Sex Work

Anyone who knows me knows I love Trevor Noah.

In the next 5 minutes, I'll convince you to, too.

I was recently listening to a live conversation Trevor was having with another great thinker, Esther Perel.

I'd invite you to do the same; it's chock-full of gems that are applicable to relationships, work, society, and everything in between.

But one thing that particularly struck me was his profound opinion on why comedy is such a touchy topic today.

Why do people feel the need to gatekeep what people find funny?

Why are we constantly trying to determine who can

☆say what,

☆laugh at what,

☆punch up,

☆punch down,

☆get punched for what they say and laugh at,

etc. etc.

He likened it to having sex.

Sex doesn’t just happen.

There's tons of background work that goes behind not only convincing someone to have sex with you but also keeping them comfortable and satisfied throughout said sex.

That background work provides a contextual set of rules that yield a curated experience.

If outside parties were to stumble upon you and your lover in the throes of this experience, they may find it repulsive at worst or just plain weird at best.

(Unless they're voyeurs, of course.)

That doesn't faze you and said lover.

Context, as usual, is king.

Trevor extended this metaphor into the art form that is comedy.

Have you ever noticed that comedy clubs lack windows?

(No, really, have you? That's just what he said, and being kinda in love with him, I decided to take it as fact without doing much in the way of independent investigation.)

If people walking through the streets of, say, NYC, were to peer into the belly of a comedy club and observe the rapport the stand-up and their crowd had, they wouldn't get it.

They may judge them for the content they'd agreed to find funny.

At worst, calls for cancellation may ensue.

An outsider is justified in finding some of those jokes perverted and “wrong.”

The camaraderie in these clubs appears deplorable and against all things good-natured.

Understandably so — they're not the comic’s target audience.

They weren’t party to the background work those two parties did to get to that level of familiarity and, dare I say, intimacy.

It’d be bonkers to expect them to.

But the stand-up who did the reps to build an audience that resonated with their flavor of comedy can get away with murder.

I write all this to sell you not only on the genius of Trevor's social commentary but also to clue you in on a tip to score more clients.

WARM

THOSE

LEADS

UP

Undoubtedly, it's hard work.

You'll have to offer free work.

You'll have to engage with their posts.

You'll have to find out their pains and desires.

You'll have to bring up what matters to them and their business.

Wanna guess what's harder work?

Constantly wondering where your next paycheck is coming from.

The dividends these “hard” exercises pay are well worth the trouble.

☆

I recently received a DM on LinkedIn from someone who did the exact opposite of warming me up.

Cold, automated, mass messages are so 2020.

Let's put our backs into that background work that lets us get away with murder clients.

In case you've been living under a rock, I'd like to let you know I'm launching a FREE-lancing cohort on 22nd April.

Three more spots are available for freelancers interested in exploring the nitty gritty of running a successful solo business.

Client acquisition, understandably, is one of our biggest issues.

Warm outreach gets right to the heart of it.

Over four months, my mentees will learn about the tried and tested techniques I and other cohort members have used to hook and reel clients in.

Among other useful freelancing T (truths, tidbits, tips, and tricks).

Apply to be part of this revolutionary experience below:

Not your kind of party?

Well and good.

But don't let the freelancers in your life down by not telling them about this career-defining opportunity.

Keep Finding Inappropriate Jokes Funny,

Hope. :)