No music. No intro. This is the The Morgan Snyder Show.
Last week, I talked about how one of my posts went viral.
77 k people watched it show up in their LinkedIn feed.
Some appropriately laughed at the ridiculous situation, while others were outraged and felt the need to give their relationship advice.
If you’d like a good chuckle, please go to my LinkedIn page or listen to the last episode.
You’ll get to see a whole spectrum of humanity.
As I watched it happen, I couldn’t help myself from wanting to do it again.
Because dopamine—people seeing me, sending me connection requests, getting DMs from friends and strangers telling me I’m CRUSHING IT on LinkedIn.
When a post hits like that, it feels good.
So what did I do?
I had an idea for triggering people in Utah. Cause that’s the goal, of course!
I would mix nonfiction (our family buying a new home) with fiction (The Y on the curb was from Yale instead of BYU).
I would pretend that I was a Yalie, and that in moving to our new neighborhood, my primary goal was to establish my superiority because I “went” to an Ivy League school.
I started writing the post in my mind. I let it sit for a few days. I manifested to the universe that it would go viral.
I got this intense feeling that it would perform well, like I was able to look out into the ocean of potential viewers and see their reaction. I was very confident.
Because to me, it was just math:
joke + everyone’s favorite college + bragging + Utah =
a great LinkedIn post.
I could see it happening.
Viewers wouldn’t be able to resist. They would feel obligated to comment on this post.
They would correct me, they would belittle me, they would make fun of me.
Turns out, I was right.
My post from yesterday is just over 33 k views, and like last week, random people are coming out of their LinkedIn stalker caves, keyboards ready to comment.
Now, having two posts in one week break the 100 k view ceiling IS NOT the norm for me.
I’m not in the 1% of the 1%, and I don’t think I’m doing anything novel or revolutionary.
Like I mentioned last week in quoting the creative director from Duolingo:
I’m trying to win the internet.
What are you willing to sacrifice?
I recently attended a marketing summit here in Utah.
Naturally, new and old friends talked to me about content and writing.
I got the usual responses, ranging from “I just don’t have any time to write” to “what’s the point of writing online because it doesn’t produce the results I want.”
I pushed back. I asked them what they’ve tried, how they’ve experimented—is there something irresistible that they could talk about?
Many were self-deprecating. “I’m just not that person.”
What? What does that mean?
I spent the day translating these types of answers. When you peel back what they’re communicating, what are they really trying to say?
I could be wrong, (I’m not a psychologist) but I think in the majority of cases, people are deathly afraid of being judged.
They don’t want to get outside of that comfort zone of simply scrolling instead of speaking.
They are afraid of what a few people might think.
They have a very negative framing for what writing online can accomplish.
They don’t want to win the internet, because of all the real and imagined consequences of putting yourself out there.
It’s the unknown.
So, like anything else that we’re afraid of, it’s better to NOT try.
Stay the same. Don’t tell the story. Push the post to another day.
I was in a seminar a few weeks ago where the question was asked,
“What are you willing to sacrifice to become the person you know you should be?”
Pretty profound, right? Gets you all tingly.
I think the same thing should be asked of leaders and executives who are hesitant to hit publish.
Are you willing to sacrifice your comfort or your ego?
Are you okay with voicing a real opinion or exploring satire?
Because that’s what it takes.
You have to say something that grabs their attention and pulls them into the special thing that you’re building.
Remember:
You’re not just fighting against other people in the social media feed.
The real competition, the stuff that’s pulling the eyes and ears of your potential customers, it’s Netflix, email notifications, and…certain kinds of websites…if you get my drift.
There is no time for celebratory milestone posts, unless you just raised money from the biggest and baddest VCs in the world and you’re flexing on everyone.
You have seconds to snatch them. And if you don’t, they’re moving on.
The Costs of Losing the Internet
I can hear a few of you right now:
“Easy for you to say, Morgan! This is your job! You get paid to write people’s posts! Of course you’re going to lecture us about sacrificing our pride because you want us to be your next customer!”
You caught me. 😏
But that’s only part of the picture.
I’m so adamant about this because it has transformed my life.
A few years ago I was struggling to survive, and taking my little family down with me. I was a Spanish teacher, wrestling coach, curriculum writer, odd job guy, and barely making enough to cover our bills.
I’m not getting into all that nonsense today. I only bring it up to remind you that this is very personal to me.
So what are the costs? What are you missing out on?
I think everyone knows the basics:
* brand awareness
* missed opportunities for sales and leads
* reputation control
* connections and relationships
And then there’s silence.
No one is talking about you and your business. There’s no energy circulating about what you’re doing. There’s no leadership directing a movement.
It’s a static website that hasn’t been touched. It’s a LinkedIn profile that posted 9 months ago about a conference they were at.
It’s like a giant billboard has been constructed that reads, “Welcome to Boringsville, USA!”
Plus, silence is a signal of stagnation. Oooo gotta love that alliteration!
Think about when you ask a friend how they’re doing and they say, “Ok.”
Then you have another friend who says, “Oh my gosh, you’re not going to believe what happened to me today.”
Who do you want to spend time with? The one with the interesting story.
Similarly, if you want people to spend time with you, you’ve got to have a good story to tell.
Social media is basically free, and you have the chance to experiment and test constantly.
Every day you’re on X, LinkedIn, Substack, wherever you post your content, it’s another chance to get eyeballs on what you’re up to.
Take advantage of it!
To close, I’ll ask you the question that I ask all the reluctant execs I come across, the ones who have no desire to write and get themselves out there:
Would you rather have a million views per year or zero?
All it takes is a few posts per week.
Beautiful things will happen as you try and win the internet.
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Want to talk shop on all things writing online? You can find time with me at morgansnydercopywriter.com or send me a DM on LinkedIn.
My friends: keep writing, keep publishing, and I’ll see you next time.