Way back in 2017 if this article's date stamp is to be trusted, Colin Cowherd, one of the most popular daily sports broadcasters in America, got into some trouble after calling out Dabo Swinney and Clemson before they won the national championship.
Colin called Clemson a fraud—and when they won the championship, he looked rather stoopid. So Swinney (Clemson’s coach) retorted by calling Colin a fraud.
Well, instead of shying away from criticism and being wrong… Colin instead took a different approach when he mentioned Swinney calling him a fraud on his next live show.
Colin didn’t back track. He doubled down. And revealed perhaps the biggest secret for anyone interested in demanding so attention that you could become president.
Here’s a transcript from Colin’s show when he addresses this:
====
“You know people this morning are like, what do you think of that? One of the things I’ve realized you do not punish me if I’m wrong. You punish me as an audience if I choose topics you are not interested in. You have never punished me for being wrong. My Blazing Five is one of the highest rated things I ever do. And I get 57% right. When you punish me, politicians could learn a thing or two. Politicians lose when they talk about topics nobody cares about. Trump talked about the economy. That’s what most of us care about. Not bathroom issues. In the end, you have never punished me for being wrong. You punish me when I am uninteresting and when I choose topics that you don’t give a rip about. So I will continue to have SUPER STRONG opinions on college football, the NBA, the NFL.”
====
And you know what?
Not only does this apply to sports and political pundits, folks who dream about running for president, or even those who want to become infamous. But it also applies to copywriters, marketers, content creators, and the list goes on.
In a related example:
Comedian Bobby Lee was asked on a podcast clip I saw (forget which show I saw it on) where he was asked how much of his “Bobby Lee character” is fabricated. To which Bobby Lee answered, “Most of it.”
Y’see, we’ve zipped and scooted out of the information age so quickly we can hardly remember if it was real. We’ve been in the entertainment age for longer than most of us realize (yes, even marketers who care about providing “value”) which means…
Being interesting is more important than being right.
This is how Trump won in 2016 as Cowherd mentions. Not only did he talk about the economy, but he turned windmills into “monstrous bird-killing machines,” called Rand Paul “ugly,” and told Hilary Clinton to her face that she’d go to jail if he won the presidency.
None of that is “true” (besides maybe the bird graveyards that are visible under any windmill).
But it’s all interesting.
It’s all entertaining.
And it’s all why Trump beat Hilary—and equally why he “lost” to Biden (who is the perfect antidote to Trump’s hilarious insults because, well, he doesn’t even know where he is).
Many applicable lessons in today’s daily musing that can make your biz a helluva lot more money - if you’re not too scared to capitalize on controversy (which is something that makes bombastic entrepreneurs quiver in their little boots).
Anywho:
If’n you want to try being interesting and making more sales instead of always being boringly “right,” hit reply, and let’s set up a quick call.
John