It took me 60 minutes to come up with my first Reddit post idea.

A whole hour spent finding the perfect idea… that got me an astounding 800 views and 0 likes.

Now, it takes me less than 5 minutes to come up with posts, newsletters, or any sort of marketing idea.

Speed and high volumes of posts are your best friends in marketing.

So, here is a breakdown of my content system and how you can generate viral ideas in less time.

1/ Surround yourself with viral content. Then, create a swipe file

I’ve talked about this before but have to discuss it again because it is so important.

When you find a post that performed well, SAVE it in a document.

Save the idea. Save the post structure. Save the delivery of all good posts you see.

This is your swipe file that you can refer to when you run out of ideas.

You can also find swipe files online where others have already save viral content in your niche that you can use.

For my newsletter, I always refer to this subject line template from Daniel Bustamente.

These subject lines (and all swipe files) have already been proven to work.

So, save time coming with an entirely new idea and repurpose the viral posts.

2/ The Notes app method

A lot of the time, I think of an idea… but then forget about it 10 seconds later.

There are so many story ideas and unique marketing angles you get from living your life.

And if you’re like me and forget to write down your ideas, do this.

Stop. Use the Notes app or Google Doc and record the idea BEFORE doing anything else.

Just taking 20 seconds to record your idea works.

This practice will generate potential ideas. Yes, most will be bad, but there will be some viral ones.

3/ Incubation periods

Let your mind wander.

Creative incubation is when you step aside from your work and let your mind wander.

While this seems counterproductive, your subconscious works hard in the background thinking of ideas and solving problems.

You can do this by:

  • Going on a walk

  • Looking at nature

  • Running errands

  • Doing anything where you DON’T have to think

When you do this, your mind is free to come up with ideas and insights.

❝

Another added benefit of this is that your brain gets time to rest.

You don’t need to be constantly learning and overloading your brain with podcasts, music, and work.

Let your mind wonder and do the hard work in the background.

- Warren

PS: The last way I come up with ideas is using AI.

I use Claude and give descriptions of the type of content I want. Then, I generate the ideas and make them more relatable and specific to my business.

It’s not the highest quality, but it can give you new perspectives and angles to try.

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