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Best way to make a viral video?

by carlos123
4 replies
Recently you may have read about Ted Williams. He was a homeless panhandler who was video taped by a reporter who uploaded a video of Ted speaking with an incredible, God given radio voice to the internet. The video was pirated and posted on YouTube and went viral with Ted becoming an almost overnight sensation with the result that he received multiple job offers and the like and such that his life has totally turned around.

Well...I think I have found San Diego's Ted Williams in the person of a homeless buddy of mine who is likewise homeless.

A couple of days ago my buddy sang the Star Spangled Banner under a bridge with great acoustics and his rendition was both inspiring and very moving and it immediately dawned on me that I needed to video tape his singing and post it on the internet as a way to help him out and otherwise see what happened with Ted but this time with my buddy.

Thing is that I don't really know what I am doing video wise or viral wise and I thought I would come here and get whatever input you all have for how I should do this.

Specifically how can I make the video truly viral? How can I set up the video in such a way that others can insert their own home page links or otherwise into the video? The way I figure it, it should be like an ebook with custom branding for maximum viralness but I don't even know if such a thing can be done with a video.

I mean it may be that this falls flat on it's face, that I am not a good judge of a singing voice, or it may also be that my buddy is discovered and becomes the second homeless sensation to hit the Internet.

The country is ripe for inspiration and hope and what better way to bring it both than to have a homeless dude sing the Star Spangled Banner and to render it beautifully while down on his luck (so to speak...I don't believe in luck but rather in God but that's another issue).

I will be using a FlipCam to record him. I have no clue as to what resolution to use or even where to post it after it is done (other than YouTube of course) or how to get the word out.

So...any input is appreciated.

Thanks.

Carlos
#make #video #viral
  • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
    Hi Carlos,

    These are just some thoughts...

    Having a video go viral is hard to orchestrate. In the case of your homeless singer it may prove that being 'another homeless golden voice' won't cut it. We as an internet society already had our fill of that for a while. Your guy, although different, would fall into the 'me too' catagory, and that train already left.

    Ones of the factors that make videos go viral is the unexpeted twist that generally accompanies them. "Out of the ordinary", but 'remarkably' out of the ordinary. If you can see it on America's Got Talent it generally won't fall into that class. We already had a Susan Boyle, and that sucked up most of that genre until her memory is lost to time.

    The other thing that influences whether or not a video has viral legs is the pure serendipity of the whole thing. By that I mean a staged video is not as likely to hit the same kind of nerves as one that is spontanious for what you are trying to do.

    When I saw Ted Williams the first time I went "Holy Crap! That guy NAILED it." But that reaction was as much a response to the setting as it was to his voice. If he had been on a show like AGT it would have been a first class snoozer.

    Something else to consider...

    Once a person "gets it" during the watching of a video their interest has peaked and will then decline. Many times to the point of moving on to the next stimuli long before the finish of the current one being watched.

    So after about one or two choruses of the song most people will instictively make the leap to imagining what the rest of the song will be like. At that point they don't need to hear anymore as no more 'wow factor' will be anticipated. People need that in order to stick around long enough to get the urge to spread the video.

    Again, these are just thoughts on the subject and are not meant to discourage you, only to give you a perspective that may or may not be useful..

    ~Bill
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    • Profile picture of the author rcritchett
      Originally Posted by Bill Farnham View Post

      Hi Carlos,

      These are just some thoughts...

      Having a video go viral is hard to orchestrate. In the case of your homeless singer it may prove that being 'another homeless golden voice' won't cut it. We as an internet society already had our fill of that for a while. Your guy, although different, would fall into the 'me too' catagory, and that train already left.

      Ones of the factors that make videos go viral is the unexpeted twist that generally accompanies them. "Out of the ordinary", but 'remarkably' out of the ordinary. If you can see it on America's Got Talent it generally won't fall into that class. We already had a Susan Boyle, and that sucked up most of that genre until her memory is lost to time.

      The other thing that influenes whether or not a video has viral legs is the pure serendipity of the whole thing. By that I mean a staged video is not as likely to hit the same kind of nerves as one that is spontanious for what you are trying to do.

      When I saw Ted Williams the first time I went "Holy Crap! That guy NAILED it." But that reaction was as much a response to the setting as it was to his voice. If he had been on a show like AGT it would have been a first class snoozer.

      Something else to consider...

      Once a person "gets it" during the watching of a video their interest has peaked and will then decline. Many times to the point of moving on to the next stimuli long before the finish of the current one being watched.

      So after about one or two choruses of the song most people will instictively make the leap to imagining what the rest of the song will be like. At that point they don't need to hear anymore as no more 'wow factor' will be anticipated. People need that in order to stick around long enough to get the urge to spread the video.

      Again, these are just thoughts on the subject and are not meant to discourage you, only to give you a perspective that may or may not be useful..

      ~Bill
      I couldn't have said it better myself. Bill, this was great.

      People definitely want new. I've studied success for about two years now and most of the books say the same things.. and it's effective, but not new.

      When Tim Ferriss' The Four Hour Work Week came out, he challenged assumptions, shifted paradigms and offered something positively new. People were hooked and it was a publishing phenomenon.
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      • Profile picture of the author carlos123
        Excellent input you all...especially from you Bill. I just knew there was good input to be had on this here!

        I think I will still videotape my buddy but I will do so realizing that the likelihood of him being the next internet sensation is less than good given the good points you made.

        But this whole thing made me start thinking.

        I think I might build a web site around the homeless that I know and create one page per homeless person willing to share their story on it. Promote Hostgator hosting on the site and give away $10 per new hosting account sign up through me that will be spent directly by me on the homeless.

        Not in an indiscriminate way like so much spending and giving is done. Most charities don't know a thing about those they are giving money to and as such they tend to enable homelessness more than otherwise.

        But I am involved with them a lot and know many of them. In fact I am homeless myself (there's something new I think...a web developer who has clients and who is homeless).

        I can use the money (the $10 applied per new host client) to help them in a knowledgeable way. To meet needs that they truly have and to help them get on their feet again where possible.

        I can make money (through the excess commission). The homeless can be helped through me and their stories can get out to the general public as a way to break through the stereotype that labels all homeless as just bums.

        And I can videotape various one's like my buddy. While the video might not go viral (given the input you gave me Bill) I think it is safe to say that it will get some views. Perhaps even several thousand. If I make a bunch of such videos and couple them with more detailed stories available at my site perhaps the site will become successful.

        Hard to say but it seems like it might be worth a try.

        If anyone has any further thoughts please do share them.

        I've had an idea for such a site for a while but never really got around to developing it but now that this videotaping opportunity has come up it has given fresh impetus to the whole idea.

        Carlos
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  • Profile picture of the author JoshuaZamora
    The only way your video can go viral is the audience willing to share the video with friends and family.

    There is nothing much you can do then upload the video and market it yourself to your friends and family and all social network sites and hope it catches enough peoples attention to take off.
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