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The #1 Secret Ingredient For Making Your Product or App Go Viral

by sparkah
4 replies
I was surprised and disillusioned when I first learned the biggest reason anything -- product or software goes big is due to something I didn't have:

Network.

I didn't know that Steve Jobs asked the worlds top 412 programmers to start building apps for the iPhone when it was called "secret project purple." That was 2 years before it launched.

I didn't know that PSY asked the top dance choreographers in the world to consult on "Gangnam Style" before it hit youtube. As soon as it did, the top choreographers in the world shared it on their Facebook saying, "I taught PSY this move at 2;13."

I didn't know that NYAN CAT had hundreds of people in a Deviant Art community contribute to the design of that viral video. And just the one designer is making all the money off of it...

Don't build your product in a silo. Get influential and powerful people vested.

Taken from: http://www.squidoo.com/dangerous-gue...ing-strategies
#app #ingredient #making #product #secret #viral
  • Profile picture of the author MikeTucker
    Yep, all very true.

    Steve Jobs had a lot of things going on to make the iPhone
    go viral, from the early apps to the leaked secrets, etc.

    PSY didn't just have top dance choreographers behind him,
    he had 20 years of research and preparation from his country.
    They don't have much to export, and their population is too
    small to sustain their own entertainment industry, so they got
    the brilliant idea to export entertainment. And it is working,
    not only with the hilarious GS video and its spawns, but
    with a few other songs and movies as well.

    I read (true? no idea...) that NYAN CAT got the idea from the old series MASH,
    which used to accept stories from real vets to create
    their episodes-- getting all of those extremely loyal military
    vets to watch along with their families, and spread the word.




    So, once again it's the network that you build.
    Hmm... Where have I heard that before?
    Signature

    The bartender says: "We don't serve faster-than-light particles here."

    ...A tachyon enters a bar.

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  • Profile picture of the author sparkah
    Fascinating.

    I'm going to add your point about MASH in my blog post.

    Kids, It's all politics. Get used to it! =P
    Signature

    I'm a writer for Forbes and Fast Company.
    Also, I did this: My deepest darkest SEO SECRETS --- https://youtu.be/vl3tswPLJWM

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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Great piece of advice, now if only we could all plan ahead and get JV's on board before we ever launch a new product...
    Signature
    " I knew that if I failed, I wouldn't regret that.
    But I knew the one thing I might regret is not ever having tried. "

    ~ Jeff Bezos

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  • Profile picture of the author sparkah
    I have a client making a book about design.

    I'm doing the outreach to get the worlds top designers to just send me one TIP over twitter or email.

    I'm going to include their tips on their own single page on the book and give them a copy. That way, the books stays on their desk. and all their employees will want to buy one too.
    Signature

    I'm a writer for Forbes and Fast Company.
    Also, I did this: My deepest darkest SEO SECRETS --- https://youtu.be/vl3tswPLJWM

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