I Can Make Anything Into an Ad

Someone posted a meme about how water costs $1 at a store, $3 at a hotel, and $5 at an airport. Standard internet humor. Nothing groundbreaking.

I reshared it and added my own pitch for bottleless water — then tacked on: "I can make anything into an ad."

That post got 426 impressions and 13 reactions. My highest-performing LinkedIn post ever. More engagement than any product video, any infographic, any polished company reshare.

A meme with a self-aware one-liner beat everything.

Why That Works

People don't go to LinkedIn to be sold to. They go to scroll, procrastinate, and occasionally feel something. When a post makes someone laugh and makes them think about your product, you've done something most B2B content never does: you've been memorable without being annoying.

The self-awareness is the key. When I say "I can make anything into an ad," I'm telling you I know what I'm doing. I'm not hiding the fact that I sell water systems. I'm leaning into it. That honesty disarms the resistance people naturally have toward sales content.

Compare that to the alternative: a corporate post with stock photos, three paragraphs of value propositions, and a CTA that says "Let's connect to discuss how we can optimize your workplace hydration strategy."

Nobody finishes reading that. Everyone finishes reading a joke.

Consultative Selling vs. Corporate Selling

I sell bottleless water and ice systems for Bottleless Nation. That's my day job. I drive a territory across south-central Wisconsin, knock on doors, run demos, and close deals.

The way I sell is consultative. I'm not trying to ram a water cooler through someone's procurement process. I'm trying to understand their breakroom, their people, their budget, and whether what I have actually makes their situation better. If it doesn't, I say so and move on.

That same approach applies to how I post on LinkedIn. I'm not trying to manufacture demand through polished content. I'm trying to be the kind of person someone remembers when they realize they need what I sell.

When someone thinks "we should probably do something about our water situation," I want them to think of the guy who made them laugh — not the company that spammed them with whitepapers.

The Meme-Jacking Strategy

I reshare a lot of content and add my own take. A Red Bull sign that made me think about hydration? Reshare with commentary. A Valentine's Day poem about water? Sure, why not. An April Fools video from the company? I'll add my two cents.

This isn't a sophisticated content strategy. It's just paying attention to what's happening and connecting it back to what I do. The bar for "good LinkedIn content" is so low that being genuine and slightly funny puts you in the top 10% automatically.

The posts where I try hardest — scripted videos, carefully written product education — often perform worse than the ones where I just react to something in the moment. That's not an argument against effort. It's an argument for being yourself while you make the effort.

Humor Is a Trust Signal

When someone is funny, you trust them more. It's counterintuitive in a business context, but it's true. Humor requires intelligence, timing, and the confidence to not take yourself too seriously. Those are the exact same traits people look for in someone they're about to do business with.

Nobody wants to buy from a robot. They want to buy from a person. And a person who can make a water bottle pricing meme into a pitch for bottleless water is clearly a person — not a marketing department.

The Rule

My rule is simple: if I wouldn't say it to someone's face, I don't post it. If I wouldn't want to read it myself, I don't write it. If it sounds like a press release, I delete it and try again.

Selling is a conversation. LinkedIn is where that conversation starts. And conversations work better when you're actually being yourself.