Fun Business Fun Money Podcast
EP 036 – How to be more ‘Frank’
Do you have an alter ego that you utilise in certain situations?
In this quick tip episode (that clearly isn’t under 10min! 😆) I introduce you to ‘Frank’, MY alter ego, who comes in handy when I want to cut through random BS and get right to the point.
I’ve got a few examples of how and when you can bring out YOUR alter ego to help with your confidence in communicating exactly what you want – without being rude.
Let’s all “be more Frank”!
TRANSCRIPT
Hey there, and welcome back to the Fun Business Fun Money podcast!
I’ve titled this quick tip episode ‘being more Frank’, which may sound weird but it’ll make perfect sense in just a moment. So lets get straight into it because thats how Frank rolls!
Frank is the nickname for my alter ego that shows up now and then, to help me cut through the BS and fluff. As you’d expect, Frank is direct, to the point.
I get inbox messages on the various social media platforms ALL. THE. TIME.
Some are from nice normal people, and a fair number of them are straight up pitches from complete strangers about things I don’t even need.
You know the ones, where they say their trademarked “GMC” method, which stands for Get More Clients, magically helps coaches just like me to get more leads and be making $100K months in the next 90 days.
Those are a complete eye roll for a multitude of reasons, the top two being its total BS, and they know nothing about me or my business, so how can they possibly promise results like that? 🙄
Most of the time I literally roll my eyes and ignore them, but lately I’ve been utilising my Frank persona and having a lot of fun with it. And this is something I think we need more of in the world!
Frank is always polite but very direct. Frank comes out to play when I’m annoyed about something.
This Frank persona has evolved over time, so don’t go thinking this is something I’ve always been comfortable with. The ‘good girl’ conditioning runs deep, you don’t want to upset or offend anyone, can’t have them thinking you’re not a ‘good girl’. Of course I’m totally doing an eye roll right now over THAT one too!
It really is true though, as you get older you’re less likely to put up with BS, I’m going to be that person with no filter calling out everyone and everything in a few decades lol!! Ain’t nobody got time for whatever pointless fluff you’re pitching, mate!
Here’s an example of how I used my Frank persona recently.
I received a message on LinkedIn that annoyed me. It was from a brand new connection and went something like “Hey, great to connect! A bit of background about me…” And she proceeded to outline her ideal clients and her offer, finishing up with “Is that something thats of interest to you?”
And I’m like, WHAT? What just happened here?
Do I know anything about this person’s background yet? No! Because she didn’t actually tell me anything. Something was really OFF about it all, like it was written by a robot (hello AI generated content!), so I decided Frank needed to handle this one.
Frank was very polite but direct, and said…
“I’m not sure if you noticed, but you went right into a pitch there? I still don’t know anything about you. Thanks for taking the time to learn something about me and my business to see if its even relevant though. Oh wait, you didn’t.”
Now I didn’t expect a response at all, most people either get offended or they simply cross you off their list and move on to the next person.
BUT… about a week later this person DID respond.
She thanked me for my response and apologised. She said they were trying a new approach and it clearly wasn’t working because they’d received a LOT of push back from others who were downright rude. She said they had taken feedback on board and already implemented changes to their process.
I could have shrugged and said “Whatevs, you screwed up, I’m outta here.” But I appreciated the response, which clearly came from a different and REAL person – yes, she was using an appointment setter with a script to handle her reach out messages to new connections.
I mean thats a huge mistake right there from a personality stand point.
As you may know from previous episodes, I’m a Connector money archetype – which doesn’t just apply to money! I’m all about relationships and people, and personality, and connecting the dots with information so it makes sense in the easiest, simplest way possible.
I need to know YOU before I’ll buy FROM you. And before you buy from ME! We have to be a personality match because if we’re going to spend a lot of time together on calls as we work on your business and money stuff, we’ve gotta be a match!
That means checking you out on Facebook, or LinkedIn, email or whatever platform it happens to be. Not in a stalker way of course, thats just weird and creepy, don’t be that person!
I mean in terms of seeing your content and really letting YOU shine through. It means getting on a call for a quick chat to check whether we actually LIKE each other!
If you’re constantly pitching your offers, whether its a product or service, and you’re not putting YOU into your words, its kinda boring. Something is missing.
And side note – It doesn’t matter how many times you run something through ChatGPT, it still lacks YOUR PERSONALITY. Thats a whole other topic for another day!
So I replied back to her with…
“Thank YOU for your response, outsourcing is great but it can so easily miss the mark and lack YOUR personality – which is what we need to see and hear, whether we realise it or not. I’m going to keep you around because now I’m interested to see what magic you sprinkle on this platform!”
Can you see how a situation that was initially awkward and uncomfortable became light and fun with a bit of clear and direct communication?
Being more Frank is actually easy, the hardest part is taking that first step to politely call something out. In most cases they’re not thinking about their impact on you at all, they’re so focused on their own stuff.
You can open up communication without being aggressive or, lets say it like it is, without being a dick about it.
Theres no need to jump to conclusions and assume the worst of someone and letting that fester away, ruining your day. Just be Frank – be open, clear and direct!
Can you see how being more Frank could help YOU in your business? Or your life?
Its a great communication tool, especially when you’re dealing with multiple things at once and you don’t have the time or attention span for fluff or BS. Just get to the point, tell me what you want and I’ll give you a clear and concise answer.
Which can be as simple as “No.”
No is a complete sentence! You don’t need to explain or give reasons for your response.
Its something Frank used recently as well, another looooooong and random DM appeared with a pitch about something, and my response was literally “no.” I’m sure they just shrugged and moved on, but it felt really good to just say no and be done with it, it was the complete contrast to this long winded thing.
Something that has stuck in my mind for a number of years was a presentation at an event I was at. The speaker was talking about courage and confidence, and how in a situation she was constantly being undermined by an overly domineering person.
On this one occasion she sat in her car before a meeting and gave herself a pep talk that went something like…
“I need you to step aside for a moment and let ME handle this. I love the regular version of me, but this is a situation that needs the Wonder Woman version of me. So you just wait here, and I’ll be right back.”
She got out of the car, straightened her posture and embodied that Wonder Woman persona. She walked into the meeting and everyone instantly knew she meant business. She got what she wanted with her head held high, she was able to utilise this alter ego version of herself for the short time she needed it.
What would YOUR alter ego say in situations like this? What do you WISH you had the confidence to say?
Give your alter ego a name – you can be Frank, you can be Wonder Woman, you can be Beyonce or whatever feels right for you – and bring that side of you out as and when needed.
I’d love to hear your experience with this!
Send me a DM, I’m @funbusinessfunmoney, all one word, on both Facebook and Instagram. Or send an email to hello@deirdreamies.com – you’ll find the links to those in the description and in the show notes!
Thats what I’ve got for you today!
Go out and be more Frank, or Beyonce, more direct and confident in your communication.
Take care, have a little bit fun letting your alter ego out to play, and I’ll catch you in the next episode!
