Many people have the goal these days of “going viral.”  There are many rewards to going viral, recently a viral video got a man a free truck!   There are many platforms on which you can go viral:  YouTube is perhaps the oldest, Facebook and Facebook Live are very popular, even Vimeo and Reddit, and now Tik Tok is the latest and greatest.

But, what does it take to go viral?  That I can answer in one word:  I don’t know!  I do know speakers, friends, and speaker friends who have tried to go viral, but yet for some reason haven’t.  They’re doing everything right and putting out fresh content on a consistent basis to build frequency and repetition.  They’re building top-of-mind awareness in front of their target market, but they have yet to find that magic spark that will send their video into the millions of views.  Yet, there are others who had no intention of possible fame and fortune, who just wanted relatives to see what their son was like after a dental appointment (still one of the funniest). 

So, my advice would be to quit worrying about going viral.  One thing I do know is that the harder you try to post a video to go viral, the less likely you will.  It seems the most unlikely videos are the ones that catch on and get the millions of views needed to make the morning shows.  It’s far more important to build your business than your ego. Most viral videos are over as soon as the next one comes along.  The national audience is fickle.  If you work towards your target audience, and think long term recognition, you’ll be eating tomorrow and the next day, instead of feasting tonight and famine tomorrow. 

Oh, one way to definitely avoid going viral:  Wear Your Mask!!!  That’s a viral you don’t want to catch!