The Sticky Honeycomb Secret

Crafting Blog Posts & Articles That Stick, Spread, and Go Viral

FRANK VIOLA
Best-Selling Author, A-List Blogger, and Consultant

Idea in Brief

Leaders cannot afford to forgo having a blog on the Web today. However, even if a leader or organization owns a blog,
they must know how to craft their blog articles so they stick, spread, and go viral, else their blog will be lost in the
unending noise that clutters the Internet. With over 100 million blogs on the Web today, the struggle against being
invisible is a common problem for bloggers.

After investigating all the viral blog posts I had written, I discovered a pattern. Each viral article could be categorized
into one of six types of posts. Because a honeycomb has six sides, I coined the method The Sticky Honeycomb Secret.
Here, you will find examples of each six kinds of posts as well as the secret sauce that make them all sticky.

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Introduction

The Difference Between Websites and Blogs

The difference between a website and a blog is two-fold:

1. A blog is a regularly updated site that adds new articles on a consistent basis. A website contains static
content thats rarely updated.
2. A blog is prized more than a website by Google and other search engines because Google, Yahoo, and Bing
love new content.

After having a blog since 2008, I became intentional about the craft of blogging in 2012 and built my two blogs to
garner over 6 million page views per year. In the process, I discovered eight key reasons why every leader and
business should have a blog today.

I also uncovered why some blogs become highly popular and possess the ability to earn income and why other blogs
become invisible, attracting few readers and having little impact. By applying the Sticky Honeycomb Secret, bloggers
can turn their online presence into a titanic force of remarkable influence and dramatic change.

8 Reasons to Start Blogging

If youre a leader, own a business, or have an organization, here are eight reasons why you should have a blog:

1. A blog marks your space on the Web. Think of it as your space in the contemporary phone directory
Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
2. A blog is a place where people can find you and consume your best thinking on a subject.
3. A blog allows you to communicate your mission and the products/services that go with it.
4. A blog enables you to network with and engage people.
5. A blog causes you to improve your writing skill.
6. A blog is a place to build your audience via subscriptions.
7. A blog gives you authority and credibility.
8. A blog allows you to receive input from those who consume your work.

Personal Case Study

I started my first blog in June of 2008. However, in 2012, I discovered that people could actually earn income from
blogging. This provoked me to get serious about the craft. So I did five things immediately.

1. I moved from the free WordPress.com blog to a serf-hosted WordPress.org blog.

2. I changed my blog name to better reflect my mission.
3. I started using WordPress plug-ins to help make my blog posts easier to share. (If you use WordPress.org,
you can utilize their vast array of free plug-ins.)
4. I started writing a blog post every weekday. (When I built my subscriber list, I cut back to three days a week.)
5. I hired someone to design my blog and give it a clean, attractive look. When it comes to blogging, content,
design, and platform (the audience you build), all are equally important.

While all of these things helped me tremendously, they werent enough.

Early in 2014, I started looking through my Patheos blog and asked myself why some of the posts went viral while
others did not. After investigating all the viral blog posts I had written, I discovered a pattern. Each viral article could
be categorized into one of six types of posts. Because a honeycomb has six sides, I coined the method The Sticky
Honeycomb Secret.

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The Sticky Honeycomb Secret
You could write these six kinds of blog articles for any niche. What follows are examples of each six kinds of posts as
well as the secret sauce that make them all sticky.(For the social proof, just visit frankaviola.org and you can see
each example with the number of total social shares under each blog article.)

1. Be the Ally
In this kind of blog post, you write to defend a person or a group that's popular or you defend an idea that they have.

Examples:

I wrote Bono on Jesus to defend the lead singer of U2 against accusations that he wasn't a Christian. Some people
alleged that despite Bono's humanitarian efforts, he really wasn't a Jesus follower.

In that post, I quoted from an interview with Bono where he not only explicitly professed his faith in Christ, but his
theological insights had the fingerprints of C.S. Lewis on them.

Bono's thoughts on Jesus were not only insightful, but they were sophisticated.

To date, the post has over 80,000 social media shares and it's still being shared today.

Another example is my article, John Lennon on Jesus: The Untold Story. Back in the mid-1960s, Lennon made the
statement that The Beatles were "bigger than Christ." That statement was interpreted by some fundamentalist
Christians to mean that Lennon was saying that The Beatles were better or greater than Jesus.

In the blog post, I pointed out that this wasn't his meaning. He was simply saying that The Beatles, at the time, were
more popular than Jesus was in the hearts of many young people.

That statement wasn't a criticism of Christ, it was an indictment about the poor way the Christian community was
presenting Christ. Who's fault was it that The Beatles were more important than Jesus in the hearts of many young
people? A cogent argument can be made that the fault should be laid at the feet of those who preach Christ and
nurture the young people in the Lord.

However, the article goes on to talk about Lennon's interest in Jesus later in life. The article startled many who had
no idea about what Lennon really believed.

Presently, the post has over 7,000 social media shares.

A final example is my article, Rick Warrens Horrific Tragedy & The Sickening Response of Some Christians which
has received over 4,000 social media shares to date.

Regrettably, Rick Warren's son committed suicide. When this happened, many in the Christian community began
writing outrageous and horrific diatribes against Warren, blaming him for not being a "good Christian parent" and
being at fault in his son's tragic death.

I was incensed that anyone who professes to follow Jesus could be capable of such disgusting, despicable, and
demented behavior.

So I wrote an article defending Rick Warren and showing that those who attacked him were not only in violation of
Matthew 7:12, the core tenant of Jesus, but their sick behavior was one of the key reasons why Christianity isn't taken
seriously by many people today.

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2. Pick a Fight
In this type of blog post, you strongly, but graciously challenge an idea, group, or individual.

Examples:

When John MacArthur released his controversial book, Strange Fire, the Internet was buzzing with both those who
venerated it and those who vilified it. Emotions were hot on both sides.

That's when I wrote A Response to John MacArthurs STRANGE FIRE which was a non-emotional, objective critique
of the book. It was shared over 3700 times on social media and garnered feedback all across the blogsophere.

In my 9 Lies the Media Likes to Tell About Evangelical Christians article, I took on the media, exposing the way that
most media personalities characterize the evangelical Christianity.

This post hit a chord with many people and was shared over 3,000 times on the social media.

3. The Andy Kaufman Hoax

In this type of blog post, you and another person or persons create a fake conflict that's peppered with high drama.

Example:

In the early 1980s, popular comedian Andy Kaufman and professional wrestler Jerry Lawler had a bitter falling out.
Lawler broke Kaufman's neck during a wrestling match. Kaufman and Lawler appeared on the David Letterman show
where they exchanged bitter words, and Lawler ended up slapping Lawler on national television.

Later it was revealed that Lawler and Kaufman were good friends and the entire controversy was a hoax.

I've used this technique where a fellow best-selling author and I "trash talked" to each other on our respective blogs.
Both of our audiences loved it. And we finally revealed that it was all just a fun stunt. But it garnered major publicity.

4. The Surprising (or Ugly) Truth

In this type of blog post, you unveil a surprising or shocking truth.

Examples:

In The Most Ignored Sin, I republished a guest post from an author who made an indisputable case that slander and
gossip were just as heinous in the Bible as the specific kinds of sins that most evangelical Christians wax on about.

The article did a good job of revealing an ugly truth, namely, hypocrisy. It argued that its hypocritical to condemn
pornography while believing and spreading slander. The article has garnered over 5,700 social media shares.

Two other popular posts of this type are 3 Shocking Quotes by Billy Graham which has received over 3, 000 social
media shares and There is No Proof of God's Existence with over 2,000 social media shares.

In the latter article, I argued that while people of faith can confirm their believe through evidence, one cannot prove
the existence of God. And according to the Bible, God has set up the rules this way. Humans can only know Him by
faith and there are reasons for this (as explained in the blog post).

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When people learn something that overturns their assumption or pre-conceived ideas, they tend to share that
something with others. Hence the reason why these sorts of blog posts are sticky.

5. The Hot & Unique Book Review

In this kind of blog post, you review a popular book in a unique way.

Examples:

The Daniel Plan: A Collective Review has received over 12,000 social media shares to date. In this post, I introduced
Rick Warrens best-selling book, The Daniel Plan, and then asked my readers to review the book, send me their review
by a certain date, and then I would post all the reviews on my blog in the future.

This was a unique approach to a book review, so it spread very well. Especially because the book was popular at the
time.

In my A Review of David Platt's Follow Me, which has over 10,000 social media shares, I first commended the book,
than I critiqued and challenged it.

This mixture on a hot book caused the blog post to spread far and wide.

I took with the same approach with Francis Chans book, Multiply, which has over 6,000 social media shares to date.

6. "Top" or "Best" List

The final kind of sticky blog post is when you list the top 8, 10, 12, 15, or 20 items that are popular with a certain
segment of the population.

Examples:

In my The Top Christian Blogs blog post, I listed some of the major blog ranking services as an aggregate post. The
post was somewhat of a resource list, and its done well in Google searches. To date it has over 5,500 social media
shares.

In The 100 Best Christian Books, I listed the top 100 books in the Christian genre that, in my opinion, were the most
influential. This post has been shared over 7,500 times on social media and new people readily find it when they
search for good Christian books.

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The Secret Sauce (Applying the Honey)

The key to making this strategy work is to apply the honey. That is, you must share the link to the post you write to
the specific people or person(s) you are targeting in the post.

For instance, if you are writing a be the ally post, share the link to the post to the person you are defending.
If you are writing a pick a fight post, share the link with the person youre challenging or whos work youre
critiquing.

If you are writing a book review post, send the link to the author.

I suggest that you dont ask the person to share or promote your post. Rather, just make them aware of it.

Very often, they will share the link in their own blog or social media outlets.

A final word: give this strategy time. Be patient but consistent. And eventually, you will see the fruit of your labors.

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About the Author

Frank Viola
Frank Viola is a best-selling author, speaker, and blogger. He trains authors and bloggers how to earn income
through their writing passion. Viola has released 10 books to date, which have been translated into multiple
languages. He is one of the speakers of The Buzz Seminar, a premium training that equips authors and bloggers how
to earn income from their writing passion. Viola can be reached at frankaviola@hotmail.com and at
http://BuzzSeminar.com.