{"id":19126,"date":"2024-07-01T15:03:07","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T19:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=19126"},"modified":"2024-07-01T15:03:07","modified_gmt":"2024-07-01T19:03:07","slug":"how-to-go-viral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/how-to-go-viral\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Go Viral"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John Stessel ’16 first felt the power of magic on his 8th birthday when he unwrapped a magic kit and quickly mastered the art of vanishing coins and beginner\u2019s card tricks. What followed was a lifelong fascination with illusion. \u201cThere\u2019s something really fun and interesting about having a secret that can amaze someone,\u201d he says. \u201cI find magic in lots of things\u2014a good piece of music or viral video can be magic. Knowing what strings to pull is magic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A celebrity magician who performs at exclusive events, Stessel\u2019s other job is developing magical marketing campaigns for brands like iHeartMedia and Bicycle Cards. His big break came in 2023, when he filmed a viral video in partnership with TBS. The footage shows him making treats disappear to the delight and confusion of shelter dogs at a Hempstead, New York, animal shelter. \u201cThe idea was to show off their personalities and maybe get some of them adopted, and it ended up being the most successful thing I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d he says. Not only was every dog in the video adopted, but the spot was picked up by \u201cGood Morning America,\u201d \u201cInside Edition,\u201d HuffPost, People, and more, racking up tens of millions of views along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat experience made me realize what I wanted to do with magic,\u201d he says, adding that performing for shelter dogs online has become something of a passion project for him. \u201cThat was the first time I had seen magic make a real change in the world. When you look back on your life, the dream is to reflect on the lives you\u2019ve impacted, and in this case, it\u2019s hundreds of dogs I\u2019ve helped find homes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, Stessel shares tips on how to go viral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Play the Numbers Game <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stessel likens each video he makes to a lottery ticket\u2014the more you make, the more shots you have at going viral, and you never know which one is going to hit.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Collaborate with Others <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stessel prioritizes working with creators who genuinely like making content and are good sounding boards for ideas. “The more you work on videos, and the more you brainstorm, the more content you\u2019ll share online,\u201d he says. \u201cNo account is too big or too small to collaborate with.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Find Your Hook<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have about three seconds to get someone\u2019s attention with a video, so put the most interesting bit up front to keep viewers engaged, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\"An<\/figure>
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Tell a Story <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether the hook is a magic trick or a funny joke, a compelling story is often at the core of most viral videos. What unique story are you trying to tell?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Keep Creating <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Stessel\u2019s video series centers on motivational magic tricks and life lessons. It took about a year to go viral, but when it did, Stessel got 22 million views and 60,000 new followers in two days. \u201cI like to say that nobody is going to care until the world cares. What I mean by that is you have to set aside your ego, because every- thing is a failure until it takes off.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Make internet magic with these tips from celebrity magician John Stessel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":19132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-back"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"The Back","issue":"Spring\/Summer 2024","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19126"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19169,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126\/revisions\/19169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}