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i'm not sure why more people aren't doing this...
the most underrated writing hack i've found
Taylin John Simmonds
February 27, 2024
Make money with your mind, not your time.
Weekly Deliberate Deconstruction Issue
Breaking down top performing frameworks, strategies, and growth hacks from myself and other top creators.
Last week I dove head first into a metaphorical haystack…
… And found a needle.
This needle is an underrated ideation hack for sourcing viral content ideas.
You see, most writers and creators struggle to go viral consistently.
Why?
Because they’re posting the exact same thing as everyone else on X, LinkedIn, and IG Threads (and many other reasons).
And honestly, I don’t blame them.
Every creator coach, consultant, and 16 year old with a Macbook, is regurgitating the same advice.
What is this advice?
Use Tweethunter or Kleo to find top performing posts from your favorite creators on X and LinkedIn. Then write content on that topic from your unique perspective.
This advice was gold until audiences got bored with the same rehashed hooks, advice, and over done topics.
The truth is, you will never stand out writing the same content as everyone else.
So today, I’m going to show you how to find ideas no one in our world is talking about yet.
Making you a first mover who’s bringing new ideas to the marketplace instead of rehashing them.
Here’s how to source new and innovative ideas in minutes…
… With TikTok:
TikTok Ideation Strategy
1) Create a TikTok Swipe File
Create a TikTok swipe file in Notion, Kortex, or Google docs.
I like Notion’s table element for keeping my swipe file organized and easy to use.
Add the following sections:
❖ Problems/ Pain Points
❖ Desires Outcomes/ Benefits
❖ Hooks/ Opening Sentences
This is where we will save good, market tested ideas for reference.
2) Effective Emulation
Create a list of 5-10 top TikTok accounts within your niche.
We’re going to use them as reference to find new and innovative content ideas.
A genius marketer I like to source ideas from is Iman Ghadzi.
His content team competes to see who can create the most viral content.
Meaning, his opening sentences are insanely good hooks you can steal and put your own spin on.
His team has already done the work for you.
Be wise enough to use it.
3) Download TokAUDIT
TokAUDIT is a chrome extension that sorts TikTok videos by most popular and highest engagement within a specific date range.
It’s only $3 - $5 per year (at the time of writing this).
Making it a small but worthy investment.
If you’d like to try it first, download it, and sign up for a 7 day free trial to test it out for yourself (you’ll be glad you did).
4) Find the Diamonds in the Rough
Go to the profile of one of your favorite creators from step 2.
Open TokAUDIT.
Scan the profile to see all videos released in the past 30 days.
Note - We’re using 30 days because we want ideas with high relevance. Not ideas that went viral years ago.
(This sometimes takes a couple of minutes).
5) Sort by Highest Engagement
Select the “Sort Videos By” dropdown in the top right corner of TokAUDIT.
Then select either views, shares, or likes.
My personal favorite is shares because it means the content made people look so good, they couldn’t help but share it.
This will sort all videos posted in the past 30 days by highest engagement.
Watch ONLY the first 3-5 seconds of each video then add the following information to your swipe file:
❖ Hook - The first 1 to 3 sentences spoken in the video
❖ Pain/ Problem - The pain/ problem the video is targeting
❖ Desire/ Benefit - The desire/ benefit your audience deeply feel the need to achieve
Continue this for all the creators on your list. It will likely take 15 - 30 minutes.
(Warning - don’t watch the full video. You don’t want the creators opinions or thoughts to color your unique perspective).
6) Filter Through Your Unique Perspective
Now is where the fun begins…
… Read through everything you’ve added to your swipe file.
And ask yourself the following questions:
❖ What do I think about this idea?
❖ Do I think this idea is right? If so, why?
❖ Do I think this idea is wrong? If so, why?
❖ What comes to mind when I read this hook?
❖ What analogies come to mind to explain this idea?
❖ How would I help myself achieve this desired benefit?
❖ What moments in my life does this idea remind me of?
❖ What advice would I give myself if I was struggling to solve this problem?
❖ What ideas have you read, heard, or consumed from other creators that this reminds you of?
Brain dump the answers to these questions quickly without overthinking them.
Whatever comes to mind, capture it immediately.
Once you’re done, you have a rough draft of amazing content ideas to refine, perfect, and share with the world.
Happy hunting!
-Taylin John Simmonds
This Week In The School of Thought Community
❖ 3 more unique ideation strategies were added to the knowledge library - objection handling, answer the public, and deliberate deconstruction. If you liked this, you’ll love the other strategies as well.
❖ We tested Arya’s new cold DM script and his reply rate increased to 40%. Now it’s time to hone in on the conversion aspect.
❖ Brandon Frederick added an extensive ChatGPT market research tutorial. It’s already getting so much praise from our members.
❖ I’m getting my first Forbes feature this week, along with a few other top creators from LinkedIn and X. More details soon ;)
❖ Elizabeth’s space series received over 500 views due to the students from the community hopping in to engage and support. It’s amazing to see our students going out of their way to help each other win. Go Elizabeth!
But don’t wait, I’m going to be raising the price next week.
This is the last chance to get in at the lower beta price.
Taylin
Oh. Are you still hungry?
If your mouth is salivating for more goodies, check out these free courses and cheat sheets (more coming soon):