You can go viral at any skill level - a guide on how
Growing on social media has never been easier.
With short form content, potential reach and virality have never been higher.
We've all seen countless examples over the past 3-4 years of artists, producers and DJs blow up with social media.
James Hype, Alleycat, John Summit, Chapter&Verse...
All these folks have changed their lives and took their music full time by using social media - why not you too?
Last week we talked about winning content styles for producers/DJs, and the only 3 types of content there is.
There over 20 examples of content you can use to go viral with - read here.
As promised, let's now look at how you can start creating content for your artist project & brand with those 3 content types.
Structure of good content
There is a formula for high performing content.
Regardless of whether its short or long content, written, video or even spoken..
It goes as
Hook -> Value -> Call To Action (CTA)
Hook - what you say in the first 0-5 seconds max to convince the person to keep consuming the content.
Value - the actual content and how it's valuable for the person watching.
CTA - what you want someone who consumes the content to do after (sometimes before) consumption.
Hooks are the most important.
If you can get a good hook, that's 80% of the work done.
"When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” - David Oglivy, The "Father of Advertising".
There's a plethora of free resources online to explain more about content structure.
You can do a quick search if you want but practice is the ultimate teacher.
It's better to start making content and tweak it from there vs trying to be perfect before you start.
Act then react
I'm feeling extra quoty today so here...
“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” Winston Churchill.
If you're waiting for things to be perfect before you start, you might as well not start at all.
Seriously.
Don't waste your time and energy on this if you're worried of what people might think or say.
They don't care that much, you're overthinking it.
You're taking the brave step to put yourself out there. If they don't respect that, you might need to rethink who you're "friends" are. (They would never actually do this, you just fear they will).
If you don't want to show your face, that's fine. You don't have to. While it helps, it's not essential at the start. You can even make that a part of your brand - wrote about that here.
When you do make it and have success, you'll cherish the times when you first started and all the progress you made.
Content at any skill level
Not everyone can do sound design at the same skill level like I do.
Or mixing/mastering, producing, remixing, DJing etc.
We saw 22 content styles last week to draw inspiration from.
Here's my guide for content styles depending on your skill level.
Beginner - Empathetic content.
Your story & why. Document and share your journey and what you're learning.
Producers ahead of you will cheer you on as it reminds them of their past selves.
Peers will root for you to win and to keep going.
As you make real progress, you inspire those beneath you to start their own journeys.
Talk about mindsets/mentality shifts and the lessons you've learned as you're growing.
You can also share the music you're making and some easy beginner tips/tricks that have helped you grow once you learn them.
Intermediate - Entertainment content (mostly).
Remixes, flips, new ideas, funny stories.
You are learning more about production and making songs. Share those ideas and practice production by remixing memes or random sounds that are popular right now. This will grow your audience and your production skills at the same time.
You can still speak about tips (educate) and inspirational ideas (enlighten) every now and then. Incorporating entertainment stuff will get more eyes on your content and its easier for non-producers to consume.
Advanced - Any content style you like the most, can do the best, and are most comfortable with.
Teach all you know. You are unique and have interesting discoveries to share - share them.
Show others tips, advice, mindset shifts, how they can grow and the things you would do different if starting over now.
Also share your own songs, remixes/flips.
Show behind the scenes of your productions, your DJ work, your work/life balance etc.
Since you are a pro and likely have a unique style by now - show others that in a relatable way by remixing popular things/memes or viral songs in your own style.
Steps to get started&things to avoid
1. Assess you're skill level (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
It's based on your own confidence in production/DJing etc.
If you're a good DJ but a mid producer, then you would fall into either advanced or intermediate.
Or you might have 3-5 years experience with production - this to me is intermediate.
You could also be a pro DJ who is new to production, this is an advanced level as you can show your DJ skills with content and also some production content as you learn more.
It depends again on your own confidence on your subject matter and how well you could talk about it.
2. Determine the content style(s) you can and want to make based on your skill level+my guides.
By now you should get a good idea of the 2-3 content styles you can and want to make.
Use last weeks letter to see more examples of content you can get inspiration from.
3. Start posting and iterate each post.
Again as Churchill said
“Perfection is the enemy of progress.” Winston Churchill.
Don't wait for things to be perfect.
You'll always be pushing the perfect thing no matter what level you're at - it's our nature as humans.
Each post you make, should be 1% better than the last one.
Fix the background
Fix the lighting
Fix the editing
Fix the audio
Fix the script
Each time you post is a chance to get 1% better at everything.
This 1% mindset is what will make your growth easy and fun.
Tips&things to avoid
1. Follow the Hook -> Value -> CTA format - seriously, it works.
You don't need to be over the top with crazy attention grabbing sentences.
It can be some funny on screen text setting up a premise and creating suspense.
Or it can be an interesting clip of a video that has high intensity and you go from there.
2. Don't buy a new camera or expensive mics.
If you're making content where you need to talk an be on video and explain stuff - there's no need to get expensive gear right away.
Use what you have first, old earbuds with a mic, phone camera, computer webcam etc.
Work your way up to better gear once you have a better understanding of where you want to go with content.
For me, I used my phone for 5 months, then switched to a DSLR.
Then I got a mic to record long form videos and use it as an investment into the content, my productions, my courses/teaching etc.
I didn't start with a mic, DSLR etc.
3. Use OBS if you need to screen record your DAW with sound.
It's easy to set up and there are tutorials online to get started.
Pro tip: Make sure to record in MKV format, that way you can have separate audio lanes and it's easier to recover if the data corrupts.
OK - thats all for today.
It was a long one so take your time and come back to this as necessary.
The most important thing is that you're taking action.
You can’t improve what you can't measure.
If this helped you - share it with a friend who you think it will help start their content creation journey.
Peace,
Vig/MA
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