https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/share-bitcoin-with-your-barber-or-stylist

This is an opinion editorial by Hector Alvero, a Bitcoin educator who serves as co-host of the Broward County Bitcoiners meetup and whose family has worked in the beauty industry for decades.

We all look for ways to educate others about Bitcoin and raise awareness about its benefits. However, time is scarce, so we can’t talk to everyone. But what if you could multiply your efforts and help someone close to you benefit from Bitcoin in the process? If you’re looking for an orange-pilling opportunity with the most asymmetric upside, consider talking about Bitcoin and the Lightning Network with your barber or stylist.

The Perfect Environment

Once you sit down in the chair and that cape goes around your neck, you know you’re both going to be there for a while. As a Bitcoiner, that can only mean one thing: You have been given the gift of time to talk about Bitcoin.

Few routine interactions last as long as a haircut or salon appointment. Even fewer grant you the freedom to discuss any topic of your choosing. Additionally, the setting naturally limits distractions, such as phone usage. That makes the time you spend in your barber’s or stylist’s chair the perfect environment to talk about Bitcoin.

A Trusted Relationship

How long have you been with your current barber or stylist? Relationships between clients and stylists often span years, if not decades. There is a bond between you that is rooted in trust, and this connection fosters a level of intimacy rarely found outside of familial settings. People often share secrets with their stylists and barbers that they wouldn’t disclose to anyone else. Clairol’s iconic ad campaign captured this sentiment with the tagline, “Only her hairdresser knows for sure.”

A Force Multiplier

Your barber or stylist likely has the broadest network of anyone you know. People from every walk of life, including business owners, accountants, teachers, firefighters and politicians, sit in their chairs, sometimes for hours. It is likely that no one else in your sphere of influence has the amount of time and trust to help others learn about and understand Bitcoin. The same unique factors that create the ideal environment for you to talk with them about Bitcoin are the exact reasons why they have the potential to orange pill others.

The Right Approach

To discuss Bitcoin with your barber or stylist, consider their interests and what might best resonate with them. Are they concerned about rising costs? Do they have family members living in authoritarian countries? Choose your approach based on your understanding of their needs.

If you’re unsure about your approach or just recently began going to a new barber or stylist, don’t talk to them about Bitcoin. Talk to them about Lightning instead.

Lightning As A Cheat Code

As the saying goes, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Similarly, the way to a business owner’s heart is through their wallet. People naturally follow their incentives, and your barber or stylist will be intrigued if you discuss how Lightning payments can increase their profits. Share some benefits of accepting Lightning payments, such as:

• Fast: Funds are available immediately
• Cheap: Significant savings compared to typical credit card fees
• Final: No chargebacks
• Growth: Reaching a new client base and expanding their business

Once they are curious, demonstrate the ease of using Lightning by having them download your favorite Lightning wallet and sending them some sats. Then, have them send you half the sats back. Show them the minimal fees and remind them that those funds are theirs (final) the moment they receive them. The combination of hearing you describe the benefits, seeing how easy it is to use and doing a transaction themselves is a powerful, persuasive mechanism to pique their interest and demystify the process.

Is your color still processing, or are you getting a shave? If you are there for a longer appointment, they might have time to express concern about bitcoin’s volatility. If they do, explain that, just as the price of Visa’s stock doesn’t affect the value of their credit card transactions, the price of bitcoin doesn’t have to affect the value of their Lightning payments. You can also introduce them to services like Ibex or Strike which can protect them against price fluctuations.

If they wonder how accepting Lightning can help them find new customers, show them how tools like BTC Map and Satmap offer free marketing for their shop or salon, or how tools like Oshi and Joltz Rewards make it easy for them to engage with and retain their new Bitcoin clients.

Most importantly, remember that they do not need to commit to the Bitcoin revolution on day one. Instead, get them interested and experiencing the benefits of Lightning first. They’ll want to know more soon enough.

Finally, you do not have to cover all of these elements in one visit. Conversion can take time. Luckily, you’ll be back in a few weeks for your next visit and can pick up where you left off.

The Finishing Touch

Introducing your barber or stylist to Lightning payments can enhance their business and help you promote Bitcoin to a broader audience by leaning on the unique relationship you share with them. If you need help strategizing your conversation, reach out to me on Twitter or Nostr. Our family has over 40 years of experience in the beauty industry and can help you prepare.

This is a guest post by Hector Alvero. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/give-bitcoin-for-mothers-day

This is an opinion editorial by Hector Alvero, a Bitcoin educator who serves as co-host of the Broward County Bitcoiners meetup.

As Bitcoiners, we love the exhilarating feeling of bringing a new person into the Bitcoin lifeboat. Many of us constantly work to orange pill our friends, our coworkers and our neighbors, trying to save as many as we can before the fiat ship sinks. We’ll even try to orange pill the waiter at our favorite local restaurant, helping them download a Lightning wallet and offering to give them a bigger tip to help them “get off zero.”

But what about your mom? Have you given her the same gift that you’ve given to the Uber driver who took you home from your last conference or meetup? Have you taken the time to help her understand the impact that inflation is having on her economic security, and how Bitcoin can protect her from the financial earthquake that is coming? Have you helped her understand what money is and why Bitcoin is the greatest savings technology ever discovered?

If you have, I applaud you. If you haven’t gotten there yet, this Mother’s Day is the perfect time to show her that you love her enough to spend the time it takes for her to understand Bitcoin.

You might be thinking, “I already tried, and she didn’t get it.” I can sympathize with that. My mom didn’t get it right away, either. She said it sounded like a Ponzi scheme and that it couldn’t be money because it wasn’t real or backed by anything.

Maybe you have heard some of these same objections. Maybe you are frustrated and figure you should just let it go. If so, ask yourself this question: How many times has your mom explained something to you that you didn’t understand at first? She likely did not just give up on helping you learn and grow. Are you going to quit on her now when her entire future is at stake? Of course not… you’re a Bitcoiner.

Think back to when you first heard about Bitcoin. Did you get it right away? I didn’t. A friend told me about Bitcoin at a Halloween party in 2015, and while I didn’t dismiss it, I certainly did not understand its importance at first. Life was busy, and so I forgot about it for about a year until he tried again in late 2016 and helped me learn enough to buy a small amount and begin my journey. Maybe you have a similar story of someone who kept trying until you understood this revolutionary technology enough to take your first step on the path to economic freedom and sovereignty. Imagine how different your outlook on the future would be if they had not kept trying.

Remember, Bitcoin is hard to grok. It was for me, and maybe it was for you, too. It is also generally harder to understand the older someone is because they have lived in their economic circumstances for longer than a younger person has, and are often more reluctant to accept a new paradigm. Change can be scary, especially for someone that might be feeling confused about why the world seems to be spinning out of control. It might take more patience. It might take a few more conversations or the breaking up of big topics into smaller ones before the light bulb goes on for your mom. Try to find something she can relate to that Bitcoin fixes and focus on that aspect alone. Relevance is a powerful tool for persuasion.

Break Up Bitcoin Topics For Your Mom

For my mom, what made the light bulb go on in her head was when I related one piece of Bitcoin’s value proposition to something she understood from her own life. In her case, it was Bitcoin’s resistance to censorship and confiscation.

My mom grew up in Cuba and was a teenager when Fidel Castro rose to power in the late 1950s. She remembers how her family’s meager cash savings, which my grandfather kept in a glass jar hidden in the house, was demonetized when the new regime took power. My grandfather refused to turn in the money and buried the jar in the backyard. He trusted that eventually, everything would go back to how it was before and the old currency would be accepted again.

This never happened, and my grandparents had to flee the island with my mom soon after. They also had to leave behind the valueless pieces of paper buried in the backyard of the house, which they also no longer owned thanks to the new government’s abolition of private property rights.

They lost the money, the house and they barely escaped with their lives. When I talked with her about Bitcoin in terms of it being property that no one can take from her, she got it.

Give The Gift Of Bitcoin This Mother’s Day

This Mother’s Day, I encourage you to consider trying again. Try again like your mom encouraged you to do when she taught you to ride a bike, trying again even when you kept falling. Try again like my mom did when teaching me to parallel park, even after I ran over the garbage can… twice.

She never gave up on you, and now it is your turn to believe in her and return the favor. Now is the moment when you can show her that those lessons of persistence, patience and love took hold. This Mother’s Day is your chance to save her life and future, and to repay her for giving both of those things to you.

This is a guest post by Hector Alvero. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.