Tuesday, January 6, 2015

How to make a video go viral...without trying hard

This is about making a video that gets lots of hits organically, meaning not having to promote it or really do anything after you upload the video. Creating a video that gets a lot of views on youtube is actually very simple. It all comes down to the title and thumbnail.

So if your main goal is to create a video that gets lots of views, come up with a title first and then create a video to support that.

Here is a good example of a video with a great title to get views. Every day I get a lot emails from guys that want to move to the Philippines, but most of these guys are extremely naive and have silly and unrealistic ways of thinking. Then it hit me, "Why you should NOT move to the Philippines."

I thought if I did a video and titled it that, it would probably get a lot of views and it would be a great way to set straight a lot of the naive guys that write me.


I am happy with the video both in terms of the number of views it is getting as well as the quality of content. A lot of people have written me to tell me that it has really helped them and a lot of people have subscribed to me and are watching my other videos because they discovered me through this video.

However, any time you create something successful be prepared to get lots of hate. Even though this is a very positive video, it uses a negative sounding title. There is something about negative titles that get people to click. There is a lot of people out there that are looking to be offended,
which is also why this video title Why Filipino Girls like White Men is so successful.


This is a video done as part of my man-on the-street series which is a cool web series I do that gives every day Filipinos a chance to be seen and heard and gives the viewer a chance to see the Philippines and learn about it in a fun way. This particular video also helps promote a movie I starred in.

The title Why Filipino Girls Like White Men is provocative and gets a lot of people to click on it because they are looking and expecting to get offended by it. Many of the people that leave comments on it are black-American men that are reading into the video what they want, thinking I am insulting other races when in fact nothing bad is said about any other races. The girls in the video are merely saying what qualities they think are good about white men.

Many call me a racist, which I am fine with because I am not a racist and I've been called a lot worse. Funny enough, occasionally I respond to them explaining that the reason it is about white men is because I am white and I can draw on my own experiences. It wouldn't be fair for me to speak on behalf of black men. They usually calm down and become a lot more understanding when I take the time to explain this.

My point is you have to decide what you are OK with. If you can't live with being insulted and having negativity hurled your way, that is going to affect the content you make and most likely affect it for the worse. An artist that worries about offending people makes very boring, bland art. And the truth is, any time you get a lot of eye balls on your work, you are going to get hate. Take it as a sign of success.

Also, keep in mind this post is just about what to do if you want lots of views. I don't believe you are going to create the best content if that is your main goal. A lot of the videos I create are done because I love what i'm doing and I feel it is worth putting out. A lot of the time, the videos I do that get the least views are the ones that help people the most.

If every video that is created is just done to get lots of views, we are going to end up only having videos that are dumbed down to cater to the lowest common denominator. Imagine only having shows like the Kardashians or sites like buzzfeed.

I am happy that I create some videos that generate a lot of views but more proud of the content I do that may have a smaller number of views, but help people the most.

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I hope the information in this blog post has helped you and thank you very much for your support.