{"id":234072,"date":"2023-06-19T15:09:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T19:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/?p=234072"},"modified":"2024-01-27T22:14:51","modified_gmt":"2024-01-28T03:14:51","slug":"what-i-learned-from-a-hustler-named-cornbread-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coreywilkspsyd.com\/what-i-learned-from-a-hustler-named-cornbread-in-nyc\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Learned from a Street Hustler Named Cornbread in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Don\u2019t trust a man named Cornbread.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was one of two painful lessons I learned on my first trip to NYC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not a touristy person, but when you go to NYC, there are a few things you just have <\/em>to do. Like walking through Central Park, taking the subway, and watching people play chess outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As my friends and I walked by the chess players on their stone benches and tables, a well-dressed gentleman in his mid-50s beckoned us over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDo you all want to play chess?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not very good and would prefer to watch,\u201d I responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNonsense. I\u2019ll give you a free lesson. Let\u2019s play!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He introduced himself as \u201cCornbread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first \u201clesson\u201d was just a regular game of chess where he beat me in like 4 moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRematch! Let\u2019s do one more game real quick!\u201d said Cornbread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, he beat me in a few moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thanked him and got up to resume exploring NYC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll be $20,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat? You said it was free!\u201d I said, confused and betrayed by who I thought was my friend named Cornbread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refusing to pay for the \u201clesson\u201d he\u2019d just given me, I stormed off as he yelled at the nearby cops claiming I\u2019d stolen from him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShut up, Cornbread,\u201d they said without looking at me and my friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornbread was a hustler.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he taught me a valuable lesson that applies to every creator today.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what I mean\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pervasiveness of the Hustler Mentality in the Creator Economy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Remember when you played football and your coach would yell, \u201cHustle! Hustle!\u201d it meant to move your ass, to keep pushing forward instead of letting fatigue win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side note: At least this is what they do in the movies. I played football in high school for like a day. After the first practice, I threw up and my ankles swelled because I was exceedingly unathletic, so I quit. So my only understanding of how sportsball teams work is from the movies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what it\u2019s supposed to mean to hustle<\/em>. To push forward instead of letting fatigue, uncertainty, or self-doubt stop you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But to most people nowadays, \u201chustle\u201d means to be a street hustler\u2014to bamboozle someone out of their money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people complain about \u201chustle culture,\u201d this is the type of hustling they\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the hustler mentality: wring money out of people however you can, as often as you can, for as much as you can. You don\u2019t buy <\/em>get-rich-quick schemes, you sell <\/em>get-rich-quick schemes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is this hustler mentality so pervasive in the Creator Economy?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple: Because it works. You can make a shit-ton of money in a short amount of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornbread was a hustler. And like many hustlers, he did a bait-and-switch. He offered \u201cfree lessons,\u201d but then demanded payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about it this way\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dangers of Building an Ecosystem of Upsells<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I recently signed up for a free email course promising to teach me the foundations of a topic I was interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few emails in, I hit a paywall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it wasn\u2019t framed as a free trial or anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damnit, Cornbread\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no issue with paid newsletters. I\u2019ve subscribed to them. I even wrote <\/em>one for a year. But that\u2019s because they were framed as a paid newsletter, or at least a free trial for a paid newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t offer a 100% free newsletter, then 3 emails in bamboozle me with a paywall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s all about setting expectations and consent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I consented to signing up for a free thing, not a trial. If I\u2019d known there would be a paywall, I could\u2019ve made an informed decision to either subscribe anyway or move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are businesses out there with a reputation for being an \u201cecosystem of upsells.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You buy what\u2019s supposed to be their flagship product, but immediately get upsold to use their proprietary app, join their exclusive membership (and pay a premium subscription), grab a handful of a la cart workshops that are tangentially related to the flagship course you just bought, and so on\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tactics like this are becoming increasingly, painfully<\/em>, common in the Creator Economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But don\u2019t confuse this tactic with building a value ladder\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Ecosystem of Upsells Isn\u2019t the Same as a Value Ladder<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A value ladder allows you to help your audience by meeting them where they\u2019re at:<\/p>\n\n\n\n