On Thursday Alison and I took a short little trip down to Tijuana Mexico to kick back a few brewski’s and hang out for the day. Alison had never been to Tijuana and was a bit reluctant to go. After hearing all the crazy rumors about TJ, she was a bit scared.

However, once we were submerged into Mex it was no biggie. Although it is always a bit of a hassle dealing with the senor’s visually groping your lady, but that’s TJ for ya.

Every time I go to Tijuana the first thing I do is stop by the local Sports Book “Caliente”. A Sports Book is a place where you can gamble on sporting events such as baseball, horse racing, or Jai Alai. You can pretty much gamble on any sporting event. It’s wicked fun, and I always place a bet the instant I cross the border.

I laid $20 on the Reds and the Red Sox who were both Underdogs on this game. Here’s the ticket that won $76.

Besides the gambling, drinking, and random donkeys painted like Zebra’s (no we didn’t really go to any donkey show) the main thing that fascinated me about Tijuana was the raw, hard-core, ruthless salesmanship that goes on in all the shops.

As you pass every booth, store, or vendor cart someone is feverishly pitching you something. I must of gotten 230 offers on this day while walking around. It was absolutely awesome too. I had forgotten how much people have to hustle in TJ to make a buck. As a true salesman, I was in Disneyland with all the pitches that were being thrown my way.

Never before had I thought of Tijuana as a place that could provide a marketing lesson, but it’s a huge learning experience if you keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. I found at least 10 ways I can easily double, triple, or even get 10 times the return on my investment from some products down there, and I’m not talking about some $5 Nacho Libre Masks either.

Anyways, I plan to return to Tijuana next week, equipped with a camera and I’ll let you in why I think TJ can provide some amazing marketing lessons to those in the United States and elsewhere.

Of course most of the sales people in Mexico suck, but trust me, there are some hard-core sellers down there that need to sell just to eat. They may not make a ton of cash, but they can sell 10 times better then most folks in the states.

Stay tuned for the Tijuana Thursday Casts….

Peace

J-Mo