Business owners want to know how to attract the right people, and blogging is the best way to do it.
But is it as easy as publishing a few blog posts every week? Is it as easy as those other people say, “Just write good content, and…”
Absolutely not. Especially not now.
You see, the secret to building a blog with a raving fan base thats ready to buy what you sell has nothing to do with how much content you create.
Instead, has to do with how good you are getting your content into the hands of more people.
That’s why I always tell people that I spend 20% of my time creating content, and 80% of my time promoting it.
Unfortunately, this made people confused. They thought, “you’re just rushing out bad content and promoting that? You NEED GOOD CONTENT!”
Of course you do. When I say 80/20, that doesn’t mean you rush out bad content. It means you spend 1 week on one piece of content, and 4 weeks promoting it.
But here’s the thing…
If you want to promote your content, which I’ll show you more about on Monday next week, you need to promote the right content.
You need to promote content that’s both good…
…and tailor-made to go viral.
Not baby biting fingers viral, but viral within your community.
And that’s why I put together this presentation slide deck. It’s in PDF form. And you can have it as my gift to you.
Prefer the PDF download? Here’s the link.
This PDf presentation was based on a popular video I posted for Social Triggers TV. So we hired a professional slide designer, and turned it into this beautiful presentation that you can download, and reference today and for years to come.
I suggest you grab it right now and you’ll learn the 7 things that make content go viral.
Plus, keep an eye out for an email from me next week. You see, the smartest business owners spend 80% of their time promoting content,a nd 20% of their time creating it. And I’ll show you how to do it.
I’ll also announce the opening of my blog course that’s perfect for business owners who are looking to attract more people online.
So grab the PDF, and I’ll write to you next Monday.
And in the mean time, what was your BIGGEST insight from this PDF? Leave a comment.
My big takeaway was the Controversial segment.
A lot of people, if they’re not careful, will overshoot their “controversialness” … until it then falls within the “Highly Controversial” camp.
I immediately related to those case study results—I personally stay away from those types of Facebook posts… once I comment, and get the inevitable barrage of notifications of the following post engagements, it’s just mentally draining. So I just avoid them. Makes sense many others do too.
Thanks Derek for the info! The most important tip is the entertainment tip, IMHO!
I like your 20/80 rule, more time promoting than writing. Considering several viewers will only skim your article or glance through the content, this seems more strategic than ever. On this Speaking of Wealth podcast I am constantly hearing advice on marketing and creating content, but I really enjoyed this blog on actually getting your material to go viral!
Finally some thing that makes sense.
I just had to say a big Thank You after reading the post and finishing the book.
Hey, I came here looking for some info on really expensive salad dressing and all I found was how to make something go viral. Just kidding, of course. Thanks for the great slides. Really helpful to keep this all in mind.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! It seems that every book, article, or “guru” say’s the same damn thing – “Content is King.” Really! It’s no secret that you have to be different, be engaging, and give people what they want to go viral.
Great article!
Scott Campbell
Hi Derek, Just downloaded the pdf.
A viral content attract more comments and as well more traffic, if you have a great content without it reaching more audience, is like writting it for yourself and seems like a time wastage and, getting it viral makes it more useful.
I really appreciate these slides
What stood out for me is the thing that project how people want to be to friends. These are good tips I can’t wait for next Monday.
This is AWESOME!!!!! Loved the Food Babe example for sharing things that matter. Touching people on an emotional level with a topic that affects the masses just makes sense and comes naturally if you’re speaking from the heart! Thanks for the pdf… it will 100% come in handy!
Kimberly
Thank you so much for the slideshare, it was extremely helpful. Now time to start implementing what I just learned, which was… $150 Salad Dressing, wait, seriously?
I love that even in a pdf I can hear you shouting. Great info – thank you!
Thanks for delivering high quality content as always, Derek!
I really like that you explain the part about to use 20 % of the time to make content and 80% to promote your content.
It is also good to see that you specify that it has to be great content. What is the point at sharing content that is not your best? That would be like puking on your tribe, and peoples BS alert will catch it right away.
Two quick questions for you, Derek:
1. How long do you spend on writing a blog post (average time included research)?`
2. How many hours do you work per week?
Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
Tor Refsland
Awesome slides.
I usually run away from articles about virality but this one I actually found useful.
I can’t wait to try the “controversy” tip. I read about it before but never put it into action.
Hi Derek
Great, I think my subject matter is too controversial, so I am testing things through IG, and my Facebook site, I need to reduce the tone a bit, so I am working on this part before I go ahead. Thanks for this, have a great day.
Hey Derek, honestly dude, you know your sh..! I would have to say slide 37 because it’s true. However this was on Youtube. The Gangnam style video had so many likes, my friend wanted to check on it to see how many hits it had. It had so many he liked it just to add towards it!
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simply love that hilarious 150$ salad dressing picture.haha
This is awesome. I always feel like I need to keep creating content on a regular basis… But what’s the point if no one’s looking at it? And when you’re just pumping out run-of-the-mill content which takes up all your free time outside of your full time job you lose the motivation to continue. I need to create something epic! Then spend 4 times as much time getting it out there.
What stands out for me is how you reinforced the bonus tip about the fact that people share what is repeated.
I don’t know what is happening in that first picture of the slide deck but I like it. Thanks for the great resources, as usual.
Awesome slideshow thanks Derek.
The one thing Im a bit confused about regarding the 80/20 thing and writing for one week then promoting it for 3 is that there seems to be a lot of info there about regularly posting to your blog for google/seo benefit.
I see many sharing research about consistently posting at least once a week to build up credibility and authority throughout Google and seo.
Don’t go along is what I meant to say!!!
haha no problem!
And thanks for the insights Mike.
I’ve been doing more guest blogging and trying to promote but still want to keep to a weekly posting schedule for consistency/discipline and I make sure I put a lot into my posts. So I like once a week as opposed to churning out something average 3-4 times a week.
I also know this is a time game as opposed to overnight so hopefully Ill have built up a good depth of quality content on my site as the months go by and attract higher quality fans/subscribers
Thanks again!
Where/how do you guest blog? I’ve been looking for blogs to submit my work to, but I’m coming up short.
Jamie,
I’m no Derek Halpern, he is the master at marketing and I have much to learn from him. However, while good organic SEO is important, getting people to your site is one thing. What happens when they get there is another. Lot’s of web sites get good traffic, but it’s like the dog that catches the car; now what? I would rather have a thousand visits with a 50% conversion rate than ten thousand visits with a 1% or 5% conversion rate. I think the point is to maximize the good content you create. Make it evergreen so that it remains relevant. And promote your high value content to the max, rather than flood your blog with less than wonderful content on a daily basis. Yes SEO is important, but it is a corrupted cottage industry with rapidly changing rules and best practices. Building your list correctly is what I have gotten out of Social Triggers. Do go along with what you hear everywhere else, this is the place to be.
So Derek,
While in the midst of clearing the deck of less than perfect clients, I am ready to go back and review the SYBR training I purchased a few months ago. How is your new training product different?
I like what you did there at the end with the bonus slide. People Remember Things That Get Repeated, and People Share Things They Remember.
After repeating that, everybody better remember! And they better share it. It was repeated, and remembered, and the remembering to repeat it was so we would remember to share it.
It was good that you remembered that, Derek! 😛
Great information on the SlideShare (thanks!), but I had real problems trying to read any dark-colored fonts on dark backgrounds.
Man I miss New York when you mention it…
Anyway, awesome post or presentation as always Derek! You’re take on the Internet marketing niche, or market if you will, has inspired me to apply a similar strategy to my business. I believe that my market lacks case studies and detailed research, so I will try this approach and see how it goes.
What’s the worst that can happen? I can fail miserably, but that will only give me an opportunity to try something else!
Have a good one!
Karl Karrlander
And New York misses you too Karl! Love your attitude 😀 “What’s the worst that can happen? I can fail miserably, but that will only give me an opportunity to try something else!”
Like a previous commenter, I’ve been astonished at which of my posts get the most traffic. A flimsy little 300 word article which I published on a whim got half a million views in 3 days … while other reports which I really work my ass off to produce get little to no attention.
There’s a formula, which Derek has laid out on this post, which I’m still struggling to identify in my particular niche, but it’s there and if I can isolate it for future posts, it’s gonna be on! 🙂
I’m not one to comment on blog posts, but this was worth me saying that I LOVED IT! Biggest takeaway…STAND THE F**K OUT! Oh, and I loved the slides;)
Hey Derek excellent SlideShare! I thought it was a very good change of pace from the videos and written blog posts.
My biggest insight from this would be to make sure that my content offers some entertainment value in addition to practical value. After watching your videos and reading your other blog posts, I’ve learned that providing useful content doesn’t have to be dry or boring.
Back in college I was so used to writing in such an “academic” tone (using big words, writing in complete sentences and complete paragraphs, etc.) that it’s been an adjustment in “writing for the web.”
When “writing for the web,” whether it’s content in emails, blogs, etc., it’s ok to be informal. I’ve been learning more and more to write in a way that not only informs and provides value, but also entertains. You do an excellent job of this in your videos Derek.
AWESOME AWESOME post! LOVE your tips and LOVE the look of the PPT! THANK YOU!
Great content, Derek. Call me [whatever] but I got hung up on your formula for formula creation vs. promotion. Wouldn’t 1 week out of 4 be 25%, not 20%?
I think Derek was saying 1 week creating content PLUS 4 weeks promoting it, for a total of 5 weeks…
The best part of this is that at the end of the deck, Slideshare recommends six additional presentations about salad dressing. LOL. Great post!
the only guide i read that proved viral content is not by chance, but because of certain reasons.
the biggest takeaway was practical value method… love the “what are you struggling with” question. after you explained it, it makes a lot of sense.
Virality is extremely dependent on your audience. Understanding who they are, what their tendencies are and what they are looking to share/engage on is a great reference point.
For example, my fitness site focuses on what is practical value Tip #3 (dissecting difficult workout trends and streamlining it into digestible information for my audience).
This approach helps weed out a crowded stream of fitness blogs, into my own niche.
Know your audience and then have laser focus on the tips (Derek shares) that matte most to them…
Do something different than the competition and promote your blogs great content!
Hey Derek,
Kudos on publishing your first SlideShare! Looks great. (And you picked a great video to repurpose!)
– Kevin
It’s so hard to figure out what actually WILL go viral and what won’t. Some of my “worst” videos I find are the ones with 150K views +, and some of my best get a mere 10K. It’s a crazy phenomenon, but I’ve found that 20% of all of my videos go viral – so there is something to be said for pumping out a good amount of content (as well as promoting it).
Great stuff Derek.
Your opinion for publishing fewer on your blog and writing more for other blogs is a surefire way to garner qualified traffic and improve brand. I like the video and just download the PDF report. Will consume it tonight when I get home. Keep the fire burning Derek.