If you are looking to become well-known for something, YouTube and the myriad variety of video hosting sites are great places to make it happen. Watching and sharing video is the #1 online activity in the word, beating Facebook handily.

Most folks get their fame by singing the worst song in music history (Rebecca Black), doing a faceplant on a BMX bike or superimposing cats in almost any life situation. But YouTube  pages like Khan Academy are actually saving the planet from idiocy. So it’s completely possible you can get your day of fame and promote your reinvention by making you…viral.

Kevin Allocca is the trends manager for YouTube. It’s his job to watch the videos we post.

Allocca says there are three things that need to happen for your video to be widely shared:

1) You need to be promoted by a tastemaker. When someone with a trillion followers gives you a shoutout on Twitter, watch your video view count soar.  Bill Gates loved Khan Academy, said so, and eyeballs headed to the pages.  You won’t necessarily need a Jimmy Kimmel or a Lady Gaga, but you will need someone who has a lot of followers to embrace you.

2) Participation/ Community. When you make a great video, people will do their own versions of it; they’ll do remixes and mash-ups of your content. Rebecca Black did “Friday”- and now there are versions for every day of the week, including one done by Conan O”Brien.

3) Unexpectedness. Surprise us. Make us laugh. Make us cry. Have a killer ending, or perhaps a monumental beginning- remember how short our collective attention spans are.

What if you collaborated with friends and spent some time making a really good 2 minute video about you? What if you shared it with your community of social followers? What might happen?

No downside here.

People get jobs this way. If you need a new gig, this is one very creative way to tell the world. The power of sharing is undeniable- make it good, and people will tell others.

YouTube is a powerful wrench in your toolbox of ideas. Consider it seriously, then go make us laugh!

Watch Kevin Allocca’s Ted Talk. I’m sharing it with you because it’s great. See how it works?

The Reinvention of You: One hour a week for five weeks. Join me on Skillshare and I’ll show you how to do it. Classes begin April 2.