This entrepreneur went viral 6 times in one week

Welcome to PROse! This newsletter is all about breaking down the strategy & tactics used in creating the best content on the internet.

Here’s what you can expect each week:

• Genius content you may or may not have seen

• A breakdown of why it works

• Tactics you can employ to create content you’re proud to show family & friends

With that said, let’s jump into today’s edition:

There’s a Twitter user named James who’s gone viral not once, not even three times, but six times… in one week. How am I defining viral? In this case, at least 1m views/impressions per tweet. That is a really high bar.

If you’re like me, the first questions that pop into your head are probably: “who is this guy??”, “he must have 1m followers, right?”, etc. So here’s the scoop.

James is an entrepreneur that sells bonnets (hair coverings that protect from frizz and keeps your hair healthy, for the folks that don’t know 👀). What’s so special about James’ bonnets? They’re non-slip, so no matter what you do, they won’t come off your head. And, he went to great lengths to prove that to potential customers.

Here are just some of the videos he posted proving his bonnets are the definition of non-slip:

Honestly, these videos are insane. Definitely worthy of a “don’t try this at home” disclaimer. But in an age where people have short consideration spans (this is different from the tired “short attention span” trope), you have to go big if you want to go viral.

The result? Over 10m views (so like 30-50m impressions??) in one week. There’s no telling how much revenue his business generated, but it’s likely north of $50k. All thanks to some crazy stunts he filmed on a phone in probably 2hrs total time.

Why does this work?

Part of it’s the fact that it is so wild and dangerous. But there are two other factors: 1) James made a claim and delivered on it & 2) it’s video. Let’s talk about both.

1. Delivering on the promise

Each of these videos included pretty much the same copy:

“I promise y’all will look at my non-slip bonnets differently after this video Part X”

Reading that, you’re immediately drawn to the video.

What is he about to do? What bonnet? Wait, why is there a dog??

It’s captivating, even if you don’t want it to be. But after the copy hooks you, the video delivers. I can barely keep my hat on when the wind blows in Chicago - there’s no way he can keep a bonnet on while climbing a ladder with a trash can tied to it. Oh, but he can!

You go into every one of these videos expecting the bonnets to fail on their promise because the stunts are just so unbelievable. Yet, they never do. That’s A+ product marketing.

2. Video

With all the recent noise about Instagram, you’d think people hate video. But that’s just not true. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all find video more engaging than photos, and definitely more engaging than text. There’s no testimonial James could have posted that would get the same amount of attention or be even half as engaging as those videos.

There’s one rule for making bold claims: show, don’t tell.

What are some takeaways for you?

1. Put your product into action

You may not be able to tie your product to a car. You may not have a physical product at all. But that shouldn’t stop you from showcasing how your product delivers on its promise.

Ask yourself: “what promise do we make to our customers when they buy our product?” Then figure out how you can dramatize that promise. Notion did a great job of this in its latest campaign:

Notion makes the claim that you can use it for any project, task or basically any other type of work you need to do. They drive the point home by leaning into the avalanche of layoffs that have been happening recently—taking you through Erik’s (their hero character) journey from being laid off to planning his next career move. Genius.

2. Lean into humor

Back to that “consideration span” concept I mentioned earlier. We are all inundated with content non-stop, 24/7. The content we actually pay attention to and remember is the content that gets our attention in the first few seconds of consumption. And what better way to get someone’s attention than making them laugh?

If you’re making content for the internet, you need to lean into humor.

Gone are the days of having a boring corporate brand voice. Please hear me, because I’ve tried—it does not work. You need to find a way to mix humor and personality into your content.

Now, don’t get me wrong. You don’t have to literally tell jokes or attempt to be funny. Dry humor is very much in style - just take a look at most of the memes you see online.

One hack I’ve learned for making humorous content: make fun of people’s complaints/struggles. If you need inspiration, look no further than the Prince of Memes himself, Tommy Clark:

If you can do those two things, maybe you too can have six viral videos in one week.

That’s it for this week’s newsletter. Let me know what you think: would you buy one of James’ bonnets after seeing those videos?