The bouncer is your friend.

Yes he is. Or at least he should be.

Imagine this. You’re waiting in line with a few friends outside of a hotspot bar and a guy walks right to the front of the line, smiles and gives the bouncer a “hey bro” and a quick handshake, and walks in without a pat down or ID check. Your friend says “Man, did you see that guy? What a dick. I’ve been waiting here for an hour.”The girls behind you say “who was that guy?”

If you’ve been to a happening club, you’ve probably seen this play out more than a few times.

Now imagine that it was you that walked right in like you owned the place.

Making friends with the bouncer will accomplish three things:

1. Demonstrate to all that you are a high status male.

2. Show to all that you are a well-connected individual.

3. Help you and your friends avoid the long lines.

So now you know the why. How do you get to that point?

Some tips:

1. Have “your bar.” If you go to the same bar once a week and act friendly to the staff, learn their names, talk with them and treat them like interesting people, and they will remember you.

2. Ask him his name and remember it. Write it down if you have to. Craig, in his interview with Double Your Dating’s David Deangelo, talks about having a list on his cellphone with names the bouncers at every club he goes to.

3. Tell the bouncer an interesting story. Every try-hard guy is going to try to small talk with the bouncer to get in faster. Don’t be like everyone else – tell him a story about the two girls that got into a fight at the last bar you were at.

4. The next time you’re back at the club, go up and say hello and shake his hand. “Hey, Jeff, what’s up man? Whoa, how long’s the wait tonight?” By asking this, you’re giving your new friend a chance to let you in early. If he says “30 minutes”, be friendly and head back to the line until next time.

5. Be patient. Realize that you’re going to have to wait in that long line a bunch of times before you – maybe — have a shot at being the guy that skips the lines. It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. That’s Tony Robbins, folks – and I’ll bet he’s friends with the bouncer.

6. Introduce girls to him. After you’ve meet a few times and you’re about to bounce to another bar, bring over a few girls you’ve met and introduce them to your bouncer friend. He’ll appreciate this.

7. Ask him if he wants a drink. Most clubs don’t let their bouncers drink alcohol, but he probably wouldn’t mind a water. Ask him if he wants a bottle of water, but only after you’ve established that you’re talking to him because you’re social and a cool guy, not because you’re like every other asshole trying to skip the line. Usually I would say that offering to get a guy a drink is try-hard and low-status behavior, but in this case our long-term goal outweighs this.

There. You have the information. Now go out there, use it, and make us proud.