- MarketINK!
- Posts
- Be funnier.
Jimmy Carr had a fantastic interview with Steven Bartlett from Diary of a CEO, during which he told a story about a famous comedian who overheard two of his colleagues discuss ways to advance their careers and if they should get better managers. At some point, he interrupted them and simply said: “Be funnier.“
Jimmy owes much of his success to a strong work ethic and he shared a lot about how you should approach your work. Some of my favourite takeaways were:
Don’t sweat the small stuff - sweat the important stuff. For Jimmy, it is writing and performing jokes.
What do you think about all day? This is what you should do - look for a job in that field.
If you are good at something - don’t get distracted doing 5 other things. Focus on your one thing instead.
If you want to be great at something, don’t do it part-time. You won’t be able to compete at 50% against someone who goes 100%.
He shared many more gems on parenting, comedy, modern masculinity, grief, AI, and much more. Go listen to the full episode here.
🥷 Steal these tactics to grow your audience 🚀
Alex Lull is one of my go-to resources on content marketing and audience growth. He recently launched a new website and I’d like to share some of the awesome tactics he shared… so you can steal them!
When a post related to your niche gets semi-viral on Twitter (or another platform), you can reply with your opinion (and maybe include a link to your newsletter or landing page). This attracts attention to you.
On most platforms, you can add an emoji to your account’s name. You can also use them in posts. Attaching an emoji to yourself is a great visual hack to set your personal brand apart.
Wondering what to write about? Create a list of the problems of your target audience and use them as content prompts. You can source them through polls, surveys, Googling, or just asking in person!
Asking questions on social media is great, but people don’t have the time to respond. How can you fix this? Use constrained questions, which challenge readers and make the question more engaging.
Bonus tip: It can also require less effort - ask them to respond with X words, using an emoji, etc.
Alex even included a “Stack“ section, which is a list of tools (sorted by category) that he uses daily. Quite useful!
See all his ideas here! I’d suggest you also subscribe to his newsletter.
📚 Shelf Shocks 💥
1. The Trading Game: A Confession by Gary Stevenson
Gary was a hoodlum from East London, who had two things going for him - he wanted to be rich and he was good at maths. Using his street wit, he secured an internship as a trader in one of the biggest banks in the world. What follows is his personal story of becoming a millionaire - and the problems that lifestyle brings.
Gary is a smart, peculiar and down-to-earth person who brings us unprecedented insight into the mad world of millionaire traders. After the rush of earning millions, he gets disillusioned with the work as he realised that traders area big cause for inequality. His story reads like a spy thriller, but it can teach us a lot about the world of finance from the perspective of a unique outsider.
🎧 Summary
2. Generation Rent: Why You Can't Buy A Home Or Even Rent A Good One by Chloe Timperley
On the topic of inequality, Chloe Timperley’s work is a deep exploration of Britain’s broken housing market and the growing housing crisis. From the decline of council housing to the rise of equity funds buying up properties to rent and outpricing ordinary buyers, the author looks at the reasons for this situation and how we can bounce back.
The book looks at questionable practices from landlords, such as soaring rents and no-fault evictions, and the author even goes undercover at landlord conferences, to see the problem from the landowner’s point of view.
🎧 Summary
3. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt
Socially, we have been experiencing a shift away from discomfort (especially intellectual) to a desire for safety and risk-aversiveness. This book argues that this can do more harm than good - learning to overcome challenges and act autonomously is a key ingredient of growing up and developing character.
From American universities to parents worldwide, these trends can lead to a more polarized and weak society. The authors strive to encourage us to seek a balance between modern comfort and exposure to stimulating challenges and diverse viewpoints.
🎧 Summary
Fun Links ⏰ ❗️
1. Get the best book recommendations on any subject!
Interested in psychology? Statistics? Mexican cooking? Wondering which book to read on the subject? Fear not! The Book Authority is an impressive resource which collects book recommendations on a myriad of subjects, and shares them for free!
You can also find recommendations from CEOs, politicians and cultural figures like Warren Buffet, Tim Cook, Angela Merkel, JK Rowling, and many more. Start browsing here.
You've reached the end of my newsletter. Hooray! If you’d like to see more of my work, you can GET MY BOOK Write Better: A Simple Guide to Better Business Writing or connect with me on LinkedIn for more fun and educational content.
If you have any comments or would like to share what you enjoyed the most, feel free to get in touch! See you in two weeks!