069 Silly Sells 😅 Your Brand Needs Chuckles
Why taking a playful (dare say childish) approach in your marketing your personal brand might be exactly what you need to stand out and connect 😅
Silly Sells 😅 Your Brand Needs Chuckles
Unpack why embracing your brand of humour, personality, spunk, and even a little childishness can seriously help your personal brand grow. It’s not about being unprofessional at all! It’s about making marketing fun and memorable for both you and your future clients 🤡
There’s power in play ⚡ When we’re too serious (especially in your personal brand) we risk becoming invisible in a market of other serious/boring people. A little fun helps us stand out and be actually remembered by not just your potential client, but their network too. That’s not just nice to be, it’s a practical strategy. When people smile or giggle at your marketing content, they’re far more likely to trust you, come back for more, and eventually buy what you’re offering no matter what the solution is.
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As promised… Here is your permission slip 🎫 To be a bit silly, crack a joke at the end of presentation or make your future clients smile before they connect with you.
Your brand isn’t set in stone (see more about that in episode 067 of Unboring Your Brand). It’s more like a living character that can grow, joke, evolve, and respond to what’s happening in your world. So why not add a meme to your email newsletter or a pun to your About page? What is the worst that could happen. Really? What is the downside? These small touches don’t cheapen your message. They humanise it.
You don’t have to become a stand-up comic overnight (leave that to the professionals). Start with a smile 🤓 Try adding levity to your client emails, pitch decks, descriptions, or even your next Instagram caption. The worst that could happen? People remember you. (Oh no) Want to create a brand that lets your personality shine while still being strategic? Let’s work together and build something fun and effective.
✨ Book a Pick Zoë's Brain session at vcc.training/services Perfect for unblocking your creative direction or levelling up your content with confidence.
Quick Quiz Time 🥳
Which of the following is a safe place to start being more playful in your branding?
A) Legal contracts
B) Email subject lines
C) Tax returns
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Correct answer: B) Email subject lines - something that people have signed up for are a great place to start stretching your comedy muscle. For all the other options, Lawyer says *no*
What Was Discussed This Episode + Timecodes:
00:00 - Celebrating episode 69 and the value of being unserious on purpose
06:00 - Why being silly can actually make your brand more trustworthy and human
12:00 - Practical ideas for adding playfulness to your emails, social media, and website
18:00 - A permission slip to have fun with your brand (yes, really)
-
[01:00:07:04 - 01:00:28:07]
If you're tired of the old cookie cutter marketing advice and want to take your personal brand to the next level with bold actionable strategies that truly reflect you, you're in the right place. Let's untangle your marketing mayhem with Zoe, the video confidence coach on the Unboring Your Brand podcast. Unboring Your Brand was recorded on Whatarung land.
[01:00:28:07 - 01:00:56:13]
Yes, let's address the elephant in the room. Well, it's not exactly an elephant. It's more of a pink elephant. Yes, this is episode 69 of the Unboring Your Brand podcast. Yes, yes, yes, congratulations. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I bow, I bow. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh, hold your applause, hold your applause. Oh, roses, oh, thank you.
[01:00:58:18 - 01:00:58:22]
Yes.
[01:01:00:06 - 01:01:34:23]
So thank you everyone for sticking this long with us during the Unboring Your Brand podcast. Thank you for all your comments and your love, and this is a big milestone for me. Yes, other than it being a funny number, I myself am a funny, non-serious person. I like to think that we're all grownups here because most of the people that I work with, other than my mentees, hi mentees, are all grownups, and no, I myself will not grow up. In this episode, we're going to get a little childish on purpose, for the purpose of your personal brand. What a thought! Me talking about personal branding, never.
[01:01:37:08 - 01:01:43:12]
And now it's no excuse to say nice on a podcast, although 69, nice.
[01:01:45:21 - 01:01:56:08]
So as you can imagine, we are talking about being childish in your branding and in your marketing on purpose. So let's get started into today's meaty subject.
[01:01:57:22 - 01:01:59:18]
Feel free to take a pun out of that one.
[01:02:00:19 - 01:02:22:03]
Why being childish can actually work for your marketing. Most people, when they come across your brand or engage with any social media, any online websites, branding searches, however they interact both online and in the real world, be it billboards, posters, flyers, or even a salesperson.
[01:02:23:04 - 01:02:32:03]
I'm going to tell you now, people in day-to-day life, especially your customers, no matter who they are, I'm going to say this now, are bored. People are bored.
[01:02:33:15 - 01:03:57:07]
They are seriously bored. And if you give them something fun to look at, if you give them something to give them a little bit of a chuckle, maybe even a from the nostril, they're really going to be engaged. They're going to honestly remember you. And that silliness is going to travel throughout their reminding of your brand. Now, yes, I understand that a lot of people who are watching or listening to this may be screaming, "Zoey, I'm a serious business person. "I can't be silly. "I'm not going to be taken seriously "in hoity-toity wherever the hell, "or my industry is not going to take me seriously. "I'm going to tell you now that your personal brand "is not meant for you or your industry. "It is for your clients." And being playful equals personality. Personality equals connection. And connection is, oh, look at that. It's your next client paying attention to you and eventually giving you money, because that is what it is about when it comes to advertising and marketing yourself. Or marketing your brand. It is about attracting attention. And there is a reason why April Fool's jokes, they're a little bit par-say now, but they definitely swing back and forth when it comes to relevance and interest. And when it comes to people being engaged with your brand, if there's a little bit of silliness, a little bit of quirkiness, a little bit of uniqueness, dare I say, people then pay attention to you.
[01:03:58:16 - 01:04:20:23]
So one thing I want to address before we move on to the rest of the podcast today is that there is a difference between childish and selfish, and unprofessional. Now, when you're pitching to a client, you're not exactly crack and poo jokes. (Laughs) Unless of course they started it, or you're not going to be putting a whoopee cushion under their chair when they first sit in. Unless that again is your,
[01:04:22:02 - 01:04:33:06]
you sell whoopee cushions, or like you run a practical joke store. Maybe, who knows? I don't know if that still works in today's day and age, but if it does, wholehearted to you, it's definitely in your brand.
[01:04:34:11 - 01:04:42:20]
But you are allowed to be lighthearted. You are still allowed to chuckle and make a joke, and still know your stuff.
[01:04:44:08 - 01:04:47:10]
You're allowed to read the room without turning into a clown.
[01:04:48:23 - 01:05:08:06]
And I know for the sake of my brand and my personal brand, I like to use colors, I like to use exaggerated facial expressions because I enjoy that part of my personality. I have been a little drama baby since I was born, and I enjoy making people smile and laugh.
[01:05:09:06 - 01:05:46:00]
Yes, I've had multiple clients say, you should be a comedian, you should be a clown, you should do all these things. And I have looked into it as a career, and I'm like, yeah, I'm okay with serving people and helping people. Yes, I can make them laugh, but I much better and much more enjoy the smile on their faces when they're able to see this behemoth, this tangled web of things called marketing for their brand, and they're able to see that just wash away, and a smile appears in their face. It's a nice thing that I enjoy doing. And yes, making them laugh too is a nice thing.
[01:05:49:03 - 01:06:59:17]
When it comes to your personal brand and where you can be playful, it is very much depending on your observations, because again, this personal brand is usually a reflection of you and who you are, and you are allowed to put funny comments or jokes in things that not necessarily don't matter, but say, for example, if you're proposing something like with an actual proposal to a big company, maybe not leading with a joke is probably the best thing, but say, for example, maybe having a joke at the end, or mention that, you know, you can have a bit of fun with whoever you're talking to, whoever you're pitching to, to lighten up the mood especially, and I've worked with a couple of people where the work that they do or the message that they tout is incredibly serious. And the best way to break that serious tension is to have an even lighthearted joke. Now, of course, you're not diminishing, I want to stress, you're not diminishing the work that you are doing, or who you were doing the work for, but during times of sorrow, having any sort of liberty is palpable, I'm gonna tell you now, and it is something that definitely changes people's perspective on the work that you do.
[01:07:00:28 - 01:08:26:13]
Some other examples that are slightly more lighthearted are, say, Instagram catch-ins. You can have prime real estate of having a little bit of chaos and a little bit of quirkiness. You can, say, for example, run regular posts, maybe once a week or once a fortnight, that is not necessarily very serious, it's not salesy, it's not something that is pushing your brand or your message very much like other posts that are reminding people of you exist, or maybe just sharing a meme. Yes, it is low effort, but it is also liberty in regards to everything else that you're doing with your brand. You can also put some jokes or some lightheartedness in email subject lines. Now, this doesn't have to be your email list or just your email list that, for example, you send out weekly or fortnightly or even monthly. You can also do this in the emails that you send to your clients. Personally, I do this a lot with clients that I'm very familiar with, so I understand a lot more of their jokes and what they find funny, not exactly with new clients who have only just gotten to know, but especially when it comes to things like, for example, they would have mentioned maybe that their birthday was soon or something along the lines of something was happening in their life that was a momentous occasion, so then I would send them an email, just a nice lighthearted email with some funny things in the subject line and give them a little bit of a smile or a chuckle, because of course, yes, we work and, for example, mine is about boosting your personal brand,
[01:08:27:15 - 01:08:34:01]
and making marketing easier for yourself, but I'm also there to help you as a small business, so if that helps you, that helps you small business, yay.
[01:08:35:11 - 01:08:49:03]
And the way you can also inject some levity is also in your about page. You can also make it sound like an actual human rote to begin with. That doesn't even have to do anything without being playful or childish. That's just about being right.
[01:08:50:11 - 01:09:21:21]
So you can make your about page sound like a human rote, but then you can also put in some jokes. You can put in some levity. You can make that, I don't know, revolutionary, because your about page, yes, reflects you and your personal brand, but it also allows you to make people realize that it's you at the end of the day, because yes, you are there to serve your customer, but you're also there to give them hope that you are able to fix their problem. And most of the time, especially when we are working with AI copy just being shoved down our throats,
[01:09:22:21 - 01:09:39:15]
we need to be able to showcase our humanity, and that usually is by having a laugh, by making light of something. Now, of course, I wanna stress that yes, you could definitely make some laughs or make some jokes that maybe, for example, may not age well in a couple of years. That may just be the flavor of how you like to joke.
[01:09:40:23 - 01:09:49:10]
My recommendation would be to stay a little bit away from that, mainly just because, of course, whatever you put out on the internet is going to stay out on the internet, but you're allowed to make some jokes.
[01:09:50:20 - 01:10:03:13]
It's okay. And if you are a very serious brand and you start making jokes all of a sudden, people might get a bit weirded out. So maybe start small and move into more ways of levitating,
[01:10:04:25 - 01:10:10:05]
bringing more levity into your business, because again, your brand is a reflection of you. And if you are serious all the time,
[01:10:11:25 - 01:10:12:29]
you might be a bit boring.
[01:10:14:18 - 01:10:16:03]
I didn't say that. Who said that?
[01:10:17:04 - 01:10:18:06]
Go away. Who said that?
[01:10:20:26 - 01:10:28:00]
So I'm gonna tell you now for probably when you're listening or watching the podcast. Thank you, if you do.
[01:10:29:15 - 01:10:44:13]
For most people who I work with, no matter how serious they are, there is still some humanity and some levity to them. So why most people don't do this, why most people are not childish or even attempt to make a funny ha-ha joke.
[01:10:46:01 - 01:10:46:21]
And I'll tell you why.
[01:10:47:23 - 01:10:49:27]
It's because they're scared of looking unprofessional,
[01:10:51:14 - 01:10:58:07]
but they wanna play it safe, which usually means wrapping themselves in a big thick duna of comfortability, of professionalism,
[01:10:59:16 - 01:11:01:00]
but it's also what makes them invisible.
[01:11:03:03 - 01:11:12:29]
And when you are growing a brand, now this can be a personal brand as in you as a person, or it can be something that, am I running? Ooh, my watch is telling me I'm running.
[01:11:14:22 - 01:11:19:22]
Or you are someone who is actively building a brand with say a group or a team of people.
[01:11:21:25 - 01:11:54:08]
Being scared to look unprofessional is what is going to cloud your judgment and is gonna stay in your mind a lot longer. And there's going to be so many what ifs in the future. A lot of say my generation and the subsequent generations, so Gen Z and Gen Alpha, are going to be blending that unprofessionalism from the past with the quirkiness of the future to get people's attention and hold people's attention, especially people who have money.
[01:11:55:08 - 01:12:53:03]
So if your audience actually laughs, and even if they don't laugh, they just smile a little bit through their phones, or when you meet them in person, they are more likely to trust you and buy from you. But it's not even just about being liked enough to be trusted, it's about being seen as a human being. Because as we move into this AI age, again, we'll only be able to look back and actually see if this is the case, there is going to be more in or unauthenticity, I think that's the right word, unauthenticity. There's going to be cropping up all over the world and is going to be consistently pushed down our throats. So if anything is authentic, is going to stand out. And that usually involves some human aspect to it, like cracking a joke, like being ha ha, like being smile. And even if you aren't that type of person, or you're scared to, again, unprofessionalism is rearing its ugly head, you can always walk her back.
[01:12:54:10 - 01:12:56:22]
You can always make a joke and then completely walk her back.
[01:12:57:23 - 01:13:12:06]
You're allowed to have fun making content. I know that's a shocker, but you're allowed to enjoy marketing yourself and your business. Doesn't have to be a chore, it doesn't have to be scary, if you do not want it to be. Now, of course, trying anything new can be scary for the first time.
[01:13:13:12 - 01:13:21:14]
But even just thinking, hey, I'm just going to do a funny skit. 30 seconds is going to be about
[01:13:22:20 - 01:13:29:23]
whatever you'd like to focus your brand on. And then have it be a funny joke at the end. Doesn't even have to be a laugh out loud funny ha ha.
[01:13:31:08 - 01:13:42:14]
But you're allowed to play with your brand a little bit, because it's not a thing that's set in stone. It's not a gold obelisk at the top of a pyramid that you have to steal from and run from Bolder.
[01:13:44:15 - 01:13:46:18]
You are allowed to have fun with your brand.
[01:13:48:12 - 01:14:05:28]
And that may in turn, that may not be, for example, you know, cracking a joke, because you're worried about how it may make you look unprofessional. But you're allowed to take the time to maybe post a meme once a month on your social media. Maybe at the end of your email newsletter, maybe have a little gif or a meme.
[01:14:07:00 - 01:14:08:25]
Something funny relating to what you do.
[01:14:10:00 - 01:15:06:11]
Having some levity in the reports that you provide, or what are the articles that you write anyway, that you are promoting yourself out into the world. You have a little funny, or even just a little treasure hunt, for example. I've been noticing a couple of my clients who are in various serious lines of work, but they have a little mascot that they put at the bottom of their email newsletters and some of their reports that say, hey, you found, I don't exactly know his name, I think, Chibi, or I think I've forgotten what they've actually called the little guy. But they say, congratulations, you've gotten all the way to the end of this report. You have found such and such. Give yourself a thumbs up. Again, it's nothing small, it's nothing that makes them look unprofessional. It's just something light to bring to the work that you're doing. And again, I'm not saying that just because everything's serious. You're allowed to have fun.
[01:15:07:21 - 01:15:16:16]
You're allowed to do fun things, and you're allowed to try things out. And if they don't work, you're allowed to put them back. And if they do work, you can build upon it. Ta-da! Building a brand. Whoa!
[01:15:18:12 - 01:15:27:16]
I wanna give you a permission slip. So go down in the description, you'll find a link and you'll see a nice big permission slip that I would like to give you. So you take that, you take that. Yeah, yeah.
[01:15:28:22 - 01:15:29:29]
You're allowed to be a little bit of a dork.
[01:15:32:05 - 01:15:48:23]
You don't have to be a mean machine, like a lot of, well, a lot of channels that grow rapidly are mainly just reposting memes or funny jokes from other channels or stripped from other properties. You don't have to do that. But you are allowed to be a little bit of a weirdo
[01:15:49:23 - 01:15:53:28]
like the rest of us, I must say. You're allowed to let it show.
[01:15:55:04 - 01:15:57:25]
And even if you feel like that might be a bit too silly,
[01:15:59:02 - 01:16:00:11]
it might be the thing that you're,
[01:16:01:16 - 01:16:03:04]
it might be the exact thing your audience loves.
[01:16:04:05 - 01:16:34:21]
And in turn, we'll remember you, remind them you exist and of course, buy from you. Now, of course, I've been talking very theoretical, which happens a lot when it comes to marketing and in personal branding from my experience. But I wanna take this opportunity to just give you that momentum and that push that you're allowed to, you know, send a Slack message to your fellow staff at the end of a Friday saying, thanks for a good week, good week of work, guys, with a funny gif.
[01:16:35:23 - 01:16:42:05]
You're allowed to have fun with yourself and your brand, not just in the way that you market, but in the way that you communicate in general.
[01:16:44:08 - 01:16:48:18]
So he's been waiting for a sign to loosen up a little bit because we're all gonna die someday.
[01:16:49:21 - 01:16:57:22]
Take this episode, 69 baby, nice, as that opportunity to why not try it?
[01:17:00:29 - 01:17:06:20]
Thank you everyone for joining us for 69 episodes so far of the Unboring Your Brand podcast.
[01:17:07:22 - 01:17:34:28]
Let's stop acting like the internet was a never ending job interview. You do not need to be serious and hold that asshole tight for the rest of your life, especially when you're promoting a brand. Add a pun, add a blooper, wear a funny hat in some of your reels, videos, gifts, however you like to express yourself, even in some of your articles, you're allowed to have a little joke in there or two, maybe you put it in italics so then people can tell it's joke.
[01:17:36:14 - 01:17:47:26]
You're allowed to be smart and silly, professional and playful. Arguably, I'd say you look smarter by being able to tell a joke and consistently tell a joke about your area of expertise.
[01:17:49:08 - 01:17:57:16]
Even if I don't get it, I'm gonna be impressed because you made a funny heart and I didn't get it, so I'm gonna laugh because you are definitely smart. (Laughs)
[01:17:59:00 - 01:18:01:22]
All I ask is that you just don't be boring
[01:18:03:13 - 01:18:04:12]
because that's the real crime.
[01:18:05:12 - 01:18:11:06]
Why be building a personal brand, especially for a lot of the people that I work with, it's gonna be a long life,
[01:18:12:06 - 01:18:18:00]
long term personal brand. So if it's going to be something that's going to be with you for life,
[01:18:19:00 - 01:18:23:20]
it needs to be a little bit looser than just the rigid confines of what you decided five years ago.
[01:18:26:25 - 01:18:29:07]
So take that opportunity to let loose baby,
[01:18:31:24 - 01:19:21:08]
Thank you for listening or watching Unboring Your Brand. You can find detailed show notes with tools, offers, and episode transcriptions. Just click the first link in the description or go to vcc.training.podcast. Get involved and ask me anything about personal branding, video strategy, or just a friendly small business chat via my email, g'day at vcc.training. That is g-d-a-y at vcc.training. The video confidence coach would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the Wurundurung people of the Kulin Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which I record my podcast. I pay my respects to their elders past and present. I stand with the traditional custodians of these lands and working towards a more equal future. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. Look forward to me chatting at you next week, superstars.
The above livestream episode description and transcript were generated together human knowledge + ai.
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Feeling stuck trying to build a personal brand that actually turns heads? Women and non-binary super-stars deserve more than just a cookie-cutter approach to their worries. Zoë Wood the Video Confidence Coach untangles your marketing mayhem, helping you own the camera, craft killer video strategies, and connect with your audience like never before. You’ll leave with the tools to show up, stand out, and smash your goals.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
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*Please note that this podcast was previously called THE "Video Confidence Coachcast" and the "Do Video Podcast" previous to 2025. THANK-YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AS I TRANSITION THE BRAND TO BE MORE CONSISTANT FOR YOUR LISTENING AND WATCHING PLEASURE.