Comedians like Chris Rock and Adam Sandler make plenty of money, more than you and I combined. It makes perfectly good sense on why they work so hard to entertain their fans by spending hours each day perfecting their craft. Does that mean that we shouldn’t focus on putting smiles on the faces of our family, friends, and followers because we’re not compensated? One of the constant discussions happening in the social media bubble is determining how much time should we concentrate on business talk vs. casual personal engagement. While there’s no secret formula, it’s abundantly clear that almost everyone likes to laugh.
Don’t believe me?
Think back to some of your funniest tweets. We’ve all had moments where we’re in the zone, something witty crosses our mind which we instantly share on the social stream causing a flood of LOL’s, ROTF, and hahaha’s. We feel good. We feel proud. We feel like we’ve done something worthwhile. In reality, we didn’t do anything special like splitting atoms or completing a triathlon yet we feel like a million bucks. The question then becomes, what have we really accomplished and is there something to gain?
No matter what side of the fence you sit regarding personal branding, you’d be hard pressed to convince anyone that making people feel good is a bad thing. I’m not suggesting you squat on Twitter all day making jokes unless of course your name is Dane Cook, in which case have at it. Most people need to be diligent with how they spend their time as we’re constantly being pulled in a thousand directions. As it is, we’re hearing people are having a hard time finding few precious minutes to eat, how in the world can we expect them to make a fart joke?
Here is a list of potential benefits from making others laugh:
- People want to engage with you
- You help someone who is having a bad day
- Some might check out your website, blog, or profile potentially leading to business
- Your jokes get shared on the social stream resulting in more followers and advocates
- You’re asked to speak at an event after demonstrating your wit and charm
- You connect with others that normally wouldn’t occur without this common bond
Sure you might not get a check sent to your house every time you make someone smile, laugh, or chuckle. There’s probably no promotion in your future for cracking people up but that’s ok, you’re able to see the forest through the trees. If ROI is really that important, why do we do anything that doesn’t provide immediate benefit or some other perk down the road?
So go ahead and make us laugh, it might get you more than you think.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
One of the greatest gifts I’ve discovered is making people laugh. Those who can do this are true artists. It was such an amazing experience to see all the smiling faces at the #LaughUp. You got a sense that people are ready for levity regardless of their situation.
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Love this post, Dave. Humor or the ability for someone to actually make me laugh rank very high on the priority list … so I try to re-extend that back out to those I meet.
Fine line between being taken seriously and being funny, though.
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Dave M – I think deep down we all would love to be success stand-ups. I’m glad we’ve had a chance to share many laughs and look forward to more soon.
Dave P – You make an excellent point about the fine line. Hopefully those in our network would alert us if we were crossing the imaginary line. Are you trying to tell me something?
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When I read this post the first thing I thought about was what a big success #LaughUp was. Laughter heals and makes us feel alive. Making people laugh is equally healthy in my book. Can’t wait to take the stage again at the next #LaughUp
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You are right there isn’t an ROI on laughter but it is a common bond between people and it does help enhance relationships for the reasons you stated. Laughter is good and people don’t do it enough. It is good to laugh at yourself and to release some tension. If it brings people together over a common bond. It is the relationships which matter to begin with. Things people need to remember!
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