Your Marketing Is A Joke! Boost Your Brand with Comedy | Adam Hunt (White Label Comedy)

John: 00:00:00

Welcome to the show.

2

: 00:00:01

And today I'm going to be

sharing something that I

3

: 00:00:05

have been keeping a secret.

4

: 00:00:07

Well, not a big secret, but it's

something that I use in my own

5

: 00:00:10

marketing as a way to stand out and

be a bit different from other people.

6

: 00:00:15

And let's face it, standing out in

terms of marketing and being visible,

7

: 00:00:19

especially in social media and

organic traffic is very hard to do.

8

: 00:00:25

And so you all sorts of people have lots

of different mechanisms and suggestions

9

: 00:00:29

and Nearly everyone piles on them all

straight away But here is something that

10

: 00:00:33

not everyone is going to be doing that

you could do and it's really going to

11

: 00:00:36

be more applicable to you if you have a

good sense of humor and Your brand can

12

: 00:00:42

cope with a bit of laughter as well.

13

: 00:00:44

Not that we're going to be doing anything

damaging to the band but we're actually

14

: 00:00:48

going to be utilizing humor as a tool

of influence and you've been listening

15

: 00:00:52

to the show for a long time, you'll know

that I've talked about humour before as

16

: 00:00:56

being one of the most overlooked elements

of influence that gets Miss time and time

17

: 00:01:01

again and often people are afraid of it

Don't want to want to approach it or that

18

: 00:01:05

they recognize the humor is important

But they still have some fear around

19

: 00:01:10

it and will avoid it So even though we

know that it's a great influence tool

20

: 00:01:15

there are very few people who apply it

well And my guest today is Adam Hunt.

21

: 00:01:21

And Adam has a company called White Label

Comedy that helps people with brands like

22

: 00:01:27

speakers and coaches and professional

communicators, anyone who has a brand, a

23

: 00:01:32

service product, or even just a company

that could use a little bit of standing

24

: 00:01:38

out with your online marketing and

messaging, then you might find that this

25

: 00:01:42

episode To be incredibly valuable and We

are also going to be taking a look into

26

: 00:01:48

one of the products that I've been using

from White Label Comedy for a long time.

27

: 00:01:53

To hopefully give you a sense of

how you might be able to apply this,

28

: 00:01:56

help you build up and flex those

comedy muscles and get more people

29

: 00:02:00

noticing your marketing having your

personality and certainly that humorous

30

: 00:02:05

aspect of you standing out even more.

31

: 00:02:07

So welcome to Present Influence the

show that helps coaches, speakers, and

32

: 00:02:11

business leaders develop the communication

skills to influence and inspire.

33

: 00:02:15

My name is John Ball, keynote coach,

professional speaker, and your guide

34

: 00:02:19

on the journey to mastery level

communication and presentation skills.

35

: 00:02:23

My mission is to provide professional

communicators like you with

36

: 00:02:27

everything you need to maximize your

impact and present with influence.

37

: 00:02:31

Follow the show on your favorite

podcast app for weekly episodes and

38

: 00:02:34

interviews with influence experts.

39

: 00:02:37

And if you're not already

receiving our weekly blog, you

40

: 00:02:40

can sign out for that at LinkedIn.

41

: 00:02:42

So find my profile on LinkedIn.

42

: 00:02:44

It's in the show notes and you can

get the weekly blog, which will have

43

: 00:02:47

some introductions to the episodes

as well as some bonus material that

44

: 00:02:51

you may not hear in the episodes.

45

: 00:02:53

I'll look forward to

connecting with you there.

46

: 00:02:56

Adam, welcome to Present Influence.

47

: 00:02:58

I've been so excited to talk to you.

48

: 00:03:00

You've been on my guest

wishlist for a long time.

49

: 00:03:03

And so I wasn't sure you'd say yes,

when I asked you to come on the show.

50

: 00:03:06

And it was a very easy.

51

: 00:03:08

Yeah.

52

: 00:03:08

So I was very pleased.

53

: 00:03:10

Adam Hunt: Do you know what?

54

: 00:03:11

It was an easy yes.

55

: 00:03:12

And it was an immediate yes.

56

: 00:03:13

Obviously you're active inside

our membership and are on

57

: 00:03:17

our right with our schools.

58

: 00:03:18

And it's an, it's a no brainer.

59

: 00:03:21

Really excited to chat today.

60

: 00:03:23

And Where kind of comedy, psychology,

marketing, and influence all kind of

61

: 00:03:28

intersect like that's my favorite subject.

62

: 00:03:30

So yeah, it would have

been very hard to say no to

63

: 00:03:32

John: this.

64

: 00:03:32

This makes me happy and this is exactly

why I wanted to have you on the show.

65

: 00:03:36

I'd like to give those, before we

really take a look at things like

66

: 00:03:39

the brands against mundanity and

other things that you have available

67

: 00:03:43

through your white label services.

68

: 00:03:46

To just start off with that why you

feel that humor is so important in

69

: 00:03:50

terms of being able to influence

and have an impact on people?

70

: 00:03:54

Adam Hunt: Yeah, that's a

really interesting question.

71

: 00:03:55

And it's a really, it's a broad question

that I could choose to answer in so many

72

: 00:04:00

ways, but the simplest answer would be.

73

: 00:04:03

Is that people like being entertained.

74

: 00:04:05

They don't like being sold to, they

don't really like being influenced.

75

: 00:04:09

And so whatever your agenda with

someone persuasively, whether that

76

: 00:04:13

is to change their mind, change their

position or sell them a product.

77

: 00:04:17

If you can use entertainment and humor

to do it, then you slide under the

78

: 00:04:21

radar and, people are just more willing

to listen to what you've got to say.

79

: 00:04:27

John: I do have this theory of humor

for what kind of my own, but I've

80

: 00:04:31

listened to some rather long winded

lectures on theory of humor as well.

81

: 00:04:35

It's a thing it's out there and

for those who are interested,

82

: 00:04:38

it's worth checking out.

83

: 00:04:39

My own theory goes

along the lines of that.

84

: 00:04:41

It's one of those things that like

you say, it does bypass things.

85

: 00:04:44

It does get more direct, but people

do tend to just have a deeper level of

86

: 00:04:49

trust for people who make them laugh.

87

: 00:04:52

It's automatically this thing.

88

: 00:04:53

Oh yeah we disarm ourselves

a little bit more.

89

: 00:04:56

We want to people more

when they make us laugh.

90

: 00:04:58

I don't think I'm unique in thinking that.

91

: 00:05:00

But I do think it's one of

the really important aspects

92

: 00:05:03

of humor to be able to use.

93

: 00:05:06

Adam Hunt: I think the trust factor.

94

: 00:05:08

Is really important and really useful, but

also why that works, it becomes like much

95

: 00:05:15

more salient when you enter our world

and the way we teach humor, the way we

96

: 00:05:19

teach kind of entertainment for marketing

sake is a lot of people think that

97

: 00:05:25

being funny is just about being funny.

98

: 00:05:27

It's not, it's about

relating to the other person.

99

: 00:05:30

It's about communicating something that

they can relate to in an entertaining way.

100

: 00:05:35

And so actually it makes so much sense

that builds trust because you're showing

101

: 00:05:40

that you get it, that you understand

that well, you couldn't make a joke about

102

: 00:05:44

influence if you didn't understand the

struggles with trying to influence people.

103

: 00:05:49

So if you to make a joke about influence.

104

: 00:05:51

It immediately communicates your

expertise and it communicates that

105

: 00:05:55

you understand the problem that I'm

suffering from because I laugh at that.

106

: 00:05:57

You've, you've got my problem nailed.

107

: 00:05:59

So yeah it's.

108

: 00:06:00

It's trust, it's expertise and

it's it's rapport building.

109

: 00:06:03

At the end of the day, people, again, I

know that I'm always coming at this from

110

: 00:06:07

in the context of selling, that's not

everything you're about, whether you're

111

: 00:06:11

buying a product or buying someone's

position, people buy from people.

112

: 00:06:17

And if you can build that rapport

by showing people that you get it.

113

: 00:06:21

Then it just changes the game is

it's so much more effective than

114

: 00:06:26

I'm going to say more effective

than any other form of persuasion I

115

: 00:06:28

don't know about all the other ones

I only know about my favorite one.

116

: 00:06:31

But yeah, I think it's

that's how I see it.

117

: 00:06:34

John: It's sadly one of the areas

of influence and persuasion that

118

: 00:06:38

Robert Cialdini left out of his

famous book on the psychology of

119

: 00:06:42

influence, but it's, I do see it

as being one of the critical areas.

120

: 00:06:47

I it has quite the same level of.

121

: 00:06:50

Impactful influences things that he was

talking about, which is more my immediate

122

: 00:06:54

effect, but I think it is something

that sets you in a certain position to

123

: 00:07:00

be able to have greater influence and

even to persuade because I do think

124

: 00:07:05

humor and comedy actually allows us to

talk about things sometimes this isn't

125

: 00:07:11

so much related to the sales side, but

talk about things that perhaps it would

126

: 00:07:14

be uncomfortable for people or the

viewpoints that express new viewpoints

127

: 00:07:18

in a way that if you can make people

laugh and you introduce it to them, one

128

: 00:07:22

of the reasons why I think shows like

these comedy news shows and John Oliver

129

: 00:07:27

for being an example of that or The

Daily Show, those sorts of things where

130

: 00:07:32

people can cope with the information

and they probably absorb more because

131

: 00:07:36

they're laughing whilst they watch it.

132

: 00:07:39

Adam Hunt: Do you know, I I used

to love getting all of my news

133

: 00:07:43

from having one news for you.

134

: 00:07:44

It was that kind of weekly dose

of the news wrapped up with humor.

135

: 00:07:48

And it was luckily I was social stuff

back then, when you just say, 15 years ago

136

: 00:07:53

in, in my youth and so disconnected from

the new cycle, it was really satisfying.

137

: 00:07:58

And I think there's a lot to be said

for humor to package up information.

138

: 00:08:02

I want to draw on something else you

mentioned, because you did, you rightly

139

: 00:08:06

said, chilled in left it out of his book.

140

: 00:08:08

And while we're launching a new course,

like right now, we're literally mid launch

141

: 00:08:14

and the angle that our head of copy,

Tom has taken with the page that selling

142

: 00:08:17

it is basically, all of the godfathers

of Copywriting, persuasion, marketing,

143

: 00:08:24

all of them have basically in one way

or another said humor sells and none

144

: 00:08:28

of them have been able to give anyone

a kind of manual for how to use humor.

145

: 00:08:32

They just go, ah, just be funny.

146

: 00:08:34

And you know what I'm so proud of

with all the work we do is it's

147

: 00:08:40

all about making the ability to be

funny, be humorous, be entertaining.

148

: 00:08:45

That's in a way that furthers

your messaging, furthers your

149

: 00:08:47

persuasion accessible and

something you can actually do.

150

: 00:08:50

So yeah, it's, it was, it almost felt like

you, you were reading from the Tom's new

151

: 00:08:54

sales page when you mentioned shield and

not being in shield in his book there.

152

: 00:08:59

John: Oh, there you go.

153

: 00:08:59

I'm glad to be on the right page

for things that you're thinking

154

: 00:09:02

about at the moment as well.

155

: 00:09:03

There are so many areas of influence and

persuasion that Cialdini doesn't look at.

156

: 00:09:07

And I do think one of the reasons why

perhaps this doesn't get looked at as

157

: 00:09:10

much by psychologists is because it's

a little bit out of their comfort zone.

158

: 00:09:16

People who are in the sciences

are not always known for being the

159

: 00:09:19

most humorous people, for example.

160

: 00:09:22

And so scientific investigations tends to

be fairly serious and comedy probably feel

161

: 00:09:26

or humor feels a little uncomfortable.

162

: 00:09:28

Which is, I find it's the case for many

of the people I work with when I'm helping

163

: 00:09:32

I help people develop their presentation

and communication skills, and the keynote

164

: 00:09:37

speeches, and people are so scared of

trying to be funny, think, and just think

165

: 00:09:43

that they can't or that they're not.

166

: 00:09:44

One of the things I love about what

you do you create that bridge to help

167

: 00:09:49

them figure out that they can be.

168

: 00:09:51

And it isn't actually as difficult

as they imagine it to be.

169

: 00:09:56

Adam Hunt: Yeah.

170

: 00:09:56

I think what is really useful in any,

in anything that you do is limitations

171

: 00:10:00

are really useful when you could do

anything, it can be really overwhelming.

172

: 00:10:04

In years ago, when I might've been trying

to be funny, might've been trying to, I

173

: 00:10:07

was working in TV around comedy writers

and all my friends, are stand ups.

174

: 00:10:12

So let's, maybe I'll have a crack,

you get a notebook and you try

175

: 00:10:15

and write a joke, but that joke

could be about absolutely anything.

176

: 00:10:18

So it's really overwhelming is

also really hard to know what to

177

: 00:10:26

actually say, you haven't invent

opinions for yourself to communicate.

178

: 00:10:29

It's all overwhelming and there

is a real risk of doing the wrong

179

: 00:10:32

thing, saying the wrong thing.

180

: 00:10:33

The second you move trying to be

funny into a place with purpose

181

: 00:10:38

like marketing, then you're okay.

182

: 00:10:39

I've got some limitations because I need

this funny to further my brand message.

183

: 00:10:44

So I've got a whole lot of guardrails,

things that it won't include.

184

: 00:10:47

And then you start thinking

about, what does someone want

185

: 00:10:51

from a piece of humorous content?

186

: 00:10:53

And.

187

: 00:10:54

Again that it just, it narrows it down

and brings it into the middle to the

188

: 00:10:57

point where you realize that actually

all people want from, not with all the

189

: 00:11:03

one, but all you need to do to be funny

in the right way is empathize and relate.

190

: 00:11:07

And we, we didn't know that when we

began this company, I didn't always just

191

: 00:11:11

go, ah, it's all about relatable humor.

192

: 00:11:14

We began by doing a mix of the wrong

kind and the right kind of funny.

193

: 00:11:18

And it's the wrong kind of funny.

194

: 00:11:20

It's not just that it can.

195

: 00:11:22

Get you in trouble.

196

: 00:11:23

It just doesn't land as much.

197

: 00:11:24

Whereas the right kind of funny and

what's brilliant is the right kind of

198

: 00:11:27

funny is easier because you're just

trying to understand the audience

199

: 00:11:31

and presenting what the audience

thinks, feels, knows, loves back

200

: 00:11:36

at them in a way that is humorous.

201

: 00:11:38

It's I feel like I'm cheating when

people hire me to write jokes or, they

202

: 00:11:41

hire me to hire someone to write jokes.

203

: 00:11:43

I feel like I'm cheating

because it is so simple.

204

: 00:11:46

Is

205

: 00:11:49

John: your background then

more in the comedy writing than

206

: 00:11:53

comedy delivery sort of area?

207

: 00:11:56

Adam Hunt: So I, no,

yes and no, mostly no.

208

: 00:11:59

I was a TV producer.

209

: 00:12:02

And in those roles, basically I worked on

shows like The One Show and shows like I'm

210

: 00:12:07

trying to think of various quiz shows and

whatnot, as well as the occasional comedy

211

: 00:12:12

entertainment show like Mock The Week and

Have We Got News for You, but loads of my

212

: 00:12:15

work was on the slightly less funny shows.

213

: 00:12:18

In that role, your job is to

write the script and make it

214

: 00:12:23

make sense, make sure it contains

the meaning it needs to contain.

215

: 00:12:26

And then if you're lucky, you get a budget

for comedy writers to help make it funny.

216

: 00:12:30

If you're not lucky and there is no

budget, either it's a boring show, or

217

: 00:12:34

you manage to make it funny yourself.

218

: 00:12:35

And there's, there's a little bit

of wriggle room in between, but

219

: 00:12:38

I've never been a comedy writer.

220

: 00:12:39

I've always been a producer.

221

: 00:12:40

I've always been a guy that works

out what we're trying to do and then

222

: 00:12:44

brings everyone together to make

sure that happens and that works.

223

: 00:12:47

And I think, I always think that if I'd

been an out and out comedy writer, I would

224

: 00:12:52

never have built this company because I

would have been so obsessed with my own

225

: 00:12:56

comedy writing career, but I'm much more

obsessed with using brilliantly talented

226

: 00:13:02

people to take us in new directions.

227

: 00:13:04

And actually, like even just

the process we have internally

228

: 00:13:07

is someone writes the jokes.

229

: 00:13:10

Someone looks at them

and thinks about them.

230

: 00:13:11

Yeah.

231

: 00:13:11

And it's, you need those two parts.

232

: 00:13:14

You can't just, you can't

just sort do it on your own.

233

: 00:13:15

And I insist that I'm not a comedy

writer, obviously, in the last five

234

: 00:13:18

years I've written the odd joke.

235

: 00:13:21

I've signed off tens of thousands of jokes

in, in, in different way shapes of form.

236

: 00:13:26

So I'm probably, the only person I

know that thinks about jokes like I do.

237

: 00:13:31

And yet still, I would say, yeah,

it's, it is not my background,

238

: 00:13:34

it's just where I've landed.

239

: 00:13:35

John: Oh that's perfect.

240

: 00:13:36

I think probably helps

us to know that as well.

241

: 00:13:39

What was the inception then?

242

: 00:13:41

Where did you recognize the need

and think, I think we should

243

: 00:13:44

build a business to do this.

244

: 00:13:46

Adam Hunt: Do you want the,

long answer or the short answer?

245

: 00:13:48

Do you want the PR polished answer

or do you want the real one?

246

: 00:13:52

John: The real answer.

247

: 00:13:53

We, and we've got time,

so there's no rush.

248

: 00:13:54

Adam Hunt: All right.

249

: 00:13:55

Back in the day, I was TV producer.

250

: 00:13:59

Like I said, working on shows like

the one show I was basically first

251

: 00:14:02

in line for another series of The

One Show always, and 19th in line

252

: 00:14:07

for jobs on The Last Leg, et cetera.

253

: 00:14:10

If you're listening from abroad,

basically Last leg is probably

254

: 00:14:13

the closest thing we've got to a

late night talk show in that it's,

255

: 00:14:16

topical topical comedy studio show.

256

: 00:14:19

I needed to find a way to make myself

more appealing to those other jobs.

257

: 00:14:27

So all of this began to try and

get me into the right rooms and TV.

258

: 00:14:30

It was always still with one view on TV.

259

: 00:14:33

I'm trying to do just other cool stuff.

260

: 00:14:35

I began by launching a satirical

news website now long dead.

261

: 00:14:40

That had what I thought was a

really clever business model because

262

: 00:14:43

there were two key things that

were gonna make a stand out thing.

263

: 00:14:46

Number one, I'd identified that

on sites like The Onion and The

264

: 00:14:51

Daily Mash, there was one joke,

it was a joke in the headline.

265

: 00:14:54

And then the article was absolute guff.

266

: 00:14:55

It was nonsense.

267

: 00:14:56

It was just spit.

268

: 00:14:58

And I was like I want our articles to

be fact, gag, fact, gag, fact, gag,

269

: 00:15:04

basically the same level of quality

that you find in Have I Good News

270

: 00:15:09

For You, that, that level of script.

271

: 00:15:10

That, that was my ambition for them.

272

: 00:15:11

And the other part of it was that I wanted

us to create, and we did create a merch

273

: 00:15:17

store for fast turnaround comedy merch.

274

: 00:15:19

Something in the news today, we

write an article that goes out.

275

: 00:15:22

If it does well, you can buy it

on a, buy the funny picture on a t

276

: 00:15:24

shirt tonight, that sort of thing.

277

: 00:15:27

I built that and put about a year and

a half into it making no money giving

278

: 00:15:34

every, the, all the ad revenue that

we made, I'd give out to the writers.

279

: 00:15:37

We had a team of volunteer writers.

280

: 00:15:38

So we're just in a collaborative,

this big collaboration.

281

: 00:15:43

It wasn't making any money,

but it was a labor of love.

282

: 00:15:46

And the kick I got out of assessing

the pitches, the articles, the jokes,

283

: 00:15:53

it was, that was the beginning of

my brain tapping into this process.

284

: 00:15:58

We now have as an actual company,

after a little while of kicking my head

285

: 00:16:03

against the wall and thinking, how am I

going to make this add up financially?

286

: 00:16:07

It was a full time job

on top of full time jobs.

287

: 00:16:09

I decided to try and pitch to

brands, businesses to fund us.

288

: 00:16:15

Basically the angle was give

us the money, help us grow.

289

: 00:16:20

And it can be a kind of corporate

social responsibility play from you.

290

: 00:16:25

And we had this big pitch deck that went

out to about 90 different big businesses.

291

: 00:16:30

And all about like us and

why we should be supported.

292

: 00:16:34

And there was one tiny line buried

in there basically was like Oh,

293

: 00:16:39

we've got these comedy writers.

294

: 00:16:40

We could do some stuff for you.

295

: 00:16:41

And it took me pitching that to

crickets for a good month or so before

296

: 00:16:48

I realized that line there, that's.

297

: 00:16:51

The company that this writer's room that

I'd developed of TV level comedy writers

298

: 00:16:57

who were just collaborating for the joy

of something, putting them to use for a

299

: 00:17:01

brand, a business, that's the company.

300

: 00:17:04

And so initially was called, I

won't name the particular website.

301

: 00:17:10

But it was the name of

the website white labeled.

302

: 00:17:12

Cause the idea is, you were white

labeling that website's content creators.

303

: 00:17:18

Within about a week, I realized

that actually that then relies

304

: 00:17:21

on you maintaining the quality of

that website so that you have the

305

: 00:17:25

implied quality of the business.

306

: 00:17:27

And actually no one needs that.

307

: 00:17:28

And I didn't have time to

be running the website.

308

: 00:17:30

So we just dropped that, dropped the

name, but became white label comedy.

309

: 00:17:33

And honestly, the rest was history.

310

: 00:17:35

It was, Yeah that's where it came from.

311

: 00:17:37

And I'll tell you what, John, you are

the first person I've ever publicly

312

: 00:17:41

on a podcast told that story to.

313

: 00:17:43

I promise it's not a dark

secret, but it's a long story.

314

: 00:17:46

There's many twists and turns and

you can probably tell the, the PR

315

: 00:17:50

sales pitch version needs to be

shorter to make a persuasive argument.

316

: 00:17:55

But yeah, that's the truth.

317

: 00:17:57

John: And thank you for

sharing that with us.

318

: 00:17:59

And let me ask you, did it primarily

start off as you working with just

319

: 00:18:03

doing marketing for particular

clients or did you think, Oh no,

320

: 00:18:07

I think we have a broader market.

321

: 00:18:08

We can actually create some

particular products that, how

322

: 00:18:12

did it really get launched there?

323

: 00:18:14

Adam Hunt: So it began with

an idea, which was just.

324

: 00:18:18

We've got comedy writers.

325

: 00:18:21

We know that brands need funny content

and we would pitch ourselves to a

326

: 00:18:26

blue in the face and try and win work.

327

: 00:18:27

That was it.

328

: 00:18:28

It was all about done for

you, done for your work.

329

: 00:18:29

And it was, Obviously with all

businesses, first year was, I

330

: 00:18:33

wouldn't say terrible, but first year

certainly was not a big moneymaker.

331

: 00:18:37

All the work we got in was

through cold pitching, people

332

: 00:18:41

on LinkedIn and cold email.

333

: 00:18:43

And it was, again, it was a full time

job just saying to people, Hey, come and

334

: 00:18:47

hire my, my, my team of comedy writers.

335

: 00:18:49

The product side of the business

came about almost by accident.

336

: 00:18:54

Because.

337

: 00:18:55

Early on, we had no reputation these days.

338

: 00:18:58

We have a good reputation.

339

: 00:18:59

People know we exist.

340

: 00:19:00

And so it's much easier for us

to attract new clients back then.

341

: 00:19:04

People like who, who are these people?

342

: 00:19:06

Who are these guys?

343

: 00:19:07

What even are they?

344

: 00:19:07

And obviously I had, I had my

credentials creating content for brands.

345

: 00:19:12

I didn't, it wasn't like I'd

never worked for any brands.

346

: 00:19:15

In amongst the TV work I'd moonlighted

for various brands in, content

347

: 00:19:18

creation roles and marketing roles,

but still as a company we didn't

348

: 00:19:21

really, we weren't on their radar.

349

: 00:19:23

So we money was running out, basically,

the, as always was spending more money on

350

: 00:19:29

running the company and trying to reach

new clients than actually we could afford.

351

: 00:19:34

There was a deadline,

there was a time limit.

352

: 00:19:36

And I'd seen from from marketing circles,

lots of people selling courses, trainings

353

: 00:19:44

and not just selling them to make money,

but selling them to be a kind of essential

354

: 00:19:49

part of their own marketing process.

355

: 00:19:52

You sell a training, people take it

enough of them ascend and go on to

356

: 00:19:56

hire you on a done-for-you basis.

357

: 00:19:57

It's really, trodden pathway.

358

: 00:20:00

And I thought we could do that.

359

: 00:20:02

Began planning out like this

massive comprehensive, here is

360

: 00:20:07

everything about how you sell

on social using humor training.

361

: 00:20:12

And I was like, this is one, this

is going to take me years to put

362

: 00:20:16

together two, it's probably going

to be a bit shit because we, at that

363

: 00:20:20

point, weren't the experts we are now.

364

: 00:20:22

So it didn't quite feel right, but also,

money was running out faster and faster.

365

: 00:20:28

We needed to get something

to market quickly.

366

: 00:20:30

There was one kind of half idea that

we had in our sketched out in my notes

367

: 00:20:34

for the training on, on the table in

my kitchen, the millions of bits of

368

: 00:20:38

paper sprawled everywhere that was,

what if we could teach people to write

369

: 00:20:42

jokes using algebraic formula using,

Fill in the blank templates because

370

: 00:20:47

we'd already got, we'd already begun

to really get a sense that the best

371

: 00:20:52

jokes were the ones that were relatable.

372

: 00:20:55

So can we codify that relatability

and put that as blanks in algebra?

373

: 00:20:59

And we made that a thing.

374

: 00:21:01

So we, we wrote some, Prompts for I

shouldn't use the word prompts these days.

375

: 00:21:04

Cause people expect to say I, we

wrote some frameworks for simple

376

: 00:21:07

Twitter jokes turned into a product

called brands against mundanity.

377

: 00:21:11

The first iteration was just a PDF.

378

: 00:21:14

It was just literally a PDF with some,

with 48 fill in the blank Twitter jokes.

379

: 00:21:19

And.

380

: 00:21:20

We put it online, started sending it

using Facebook ads, which at the time

381

: 00:21:26

I didn't even really know much about,

never run my own ads before just dabbled

382

: 00:21:30

with it for clients and it just took off.

383

: 00:21:32

It just, we just sold so

many copies of that silly PDF

384

: 00:21:38

and even better people then.

385

: 00:21:42

As as we would have planned for the

bigger training that we thought we'd need

386

: 00:21:45

to make this happen, people bought the

PDF, saw us go, Oh, these guys are cool.

387

: 00:21:51

Booked, booked in a call through

the very, very rudimentary buttons

388

: 00:21:54

on the very old rubbish website.

389

: 00:21:56

And then we started to

get our first clients in.

390

: 00:21:58

So it's it was all stuttering along.

391

: 00:22:00

And then simultaneously we were

in the product and the done

392

: 00:22:03

for you business overnight.

393

: 00:22:05

John: Yeah, even in the time that I think

I've been a subscriber, I should say,

394

: 00:22:10

really to the Brands Against Mundanity,

that you've set newer things up, like

395

: 00:22:15

we've got the right for you sessions,

which I think were there probably from

396

: 00:22:19

when I joined, but also that's really

helpful just that we can actually get on

397

: 00:22:22

a call with you and one of your writers

and get some help and some suggestions

398

: 00:22:27

and a bit of feedback on some of the

ideas we may only go through a handful of

399

: 00:22:31

them but it gets you into some momentum

and the right way of thinking about it

400

: 00:22:35

with things and also to avoid the wrong

ways of thinking about it which is just

401

: 00:22:39

as important but things like being able

to directly upload everything into Canva

402

: 00:22:44

so it's all there ready for you to edit

so helpful you I personally love it.

403

: 00:22:50

I know you can't say too much about

specific brands that you've worked

404

: 00:22:54

with, but have there been like general

Industries where this has worked better?

405

: 00:22:58

And, 'cause I'm a fan

of two part questions.

406

: 00:23:01

What kind of results have clients

experience from working with you?

407

: 00:23:06

Adam Hunt: Yeah, so I, I think, first

question I'll answer the reverse

408

: 00:23:09

of that, because I often get asked,

is there any industry where this

409

: 00:23:13

won't work, where humor won't work?

410

: 00:23:15

And I always insist, no.

411

: 00:23:16

But the truth is the industry

is where you're selling on

412

: 00:23:20

aesthetic, fashion, et cetera.

413

: 00:23:23

You can use humor, but do

you need to probably not?

414

: 00:23:26

You can, we're not necessarily

going to move the needle for you.

415

: 00:23:29

I think in terms of, industries with

particular success, I think that

416

: 00:23:35

stuff that is broad, that is a mass

market, it's easier to get results.

417

: 00:23:41

The reason I say that is, you know, what

we do and what we teach is great for B2B.

418

: 00:23:46

It's great for B2B because the because

of the messaging benefits of, basically

419

: 00:23:50

reflecting your audience's pains.

420

: 00:23:52

In the content that you're creating

shows, and we get it, but getting that

421

: 00:23:56

content in front of them can be hard.

422

: 00:24:00

It can be expensive.

423

: 00:24:00

It, it's, you're either having to

grind around the platforms, being,

424

: 00:24:05

being your account yourself, your brand

on the platform to get that reach.

425

: 00:24:08

Or you're having to pay

for pay that spend for to.

426

: 00:24:11

Get the reach you need to make a

meaningful difference with broader

427

: 00:24:16

brands who are selling, who,

where anyone could buy the thing

428

: 00:24:21

by anyone could buy the thing.

429

: 00:24:22

Big soft drinks company or, chocolate

company that, that sort of thing.

430

: 00:24:25

It's easier to write jokes that almost

everyone that sees it will engage with it.

431

: 00:24:31

Interact with it, comment.

432

: 00:24:32

And so the getting the organic propellant

population, I don't know if that's the

433

: 00:24:37

right word is easier for it, for someone

that can speak to a broader audience.

434

: 00:24:42

As for, I see, I always like to focus

more on business outcomes and that's why

435

: 00:24:49

actually, even though, you mundanity is

all about social We are pivoting now and,

436

: 00:24:56

internally and with our W clients, we're

much more interested in taking clients on

437

: 00:25:01

a full service marketing basis, because

actually this kind of content, whether

438

: 00:25:06

you use pay spend or legwork to get reach.

439

: 00:25:10

If you are bringing loads of

awareness to a product, a funnel

440

: 00:25:15

offer that reliably converts, then

it's like pouring oil on a fire.

441

: 00:25:19

If you're bringing that attention to

a product that doesn't convert, it's,

442

: 00:25:23

yeah, you might get a load of reach.

443

: 00:25:25

You might get a load of eyeballs.

444

: 00:25:27

Where's the money, where's

the money in the bank.

445

: 00:25:28

So I'm now much more interested, the

first conversation I will have with

446

: 00:25:32

any new client is what are we selling?

447

: 00:25:35

How's it selling?

448

: 00:25:36

And can we improve that

first before we do anything?

449

: 00:25:38

So I definitely.

450

: 00:25:40

Don't think I directly answered

your question there, but I said

451

: 00:25:42

a lot of words that I hope were

interesting and useful all the same.

452

: 00:25:45

John: I feel like it mostly

did answer, answer my question.

453

: 00:25:49

I don't necessarily have a follow

on relating to that, but I do want

454

: 00:25:53

to perhaps talk about you mentioned

about creating these sort of formulas

455

: 00:25:57

for jokes, which is very much what

brands against mundanity does.

456

: 00:26:00

Like pretty much like you, you plug

in the words as to what best fits.

457

: 00:26:05

And we're going to take a look

at some of that in a moment

458

: 00:26:07

so people can get a taste.

459

: 00:26:09

And so for our listeners, you may want to

check out some of the YouTube elements of

460

: 00:26:13

this so that you can actually see stuff.

461

: 00:26:15

I will put some links in the

show notes for you as well.

462

: 00:26:18

But before we come to that, you mentioned

that you have a done for you service.

463

: 00:26:21

What other things do you have

available for people that could

464

: 00:26:23

help them with their marketing to.

465

: 00:26:27

Stand out a little bit more.

466

: 00:26:29

Adam Hunt: So we're basically,

we've got a whole range of

467

: 00:26:32

trainings, tools, templates.

468

: 00:26:33

So go to white label comedy.

469

: 00:26:35

com and there's a big shiny button

that probably says like trainings

470

: 00:26:37

and templates, or you can just put

forward slash store and see all

471

: 00:26:41

the different things we've got that

there's two brand new trainings that,

472

: 00:26:44

that I'm really excited about that

I think are a great place to start.

473

: 00:26:48

There's one that launched yesterday.

474

: 00:26:50

Cool.

475

: 00:26:51

Basically they're all now coming

under the jokes that sell banner.

476

: 00:26:53

So jokes that sell funny Facebook ads

is basically taking this sort of fill

477

: 00:26:58

in the blanks, bam template vibe, but

expanding it to actually give you what

478

: 00:27:03

you need to write full Facebook ads.

479

: 00:27:06

And you're gonna give you

variations on the hooks and also

480

: 00:27:09

a bunch of creatives to test.

481

: 00:27:11

The reason why I

particularly recommend that.

482

: 00:27:14

As a place to start, it's not just that

part of the training, but it also comes

483

: 00:27:17

bundled with an ebook that that I wrote

that was meant to just be a kind of

484

: 00:27:22

short, couple of thousand words some

t of tips for media buying in: 2024

485

: 00:27:27

just, is his, how I think about running

your ads and it actually, it turned

486

: 00:27:31

into a sort of epic 10, 000 word book.

487

: 00:27:36

It's a lot, it's a lot in there

and it basically covers everything.

488

: 00:27:41

I think you need to be thinking about

if you're trying to get your ads, if

489

: 00:27:45

you're trying to get your products

running successfully to cold traffic

490

: 00:27:48

using paid ads, because I think, the

most important thing I know that people

491

: 00:27:53

expect me to talk all about comedy

and how, comedy can help you sell, but

492

: 00:27:56

you need to get the fundamentals down.

493

: 00:27:58

You need to get the right offers back.

494

: 00:28:00

You need to have something

that people are going to buy.

495

: 00:28:03

And then you can use humor to,

to make that make that kind

496

: 00:28:06

of big, bigger and better.

497

: 00:28:07

So that's the one thing I would say

everyone, by we've priced it about 20

498

: 00:28:11

percent of what it really should be.

499

: 00:28:13

Cause it's going to be our new front

end product that we're going to be

500

: 00:28:15

selling to, to culture for ourselves.

501

: 00:28:17

There's also one that

we released last month.

502

: 00:28:19

That's on that basically teaches you how

to make what we call gag reel videos.

503

: 00:28:23

One line of videos.

504

: 00:28:25

Of yeah, just you reading

off a load of jokes by that.

505

: 00:28:28

Although, cards on the table,

if you buy the Facebook ads one,

506

: 00:28:30

you'll get a better deal by just

saying yes in the upsells after.

507

: 00:28:33

So I would go for the Facebook

ads trading that's product wise.

508

: 00:28:36

And then, in, in terms of our

done for you stuff, we're here for

509

: 00:28:40

everything and the kitchen sink.

510

: 00:28:41

But the main thing is we don't

really start a conversation by

511

: 00:28:45

you telling us what you want.

512

: 00:28:46

We start a conversation by you telling

us what your problems are and then

513

: 00:28:50

we'll work with you to work out how

we solve them with copy and comedy.

514

: 00:28:56

John: Great.

515

: 00:28:57

A lot of my audience are professional

coaches and professional speakers or

516

: 00:29:02

people who do a lot of professional

communication in their work.

517

: 00:29:05

Great.

518

: 00:29:05

Could you see the product working

well for those that specifically

519

: 00:29:08

the brands against mundanity?

520

: 00:29:12

Adam Hunt: Yeah, absolutely.

521

: 00:29:12

Absolutely.

522

: 00:29:13

I think, brands against mundanity

is great for people who know

523

: 00:29:20

they need to be churning out to

a certain degree, social content.

524

: 00:29:24

They haven't really got the time, the

energy to write these long value posts

525

: 00:29:28

day in, day out, and they want to bring

a bit of humor to to their content.

526

: 00:29:33

And BAM helps you as you've already seen.

527

: 00:29:35

BAM helps you do that way more quickly,

way more easily and with better content,

528

: 00:29:40

a lot of the time than stuff you've

spent hours and hours slaving over.

529

: 00:29:44

And yeah, so that we've got

loads of coaches loads of,

530

: 00:29:46

B2B, solopreneurs, et cetera.

531

: 00:29:49

Obviously it doesn't solve all

your problems, but nothing does.

532

: 00:29:52

The, if your problem is content and

I want to just Get my content created

533

: 00:29:58

quickly and easily so that I can

then focus on running my business.

534

: 00:30:03

It's a great thing to buy.

535

: 00:30:05

It's not, we don't sell it with the

promise that by this you're going to

536

: 00:30:09

go viral and you're going to get a

million people signing up to your,

537

: 00:30:13

done for you services overnight.

538

: 00:30:14

Cause that's a massive overpromise,

but it's certainly, it's a

539

: 00:30:18

great way to get attention.

540

: 00:30:19

And it's a great way to, to create

way more content in the time that

541

: 00:30:23

it was taking you to do it before.

542

: 00:30:25

And it's funny.

543

: 00:30:26

John: One of the things I often say to

clients I work with on improving their

544

: 00:30:29

speaking skills is that not that they

don't have to become standup comedians,

545

: 00:30:34

but if we lose the idea that you actually

need to entertain your audience, you're

546

: 00:30:40

going to, you're going to miss out big

time that far too much is just serious

547

: 00:30:45

and data driven or factual stuff.

548

: 00:30:47

And people do crave entertainment.

549

: 00:30:49

They want to be entertained

by your content as well.

550

: 00:30:52

That's one of the reasons why

it particularly stands out..

551

: 00:30:55

Before we take a look at the actual

cards themselves I wanted to ask do

552

: 00:31:01

you ever get to see any of your stuff

out in the wild, like stuff that you

553

: 00:31:05

haven't all created yourself and had

your team done whether you actively

554

: 00:31:08

look for that, any sort of thing.

555

: 00:31:10

Or they're doing a good job with it, or,

ooh, I don't think they've quite got it.

556

: 00:31:14

Adam Hunt: So do you mean in terms of the

stuff that Our team creates for a done

557

: 00:31:18

for you clients or the stuff that we see.

558

: 00:31:20

John: The stuff that people are

creating with the templates that you

559

: 00:31:23

give, do you ever get to see any of

that in actual, actually out in the

560

: 00:31:27

world and thinking, yeah, that's going

561

: 00:31:29

Adam Hunt: with us.

562

: 00:31:29

We, we do.

563

: 00:31:30

I think what I love is that obviously

we've got our monthly write with us

564

: 00:31:32

sessions where people will bring, either

they bring stuff they've already worked

565

: 00:31:36

on or they work on it in the room.

566

: 00:31:37

But even with that, the.

567

: 00:31:39

The sort of first month someone's with

us, the jokes they pitch, as you'll

568

: 00:31:42

have seen from those calls can often

be a bit confusing and a bit misguided,

569

: 00:31:47

and they've misunderstood the brief,

especially a lot of people will sign

570

: 00:31:51

up, buy the thing, look at the templates

and they are not going to, I'm not

571

: 00:31:55

going to watch that really easy to

watch half an hour quick start training.

572

: 00:31:57

I'm just going to get

on with it and do it.

573

: 00:31:59

And then.

574

: 00:32:00

They've just missed the brief entirely.

575

: 00:32:02

And we do occasionally see that

kind of stuff out in the wild.

576

: 00:32:05

For a while, one of our teams had a

sort of a weekly task to searched for

577

: 00:32:10

various terms that we knew were in our

templates just to try and find examples.

578

: 00:32:14

And we did use, we used to find.

579

: 00:32:16

Examples of great uses.

580

: 00:32:18

There was a, a mechanical keyboard company

that we didn't even know had signed up who

581

: 00:32:22

were getting great use and great results

out of our stuff and you find terrible

582

: 00:32:26

uses, I say terrible, not terrible, just

kind of stuff that doesn't quite hit the

583

: 00:32:30

mark, but generally, once someone has

been flexing those comedy muscles for Long

584

: 00:32:39

enough, they get used to doing it right.

585

: 00:32:42

And I think, the best thing about

those write with us sessions is

586

: 00:32:45

it's a chance to come unstuck.

587

: 00:32:47

It's a chance, it's a chance to, like

the biggest mistakes I see are people

588

: 00:32:51

will often try and crowbar their products

into a joke and trying to make their

589

: 00:32:56

products the punchline of the joke.

590

: 00:32:57

So it's not, that's not true.

591

: 00:33:00

Like often the form, the formula

won't make sense if you're

592

: 00:33:06

Even if it would make sense, you can

only crowbar your product in if that is

593

: 00:33:10

really what your audience is thinking

in that particular moment in time.

594

: 00:33:14

Probably that'll be easier for us

to think about when we're looking at

595

: 00:33:16

some specifics, like Starbucks could

probably write a joke that, imagine

596

: 00:33:20

a meme with someone just looking

Absolutely exhausted lying on a desk,

597

: 00:33:26

they could easily make a rather lame

mean that's, me before my matcha latte,

598

: 00:33:32

my, my, what's that one pumpkin spice

last night that they could do that

599

: 00:33:35

because that is true for the audience.

600

: 00:33:36

You could not do, me before listening

to this month's Present Influence

601

: 00:33:41

podcast, cause it's not true.

602

: 00:33:43

Forgetting that.

603

: 00:33:44

The truth is the most important thing.

604

: 00:33:46

And if you haven't bothered to find

the truth, then you're not going to

605

: 00:33:49

create content that's going to engage.

606

: 00:33:51

But yeah, we, I generally, I, sorry,

I keep, I'll waffle them for days, but

607

: 00:33:55

I generally don't go looking for BAM

content myself now personally because

608

: 00:34:02

if I see something that I think, oh,

that's missed the point, I want to

609

: 00:34:05

then reach out and help them out.

610

: 00:34:07

And we're the best one in the world.

611

: 00:34:08

You're, you're paying me a

couple of quid a month and I,

612

: 00:34:10

I haven't got time for that.

613

: 00:34:12

But yeah that's why the right

with us cause exists anyway.

614

: 00:34:15

John: Yeah.

615

: 00:34:16

I did actually see today on

Instagram, I don't use Instagram

616

: 00:34:20

very much, but I did actually see an

ad that looked like it looked like

617

: 00:34:25

a brands against mundanity based.

618

: 00:34:27

Thing, but they had done exactly

what you just talked about of trying

619

: 00:34:30

to make their product the punchline

and it just didn't make sense.

620

: 00:34:34

And I've seen this on, I think I've

even been guilty on it on the write

621

: 00:34:37

With Us call, as well of trying to

make it more about the the brand and

622

: 00:34:42

the promotion than about the joke.

623

: 00:34:45

And I think you do have to go for

the humor and like you said earlier,

624

: 00:34:48

the connection, the empathy and

the, relating to your audience.

625

: 00:34:51

I think that's a perfect point for us

to take a look at some of the some of

626

: 00:34:55

the brands against mandamity things.

627

: 00:34:57

So we're going to be, you

628

: 00:34:57

Adam Hunt: know, John, before, before

we look at the cards I just, I want

629

: 00:35:00

to help sow a seed that can solve that

problem of trying to make it about the

630

: 00:35:04

plan to make it about the offer, because.

631

: 00:35:06

The cards in brands against mundanity

teach you to write a joke that is mostly

632

: 00:35:10

going to be in the creative of your post.

633

: 00:35:12

That's the image, right?

634

: 00:35:13

But you still have a lot of real estate.

635

: 00:35:15

You have the post copy.

636

: 00:35:18

If we think about the the creative as

usually, not every format, but usually

637

: 00:35:24

relating to the pain that we're going

to offer to help them solve later on.

638

: 00:35:28

So usually, if if you're trying to

coach people, To be more confident

639

: 00:35:32

speakers say then it might be jokes

about the pains of public speaking,

640

: 00:35:36

the fears of public speaking and.

641

: 00:35:38

Yeah.

642

: 00:35:38

If you try and get your pitch into that

creative, it's going to ruin it, but it's

643

: 00:35:43

really conceivable to have the copy that

begin a PAS problem as you say, solution.

644

: 00:35:48

So have the copy begin with the

pain that you're talking about.

645

: 00:35:53

And then just everything below the

fold can be taken us on a journey

646

: 00:35:56

to the point where it is relevant

to pitch your products and services.

647

: 00:35:59

That, that blows the line a little

bit, cause they'll become more like

648

: 00:36:03

offer posts or belief shift posts.

649

: 00:36:04

But.

650

: 00:36:05

If in doubt, use the joke to open

a conversation for some people.

651

: 00:36:11

That conversation is opened in one

piece of content and then resolved

652

: 00:36:14

in a later piece of content or

through retargeting or ads or emails.

653

: 00:36:19

If you're just itching to go, I just

really want to talk about what I'm

654

: 00:36:21

selling just chart a course from A

to B and make sure the copy takes

655

: 00:36:27

you on the journey that makes sense.

656

: 00:36:28

John: That's really helpful.

657

: 00:36:29

I think that's a great

way to think about it.

658

: 00:36:31

What you are hopefully seeing on the

screen right now is my, my portal

659

: 00:36:36

into the White Label Comedy site.

660

: 00:36:39

And so within that, you'll see a whole

bunch of stuff that I have purchased

661

: 00:36:43

from them, some of the things that

were included and add ons as well.

662

: 00:36:47

However, it's the Brands Against

Mundanity monthly subscription

663

: 00:36:50

that we want to take a look at.

664

: 00:36:52

This is now March, but we

recorded this back in November.

665

: 00:36:55

So it gives you some idea of

some of the time that tends

666

: 00:36:58

to happen between episodes.

667

: 00:37:00

So we need to go all the

way back to November,: 2024

668

: 00:37:04

So we can go back in time because I've

been a member of White Label for a while.

669

: 00:37:08

So any time that you, any period that

you've had membership with White Label,

670

: 00:37:12

you can go back and access those cards.

671

: 00:37:15

So if they're ones that you didn't use or

you want to go back and maybe update them,

672

: 00:37:19

refresh some of the ideas that you've

had before, you can certainly do that.

673

: 00:37:24

We're going to take a look at November 24.

674

: 00:37:26

What you'll see here is you can

either, we can either download a PDF

675

: 00:37:29

or we can access Canva templates.

676

: 00:37:31

I can't remember when the Canva thing

came in, but since I have a Canva

677

: 00:37:35

membership and I do recommend it.

678

: 00:37:38

It's so easy that the templates just

get loaded automatically into Canva and

679

: 00:37:42

I can start editing them straight away.

680

: 00:37:44

It takes moments, so super easy.

681

: 00:37:48

So here we now come to some of the

templates that are available for you,

682

: 00:37:51

that were available back in November.

683

: 00:37:53

Adam Hunt: Yeah.

684

: 00:37:54

So this like John said is,

this is inside the portal.

685

: 00:37:57

Basically every month we release a new

set of fill in the blank frameworks that

686

: 00:38:04

each one of them basically has a joke

mocked up as if it were being posted

687

: 00:38:09

by a big name recognizable brand to

give you just a sense of how to use it.

688

: 00:38:14

But really all of the magic, all of

the power comes from the bit on the

689

: 00:38:18

right hand side, the the instructions

the way we fill in the blank.

690

: 00:38:22

This one here the example that would be

from packed, how to catch a coffee snub

691

: 00:38:27

and it's a mousetrap with expresso on top.

692

: 00:38:30

By the way, if you don't get that

joke, you are the enemy and it's fine.

693

: 00:38:35

We don't need to be friends.

694

: 00:38:36

You can carry on drinking your

expresso until the cows come home.

695

: 00:38:38

The framework, how to catch X.

696

: 00:38:41

So X is either your audience or a

recurring character in their lives.

697

: 00:38:46

For me, it could be how to catch

a marketer or it could be someone

698

: 00:38:51

that we don't like, or that gives us

problems like how to catch a Facebook

699

: 00:38:54

ads manager, or, whoever's giving

your audience trouble that day.

700

: 00:38:57

And then why, so why being

the blank that's on top of

701

: 00:39:01

the cheese is something that.

702

: 00:39:03

The recurrent character X

might struggle to resist.

703

: 00:39:07

And that could be something that

they are known to really enjoy, or

704

: 00:39:11

it could be something that might

respond really negatively to.

705

: 00:39:14

If imagine, I don't know if we're in a

sort of Facebook ads world how Facebook

706

: 00:39:19

ads manager it could be 10 X ROAS on

there because that's what they want.

707

: 00:39:24

And.

708

: 00:39:25

Generally that is, that would be a

positive example and they're less funny.

709

: 00:39:30

So it's always more, it's always

more funny to have a negative.

710

: 00:39:33

So ideally, we should pick

pick an enemy and then we throw

711

: 00:39:37

something in there that they hate.

712

: 00:39:38

So yeah, there's 31 of

713

: 00:39:41

John: these.

714

: 00:39:42

With this one where it fell out

for people who are speaking would

715

: 00:39:45

be like how to catch a bad review.

716

: 00:39:48

Adam Hunt: Yeah, so I, I guess

the is it how to catch a bad

717

: 00:39:51

reviewer or how to catch a bad?

718

: 00:39:53

John: Oh, we could make it a reviewer.

719

: 00:39:55

We can make it a person how to, yeah.

720

: 00:39:58

Go that

721

: 00:39:59

Adam Hunt: I, it's funny actually 'cause

be before we did the last write with our

722

: 00:40:02

session Alex is, who's the comedy writer

that I usually have me in the sessions.

723

: 00:40:06

He said, Adam, can you not put that,

this one in the deck for the call?

724

: 00:40:12

'cause actually I find it really

hard and it keeps confusing people.

725

: 00:40:15

It is tough.

726

: 00:40:16

It is tough.

727

: 00:40:16

. I may struggle to do this justice

for you, John without Alex.

728

: 00:40:19

But I think, the way I would play

with it is, so we need to think about.

729

: 00:40:24

We need to think of an enemy.

730

: 00:40:25

So if the enemy is.

731

: 00:40:27

A bad reviewer, why are they bad?

732

: 00:40:29

Are they are they lazy?

733

: 00:40:31

What's the what's the, and what

is it they do that annoys us?

734

: 00:40:36

Yeah, if we can think around there

and we may find the right answer.

735

: 00:40:39

We may not there's not always the

perfect answer for any framework.

736

: 00:40:43

John: Yeah, that's the opposite

is that I do find I'm not always

737

: 00:40:47

able to use all of the templates.

738

: 00:40:49

However, there's always

enough there that I can.

739

: 00:40:52

Yeah, I don't need to

worry too much about that.

740

: 00:40:56

I think there's one here.

741

: 00:40:57

If I look a bit further down,

I think there's probably one

742

: 00:41:00

here that I have already used.

743

: 00:41:01

One that's like science, you're a fiction

writer, I was able to turn it into

744

: 00:41:05

science, you're a professional speaker

that, that there's, it's like a pie chart

745

: 00:41:09

with the small pie being that you write

fiction and the big part of the pie being

746

: 00:41:14

your Google search history implicates

that implicates your multiple homicides.

747

: 00:41:18

I think that's a bit easier for

me to do some sort of version

748

: 00:41:21

of playing that around with.

749

: 00:41:22

So some, certainly some of them, I

think, Oh, The answer, the solution

750

: 00:41:26

comes pretty quick and some of them do

take a bit more work and I do tend to

751

: 00:41:30

when I'm going through it and I like

to spend pretty much a morning and also

752

: 00:41:35

this, I don't resent doing my marketing

when it's making me laugh when I'm

753

: 00:41:40

coming up with jokes, I enjoy doing my

marketing, which is one of the reasons

754

: 00:41:43

why I like the BAM packs as well.

755

: 00:41:47

That I'll go through it and I'll tend to

just write if I get stuck on one, I'll

756

: 00:41:49

come back to it later and go through and

see how many I get, and then ones that

757

: 00:41:53

I get stuck on, I might revisit later,

depending on how many I'm able to fill in.

758

: 00:41:57

So yeah, it's quite an easy process.

759

: 00:41:59

Adam Hunt: I think so.

760

: 00:42:00

The ones that are the easiest are

the ones where what you would put

761

: 00:42:04

in gap a doesn't change depending

on what you've put in gap B.

762

: 00:42:09

Signs you're a fiction writer,

you write fiction, and then you've

763

: 00:42:12

got one funny thing to add in.

764

: 00:42:14

Signs you're a you're a podcast

host, you host podcasts, that's

765

: 00:42:19

always going to be the case.

766

: 00:42:20

So that's written for you.

767

: 00:42:22

And then the big one, I don't know what

you've got in yours, something like

768

: 00:42:26

you spend, 18 hours a day rebooting

Riverside Studio to try and make it work.

769

: 00:42:30

That, that would be my truth for you.

770

: 00:42:32

John: That's a little close to home now.

771

: 00:42:34

I don't have been having some

problems with our platform today.

772

: 00:42:37

But yeah, mine, mine was the small part

of the pie being you speak at events,

773

: 00:42:41

the bigger part of pie being, you expect

everyone to be quiet when you're speaking.

774

: 00:42:45

Brilliant, brilliant.

775

: 00:42:46

Which I think works.

776

: 00:42:47

Adam Hunt: I think that's

great because that's taking.

777

: 00:42:49

What's happening in their world in

a, in a day to day way and expanding

778

: 00:42:54

it into other areas of their life.

779

: 00:42:55

And that, yeah, that that's

making it bigger too.

780

: 00:42:57

And if we think about that compared

to the one that we struggled with, the

781

: 00:43:01

the cheese, the, the mousetrap one,

the reason I would say, with the, with

782

: 00:43:05

enough time we'd crack that, but what you

need is two lists side by side of the.

783

: 00:43:12

People that could be the recurring

character, the thing that they do that

784

: 00:43:17

is going to trap them, the kind of,

or the thing that would trap them.

785

: 00:43:21

And then you play around with

different combinations of those

786

: 00:43:23

two until you have one that fits.

787

: 00:43:25

And the added layer here, which is

tricky, is it needs to make sense.

788

: 00:43:29

It needs to make sense as a thing

you'd put on a trap for that person.

789

: 00:43:32

So it always takes a bit more work.

790

: 00:43:33

So we always have some kind of pro level

ones that even Alex struggles with.

791

: 00:43:37

And then we have the easy ones to fill in.

792

: 00:43:41

John: Yeah, which is a

great way to think about it.

793

: 00:43:43

I think my favorite one of this

pack was the one that looks like

794

: 00:43:47

it, where it says sensitive content

on there, a lot of things you get

795

: 00:43:50

over certain posts that blur it out.

796

: 00:43:52

Yeah.

797

: 00:43:52

And it was it's a mock up for a Pizza

Express ad that says this post has been

798

: 00:43:56

hidden in case it reminds you of the

time your waiter said enjoy your meal

799

: 00:43:59

and you replied you too, which is great.

800

: 00:44:03

And so my version of that was this

post has been hidden in case of it.

801

: 00:44:07

In case the accident reminds

you of the time you live

802

: 00:44:09

streamed your coaching session.

803

: 00:44:11

Yeah.

804

: 00:44:12

For my coaching podcast.

805

: 00:44:14

There's stuff about that was really

easy and I think that was my favorite

806

: 00:44:17

one and it just came straight away But

yeah, some of them definitely take a bit.

807

: 00:44:20

I

808

: 00:44:20

Adam Hunt: think what I love about that

one is as well as having the joke Which

809

: 00:44:25

is you know taking an embarrassing?

810

: 00:44:28

occurrence and making it Out

to be a kind of, so sensitive,

811

: 00:44:33

it needs that content warning.

812

: 00:44:34

It's got that element to

it where it draws you in.

813

: 00:44:39

Cause you think something

controversial here.

814

: 00:44:40

What it's the bait and switch

just with the format, even before

815

: 00:44:45

you've written the joke is a bit

of a kind of hook to draw you in.

816

: 00:44:48

And then, yeah, all it takes is a

playful, embarrassing moment that either

817

: 00:44:54

people can relate to, or that they

can relate to the fear of happening.

818

: 00:44:57

Even if you've never done that, I

guarantee you're, scared of doing that.

819

: 00:45:01

And yeah it's a great little format.

820

: 00:45:04

John: I'm a big fan of the cards.

821

: 00:45:06

I've been subscribed to them for a

long time and find them very useful.

822

: 00:45:08

I get a lot of positive

feedback from people.

823

: 00:45:11

They do notice it and they notice

that they like my messaging.

824

: 00:45:14

They like the stuff that I'm posting and

they comment because it makes them laugh.

825

: 00:45:18

I really like the right with the

sessions as well, where you and them.

826

: 00:45:22

Alex, so usually on the call and you help

guide us with how to write some of these,

827

: 00:45:26

do you generally pick out the tougher

ones to help people with on that call?

828

: 00:45:29

Is that kind of a theory though?

829

: 00:45:31

So

830

: 00:45:31

Adam Hunt: What we normally do is we

will start with a couple of easy ones

831

: 00:45:35

to ease everyone in because actually

you've got to give people confidence.

832

: 00:45:39

You've got to make sure that they

can they believe they can do it.

833

: 00:45:42

So start with a couple of easy ones.

834

: 00:45:44

And then after that, actually.

835

: 00:45:46

We choose ones that we want

to use in our marketing.

836

: 00:45:48

I will choose if I want to sell BAM

with a video of me and Alex riffing

837

: 00:45:54

on a bunch of formats, I will choose

the sensitive content warning because

838

: 00:45:58

it looks good in an ad I will choose.

839

: 00:46:00

So that's what you generally,

and the ones that look good are

840

: 00:46:02

also often the most complicated.

841

: 00:46:03

So that's why we generally have.

842

: 00:46:05

A couple of easy ones, and then some

of the more unique complex ones.

843

: 00:46:08

And I think the mixture of that

also really just the progression

844

: 00:46:13

from people where, they'll come

the first time and they're just a

845

: 00:46:16

bit lost in their pitching stuff.

846

: 00:46:17

That doesn't quite make sense or work.

847

: 00:46:19

And then, three, four months down the

line, even with the really hard ones.

848

: 00:46:23

They're pitching stuff that

just absolutely nails it.

849

: 00:46:25

And I think it's good to have a mix.

850

: 00:46:28

John: And it's very true about

flexing your comedy muscles.

851

: 00:46:30

When you get into a certain

way of thinking, it does start

852

: 00:46:32

to get a little bit easier.

853

: 00:46:34

I particularly like that.

854

: 00:46:35

It's very easy to use.

855

: 00:46:36

People can just go through it.

856

: 00:46:37

You have the help.

857

: 00:46:38

You can watch.

858

: 00:46:39

You can be live on the call with

you and Alex or you can watch the

859

: 00:46:42

replay and it's like 45 minutes and

it's not going to take a heat wrap

860

: 00:46:46

and that will still help you even if

you can't get onto those live calls.

861

: 00:46:49

What what would be your message

for somebody who's still thinking,

862

: 00:46:52

Oh, this seems interesting.

863

: 00:46:54

I'd like to have a play around with it.

864

: 00:46:56

What's the best thing for them to do?

865

: 00:46:57

The message is buy

866

: 00:46:58

Adam Hunt: it, man.

867

: 00:46:59

It's it's look It's 3 for the first month.

868

: 00:47:03

And when you spend those 3,

you get immediate access to the

869

: 00:47:08

month we're currently in and

the next kind of four months.

870

: 00:47:12

So basically, if you were to sign

up on the first week of November,

871

: 00:47:16

you'd immediately get access to all

November and the next set that's

872

: 00:47:20

just released the December sets.

873

: 00:47:21

So try it on for size, it's, we

deliberately make it a no brainer because

874

: 00:47:26

you do, with this sort of thing, you need

to see it to understand how easy it is.

875

: 00:47:31

You need to get your hands dirty.

876

: 00:47:32

You need to join us on a call.

877

: 00:47:34

So yeah, just go to white label comedy.

878

: 00:47:36

com forward slash store.

879

: 00:47:38

Follow, follow the links from there

to any of the stuff we sell, but

880

: 00:47:41

definitely, the brands against

mundanity monthly itself is.

881

: 00:47:44

It's the perfect way to start

flexing your comedy muscles for

882

: 00:47:48

very little financial investment and

just a tiny bit of time investment.

883

: 00:47:53

And then you'll see how easy it is

to have fun with your marketing.

884

: 00:47:56

John: I think that's one of

the things I love about it.

885

: 00:47:58

Like you can pretty much set up

a whole month's worth of posting.

886

: 00:48:01

With just a morning or an

afternoon set aside to spend

887

: 00:48:04

a bit of time working on this.

888

: 00:48:05

It's a nice low level commitment

to actually come up with stuff

889

: 00:48:08

that you, that a team has already

been working on this stuff.

890

: 00:48:12

You have a lot of help to help

get you over there and as you do,

891

: 00:48:16

more of it is gonna get easier.

892

: 00:48:17

We talked about one quick question,

really about and we'll start to wind

893

: 00:48:22

things up, I promise is about actually

using the, using these in post.

894

: 00:48:27

Is it better to just post these

standalone or is it okay to post these

895

: 00:48:32

with some paragraphs or some stuff

attached to it that doesn't necessarily

896

: 00:48:36

relate directly to the joke itself?

897

: 00:48:40

Adam Hunt: So that depends on your

objectives, what you're trying to

898

: 00:48:44

achieve with the even post in general.

899

: 00:48:48

So there's a free training on our

website that you'll find quite easily

900

: 00:48:50

called the social success machine.

901

: 00:48:53

Basically, that.

902

: 00:48:55

The model that we work to with organic

content that basically the way we look

903

: 00:49:00

at it is there's three different types

of posts, you've got entertain posts,

904

: 00:49:03

they're at the top of the funnel.

905

: 00:49:04

And that's what Bam monthly

is teaching you to create.

906

: 00:49:08

So that is, here's a joke in an image

and you want to have a line of post copy

907

: 00:49:13

or two lines, but you don't want to be

selling anything and you want to just make

908

: 00:49:16

it Support the joke, going to give people

a reason to engage in, in that kind of

909

: 00:49:19

content, further down the funnel, we've

got what we call belief shift and offer

910

: 00:49:24

posts, and they are much more salesy.

911

: 00:49:30

They often can still have

a joke in the creative.

912

: 00:49:34

So actually, what you could really

easily do is you write all your jokes

913

: 00:49:38

and you go these ones feel great.

914

: 00:49:41

For entertain posts, quick

and dirty, bit of fun.

915

: 00:49:44

I'm just going to write, a question that

goes with this one, put it out there.

916

: 00:49:47

These three feel really like they're

making a really important point about the

917

: 00:49:51

pain that I'm here to release people from.

918

: 00:49:54

I might turn those into longer form posts.

919

: 00:49:57

I might just try and shift

the belief and persuade them.

920

: 00:49:59

Something I might try

and pitch my services.

921

: 00:50:02

So as long as you're not adding

walls and walls of texts to all of

922

: 00:50:07

your posts, then, play it by ear.

923

: 00:50:09

I think the most important

thing is to have those different

924

: 00:50:12

content pieces in the mix.

925

: 00:50:13

So if you just post jokes, no, one's got

any paths to follow to give you any money.

926

: 00:50:18

If you only have really heavy handed

pitches, even if they start with

927

: 00:50:24

a joke, it's easy to ignore them.

928

: 00:50:26

And I'll pick on, the.

929

: 00:50:28

element of your question that

is important there as well

930

: 00:50:31

is, can you put text in there?

931

: 00:50:33

Can you put copy in there?

932

: 00:50:34

That is that is slightly related.

933

: 00:50:37

And I would say Yes, but

start where the joke ends.

934

: 00:50:42

So if the joke is about the pain

of not having this problem solved,

935

: 00:50:47

start there and then right from

there and what you shouldn't ever do.

936

: 00:50:51

I have seen, some people you

mentioned earlier, posts in the wild.

937

: 00:50:55

I've seen some people.

938

: 00:50:57

But the same identical copy and

paste block of text and block

939

: 00:51:01

of hashtags on all their posts.

940

: 00:51:04

And it just, it makes people reading

it, think you're not really paying

941

: 00:51:06

attention and you don't really care.

942

: 00:51:07

So long as you write around

them and then, sometimes you'll

943

: 00:51:11

be inspired to write an essay.

944

: 00:51:12

Other times you'll be inspired to just

write just put a kind of a thoughtful

945

: 00:51:16

emoji as a, yeah, play it by ear.

946

: 00:51:20

John: I just love that you've made

this so easy for me particularly,

947

: 00:51:24

but for everyone really as well.

948

: 00:51:26

And I've been a big fan of Brands

Against Mundanity for quite some

949

: 00:51:29

time and I love playing with it.

950

: 00:51:31

And I feel a bit like I'm giving

away one of my Secret tools that

951

: 00:51:34

I like to use, but I'd be happy

to see other people doing this.

952

: 00:51:37

And frankly, I think there's there's

enough scope because you're going to

953

: 00:51:40

have different answers, different jokes,

different things, but I'm probably going

954

: 00:51:44

to post stuff on different days as well.

955

: 00:51:45

I'm not too worried that timelines are

going to get flooded with copies of very

956

: 00:51:50

similar things, but I would love to.

957

: 00:51:52

I'd love to see it.

958

: 00:51:52

We're going to have all the links

in the show notes for anyone

959

: 00:51:54

who wants to go and check this

out or go to white local comedy.

960

: 00:51:58

com for slash store.

961

: 00:51:59

You said you can get started.

962

: 00:52:00

Three quid a month is almost nothing to at

least have a go with this and have a play

963

: 00:52:04

and doing something that's gonna, I think,

make your marketing stand out, probably

964

: 00:52:08

a bit more than most other people do.

965

: 00:52:11

Adam it's been a real pleasure to have you

on the show and thank you for bearing with

966

: 00:52:15

all the technical issues we had today.

967

: 00:52:17

We managed to get through it and you

helped us to fix all that up as well.

968

: 00:52:21

Really appreciate you today

and everything that you said.

969

: 00:52:23

Is there any final message that you have

that you'd like to share with everyone?

970

: 00:52:27

Adam Hunt: Yeah.

971

: 00:52:27

Buy our stuff.

972

: 00:52:28

I'm having a baby.

973

: 00:52:29

I need to buy some nappies.

974

: 00:52:30

No, I would never even have guessed

that you were pregnant, but yeah

975

: 00:52:33

if I stood up, you'd understand

but no, do you know what the main.

976

: 00:52:38

The main takeaway I want to leave

with people is one of the notes that

977

: 00:52:42

I will give on pretty much any piece

of content that I look at that isn't

978

: 00:52:47

right is don't try and be funny,

find something worth saying, and

979

: 00:52:52

then use humor to communicate that.

980

: 00:52:54

If you don't invest the time working out

what to say, you're wasting your time.

981

: 00:52:59

So even though we're all about

comedy, you need to be all about

982

: 00:53:03

marketing and then comedy is going

to make your marketing better jokes

983

: 00:53:06

on their own don't sell anything.

984

: 00:53:08

They just help things

that already sell more.

985

: 00:53:11

John: Yeah, that's great.

986

: 00:53:12

So basically don't half ass it.

987

: 00:53:14

But if you do, if you're a kind

of half ass person, maybe just

988

: 00:53:16

get you to do it all for them.

989

: 00:53:17

And that's going to solve that.

990

: 00:53:19

Yeah.

991

: 00:53:19

I

992

: 00:53:19

Adam Hunt: mean, we love half.

993

: 00:53:21

We love half asses with budget.

994

: 00:53:23

We love half asses with budget for sure.

995

: 00:53:25

John: That's fair enough.

996

: 00:53:26

I think we all do.

997

: 00:53:27

Adam, thanks so much for coming and

being a guest on Present Influence.

998

: 00:53:30

Thanks John.

999

: 00:53:32

If you do follow me on any of the

social media platforms, you probably

: 1000

00:53:36,929 --> 00:53:40,019

will have seen Some of my funny

posts that come up for time to time.

: 1001

00:53:40,019 --> 00:53:41,949

Maybe some of them are funny Maybe

you find some of them aren't.

: 1002

00:53:42,479 --> 00:53:46,379

Comedy can be a little hit and miss But I

do still think it's a great way to stand

: 1003

00:53:46,379 --> 00:53:51,469

out have a little bit of playfulness

Enjoy the process of marketing It

: 1004

00:53:51,479 --> 00:53:53,569

really does need to fit with your brand.

: 1005

00:53:53,569 --> 00:53:56,849

I think Adam gave some good advice on

that, that maybe there are some brands

: 1006

00:53:56,849 --> 00:54:01,959

that it's not going to work with, but

I think for most coaches and speakers

: 1007

00:54:01,959 --> 00:54:05,759

and people have products and services

online, it could probably work for you.

: 1008

00:54:06,164 --> 00:54:08,994

So long as it kind of fits with

your personality to some degree.

: 1009

00:54:09,264 --> 00:54:13,334

So if you are one of those people who

always avoids humor on stage and in

: 1010

00:54:13,334 --> 00:54:17,824

your presentations, maybe it's time

to dip your toe, or maybe this just

: 1011

00:54:17,844 --> 00:54:19,704

isn't for you, I would understand.

: 1012

00:54:20,074 --> 00:54:22,579

But I'm assuming as you have got to the

end of this episode, you've enjoyed it.

: 1013

00:54:22,579 --> 00:54:24,729

You're probably at least a

little bit interested in that.

: 1014

00:54:25,019 --> 00:54:28,759

And I hope you will go and check out

all the many options available at

: 1015

00:54:28,819 --> 00:54:30,579

Adam's website, white label comedy.

: 1016

00:54:30,959 --> 00:54:31,339

com.

: 1017

00:54:31,699 --> 00:54:36,089

I've been using brands against mundanity

for probably the last two or three

: 1018

00:54:36,089 --> 00:54:40,959

years on and off and find it to be an

incredibly useful resource that helps

: 1019

00:54:40,979 --> 00:54:45,399

me to have fun doing my marketing

and it does get noticed online and I

: 1020

00:54:45,399 --> 00:54:47,359

do get people commenting, laughing.

: 1021

00:54:47,889 --> 00:54:50,219

That's a very nice way

to stand out sometimes.

: 1022

00:54:50,229 --> 00:54:54,659

So this can be a really great

addition to your online marketing.

: 1023

00:54:54,919 --> 00:54:57,399

If you'd like to go and check out

Brands Against Mundanity, Funny

: 1024

00:54:57,439 --> 00:55:00,419

Facebook Ads, and all the other

products that Adam has available.

: 1025

00:55:00,579 --> 00:55:05,409

Or maybe have his team working with you,

more of a done for you service, take

: 1026

00:55:05,429 --> 00:55:07,339

even more of the effort out of this.

: 1027

00:55:07,534 --> 00:55:11,394

And have funny standout social

media properties that could

: 1028

00:55:11,394 --> 00:55:15,984

really help to turn up get you

noticed and build your influence.

: 1029

00:55:16,281 --> 00:55:19,201

That's pretty much it for me for

this week next week We're going

: 1030

00:55:19,201 --> 00:55:21,101

to be talking about demo reels.

: 1031

00:55:21,118 --> 00:55:26,328

my guest will be Cam Beaudoin And

Cam is an expert in demo reels.

: 1032

00:55:26,518 --> 00:55:30,028

We'll answer questions like is

it better to have a bad demo

: 1033

00:55:30,028 --> 00:55:31,978

reel than no demo reel at all?

: 1034

00:55:31,988 --> 00:55:35,398

What does a professional level

demo reel need to include?

: 1035

00:55:35,708 --> 00:55:38,518

We're going to be talking about

that on next week's episode.

: 1036

00:55:38,568 --> 00:55:41,868

So if you are a professional speaker

or you want to be a professional

: 1037

00:55:41,868 --> 00:55:45,678

speaker in any way, shape or form,

you can't afford to miss that.

: 1038

00:55:45,908 --> 00:55:48,898

If you're not already following the

show, make sure you are, but wherever

: 1039

00:55:48,898 --> 00:55:51,668

you're going, whatever you're doing,

have an amazing rest of your day.

: 1040

00:55:52,028 --> 00:55:52,808

See you next time.