๐ฉโ๐ซ Harvard Professors, The Fucked Up Club, And Asymmetrical Opportunities ๐ค
How To Increase The Surface Area Of Your Luck
In < 10 minutes, you will learn how to connect deeply with your audience, get your content to stand out and be shared.
The strategies below are used on hit records, best-selling books and Hollywood blockbusters to increase the surface area of luck.
Maybe, just, maybe you can get your content will go viral, too. ๐
I fucked up. Again.ย
This isnโt the article I was going to write. In fact, I said I wouldnโt write this article at all.ย
Why? Because itโs what everyone writes.ย I tend to zig when everyone else zags.ย
Iโve always been rebellious which often makes life interesting as an introvert.ย But weโre all screwed up in our special cupcake way, right?
Except weโre not. Special, I mean. We are all screwed up!
But I digress.ย
To connect with your audience itโs super important to write about how you are feeling as well as about what you are thinking.
Resonating with creativity is about how you feel X what you think = deep connection.
The Fucked Up Club
So, two weeks ago Professor Amy Edmondson from The Harvard Business School posted my article ๐ on LinkedIn.
And it went super viral. (Thanks again, Amy ๐ โ and Tom for sending it to Amy)
21,200 read the article, 1,298 new people subscribed ( Hiya ๐), and 3 new personal branding strategy clients who are thought leaders wanting to build their audiences.
Theyโre introverts. All my clients are. I didnโt decide this. The market did. Thatโs an important insight into content marketing in service industries.
Be real, talk openly about stuff others darenโt talk about, even when it doesnโt make much sense at the time.
You donโt choose your audience, they choose you.
The Surface Area Of Your Luck
Going viral is flukey.ย
Itโs serendipity in all its fabulous and spectacular glory.
It's not sustainable but there are strategies that you can apply to increase the surface area of your luck.
These strategies are used in hit records, best-selling books, and Hollywood blockbusters.
Iโve had a couple of dozen viral articles on Reddit.
I built personal brands and managed artists and DJs who had 49 top 40 hits including 16 top 10 hit records and No.1 hit singles and albums.
I feel Iโm reasonably qualified to discuss the topic of virality. Although I always refer to the principles of the top dog of virality, Professor Jonah Berger
But first, letโs talk about fucking up.
When one has a hit the natural tendency is to try and milk it. Keep the gravy train wheels in motion. Basically, write The Fucked Up Club Part Deux.
Thatโs what everyone does.
I tried. But I fucked it up. So I wrote this article instead.
And Iโm not alone.ย
64% of all hit records on the Billboard chart over six decades were one-hit wonders.
The reasons for this are plentiful but the main cause is loss aversion bias. Loss aversion means we fear loss more than the joy of gaining.
I have seen this happen scores of times over the last 25 years.
After a hit, our status is elevated.
And weโre shit scared of losing it. Self-doubt kicks in. That cranks up the pressure. We overthink our content and force our creativity.
We try and squeeze square pegs into round creative holes. This is a really dumb strategy as content that connects is created in flow โ and not force.
All great content is created in flow state. If you canโt get into flow then you will never create great content.ย
Sorry.ย Thatโs just the way the creative cookie crumbles.
Donโt blame me, take it up with the universe.ย
Stop writing for your audience
This sounds counterintuitive, right?
Iโm always banging on about serving your audience.
But the worst thing you can do is write for them.ย
I have a broad subscriber list. I have artists, accountants, creators, millionaire CEOs, multi-platinum grammy-winning producers, and now professors from Harvard, Yale, and Cambridge on the mailing list.
That is flattering. But, more so, itโs absolutely fucking terrifying!
My imposter syndrome is bigger than a big thing at the biggest ever convention for big things. But itโs just bullshit in my head.
We all live in our own thought-based reality. Imposter syndrome is just one of the many forms of self-sabotaging bollocks that crush our creativity.
Iโm way out of my comfort zone and thatโs a good thing.
After all, as I wrote in the original article, while Iโd rather not fuck up. I am at peace with fucking up. You see, fucking up is just another step closer to not fucking up.
So I put on my big boy creative pants and I move forward. But this is not something I was able to do when I was younger.
I used alcohol to mask my introversion tendencies and imposter syndrome. This was a terrible idea and led to multiple fuck ups, and the occasional funny story.
The more you try and fit in the more you feel left out.
I know loads of successful introverts who followed the same path and sadly not all of them got off it.
So, yeah, donโt do that. Just understand imposter syndrome is normal. If youโre not feeling it then youโre standing still and basically rusting away.
My most successful clients, the ones that look like they have their shit together, are the ones who often suffer the most.
The more we have, the more we have to lose, right?
Write content for yourself
You can only create content that inspires. Intrinsic motivation is the foundation of flow.
When you are creating for your audience youโre seeking validation, trying to please everyone, and thatโs a dangerous game to play.
You start overthinking, struggle to make creative decisions, which blocks your flow.
You start to caveat and dilute your content. You stop taking risks. You start creating bland, beige work so you wonโt get rejected.
You lose the cutting edge that got you noticed in the first place.
To connect deeply with your audience you must first connect deeply with yourself.ย
Scratch your own itch. Talk about your challenges. Talk about your emotions. Create with empathy and without ego.
Itโs like the oxygen masks in planes. First, you save yourself and then you are free to save others.
This is easier said than done but critical in generating content worth sharing.
Not everyone will get it. And thatโs okay. But if you try to please everyone then no one will get it.
Asymmetrical Opportunities
I love this concept.ย
Mohnish Pabrai wrote about it in his book, The Dhandho Investor. Pabrai explains it as โheads I win, tails I donโt lose much.โย
Nassim Taleb also talks about it in his New York Times Bestselling book, Anti-fragile and Black Swan.
Asymmetrical opportunities are low-cost investments that rarely come off but yield huge returns when they do.
I used this strategy to get a band signed to Sony Music. I simply sent every Major Label Boss a demo in the post.
I was told it was a stupid idea as Managing Directors donโt listen to unsolicited demos.
This was true.
Except for the MD of Epic Records. He listened. And signed the band. They sold millions of albums, had # 1 records, and sold out arenas across the UK.ย
My investment was under $20 in postage and a couple of hours of my time.
It was an asymmetrical opportunity that worked.ย
99% donโt. Creating content is an asymmetrical opportunity to build your personal brand and increase your surface area of luck.
Iโm not luckier than anyone else. I just know how to increase the surface area of my luck. ๐
Everything Is a Remix
Everything has been created. There are no original ideas.ย
Stealing other peopleโs hit ideas and blending them together to create something new is the essence of creativity.ย
This is a creative strategy called conceptual blending ๐
I do this all the time. So does Quentin Tarantino. So does every artist Iโve ever had hits with.
Bowie did it. Picasso did it. Steve Jobs did it.ย
Itโs not plagiarising. Itโs re-creating something new by combining old ideas together.
"There is no such thing as a new idea. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope." โย Mark Twain
The Fucked Up Club Process
Hereโs a breakdown of the creative process to get your content to stand out and get noticed.
I had wanted to write about psychological safety for a few months but it has been written about literally millions of times. ๐
I needed to find a new angle.
The first thing I did was read the top 10 results on Google. Itโs all very good content but itโs saying the same thing, in the same manner, with the same language.
Once you know what everyone is saying; do the opposite.
โInvert, always invertโ โ Carl Jacobi
When Iโm creating content I use thought experiments to get my creative juices flowing.
โWhat do people want to say but darenโt?โ
I got this from a copywriter called Dan Kelsall. Cheers Dan. ๐
Most people I know refer to failures as fuck ups. Fight Club is one of my favourite movies. I had always wanted to use it in a blog post.
The Fucked Up Club was an easy connection.
Then I blended this concept with Mark Mansonโs โ The Subtle Art Of Fucking Upโ blog post. I chose this as it was already a proven viral hit in both blog and book form.
This naturally increases the chances of virality ๐ Cheers Mark ๐
Itโs also one of the best blog posts Iโve ever read.
I referenced and quoted all sources throughout the article so I wasnโt hiding the sources of my idea theft. Instead, I leaned into them.ย
Then I created a strategy board to flesh it all out. Looking for ways to increase sharability.
This is where Jonah Bergerโs principles kick in. Cheers Jonah ๐
Thatโs the thinking part done.
The feeling part was being vulnerable about my fuck ups.
I have no problems with being vulnerable. I started this blog as a way to process my emotions during a rather nasty and brutal burnout.
As an introvert, I am used to deep thought and an intense emotional world. It took me a long time to realise they are superpowers and not kryptonite.
I tap into both these superpowers to write thought-provoking content with empathy.ย
My thought experiment for this is:
โwhat truths can I write that will help readers feel understood?โ
This is the most powerful question to stir the empathy pot for me.ย
I am writing for myself but mirroring the readerโs thoughts. Everyone has fucked up and everyone has felt internal shame about their fuck ups.ย
I wanted to help readers own their fuck ups. I wanted them to know that we all felt the same shame and thatโs okay.
I wanted them to feel understood. That it wasnโt just them.
This meant that the article resonated with a lot of people.
I know this because it a) it resonated with me and b) I received loads of lovely messages from people who felt the same. Thank you all.
So there you have it.
To connect deeply with your audience you must first connect deeply with yourself.
Thanks for reading. See you in two weeks.
Peace out
Jake โ๏ธ
Takeaways to increase the surface area of your luck
Find a popular topic you want to write about
Read the top 10 results on Google. Chances are theyโre all saying the same thing and using the same language
Do the opposite. Stand out in saturated markets by doing the opposite of what the market is doing.
Combine your concept with other viral/successful ideas to create something new
Use thought experiments/ prompts to create a tone/ style that stands: โWhat do people want to say but darenโt?!โ
Use Professor Jonah Bergerโs principles of virality
Create with empathy and without ego ( the former is easy, the latter is very difficult)
Use thought experiments/ prompts to generate empathy โ What truths can I write that will help the reader feel understood?โ
Promote your work far and wide
Know that almost everything you create will NOT have an impact and learn to be okay with that :)
Cross your fingers and hope for the fucking best ๐ค
Weโre building a purpose-driven, online members-only community.
Itโs for introverts who want to grow their audience with personal branding and thought leadership strategies without burning out.
It will host weekly workshops, masterminds, challenges, accountability partners and support groups
It will be a psychological safety zone. We will host weekly Fucked Up Fridays on the forum where we can destigmatise and own our fuck ups
It is a paid community. The first cohort will be $10 USD per month or $100 per annum.
Cancel anytime.ย
No bullshit or Scammy Marketing Tactics. No Six-Figure Sallyโs bullshit online courses with sleazy tactics that make you want to vomit.
Just proven frameworks and methodologies I have used to help introverted clients create better content and build audiences for over 25 years.ย
You can join the waiting list here if you likeโฆ
And, yeah, I know a small fraction of you identify as extroverts. Youโre welcome too, of course. The content will be universal but mainly aimed at introverts.
A bit About Me
I help purpose-driven introverts grow their audiences with personal branding and thought leadership strategies without the bullshit.
I built personal brands for superstar DJs and Multi-Platinum Bands who sold millions.