I think going viral is a combination of several factors:

- luck
- authenticity
- consistency to build a following
- finding the right way to reach people that you connect with

I'm not surprised your "6 figure article" didn't go viral, and I'm glad it didn't. Because you've admitted it was a trick. You were trying to game the system. Tricking your readers into clicking on, sharing and engaging with a deeply misleading piece of content that actually wouldn't benefit them in any meaningful way.

I understand why you did it, and I sympathise. But imagine if your article had gone viral? Would it have benefited any reader? Or would it have misled them about the nature of success, maybe made them feel bad for not being able to grasp the law of attraction as well as you made yourself out to have?

I'm not the world's biggest fan of Shannon, but she doesn't just "write about being fat", she writes to bring awareness to the disease of lymphedema, something that I had never known about until her educational pieces. Her writing helps me understand the world better, and empathise with people a little more. And I believe she has most of her success not because one piece or another goes viral but because thousands of her followers genuinely care about her and connect with her.

Someone like Tim Denning, I think his insanely high output of writing is why he's got so many followers now. He doesn't just post on Medium, but on LinkedIn and Quora, and he has found a way to churn out "self-help/entrepreneur" content that interests people and contains enough helpful tips to keep people clicking.

I personally don't follow him anymore, but some of his articles were very interesting. They just got a bit repetitive, I found.

As for why I followed you - I really liked your sex advice. I followed you after reading the intimate handjob/cock massage article. That was something I genuinely wanted to try with my partner. The article felt like something based on something you really tried in real life, and I could see how I could try it too.

I also was interested in your articles about your experience with your lover who didn't want to be "out" as your boyfriend.