Replies > Reach

_{Day 83/100}

Hey—It's Tim.

I’ve gone viral a few times.
Or “platform viral” - which is like real viral, but with more Google Sheets.

• 1.4 million views on LinkedIn

• Comments out the wazoo

• DMs like it was launch day

Did it make me more sales?

I don’t know.

But I do know this:
I’ve made way more sales from posts that looked dead on arrival.

No virality. No shares.
Just the right people quietly nodding.

Went viral once. Never recovered emotionally.

Here’s what happens when you go viral:
You want it again.

You start writing for the algorithm instead of the audience.

You start caring more about engagement than enrollment.
More about “reach” than resonance.
More about comments than conversions.

It’s not your fault.
Going viral feels amazing.

But chasing virality?

The real metric is conviction

The posts that sold the most of Penfriend didn’t go viral.

They weren’t even liked.

But they were written with focus.
They solved real problems.
And they reached exactly who they needed to.

I’d take 200 people thinking “damn, this is for me”
over 200,000 thinking “lol”
every day of the week.

How to keep making posts that get sales?

F*CK IF I KNOW.

If I did, there would be many more zero’s in my bank account.
On the right, not the left this time…

_{I would have ONE WILLIAM DOLLARS.}

The algorithm changes.
People change.
Expectations change.

That chaos is the lifeblood of content marketing.

There’s no magic pill — just trial, error, flaming wreckage, and getting back up.

It’s even harder when you’re marketing your own product (not that I’d know anything about that…).

So yeah, I’ll take virality when it strolls by.
But I’m not chasing it.

I’m chasing replies like these:

These notes in my inbox are worth almost as much as you paying me. Almost.

Real growth > viral spikes.

That’s exactly what Penfriend helps you build.

If you’re tired of writing for the algorithm —
and want to build a library of content that actually drives traffic,
leads, and sales...

✌️ Tim "Trending and Ascending" Hanson
CMO @Penfriend.ai

Same brain, different platforms: X, Threads, LinkedIn.

P.S. My favourite reaction to Penfriend ever? Easily this one.

Penfriend.ai
Made by content marketers. Used by better ones.