How I Made Something Go Viral

"Facebook Is For Old People": http://bit.ly/11fieeS

INSPIRATION

So my girlfriend points out a picture on Facebook of a rich friend on a plane with her dog and I'm reading the comments...and I see that of the wife of a famous movie producer, whose story was told in "Vanity Fair."

That's when it hit. If these people are all over Facebook, it's toast, the oldsters have taken over and the young people have left. It'd be like seeing your parents at Pacha, or the Electric Daisy Carnival, you wouldn't be interested in going anymore.

EXPERIENCE

The above inspiration didn't take place in a vacuum. All day long I'm reading about Facebook and using social media. If you think you can write a hit song with no prior experience, you're dreaming. Oh, a monkey could type "War and Peace"...but the odds are low.

Your whole life is useful information. Be ready to mine it.

EXPERIENCE 2

It was 6:35 PM and I had to leave for dinner at 7:30 and I hadn't yet taken a shower. I had to be finished writing by 7, 7:05 at the latest, otherwise my girlfriend would not be happy.

Yes, I can write that fast. And reread that quickly. I reread everything twice, first for content, second for minutiae, like spelling errors. I change almost nothing. Because I've learned over time that whenever I do this, I screw it up. Like Fleetwood Mac sang, trust your first initial feeling. Give it to us unvarnished. Don't be coy, don't understate, go full bore.

Furthermore, I can write this fast and this cogently because I've been doing it for so long. Experience counts.

INITIAL FEEDBACK

Was minimal. It was Saturday night, but...

Don't judge the success of your project instantly. Success is always a beat behind, it takes a while to percolate.

Furthermore, don't honor the initial feedback, which tends to be knee-jerk. The sycophants and the cranks respond first. Most reasonable people never respond. An artist is in the eye of the hurricane, he's clueless as to what's really going on. Just do your best work and...

THE NEXT MORNING

Sign-ups to my mailing list were growing in leaps and bounds. I couldn't figure it out, hell, I wasn't even sure which article triggered it!

Then I read my Twitter feed. Barry Ritholtz had reposted my e-mail.

Barry's a prominent Wall Street guru. You can see him on TV, read his books, read his blog. We've never met in real life, never talked on the phone, he reposted my piece because...you'll have to ask him!

And Barry's audience is different from mine. Suddenly, I wasn't in the echo chamber any longer, I'd crossed over.

THE FOLLOWING MORNING

The Boy Genius Report posted my e-mail. I know no one there. I'm not a religious reader. I found out about it by Googling myself (doesn't everybody?) And then as the hours went by, I saw the link tweeted over and over again.

TODAY

Allthingsd.com posted a quote from the article. Allthingsd is the most credible tech website out there. I wouldn't say Kara Swisher, one of its partners, sees eye to eye with me, so she certainly wasn't reposting as a favor, hell, she might still take it down!

I also got, and this was not the first time re this Facebook article, a request to reprint it on a site I'd never heard of.

CHATTER

Most of the chatter is happening outside my traditional loop. But I've also gotten e-mail hipping me to this virality. You see people are on my team. Instead of playing to those who don't care, satiate those who do.

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

The article was really damn good. Yup, I'm owning it. That's why it went viral.

And also because it was about Facebook.

But was any of this in my mind when I concocted it, when I wrote it?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I almost didn't put fingers to keyboard. Time was too tight. I was burned out. I felt whatever I did would have little effect. But I was overcome with inspiration, and I just had to lay it down.

So...

Want success?

Work hard and don't plan for it. Woodshed, but be attuned to inspiration. Do your best to ring the bell and know you have no control over what spreads and what doesn't.

CONCLUSION

I'm thrilled to have all these new subscribers. But do I think they'll stick? Doubtful. Some may be intrigued by my act, but others just aren't interested in music or skiing or the other myriad subjects I write about.

But I'm not changing for them, that's death.

I'm gonna keep playing to you!

Nah, I'm gonna keep playing to me! Because if I get lucky and nail it...the personal is universal.


"Facebook Is For Old People": http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/06/facebook-is-for-old-people/

"Acclaimed critic says 'Facebook is for old people'": http://bgr.com/2013/06/03/facebook-demographics-analysis-lefsetz/

"Don't Trust Anyone On Facebook": http://allthingsd.com/20130603/dont-trust-anyone-on-facebook/


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