When going viral is a problem...

Today, one of my clients asked me to take down two of her most successful videos. They had been up for less than 24 hours, and the response was incredible. Thousands of views, comments, people sharing it with friends, and, most importantly, a HUGE surge in people reaching out, wanting to support her business.

It was the kind of reaction most small business owners dream of.

But instead of celebrating, her team was overwhelmed. They had "the viral problem." Their inboxes were flooded. Their phones wouldn’t stop ringing. They spent the entire day responding to messages from people who genuinely cared and wanted to get involved.

And by the end of the day, she asked me, “I think the videos have been up long enough. Can you bring them down?”

At first, I was a little confused. Those videos had done exactly what they were designed to do. They made the right people care. They connected deeply. They inspired action. But that moment revealed something bigger to me about her business: visibility only works if your business is prepared for scale.

What The Blox Taught Me About Scalability

Back in February, I attended The Blox, a small business bootcamp where Wes Bergmann dropped a lesson I still think about: the difference between growth and scalability.

He used the analogy of Blockbuster vs. Netflix.

Both companies were in the business of delivering entertainment. But only one of them was building for the future. Blockbuster was growing, but in a model that had a ceiling. Netflix, on the other hand, was built to scale. It was ready for a moment that hadn’t even arrived yet. When the spotlight hit, Netflix could handle it. Blockbuster couldn’t.

And here’s the kicker: that spotlight moment doesn’t wait for you to feel ready. It just shows up... sometimes in the form of a viral video.

So What Does It Mean to Be Ready for the Spotlight?

If you're a small business owner, I want to lovingly challenge you to think about this:

If 100 new people discovered your business today, what would they find?

If 10 of them emailed you, would you have a process to respond quickly?

Could your website or team handle a surge in traffic or questions?

Would those people leave with clarity, confidence, and a reason to come back?

Or would you have to turn them away?

This isn’t about having everything figured out or being “big enough.” It’s about thinking like Netflix, even if you’re still running things out of your living room, in your pajamas, with a cold cup of coffee on the table.

The Real Lesson in Losing Those Viral Problem Videos

Deleting those posts felt counterintuitive. But truthfully, it was the most honest mirror we could’ve held up to the business. It told us that the message was powerful, but the system wasn’t yet strong enough to carry the weight of the response. That’s not a failure. That’s data. That’s direction.

So now, instead of just chasing engagement, we’re building infrastructure. Instead of only planning content calendars, we’re asking, “What happens next?” and making sure the business is ready to receive what social media can deliver. Because content alone won’t scale your business. But the right content, paired with readiness? That’s not just growth... that’s momentum.

If you’re a small business owner, and you’ve ever pulled back from showing up online because you were afraid of “too much attention” or "the viral problem," let this be your permission slip to shift your focus, not away from visibility, but toward systems that support it.

And if you’re ready to prepare for your Netflix moment, let’s chat! Because the spotlight is coming... it’s just a matter of when.