viral post Archives -

Social Media Question? “It Depends” is the Right Answer!

Why do social media “experts” always say “it depends!” as an answer to every question?What the heck? Don’t they have the real answer? Well, yes, they do. But the answers usually have so many variables that you can’t get an answer without providing more details. So when they say “It Depends,” they’re not lying to you. They’re telling it from their viewpoint. Here are some examples.

Can My Post Go Viral?

Sure it can! That’s not to say that it will. But you can prepare the groundwork by doing your best writing, having a terrific image or five to go with that post, and posting at a good time. However, most posts don’t go viral! You can increase your odds with an aww-worthy cat sitting atop that widget you sell, or making it controversial, both of which might detract from your trustability. Will it go viral? It depends!

How Soon Will I See Results?

If you’re selling real estate in North Dakota, that might take longer than if you’re selling iPhone covers in Cupertino. There’s a huge range. Maybe you’ll see results after two weeks, maybe it’ll take two months. Or in some cases, two years. Again, it depends.

Where Should I Look for Content?

Who’s your audience? Do you know their age, their location, and their interests? The more you know about them, the easier it will be to answer this question. Without knowing who your audience is, there’s no way to know. And in the beginning, you may need to take an educated guess! Once you can pinpoint that audience, you’ll know more about what to post.

How Do I Make People More Involved?

It depends! If you’ve figured out who your ideal audience is, then you’ll know what’s important to them. That information, in turn, will make your chances of getting them involved higher. Perhaps your audience isn’t the type to comment on posts, though. So your first goal might be to get a few “likes.”

What Unanswered Questions Do You Have?

If you’ve been trying to get answers, the best you might get is more questions. Leave me a question and I’ll answer it with a question! And thank you.

Headline Writing: 10 Reasons it’s a Pain in the Asterisk

You have a perfect topic for your next blog post. You go out and take a million beautiful photos, all photoshopped and sized just right for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest cross-posting. Then you suddenly realize: you don’t have a headline! Has this ever happened to you? Here’s why headline writing is so tough!

Everybody Says to Spend More Time on Headlines

Your headline is the first thing people see. In fact, some people will retweet or report that snazzy article of yours without even reading it. Not convinced by me? Read these articles, then (Copyblogger says to spend 50% of your time writing the headline):

So there’s a lot of pressure to come up with something grand.

A Good Headline Can Help Your Post Go Viral

A Good Headline Can Create a Viral Post

If you haven’t read my When Posts Go Viral: Four Lessons, you might want to take a look. A controversial headline (for instance, Is it Time to Quit Facebook?) can spark people’s emotions and cause a small or large furor. Again, no pressure (just kidding!).

Headline Writing: Your Words Need to Be Perfect

Your Words Need to Be Perfect

Like a good tweet, a good headline needs to have all the right elements. It can’t be too short or too long. The important words need to be near the beginning of the headline. And you need to include “power words,” like “secret” and “magic.” And so on. Is that not a pain in the asterisk?

Because Traffic Blah Blah Blah

Every blogger wants traffic, right? When that post you wrote explodes all over the Interwebs, your blog gets a boost, you get more followers, and that 15 minutes of fame will follow you from platform to platform. So that’s another reason you have to get it right.

You Can’t Outsource It

Everybody has outsourced everything. I’m surprised we don’t remove our own hair and ship it to the Philippines (no disrespect to anyone in the Philippines–it’s just something I’d prefer to do myself). But if you want your post to be in your own words, then you have to do the work yourself.

Pain Points: Sisyphus, via Beth Scupham

Pain Points

Your audience experiences pain, just as you experience pain when you try to write a headline. So you want that headline to draw your reader in. The headline has to be magnetic enough so people will want to read it. It might be fun to write, but if it’s not fun to read? Fuhgetaboutit!

I’m Trying to Think But Nothing Happens!

You Thought You Were Done

You outlined that article, got your topic sentences down, have all kinds of good images, and now you have to come up with a headline? Are you kidding?

The World is A Noisy Place

The world is getting noisier, and more crowded. The Internet has more people competing for the same space. So your headline has to be the juicy, juicy hamburger, and not the bun! It has to stand out.

Headline Writing: Your Headline is the Juicy Meat, Not the Bun

When You Try to Think, Nothing Happens

You can only come up with one-word headlines, or headlines that don’t make sense. If you think they’re boring, what will your readers think?

Always keep one eye open. You never know who’s lurking.

You Come Up with a Perfect Headline and Someone Steals it

It’s not a very good feeling, is it? But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then is stealing even more flattering? I don’t think so.

*And you know what that asterisk really stands for, right?

Headline Writing: 10 Reasons it’s a Pain in the Asterisk*