They called him Big Sexy.

But there was nothing sexy about him.

The 6'5" 360-pound security guard waddled swiftly to where I was standing outside the velvet rope.

He wore short braids with brightly colored wooden beads on the ends. They bounced as he walked. I could see the cushion on his shoes deflate with each step.

“You can’t come in here. I fired you!” he barked. “The fuck you doing here Roybal?”

“And you can’t wear flip-flops in the Vanguard!” He stomped his right foot on the cement like a bull.

Not exactly a warm welcome.

At the back entrance to the VIP outdoor lounge, the head of security, a banned MMA fighter watched us. He put his tattoo-covered hand to his ear and talked into his black necktie.

Big Sexy (shaking his head), into his tie: “Yes Maverick. I gotchu.” And then he carefully opened the velvet ropes, escorting me into the club.

I tell this story not to show off but because it was the beginning of my promotions and marketing career.

It was at this moment that I understood the power of promotions and the impact of leveraging the future. It has served me well ever since.

Marketing gave me the power to get fired from the #1 Nightclub on the West Coast and return one year later booking the hottest DJs from around the world. It was a feeling I’ll never forget.

In that time, I went from a Los Angeles nightclub security guard (a paid monkey) to booking, promoting, branding, and selling out Friday nights at a 4,000-capacity L.A. Mega club.

I made this happen by learning how to leverage the future.

Here’s how it works…

After being let go from my security job, I started my own weekly nightclub event in a small venue in North Hollywood.

When I started preparing for the event, I booked the first night's headliners, opening acts, dancers, vendors, everyone, as well as the entire team for every event for the next 4 months.

Why book so far in advance when I didn’t even know if the party would be a success?

Because at the grand opening, the local opening DJs from all the future nights will come because they want to check the sound system, and plan for the night they perform. And because they want to have fun. It’s a party!

They also want their friends to see it on opening night and have fun so they will show up on their night.

And it’s not just for DJs or musicians. Even the go-go dancers performing on the second week of month three will go to opening night to envision their themed show (as will the dancers from the other 15 weeks of months 1, 2,3, and 4).

I will make sure each team from every Friday night for the next 4 months has a FREE VIP ticket, and four extra so they can bring “important” friends.

If I do my job right, along with booking talented performers, this can be the fire to ignite a regular weekly community of clubbers.

Here’s an example of the people needed for one Night-club party:

• 4DJs (warm-up, opener, closer, and headliner)

• 6 go-go dancers

• 1 lighting guy

• 2 merch people selling t-shirts

• 6 sub-promoters

• Graphic designer to make the flyer

(you get the idea)

So that’s 20 different people participating every Friday night.

Multiply that with four weeks per month and you get 80 people per month. Then, multiply that by x 4 months and you get 320 people.

Remember, each of those 320 people has skin in the game. They want the weekly party to be a success. And each of them has 4 free VIP guests making it 1,280 people that have a good reason to attend the grand opening of my party. And I haven’t spent a penny on promotions yet.

This is what I mean by leveraging the future.

All those future events have not happened yet, but they are real to the people involved in them. And the better I help them to envision it, the more excited they will be.

Because they are a part of this potential future, and because they have perks that others don’t, they all naturally want to support and attend the grand opening.

You can use this same strategy for promoting your NFT drop. You can leverage the power of everyone involved in your project (past and future) to have a strong OG Mint.

Use a spreadsheet, and keep track of all your vendors and collaborators. Everyone from the artists who design your NFTs, to the people who clap on your Medium.com articles. Even the staff of the company that helps you mint your social tokens.

Stay engaged with everyone. Get their opinions, and learn about what makes them tick.

If you make everyone feel like their input is valued, and if they are inspired by your vision, you can make them all VIPs for your first mint.

I hope you take this strategy of leveraging the future and use it to start positive momentum in your own NFT community. Remember, everyone involved from the smallest vendor to your direct partners can share in your vision and invite their friends if you make them feel like VIPs.

If you have any questions about these concepts, or how to implement them into your NFT project, please message me at: submit@nftpump.io

collect://

They called him Big Sexy.

But there was nothing sexy about him.

The 6'5" 360-pound security guard waddled swiftly to where I was standing outside the velvet rope.

He wore short braids with brightly colored wooden beads on the ends. They bounced as he walked. I could see the cushion on his shoes deflate with each step.

“You can’t come in here. I fired you!” he barked. “The fuck you doing here Roybal?”

“And you can’t wear flip-flops in the Vanguard!” He stomped his right foot on the cement like a bull.

Not exactly a warm welcome.

At the back entrance to the VIP outdoor lounge, the head of security, a banned MMA fighter watched us. He put his tattoo-covered hand to his ear and talked into his black necktie.

Big Sexy (shaking his head), into his tie: “Yes Maverick. I gotchu.” And then he carefully opened the velvet ropes, escorting me into the club.

I tell this story not to show off but because it was the beginning of my promotions and marketing career.

It was at this moment that I understood the power of promotions and the impact of leveraging the future. It has served me well ever since.

Marketing gave me the power to get fired from the #1 Nightclub on the West Coast and return one year later booking the hottest DJs from around the world. It was a feeling I’ll never forget.

In that time, I went from a Los Angeles nightclub security guard (a paid monkey) to booking, promoting, branding, and selling out Friday nights at a 4,000-capacity L.A. Mega club.

I made this happen by learning how to leverage the future.

Here’s how it works…

After being let go from my security job, I started my own weekly nightclub event in a small venue in North Hollywood.

When I started preparing for the event, I booked the first night's headliners, opening acts, dancers, vendors, everyone, as well as the entire team for every event for the next 4 months.

Why book so far in advance when I didn’t even know if the party would be a success?

Because at the grand opening, the local opening DJs from all the future nights will come because they want to check the sound system, and plan for the night they perform. And because they want to have fun. It’s a party!

They also want their friends to see it on opening night and have fun so they will show up on their night.

And it’s not just for DJs or musicians. Even the go-go dancers performing on the second week of month three will go to opening night to envision their themed show (as will the dancers from the other 15 weeks of months 1, 2,3, and 4).

I will make sure each team from every Friday night for the next 4 months has a FREE VIP ticket, and four extra so they can bring “important” friends.

If I do my job right, along with booking talented performers, this can be the fire to ignite a regular weekly community of clubbers.

Here’s an example of the people needed for one Night-club party:

• 4DJs (warm-up, opener, closer, and headliner)

• 6 go-go dancers

• 1 lighting guy

• 2 merch people selling t-shirts

• 6 sub-promoters

• Graphic designer to make the flyer

(you get the idea)

So that’s 20 different people participating every Friday night.

Multiply that with four weeks per month and you get 80 people per month. Then, multiply that by x 4 months and you get 320 people.

Remember, each of those 320 people has skin in the game. They want the weekly party to be a success. And each of them has 4 free VIP guests making it 1,280 people that have a good reason to attend the grand opening of my party. And I haven’t spent a penny on promotions yet.

This is what I mean by leveraging the future.

All those future events have not happened yet, but they are real to the people involved in them. And the better I help them to envision it, the more excited they will be.

Because they are a part of this potential future, and because they have perks that others don’t, they all naturally want to support and attend the grand opening.

You can use this same strategy for promoting your NFT drop. You can leverage the power of everyone involved in your project (past and future) to have a strong OG Mint.

Use a spreadsheet, and keep track of all your vendors and collaborators. Everyone from the artists who design your NFTs, to the people who clap on your Medium.com articles. Even the staff of the company that helps you mint your social tokens.

Stay engaged with everyone. Get their opinions, and learn about what makes them tick.

If you make everyone feel like their input is valued, and if they are inspired by your vision, you can make them all VIPs for your first mint.

I hope you take this strategy of leveraging the future and use it to start positive momentum in your own NFT community. Remember, everyone involved from the smallest vendor to your direct partners can share in your vision and invite their friends if you make them feel like VIPs.

If you have any questions about these concepts, or how to implement them into your NFT project, please message me at: submit@nftpump.io

collect://