Stuck on you: You're Great!

How a small step from one site then crossed over to Facebook and went viral. This is an interview with the creator of the "You're Great" Sticker Laura Shape.

I first encountered Laura when I wrote about Giveback.net. And now Laura has a new project called "You're Great".

1. What spurred the viral message? Where was ground zero?

It actually happened in two stages and I can't personally take credit for either one. A close friend changed her profile picture on Facebook to include a "You're great!" sticker and another close friend then suggested that everyone do the same. Within two days, word had spread and at least 10 friends had changed their profile pictures to include the "You're great!" message. The most fun part of this was that many of them used the "You're great!" image from the Hopeful Art website, but then created their own interpretations of it for their profiles. You can see those images in the "gallery" section of www.hopeful-art.com. They're wonderful.

During that four day period I got about 50 visitors to the Hopeful Art website, which was actually a large amount compared to the volume I'd seen since I launched the site three years ago. However, someone amongst those 50 people, and I still don't know who, must've posted a link on a few websites that advertise where to get free stuff and that's when it really exploded. In the four weeks since that happened, I've had over 11,000 unique visits to the Hopeful Art website. I've also received more than 2,300 emails from people in 21 countries asking me to send them "You're great!" stickers.

It's amazing to look at the traffic graph for this website. It's flat, showing just a couple of visitors per day, for the past three years and then all of a sudden one day it jumps up to over 2,500 visitors and then climbs even higher the next day!

2. Why do you think people are responding to the message?

That's a really good question, and I've been wondering about it myself. I've actually tried to bring in traffic like this before. I've posted links on Facebook and on a few free stuff sites in the past, but with no luck. So it seems like the difference might be in the timing of the message. It just seems like maybe now is the right time and that people around the world are feeling in need of a smile and a few kind words.

I also think that with so many people living in financial hardship right now, people are grateful that a stranger would want to send them even a small gift for free. I've received some very moving responses along those lines from people in their emails.

There's one that breaks my heart every time I read it. It's from a woman named Kelly, from Idaho, who wrote:
"I volunteer at the local food bank. I'd love to slip some of these into boxes of food we distribute. A lot of folks are humiliated about having to ask for help. They deserve a reminder that they're still great people."

I can't imagine a more touching sentiment.

And some people have done more than just ask for free stickers. A few have donated money to Hopeful Art to help send stickers to others! I find that the most amazing part of all. I'm astounded by people's generosity.

3. What message is next? Do you plan on more sticker projects?

I'm not sure, but before I move on to the next message, I'd definitely like to take this one a little further. For instance, it would be really fun to put the "You're great!" message on billboards in a few cities where millions of people can see it. Imagine making that many people smile all at the same time. That would be like a miracle!

Nothing is more viral than a Smile :O) Thank you Laura for sharing with us your story.

To get your own "You're Great" Sticker go to: HopefulArt

Image: "You're Great" Sticker