When I’d seen this game being played before, I was just one of many standing in the crowd. It’s a hard knock life for the street hustler just setting up shop, as well. When you’re trying to get the word out about something important, and starting from scratch, it can be difficult days ahead. Hustle #2: Get A Few Friends To Help At First But if you go to the wrong place and try to convince the wrong people what you’re doing is important, you’ll never get off the ground-they’re not ready for your message.

When you tap into the right existing communities, building your own is easy. This is half the battle of building an audience. By understanding exactly what the people you’re trying to attract want and need, you can be sure you’re looking for them in the right places. Go where the attention/money/whatever it is you’re looking for already exists in abundance. If you’re trying to recruit an audience for something you believe in, you can take a very important cue here. You’re on vacation and you expect to be emptying your wallet, so there’s little objection to spending some money having fun trying to outsmart a street hustler. When you’re a tourist, your mind is already primed to spend as well. You don’t have to be anywhere or do anything, so you’re more likely to stop and, at the very least, watch (which helps the con build his audience).

You’re probably just wandering around, looking for something fun to do. Also, you’ve probably seen it before and know it’s a sham-you can’t actually win (I’ll explain shortly).īut if you’re a tourist, you’re the perfect target because your brain is already primed for the game. If you’re going to the grocery store or picking up your kids, you don’t have the time or patience for this. Why? Because the audience isn’t in the right mindset. The hustler knows his audience: tourists! If you walk into any normal, everyday neighborhood, you won’t find these games being played. When I think back, I’ve only seen the shell game played when traveling and doing touristy things in touristy places. You’ve probably seen this game and others like it many times. Now, think about the different times you’ve seen it played-where you were, what you were doing, and why you were there. Hustle #1: Put Yourself Where The Best Audience Already Is On my walk down The Embarcadero, I stumbled onto the game in its early phase and got to see exactly how a real hustler makes a living by using a series of psychological cues and tricks us normal folks are pre-programmed to respond to in predictable ways.īut here’s the really important part: the tricks a street hustler like this uses can also be used to build an audience in a honest and ethical way. I’ve seen the trick performed many times, but what I’d never seen is how otherwise intelligent and rational people actually get tricked in to playing and losing their money. If you’re in the audience and know where the ball is, you can place a bet and make a guess.Ī good hustler will rake in cash all day long tricking unsuspecting tourists with a few different slight-of-hand maneuvers. This trip didn’t disappoint, and we ran into a street hustler playing the shell game-a ball is placed under one of three identical looking shells before they’re quickly rearranged while you try to keep track of the ball. Whenever I’m in San Franscisco, I like to wander The Embarcadero-it’s one of the best places in town for people watching.

High street hustl