Another Take on Getting Videos to Go Viral

Over Thanksgiving this past year we published a controversial guest post by Dan Ackerman Greenberg called “The Secret Strategies Behind Many ‘Viral’ Videos” that explained how certain steps can be taken to make amateur videos hosted on YouTube achieve massive amounts of page views.

YouTube comedian Kevin Nalty (you may know him from Farting in Public) has just posted a much lengthier piece called “How to Become Popular on YouTube (Without Any Talent)” that also gives advice on how video producers can get their content to go “viral”. While there are overlaps in their suggestions (make the videos short and sweet), his take on things is less controversial than Dan’s since he doesn’t focus on a set of tricks that can get videos highlighted on YouTube’s “Most Viewed” page. Rather, he explains how individual performers can create attractive content, build a respected following on YouTube, and avoid certain pitfalls.

Not only is the advice different but the intentions are as well. Whereas Greenberg’s strategies come from someone who runs a firm focused on maximizing the ROI of its clients, Nalty warns against getting into viral video production for either fame or immediate profit. One choice quote: “If I divided the revenue Iʹve made from online video by the time Iʹve invested, my payback would be less than minimum wage.”

The differences in intent have largely to do with their sources of revenue. Whereas Greenberg gets paid directly by large corporations, Nalty makes money from most of his videos through YouTube’s Partners Program (although he’s not allowed to state how much he actually makes through it). He does make some decent money from the production of sponsored videos that promote a certain product or brand. But his “hope of entertaining people” seems to be the largest factor motivating him…at least for now as he works on YouTube videos part time and waits for the advertising possibilities for amateur video to improve.

We’ve embedded Nalty’s 34-page “eBook” below, and you can download it here.