Why Going Viral Is The Wrong Goal. Here’s A Better Way To Get 1M Views
At 27 years old, I accumulated more writing accolades than most professional writers.
I remember back when I was seventeen (2007), I had one of the most-read gaming strategy blogs on the Internet. The story I always tell is that I was sitting in my first journalism class of college, at arguably one of the top journalism schools in the country, the University of Missouri, and the professor started explaining that this new thing called “blogging” would never become a thing.
In the massive auditorium of five hundred plus students, I raised my hand.
“I disagree,” I said, my brown hoodie zipped up to my neck with my laptop open on my lap.
The professor raised an eyebrow and the sea of students turned all eyes on me.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say that in order for a blog to even approach the realm of professional, the blogger would need at least ten thousand people reading his or her blog every day,” he said.
The class started to laugh along with him. Ten thousand readers. A decade ago, that sort of independent audience was practically unheard of.
I raised my hand again.
