Welcome to Issue 48 of A Good Reputation, a newsletter about how to become a better storyteller and grow your brand. (Did someone send you? Subscribe here.)

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Hello Reader,

This week, I posted something on LinkedIn that got approximately 70,000 impressions, 1,300 likes, 300 comments, and exactly 0 saves.

That data makes sense, considering the post was slightly provocative and entertaining, but entirely useless.

For me, however, it did serve a purpose. It allowed me to signal some of my values and channel a bit of my frustration in a way that also showed a little personality, as well as my sense of humor.

While trying to dissect or predict what will go viral is as useful an exercise as betting your rent money on roulette, it did have two of the key ingredients necessary for sparking a strong emotional response and stoking conversation.

Those two things, along with good timing and a dash of luck, can fuel the algorithm. (Not saying this is the goal, but it doesn't hurt.)

The first is tapping into a cultural tension, which deserves its own full future newsletter breakdown. In my case this week, that tension is around a much bigger, nuanced conversation about masculinity.

But the other is the biggie when it comes to resonance. And that’s creating from a place of emotional energy.

A Good Framework

If I’ve learned anything in my more than 20 years of writing for newspapers and creating content for online audiences, it’s that having good ideas alone isn’t enough. You need emotional energy to fuel them.

And by that, I don’t mean tapping into people’s emotions. (Though that’s important, too.)

I mean tapping into your own emotions and creating from that space.

If you hate being online and see creating social media content as a necessary evil to market your business, your audience is going to feel that—no matter how rosy your take.

But if you’re pissed and you’re channeling that energy into what you’re creating, that energy will transfer.

According to psychologist Bill O’Hanlon, who wrote a book to help other therapists become published authors (so meta), there are four main energies that fuel our work: Blissed, blessed, pissed, and dissed.

• Blissed is fired up about something you can’t stop thinking about.
• Blessed is compelled to share a gift.
• Pissed is just plain angry.
• Dissed is fueled by exclusion, rejection, or not feeling seen.

If you see someone’s viral post about giving up after their 50th automated rejection letter, that’s partially because it was created from a place of dissed energy.

If you can’t help but feel elated yourself after a career coach shares her story of successfully starting over after a 10-year break to have kids, that’s blessed energy.

I know it might sound a bit “woo,” but it's physics. And the upshot is that people respond to passion in any form.

The stuff that truly flops is the neutral content with no edge, no energy, and no heartbeat—that's the algorithm’s version of white noise.

But I don’t need you to believe me. I just need you to feel me.

(You feel me?)

A Good Takeaway

Here’s where the energy transfer becomes powerful for brand building and business:

• Pissed energy can spark debate and draw new eyes.
• Blessed energy tends to attract collaborators and partners.
• Blissed energy is magnetic for creativity and innovation.
• Dissed energy resonates with those who feel unseen and builds solidarity.

But there’s a catch. (Ugh, isn’t there always a catch?)

If you lean too hard on one energy, it can backfire. An always-angry voice pushes people away. An always-blessed voice can come off as saccharine or naïve.

The point isn’t to avoid these energies, but to recognize them, use them with intention, and balance them.

It might help to look at the last five things you created and ask:

Which energy do I tend to default to? And what haven’t I tapped into that might unlock a new audience response?

Maybe you need to try channeling the stuff that lights you up. Or if you're feeling pissed and dissed, try figuring out how you can use that energy to show people there’s a better way.

And if the right energy isn’t there at all—if you’re feeling awful or disillusioned—remember that not creating anything is always an option, too.

The idea is simply this: If your stuff isn't resonating, it’s probably not because it lacks good ideas.

It might just lack the right energy to meet your business goals. And that's an easier fix.

A Good Resource

1. I’m going to Bogart this entire space today to let you know applications for my next group cohort on Short-Form Storytelling for Brand Building are officially open. This is a small group learning experience that takes you from A-Z on how to use stories to grow your brand so the opportunities and clients come to you.

Hope you have a good one,
Renee