🍋The $30M hip hop legend who doesn't rap

When life gave him lemons, he made $39 million.

“Everything happens for you, it never happens to you. Always remember.”

- Cole Bennett: Age 27, CEO of “Lyrical Lemonade”

If you are into rap then there is no doubt you have heard of the brand Lyrical Lemonade. Here are just some of Cole’s accomplishments:

This is honestly one of the most insane stories I’ve ever heard.

My man Cole has a company that makes more money then most of the rappers he works with.

And he hasn’t written a single bar!

How did a kid from a small town in Illinois with no connections become one of hip hop’s legends?

1. His love for rap put his city on the map.

In the game of life, we all are dealt a different hand.

Some people are put in the game of life on easy mode.

And others are put in the game on the highest difficulty.

Now this fact makes a lot of people angry and some of them decide to say screw the game and not even play anymore.

But those people don’t understand that there is beauty in the struggle.

If you have genuine passion and put in the right amount of effort, the obstacles and setbacks will mean nothing to you.

And Cole definitely had his setbacks when he started his brand.

Cole started Lyrical Lemonade in high school because he absolutely adored rap and hip hop culture.

He states that one of his first memories was his sister getting him 50 cent’s “Get Rich Or Die Trying” album.

After he heard 50 cent’s lyrical prowess, he fell in love instantly.

He loved it so much that needed a way to express his love and passion for hip hop.

But there was one problem……..

He lived in Plano, Illinois.

Basically the middle of f****ing nowhere.

So the only way to talk to other hip hop heads was to go online.

He just started to go deeper and deeper into the hip hop rabbit hole, and found a bunch of online communities that talked about up and coming hip hop artists.

Then Cole thought that he should create an online blog of his own so that he could share his thoughts on upcoming hip hop talent.

Him and his mother thought of the name “Lyrical Lemonade”, and then Cole started writing on his blog.

Now, the amount of writing he did was honestly insane.

Cole says he would write 5 blog posts a DAY!

Since the average blog post is about 2,000 words, he could have been writing up to 10,000 words per day!

My god I hope he didn’t get carpal tunnel!

It may have seemed like a lot of work, but when you truly love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life.

All that obsessive writing and blog posting started to bring him an audience, and it allowed him to take his business to the next level.

And that was hosting rap shows himself.

The three keys to Cole’s business being successful were:

1. He chose his true passion, which made it easy for him to put in the work.

2. He promoted himself through a medium that was gaining traction at the time, which was online blogging.

3. He built an audience, which helped him get the leverage he needed to expand his business.

2. He went from sitting on benches to grinding in the trenches.

So Cole was growing a gigantic following of rap lovers on his blog Lyrical Lemonade.

But he knew that he wanted to work with rappers specifically, not just talk about them on the internet.

He was brainstorming ways to grow his brand, and then he realized one thing:

He LOVED going to rap concerts.

So he wondered, “Why don’t I host a rap concert myself?”

Now, there were 3 problems with this idea, and they were:

1. There are multi million dollar booking agencies that will stop you from talking to rap artists.

2. If you do speak with the artist, they usually charge around $10,000 for a booking.

3. Renting out a concert can cost around $5,000, and that is just for a small basic venue.

And Cole was a broke high school kid with no connections.

Many people would just throw in the towel and try something else at this point.

But moments like these are when true entrepreneurs are tested.

If you are ever in a position like this, the best way to overcome it is to remember a quote by Tony Robbins, an entrepreneur who is worth over $600 million. (Click here for more on Tony’s business)

He was asked about not having enough money to start a business, and he answered:

Good lord those are some fire lyrics!

What Tony Robbins is saying is that if you are resourceful enough, you can find a way to reach your goals without needing money, connections, or even a proper skill set.

Cole already had this mindset, so he figured out a way to book very small shows for local artists.

Smaller artists are always looking to grow their brand, so they wouldn’t mind doing a show for free.

He found very small venues and paid them just $150.

Then he invited rap fans show up for free.

This method was genius for his brand because:

1. He was able to connect with people in person, which put a face behind his company.

2. He got to know local artists, which was the stepping stone to him meeting higher profile rappers.

As he would host these events, he would slowly get larger and larger venues.

And he would grow his network little by little.

Ultimately, his connections brought him into contact with the rapper Lil Uzi Vert.

Lil Uzi Vert may be popping now, but he was a lot smaller at the time.

Cole got into contact with Lil Uzi Vert’s team, and was able to book Uzi for $2,000.

Since he spent pretty much all of his money on the show, Cole needed this to work.

Then, two weeks before the show Lil Uzi Vert dropped his new song “Money Longer”, and it completely blew up.

Cole saw that the tickets for his venue were getting resold for $250 a pop!

That connection he made with Lil Uzi Vert and his team propelled Lyrical Lemonade into the stratosphere, and let him get in contact with other amazing artists like Wiz Khalifa, Quavo, and Juice Wrld.

3. From baby steps to six figure checks.

Too much of anything is bad.

Even though I completely disagree with his methods, our boy Thanos had a point.

Having a balanced outlook on life is super beneficial to your success.

When people hear this, they usually think of negativity being a problem.

And I couldn’t agree more.

Nobody likes a negative Nancy.

Not even Nancy herself.

If you are dealing with someone who is negative, kick them out of your life right now.

But what most people don’t realize is that you can go too far on the other end.

Always be optimistic, but as an entrepreneur its important to have a sense of realism.

This is the mindset that Cole had when building his business, and it is why his business succeeded when most don’t.

Cole talked about how he set his goals, and he said:

This is the mindset that leads to millions.

You want to make sure that you make goals that are within reach because:

1. It will give you a sense of pride and accomplishment when you complete them.

2. You won’t get discouraged if you miss them.

3. It will be easier to understand larger goals when you break them down.

Another reason why setting small goals is lit is because you will get a proper dopamine rush that will help propel you forward.

Dopamine is the chemical in our head that makes us happy and feel good.

And your brain will force you to do things that spike your dopamine, no matter what it is.

That’s why you can stay up all night watching Netflix even though your brain is screaming that its time to sleep.

You have to treat your success like a video game.

If you start on level one and slowly increase, you are going to reach new challenges that will compel you to try harder and improve your company.

Another reason I love Cole’s mindset is because he is very risk averse, which shows how humble he is.

His mindset is the same reason as to why Cole didn’t leave college immediately after starting his brand.

Even though its cool and trendy to drop out of college and start business, Cole set a list of goals to hit and only left when he exceeded them.

🎮You just leveled up your mindset today!

What did you think of this week’s newsletter? Did you like it? Was it entertaining and informative? How can I do better? Hit reply to let me know!

Click here to check out the rest of our stories!

Would you like to earn:

• Free stickers?

• Free merch?

• Free Chick-Fil-A?

Then share us with a friend and we’ll ship them out directly to you!

Thank you for reading like always!

- Zach