And you can do it too.

Yep Reader, you read that right.

Most bartenders hate paper straws. I love em.

Know why? Because they made my secret stash of plastic ones worth their weight in gold. To the tune of over $500.

So last year there was a company that does subcontracting for the mine where I live. About 10 or 15 of em staying at the hotel where I tend bar.

These dudes work brutal 12 hour days and after work they wanna unwind.

Obviously staying at a full service hotel they don’t have to go anywhere for food or drink if they don’t want to, and naturally coming down to see yours truly is the better option as I’m quite the entertainer and make a pretty mean glass of water.

Anyway, I got to know 2 of em really well. Matt and Cole.

Here’s where it gets fun. Matt loves to mess with Cole. 1 because Cole’s his boss, and 2 he’s what I like to call a joker.

That one guy that’s always givin everybody shyt, keepin everybody on their toes, talkin to everyone at the bar and, he hates paper straws.

This is where it gets interesting. One day Matt wanted a long island iced tea to go.

He told me he was heading to the hot tub and asked if he could have it in a glass.

I told him no because anyone that wants to go the pool area has to have their drink in a plastic cup, hotel rules bro.

He was bummed but said it was fine. I told him to turn that frown upside down because I had a surprise for him.

He laughed and said “oh really!!”

I make the drink and hand it to him in a plastic cup with a lid and no straw. He looks at it and says “how the hell am I supposed to drink it?”

Being the smart a$$ that I am, I told him “take the cup, remove lid, put it up to your mouth, lean back, and drink”, he laughs, then I go grab my secret stash and pull out a plastic straw.

His eyes got huge.

“Where the hell did you get this?”

“My secret stash” I said.

See I knew Matt hated paper straws so I kept a handful behind the bar hidden away and waited for the right moment to give him one.

He paid for his drink, left me a $20 bill and said, “Dude, thank you.”

From that point on, when Matt came in, he asked for me.

All I did was pay attention and wait for the right time, to the tune of over $500 in tips for the 3 weeks he was there.

In between that, I treated Matt, Cole and everybody else on their crew like VIP’s.

There’s no “secret sauce” when it comes to making moneys.

I didn’t beg, tell sob stories and beg some more in hopes of getting a huge tip.

Hell, I didn't do anything special. I treated em the same way I treat everyone that comes to my bar.

This is what brings in the moolah… simplicity.

There’s no reason you can’t do the same with your email list.

Doesn’t matter if you have 10 people or 1,000, the principles are the same.

• Tell stories

• Treat your customers like VIP’s

• Know your audience

Just those 3 things alone will do more for you than begging. If the people on your list are only hearing from you when you have something to sell em, they're gonna jump ship.

Keep it simple, it ain’t complicated.

Mike “the $500 straw salesman” Downs

P.S. - Ready to stop renting your audience from Zuckerberg? Bar Napkin Profits shows you how to build an email list you control.