S ā Shareability: What Makes Your Content Travel (Without a Paid Boost)
If itās not being shared, itās not being remembered
If itās not being shared, itās not being remembered.
You donāt need a big budget, a brand team, or a social media manager to create momentum.
You just need to build something that people canāt help but pass along.
Thatās the final piece in the SIGNALS Framework:
Shareability.
Because great content doesnāt just get clicksāit gets quoted, saved, linked, and shared by others who matter in your world.
(psst⦠youāll wanna save this one for future reference via the three dot button (ā¦) in the upper right corner of this post āļø)
š¤ So what does shareability really mean?
It's when:
Another Substack writer drops a link to your piece in their issue
Someone tweets a line from your post and says āthis hitā
A creator on LinkedIn or Threads reshapes your idea and tags you
A podcast host riffs on your framework
And a whole lot of other ways your work can be distributed by others.
Thatās organic spread. No ad budget. No begging. Just ideas that travel.
š How to Make Your Content Shareable (Even with Zero Followers)
1. Punchlines > Paragraphs
People donāt share your whole articleāthey share that one line they couldnāt stop thinking about.
That one sticky phrase that lands like a truth bomb:
āYou donāt need better content. You need content people canāt wait to forward.ā
āTOFU-MOFU-BOFU isnāt a funnel. Itās a fantasy marketers made up to feel in control.ā
āWrite for search, sure. But write for screenshots too.ā
š If someone canāt quote you, they wonāt remember you.
2. Tools Over Takes
You can have a spicy opinion. Or⦠you can give people something they can use today.
Thatās what gets bookmarked, forwarded, and added to someoneās workflow:
A Notion template
A swipe file
A Google Doc framework
A re-usable prompt list
People might thank you for a great take.
Theyāll share you for giving them a shortcut.
Grab the free swipe file: The Shareable Content Builder; A plug-and-play doc to help you create content that gets quoted, saved, and passed along.
3. Visuals That Explain, Not Decorate
You donāt need fancy design chops. A simple sketch or screenshot will do.
The goal? Help people see the ideaānot just read it.
A hand-drawn framework
A ābefore / afterā table
A 3-step system in a box
If it could live on someoneās desktop, it could live in someone elseās newsletter.
(Psst⦠hey, āright clickā and āSave As Imageā if you want to save this mindmap.)
4. Format for Frictionless Forwarding
Your content shouldnāt just be helpfulāit should be easy to pass along.
Short sections
Headline-style takeaways
Clear formatting and spacing
Make it easy for readers to copy, screenshot, or link your work.
The fewer the clicks, the farther it goes.
š§ Why It Spreads (Even Without a Big Audience)
Youāre tapping into two human instincts:
Social Currency
People love sharing things that make them look smart, generous, or ahead of the curve.Cognitive Ease
The easier it is to understand and repeat, the more it spreads. Thatās science. (Thanks, Kahneman.)
š§Ŗ Final Gut Check Before You Hit Publish
Ask yourself:
āIf I shared this with a fellow creator or newsletter reader I respect⦠would they thank me, or scroll past it?ā
If itās not a āhell yes,ā trim the fat. Add the line. Build the tool. Find the beat.
šÆ Closing Thought
Your best ideas shouldnāt just live in your blog.
They should be whispered in DMs, embedded in newsletters, and screenshotted into group chats.
You donāt need virality. You just need relatability + repeatability.
Thatās what makes your signal travel.