On Second Thought...Separating The Male Stripper Business From The Social Media

DISCLAIMER: Before I start let me make it clear that the pics in this blog do not reflect the content of the blog. They are just here for great eye candy! Click on the pics to learn more about them.

It's time for a little paternal advice. Yes, I'm going to sound like I'm trying to be your dad. But hey, it's 'for your own good'. Isn't that what dad would say? Lately I've noticed a lot of bleeding on Facebook, Twitter, etc. By bleeding I mean where a negative business situation has bled over into a social media. This is NEVER good from a business standpoint. Hopefully, I can provide my advice in this blog and everyone can understand why.

Facebook and Twitter are often used as vehicles for therapy. There are those on my friends' list who vent and tell all their troubles and disappointments. I think this is great for those individuals who have close friends, especially if it is helpful. However, what's good for individuals isn't always good for the business. What I have observed is owners/managers/dancers venting on their Facebook page or in their tweets about gigs, managers, owners, dancers, etc. When you use a social media to vent about business situations, it may hurt not only their business interests but your's as well.

Let me provide an illustration. Let's say I am a potential customer who lives several hours away from your club/bar/event. I see your advertisement and am interested. I realize that I have off that day and the next. I could drive to your city, enjoy the event and have time to get back home before having to work again. So, I find out all I can about the event and make plans to attend. I am prepared to spend my hard earned cash for gas to drive there. I am prepared to spend my hard earned cash to stay in a hotel. I am prepared to spend my hard earned cash to pay your door cover. And, then I am prepared to spend my hard earned cash to enjoy a cocktail and tip the boyz at the event. I am prepared to invest a lot of my money into the night, but I want to because I need a break and I'm thinking it will be fun. It will be worth the expense. So, I make hotel reservations and map my drive on Mapquest or Google. I am ready and can hardly wait for the event which will happen in a week or so.

During the week before the event, I start reading posts you have made on facebook about all the 'stupid dancers who don't want to work your event'. I see a post about how the DJ is incapable of picking the right music for the event. And then I read a rant from you. I can only describe it as my grandmother used to say, "I'm going to show you how the cow eats the cabbage." Now, I never really knew what that meant but I knew grandma was getting ready to "tie a knot in my tail". Didn't know what that meant either but I did know it was bad, and so it was time to run or hide from grandma.

The result. I decided that I don't want to risk spending all my money to attend an event that could be a total bust. I mean if the dancers are stupid and the DJ is no good, and the management is going postal, then do I really want to be there? I decide that it would be 'stupid' of me to spend all that money to attend an event that seems doomed to fail.

Running a successful bar, club, or event is stressful. That is understandable but it is bad for business to post every emotion that you feel when the stress is on. My advice is to create a second facebook account. Keep one for business and one for personal. Post only positive promotional information on the business account. As they say, 'never let them see you sweat'. On the personal account, add only your closest friends that you can vent to at any time without business fall out. Do not add the following types of people to your personal friends list: promoters, dancers, managers, owners, media, businesses, etc. If you need Facebook for therapy and to help you keep from blowing your top, then keep business and personal accounts completely separate.

Exotic male dancers come and go. Where some don't fit in to your program, others will. If the DJ doesn't know his music, then either take the time to give him instructions, or hire a different one without all the drama. And if you feel you're going to become grandma when she gets mad, take a few minutes off to yourself away from the project and get control again. And for goodness sake, don't post it on Facebook...at least not on your business account. Until next time, I'll be in the VIP Lounge tipping the boys during private lap dances. That's my therapy.