Apologies and a Return to the Process

Hey all. So, I want to start off by saying:

"I'm SO embarrassed".

After three weeks of sharing steps aroudn how sellers & marketers can craft humor to "roast your prospects' pain".

...I went quiet and abandoned your dreams of becoming super-hilarious go-to-market professionals.

Fact is, I've been a wee bit burnt out. Turns out that staring at screens and creating content on a self-imposed strict schedule doesn't alleviate it.

A warning to anyone looking to go the route of solopreneur/consultant:

It's way more than creating content.

I'm my company's CEO, CMO, VP of Sales...but also the admin assistant and actual product.

I always have a lot on my plate, and needed a break from creating long-form content - which most of my posts on LI are. I've barely posted anything over the last month.

It's only been 4 weeks since my last newsletter, but with the pressure around "consistency" required to "build your brand" it feels like an epic failure.

On the other hand, I have received a grand total of ZERO death threats from angry readers, making me realize the earth has continued to spin and that maybe a break wasn't such a bad thing.

Writing this post has been therapeutic. I feel like I've grown emotionally since I started writing it. So, I take it all back.

I'm NOT embarrassed at all. :)

Also, there's zero shame in being burnt out. We're all human, and need to recharge our batteries.

Full transparency, I'm STILL kinda burnt out, but woke up feeling somewhat inspired.

And with that dearth of shame, let’s return to where we left off my process for crafting hyper-relevant humor.

In the previous three newsletters, we covered off:

1) Understanding your target persona aka "Your audience"

2) Being able to clearly articulate what problems you solve for your target persona

3) Getting granular around the specific impacts/consequences around not solving a particular problem.

Which brings us to:

4) Using Simpler Language

When I read some tech company websites, I may as well be hearing Kendall Roy (from "Succession") reading out a bunch of incomprehensible, jargonized cliches:

"Um...it's a top-line vertical integration play that should be...uh...doubleclicked. The synergies between our UX and your AI will be capped after we drop the baby. After that, we'll...y'know...rebalance away from crypto into eco".

What?

Sure, some of that's real dialogue from the show, and the rest is embellished.

But it's not far off from stuff I read on some companies' websites.

So many sites (particularly in the B2B tech space) serve up bland, vague copy, with claims of generic "value" (and that makes you feel stupid for not letting you get what the hell the company does).

Odds are, your prospects don't speak like this. Too many marketers - and as a result salespeople - get lost in Biz School Jargon and think that regular people appreciate this language.

It's akin to repeating the takes of whatever social media bubble you find yourself drowning in to people not in those circles.

So...daily exercise for sales pros at these kinds of companies:

Snag a section of your company's website and...

...paraphrase the hell out of it. For example:

"Say it in simpler English without losing any of its meaning".

Yes, I'm pretty proud of what I just did there.

Use Thesaurus.com to find alternative words, including ones you feel comfortable using.

Apply your “translated” language to your written and verbal outreach, as well as discussions with your clients.

Technical terms can't be changed, but all descriptive words, actions, and processes described can be.

Of course, you can also use AI to review your copy, and spit out something. It'll be interesting to see which is less human. Maybe prompt it to paraphrase language using the voice of a famous fictional character, historical figure, or public speaker who you really admire.

This exercise will also tell you if you really understand how your company helps. If you don’t understand a concept - ask a product or solutions engineer.

Remember, there are no stupid questions…just stupid trends on LinkedIn.

Until next time...whenever that may be :)

If you're digging this kind of content, why not get it to your inbox? Hit the comments to find a place to score it.

Cool summer offers:

Summer's here, and maybe you and/or your team needs a boost heading into the second half of the year.

1) Hit me up if you'd like me to virtually speak to your team via a no-cost lunch and learn.

I'll discuss "Humor's Impact on Sales".

We'll then attempt to craft some humor for your sales efforts.

If you're an individual contributor, let your manager know. If you're a manager, book a slot on my calendar to discuss.

2) If you're already sold on why and how hyper-relevant humor can creatively shine a light on problems you solve for your prospects, delight & educate your prospects AND help you rise above the noise, let's talk about my new starter coaching & consulting program.

It's a five hours of consulting & coaching that will have me deliver hyper-relevant icebreakers to anchor your team's cold emails, linkedin DMs, cold calls, and which can be repurposed for 12-17 other channels & touchpoints.

Fee: $1,000 USD.

Happy to answer questions. Again - book a slot on my calendar to discuss.