Memoirs of a Steroid Kingpin, Episode 09: “Monitoring the Competition”

I was sitting in my office, staring at my computer screen. This would become a familiar refrain over coming years. In the midst of running my branding and marketing campaign on Phantom Gym, I was executing some market research. Phantom Gym was monopolized by a single source named Black Stone. Black Stone made his own products from raw materials. Another term for a person, or group of people, that make their own products and brand them with their own labels, is Under Ground Lab (UGL). UGL’s were in their infancy at this point in 2011. This was only the second UGL of which I was aware. I grew up in the era where brand recognition was everything, and if someone presented a product that wasn’t nationally recognized, the product was instantly derided, ridiculed, and rejected. The UGL depended on branding of the source, and not the label on the product. This was easier to do in small communities, like Phantom Gym, where word of mouth had a stronger influence on the local market. The draw to UGL’s, and especially Black Stone in particular, was the incredibly low prices for which the products could be sold. He was selling products for substantially lower prices than I was, and I was not about to significantly reduce my profit margin just to compete with this one source in this small community.

It was undeniably fascinating to see what Black Stone was doing. After reading for hours the posts on his source section, which simply included his conversations with clients regarding their questions and comments, it became evident that he was simply making products at his house, either by himself or with one other person. He was inundated with orders, producing an incredible amount of product. He offered an incredibly extensive inventory. Most sources offered a limited supply of only the most popular products. Black Stone was a one stop shop, another alluring factor for his clients. He had every type of anabolic steroid known, including ancillaries and peptides such as clenbuterol, DNP, HGH, IGF, and he even sold raw powders. He offered injectable steroids in 10ml vials all the way up to 200ml vials. He offered crazy blends and concoctions, and he even offered to make custom blends of different steroid compounds for people. It was crazy, and I quickly determined that although I would maintain a presence on Phantom Gym, I wasn’t going to spend a lot of time trying to compete with this guy.

Another aspect regarding Black Stone’s business that surprised me was the way he talked to people. He was incredibly rude and quick to anger. When a person is ingratiatingly admired, praised, and regarded in an obsequious manner, they experience a massive D.O.S.E. (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphins) response. When humans experience too high of a D.O.S.E. response, they become what we call “manic”. Mania is what we typically associate to pompous Kings, spoiled Princes, or demanding totalitarian leaders. Manic people believe they are God-like exalted alpha-males, and how dare anyone challenge them. Black Stone was rude, dismissive, and acrimonious to many people who communicated concerns to him. Steroid Sources frequently experienced bouts of mania because their products made people’s lives so much better, that sycophants bathe them in unctuous praise on a daily basis. This was a character defect that would become a problem, and I made a mental note to avoid this trait in communicating with my clients.

I was running into another problem. I had received some comments on Phantom Gym indicating that people were uncomfortable emailing a Yahoo email address. The comments stated that people were worried about the security of yahoo emails, the thought being that the government could tap into those emails whenever they wanted. I didn’t know how to get any kind of secure email address. Some people suggested I try certain email hosting companies such as Privacy Harbor, or another company focused on privacy. I looked at some of the other steroid suppliers to see what they were using for an email address. These guys were right, no one was using an American email account. One steroid supplier’s company name was Best Steroids, and his email was sales@beststeroids.ca. How did he get the @beststeroids.ca for an email address? Most of the other steroid suppliers had email addresses in this format and similar to Best Steroids. I had no idea how they obtained these email addresses. I did not know what to do. I would look into getting a Privacy Harbor email, but it appeared that this whole business may not work out because I could not obtain a proper email address.

On the iSteroids website, I was gaining quite a bit of chatter regarding three posts that were made by the three ambassadors to whom I sent free products. Almost as week ago at this point, all three had posted pictures of the products they received, stating that they received them quickly from BDSupplements, and that they would post a full review when they tested the product’s efficacy. One of the ambassadors, Psycho was his iSteroids username, posted that he had used British Dragon gear before, and my BDSupplements products looked legit. Several people asked Psycho for the source’s contact information. Psycho was savvy and canny enough to know he couldn’t promote my business on the open forum because I was not yet an approved source, but he told people to PM (Personal Message) him, and he would give them the contact information. The Moderators were very busy policing the commentary on these pictures of my product, keeping people from blatantly promoting me as a source. In fact, one of the Moderators PMed me, and asked me to hurry up and get my website done so they make me an approved source. I placated the Moderator by indicating I was working on the website. Additionally, I facilitated some information and commentary on the pictures of my products that had been posted.

I went to the gym, then into work… again. It seemed like I was always working. I text my friend Sam, told him I had what he wanted, and I was on my way to work. He returned my text stating that he would come find me in the ER when he left at around 4pm. He worked the day shift, and usually completed his workday about an hour after I commenced my shift.

When I entered the Emergency Room, it was not a particularly busy time at work. I set up my station computer and took a round of vitals from all of my patients. Sam walked through the ER and stopped to say hello. I had time, so I followed him out to my car where I exchanged the Andropen and trenbolone acetate for one-hundred-sixty dollars. He thanked me and asked if I wanted to go out and get a few beers one of these days. That could be dangerous. I warned him both of us falling off the wagon at the same time would turn into a bacchanal filled with debauchery. He laughed, and we agreed to make plans one night.

I returned to work, and it remained a rather stagnant period. I looked at the computer in front of me. I had seen other employees writing emails and using Facebook routinely. So why not check on my new business? I thought better of it for a moment, because, if the hospital wanted to, they would be able to see the websites I was visiting. However, I was just quickly checking my business email to see if one of the three brand ambassadors had any news. I hadn’t had any other clients or business emails from anyone except the brand ambassadors yet, for I was waiting for the results to kick in from the samples I sent them so they could review the products on the iSteroids and Phantom Gym. I didn’t expect any new emails or customers until a thorough review of the efficacy of my products was given. Moreover, with people uncomfortable emailing my Yahoo address, I was sure I would have no new emails to answer anyway, so it would be a quick email check.

I logged in to my bdsupplements@yahoo.com account, and my heart jumped! There were three new emails, from three different people, whom I had never seen before…

Next >> Interlude 02 (In Retrospect)

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Memoirs of a Steroid Kingpin (Table of Contents)

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Ryan’s Root’s real-life autobiographical story is a must-read account of his rise and fall as one of the largest anabolic steroid dealers on the Internet.

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