internet marketing thing!

I had picked up some fantastic tips when I moved to Vegas started working at Hakkasan, being around a large company of well over 500 employees.  I had been on my own for almost 10 years, 1 assistant that helped me stay on top with promotions, but between him and I our knowledge was no comparison to that of an organization with many divisions.

Well, this seminar led into my big attempt to learn Internet marketing through the Empower Network Network Marketing Company.  I never tried to sell a single product, but I did pay attention and take every class some more that once.  Although this was a flawed system to make any sustainable money, David Wood and David Sharp delivered a Hell of a dog and pony show.  The Empower Network led me to some of the people I still follow today, leaders such as Chris Record, Tony Rush, John Levenia, and the Traffic Master himself, Vick Strizheus.

2018-2019 Update:

I now have a nice circle of affiliate buddies that I work on a regular basis, guys such as Jordan Schultz, Ronnie Sandlin, Chris Record, Danilo Lee, John Crestani, Carlos Cruz, and more you know what they say your network is your net worth check out more on BrianPfeiffer.com