Photo courtesy of B Rosen
By Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind.
Viral is one of the biggest buzzwords these days in blogging world. Everyone wants to create something viral, so their blog or product will “market itself.”
Despite all the buzz about creating “viral content” and a “viral blog,” not many people really understand how this is done. I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure I’ve got it all figured out. There aren’t really any secrets. But, there are a lot of little tactics that can add up to creating something contagious.
The trick with content
A lot of people will tell you that you can’t write a “killer post” every time. You’ll burn out, they say. Or they’ll say something about it not being healthy to be such a perfectionist.
I completely disagree. While I think it’s not healthy to aim for perfection, I’ve built a highly viral blog doing exactly the opposite of conventional advice.
Usually, part of the strategy for publishing more content that is “OK” and not great is following the law of averages. The more content you put out, the more chances you have of getting linked, the more chances you’ll get indexed in search engines and rank for those search terms. I understand the strategy, but I think it’s severely flawed if you’re trying to create something extremely viral.
My aim with every post I write is to create content that has a high probability of becoming viral. But I do this not by writing more, but by writing less.
If I can’t find something worth writing about, I don’t write. If it’s just a “good idea,” I don’t write about it.
It really comes down to this: If I don’t care about what I’m doing, why should I expect other people to care?
The contagion tactics
There are a bunch of different tactics and methods you can employ to increase your chances of contagion. None of these are magic bullets, but if you add up enough of them, you will have a extremely high probability of going viral.
- Write only when you have something worth saying. I mentioned this already, but it’s worth repeating. If you don’t have something to say, don’t say anything. Don’t contribute to the noise. If you don’t have something to say, the best thing you can do is not add to the static. This is solely based on the fact that you don’t want to create a reputation of only sometimes creating amazing content. You want to create the belief in other’s minds that every time you post, it will be unmissable content.
- Throw away lots of ideas. In the same way that you only publish your best stuff, you have to develop a habit of throwing most things away. If it’s not worth saying, resist the urge to word vomit. If you have an idea that you think is great, but you’re not sure, sit on it. Let it stew for a little bit. Most of the time, the reason for your indecisiveness is because your idea is not quite ripe. Let it ripen on the vine, resist the urge to pick it before it’s ready, which would leave you with something sour and ruined. Just as an example, I currently have over 30 drafts in my blog admin area. Less than 3 of those will see the light of day. The more you practice this, the more skilled you will become at filtering great ideas. You will begin to develop a remarkable ability to know immediately when something will be extremely well-received, or when it will flop.
- Have a vested interest in what you’re writing about. Passion spreads through words. If you are passionate about what you’re writing about, you’ll naturally write something far more compelling than if you could care less. Only write about things you really care about.
- Learn the principles of stickiness. Be simple, be straight to the point. Get to the core message. Tell a story, and surprise your readers with a twist they wouldn’t have expected. Give them a reason to listen by being highly engaging. Telling a story is one of the best ways to make your writing memorable. It gives the mind concrete details and images to associate with. If at all possible, find a way you can turn your message into a story, but only if you can do so authentically. Don’t make up a lackluster story just for the sake of having one. For more on this, pick up the book Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath.
- If you’re not writing, read or rewrite. If you don’t have something worth saying, practice rewriting and honing your skills. Or read as much as you can, but do so actively. While you’re reading, think about what makes the piece engaging or boring. What keeps you turning the page? What makes you want to fall asleep? In the same way you study reading, study what goes viral online in social media venues and what makes bestsellers in bookstores. Learn from them, but only mimic them when you can do so authentically.
- Hone your craft. Whatever your field is, if you don’t have a desire to master it, you’re not likely to have a high chance of becoming viral. People will talk about what you’re doing, because you’re so ridiculously passionate about it, and your enthusiasm is contagious.
- Walk the edges. See where you can find interesting intersections of seemingly disparate ideas. How can you relate sex to ice cream? Why is non-conformity really another flavor of conformity? What can politicians and lawyers tell you about smart career moves? Try to find ways to shed a different shade of light to something that has been stuck on repeat. Take a contrarian viewpoint (but only if it’s authentic). Whatever you do, don’t be another echo.
- Start a revolution. If you have a passion for something that could be improved or could be organized as a collective movement, zero in on that. The most viral ideas are those that a large group of people care deeply about, where there was formerly no leadership. Step up and lead your own revolution.
- Connect with influencers. In order to spread ideas effectively, the influencers in your field will need to know about it. It’s your job to find who they are and cultivate relationships with these people. Google alerts and conversation tracking on twitter are the best way to tap into whose having the conversations about your topic.
- Give people what they want. This may sound obvious, but how much do you really know about your readers? Get to know them better; find out what they feel is missing in your field. Conduct a short 5-6 question survey with a few open and closed questions. Ask them how they feel and what they’d like to see.
- Be insane. Be insanely useful, insanely creative, insanely helpful, or insanely controversial. Whatever you do, make it extremely remarkable. Kind of insane, or pretty good is not enough. You have to be insanely something.
This is, by no means, a bible on creating a viral blog. It’s simply a starting point for creating a blog with more buzz. The best thing to do is experiment. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and say something different.
Rethink the limits you’ve arbitrarily placed on your blog. You’ll often find they were simply imaginary lines.
This article was written by Jonathan Mead; revolutionary, raw foodist, dream coach, and prolific blogger. He is interested in unconventional paths to personal growth and advocates strange things like killing your goals. In his spare time he studies Jeet Kune Do and other ass-kicking strategies. He also wrote a pretty cool book, called Reclaim Your Dreams – An Uncommon Guide to Living on Your Own Terms.
55 Comments, Comment or Ping
Positively Present
Absolutely wonderful post! I really enjoyed reading this and, as a pretty new blogger, I found it really useful. Made To Stick is sitting on my bookshelf and you’ve inspired me to pull it off and revisit the ideas about stickiness. Really great post! Loved it!
May 6th, 2009
Emily-Sarah
Superb post! Especially love “resist the urge to word vomit.” Good line and great advice. :-) Gladwell’s THE TIPPING POINT has some reading that parallels to stickiness too.
May 6th, 2009
Eric Hamm | Motivate Thyself
Hey Jonathan, I’ve been writing with this philosophy for the last couple of months on Motivate Thyself and can say from personal experience that it’s 100% true!
I used to write about 5 posts a week and got OK traffic from it. The posts were good, but rarely EXCELLENT! Now I write about 1 SOLID post a week and have been getting about 3 to 4 times the amount of traffic every week compared to what I used to. It’s crazy. I write less, but get a lot more out of it. And I enjoy it much more too. As you pointed out, if I have nothing to say, I mean REALLY say, I just don’t say anything at all. It’s as simple as that.
Thanks for laying it all out for us, Jonathan. Great stuff as always! :-) Eric
May 6th, 2009
Vin | NaturalBias.com
I completely agree about aiming for quality instead of quantity. I’ve scaled to posting on my blog just 3 times per week to allow for the time it takes to create thorough and useful posts. I have no interest in posting average material just to be comforted by an additional post, and as you suggest, I think it dilutes the quality of the rest of the blog.
May 6th, 2009
Scott Clark
Nice, the walk-the-edges part is a strong idea.
Tell me some blog posts you’ve done that have gone viral?
Also.. you’re invited to subscribe of course
http://www.buzzmaven.com/subscribe
May 6th, 2009
Writer Dad
Like Eric, I totally agree and have completely shifted my writing style. It was born out of necessity really, as now I’m maintaining several blogs, but the strategy is not only working in terms of response, I feel far more rewarded by the content I’m producing.
May 6th, 2009
Elizabeth Sprouse
I’m new to this blog — today actually — and I found this post absolutely inspiring. I loved number 11.
May 6th, 2009
Mary Jaksch
I love this post, Jonathan!
A complimentary post is this one by Skellie:
How to Write a Viral Ready Article in 2 Hours Flat
I tried out her suggestions and my post Top 10 Ways to Establish New Habits WITHOUT Discipline has just gone viral :-)
I spent a much longer than usual to really think about what to write about that what would be insanely useful. I also did a lot of research for this article and so it’s really information rich.
May 6th, 2009
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach
Love it! Especially:
Hone your craft. Whatever your field is, if you don’t have a desire to master it, you’re not likely to have a high chance of becoming viral.
Stumbled and tweeted, thanks for sharing!
May 6th, 2009
Nathalie Lussier
Thanks for your inspiration and for sharing with us what’s worked for you Jonathan. I really enjoyed it, and I’ve noticed that it’s really about meeting your audience where they’re at. It’s so simple, and yet we often forget it, and think it’s about us. ;)
May 6th, 2009
Danielle LaPorte
yes yes and yes.
May 6th, 2009
Kelly, Write Sticky
Love this! Refreshing to hear advice to go with your gut instead of becoming a content robot.
May 6th, 2009
Daniel Richard
Awesome article Jon! I’m pretty sure that this post had went viral even before this comment is published. :)
May 6th, 2009
Hunter Nuttall
I have hard data showing that posting more frequently resulted in a massive reduction of my blog’s growth rate. Well, posting frequency wasn’t the only variable, so I can’t be positive about that, but I think it’s right. While posting less may not work for everyone, it’s definitely something to consider.
May 6th, 2009
Bamboo Forest - PunIntended
Excellent advice. Nothing to add.
I think writing less in favor of writing better content is a very wise move. If more blogs did this, how much more would we, the readers, look forward to each post?
May 6th, 2009
Eric Brown
I found this post to be quite curious. This isn’t the first post I have read about going unconventional. It seems that what Jonathan is doing is working not just for him but for some others around the web as well. The key seems to be giving that little something extra.
May 6th, 2009
Jonathan
I’ve been giving number 7 a shot. I’ve been using titles of various songs by Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols and P.I.L. to inspire a series on weight loss.
May 6th, 2009
Evelyn Lim
Thanks, Jonathan, for sharing your experience. I have indeed found that when my posting frequency drops, I tend to write much better. The wonderful part is that I get to relax and have more time to meditate! I may just pick up your suggestion about writing even less for more!
May 6th, 2009
Zoe
Jonathan,
I’m relieved and thrilled to read an article about writing “viral” articles that doesn’t tell me the secret lies in bullet points, lots of H3 tags, and totally scannable text.
Your style resonates well with me, because the only thing that keeps me blogging is that I have so much to say about the things I write. I write about these topics because I’m still working them out in my mind, and I think that allows people to understand the complexities too, and join in a conversation about it.
If I get bored while writing, I’ll be out of this blogging game… only way to avoid that is to engage your mind fully while writing.
Thanks for this… your posts just keep getting better :)
May 6th, 2009
Paul Hassing
Great stuff! A pleasure to retweet. Many thanks! P. :)
May 7th, 2009
mand
Thanx! Encouraging to see i’m doing at least 7 out of 11 already! I’ve bookmarked this to remind me about the remaining 3 or 4… ;0)
May 7th, 2009
Jonathan Mead
@ Zoe: Yeah, those types of posts make me seriously want to vomit. I’m glad you found this a little more real and useful.
@ Hunter: It’s not a coincidence, I can assure you that.
@ Evelyn: I think it’s so awesome because it instills the joy back into writing. When you write when you feel *compelled* to write, you’re doing it out of love. When you’re trying to meet a quota, it becomes unauthentic and chore-like.
May 7th, 2009
Jennifer Blanchard
This is great Jonathan! As I continue to write and grow my blog, I have been trying out different things to see what “sticks.” Also, I’m a true believer and advocate for doing what works for you. What works for one blog may or may not work for another. That’s why I love that you suggested so many different options, so we all have something to test out!
May 7th, 2009
Dawn Pedersen
Thanks so much for this list! I like the idea of refining and perfecting until you’re writing only the best of the best stuff.
May 7th, 2009
Eva Ulian
This article has made my day! People fall into the trap that to attract more readers to your blog you need to post every day… I’ve always thought differently and blog only when I do have something to say… Irony of the tale, the results are meager- only a handful of clicks per day- guess you can’t win in this game. However of one thing I’m certain, slimming down the chaff on the net can only be positive to mankind.
May 7th, 2009
janice
Thanks Jonathan. Nice to hear this:
“find a way you can turn your message into a story, but only if you can do so authentically”
May 7th, 2009
curiousjessica
I especially love your point about “throwing ideas away”. Once I figured out how to shed the scarcity mindset (thanks, Steve Pavlina) I found ideas were flowing so fast, yet I didnt feel like a failure if I let some slip through my fingers.
There is such an abundance of ideas floating in the ether, I know I can just grab one whenever I need.
May 7th, 2009
Donna White
I could hardly finish reading this post because of all the ideas sparked! This is filled with great advice that I will come back to again and again. One comment that particularly struck me was the idea of not adding to the noise and waiting until you have something valuable to say — this goes against so much of the conventional advice that has never really resonated with me. I also resonate with the ideas of writing with passion and starting a revolution.
Thank you for this tightly packed, yet accessible treasure trove of valuable guidance and insight.
May 8th, 2009
Lori
Great advice. I have been tempted to just publish “whatever” on my blog in the hopes of getting more readers, but this post set me straight. Thanks.
May 8th, 2009
Akhila
Great post! I agree and most of all I think we really have to write only what we’re truly passionate about. If you don’t care about what you are writing, no one else will care either. The passion has to shine through and those types of posts will be the most effective.
So true also about letting bad ideas die…I don’t have 30 drafts in my folder but I do have a bunch of ideas that I often discard. My blogs don’t really go viral, in fact I have a hard time determining which of my posts will be popular and which won’t. I am always surprised.
May 9th, 2009
Sarah
Well, it is definitely much easier to write things that matter.
However, to resist from word vomit, this will require a lot of self control.
May 10th, 2009
Jonathan
I’m not sure everyone should heed the 1st suggestion. Many of the greatest writers of the world wrote or do write everyday, whether they felt like it or not.
As Ray Bradbury says, “hard work pays off. If you want to be good, you have to practice, practice, practice. If you don’t love something, then don’t do it.”
Not everything you write is going to be a gem. If its not good, don’t post it, but write. Sometimes you will be surprised, if you just begin writing you might find something great comes out of it.
To quote Bradbury one more time. “Jump off a cliff and build wings on the way down.”
May 10th, 2009
Tess The Bold Life
Everything you say makes sense. I do want to convey that I have “unmissable content.” I just began posting less and more meaningful.
May 11th, 2009
UnderwearGuy
Great article. We’re looking for inspiration for a blog and found this an excellent resource. Keep it up!
May 11th, 2009
Barb Sawyers
Like many others, I loved your point about quality trumping quantity. There is too much trash posted by people who feel pressure to post too often.
One question to you and other bloggers, though: why do you have to write in such long lists? I understand the value of lists and use them myself all the time. But wouldn’t it be better to summarize everything in three to five points, throwing out the least important ones. No one remembers long lists.
May 13th, 2009
Sam Clark
I totally agree – but under work pressure to keep the blog up, I just cannot see how i can fill it following this advice even once or twice a month!
Jun 1st, 2009
evan
Good post, I wrote a complete guide for newbies on how to create your own blog, check it out here: http://creativedesigns.gr/blog
Jun 6th, 2009
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Sep 23rd, 2009
Mark Lowe
Not just relevant for blogs but for those of us looking to create content on any topic for any website, such as personal growth solutions. weight loss motivation etc. Thanks.
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Sep 26th, 2009
John
Please let me know how to create a blog??
Oct 6th, 2009
Mike Consol
Yes! Storytelling. It makes for memorable writing and is totally underused in almost all forms of writing.
As Annette Simmons, author of “The Story Factor” says: “Story is the oldest form of influence in human history and it still the most powerful.”
Oct 24th, 2009
andre
A very very good bunch of advices! I’ll try to use them :-)
Oct 24th, 2009
Hitesh Mehta
Very impressive blog post!
Oct 24th, 2009
Jens Ode
Excellent post. It’s all about storytelling and, as you say, being “insane” and walking the edges. Who would you rather listen to, the ones that repeats stuff or the ones that walks on the edges.
Oct 24th, 2009
Krishna
What I like about this post is the emphasis on the basics. Passion for the writing and putting out really great content – just not churning out posts. Glad you didn’t take a “shortcut” approach to this topic,
In the long run, locating your passion, developing it and being true to it is so much more effective, especially in the online world. Thanks for this.
Cheers,
Krishna
Oct 26th, 2009
TradeProfits
Good ideas. However, what I often see bloggers do, is write way too long posts.As if it is long it must be good. I know how I react when I see blog posts like this; I bookmark them and tell myself I will read it later, but too often this never happens. Killer posts can be short and right to the point. At least you can be pretty sure that more people will actually read what you write..
Dec 29th, 2009
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