Growing on social media is easy, actually

There are 2 levers you can pull

Newsletter: How to actually grow an audience from scratch

Growing on social media is easy.

There, I said it.

I never really had a problem gaining followers, but that could be unconscious competence.

Note: This is a more tactical post. If you get your panties in a bunch when people talk about growing on social media, nobody is holding you hostage and forcing you to read this. There is value in talking about it.

When I started on social media, I wasn’t starting from scratch. I was starting with nearly a dozen failures under my belt. I failed at digital art, drop shipping, multiple agency businesses (ads, SEO, web design), freelance photography, and more.

As a teenager, my entire goal was to make some kind of online business work so that I would never have to work a full time 9-5 in my life. I was going to college simply to have a “buffer period” to make one of these endeavors work. But after all those failures, 5 years in college, and about $20,000 in student loans that continued to stack up... I had to get a “real” job at a web design agency.

At that job, I continued learning and attempting to freelance. Eventually, things started to click, clients became consistent, and I was fortunately able to quit that job.

That’s why I started on social media. Twitter to be exact. I saw other web designers writing content that I had the knowledge to write, and they were using Twitter as a way to attract more clients.

My edge was that my failures taught me so much.

Digital art taught me brand aesthetics. Facebook ads taught me copywriting. Agency work in general taught me networking and communication. Web design led to funnel design. I didn’t even realize that I had picked up all the pieces to building a successful one-person business.

So when I started writing content on Twitter, things just... worked.

That’s my goal with this letter.

Social media is probably your first stab at business. You don’t have these other marketing and business skills. You may even be trapped in beginner hell - writing content into the void - and about to quit because you think social media is just a game of luck.

You couldn’t be any more wrong.

Social media has specific mechanics and levers, like a video game.

If you understand those, you can predictably control your growth.

You can’t just expect to send a post and watch it go viral. The problem with most beginners is that they are so accustomed to social media already that they don’t see it as an entire industry. They don’t see it as a skill that must be constantly studied and practiced.

With that, there are really only 2 things you need to know.

2 levers. That’s it. That’s all you need to focus on.

Treat everything else as a distraction.

If you nail these, growth isn’t that difficult.

I – Do what works, from your own perspective.

People aren’t on social media to find something new.

They’re on social media to hear an opinion on a topic they’re already interested in (that’s literally how the algorithm works).

In fact, when I think about the content I consume, I watch the same things over and over again on YouTube. I could literally see the same exact video title every day for a week, and I’d happily watch it, because I want to listen to the creator’s opinion on that topic.

I love training, and if I had an ounce of muscle for every time I’ve watched a nutrition 101 video, I’d be Ronnie Coleman. Yeah buddy.

This is the single most fundamental aspect of social media growth.

As an example, look at Craig Perry.

His first YouTube video got 144k views.

That’s absurd. That rarely happens.

His second YouTube video got 254k views.

Again... absurd.

How did he do it?

Well, the titles of those videos are:

1. How to remember everything you read

2. How to become dangerously self-educated (complete plan)

Now, if you watch videos in that niche on YouTube, you’ve seen those before.

“How to remember everything you read” is a topic that’s talked about over and over again by productivity and learning creators. Why? Because it works.

“How to become dangerously self educated,” as far as I can tell, is a spin on another title structure that did very well, “How to become dangerously [articulate, intelligent, confident].”

But isn’t that copying?

In some ways, sure, but how can anyone take credit for a title like “How to remember everything you read?” It’s such a general topic. It’s a process. There is no one right way to read that somebody can claim. Imagine trying to say someone stole “how to remember everything you read” when the entire video itself is different. They just decided to talk about the same topic that other people want to watch.

What Craig is doing here is taking an outlier that works and talking about it from his own perspective.

The packaging (title, hook, and thumbnail) are simply there to grab attention. The content inside is all original to Craig.

As another example:

In 2019, I wrote a tweet with the hook, “How to get ahead of 99% of people.”

In 2023, I knew that hook had already done well, so I used it as the title of a YouTube video. It is now my most viewed video on my channel with 1.7 million views.

A few months after that, Mark Manson (author of the subtle art of not giving a f*ck), put out a video with the title, “How to get ahead of 99% of people (Starting today).” He got 4.7 million views.

Then, Alex Hormozi put out a video with the same title. He got 1.7 million views.

Then, Tom Bilyeu retitled one of his older videos to the same thing. It became a 28x outlier with 1.5 million views.

Did it click yet?

These creators aren’t creating the same video. For something as broad as “How to get ahead of 99% of people,” you can fill the content of the video, newsletter, tweet, or reel with almost anything.

One persons video could be about acquiring skills faster while the next persons could be about planning and productivity.

Where do you find high-performing content?

The best creators don’t just post what’s on their mind.

I mean, sometimes they do, I do, and that’s great, they should, but you don’t build your life’s work on randomness and luck. You have a strategy, obviously.

If I’ve been talking about my own clever ideas for too long and growth has slowed, I know I need to throw in some content that has been validated to work - that way I get more eyes on my more esoteric ideas.

The best creators, most of the time, research what works first. Then, they plan out ideas. Then, they start writing.

What most people do is this:

• They search for a creator on YouTube and filter their videos by most popular

• They wait for good reels or tweets to show up on their feed, then save the link in a notes app

• They jot down potential ideas as they scroll or when they see a piece of content working

That’s fine, but it’s time-consuming and slow.

(This is where I transition to a sales pitch for a second).

That’s why we built the new version of Eden.

You can search through our growing database of outlier content, filterable by follower count, platform, and niche. (You will not find this in any other tool, by the way).

You can search for any creator on any platform and filter their content by top liked, top viewed, and top outlier.

You can save any post you find to a board, then chat with it to generate more potential ideas (I chat with my YouTube swipe file board for title variations a lot).

You can also write scripts, articles, and batch-written posts. I do all of my research and writing in here.

We’re launching the new version of Eden starting today (here’s the story of why we pivoted).

But you can get 50% off your first month throughout launch.

If you are a current or aspiring creator/writer - this will give you a massive edge.

Check it out here.

Okay, sales pitch over.

Onto the 2nd lever.

II – You’re going to hate this word, but... networking.

I don’t know what goes through people’s heads when they start on social media.

They think they can just post something good and hope it goes viral.

Sometimes that works, for a select few very lucky people, but social media growth like any other business comes down to manual work and effort put in on a daily basis.

If it were as easy as posting, everyone would do it, and that’s why almost everyone who starts fails... or gets trapped in beginner hell.

“Okay Dan, how else can you grow if it’s not by praying the algorithm makes you famous?”

Let’s break it down.

You want followers.

Followers come from other people seeing your post and liking it enough to click on your profile and follow you.

If the algorithm is like a lottery, how can we manually get more people to see your posts?

Where is the “source” of people on social media?

Other people’s audiences.

If someone has 10,000 followers, what would happen if your post got in front of those 10,000 people?

This is why brands pay so much to partner with creators. It gets them immediate access to a specific audience.

However, if you’re smart, you can get in front of other people’s audiences for free.

All it boils down to is making friends.

Yes, that means you will have to talk to people. In the replies and the DMs. It should take up at least 30 minutes a day. Time block it if that’s helpful.

The goal is to have friends that are willing to share your content to their audience (so you don’t rely on the algorithm anymore). You return the favor of course. You want to build a tribe of people that support each other to get beyond beginner hell.

I call this process non-needy networking.

If you do it right, this is how you:

• Get a 50,000+ follower account to retweet your thread that will result in massive growth (the same goes for any other social platform sharing your post)

• Have connections that will share new growth strategies with you (my friends send me new tips when they come across them)

• Join or create group chats and begin forming your tribe (that you will grow with for much of your social media journey)

• Put your name in more people’s mouths. The more people that know about you, the more work and potential connections will be sent your way. Get your name in front of as many eyes as possible.

Here are the 7 steps.

1) Find someone you WANT to DM

This is not exclusive to making connections. It is crucial for paid work as well.

The common theme between service businesses is that their life is a living hell if they do not resonate with the client they are working with.

Reach out to people that you are inspired by, you would want to work with, you would want to strategize with, or you see potential for mutual benefit.

When you are just starting out, you will have to work your way up the ladder. Start by DMing people who are within your follower range.

Once you have an audience and leverage, you can really reach out to anybody and get a warm response.

Where can you find people to DM?

• The “following” list of accounts that you like. Scroll through and see if anyone catches your eye.

• On the timeline in general. When you see a post you resonate with, make it a habit to DM them using the next steps.

That’s really it. Just scroll on social media and befriend those who pass by you, especially if you resonate with them.

2) Send them simple praise

Find a piece of their content, work, or current projects that you are truly inspired by.

Then, you have one of two options.

The first is to simply seed a conversation. You just DM them their own post and say something simple.

If their post was something like this:

Most people quit because they forget that you have to be bad at something before you can be good at it. It’s so obvious. You suck. Of course you’re not going to win in 2 weeks. But if you can learn to enjoy extended periods of failure, you will make it very, very far in life.

Then you could respond with:

Damn that’s good. I’ve noticed the exact same thing.

Talk to them like you’re texting a friend. Most cool people are allergic to corporate-speak.

We aren’t even trying to get a response here.

If you do, cool, continue the conversation.

3) Show interest in them

If they don’t respond, you can try reaching out again in a similar manner.

Showing interest is communication 101. Showing interest makes you interesting.

Ask them about their goals or what they’re building. People love to talk about the things they’re passionate about.

This gives you the opportunity to give value (even if YOU don’t have value to give right now).

Let’s assume they respond with the generic “thank you so much.”

Now, you can either find what they are working on from their profile or just ask them.

If you find what they are working on:

What are your next plans with Eden? It’s been crazy seeing you pivot, I’m curious what you’ve got in store.

If you can’t find what they are working on:

What are you building right now? Are you hopping on the AI wave?

Again, just keep the conversation going.

Friendship is the process of gradually letting walls down and aligning on certain ideas.

4) Show you are useful

This is the part that trips most people up.

In order to show that you are a valuable connection, and once you know what their meaningful goals are, your first options are to see where you can help, send actionable tips, send resources, send systems, or send videos you remember that relate to what they’re doing.

Once you do that, the law of reciprocity kicks in. They feel obligated to return a favor, and you’re in a position to tell them you are trying to grow on socials. They may just start engaging with your content, but at the very least, you’re in a much better position to ask them to share something.

As an example, if you find out their goal is to build software, and you watch a YouTube video that has good insights on it, just send it to them and say, “This reminded me of our conversation.”

It’s that simple. Do more of that.

Send things to people when it reminds you of them.

5) Get on a call to make a deeper connection

This part is optional but recommended.

You can skip straight to step 7 after a few days, but I would practice all of these steps at some point.

Most creators get on a call to just say what’s up and talk about what each other are building. Usually, you find cooler people online than you do in real life, so it only makes sense to call them or text them off socials.

When I was starting out, I was getting on zoom calls left and right with people that I wanted to get to know better. It’s more normal than you think... and people are usually open to it when it is clear that you have similar goals as them.

You can also take the conversation to somewhere like Telegram and send voice messages to make yourself seem more human. Most social accounts use Telegram and Whatsapp groups to communicate and strategize.

I’m kind of just teaching you how to be a social person here.

This isn’t some secret strategy. It’s just how you connect with people.

Friends help friends achieve their goals.

6) Send more resources as they come up

Remember their goals and keep an eye out for any content, resources, or people you can send their way. When you find something or someone, send it to them.

I remember you telling me about your plans for [their project or goal]. I found this today and thought you’d find it helpful.

People appreciate this, and rarely anybody does it.

Whenever a friend sends me something like this, I always think, “Wow, they have their shit together. It’s cool that they thought of me and took the time to send this.”

7) If you haven’t already, ask

By this point, you’ve built a pretty damn solid connection.

You’ve given value to the point where they are ready to return the favor.

This can unfold at any time during the conversation, but by this point, you can easily:

• Ask them to join a group chat with others.

• Send them one of your posts that you put a lot of time into.

• Ask any specific questions you have for them without paying for consulting or mentorship.

If your plan is to leverage their audience for growth, be sure to write a post that they would want to share. If the post sucks, they probably won’t want to touch it (go back to step one on how to write good content in this letter, use Eden - 50% off first month for launch). Then, you can send it to them and mention that they inspired that post.

Yo, just wrote this up and thought you’d enjoy it. It was inspired by our previous conversation. I put a lot of time into this and want it to pop off. If you’re able to share it, I’d appreciate it. I’m happy to return the favor however I can.

Even if you don’t get a retweet or share, any engagement will help more people see it, which helps you grow.

You should be reaching out to people almost every day. That’s 50% of your job as a beginner creator. If you are immersing yourself in the environment of your interests, you should see inspirational people that you want to reach out to on a daily basis.

Last tip:

If you want to make this fool proof, start showing up in the replies of the creators you want to make friends with first. Show up more in their replies and they’ll start to see you as a regular. When you DM them, it won’t be cold. They’ll know who you are. That’s optional, but it works.

That’s it.

Those are the 2 levers to actually growing.

If you like this style of letter, hit the like button so I know and I’ll continue making them.

Thank you for reading.

– Dan