Start off small time, and I'm talking real small. Hang out on the streets, hit the right places and sooner or later you'll be in with the peddlars and pushers. You gotta act tough though, like there aint no stank you'd shy away from. You want them to take one look at you and know that you're in it to win it, and are prepared to utilise every weaponry in your arsenal to make sure that you'll walk out that door and get the job done- no ifs, no buts. They like that in a guy.
Sooner or later, your name will begin to get passed around. You gotta be careful though, because what happens here determines the man you'll be ten years from now. You don't want some money-grubbing associate pulling you over to his business and functioning as one of his loansharks, nor do you want to be just another footsoldier in the distribution of snow white- no, you need to find your niche, break from the trend. THATS where you get your respect. What that is Elod, is up to you.
Oh, and dont go into this alone. Find a guy from up top (and I'm not taking about the Caporegime) to get yourself in with. Some greaseball whose ego is only outshun by his payroll. Brown nose that smutt like you're a sniffer dog catching a whiff of something incriminating down s&*?creek valley. He'll take you under his wing faster than you can say 'eighty big ones'.
Or then again, there's eBay.