Lighting The Fuse

The key to effectively build a string of mini-explosions is to reach the individuals that have reach and influence beyond your own. Actually, it is more than just reach and influence. They also have to be willing, able, and motivated to share your message with others that they think will benefit from what you have to say. No problem, then. All you have to do is find those people that find your content so compelling that they are willing to share your information (sometimes at a risk to their personal and/or professional reputation) with other people in which they have some level of influence.

Piece of cake, right?

Not exactly.

These people are often called “Sneezers” because they help spread your content/message...creating the viral effects of social media. They are hard to identify and reach. Even if you could identify them, their attention would be very difficult to get as there would be significant competition.

The BIG question, then, is how do we reach and motivate these Sneezers and get them to help spread your content. First, and foremost, you have to have something they care about. For example, my Mom would not be a Sneezer for this post about social media, but if I was writing about cooking a Bundt cake, she would be a great Sneezer. So you have to target your content to the right communities of individuals. The key is to not be too narrow. Since you may not know who the Sneezer will be, you will have to cast a big net.

The next step is motivation. Why would a Sneezer feel compelled to share your content? This really comes down to being part of communities that share a common purpose. LinkedIn Groups are wonderful examples of these types of communities. I belong to some very large groups, as well as some pretty small groups. The smaller groups are more narrowly focused, but tend to be more passionate about the topic. The larger groups have a smaller percentage of active participants, but those that are active tend to have broader sphere of influence.

The graphic below shows how this would work. The mini-explosions occur within each community as a Sneezer reaches another community…one in which he/she has some influence. In turn, another Sneezer reaches another community. The process continues as long as the content has some value to the next community. The mini-explosions create the viral effect of social media because you have successful caught the attention of the Sneezer who is motivated to share.