What happens when James Altucher republishes your content?
Recently, author and entrepreneur James Altucher wrote one of his typically bold articles: “New York City is Dead Forever. Here’s Why.”
James is no stranger to controversy, but this article went nuclear. No less than Jerry Seinfeld penned an op-ed response in the New York Times, with James responding back to Jerry in the New York Post.
I wrote an essay about how James wrote far more persuasively than Jerry, and shared it on Twitter.
The next morning, an email from James was waiting in my inbox:
Matt, I loved the article.
Any chance I can run it on my newsletter?
Um, excuse me? Yeah, James. Yes, that would be just fine.
So James published the article in his newsletter, with a very nice opening paragraph about my website with a link. Later, he posted the article to his blog.
What happened afterwards?
Web site traffic went bananas: A 1,414% increase
In the two weeks leading up to James sharing the article, my web site averaged 50 page views per day.
The day he shared the article? 698 total page views. Then 757 page views the following day.
Site traffic obviously didn’t stay at those levels. But, it hasn’t returned to the previous baseline, either. The site has had no days with less than 110 total page views, and has had several over 300.
The Mix Tape readership grew 24% percent
I have published The Mix Tape newsletter for over a year now, adding, on average, a few new readers every week.
But once James shared my article, subscriptions jumped more in one day than in almost a year-long previous stretch.
I’m happy to have every single new reader, and hope to deliver them value every single Friday.
Interesting feedback
I wondered if I might get some hate mail. I sided with James, not because I necessarily believe NYC is dead forever, but because he did a much better job from a persuasive writing standpoint.
No hate mail.
But I did hear from people.
My favorite feedback was from people that disagreed with me, but still liked the piece:
Nothing better than people who say “You’re wrong about this, but I loved it anyway.”
Lessons learned
In the days after James shared my work, the seas did not part at my command. Unicorns did not land in my front yard. No leprechaun led me to a pot of gold.
But, I did learn a few lessons:
Successful people can be gracious and generous
James couldn’t have been nicer and more considerate. They say it’s bad to meet your heroes. But I’ve been reading James for over a decade, and my interactions with him in sharing my article were terrific.
Guest posting is still a viable strategy to generate traffic and conversions
Providing valuable content to another person’s (or company’s) audience remains a tremendous way to grow your own. The strategy of “guest posting” — writing on another person or company’s site — has fallen out of vogue a bit. But it still works.
Write about hot stories, but find unique angles
The James vs. Jerry story was everywhere. But nearly all the coverage focused on the “conflict” between James and Jerry and who was right about the future of New York City.
I didn’t pile on. Instead, I found another way to write about the story, helping people learn from James’ and Jerry’s work.
Follow trends. Write about them, sure. But find unique and helpful ways to do so. That’s how you stand out in a sea of similar content.
If you keep hacking away at this online writing thing, cool stuff will happen
I’ve been writing online intermittently for a decade, and consistently for over a year. It can take a while, but if you share your ideas, unpredictable and fun things will happen. You’ll meet amazing people. And your writing heroes may reach out, compliment your work, and give you a hand in sharing it.