There’s no one more qualified to write about viral writing than me.
I’ve posted hundreds of pieces of viral content across six different social media platforms. I’ve racked up 1B+ content views as a result. So it’s no coincidence I must know something about this topic.
There are subtle differences between viral writing and boring writing that no one reads, which earns $0.
If you can figure out how to increase your views, get more shares of your posts & collect email subscribers, you can easily make 6-figures a year from writing. I’m doing 7-figures. People in my network are doing 8-figures.
Here are the principles of viral writing.
Actually give a sh*t about the reader
You know why most writers fail?
They only think about themselves. It’s all about what they can get out of the content. It’s how much money it’ll earn them. It’s the vanity metrics it’ll create.
I retired in 2021 from my career. I couldn’t give a damn if something goes viral or not. The reason I write is to be helpful and to inspire strangers. Anything else that might happen is a bonus, not a focus.
See the difference?
Stop being selfish. Writing isn’t about you. As soon as readers catch on you’re one of these uncommon types of writers, they’ll share your work like psychopaths and build you up. It’s a paradox.
Nail the headline/hook or go home
If you’re afraid of the clickbait word you’ll never go viral.
A headline is only clickbait if it fails to deliver on the promise. And no writer can ever predict if they’ll deliver on their promises because they’re not a freaking fortune-teller with magical Harry Potter powers.
Spend 50% of your writing time on the headline.
Don’t make the headline an after-thought. Nail it. Write it. Rewrite it. Sprinkle some power words on top.
Most of all, make the headline look uncommon.
Generic stuff gets skimmed over. So do headlines that have been overused or sound like a writer pyramid scheme. The most viral content has great headlines. Find me something that went viral with a bad headline. I’ll wait.
Aim to be semi-controversial or semi-polarizing
Notice how I said semi?
You don’t need to throw mud at the Donald Duck president or make love to a cow. Just make your writing a tad spicy. The difference is easy to explain.
- Overly controversial writing picks a fight with people.
- Semi-controversial writing makes a stand on a topic.
This technique works because it ethically grabs attention and doesn’t make you look like a $2 an hour Uber driver.
Grabbing attention ethically isn’t enough
Sucks, I know.
Attention is a more precious resource than 99% of writers realize, so don’t waste it on these things:
- 20-minute intros
- Long explanations
- Unnecessary disclaimers
Just get to the point. Read that again.
Assume every word or sentence could cause the reader to click away. Respect the reader’s time and you’ll earn more than a dime per article.
Writing without a clear benefit doesn’t get read (sorry)
Make your content focused on the fact readers are self-interested. Answer the question “what’s in it for the reader” in every essay or article.
Don’t fluff about.
The other solution is to spark a reader’s curiosity. If you do that they can’t NOT read your work. Open a loop in their brain then close it in your content.
Self-interest and curiosity are the two drivers of magnetic writing that people find irresistible.
If the formatting looks bad, the content is bad
That’s how readers think.
Here’s what makes your writing look terrible:
- Disclaimers
- Long links
- Affiliate links
- Too many links
- Too much self-promotion
- Too many images in the body of the text
- Big-a$$ call-to-actions at the end of the story
- Huge paragraphs you can’t read on a tiny phone screen
Viral writing is simple. The benefits are clear. You don’t have to put lipstick on a cow and enter her in a beauty contest to get attention.
You let the ideas stand for themselves. You let the research and pre-thinking you’ve done lead to basic wisdom readers find helpful.
People outside of the niche read it
Writers obsess over niches like it’ll make them luckier than Warren Buff-Man Buffett and earn them billions of dollars.
Viral writing kicks the idea of a niche in the balls.
Why? Because it brings readers in from outside of the niche. One example from my life is the niche of parenting. I don’t read this topic, even though I have a 1-year-old pooper staining my nice carpets 24/7.
But recently I saw a headline that said “Youtube knows more about your children than you do.” Even though I hate the topic I clicked it like a madman and read to the end. That’s what viral writing does.
Transcend the niche. Make people give a f*ck.
Read the room of each social media platform
Every social media app is a different country with its own culture.
Going viral on X is not the same as LinkedIn, for example. Yet inexperienced writers copy and paste the same crap all over the internet and wonder why it doesn’t work.
If a post went viral on one platform then do some research. Understand how it might work on another platform. Search the keywords. Look up the topic. Then rewrite the original post.
But don’t copy and paste like a lazy a$$. That doesn’t work because effort is always rewarded more than cheap hacks.
Final Thought
Writing is more fun when you reach a decent number of people.
Stop writing for an audience of one and making excuses like “there’s no money to be made from writing or newsletters.” This is just a cope that’s keeping your broke.
Your writing gets shared widely when you’re selfless.
