{"id":10481,"date":"2020-07-09T09:56:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T13:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=10481"},"modified":"2020-07-10T22:03:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-11T02:03:08","slug":"viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a viral marketing strategy, and do you need one? Can viral marketing really help your startup?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A viral marketing strategy can be incredibly valuable in launching and building your startup. Having a viral marketing strategy is one of the major marketing strategies for online marketing. Discover how viral marketing can work for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Viral Mark<\/strong>eting and Your Sales Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs underestimate the importance of distribution, which encompasses whatever it takes to sell your product<\/a> (advertising, sales, marketing, and distribution channels). But understanding distribution and having a plan for it is critical to a company\u2019s success\u2060\u2014it should be part of designing your product<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often overlook the importance of distribution because society in general looks down on salespeople and advertising as dishonest and manipulative. Silicon Valley entrepreneurs take this a step further\u2014because of a bias toward building rather than selling, they often believe their product is so superior it should sell itself: if they build it, customers will come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But customers won\u2019t buy your product automatically; you have to sell it, which is more challenging than many entrepreneurs and engineers realize. You can address this with a marketing and sales strategy, specifically viral marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hidden Art of Selling<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Silicon Valley \u201cnerds\u201d should care about advertising because it works\u2014or it wouldn\u2019t be a $150 billion industry that employs more than 600,000 people. One of the biggest parts of the industry is viral marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But sales works differently than many people think. They think they\u2019re not influenced by pitches because they don’t run out and buy the advertised items. But advertising\u2019s intent isn\u2019t to get you to buy a product right away, it\u2019s to leave an impression with you that will drive sales later. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sales process is often subtle\u2014selling is a hidden art that secretly drives the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All salespeople are actors; like actors, their priority is persuasion, not transparency. We react negatively to inept salespeople (\u201cused-car salesman\u201d is a slur), but the best salespeople are masters who sell without our realizing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Mark Twain\u2019s character Tom Sawyer persuaded his friends to whitewash a fence for him. That took talent, but his masterstroke was convincing them to pay him<\/em> for the privilege of doing so. They never caught on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sales still works best when hidden. Sales is never mentioned in anyone\u2019s job title\u2014for instance, advertising salespeople are \u201caccount executives;\u201d fundraisers trying to sell you on a cause work in \u201cdevelopment,\u201d and those who sell companies are \u201cinvestment bankers.\u201d Yet sales ability in each position separates superstars from average performers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While engineers like to assert that a great product will sell itself, there\u2019s another business maxim that the best product doesn\u2019t always come out on top. If you’ve created a new product but not an effective way to sell it, you have a bad business regardless of your product\u2019s quality. Think about how a viral marketing strategy can make that happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forming a Viral Marketing<\/strong> Strategy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Viral marketing is the cheapest and fastest way to sell a product\u2014by using it, people encourage additional users to participate<\/strong>. Facebook and PayPal both grew quickly through a viral marketing strategy. Every time someone shared with a friend or made a payment they pulled more people into the network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A viral marketing strategy or distribution can trigger exponential growth. The effect should be seamless and fast. YouTube videos or internet memes can be seen by millions in a very short time: In just seconds, people see a cute post, feel a glow, and share it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PayPal started with only 24 users (employees). But the company achieved extraordinary growth through a form of a viral marketing strategy by paying people to sign up and refer their friends. In a few months, PayPal had hundreds of thousands of users. Because they charged customers a transaction fee, revenue exceeded their customer acquisition cost<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company that\u2019s first to dominate a key market slice with viral capability will ultimately dominate the entire market (be the last mover<\/a> that no one else can match), if it expands judiciously. PayPal first dominated a key segment\u2014”power sellers.\u201d Once the company had corralled these intense users and began expanding, no imitators could catch up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selling Yourself <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Besides selling your product, you need to sell recruits, employees, and investors on the value of your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some entrepreneurs fall for the human relations \u201clie\u201d that their company is so good people will be clamoring to work for it (this is like the \u201cgreat products sell themselves\u201d distribution lie). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding version of this lie is that investors will be knocking down your doors to invest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, great attention and a viral campaign don\u2019t come without a public relations strategy for selling your company<\/a> to the media. While entrepreneurs may be wary of the media, they shouldn\u2019t try to ignore it. Media exposure can help you attract customers<\/a> as well as employees and investors. Any good job candidate will research your company\u2014what comes up in a Google search should be part of your overall public relations plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Startup Is a Cult\u2014and That\u2019s OK<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Most people have a negative impression of cults, partly because they look crazy and some of the highest-profile cults in U.S. history were homicidal (Jim Jones, Charles Manson). But a culture of extreme dedication can be an asset to a startup.<\/strong> How does this work for a viral marketing strategy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the most intensely committed organizations, members associate only with other members and ignore their families and the outside world. In return, they get a strong feeling of belonging and of being privy to some kind of secret. At the other extreme is the detached, \u201cprofessional\u201d attitude found in many consulting firms. These firms lack a unique mission and their employees drop in and out of client companies with no sense of commitment or connection. An intense culture can help things like viral marketing campaigns<\/a> succeed, since you’ll have lots of opportunities to generate ideas and execute viral campaigns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every company\u2019s culture falls somewhere between these extremes. The best startups are \u201cslightly less extreme cults.\u201d The difference between a startup and an unhealthy cult is that the latter is usually zealously wrong<\/em> about something. People in a committed startup culture<\/a> are zealously right<\/em> about a secret that outsiders have missed. If your company doesn\u2019t make sense to conventional professionals, it\u2019s often a sign of strength.<\/strong> Remember this when you’re working on a viral campaign. Your people are your best resource for what will go viral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A viral marketing strategy can be a hugely effective way to launch your company or create buzz. Consider it in your marketing plans. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is a viral marketing strategy, and do you need one? Can viral marketing really help your startup? A viral marketing strategy can be incredibly valuable in launching and building your startup. Having a viral marketing strategy is one of the major marketing strategies for online marketing. Discover how viral marketing can work for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10490,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,79],"tags":[97],"class_list":["post-10481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-entrepreneurship","tag-zero-to-one","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel) - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you really need a viral marketing strategy to have a successful business? In recent years, viral marketing has been huge\u2014here's why it can work for you.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Do you really need a viral marketing strategy to have a successful business? In recent years, viral marketing has been huge\u2014here's why it can work for you.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-09T13:56:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-11T02:03:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2426\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1728\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-09T13:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-11T02:03:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\"},\"wordCount\":1143,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zero to One\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Entrepreneurship\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\",\"name\":\"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel) - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-09T13:56:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-11T02:03:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you really need a viral marketing strategy to have a successful business? In recent years, viral marketing has been huge\u2014here's why it can work for you.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg\",\"width\":2426,\"height\":1728},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\",\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Carrie Cabral\"},\"description\":\"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel) - Shortform Books","description":"Do you really need a viral marketing strategy to have a successful business? In recent years, viral marketing has been huge\u2014here's why it can work for you.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)","og_description":"Do you really need a viral marketing strategy to have a successful business? In recent years, viral marketing has been huge\u2014here's why it can work for you.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2020-07-09T13:56:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-11T02:03:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2426,"height":1728,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Carrie Cabral","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carrie Cabral","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/"},"author":{"name":"Carrie Cabral","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56"},"headline":"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)","datePublished":"2020-07-09T13:56:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-11T02:03:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/"},"wordCount":1143,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg","keywords":["Zero to One"],"articleSection":["Business","Entrepreneurship"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/","name":"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel) - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg","datePublished":"2020-07-09T13:56:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-11T02:03:08+00:00","description":"Do you really need a viral marketing strategy to have a successful business? In recent years, viral marketing has been huge\u2014here's why it can work for you.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg","width":2426,"height":1728},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/viral-marketing-strategy-zero-to-one\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why You Need a Viral Marketing Strategy (Peter Thiel)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56","name":"Carrie Cabral","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e9aea3c95254368e6bf388b046b35bacb82e4167f4c62c0813620e3a4ec51126?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Carrie Cabral"},"description":"Carrie has been reading and writing for as long as she can remember, and has always been open to reading anything put in front of her. She wrote her first short story at the age of six, about a lost dog who meets animal friends on his journey home. Surprisingly, it was never picked up by any major publishers, but did spark her passion for books. Carrie worked in book publishing for several years before getting an MFA in Creative Writing. She especially loves literary fiction, historical fiction, and social, cultural, and historical nonfiction that gets into the weeds of daily life.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/carrie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/viral-marketing-zerotoone.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10481"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10481\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11083,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10481\/revisions\/11083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}