Why did the YouTube channel start a cooking show? Because it wanted to whip up some "recipe" for viral success!

Hey there Boss 👋 

Normally I don’t touch so much on my personal life in these weekly releases of Bossitude. Still, before joining the Book Like A Boss team back in the day, I built my own Youtube channel to over 1 million subscribers in under 100 videos.

That part of my life afforded me tons of knowledge and experience for growing your reach on social media - which means tons of views and engagement on your content that you can convert into bookings and sales for your business.

So, today’s a little more from the heart - but I’m going to share with you the number way I nearly guaranteed my content was clicked on, watched, and shared around the internet, leading to tens of millions of views per month on my channel and countless sales for my business.

Challenge your audience’s assumptions in your content 🚀

The zero to 1 million+ subscriber route wasn’t easy, but the number one trick I used throughout that entire journey was this:

Challenge the assumptions and beliefs your audience/subscribers/followers have about topics that are interesting and important to them.

So what does that really mean? I’ll give you an example.

On my channel, I mainly taught English to Russian speakers. The videos were in Russian and I spent a couple of years living in Russia. In that time, I discovered a few cultural nuances that I liked better in Russia than in the West. 

And since Russians almost unanimously always believed that life was better in America than in Russia, I challenged that assumption with a video titled:

“3 Things Better in Russia than America”

And boy oh boy did that go viral quickly. I spoke about things like how family ties are stronger in Eastern Europe than North America. Gym class is mandatory throughout school and there isn’t a culture of overconsumption. Plus, in Russian culture, people are much more averse to dirt and wash their hands far more often than in North America.

But the mere fact that anything might be better in Russia than America was, for young Russians, a shock. 

I had challenged their assumption that the grass was significantly greener on the American side of the fence. 

So, how can you apply this thinking to your own social media content for your business?

Simple - think about what assumptions people have about your products or services and then create content that challenges or disproves those beliefs. 

For example, if you’re a piano teacher, beginner piano enthusiasts might assume it takes days or weeks to learn to play their first song, when in actuality, there are a handful of incredible songs that can be taught and played using just three chords - sometimes less. Create content showing off how quickly and easily those songs can be learned with those three chords. 

If you’re unsure what assumptions your audience or customers might have about your niche/industry, product, or service - just ask them!

Note down their responses and turn them into a list of content ideas for you to produce next.

For all of you entrepreneurs and creative Bosses, I found this Tweet wildly inspiring and a valuable reminder that the hard work you’re putting into growing your businesses is never in vain.

Here are a few links for you to check out this evening, including the links earlier in this post.

👉 Shortform summary on how to practice contrarian thinking

👉 5 Secrets to go viral with content

In case you missed it 👀

That’s a wrap 🎬

Although there’s no perfect, guaranteed solution to skyrocket your content’s views and engagement, thus generating tons of traffic to your website and sales for your business, there are proven strategies to challenge humans’ thinking and persuade them to act in a way that’s beneficial for our social media growth. 

In this case, it’s challenging assumptions. Going against the grain. Thinking differently than everyone else. And for business owners interested in leveraging social media to grow their following and sales - challenging assumptions has always been the best piece of advice I’ve given to rapidly grow your content following.

Until next week,

Justin and the Bossitude team