The curse of going viral

Rant incoming in 3, 2, 1…

Virality can be a curse.

When you're not expecting to go viral, when you're not expecting something to blow up at all, and now your life has changed - you're pushed into this limelight around something you probably don't want to be associated with.

How do you then dig into that?

How do you even build something from it?

It's very difficult.

You're really just trying to squeeze as much money as you can out of that situation.

But then that's going to come at the cost of longevity.

The inevitable crash

We've all been online long enough to have seen it play out the same way over and over.

(1) Someone goes viral

(2) They try to monetise it fast

(3) Launch a product

(4) It crashes and burns

That's almost the inevitability of it when you're chasing a moment.

There's this pressure to make money quickly.

To take your opportunity while it's there.

I get that entrepreneurial spirit, of course.

But then also - what can you genuinely or thoughtfully build around a viral moment?

The fact that anyone manages to squeeze even a podcast or some level of IP out of these situations is actually pretty impressive.

But where do you go from there?

I don't know, is the truth.

I would not want that job.

The lesson

This is why I'm always banging on about building something sustainable.

Not chasing viral moments.

Not hoping for your 15 minutes.

Because when those 15 minutes come - and you're not prepared - you're stuck trying to monetise something you can't control.

The upper echelon of creator businesses are built on consistent connection over a sustained period time, often a very very long time.

On owning your audience, not renting attention from an algorithm.

On creating value that lasts beyond the meme cycle (which is becoming shorter and shorter as the days goes on).

And when you have that audience - whether you're the CEO of Salesforce, or a music artist signed to a label, or a footballer - you're able to build incredible businesses out of it.

But you build it properly.

Not off the back of a viral moment you didn't see coming.

You build it with intention.

So that when the moment comes - and it will - you're ready for it.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest!

Remember, the creator mindset is all you need to grow 🌱

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