Full Guide to going Viral as a Purpose-Driven Content Creator in 2024
“I’ve already tried and failed to go viral! It’s so much work, not fun at all and I don’t even care for what I’m talking about!”
I know the feeling.
I assure you that we can convince 10s or 100s of thousands of people to click on our videos or watch them all the way through…
While making those videos about stuff we really care about.
Plus we can attract 1000s of loyal fans who, guess what, will actually buy from us and allow us to potentially go full time making our purposeful content.
Just by doing one simple thing.
Something that you’d only know about if you’re deep within the content creation space…
A crazy and spiritual new way to make reliable income as a content creator, while fulfilling our purpose as human beings.
This is it - SoulHacking
The Way of The Future - Work As Play - SoulHacking
First of all, what is SoulHacking?
SoulHacking is a way to shortcut the process of finding your niche, finding your USP (unique selling proposition) and creating genuine and valuable content that PERFORMS CONSISTENTLY.
Below are the 10 Tenets of SoulHacking
Treat the different stages of this journey like quests. My current quest is to fuck around and become a Life Coach with 100 loyal students.
Know yourself well.
Know what you’ve overcome or have had some success in overcoming.
Go ahead and identify all of your competitors and then come up with creative ways to say that everything “they” talk about is “unfortunately flawed”. Or, just refer to them as “these people online” or something.
You don’t even need to disagree with these other creators. But you’re gonna frame your content and your channel as if it’s fixing flaws in somewhat similar content you’ve seen online or about similar topics. Even if you’re not really saying anything vastly different.
Create 5-15 videos all with a different style of recording. Not really a Tenet. But I tried:
Sitting on the floor.
Sitting in a chair looking casual.
Sitting in a chair looking professional.
Highly edited video
Zero edited video
Aggressive and energetic.
Calm and collected.
Outside.
Walking
ASMR version.
Post in the format that you feel that you can be the most authentic in and provide the most value and entertainment in. For me it’s sitting in a chair looking casual.
Use unique elements in your videos that can be repeated and used as branding. Like I used to always clap at the start of the video and say, “Good Morning”.
Use controversy, intrigue, fear and desire to frame your video packaging (titles, thumbnails, captions, visual).
Give people an “AHA” moment in each video.
A lot of those are self-explanatory, but what about Tenets 2 and 3?
Getting to know yourself and knowing what you’ve achieved, overcome or succeeded at in life?
Since I run a YouTube channel teaching people how to follow their individual life paths and make the most of life, I have a resource to help:
The 10 Q’s To Find Your Purpose, which you can download here.
Besides that, I have an older video here on how to get to know yourself.
If you can get to know yourself, you can answer the following 5 questions to determine what you’ve achieved or succeeded at and therefore what you can primarily make content around solving:
“What was the biggest thing I struggled with before?”
“Where was my breaking point?”
“What was my biggest personal growth change in the past few years?”
“Where was my rock-bottom?”
“What challenges made me who I am today?”
This should be enough.
Points 2 and 3: Finding Your Niche
Your niche will be you. People who’re like you.
So by following the steps we just went through, you can identify what you’re trying to solve for yourself or what you’re passionate about solving or learning.
Here’s 3 ways to summarise how you’ll create content in this way:
Post advice about what you WANT to learn, or about your industry as you work in it. This could also look like posting about how to address a specific problem that you’re passionate about.
Post about how to live the life you want to live. For example how to live a life of frequent travelling.
Post about how to solve the biggest problem(s) that you’ve overcome yourself in the past.
These are purposeful ways to make content. Work as Play.
The Confusion Between Doing What You Love for Work, and Being Passionate About Your Work
Let me compare these two very different things…
Doing what you love would be changing archery as a hobby into getting trained professionally and then competing in the commonwealth games for it. This could turn it into something gruelling for some and a chore and destroy your love for it.
Being passionate about your work could be being passionate about learning a particular topic. Teaching it on YouTube for example is less likely to have the same negative effect as the previous example because it’s all still under your control and you’re still learning by teaching.
I just need you to know this and to make sure that you don’t lose the passion or interest for what you’re doing while you build an online business/channel around it.
So - Your First Quest
Now that you understand how to SoulHack and you have your niche, let’s look at how to go viral…
Writing Titles like a… YouTuber with Loads of Flippin Subscribers
I learnt this from Ali Abdaal
Understand that you’re writing these titles for an AUDIENCE, not an ALGORITHM.
Set up a video Homebase in Notion where you’re gonna have ideas in a “to-do” column, in an “in-progress” column and in a “complete” column. Like so:
Understand the 4 Faces of an Idea
Actionable (here’s how)
Analytical (here are the numbers
Aspirational (yes you can)
Anthropological (here’s why)
Understand the 11 Proven Approaches to Packaging a Video Idea
How to
Lessons learned
Mistakes
Quotes
Ways
Tools
Trends
Stats
Reasons
Examples
(Embarrassing) moments
Understand the main things YouTubers use to hook you in a title:
Numbers
Intrigue
Fear
Desire
Shocking titles
Sexual innuendos
Simple titles that give a “no BS”, raw and authentic feeling.
Now, we’re gonna brainstorm titles that come to mind, while keeping in mind these previous 6 steps to creating good titles. I like to do it in ALL CAPS to prevent overthinking and be fast. And also for me, I “Sometimes do it Like This” if I want to write up higher quality titles but slower and more mindfully. Below is my list of titles brainstormed in 5 mins.
You Won’t Believe How Much More Potential You Have
You Won’t Believe How This Anxious Kid Became Confident
You Won’t Believe How CONFIDENT This Anxious Kid is Now
This Kid Went from Anxious to Absolutely CONFIDENT Overnight
Top 10 Mistakes I Made When Trying to Eliminate Anxiety
Top 10 Least Effective Ways to Eliminate Anxiety
Top 10 Stupidest Mistaks I Made When Trying to Find Purpose
You’re Probably Fixing Your Anxiety in the Worst Possible Way…
Anxiety is Actually One of the Easiest Things to Overcome
Top 10 Most Stupid Mistaks I Made When Trying to Gain Confidence
“This Kid Went from Anxious to Absolutely CONFIDENT Overnight” I literally just chose to be my next YouTube video, and I’ve just made the thumbnail for it. Look!
Now, just know that you’ll get better at this over time. It really is a “knack” and I’ve got far to go myself.
Building Thumbnails to Make People Squirm in Their Seats and Click
I learnt this from Ali Abdaal.
I’ll say it again, you’re building appealing thumbnails for an AUDIENCE… NOT AN ALGORITHM.
Create a Mood Board on Pinterest. Whenever you see a good thumbnail while on YouTube that you think, “I like that and I would do something like that for my channel’, hit the 3 lines and then “share” it to Pinterest where you’ll select your Mood Board and pop it in there. Whenever you need thumbnail inspiration, you can just go into this Pinterest Board and look at the thumbnails you’ve collected.
Image of mine:
Something that’s REVOLUTIONISED the way that I make thumbnails is one simple question: “Does my thumbnail look professional or amateur?” Often times you think your thumbnail looks okay and clickable, but if you stand back and ask this question, most beginners in the social media game will probably realise that their thumbnail does NOT look like any one of the professionals on the platform.
Make your thumbnails stand out from the rest. This means make them somewhat vibrant in colour instead of dull. Or add something vibrant into the picture. Or just make the picture “pop”. Or use vectors, which are arrows or lines of sight based on where a person’s looking or something that makes you naturally look at a second object in the image. Basically you could have one thing mostly noticeable within the thumbnail.
There’s not necessarily any “right” type of thumbnail. It depends on your brand, the niche and the vibe you’re trying to create. So just understand these things.
Now, how do we get VIEWS?
Well, to be fair, about 50% of the job is done with just the thumbnails and titles alone. Or potentially 60% or more if you make even a decent video. So that’s the answer.
But we want to go viral, so we’ll need damn good video content AFTER the person clicks.
So what constitutes a “good” video?
Well the answer is - something valuable and entertaining.
It means that after getting people to click with the title and thumbnail, you keep people watching and develop or improve their impression of you or your channel.
But how do we keep people watching?
One word…
The Hook.
The hook is often mistaken by beginners as the intro… but it’s not.
It’s the first 30 seconds that intrigues and engages the viewer in what answer they could possibly be getting to their problem. I’ll repeat that second part - “in what answer they could possibly be getting to their problem”.
You need to make it clear that you can actually solve whatever problem someone had that made them click on your video.
In fact you should exceed their expectations of what they’d get when they clicked on your video.
Which would look like telling the viewer or beginning to tell them a golden nugget of information that is really valuable and that they wouldn’t have expected.
Or it could just mean making the intro more professional and engaging than the viewer would’ve thought.
Now, what comes after the hook?
That’s right mate, the content itself.
Because the intro isn’t really necessary.
If you do an intro, it should be a sentence or two long about who you are (make yourself seem like an authority in relation to the content), who you help, what you help them achieve and how.
Like, “I’m Riley and I help young people with anxiety and uncertainty figure out what they want in life and how to start taking action towards those things. I went from being too anxious to speak to my best friends, to confident by building mental and philosophical frameworks that I teach here”.
Make a good first impression. Also, the intro above is well and truly too long, but I just wrote it for my own sake.
People may be more inclined to check out the rest of your channel if they understand right away that it’s something they’d find a plethora of value in.
Now just clarifying before we move on, the intro does NOT come before the hook. The hook, then the intro, then the value…
To make “good content”, we’ve got to look at here is how to provide value (or even perceived value) throughout the entire video, how to add a little bit of intrigue into every sentence and how to keep the viewer entertained.
So how do we add value?
Think about, what would help someone solve this problem for the long term?
And, what worked for me?
Then, can this be made simpler?
Explain it like you’re talking to a 10 year old. That level of vocabulary.
Also, make it good enough that people would want to share the video to their friends because it causes an epiphany.
Another way to add value is to be more specific with the content of your videos. Like don’t be afraid to try and get to know your audience as best as possible so that you can use super specific examples.
And remember, when I say get to know your audience, I mean get to know yourself and where you were 4 years ago.
Another example of specificity is using titles.
Like a video about habits to become the musician you want to be, you can build a framework called the “Silent Drummer’s 10 Tools for Playing with Family Around”
Our next part to actually making “good” content, is a question I received from someone in my Discord Community…
How do you decide on how much B-roll to put in your videos?
B-roll, if you didn’t know, is the images and stock footage (yours or online) that go over the top of recorded footage of you talking.
For me, I know that B-roll CAN be more engaging, because it can edited in so many more ways than A-roll (footage of you talking to camera).
So I tend to put boring or lengthy parts under B-roll and voiceover, but then some really fucking crazy and solid lines I just deliver directly to the camera with no music and no editing. It creates this sense of my word being really valuable and worth listening to. And the words that I say in those empty clips become all the more impactful.
Now, the first 30 seconds of my video tend to include footage I’ve taken of myself, but not talking to camera footage. It’s a voiceover with stock footage and stuff I’m doing that relates to the video concept. Or maybe bits of talking to camera but not much. This is because I’m trying to make the first 30 seconds as wildly engaging as humanly possible.
Because once you’ve created the first 30 second segment, the rest of the video can be as raw as you’d like and some people will have already decided after the 30 seconds that they’re gonna watch the whole video.
Basically, you should see a better retention throughout your video after a crazy engaging 30 seconds, then if you made the exact same video with a shittier first 30 seconds.
Now - How do you get viewers on the edge of their seats watching you?
Make your video either a list, a triplet or a story.
First, a list:
Anything can be a list.
Find your purpose by tonight | Mental Anchor Method
Set aside an entire day to do the next 9 steps.
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
Now, the Triplet Method
Structure
A
A
B
C
B
A
B
C
C
A
B
C
Meaning
3 is punchy. You can put 3 things on a thumbnail, it works well in a title because it’s a list but not too many. You should be able to break down your video into 3 distinct parts and then sub-points within each.
Last, the story
What kinds of stories?
Either a Hero’s Journey:
Hero is just a regular dude. Something happens and he ventures out into a big journey. Meets mentors or people at the start or along their journey. Bad and unexpected stuff happens and they’re challenged. They overcome it. They come back or complete the journey changed and grown.
Or a personal story based on stuff that’s actually happened to you.
You can amplify stuff from your life to sound more exciting than it is, if you need to.
Or you can straight up tell lies
It’s just stories that sound real but aren’t true. It doesn’t matter, you’re just using these stories to make a point and educate or inform the audience as well as entertain them, that’s all.
Or you can use hypothetical stories.
Very similar to lying stories, except that these could even be fantasy-based, very obviously not true and you’d probably be transparent in mentioning that the story is a made-up example.
Now - MAKE IT FUNKY
How to add funk to any video
Look at your video structure and the concept you’re teaching with all its components.
Then ask, “if this could be absurdly interesting, intriguing and maybe even controversial, what would it look like?”
Then re write the entire script and how you plan to edit the video under a title, “Most Absurd/Interesting or “damn!” Version of this video”.
An example is where I said a line that went like, “forced reality to morph into my desired state” where I scrunched a piece of paper and then opened my mind to reveal a paper origami bird. Or you can use physical or digital whiteboards and blackboards.
Next, give your viewer dopamine hits alongside the intrigue, all throughout the video.
Making your content seem extra juicy
5 Crazy Content Fruits
These 5 things make content juicy, they are the juiciest fruits
Research: SHOW YOUR WORK and the evidence behind your video’s solutions.
Personal experience: If you’ve got real experience that relates to the video, show it. And try and show that there was some hardship to get this experience.
Money: Financial investment into something makes it sound like it’ll be more interesting and the stakes are higher. And money gets attention.
Time: Show time dedicated. If you can show that the production or a solution within a video took x amount of time to attain, a effect of trust and authority is unlocked much like point number 1 “Research”.
Difficulty: Making your solution sound difficult to have attained in any way. Doesn’t need to be time, doesn’t need to be research. It can be failing and things going wrong and mental struggle.
Make people perceive your content as higher quality
How to do it on a budget
Neat, blurred background. You can just use iPhone 13 and above using cinematic shot. Otherwise, just remove distracting objects from the background or film with yourself in a corner of the room.
Look presentable and speak with confidence.
Have some kind of an external mic. Anything will do.
Use a variety of shots
Curate your video to have appropriate music based on the vibe of your point or the video, and even using silences.
Okay, that was “How to go Viral as a Purpose-Driven Content Creator in 2024” Using SoulHacking.
Obviously, with further detail on doing titles, thumbnails and creating the content itself.
Now if you’re interested in how to make people actually IDENTIFY with your brand like a cult…
Then subscribe to the Peaky Grinders Email Community below and I’ll notify you of my next post on building a brand and a committed community.
Cya!
Riley.
