Finding viral content isn't about direct plagiarism. The most effective strategy is to identify a trending idea or format and then apply your own unique perspective or 'take' to it. This approach leverages existing audience interest while creating a new, original piece of content.

Don't let the fear that "it's all been said before" stop you from creating. While the facts or tips you share may exist elsewhere, your personal story, experiences, and perspective do not. Your unique lens is your value proposition, allowing you to connect with an audience that needs to hear it from you.

Instead of only looking within your niche for inspiration, observe the content formats and topics that are trending in completely different industries. Adapting a successful concept from another vertical, like finance, and applying it to your own can make it feel fresh and original to your audience.

To create high-performing videos, don't invent from scratch. Find viral content in your niche and replicate its structural elements—the on-screen headline and the first few seconds of the spoken hook. Then, deliver your own unique insights within that proven format.

Don't just research direct competitors. The best opportunities often come from adapting a proven video format or topic from a related industry to your specific audience. This allows you to be the first to introduce a successful concept, increasing its novelty and impact.

Keep a swipe file of viral content to identify underlying themes or formats (e.g., "harsh truths"). Instead of copying, adapt the successful theme to your specific audience (e.g., "harsh truths of being a CISO"). This leverages proven psychology for your niche.

Brown uses his AI "YouTube Researcher" skill to scrape the transcript of a viral video from another creator. He then prompts the AI to distill its structure into a "hook outline." This provides a proven template that he can apply to his own original content ideas.

To avoid the echo chamber effect where everyone in your industry posts the same content, draw inspiration from different fields. Analyze formats from niches like fitness or real estate and adapt those successful concepts to your own content for a unique angle.

Instead of starting from scratch, the smartest campaigns begin with social listening to identify past viral moments or cultural storylines. Reusing or building upon these known winners leverages pre-existing emotional connections with the audience.