In this episode, Cedric Chin shares how “earned secrets” are at the core of creating viral, thought leadership content. He shares his process for writing long-form articles and stresses how consistently publishing on a schedule can help build readership.

Key timestamps:

0:30 – Who is Cedric Chin?

1:45 – What is Commoncog about?

9:59 – Definition of “going viral” and thought leadership

11:07 - Four types of thought leadership according to Ryan Law

12:25 – Example of a viral “Yes, and” article Cedric wrote  

15:14 – Example of a viral article challenging a truism

21:48 – The “ripple effect” of viral content 

26:27 – Cedric’s most viral articles and how he identifies viral potential

36:08 – Cedric on why he aims to always share his “earned secrets” 

39:38 – Intermission questions

44:30 – Cedric explains his process for writing long-form articles

52:09 – What beginners get wrong about writing high-quality thought leadership content 

57:44 – Cedric recommending the Poynter writing tools course

Show notes

Commoncog blog

Animalz blog post on thought leadership

Hacker News

Goodhart’s Law article

Poynter 50 writing tools course

ConvertKit

Money Stuff newsletter by Matt Levine

Guest

Cedric Chin Twitter/@ejames_c

Commoncog website

Host

Lesley Sim Twitter

Lesley Sim Website

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