"Nobody ever asked." That's what she said when I asked if any restaurant had ever paid for referrals. 600 guests a month. Walking into a city they don't know. Hungry. Lost. Credit card ready. And the restaurant next door never thought to ask. I was just visiting family. My wife's aunt owns a 48-room hotel. She told me she wanted to grow the hotel, so I started asking questions. She told me guests would ask "where can I eat around here" every single day. That was my tell. I opened my laptop. Over the weekend, with beer and Claude, I built a local concierge page. She gives me credentials. I make it live. Deal I proposed: "I build it. I maintain it. You pay nothing. When partners start paying for placement - we split." She said yes before I finished. Here's why that structure works: I had zero leverage walking in. So I went in free. Delivered first. Now I negotiate from value proven, not value promised. She's not in the "room" business. She's in the "people distribution" business. I'm in the ACO business. One hotel = 2-3k/month, fully automated. My city alone has 58 more in the same category. You don't need to own the road. You need a toll position on a road that already has traffic. Nobody ever asked that restaurant. I just asked first. What's flowing right past you today that nobody's bothered to monetize? (If you do it too, I'm happy with a 10% cut :)

Took way longer than we care to admit, but we made it! (We is me and the mouse in my pocket.)

I just had my 1st coffee date that I got on my own! (not a referral :) It went great and he's all in. We put it on the calendar for early May (he's traveling) and I already have an auction for next week from someone who was traveling last month so it works out perfectly! Wooo Hooo! Thanks @Travis Sago for this brilliant strategy.

What's up my Ronin brotha's and sista's? I just wrapped up my first Auction coffee date! We'll be moving forward with a pre-auction poll test next week to guage interest. She was very excited and loved the ideas we discussed with no real resistance. Just some questions clarifying certain things. At the end of our call she said this: "I really enjoyed this conversation because I feel like you've asked really good questions. I've had some marketing people that just don't understand what I do or understand the heart behind what I do. And I feel very, like, kind of bullied into decisions, and I have not felt that way at all. I feel like you have a really good energy." Even if the test flops and we don't end up doing an auction? I feel like I won because of how I showed up on this coffee date. It's only taken me fifty eleven coffee dates but I'm getting there! - Ronin Chad

After testing out what @Travis Sago shared with us on the first OI Ronin meetup... Just got a company interested in sponsoring my community 🥳 I'd like your advice @Travis Sago on how to build the deal from here. I paste the email I got below: ============ Hey David, Randy here from [company] partnerships team appreciate you reaching out! This is a great fit. Faceless channel creators building on TikTok are exactly the audience that gets immediate value from [company] avatars, scalable video production, no camera needed. The use case sells itself. I'd love to explore a sponsorship. To help me put something concrete together, a few quick questions: 1. What kind of engagement does the community see? (Active members, post frequency, classroom activity) 2. What are you thinking in terms of sponsorship structure flat fee, monthly, one-time placement? 3. What would you deliver on your end classroom posts, emails, a dedicated module, live demos? Also, I'd want to get you set up on our affiliate program (35% commission) so your members have a trackable link and you're earning on every conversion too — on top of whatever sponsorship we work out. Let me know and we can go from there! Best, Randy =========== The community has been quiet for the past three months but I'm in the process of reactivating it. Just want to be upfront with the sponsor about that. I'm also using the giving funnel and getting some engagement. One of my last posts got over 50 comments. What would be the next step? Thank you!