First up, I’m not a doctor or a psychologist. I am a marketer and entrepreneur with 20 years of experience and some ideas on how to combat vaccine hesitancy from a marketing perspective.

Of course, some people can’t get the vaccine and there’s a whole host of cultural and historical reasons why some people are hesitant. I get that.

I’m talking the extreme end here — people who can get it but who border on adult oppositional defiance when it comes to getting a simple little jab.

The Mavericks and Rebels.

One of the big reasons why we’re failing to “convince them” is because Mavericks will not budge with coercion or peer pressure. Think of the most stubborn person you know. Nothing you do or say will move them. Tears, threats, and coersion doesn’t work.

That’s why the “collective good” message and “selfish” insults fall on deaf ears. Guilt trips just make them angry and stubborn. Pissing you and me off gives them MORE pleasure than the freedoms ahead of a vaccinated society.

At the moment, being unvaxxed is more fun than “giving in” or succumbing to peer pressure. Being “right” makes them extremely hard to budge.

The more people who get the vaccine, the more they dig in. They scoff at people doing selfies at vaccination centres and mock people doing the right thing as “sheep”.

The problem is — vaccines are too mainstream!

In business, for example, testimonials have an opposite effect on Mavericks. If “everyone” is doing something, or it’s too popular, they will do the opposite, even against their best interest.

“Don’t tell me what to do” is their motto in life. Freedom is their highest value. Unvax=freedom.

Mavericks and Rebels root for the underdog. A lot of the time that’s a good thing for societal change. Standing up to authority and challenging laws has shifted many unjust institutions.

But we’re in a bloody global pandemic and for all our technology and insight from history, we may as well be back in 1918, with three waves over two years, anti-mask leagues, and cynical people gleefully sowing discord and using the pandemic to blame immigrants and refugees to deflect their failures in keeping their constituents safe.

When it comes to the pandemic, some Mavericks and Rebels find the lone-wolfiest lone wolf and believe them over the more credible scientists, simply because they are suspicious of consensus thinking.

Consensus = boring.

Taking away their freedoms is not a deterrent. They will happily live on the fringe of society if need be, without any comforts and cut off their nose to spite their face … especially if it pisses you off in the process.

Mavericks are extremely risk-tolerant and rule-adverse so scaring them about the risks of Covid unmoves them and mask mandates infuriate them. They fully believe they will be exempt from sickness and death, even as nurses are literally intubating them. Many Covid skeptics have posted misinformation from their actual ICU beds. Some change their mind on the vaccine when they are gasping for breath. By then it’s too late.

So sharing the stats doesn’t work. Risk exhilarates them. They love pulling off the impossible and often are extremely lucky. They’ll take their “chances” with the virus. It’s just one of their 9 lives — no big deal.

Mavericks think they are immune to marketing but they are one of the easiest groups to market to because their rebellion is so predictable and easy to trigger. Unfortunately, it’s mostly nefarious groups who use tactics that appeal to mavericks the most. At the moment, the misinformation is extremely “sticky” and persuasive.

Hence why people are giving themselves untested pet worming medicines instead of the “mainstream” drug. It feels underground, subversive, and “sticking it” to the Pharma companies (even though dodgy people are profiting from their untested treatments).

So — how do we convince these rebellious people to take the vaccine for the good of society? Tricky but maybe doable?

Here are my loose ideas in no particular order:

Appeal to their love of “hacks”

Could we position Vax as a microdose life hack? Many people say they have more energy after getting vaxxed because it takes away the underlying anxiety. Can the vaccine be a smart Tim Ferris-style way to avoid unnecessary mental friction in your life?

I get the flu shot every year because it feels like a smart life hack to avoid something really annoying (flu). It feels smart to me like I’ve outsmarted the virus. Position vaccines in the same cutting-edge cheat-code way.

Unfortunately, a lot of the Joe Rogan type guys are the ones spreading the misinformation but we can amplify the ones who are pro-vaccine.

Rebel against the rebels.

Position the anti-vaxxers as the sheep who are predictably rebelling because they think it’s “cool”. A lot of Mavericks and Rulers aren’t afraid to blow up communities and institutions. Let them be the Lone Wolf inside their rebellious communities.

As a teen, I was a rebel for NOT smoking (after a short period of stealing my step-dad’s cigarettes). Saying “nah, I don’t smoke” gave me immense smug pleasure for rebelling against everyone else’s super predictable teen rebellion. Some Mavs would get pleasure out of rebelling against their anti-vax friends.

Ask them, “Hey, what would happen if you got vaxxed? You’d get kicked out of XYZ group, wouldn’t you?”

Make them realise that some of their groups are making it a RULE (something they hate) to be anti-vax, anti-mask, anti-science.

Instead of sharing stories about how unvaxxed are getting shunned from society (which they LOVE), show how the “lone wolf” rebels who you would assume were anti-vax are getting in trouble from their maverick communities for doing the responsible thing. Get them angry at the right people.

Be totally unsurprised by their vax stance in a neutral “Yeah, I figured you’d probably wouldn’t get vaxxed, I even had a bet with my mum about it!” Mavericks hate being predictable!

Appeal to their love of controversy and going against the tide. Or, “wow, it’s pretty controversial that [rebellious person] got vaxxed. I bet they’re getting flack for it!”

Or, “I guess you’re not getting vaxxed because of your parents?”

No Maverick think themselves a follower, even though vaccination rates fall pretty predictably along party lines. “I guess X would be mad if you got vaccinated!” “It’s so funny that Trump got vaxxed — it’s like he’s trying to see how much his followers will obey him!”

Who can they defy by getting the vax?

Appeal to their risk-taking nature

A lot of Mavericks and Rebels love taking physicals risks — jumping out of planes, going to the off-beaten track, trying new foods (and drugs).

In the past, they’ve also been brave pioneers of science. How many “crazy” researchers experimented on themselves to test out their theories? They weren’t afraid and it helped us make huge scientific leaps.

Trying to reason with them about how safe the vaccine is not working. Plus they have their own “facts” to counter yours.

Try using risk-based language, “Yeah the vaccine is super new, but I’m gonna take that risk! I’m not fucking afraid of a little jab”, “Sounds risky, I’m in!” #fuckcovid. It’s worth a shot!

They are making fun of people for being afraid of the virus. Aren’t they are badasses who love risky behaviour? It might even be worth saying things like “what, you’re scared of a little shot?! You, covered in tats!? You’re usually so fearless!”

My brother has tons of $20 tattoes he got in Bali (including a moustache on his finger) but is scared to get the vax — because of Joe Rogan and his fertility misinformation.

Countering with facts is hard unless it will potentially impact them personally. If they talk about the unfounded misinformation about vaccinations impacting fertility, chuckle and say, I think that will be the least of your problems, and send them the Reddit thread about long covid impacting erectile dysfunction.

In Australia, there’s been (unfounded) negative press for the Astrazeneca vaccine and it’s slightly higher but still rare blood clotting risks— and for a while, doctors were telling people to wait for Pfizer. Present AZ as the “no fucks” vaccine of choice for rebel risk-takers. Beat the odds with a fearless devil-may-care attitude with the dangerous vax “nobody else wants” #WhatARebel

Appeal to their invincibility

Because Mavericks talk about their strong immune system, say things like “yeah, some people get bad reactions from shots, but I’m pretty tough and I was totally fine. You’d probably get sick though”

I actually was smug that I had zero reactions to the vax!

That’s why I love those memes about “if you did this, don’t worry about what’s in the vaccine” — and they also remind Mavericks of their fearlessness.

Mine: “If you ever used to get a 3am kebab next to Scruffy Murphy’s on George St, then don’t worry about what’s in the vaccine”. Or “if you ever had a $2 hamburger at The Church in London, don’t worry about what’s in the vaccine”.

Share them with your anti-vax friends like “haha — so funny”. If they get offended — use their language, “it’s just a joke, I thought you’d find it funny!”

Position not getting the vax as the scared, weak choice. “I’m not scared of the vax, I’ve eaten street food in remote communities — I’m pretty sure the shot won’t hurt me!”

Mavericks like to one-up their tolerance to risk. I bet they’ve eaten riskier food than you — and they’re scared of a little jab! “Mate, that doesn’t sound like you!”

Help them root for the (right) underdog

Okay, so shaming them for the “collective good” doesn’t work. What about people and causes they really care about?

Help them root for the underdogs, like getting vaxxed so small indie bands can tour again. Getting “rebellious” musicians to do super secret gigs just for vaxxed people, promising to do bigger gigs in the future for everyone.

Showing “tough guys” getting vaxxed together holding each other’s hands and even teasing each other. I actually love this video of this extremely scared guy getting vaxxed. It’s endearing but it’s showing how people are overcoming their fears. You’re rooting for him and his bravery.

Share stories of the badasses risking life and limb to get vaccines to remote communities, or these teens profiled in Teen Vogue; Vaccine Rebels: The Teens Defying Their Parents to Get the COVID Vaccine.

Shunning people is being phrased as a punishment right now but there has to be some incentive that feels like a secret cheat code. Make it a reward rather than a punishment.

Reverse psychology

My 5 year old can be conned into doing things by appealing to his rebellion and using reverse psychology. “I bet you can’t get into your seat before your sister” or “Don’t give me kisses, I hate kisses” — he can’t hide his delight in tricking me.

You can see the anti-lockdown protesters looking positively GIDDY at the thought of being naughty. It’s called Duper’s Delight — they can’t hide their joy at going against the mainstream.

Pissing off the majority is giving some of these anti-vaxxers the biggest high of their lives and we cannot make them do anything.

Vaccine supply is pretty limited right now in Australia, so you could say things like, “I’m glad you’re not getting the vax — more superpowers for me! Hahah” Or “yeah, I understand you don’t want to get vaxxed, it’s not like YOU want to go anywhere. Me, I’m getting ready for the borders to open so I can go to Paris!”.

Make fun of cheesy “get vaxxed” campaigns together! Like “wow, that’s so lame. I’m still getting vaxxed but it’s pretty much for the OPPOSITE reasons”

Sowing doubt in their Underdog Heroes.

Conspiracy-based marketing works so well on Mavericks and a lot of these Underdogs present themselves as sharing anti-vax information for the greater good, not profit.

But there’s big money to be made in ad revenue, speaking fees, merchandise, and Go Fund Mes. If it’s BANNED, censored, or underground, it piques the Maverick interest — and opens their wallets.

Maverick marketers often use “un” language. Unmarketing, unlaunch or provocative language, “fuck marketing”.

When marketing to Mavericks and Rebels, fancy doesn’t work. They love things that are seemingly thrown together on the spur of the moment, like “I’ve just decided to do this SUPER SECRET, scrappy program but it’s COMING DOWN SOON”.

That’s why so many doctors are lamenting the death of expertise and the elevation of non-expert maverick podcasters on the same level as decades-long experts like Doctor Fauci. Yeah cool, he’s not edgy but the man knows what he’s talking about. But you know what — fine. Send them TikTok videos if that works!

Slick marketing turns them off. Scrappy and low-fi works better. This is so confounding because can’t they see through the rando guy in his basement posting wild conspiracy theories? It’s also why multi-millionaire chucklefucks like Steve Bannon dresses like he does. Look at Ted Cruz’s devolution from besuited Grandpa Addams to grizzled budget Wolverine.

Savvy “unmarketers” like Dr. Mercola (one of the “disinformation dozen” who spread most of the misinformation about vaccines) uses this fear-based language extremely well. He recently said “they” were banning hundreds of his articles and offered them as a “limited time” download. Yes, Facebook or Youtube are taking down some of his misinformation about Covid, but he can publish what he likes on his site (and he has a book about Covid too).

Mercola painting himself as the Underdog, Reluctant Hero, and a Lone Wolf against the “establishment”, makes people support him even more — and he’s a master at making content go viral. He’s not a scrappy underdog, he makes an estimated $10m/year and has a self-proclaimed $100m net worth. People calling him the “Upside Down Doctor” is catnip to an anti-vax Maverick.

Ask “I wonder how they make money out of that?” when your Mavericks share anti-vax videos — questioning qualifications doesn’t work (and often does the opposite), but pointing out the obvious money-making grifts underlying controversial opinions might pique their skepticism.

Say, “I guess there’s a lot of money in making videos like that…”. If they say “no, he’s not making money out of it”, keep expressing skepticism, “oh really, pretty easy to monetise such a viral video…”

Make it feel borderline illegal

Remember, some Mavericks love to be bad and naughty.

Give them “secret” info about backdoor ways to get vaxxed. Like “don’t tell anyone, but there’s a rogue unlicensed quack vaxxing people after hours but only if you use this SUPER SECRET PASSWORD.”

Pair it with risky or borderline illegal behaviour. Fuck — let’s vax people at underground day clubs and illegal gatherings in gritty warehouses. Let shut-down unlicensed tattooists give a free whisky shot with vaccines during lockdown. Get a special VV tattoo once you’re doubled vaxxed.

Let them break the rules a little for the greater good.

Refuse to be outraged

They want you to be outraged and angry! If your teen comes home with dyed hair, they get so much pleasure out of a negative reaction than “wow, looks so pretty, let’s take a photo to show Grandma”.

Literally yawn at their attention-seeking behaviour.

Mildly respond, “yeah, fair enough you don’t want to get the vaccine. Personally, I find lockdown so boring. I’d lick a dirty floor to travel again! Gimme that vaccine — yum yum yum!”

Mavericks want the outrage! Not for you to be more extreme than them!

Live your life, unapologetically

Mavericks and Rebels are proudly unapologetic (another word used in maverick marketing) so maybe we should be too.

You’re not going to be able to guilt them into getting the vaccine, so do stuff without them. “Yeah, that’s fair enough you don’t want to be forced to get the vax, but I’m pretty pumped about {SUPER COOL EVENT} so I’m still going to go without you. #sorrynotsorry”

“Yes, I totally understand you don’t want the vaccine. I’m sad it means you can’t come to {kids christening/wedding/family reunion}. We’ll miss you!”

Yes, it’s frustrating that we can’t all just be responsible citizens and get the fucking vax already, but it’s not going to happen.

Remember — appealing to the Maverick and Rebel’s guilt will not work, you’re going to have to think outside the box.

But hopefully some of these tips will help you convince just one more person! And then we can be one step closer to whatever our new normal is going to be.

I’d love to hear your tips too!

This should be a straightforward article to write, except that it’s not that simple and I’m not that naive.

A man would never need to write this article because it’s just assumed that they have a wife at home doing most of the housework and childcare.

But for some reason, a woman outsourcing home help is secretive and taboo. I’m afraid of being told I’m lazy, out of touch or a bad mother, despite the fact that my husband benefits too!

I feel like I have to defend and add disclaimers to almost every paragraph. Yes, I know I’m lucky. Yes, I know nobody is really “self-made” (white privilege hello!), yes I know there are single mothers and struggling families who can’t afford help.

Lots of people ask me how I balance it all (ah, the age-old question for successful women) and the honest answer is WITH SO MUCH PAID HELP.

SO MUCH you guys.

This is just me being honest for anyone who needs to hear it. Because nobody ever talks about it, even super famous people who obviously have help.

Most of my audience is entrepreneurs (or want to be), so I’m writing this for you.

I have 3 kids under 5. I’m so tired. My kids wake up at 5 am, and I nurse my baby a few times during the night.

I love my business. I love writing my books and helping my community in my online courses. I love talking about marketing and money.

My business is pretty lean. I got to a million dollars in revenue with just one part-time assistant. As a $3m+ business, I have two part-time assistants and a handful of expert contractors when I need them.

But as a mum, I’ve found that home help is SO MUCH MORE useful to me than adding more employees to my company. Business is the fun stuff, and I can automate a lot of that.

Ok — disclaimers out of the way, here’s what my home team looks like:

Cleaners: a team of two who come weekly to do floors, bathrooms, changing towels and bedding, and general cleaning. It takes around 4 hours between them (it’s a big house).

Nanny: our kids do a combo of daycare (3 days) and nanny who comes 8:30–4pm four days a week. She’s like a second mother who helps with drop-offs and pickups if we need her to and general kid wrangling, like “hold the baby, I have to go pee!”. She’s young, energetic and creative.

Housekeeper: Ok — here’s the game changer.

We hire a housekeeper from 7 am — 12 every weekday to basically be my wife.

She makes breakfast, light tidying, preps lunch and dinner, and then does the million and one things that run a house. Food shopping, laundry, calling the handyman, going to the post-office, replacing batteries and toilet paper, remembering to buy milk, etc.

Think of everything you mentally hold in your “to-do” list, and she does it.

I’m not a supermum. I’m a crap housewife. I don’t do laundry. I very rarely cook (I can, I just prefer to spend time on other stuff), I don’t clean bathrooms or toilets.

I’m not “too good” to clean, and I don’t judge stay-at-home-mothers. It’s just that I don’t enjoy it and I can pay to outsource it so I can spend time either on my business or with my family.

I find the expectation that I should do the home chores just because I’m a woman, weird, and frankly sexist.

I’m passionate about entrepreneurship as a vehicle for women’s financial empowerment, and I think you should get all the help you need.

It’s really straightforward, but I’ve already gotten a ton of questions on this, so let’s go.

Isn’t this kind of exploitative?

It’s weird — housework is practically the only job in the world that’s supposed to be fulfilling for women to do for free (how convenient) but somehow shameful and exploitative to pay another woman (and it’s mostly women) to do it.

If you’ve never hired someone in your house before, you might be thinking of a Downton Abbey type “upstairs/downstairs” situation where maids wear uniforms, call their employers “madam” and aren’t allowed to make eye contact.

I’m not a “rich kid.” I grew up with a single mother, and we struggled financially. My mum cleaned houses when money was tight, and I did while I was paying my way through university (it was one of my four odd jobs).

It was just a job.

Most of our home team are quite young and have side-hustles or study as well, but I’ve hired other mothers or empty nesters too. They are all official contractors or employees paid a living wage and all the proper insurances, etc.

They are just normal people, and I’m just a normal person. It’s not weird or awkward. We hire people who are nice, friendly and in my case not overly chatty (introvert alert).

I guess my advice here is — be a nice person and a good employer. Don’t exploit people.

How will your kids learn to do stuff?!

My kids are privileged for sure. But I don’t want to make them spoiled.

But does that mean I have to do all the housework, as a good example? Or do they not notice all the “invisible” work anyway?

That invisible labor is usually borne by women, and I decided to opt-out of that expectation.

Our kids still have to pack away their toys, help set up the table and scrape their plates (they sometimes complain about this like any kids).

But they wouldn’t know if the “laundry fairy” is me or someone else. They don’t notice who does the food shopping while they’re at school or who calls the plumber.

They are respectful to our nanny and housekeeper because they don’t see them as “staff” but as extra adults in their life, like their teachers at school.

Plus they are there to make my life easier, not necessarily theirs.

Lots of kids don’t appreciate the work that goes into a household until they move out of home. I’m sure they’ll figure out how to work a washing machine. They won’t be helpless.

Plus, I often find that the women who are most worried about their kids being spoiled are the ones who do everything for them anyway! Some kids already have a full-time housekeeper… YOU.

They’ll be fine.

How do you let go of control?

Hiring help at home is an excellent practice for delegating and asking for what you want. If you like things a certain way, ask for it! Put together a home manual (I’m serious).

I’m not super anal about household stuff because I don’t really care as long as I don’t have to do it (except, weirdly for stacking the dishwasher), but I’ve set expectations and systems in both my business and at home.

But I’ve learned to give up control because it frees up my time to be creative elsewhere and focus instead on income producing activities.

Done is better than perfect! If you insist on doing everything yourself at home and in business, you’re going to deal with burn out and will limit how much you can grow.

Keep doing the things you love doing and outsource the rest. If you enjoy cooking, great! If you think ironing is meditative, keep doing it (although, you know what’s fun, going to an actual yoga or meditation class!).

Your life, your rules.

I said to our housekeeper, “Imagine that you’re the mum of the house — just do what you think needs to be done.” I actually don’t mind what she cooks, so I let her choose the menu. If we don’t like something, we let her know (again, excellent training for boundaries).

Pick your battles!

How can you afford it?

You might think “well, it’s okay for you Denise, you’re literally a millionaire.” But I started outsourcing home help way before I could afford it.

I was sick of fighting with Mark every Saturday morning about who would clean the bathroom, so we got a casual cleaner twice a month. It was a pretty inexpensive solution for our weekly frustration. Start small.

As my business got bigger and we had kids, we slowly added hours and tasks. As I become the breadwinner, I noticed that I had massive resentment about typical “housewife” duties.

I wanted to live like a 1950s dad. I needed a wife. That’s when I hired our housekeeper.

But it’s really not that expensive to get a little bit of help with the tasks that cause you the most stress. Start small but start.

Two hours won’t break the bank but might give you some breathing room to work on your business, write your book or to create your course. Things that could pay you for years to come.

Go get another client who can pay for more help at home. Free up your energy to get more clients in your business.

How do you deal with the guilt?

My biggest worry was thinking about my friends I grew up with. What would they think if I had a nanny, let alone a house-keeper? What a snob!

Then I worried that people would think I was lazy (my mum says to her friends, “Denise does nothing”). I have an awesome work ethic in my business, but I can’t muster up enthusiasm for unpaid work at home.

Men have had this benefit for millennia. Do they feel guilty having a wife at home? Do they judge each other? Nope! And neither should we.

I honestly don’t feel guilty anymore. When you do the cost-benefit of spending my time on your biz v.s cleaning your house, it’s a no-brainer, even when you’re starting out.

I’m great at my business. I’m not great at housewife stuff. The house will get messy again, but my books and courses can earn money potentially forever.

Cleaning my own toilet didn’t make me a millionaire. Working on my business did. My company paid off our mortgage and bought new cars.

You don’t have to tell friends or family if you don’t want to. It’s nobodies business but yours.

I’ve opted out of “mummy-guilt.” I seriously can’t be bothered. I love my business, and I love my family. All the rest can be outsourced.

How do you find the right people?

I wrote out a really detailed job description with every task I could think of and advertised on Gumtree. I’ve also hired through agencies but they take too big a cut, and I’d prefer to pay someone more.

Again, this excellent practice for hiring (and firing) in your biz. Do a trial period, tell them what you need and adjust accordingly. You can figure this out.

I’m also an introvert, so I hire people who can work with me at home, but without too much hand-holding (otherwise, it’s another mental job for me).

If you’re worried about security, do your background checks or hire through an agency. Once we trust our people, we give them access to a credit card, keys, etc.

Your home team quickly move from being “strangers” to being an extra pair of hands. Again, just be a nice normal person, not a horrible employer.
If anything negative comes up, you can deal with it. Honestly — this is not a huge hurdle. You can figure this out.

“I’ll do it when my business makes more…

I hear this a lot “my husband says that I can get more childcare when my business makes more.”

At the moment, you are starving your business of oxygen it needs to grow.

Yes, you can get up at 4:30 am to get everything done yourself, but this is an investment in your future. Your sleep is important. Your time, energy and sanity are all extremely finite.

It’s no longer necessary to get a loan to start your business. You can start with your phone and a good data plan. But it does need time and “sweat equity.”

Get your proper sleep and hire someone as an extra pair of hands.

It’s a chicken and egg scenario. If you don’t have time (and creative bandwidth) for your business, it won’t grow as quickly as you like. To be really blunt — your business might never grow.

I made my first $1,000 in business because I ignored the housework a little, and I made my first million because I had a lot of help.

How do you convince your partner?

Look, I’ll admit, I just stopped doing things around the house. If Mark complained, I invited him to do it. I also painted a picture of what my business could do for our family.

Start with the things that stress you both out, so it’s a win-win scenario.

We used to fight about me not unpacking for weeks after a business trip. It drove Mark crazy! Now my housekeeper does it! And because I know someone’s going to do it, I separate my clean and dirty laundry into neat bags.

I used to get pissed off that nobody else replaced the toilet paper. I never remembered to pick up my mail from my business P.O box. Now the housekeeper does both.

We both have a lot more energy for family and our work.

I didn’t ask for permission. I knew that not living my dreams would make me a terrible partner and mother in the long term. I knew it was a good investment for our family for me to focus on my business rather than housework.

Maybe in the short term, your house has to get a little dirty.

What’s your excuse?

I’m sure you have worries or excuses around this — that’s okay. But if you’re wanting permission to do this — here it is.

I’d hate for anyone to think I have my shit together and do everything in my life and business myself. That’s a lie.

If you could afford some help, get it and don’t feel guilty.

Allow yourself to be taken care of. Invest your time in your business, and it will pay off. Create a job for someone else. Be a nice employer.

Be honest and tell other women what help you have and give them permission too.

xx Denise

P.S My new book, Chillpreneur is now on pre-order. It’s about how to design your life and business for the path of least resistance. Pre-order it from the usual places and here on Amazon.