The Schmo and The Pro is a series of YouTube video interviews.
The Pro in this case is a professional mixed martial artist, usually signed to the UFC.
The Schmo is the interviewer. He’s a youngish guy, wearing BluBlocker sunglasses… dressed in a patterned Hugh Hefner-style blazer…. and sporting a Zangief haircut.
When the Schmo asks his well-researched and reasonable questions, he bares his teeth. He twists his face out of shape. He makes claw-hand gestures.
It’s an example of gimmick positioning. In other words, a Mickey Mouse coat hanger to hang your product/service/hat off.
Stupid right? Why would anyone want to humiliate themselves by hiding behind a gimmick?
Well, how about a million dollars:
Copywriter Will Ward recently turned me on to the story of Blue Kirby. It’s some anonymous guy’s Twitter handle.
All summer long, Blue Kirby posted memes related to a crypto project, creating a ton of hype.
A few months later, Blue Kirby cashed in on the hype and disappeared. Along with about a million dollars’ worth of ethereum in his digital pocket.
Now it’s possible this could have been done by just some guy using his real name, say, Jesse McAverage.
But my gut feeling is the Blue Kirby gimmick was instrumental in the attention this guy got… and the million dollar bubble he was able to create.
In case I have your attention now, maybe you’re wondering how somebody — not you, of course — might go about creating a gimmick for himself.
Well… I shared a few ideas about this with my Bejakomaniacs. That’s the name I’ve just coined for subscribers to my email newsletter, following the example of Hulk Hogan. If you too would like to be in the rank of Bejakomaniacs, so you get all my positioning ideas, here’s where to go.