Here’s a question for you: How many of the articles, blog posts, videos and images you consume in the past week that you can categorize as positive, inspiring or heartwarming? I assume, not many. But the trend has shifted: More people now appreciate positive, inspiring content.
Web content – especially news and viral posts – was full of rants, weird, fail, stupid action and so on. Well, the web is still having plenty of it, but the trend shifted to the other side: Inspiring, positive and fell-good content are well-sought-after – and well-shared on social media.
Want proof? Try LittleThings.com.
LittleThings.com is the 21st most visited website in the US (5th, mobile-traffic-wise.) No joke. The 200 million monthly page view is the proof that people crave for feel-good content.
So, how does LittleThings.com do it? We have a great opportunity to learn about it in an interview (in the Q&A format) with Joe Speiser, the Co-Founder of LittleThings.com. Check this out:
Ivan Widjaya (Q): I’m a fan of LittleThings.com! Please share with our audience what is the site all about.
Joe Speiser (A): First off, thanks for checking out LittleThings! We love our fans!
LittleThings is a media site that publishes only feel-good content. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York City, LittleThings employs a growing team of 30+ producers, writers, designers, and management staff who keenly focus on uplifting, positive, and interesting content, which are original and curated from around the web.
LittleThings began as an experimental blog that shared positive pet content on PetFlow.com, the largest social pet e-commerce company in North America. Due to its tremendous popularity and growing web impact, in September 2014 the publishing operation launched as a standalone media startup. Since then, LittleThings propelled to be the 21st-largest website in the U.S. with almost five million social fans. By staying true to its original audience, LittleThings continues to publish content that appeals to women aged 40+, who compromise the majority of its 75 million monthly unique visitors.
Q: Attracting 75 millions of visitors and 198 millions of page views is no joke. Your 4.7 millions of social fans is also mind-blowing. What’s your secret recipe, achieving all of those in just 7 months?
A: Our traffic is certainly impressive, but the charts only tell half the story. We have been building our amazing audience for more than five years, first under PetFlow.com and now under LittleThings.com.
Q: Your content appeals to women aged 40+. The selfie trend also shares similar demographic. What do you think of this trend?
A: It seems as if almost everyone is taking selfies these days, but we aren’t seeing our audience engage in that latest trend. To be honest, they tend to gravitate away from the superficial, and more towards the deeper and more touching feel-good content.
Q: Feel-good content worked, and I love the positive vibe of your posts. Do you think that our society is flooded by too much epic fail, WTF, and other negative content, in such a way that they are now craving for positive content?
A: Yes, this is spot on. Historically, news outlets heavily promote and sensationalize negative news. When was the last time the nightly news left you feeling upbeat and happy? The scarier and more dangerous they depict the world, the better their ratings. And better ratings equates to more profit.
We are working hard to break the negative news cycle. As you can see by our traffic success, the world is ready and willing to smile, laugh, and share content that revolves around good news.
Q: Viral sites are in trend. I even created one – and not quite successful in my venture. How do you guys stay above the competition, as you are now fighting for attention with strong competitors like BuzzFeed, Viralnova, Upworthy and the likes?
A: We have stayed true to our core audience and content mission to produce and publish only uplifting and feel-good content that appeals to the 40+ crowd. All of our competitors are scrambling over millennials, while we quietly own the women’s niche.
Q: What’s your plan for the future?
A: To continue to bring feel-good content to the world. Whether it’s created in-house or curated, it’s our mission to leave this place a little better than when we came. Life’s all about the little things!
Q: Any tips to share with budding webpreneurs who want to start viral sites?
A: Focus on your passion, and do what you love. Spend time and invest in perfecting your content, as it’s the face of your site and business.
Many thanks, Joe, for your time!
Takeaway
Everyone can create a viral site: Just find interesting, potentially viral stuff, create content about it, don’t forget to slaps some images on it, and publish it. Voila. But in order to create a truly successful viral site, you need a mission and a well-defined target market – and plenty of hustles.
LittleThings.com has a mission to share feel-good content with the audience. Not only that, they do what others don’t: They focus on the 40+ age group when others are fighting over the Millennials market pie. They earn their millions of readers after 5 years of hustle.
So, are you ready to start a successful viral site? Work hard and stay true to your audience.