Marketing Lessons From La Cosa Nostra
By: Michael Dolpies
When you grow up in South Philadelphia and end up as a ‘Legit’ businessman, like me, you can’t help but develop a sort of interest and fascination with La Cosa Nostra (another word for Mafia).
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p>When I was twelve, back in 1992, I watched as a brutal war between two ‘families’ played out. Bullets sprayed just two blocks from my middle school in an attempt to ‘whack’ Joseph ‘Skinny Joey” Merlino and his closest confidant. Merlino lived and ended up taking over as head of the Philadelphia mob after John Stanfa (who actually lived next store to my oldest brother on West Passyunk Ave.) ended up in jail for Racketeering and Murder charges. Those were some crazy days. Merlino’s reign actually went on for a while until he got ‘pinched’ in 2001.
I am firm believer that there are lessons to be gleaned from every experience, whether you are participant or a spectator. I’m proud to say that I was a spectator to the above mentioned events and not a participant. While others were enamored by the 500 SL’s and the appearances of financial success that the mafia portrayed I knew that the laws of the universe and of the United States would ultimately prevail.
Many of my teenage ‘friends’ were fascinated with the Philly mob for the wrong reasons. I was only impressed by the way their organization ran like a business. Everyone in South Philly had some sort of ‘hustle’ going and mafia’s just happened to be the biggest and most dangerous. Nevertheless, everyone had a ‘hustle,’ legit or not. In South Philly my hustle was my martial arts school.
As you can see, it was easy for us South Philly guys to become a little interested in the mafia. Hey, it’s no different than a guy or girl who is interested in history or something like that. The marketing lesson is coming….
My interest led me to learning about Frank Costello. Costello was one of the real life characters that the “God Father” movies were based on. Costello ultimately craved respect in the ‘legit’ business world and often served to bridge the gap between the real world and the underworld. Now the marketing lesson…
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p>Costello accumulated his wealth and power as a bootlegger after the Volstead Act became law in 1920 and led to the prohibition of alcohol. From the beginning Costello never let bootlegging be his ONLY source of revenue. He had many ‘rackets’ going (both ‘legit and elegit) to hedge against the day that alcohol would become legal again and put him out of the bootlegging business. That day came in 1933. He was extremely wealthy already and had so many productive sources of business that it didn’t matter to him that he could no longer be a bootlegger.
I thought this would be a fun way to drive home some simple lessons…
What has worked in the past can NOT be expected to work forever. It must be improved on as the statistics of your business reveal the current trends.
One source of new business is dangerous if that source stops working or is no longer available.
Multiple streams of revenue from different programs will never hurt your business. It will help you hedge against any one source drying up.
Ok, I trust that this glimpse into my humble beginnings and other interests was a fun way to remind you to diversify your business, marketing, selling and persuasion efforts.
© 2008 By Mike Dolpies
www.askmiked.com