if you look at the things that spread across the connection economy, they all have one thing in common:

they make you feel something.

it’s no surprise that the videos and stories that go viral on the internet are the ones that evoke emotions in us. that funny cat picture, or that adorable dog on instagram, or the heartwarming story of a high school football team protecting a kid from being bullied—they all make us feel.

you can share a link to an interesting article you read which goes into detail on the things successful business people do before 8am and it might get a few clicks, a handful of likes, and even fewer retweets but that article will never really go viral. we click on and share miley cyrus videos not because we particularly like her music but because her videos make us feel something, be it shock, or dismay, or sadness, or even arousal (in all of its many forms).

the same concept holds true for anything else you’re hoping to share and get people interested in when you come to the office each day. a lot of folks like to turn to giveaways and monetary incentives (“all attendees will be entered for a chance to win…”) to get people to check out their link, or their newsletter, or their survey, or spend time in their meeting instead of choosing any other option that they’re constantly bombarded with every day. those incentives might work, for a while, but then what happens when you take away those incentives? what happens when it returns to business as usual and there’s no more promise of pizza in the meetings or ipads as door prizes to your training session?

if you create something that’s worth experiencing, people will want to experience it.

then, they may even pay you for the opportunity to do so.