It is not my character post the writings of someone else...
but Neil Strauss is not just someone else.
And at times you forget just how great some of your friends are... and then you read the following and it really makes you take a step back, evaluate and hopefully appreciate the track your on. If not... hopefully you make some changes. And make sure to join his fan page: www.neilstrauss.com
 |
| AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND on our MEGA trip |
1. How to weasel your way into the lives of people you admire.
2. How to weasel your way into the media.
3. Who controls the mafia.
Let me tell you a story: Just after The Game came out, I got a call
from Tucker Max. He asked if I wanted to meet for Mexican food in
Silverlake with him and Robert Greene, author of The Art of
Seduction and the 48 Laws of Power.
That weekend was the beginning of a long friendship, and both writers
turned out to have one thing in common: a guy just out of college
named Ryan Holiday, who'd originally contacted them as a reader, was
helping them out with research and marketing.
A couple years later, I was speaking at a seminar that Tim Ferriss
put together, and he had someone who was helping him out
both behind the scenes and as a guest speaker: And it was Ryan
Holiday again.
And I thought: How does this Ryan guy work his way into the inner
circle of every author. Then I started talking to him. And the
answer was clear: he does three smart things that I want to share
with you today in this email.
People are always asking how they can meet Mystery or any of the
guys in The Game or Emergency. And I tell them it's easy to get a
mentor. All you have to do is have three qualities: be willing to
learn and capable of getting great (that's the reward for the
mentor); be positive and non-threatening (thus making the mentor
feel safe); and recognize a need the mentor has and be willing to
fill it with nothing asked in return (because everyone has a
pain point or somewhere they need more help). This is called paying
your dues, and Ryan started doing it for these guys for free, from
what I understand, until he was eventually getting paid handsomely
by people in their networks (like the founder of American Apparel).
Ryan's special skill is that he is an evil genius. Okay, maybe not
totally evil (unless you're The New York Times or anyone else he's
pissed off with his recent stunts). But, with the help of his mentors,
he's come to understand modern marketing on a level far beyond
what any top-end publicity or marketing company does.
So I did what I do when I come across any incredible resource or
mad genius or gifted teacher or self-improvement guru: I brought
them in to speak to The Society at one of our Intensives. (We just
had what's technically our seventh Intensive together, and everyone
is staying in for another year, so no new spaces have opened up yet.)
And we're all quite proud of Ryan, because his new book Trust Me,
I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator, hit the Wall
Street Journal bestseller list this week.
So what we're going to do today on this list is offer a little bit
of a scoop. If you've been reading the news, you may recall that
Holiday has been in a bit of a scandal since it was revealed that
he had his assistant pose as him and pretend to be a vinyl
collector (and watch below to see the extent of the lie there),
for an article in The New York Times.
As a former correspondent for The New York Times, it horrifies me
on two levels: the first that someone would deliberately lie to
reporters for their own Situationist-style prank. But, more
horrifying, that reporters wouldn't check or corroborate in
any way random sources they find online.
What's interesting about this clip, and hasn't been revealed
anywhere yet, is how, once he pulled off this stunt, Holiday
himself broke his own scandal. Here he reveals, ahead of
time, the exact plan he appears to have executed:
http://youtu.be/HOnO6PPXd38
And just to show you how this guy's mind works, here's another news
story he created with Tucker Max, and the secret back story behind
another media scandal:
http://youtu.be/JCkAUfgSn2s
Outside of the Internet-age PT Barnum-like advice, the takeaway
here is not being deceitful or deceptive, but being smarter than
the competition.
And rather than lining up with everyone else to try to get in the
front door to obtain something you want, your chances are better if
you figure out instead how the entire institution works, what
its needs are, and what its strengths and vulnerabilities are.
Then you'll be ushered in through the back door. Whether your
goal is marketing, writing, entrepreneurship, acting, coding,
running for president, or being a clown (which I suppose has
similarities to all of the above).
Finally, if that's not enough clips and links for you, I had an
Inner Circle show on SiriusXM 104 recently with a reputed mobster
(Johnny Fratto from the Howard Stern show) and a biker (Sandman
plus his wife from The Devils Ride on Discovery). And I wanted
to give a few of my favorite clips to those of you writing in
from overseas, who can't get Sirius. So you can listen to these
short highlights here:
https://www.neilstrauss.com/sirius/monogamy.mp3
(in which Sandman destroys his relationship with four words)
https://www.neilstrauss.com/sirius/domestic_violence.mp3
(in which I'm invited to be their marriage counselor)
https://www.neilstrauss.com/sirius/halloween_witch.mp3
(in which we find out who controls the mafia: their wives)
Alright, that's enough links for now.
P.S. Okay, one more link. If you just want to download the radio
show clips as a single zip file, here you go:
https://www.neilstrauss.com/sirius/7-12-2012.zip
PPS And as long as we're clicking on links, if you want to know
when spots open up in The Society or offer suggestions on how
we can expand The Society to transform more of you or if you
want access to future video clips that have been approved for
public consumption, just click here:
http://bit.ly/societyinfo
