New technology brings about new social phenomena.
Such as, for example, karma whores. These are the people on platforms like Reddit who post tons of cheap content, often pulled from other sites. Their one goal is to stock their treasure vaults full of fake Internet points, also known as karma.
I read a confessional by one self-admitted karma whore, Brian Burlage.
Of the roughly 250 million Reddit accounts, Burlage’s account is currently 13th in terms of karma. And here’s something to think about: each of his 8.2 billion karma points represents a click from some Reddit user who approved of one of Burlage’s posts or comments.
So what can you learn from such a peak performer? Here are a few lessons:
#1. Stop fighting over scraps
Initially, Burlage lurked on Reddit’s true crime communities. When he decided to become a Reddit titan, he started focusing on massive, mainstream subreddits about cute animals, video games, and interesting photos.
LESSON: Yes, it’s possible to make money in the “teach your parrot to talk” market. But it’s never going to be the kind of money that you can make in massive markets such as health or finance or marketing.
#2. Put on the right mask
From the beginning, Burlage decided to have a joker personality on Reddit. He’d post puns and wisecracks and memes. And he says half the battle was simply choosing a good username: dickfromaccounting.
LESSON: Before you make a move in your market, spend time thinking about how you will position yourself and the angle you’ll decide to take. Like Burlage says, it’s half the battle.
#3. Turn creativity into a chore
Burlage started maintaining extensive notes on his phone, compiling jokes and bits of dialogue that he’d heard, which he could then apply to his Reddit karma whoring.
Eventually, his daily routine involved scouring the Internet for hours until he’d rounded up enough good material to get three or four viral posts on Reddit.
LESSON: Much of what looks like creativity, spontaneity, and inspiration is simply drudgery and work. The good news is that, with enough work, even drudges can effectively become creative.
#4. Nerd out, my little engineer
Burlage became a student of the unique personality of each of the subreddits he would post to. He was seeking to figure out exactly what each community wants. And he would obsessively test what works and what doesn’t:
“This was a process of trial and error. I studied the rates at which my viral posts were upvoted minute by minute, hour by hour. I posted at different times of the day to determine when users were most active. For every viral post I made, I deleted a dozen others that failed to stick.”
LESSON: More drudgery. There’s no way around studying your market and testing your marketing approach. But if you take it seriously, you can get to being 13th out of 25 million.
#5. Pay no mind to the growing void in your soul
Here’s a bit of reflection from Burlage after he became a Reddit star:
“As much as Reddit had helped me to fill empty time, it exposed a more significant emptiness within me. Attention on Reddit, after all, is like quicksand. Every post I shared made me feel closer to getting out, but the effort that it took to make those posts plunged me deeper into the pit.”
LESSON: Well, Why expose yourself to the whims of a quicksand platform like Reddit, or Facebook, or Instagram?
Pull your audience out of the quicksand. Form a more direct, more permanent, more meaningful relationship with them. And start competing for real dollars instead of various Internet points.
That’s how I see it.
By the way, if you’re looking to make a more profitable, more meaningful relationship with fleeting customers, you might find some ideas here: