**OH SHIT!!!**
You have a deal, but now what do you do?
Back in the late 1900s (90โs)...
I was obsessed.
A certifiable softball fanatic.
And I LOVED playing shortstop.
But there was this problem.
I SUCKED!
Hereโs what I meanโฆ
In my mind, shortstop is the glory position.
All the great ball players were shortstops.
Derek Jeter, right?
And who the hell doesnโt want all the glory.
I sure did!
Hereโs where this story gets super weird.
I owned a small roof repair business at the time.
Was doing super well for a single dude.
But I had this friend who worked at a local restaurant (Chiliโs).
And they had a softball team.
My friend asked if I could fill in at shortstop for a Wednesday night game.
Their regular guy, Joey, was nursing a sprained ankle.
Heck yeah!
So I went and played ball with a bunch of Chiliโs servers and bartenders.
It was a BLAST!
I played pretty good. (I was also a kick ass hitter).
They were getting ready for a big Chiliโs softball tournament.
34 restaurants competing for softball glory on one Saturday in May.
Which could mean playing in like seven or eight games in one day.
Sign me up!!!
So what did I do?
I went and got a job at Chiliโs.
Didnโt need it.
But damn did I love playing softball.
I kept filling in for Joey for a few more games.
But remember what I saidโฆ
I SUCKED at shortstop.
My problem?
I was terrified of the ball getting hit in my general direction.
(borrowed that line from Moneyball).
But seriouslyโฆTERRIFIED.
Some dudes (and dudettes)...
Could seriously rip the ball.
Every time the ball was pitched Iโd get this knot in my stomach.
Like the ball was going to split me in two.
Iโd miss balls that any normal person would easily catch.
But then Joey came back.
THANK GOD!
Heโs likeโฆโTom, why donโt you go play left field. Just donโt forget to hit the cutoff.โ
Fancy softball speak forโฆthrow the ball to the shortstop when I retrieve it from left field.
Youuuuu got it!
So next gameโฆthe ball gets hit to left field.
I was a damn gazelle out there.
Fast AF!
Did I hit the cutoff?
Hell no!
I had an arm cannon.
Dude rounded second base and wasnโt gonna stop at third.
I launched that ball from the fence to the catcher.
OUT!
Turns out I was way better at left field than shortstop.
Shortstop was stressful.
Letting Joey play the position he was naturally good atโฆ
โฆallowed me to play the position I was a natural for.
Made for one hell of a team.
Our Chiliโs restaurant took second place in the tournament the next month.
Seven games in one day.
It was softball heaven to me.
One of the funnest days of my life.
And thank goodness Joey came back.
I can't imagine the disaster that tournament would have been if Iโd kept playing shortstop.
I planned on quitting that job at Chiliโs after the tournament.
Nope.
Stayed on to play in the next yearโs tournament.
First place!
*****
So hereโs the thingโฆ
Us Ronin entrepreneurs love to get deals.
Weโre made for them.
Thereโs just something about the glory of it too, right?
Big windfalls.
Posting our wins.
Just feels damn good!
Until we have to fulfill and do shit we SUCK at.
DAMN IT!!!
โI SUCK at copy!โ
โI SUCK at AI tools!!โ
โI SUCK at tapping!โ
Like me playing shortstop.
has mentioned several times in posts and Zoomโฆ We have a network here.
A team.
โTell the potential partners you have a whole team!โ
And we do, right?
Right?
But where are they?
We gotta make a post to find them each time.
โHeyโฆI SUCK at AI toolsโฆbut Iโm good at getting the deals. Who can I partner with?โ
Jason Eckerman!
โI donโt know the woo woo feelings market, but I have this dealโ
Tony Tโs got you.
Weโve all got you!
Going into these convos and getting deals shouldnโt feel like a line drive to the face.
Youโve got a team here.
But we need to know where to easily find that team.
Hereโs an ideaโฆ
In the comments of this post, youโll see several categories.
LikeโฆTapping, Copy, AI Tools, etc.
Find the one(s) that are your โleft fieldโ.
The one(s) youโve got knack for.
The one others have validated to you and you know youโre the right fit for.
Drop an LF in the reply of the appropriate category(s).
See anything missing?
Add it.
Have something specific you do in certain categories?
Tell us.
Exampleโฆ
Funnels - CF, HL, System, Kajabi, etc.
Then, bookmark this post.
Congratsโฆyouโve got your go-to team for any deal flow that comes your way.
Someone posts looking for their teamโฆpaste the link of this post in a comment.
and I have deal flow poppin here pretty quick. Weโre gonna need operators, tappers, copy folks, etc.
Where are we gonna look?
Right here!
If you already know of good teammates in the categories below?
Plug them in.
Nothing like a recommendation from a fellow Ronin.
Letโs make this network the best it can be.
Fight on!
Tom
P.sโฆI HATED that job at Chiliโs. And of all the friends I made working there and playing softballโฆJoey is the one I still know today.