The Top Ten Tips for Making
The Best Viral Videos

How do the best viral videos get made? You know, those videos that are viewed hundreds of thousands or even millions of times. Something that you've gotta show to your friends. It can be a funny viral video, or inspirational, or just amazing.

Maybe you want to make one and get your fifteen minutes of fame.

Or maybe you want to market your company or product, and think that a “quick and cheap” viral video is the way to go.

Making a viral video is sort of like picking a great stock. Tons of people want to do it, lots of people claim to know “the secret,” but in the end...

Success with these types of videos is a combination of effort + talent + luck. These Top Ten Tips will give you a great head start with the effort part.

You should also check the page of examples of the Top Ten Tips (my picks from YouTube).

Here are Video Jester’s Top Ten Tips for Making the Best Viral Videos.

10. Make it short -- five minutes at the most. People who pass this stuff around don't have all day. Well, OK, they do -- but they probably want to check out 14 other videos before lunchtime. And, they probably have some work they're supposed to do. Follow the example of the best viral videos, and make it short and snappy.

9. Make it "good enough," technically speaking. It may be a grainy video shot with a web cam - but it can't be so bad that people can't see it or hear it clearly. Despite what some people claim, it doesn't have to look "amateurish" to become viral. There are plenty of examples of viral videos that are produced and edited extremely well. Especially if the video is on the amateur side, it really has to stand out, because there are now millions of videos out there that are both badly made and boring. If the sound is lousy, or you can't really see what's going on (unless that's part of the plan), then don't expect much success.

8. Be very sincere, personal and revealing (even if you're faking it). (Like LonelyGirl15)

7. Be totally lame (bad), but "on purpose," and with a surprise punchline. (Candy Mountain)

6. Catch unsuspecting people on camera (the candid camera approach), by setting up an absurd situation and recording the reactions of ordinary passers-by. (Nalts' videos)

5. Do a clever parody: Take something that is very popular, but give it an original, amazing, bonzo-gonzo twist. (Think White and Nerdy)

4. Show extreme situations -- even (or especially) faked ones. Like explosions. Big ones. (Watch out for The Exploding Whale)

3. Use music. Or a foreign accent. Or both. (Looky Looky Numa Numa)

2. Make a fool of yourself -- especially if you make it look like you don't realize you're making a fool of yourself. (Star Wars Kid has this covered)

1. Be original. Do something incredibly funny, stupid, crazy or just amazing that no one has done before -- something that will grab viewers and make them want to show it to all their friends. Yeah, this is the hard part.

Learn more about the top ten tips by seeing examples of the best viral videos.

You don’t have to follow all of the top ten tips. In fact, you can’t, because some of them contradict each other. But think about them in the planning stages, and while you're shooting and editing your video.

Once you’ve made something that's destined to be one of the best viral videos, you still have to get it out in public, to start the ball rolling. Just posting on YouTube isn't enough. But that’s a topic for another day.