Dictionary.com defines ‘negotiation‘ as follows:

“mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement…”

To put it plainly, negotiation is getting 2 people (or groups of people) to come to an agreement on something. Great negotiation gives both persons what they want.

There are a few key things to keep in mind when negotiating with someone.

• You must keep your goal clearly in your mind at all times
• Change the name of the game
• You must find out WHY your opponent wants what they want
• Face-to-Face, Phone, or Email? Choose carefully

You must keep your goal clearly in your mind at all times

An unfocused mind is an easily manipulated mind. This is the key to all game. You must keep a very clear picture in your mind of what you want, otherwise, you’ll be convinced that you want something else. Before the negotiations even begin, focus in on your goal. Have a clear picture. If you want a $1000 from someone, then keep that $1000 in your mind at all times. See your opponent placing the bills in your hand. The only way to get somewhere is to know exactly where you’re going.

On the flip side, if your opponent is weak, and is not clear on what they want, you can put what you think they should want in their head. If someone is trying to get money out of you, but they’re not sure how much, then you can convince them of how much they should want; or even better convince them that money is not what they need at all.

Change the name of the game

The name you give to the negotiations will determine how the other person acts during the negotiations, and if used properly, could greatly influence the results. Think about the difference between asking your boss for a raise, and asking your boss to ‘renegotiate your compensation’. Raise sounds like you’re begging. Yet another employee asking for more money. This puts you in a lower position. But just by using the word ‘compensation’ instead, you give yourself the upper hand. Compensation implies money for the work that you do. This basically says to the boss, ‘the work that I do deserves more money’ instead of ‘I want more money’.

There’s a very special psychological thing that happens when you frame the game like this. If you ask your boss for a raise, in her mind she’s trying to think how little she can pay you, or even if she should pay you at all. When you frame the game with the word compensation (and assuming the work you do is good) he thinks, how much he can afford to pay you for your work, and how much is your work worth. He thinks how HIGH he can go, instead of how LOW he can go.

More information on asking for a raise can be found here.

You must find out WHY your opponent wants what they want

It’s not enough to know what your opponent says they want. Usually, what they say they want and what they really want are 2 different things. If you can find out what your opponent really wants, you can often substitute that for what they’re asking for. Example, someone wants $1000 from you. But what do they REALLY want? Perhaps they want to buy a new coat? What if you could get them the coat or, one like it at a much cheaper cost? What if you found the coat somewhere for only $300? Or if you found a $300 coat and convinced them that that coat was better for them than the one they originally wanted? Then you win.

Phone, Email, or Face-to-Face? Choose carefully

In this day and age, there are many options to choose how to negotiate. You could call a person, email a person, or sit down over a beer face to face. Negotiating by phone is best if you’re having an angry negotiation. If there’s beef, stay on the phone; the space prevents your opponent from using intimidation tactics.

Email, text, Im on the other hand is different. While there’s still the advantage of space, there’s also more of a chance that the meaning of what you’re saying will be taken incorrectly. Especially jokes. Since you can’t really see (or hear) whether or not a person is smiling, you can’t know if they’re joking or serious. Email and text and such also prevents you from being able to see whether or not your opponent is feeling what you’re saying. When you text, you can’t tell if they’re smiling or if they’re leg is tapping in impatients. You can’t see if they’re looking around and not paying you any attention. You miss out on a lot of clues when you email.

In the end you should probably save email based negotiations for people that you know very well. In most cases, it’s better to negotiate in person, it gives you more power.

Take every opportunity to practice your negotiation skills. Every time someone asks you to do something, they’re negotiating with you. If your girl asks you to take out the garbage, it’s a negotiation. She’s saying take out the garbage or I’m going to be angry with you. In that short exchange, you’ve negotiated a deal. She gets you to take out the garbage, and you get to not have to deal with her attitude. But instead of taking that offer, why not counter offer with something that you want? When you become a master negotiator, you’ll find that the world will be yours.

I’ve given you the game, now it’s up to you to step your game up.

Game | No Comments »

Commanding more money from your Boss is not really a hard task at all, it’s all based on work ethic.

The basic principle behind a raise is to always do more than you’re being paid for. Simple as that. If you’re doing more than you’re paid to do, then when you ask your boss for that raise, he will have no choice but to say yes.

Be the first to arrive and the last to leave

If you’re due to start work at 8 am, be there at 7:30 or even 7. Getting there early does 2 things: first, it gives you a nice buffer to work with in case you’re late. Secondly, it gets you looked at as a responsible person (this is good).

Make sure you are the last one to leave (or at least leave AFTER your boss). This too is very important. Staying late consistently gives you the image of a hard worker. It also plants the seed in your boss’ mind that you’re putting out more than what you’re currently being paid for.

Under promise and Over deliver

Whenever you’re asked how long it will take you to do something, always use this opportunity to impress them by under promising, followed up with an over delivery. For example, if your boss wants a report done, and you know you can do it in 2 days, tell your boss it’ll be done in 4 days. Then bust you ass and make sure it gets done in 2 days. NEVER turn it in on the deadline date. ALWAYS beat your deadline. Yeah, this is pure game, but so what. It looks good.

Perform EVERY task as if you were being paid $100,000 a year to do it

Remember Eddie Murphy in ‘Coming to America’? Remember how he mopped those floors? He mopped those floors with his chest poked out, his chin up, and a smile on his face. The way he was mopping McDowel’s floors, you would’ve thought he was getting paid $100,000 a year to keep them clean. THAT is the secrete to getting more responsibility in your company (more responsibility = more money).

When you do every job to the best of your ability; when you perform even the remedial tasks quickly, accurately, and with no complaints, your boss notices that. And when he starts to notice your work ethic he will have more confidence to assign you bigger, more important tasks. Soon, your boss will come to depend on you, and your hard work. When that happens, you can be sure that you will be able to command more money.

Stay away from the complainers and troublemakers

We all know the guy. He spends most of the day waiting for his break-lunch-end of shift. In between he pretty much complains about everything from management to the color of the paint on the wall. This guy always looks for ways to do as little as possible and will hate on anyone who does more/better work than him. He probably smokes weed in the bathroom!

Although this lazy bum probably has a hell of a personality, and is very fun to be around, you should stay away from him; he will only bring you down. He will tease you for arriving early. He’ll question your reasons for staying late. And he’ll try to hurt your feelings if you outshine him in front of the boss.

Instead of people like this, try to hang out with the real workers. Those who don’t say much. Those who keep their head down and work. Not only will this group of people not down you for over achieving, but they’ll probably help you. And they’ll make for great cheerleaders when the boss asks them about you.

If you can resign yourself to work harder than you’re currently being paid, and stay away from the haters who want to keep you at the same level that they’re at, then when it comes time for that raise, your boss will have no choice but to say yes.

I’ve given you the game, now it’s up to you to step your game up.

Motivation | No Comments »

The art of conversation is probably the most important skill a person could ever develop. Conversation is how a salesman gets the sale. Conversation is how a man gets a woman in bed. Conversation is how a pimp gets paid.

There are 4 basic steps to a successful conversation:

1. See the end before you begin
2. Ask questions that lead to certain answers
3. Have 5 possible follow ups to those questions
4. Think while they answer

See the end before you begin

Before you begin any conversation, there must be a goal. Your goal could be to gather information about the person, to get them to leave the bar with you, to convince a person that it’s your product that they need to buy, or any number of things; just know what your goal is before you begin. If you DON’T know what the goal of the conversation is then you’ll be easily lead off track by your opponent.

Ask questions that lead to certain answers

So get a clear thought in your head about the desired result you’re looking for. Once you have that end game, You have to imagine each step that you’re going to take your opponent on to lead them to whatever it is you have in mind. Once you have your steps in mind, use questions to lead a person through those steps.

Have 5 possible follow ups to those questions

When you ask a question, you should already know what answer it is that a person would give; and you should have your follow up to that answer already ready. If the answer to the question that you ask is not the answer that you thought it was going to be, ask the same question in a different way. Use a different angle. Rephrase the question until the person responds the way you want them to respond so that you can move to the next step on your path.

Think while they answer

When you are asking questions, if you phrase the question correctly, you’ll leave the person with very little maneuvering room. You should already know how they’re going to respond to your question. So while the person is responding to your question, you should be thinking of your next question, and your opponents response to that question. This way you are always 2 steps ahead of your opponent. You only need to half listen to your opponent when they’re speaking to verify that they are giving the answer you expect. They’re talking is your opportunity to think. This is why some people seem to be so quick with their words; they’re no quicker than anyone else in fact. They’re just more prepared.

The basic goal is to lead a person down a path that you create. To lead them to your conclusion. The best game in the world makes the opponent believe that they are making the decidion on their own, even though it is you who lead them to this conclusion. This is a basic technique for influencing your opponent. A master of this technique can bend the will and/or uncover valuable information about all of those around them.

I’ve given you the game, now it’s up to you to step your game up.

Game | 2 Comments »

[delayed from about 1 week ago]

Blew the new hoe. Damn.

When a new hoe is introduced to your pimpin, the first 48 hours are the most critical. For the first 48 hours, I wasn’t even there. I had to go home to my family, and I had to goto work.

For three days the hoe called. Each time she expressed with the utmost sincerity that she was on her way to the hotel. Each night she never showed.

One time I spoke to her on the phone; my intention was to motivate her to come back to us. I recorded the entire 14 minute conversation and emailed it to my Bitch; she said it sucked.

What about it sucked? We spoke about her ex too much, I gave her too much room to express her own opinion when I should’ve been putting my opinions in her head, there were too many silent moments where I didn’t have anything to say; basically, I didn’t really lead the conversation.

I asked my bottom bitch “So, conversation is the only thing standing in the way of me and millions?”. She replied yes. After that I swore to myself that I would improve my conversational skills. I decided that I would make small talk with everyone I see. Anyone who’s in my suroundings for more than 30 seconds will be spoken to. Small talk has NEVER been my thing, but I’ll be changing that.

I also decided that I wanted to do something kind of dangerous; I want to play the dozens with my Bitch.
Now, this bitch has had some pretty ruthless ex-pimps. They tore her down verbally on a regular basis. As a defense mechanism, she had to come back. She said that she would have 5 comments ready to follow her 1st comment. As they went back and forth slinging insults at each other she would constantly be preparing her next 5 attacks.

As a part of my training I think I need to be quicker with my witty comebacks. So I asked her to play the dozens with me. She was all too eager to participate. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to give a hoe a free pass to say what she wants to her pimp, but its something that I think I must learn.

Of course in our 1st time playing, the hoe ate my ass up. Hah, funny.

Pimp Diary | No Comments »

Woke up this morning to the silent treatment.

Not sure why. Hell, we’ve worked it out now, and I still don’t quite understand why. I have an idea though. I don’t look like a pimp. I look more like a business man. I don’t feel the need to buy new shoes every 2 days. I’d much prefer my hoes to go shopping. I think they need new things to feel good.

But a friend of mine “Mike” said something to me that I think makes sense; you must flaunt your success, show the Bitch what she’s working for. He means show a little bling. Shine. Splurge. A hoe has to be able to look at her pimp, and feel as if she’s doing something. She has to be able to ride in a nice car, and feel as if it’s all for a purpose. Not just that she’s taking whatever risks she’s taking just for all the money to go into hotel room, food, weed, other bullshit.

The Bitch says her silent treatment this morning was because she’s not sure if she ‘feels’ it anymore. I think I’m not doing enough to motivate, and keep the hoe motivated. Add that up with all of the problems/failures in my personal life, I’m lucky I still have a hoe. No job, no car, etc.

I think I’m going to set some goals for her. A quota reward system. If we meet quota, we’ll BOTH go shopping. And this way, she can look at her Daddy, and be proud. I think as we accomplish our goals, 1 small goal at a time, she’ll find herself more and more motivated.

Pimp Diary | No Comments »