Did You Sell Out Lessons From Business Sponsorship How To Keep Your Company Healthy
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Hi!
I'm Antonio Centeno.
I'm the founder of Real Men Real Style.
Today, gentlemen, I'm going to be answering the question, "Antonio, did you sell out this
holiday season?
What in the world happened?"
I had a number of emails come in and people are asking, "Antonio, why did you have so
many sponsored posts?
I'm watching your videos and it seems like you're always putting in a plug."
In fact, I received a great email the other day, constructive criticism, from a gentleman.
He's saying, "Antonio, I hope this finds you well.
I wanted to tell you that me and my mates, we love getting your emails, but it seems
almost that none of your most recent posts and videos are genuine.
There's no other way to put it, Antonio, sorry.
Every time I watch one of your videos now, there's a plug and they all seem to be with
your friends.
What's going on?"
He goes into a little bit more detail.
I like emails like this.
Actually, I respect constructive criticism.
I go back and I'm always trying to evaluate to become better, but I can tell you guys
straight up, of course I didn’t sell out.
I understand it.
The number one thing I have with my channel, with Real Men Real Style, with any of my courses
is your trust.
To be honest, I had a number of companies approach me.
They wanted me to put out content.
They had certain ways they wanted it and I didn’t feel it was conducive to the audience
that I have.
I didn’t feel that I could do this.
I didn’t have time to test their product or I didn’t believe in some of the products,
and so of course I just pass on that because when it comes down to it, the number one thing
I focus on whenever I'm -- and I've got a business here.
The number one thing I realized is I've got to have your trust.
There used to be a time -- and I think when I receive these emails, when I look at some
of the comments, when I get feedback from people, I feel that there has been a real
loss of trust in the industry.
It used to be that salesmen were people that CEOs, that founders of companies, the consumers,
oftentimes they could actually trust a salesman.
He wasn't your enemy.
He was actually someone who's looking out for your best interest.
Let's say in a small town, he realized that in a sense, if he took advantage of you, you
weren't going to come back, that he was going to get a bad name and a bad reputation.
Now, the web I think has brought that back because you guys can go out there and you
can leave bad reviews.
You can go out there and you could warn other people.
I truly think that what we're doing here is a great service because in a sense, we're
trying to bring better information and we're trying to distill it, in a sense, bring it
together and make it easier for you to make smart purchasing decisions.
So all of these companies -- and that leads me to point number two, is he's asking, "Antonio,
why are you only dealing with your friends?"
I definitely understand.
Was it nepotism?
He's looking at this and he's like, "Wow!
Do they have some type of syndicate here that he's only bringing in his friends and they're
all patting each other on the back?"
The truth is the people that run these legitimate companies I become friends with because I
can commiserate with them.
They're the only people who work in the same industry as me and they go through the same
things, and I find that people that run legitimate companies that I love and that I enjoy their
product, I call these people.
We spend two to three hours on the phone and I've got more in common with these guys.
I find that Mike over at RibbedTee, Francis over at the Aran Sweater Company, Evan over
at Paul Evans, the shoe company that I talked about, Luke over at straightrazors.com, I
know these guys now by name because we talk to each other.
We email each other and we share business tips with each other, and these are the kind
of people that become your friends.
You see this in industries around the world, anyone that works in tech, anyone that works
in fashion, anyone that works on home construction.
Of course, if you want to be at the top of your game, you're going to get to know other
people in your area who are doing the same thing because steel sharpens steel and you
want to be around smart people who are pushing it in your industry.
That's why in a sense, I'm now promoting my friends because they've become my friends
because of what they do and the quality of the product that they put out.
Point number three is I experiment and test.
Really quick, guys, I am going to make mistakes.
It's just something that happens.
I realized that probably this holiday season, I should've had a little bit more breakup
in the number of sponsored posts I put out.
I also didn’t let you guys know that I was going to be putting out this many.
I tried to give you a heads up, but I only had so many days to pack in so many sponsored
posts.
I think in the future, what I'm going to do is try to actually put out more videos and
break up the periods in which I'm having the sponsored posts, but this is something that
I'm learning as I'm building a company.
The last few years, we have just taken Real Men Real Style from nothing to a very healthy,
six-figure business.
I'm hoping to become a seven-figure business here in 2015 or 2016.
So as I'm growing, as I'm making mistakes, I really appreciate you guys giving me feedback,
working with me, and telling your friends and helping us grow.
So here's to a successful 2015 and I thank you guys for the constructive criticism and
for helping me grow.
I'll see you guys in the next video.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
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