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How To Grow An Audience If You Have 0 Followers (It's Only 2 Habits) — Transcript

by Dan Koe · 8,329 words · 1,161 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00All right, I'm going to sound pretty
0:01arrogant for a second, but growing on
0:04social media is easy. And I actually
0:06mean that. I'm not just saying it
0:07because it's a good hook. It is a good
0:09hook. But I I never really had a problem
0:12growing on social media on any platform.
0:14So, when I was outlining this video, I
0:16kind of asked myself, "Okay, why was it
0:18easy for me to grow?" And it really came
0:21from me failing at like seven other
0:23different business models before I
0:25actually started on social media. So,
0:27when I started on social media, I wasn't
0:29starting from scratch. I had a bunch of
0:32high-value skills under my belt even
0:34though those prior businesses, thanks to
0:36shiny object syndrome, failed. And I
0:39tried so many different things. I tried
0:40digital art with like Photoshop. I tried
0:43photography and charging for like
0:45in-person photo sessions. I tried
0:47multiple agencies, like Facebook ads,
0:49SEO, web design. I tried drop shipping
0:52twice. I tried building an e-commerce
0:54brand, like actually ordering It's
0:56pretty much drop shipping twice. And I
0:59probably even did a few more that I
1:00don't even register because they were so
1:02short-lived. It was like a week at a
1:03time. I'd start something and then I'd
1:05build the website. I'd get so excited
1:07about starting the LLC and then the the
1:10dopamine would fade and then I'd quit.
1:12And that was kind of unfortunate because
1:14as a teenager, for some reason it was
1:16just the bane of my existence to get a
1:189-to-5 job, right? I looked around me. I
1:20looked at my parents. I love my parents,
1:22but I looked at the older generation,
1:24right? You go to Walmart. You look
1:25around. You see the people and you're
1:27like, "That's not what I want my life to
1:30end up as." And when I
1:31reverse-engineered, "Okay, what led them
1:33to that?" in my head as a teenager, it's
1:36like 9-to-5 job, right? That takes up
1:37most of your day. You get home at night.
1:39You're super tired. You don't really get
1:41to work on something meaningful. So, I
1:43wanted to do something creative. I
1:45didn't want to work a 9-to-5 and I
1:46wanted to do something creative. And I
1:48did end up going to college for 5 years,
1:50but I I was kind of treating it as a
1:52buffer period to just experiment with
1:54things. I was a straight-A student in
1:56high school, but when I was in college,
1:59I was the C's get degrees dude. And so,
2:015 years into college and just switching
2:04around so much, that was
2:05a theme of my youth, I guess, is I just
2:07switched around so many different times.
2:10I just changed, I made mistakes, I
2:12pivoted, I experimented, and that gave
2:13me a lot of experience, but it also gave
2:15me a lot of failures. And at that time,
2:17I was probably like $20,000 in student
2:20debt, and that continued to stack up.
2:21So, out of urgency and out of honestly
2:24just being scared that I wasn't going to
2:26be able to survive, I started applying
2:28for jobs and I got a job at a web design
2:31agency because I had previously acquired
2:34that skill. And so, at that job, it was
2:36kind of a cushy job. I just continued to
2:38learn how to freelance, right? I was
2:40doing web design, I could see inside of
2:42the agency that I was working at how
2:44things were kind of pieced together. It
2:46kind of made sense to me how to start
2:48freelancing in a good way. And so, I
2:50started doing that, and long story
2:52short, that started to pick up over the
2:54course of 6, 7, 8 months, and after like
2:569 months of me working the job, I was
2:59able to quit because I felt secure
3:01enough with my freelancing job now
3:04because freelancing is really just a
3:06glorified 9-to-5 job. You're still
3:08working for other people on projects
3:09that aren't yours,
3:11probably projects that you don't care
3:12about, that you don't have any creative
3:14direction in, but that's beside the
3:15point. Actually, not really. That's why
3:17I started on social media is because
3:20I saw other I don't know why I was on
3:22Twitter of all places, but I was
3:24scrolling and I saw that there were
3:26other web designers and people talking
3:28about my interests. The web designers
3:30were just giving out basic advice,
3:33right? They were like saying, "Here's
3:35the top 10 skills that you need to learn
3:37if you want to quit your job." And to
3:38me, that resonated at the time,
3:40but they were landing web design clients
3:42from that, and they were selling courses
3:44on how to do web design, how to
3:46freelance, other things like that. And
3:48so, I'm like, "I can do the same thing.
3:50They're they're saying all of the things
3:52that I know how to say and they're doing
3:54really well. Why am I not in their
3:55position? So, I started posting on
3:58social media. But, my edge and the way I
4:01kind of had consistent growth out of the
4:03gate, it wasn't super fast all at once.
4:05It was kind of like 100 followers a week
4:08for 2 months and then it picked up to
4:10like 500 followers a week and then kind
4:13of stabilized around 2,000 followers a
4:15month. And then there were waves. There
4:16was like large explosions of follower
4:19growth when I had a tweet do really well
4:21and then there was just the troughs of
4:22like uh 1,500 to 2,000 followers a month
4:25and it was pretty stable. But, the
4:27reason I was able to do that is because
4:29my failures in digital art taught me
4:32brand aesthetics to some degree, right?
4:34All of skill acquisition is really just
4:36pattern recognition. So, it's not like I
4:37was actually
4:39practicing or doing the skill when I was
4:42growing on Twitter. It's more so I had
4:44just like failed and had so much
4:45experience under my belt already that I
4:47had better taste out of the gate for
4:50what a hook looks like because I had
4:52studied Facebook ads and copywriting.
4:54When I was trying to make the agencies
4:56work that I had, I did some cold
4:59outreach. I knew how to network. I knew
5:00how to DM people. I knew how to make
5:02friends. I knew how to provide value so
5:04that they would provide value in return,
5:06which we're going to talk about in this
5:08video when I finally get to the point.
5:09And the web design that I was doing
5:11paired with the copywriting really well,
5:13paired with the branding really well.
5:15And so, I was off to a better start when
5:17it came to learning how to create
5:19digital products or just creating
5:21digital products better than most
5:22beginners because
5:24what most people do when they start on
5:26social media is that's their first
5:28endeavor, right? So, they're learning
5:30the skills as they go and they're
5:32building up taste over time and that's
5:33kind of what gets you stuck in beginner
5:36hell. Beginner hell is where you kind of
5:39you just post into the void and you
5:41don't really gain any followers. And
5:43usually, if you don't correct your
5:45mistakes or you don't pay attention to
5:47what's working and what's not, and you
5:48don't course correct and iterate, then
5:50you're never really going to have your
5:51breakout. And that's why most creators,
5:55and I don't blame them, quit because
5:57they just can't gain any traction. So,
5:59that's my goal with this video. Social
6:01media is a very viable business model,
6:03especially for one person, especially
6:05with AI on your side. Like, you can
6:07build so many cool things in today's
6:10world. And if you have the skills that
6:12allow you to stand out because most
6:14people are just going the route of, "Oh,
6:15I need to post content. Oh, I need to
6:17build something with AI." Everyone's
6:19doing that. And if everyone's doing it,
6:21then like, nobody's nobody's going to
6:24succeed doing that. Yes, AI gives you
6:26superpowers, but when everyone has
6:27superpowers, nobody has superpowers. So,
6:30again, that's my goal. You're not going
6:31to avoid the failure. You're not going
6:33to avoid the mistakes. You're not going
6:34to avoid having to build up the
6:37experience that leads to pattern
6:39recognition that leads to skill
6:40acquisition. But, what I can tell you is
6:43the two levers that you actually need to
6:45pull to see social media growth faster.
6:48And it will help with pattern
6:50recognition faster. My secondary goal
6:52with this video is to show you that
6:53social media isn't luck-based on an
6:56algorithm. You don't just post and hope
6:58that the algorithm picks you up, and
7:00then blame the algorithm for your
7:02failure and your lack of skill. Social
7:04media is like a video game. Many things
7:06are like a video game. They have
7:07specific mechanics and levers you can
7:10learn and pull. And when you're at a
7:12higher level in the video game, you kind
7:14of see it all. You've already gone
7:16through all the mechanics. You have
7:17already leveled up all of the abilities.
7:19It's just like, you get to be more
7:20creative. But, when you're an expert at
7:22something, usually you have more you
7:24have more potential for shiny object
7:26syndrome, and you need to focus more.
7:28So, as a beginner, you actually have an
7:29advantage over people because the people
7:32who are very good at social media also
7:34tend to fall off. You see a lot of big
7:36YouTubers or people just like decrease
7:38output. I've decreased output lately.
7:39And what that does is it opens up space
7:42for new creators to come in. So, two
7:44levers. That's what we need to know.
7:47Treat everything else as a distraction.
7:48Literally just focus on these two
7:51things. Don't get distracted. Focus on
7:54these two things and you will do just
7:56fine, I promise. So, the first lever is
7:59to do what works from your own
8:01perspective. And that sounds kind of
8:03That doesn't sound that great just yet,
8:05but I promise like this is the secret.
8:07This is it. If you actually treat it as
8:09a priority, it will become a priority.
8:12Because a big problem that beginner
8:13creators have is like they always think,
8:15"Oh, I don't have anything new to say."
8:18As if people are on social media to see
8:22something new. They're not. If you
8:24actually think about how you consume
8:26social media or how I consume social
8:28media, people are there to see what's
8:31already being talked about
8:33from a specific creator's opinion.
8:35That's literally how the algorithm
8:37works, especially YouTube. If you watch
8:39one video on a specific topic, YouTube
8:41is going to show you the same freaking
8:43topic from another creator. And if you
8:45understand that, you understand if that
8:47you create a video similar to one that
8:49has already done well, then you're going
8:51to be recommended to the people who
8:53viewed the one that did well. I'll
8:55explain that soon, but I hope that
8:57really clicks. That's YouTube growth in
8:59a nutshell. Every other course like all
9:01the other tactics are secondary. They're
9:03useful, but they're secondary. And it
9:04lines up with my own consumption habits.
9:06Like I could see the same video title
9:09every single day from a different
9:11creator and I would probably watch it. I
9:13do watch it because I want to hear their
9:15opinion. Everyone's talking about Claude
9:17code, Claude open AI, all of this [ __ ]
9:19the future of work. When I fall down a
9:21rabbit hole of wanting to learn about
9:23that, I'm just going to watch the same
9:25topic over and over again so that I get
9:27all of the nuances, so that I understand
9:29it completely. The same goes for like
9:31fitness videos on YouTube. That's I'm I
9:34love fitness. Like that's my
9:36Honestly, my main priority. This has all
9:38become secondary. But if I had an ounce
9:40of muscle for every time that I've
9:41watched a nutrition 101 video or just
9:43some creator's opinion on nutrition,
9:47I'd be Ronnie Coleman. This is the
9:49single most fundamental aspect of social
9:52media growth on any platform. So if we
9:54look at someone like Craig Perry who is
9:56just running my playbook. I don't know
9:58if he got it from me, but his YouTube
10:00bio is literally reading my newsletters
10:02to a camera. I just had my newsletter
10:04open here. It's not like I read it word
10:06for word, but it's like an outline that
10:08I can riff off of. But if we look here,
10:10these are his first two YouTube videos
10:13ever. Ever. Like
10:16Do you see this? You have 230k views and
10:20you have 144k views. That That's
10:22literally absurd. Like you do not see
10:24that for the first two videos on
10:26someone's YouTube channel. And that
10:28proves exactly what I'm talking about
10:30here. Did he get lucky a bit? Maybe. If
10:33you were to copy these
10:36one to one, would you get the same
10:38results? Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know.
10:41But all I do know is that if you do this
10:44enough times, you will start to see a
10:46green streak of engagement and followers
10:49coming in. So how is he doing what works
10:52from his own perspective? If you look
10:54here, how to remember everything you
10:56read. If you're on this I've created a
10:58video like that. I've almost created
11:00with the exact same title. If you look
11:03on YouTube, you can see that Ali Abdaal
11:05has created a video like that. You can
11:06see Just look up how to remember
11:08everything you read in the YouTube
11:09search bar and you'll see like 10 to 20
11:12iterations of those videos. And then
11:14right here, how to become dangerously
11:16self-educated. Now this one is actually
11:19kind of unique, but it uses the same
11:21validated structure because I've seen
11:23multiple times how to become dangerously
11:26articulate, how to become dangerously
11:28confident. Right? This is a rather new
11:30structure with the whole dangerously,
11:33but it still shows that it works. Now,
11:35is this copying? Are the things inside
11:38of Craig's videos the same exact script
11:41that every single other person who
11:43created a how to remember everything you
11:44read video, the same? No, it's not. If
11:47you actually watch the video, there's
11:48some great insights. He's pulling from
11:50his own experience, from his own
11:51perspective. It's his own opinion on how
11:54to do it. Another thing for people who
11:55are worried about copying, you, like,
11:58nobody has a novel idea. Novel ideas are
12:01extremely rare. It's not like Craig
12:03[snorts] or I can claim how to remember
12:06everything you read. Like, that's a
12:07process. That's not something that you
12:09can claim. Now, if it's something else,
12:11like a unique category or a unique
12:13concept that you've created, then, yes,
12:16it is kind of copying if you take it.
12:18But, of course, then semantics come into
12:20play. Like, I did a spin-off of uh Tim
12:24Ferriss's The 4-Hour Workweek. I did the
12:264-Hour Workday because I kind of created
12:28a little framework around it from my own
12:31experience. And other people could take
12:33the 4-Hour Workday, and some people may
12:35attribute it to me, but honestly, I
12:36wouldn't be very mad because it's like
12:39I can't claim that. So, you kind of have
12:40to use your own judgment here. Like, if
12:42you're obviously just purely copying,
12:45then yeah, don't do that. But, steal
12:46like an artist is a thing for a reason.
12:48It's because that's just how nature and
12:50reality works. You don't reinvent the
12:52wheel. And the same thing goes with like
12:54tweets or short-form posts or reels.
12:57Like, nobody can claim the idea that
12:59they're saying because it's usually not
13:01completely novel. The way that they
13:02worded it, the the way that they
13:05structured it can be considered theirs.
13:07And obviously, like, you're going to
13:08look like an idiot if you just like
13:10copy-pasted change a few words, which
13:12I've seen a few times. And when I see
13:13those, I kind of immediately label that
13:15person as like, "Wow, you can't think
13:16originally." But, you can take the idea.
13:19So, I mean, if we just look at these
13:20posts here, like, major cheat code for
13:22life, increase your recovery speed. You
13:24will get rejected. You will lose money.
13:26You will embarrass yourself. The goal
13:27isn't to avoid the fall, it's to shorten
13:29the time between the fall and the reset.
13:31Fast recovery compounds. Now, there's an
13:34essence to this idea. Obviously, like
13:36saying increase your recovery speed,
13:38that's kind of Sahil Bloom coded. But
13:41major cheat code for life, you could
13:43definitely use that as a hook. Why not?
13:45And then if you actually look at this
13:46tweet, you can just read into it and be
13:48like, you will get rejected. You will
13:50lose money. And then you start to think,
13:52hmm, do other ideas spin off of that?
13:55And most of the time, they do. And one
13:57thing I like to actually use AI for is
14:00just that, for iterations on those
14:02ideas, because
14:04like I can think through them and let
14:06ideas come to my mind, but when I'm
14:07actually sitting down to write a post,
14:10like you kind of need a topic to write
14:11about. You don't necessarily need to
14:13brainstorm and like have this
14:16non-practical way of coming up with an
14:18idea or reject AI. Like you're just
14:21trying to choose a topic to write about,
14:22so that then you can think. You can
14:24think in a certain direction. So, what I
14:27like to do is take really good posts
14:30that I like and be like, hey, just give
14:31me iterations of these and I'll read
14:33through them, and I'll just wait for one
14:35to hit and I'll be like, okay, yeah,
14:36I'll write about that. And usually,
14:38through so many through those two
14:41filters of like, okay, it goes through
14:43AI to give me a iteration, it goes
14:45through my mind cuz I'm usually not
14:46taking exactly what it says here. By the
14:48end of that process, I usually have
14:50something that's pretty original. And
14:52since I've read and pattern recognized
14:55and pattern matched so many good posts,
14:58the the structure of my writing starts
15:00to come out over time and then I can use
15:02my own taste to refine it to make it
15:04even further mine. So, that's like
15:06that's content 101 in a nutshell. Now,
15:08an even better way to just lock this in
15:11is many of you remember this video, how
15:13to get ahead of 99% of people in 6 to 12
15:15months. What many of you don't know is
15:17that I wrote a tweet in 2019 or 2020. I
15:21think it's 2019 with the first line that
15:24said how to get ahead of 99% of people.
15:27So, it was already a validated idea. In
15:292023,
15:31I turned it into that YouTube video.
15:33That's now my highest performing YouTube
15:34video at 1.7 million views.
15:37After that video did really well, Mark
15:40Manson, the author of The Subtle Art of
15:42Not Giving a [ __ ] created a video with
15:44the same exact title, except he said
15:47something else instead of in 6 months.
15:49And that video got like 4.5 million
15:51views.
15:52It's a proven topic, at least for now,
15:55until it gets ran through. That's
15:56another thing is you'll eventually learn
15:58that some topics that used to do well
16:01are kind of just dead now, or they
16:03they've been exhausted to the point
16:05where they need a reset period. And
16:07you'll see how to get ahead of 99% of
16:09people start to come back up in maybe a
16:11year, 2 years, and they'll flood the
16:13space, will be super viral for a second,
16:15and then it'll die down. But after Mark
16:17Manson made the video, Alex Hormozi made
16:20a video titled how to get ahead of 99%
16:22of people. And then after that, Tom
16:24Bilyeu retitled one of his videos to
16:27have how to get ahead of 99% of people
16:29in the title. So, that's four massive
16:32creators who just prove what I'm saying
16:35here. And that's the thing is that these
16:36creators aren't creating the same exact
16:38video. In my video, I'm talking about
16:40like the process of creating an
16:42anti-vision and a vision and so on and
16:44so forth. But Mark Manson, like he's
16:46written so much about this before that
16:48he has a completely different view.
16:50Right? Anyone can take the topic how to
16:52be how to get ahead of 99% of people and
16:54just think, how would I get ahead of 99%
16:56of people based on my interests, right?
16:58It doesn't even like it can be business.
17:00It can be start a business like this to
17:03get ahead of 99% of people. It could be
17:04finance, budget like this. It could be
17:07relationships, how to get ahead of 99%
17:09of men because for some reason young men
17:11just compete against each other in looks
17:13max all day and don't really get
17:14anywhere with it. But they'll learn that
17:15lesson when they get to it. But the
17:17point, the overarching point, is that
17:19the best creators
17:20don't just post what's on their mind,
17:23right? They don't just like open up
17:24their phone and send a post. Some do. I
17:26do sometimes. You should. But that
17:28shouldn't That's not a strategy, right?
17:30If you're treating social media as a way
17:32to pursue your life's work, then
17:34business is a part of that.
17:36Practicality, strategy, tactics. So, the
17:38best creators, most of the time,
17:40research what works and base what
17:43they're going to create about on that.
17:45And so, what most people do here is
17:47they'll just like bookmark posts on
17:49social media and hope that they come
17:51back to it and remember it when it's
17:52time to actually create. But then most
17:54people just start looking at a blank
17:55page and write something that isn't that
17:58good and then wonder why it didn't do
18:00well since they're actually doing the
18:01steps. Or before they write the YouTube
18:04title, they'll go to YouTube and they'll
18:05search for similar titles and that's a
18:07solid way of doing it. Or they'll go to
18:09the creator's account and filter by most
18:11popular and then they can write down and
18:13study those specific titles that did
18:16well. Another thing people do is they
18:17just jot down ideas as they come to mind
18:20and hope that those ideas are good
18:22enough to do well and sometimes they
18:23are. And all of those are fine, but
18:25they're not really strategized. They're
18:27not really a system. They're not
18:29something that you can rely on. And
18:31frankly, they're just time consuming and
18:33they're slow. And so, this is where I
18:34transition into a sales pitch for the
18:37new iteration of Eden, which is very
18:39focused on outlier content and just
18:41being the place where you research
18:43content and write great content. Eden is
18:46quite literally you have boards that you
18:48can paste links to of social posts or
18:50websites or you can upload PDFs to. You
18:53can create notes in or documents so you
18:54can write. And so, it's like I showed
18:56you my YouTube swipe file. I showed you
18:57the post swipe file. I can reference
18:59these with AI or I can go to the
19:01discover feed, set my content pillars
19:03and I can just scroll through here and
19:06see which posts catch my eye. I can also
19:08filter by platform if I only want to see
19:10tweets or YouTube videos. And then I can
19:12click one when I like it. Let's say I
19:15add this one to my YouTube swipe file.
19:17Boom, added there. So, if you don't know
19:19what to create next, just scroll through
19:21here, add it to a board, and then when
19:23it's time to actually create, go to your
19:25board, create a note in there, and then
19:27start writing. Another thing that you
19:29won't find anywhere else is just the
19:30ability to search a specific creator and
19:33look at all of their platforms and
19:35filter by top-performing content. So, a
19:38lot of mine on Twitter are articles. So,
19:41Twitter just renders those as a link,
19:43but I can scroll through here and I can
19:45just see one, my own good ideas, so I
19:47can iterate off of those, and I do that
19:50all the time. That's really how I
19:52continue growing at this point. But, I
19:53can save a bunch of these to a board and
19:56just use them as inspiration, or you can
19:58do what I showed you earlier, where if I
19:59open the post swipe file, and then I
20:01open the chat, and I can reference this
20:03board in the chat, and then I can ask
20:06for variations of these, or I can just
20:08chat with it, or I can add a creator's
20:10top-performing YouTube videos and just
20:12be like, "Hey, break all of these down.
20:14What is this person's worldview? How
20:15does he structure his videos? Uh how can
20:17I apply this to the next video that I
20:19create? Help me create that video." So,
20:21super simple, super powerful. I'm
20:23actually very excited about this new
20:24version of Eden. If you're wondering
20:26what happened to the old version of
20:27Eden, there's actually an article up
20:30that is at eden.so/the-new-eden,
20:35and that kind of goes over uh how we
20:38went broke thanks to AI credits and how
20:41we had to pivot to something specific
20:43that is actually a lot more valuable,
20:45and we landed on this. So,
20:47blessing in a curse because this is
20:48going to become a staple in what I hope
20:51is every creator's workflow, and I'm
20:53going to work to make that happen
20:54because this is just like a massive
20:56unlock that no other app has. So, I'm
20:58super excited about it. You can try it
21:00out with the link in the description,
21:02and I think you will enjoy it quite a
21:04bit. Okay, on to the second lever that
21:07you can pull. The first one is just
21:09validated content. Study what works and
21:11create your own opinion on it. It is
21:13that simple. That's how you start
21:14practicing writing good content. Please
21:16do not over complicate that. So, the
21:17second lever,
21:19you're going to hate this word, but it's
21:21networking. And so, with this, I don't
21:23know what goes through most people's
21:24heads when they actually start on social
21:26media, but for some reason, they're just
21:28probably bringing consumer behavior
21:29over, right? They're used to just
21:31scrolling on social media and seeing
21:33that, oh, people post and oh, this
21:35posted really well. And so, all I have
21:37to do is start creating posts and then
21:39one will do well and then I'll become
21:41famous. They don't see that a creator
21:44treats it as a business because that's
21:46what it is at this point, but a business
21:47doesn't have to be soulless. It can be
21:49very purposeful. It's been the most
21:51purposeful thing in my life. It's led to
21:53some of the most drastic changes I've
21:55had in my life and it can actually
21:56provide good. Oh, no, you're selling
21:58something for money. That thing,
22:00preferably for a specific person, is
22:02valuable and it's worth paying the money
22:03and preferably it would be worth more
22:06than what you're charging in the value
22:08that it does provide. It's called
22:09voluntary exchange. But if it were as
22:11easy as just posting,
22:14then everyone would do it.
22:17And then if everyone did it, and then if
22:20everyone did it, then it wouldn't work
22:22for anyone, just like AI. Like you have
22:25to understand that if you want to be
22:27good at something, you have to treat it
22:29as a skill that you acquire over time. I
22:32don't know how that doesn't click for
22:33people. Like just because it's social
22:35media, a thing that you use on your
22:37phone every single day, doesn't mean
22:39that there isn't a very high skill cap
22:42to succeeding at the business side of
22:45that thing. So, now the question is,
22:47okay Dan, well, what do I do if it's not
22:50just praying for the algorithm and
22:51hoping that my post goes viral because
22:53we learned about validated ideas. We
22:56learned how to find those. We learned
22:58that if you create your own opinion on
22:59them, you're setting yourself up to do
23:02really well. But if you're in beginner
23:03hell, if you're at the very start,
23:05you're still posting into the void. You
23:07can't expect the algorithm to just
23:08launch you into the ether and give you a
23:11ton of followers, especially on certain
23:13platforms like Twitter where the
23:14algorithm is kind of non-existent,
23:16right? I started on that platform, so I
23:18knew that my growth had to take manual
23:22effort, right? And I'm blessed that I
23:24did it that way because now I know that
23:26like if the algorithm isn't working in
23:28my favor, I still have a lever I can
23:30pull. So, let's just break this down so
23:31it makes sense. You want followers.
23:34Followers come from people seeing your
23:36post on their phone and then clicking
23:39your profile and being interested enough
23:41to follow you. And so if the algorithm
23:43is like the lottery, so people aren't
23:45going to see your post on their timeline
23:47organically, how can we manually get
23:49people to see your posts? How can we
23:52start rolling the snowball until it like
23:55starts rolling down the hill or becomes
23:56an avalanche or whatever. So you have to
23:58think, where is the source of followers
24:01or people on social media? And it's in
24:04other people's audiences, right? When
24:06you're on social media, you really have
24:09only a few actions that you can take.
24:10You can follow someone, you can like
24:12their post, you can repost it, and you
24:14can comment on it.
24:16That's the That's a bookmarks, etc. Like
24:18those are all Those don't matter. That
24:21That's the thing you do on social media
24:22is you engage and you follow. So the
24:24followers that you want lie or following
24:27someone else. This is why brands pay so
24:30much for creators to post about their
24:32product because they have an audience.
24:34Like how else is the brand going to find
24:36people to buy their product? They need
24:38to put it in front of people, and the
24:39way they can do that is like podcast
24:41sponsorships, partner with a creator on
24:43social media, run paid ads, Facebook or
24:47Google, maybe run chat GPT ads now that
24:49those are a thing, or they can do other
24:51forms of marketing, but on social media
24:52as a creator you're practically
24:54marketing yourself. So you could
24:56technically pay people to share your
24:58posts, and that works to some extent if
25:01you do it the correct way, but let's not
25:03bank on that. And for those who kind of
25:05get turned off by that, that's a very
25:06viable strategy, right? If you're
25:08treating this as a business or as some
25:10like a way to pursue your life's work,
25:12and you have the money to do it,
25:14go ahead. I do not care. Because people
25:16are only going to follow you if your
25:17content is good, right? If your content
25:19sucks, like people say it's cheating to
25:21pay someone else, it just doesn't make
25:23sense. They don't have a business
25:23mindset. They don't understand it. But,
25:26if someone else shares your post, and
25:27people don't like it, they're not going
25:29to follow you. And then it's a waste of
25:30money. It's the same thing as putting
25:31money into Facebook ads, and people not
25:33buying your product because your product
25:35sucks. So, in essence, it doesn't really
25:37matter if you pay or not, because you're
25:39only going to grow if you're good, if
25:41you're skilled. But, if you don't want
25:43to pay someone, and if you're smart, you
25:45can get in front of other people's
25:47audiences for free. And all of it just
25:50boils down to making friends. And I know
25:52that sounds simple, again, because it
25:54is. But, most people don't know how to
25:55make friends. Most people in today's
25:57world are antisocial. You would think
25:59that more people being on social media
26:01would be more social,
26:03but they're not. And so, yes, that means
26:05that you're going to have to talk to
26:06people. And that on social media, that
26:09happens in the DMs or in the replies.
26:11But, one-on-one, it's in the DMs. And
26:13for this to work for you, I would
26:15recommend prioritizing it. I would
26:17recommend time blocking it for 30
26:19minutes on your calendar, so that you
26:21actually sit down and do it, right? 30
26:22minutes on your calendar should be for
26:25uh researching, validating posts, and
26:28writing out ideas, and actually drafting
26:30the posts. And then another 30 minutes
26:32should be reaching out to people to get
26:34those posts shared, right? When you
26:35launch a product, that's practically
26:37what you're doing in the first place to
26:38kick it off the ground, is you're
26:39reaching out to people to see if they
26:40like the product, and to see if they'll
26:42promote it, whether it's for money or
26:44not, or if they'll just use it. And if
26:46they do use it, boom, you have a user.
26:48You think one user isn't a lot, but if
26:50you compound over time, and then word of
26:51mouth kicks in, and then you start
26:53growing organically. The same thing
26:55works for building an audience. And so
26:57the goal here is to make actual friends,
27:00because what do friends do? They support
27:02each other, and they're usually working
27:03toward the same goal. They have a
27:04similar value set. So if you have
27:07like five people that you're in
27:08communication with, and then you write
27:10or create a really good piece of
27:12content, and then you send it to them,
27:13and you say, "Hey, I put a lot of time
27:15into this. I think you'll resonate with
27:17it. I think your audience will resonate
27:19with it. Can you share it? Now,
27:21obviously it takes a bit of time to get
27:22to that point, which we're going to go
27:24over, but it really does become that
27:25simple once you actually have friends,
27:27because if they are friends, then
27:29they're more than happy to do that. Like
27:30sharing something takes no effort. Like
27:33it's not a big deal at all. But if the
27:35content sucks, then they're not going to
27:37want to do that. So, go back to step
27:40one, so you know how to write good
27:41content. And you're there to return the
27:43favor, right? Like with Eden, when I go
27:46to my friends and I say, "Hey, I built
27:47this really cool thing. Do you like it?"
27:50And they say yes, and I say, "Okay, I'm
27:51launching this week. Will you help me
27:52promote it?" They'll say, "Sure." And
27:55then like they have a lot of followers,
27:57so that's really helpful for me. And so
27:59what I say, "Anytime that you launch
28:00product or anytime you need something
28:02shared, please do not hesitate to send
28:04it to me, so I can return the favor.
28:06Value exchange. But if you don't have
28:08that friend group yet, I call this
28:10process, some of you may have heard of
28:12it, non-needy networking. And so if you
28:14do this right, this is how you get
28:16someone like a 50,000 follower account
28:18to share your post, and now your post is
28:20in in front of 50,000 people, and you
28:22didn't rely on the algorithm. And that's
28:24how you grow if you turn this into a
28:26repeatable process. So the first step is
28:28to just find someone that you want to
28:30DM. Obviously, like you shouldn't just
28:32reach out to anyone and everyone. This
28:33should be like a small curated group of
28:35people that you're going to strategize
28:37and grow with over the course of 6 to 12
28:39months, or probably even longer. Like I
28:42have built so many long-term friendships
28:45just by being on social media and being
28:47social. I moved to Texas with JK Molina
28:49and Dakota Robertson like 3 years ago.
28:52My buddy Joey lives down the street from
28:54me. He literally moved here from
28:55Atlanta. My trainer, Randy, lives over
28:58there and we met online. He was using my
29:00software, reached out, he's like, "Hey,
29:02I know you like fitness and I know you
29:03do everything yourself, but let me do
29:05your meal plan and training. I think
29:06you'll like it." I was like, "Fuck it,
29:07okay. Let's do it." And now we're very
29:10good friends and we're starting a
29:11nootropic business together. Like it's
29:13it's so serendipitous how these things
29:15happen and just opportunities pop up
29:17when you have people who either have
29:20opportunities or like the connection
29:23between you creates opportunities. I
29:25know that DMing other people is just
29:27like this non-tangible strategy. Like it
29:30just doesn't result in an immediate
29:32direct outcome as feedback, but I
29:34promise if you do this, like this is the
29:36greatest advantage you can have. And so
29:38where do you find these people that you
29:39want to DM?
29:41On social media. Like you you kind of
29:43just take it easy. Like you scroll, if
29:45you see an account that you like, make
29:47an effort to DM them. Make an effort to
29:49engage. Make an effort to be seen by
29:50them and to and for you to show that
29:52you're supportive. And if you just have
29:54time to look around, like you can go to
29:56someone's profile that you like. Like
29:57you can go to my profile and do this. I
29:59don't I don't know if it'll yield any
30:01results, but you you just find people on
30:03social media by how you would find
30:04people on social media. There isn't like
30:06an exact way to just pinpoint exactly
30:08who to talk to. But you could go to like
30:10my profile, click on my following list,
30:12who I'm following, and see people who
30:14are similar to me or similar to you,
30:17and just go through them and see if you
30:18like any of their content. And so step
30:20two, once you have someone that you want
30:22to DM, which should be pretty quick. You
30:24literally should just open social media,
30:26see someone, and then be like, "That guy
30:27sounds cool. I'm going to DM him." But
30:29the second thing you do is you just send
30:31them simple praise, right? You like You
30:33don't have to do this. You can skip to
30:35further steps, but we're just getting
30:36into the flow of things here. You have
30:38to learn how to make friends. You just
30:39send simple praise. It's like how girls
30:41compliment each other's shoes or
30:43something like that. And then they're
30:45like, "Oh my god, girl, where did you
30:46get those?" And they start up a
30:47conversation, and then one thing leads
30:49to another, and then they're getting
30:50lunch, and then they're best friends.
30:52So, what you do here is you go and look
30:54at the person's like content, at their
30:57website, at what they're creating, if
31:00they're creating anything, and you try
31:01and to find like something that you
31:03resonate with. And in my opinion, the
31:05simplest thing you can do here is to
31:07just send a single sentence. So, if
31:09someone wrote a social post that was
31:10like about how most people quit social
31:12media too early, I'd be like, "Damn,
31:14that's true. I actually quit like four
31:16times, and now I'm back at it. How long
31:18have you been a creator?"
31:19Wow, so difficult to start a
31:21conversation. I
31:23You can ask ChatGPT for how to start a
31:24conversation. I wouldn't recommend it,
31:26but
31:26if you're that far gone socially, maybe
31:29try it. The only other tip I can give
31:30with this step is to just avoid
31:32corporate speak like the plague, right?
31:34You're not here to connect with someone
31:36on LinkedIn. You're here to just like
31:38text them like a friend. Like you you're
31:40just Act as if you're passing by that
31:42you're at the gym, right? And you see
31:45someone with a similar shirt as you, and
31:46you're like, "Oh, dude, nice shirt." And
31:48then
31:49that connection is kind of formed. You
31:50go on about your workout, and then you
31:52come back the next day, and then you see
31:54them again, and you go, "Oh, what's up,
31:55man?" And you give them a fist bump, and
31:56then you go home, and you come back, and
31:58then you give them a fist bump again,
32:00you go, "Oh, dude, I didn't get your
32:01name. What is it?" And then they give
32:03you your name, and you're like, "Oh,
32:04nice." And then you just be like, "Oh,
32:05what's your what's your split? What are
32:07you training today?" And then they go,
32:09"I'm training arms. What about you?" And
32:11I'm like, "Yeah, me, too." And it's
32:13like, "Oh, what are you training like on
32:14Saturday?" It's like chest, and they're
32:15like, "Oh, we should hit that together.
32:17Do you come around this time?" And
32:18they'd be like, "Yeah." And you'd be
32:19like, "Okay, cool. It's a date." So,
32:22it's it's literally the same exact
32:24thing. Like you're just doing it in the
32:25replies and the DMs as opposed to in the
32:27gym. And rather than getting in a lift
32:29together, you support them in some way
32:32on sharing their content. And so, that
32:34kind of covered step three, which is to
32:35just uh show interest in them. So, what
32:38you're trying to do is drill into
32:39something that is important to them. And
32:41for another creator,
32:43it it's usually what they're building.
32:45Like, you can ask them are what are you
32:47building? Or I see that you're building
32:49Eden. How's that going? What's the next
32:51feature you're going to drop? I actually
32:52looked into it. It looks super cool. I'm
32:54going to start using it. Or just be
32:55like, oh, I I was on your Substack and I
32:57went back like
32:59a year ago and you had this really good
33:00article that I read through and this
33:02part really resonated with me. Like,
33:03where did you come up with that? Or
33:05something, right? It doesn't even
33:06matter. So, step four is to show you're
33:08useful. And this is really where like
33:10the power comes into play. But, it's
33:12also the part that trips people up the
33:13most because they don't think that they
33:15have any value to provide. And the thing
33:17here is that like you personally don't
33:20need any value to provide. Like, you
33:22just need to be someone who can connect
33:24the other person with some form of
33:25value. That can be a resource. That can
33:27be a person if you meet another person
33:29that you think that person should meet.
33:31And just be like, dude, I think you
33:32should reach out to this guy. I think
33:34he's really cool. You guys would hit it
33:35off. Or what I really like doing and
33:38what I really like when people do for me
33:40is when people know what I'm working on
33:43or when I know what other people are
33:44working on, like me working on Eden.
33:48Uh imagine I'm someone else. If someone
33:49else were working on a software, then if
33:52I watch a YouTube video about AI and how
33:54it's going to disrupt tech and how this
33:56is the way forward, I I would just send
33:58them the video. And be like, hey, you
34:00might find this interesting. I know
34:01you're building XYZ. Maybe this will
34:03impact it a bit. And then they might
34:06watch it or they'll just be like,
34:07thanks. Or they'll take mental note and
34:08be like, oh, that was really cool. Like,
34:10he thought of me
34:11outside of
34:13our DMs. And then that's when the law of
34:15reciprocity kicks in and they feel the
34:17need to return the favor. If you give
34:19something, someone else is going to feel
34:21the need to give something in return.
34:23So, all you really need to do at that
34:25point is just ask, which we'll get to.
34:27But, step five, which is an optional
34:30step but highly recommended, is to just
34:32get on a call with the person, right?
34:33This is like getting coffee or getting
34:36lunch with someone you met at the gym or
34:38something of that nature, but online,
34:41you kind of just be like, "Yo, we should
34:43catch up on a call sometime and talk
34:44about business."
34:46That's it. And then you get on a call,
34:48and then you come out of it with like a
34:50lot deeper connection. The amount of
34:52calls that I got on when I was just
34:55beginning on social media was absurd.
34:56It's like people just like to
34:59speak with other people have related
35:00interests because they're not going to
35:02find those people in their everyday
35:03life. Like there are very few people
35:05around me, or especially that I went to
35:07school with, that have similar interests
35:09or that do similar things. So, you kind
35:11of have to build a tribe of those
35:14people. So, you can do that or you don't
35:16have to, but step number six is to just
35:19continue sending more resources or to
35:21just check in. So, you send them a video
35:23that you thought was interesting, you
35:24send them an article, you send them a
35:25tweet and be like, "Oh, dude, huh, this
35:27is exactly what we were talking about
35:28the other day." You just kind of
35:29maintain faint connection while
35:31providing value to them. Maybe you
35:33create something. Like I've had many
35:35people scrape all my YouTube videos,
35:36which
35:37you don't have to do anymore because you
35:39can just go and eat in creators, go to
35:41my YouTube, chat with all the videos.
35:42You don't have to spend thousands of
35:43dollars scraping with Manas anymore to
35:46actually get the transcripts of people's
35:48YouTube videos. So, try that out. But
35:50they'll do that and then they'll have
35:51the AI like
35:53get all of my stuff, like all of my
35:55patterns and all of my concepts in one
35:57place, and I'll be like, "Oh, that's
35:58really cool. And thank you for doing
36:00that." Even though I like that's what I
36:02do as a like you reverse engineer your
36:03own stuff. Like I have a database, not
36:05really a database, but I have a note of
36:07all of those things in one place
36:09already. Yeah, it's good either way. But
36:11now, step seven, and finally, and you
36:13don't need to go through all seven steps
36:14to do this. It can just come naturally
36:15in the conversation, but this is where
36:17you ask. And you can ask them a few
36:19things. You can just ask them to join a
36:20group chat with other people you've been
36:22talking to, and now you have this really
36:23powerful group chat where you can share
36:25strategies. Or you send them one of your
36:27posts that you put a lot of time into.
36:29Or you can just ask them questions,
36:30right? If they're an expert in a place
36:33that you're not, you have a connection
36:34where you can kind of get free answers
36:37out of them without paying for
36:38consulting or coaching. But if you plan
36:40to leverage their audience for growth,
36:42which isn't the goal of the friendship,
36:43but that's a benefit of it, you want to
36:45send them a post that you actually put a
36:47lot of time into and that's good, and
36:49then you ask them to share. Because if
36:51it's not good, they're not going to want
36:52to share it. But this is also how you
36:53can come up with content ideas, right?
36:55In your conversation, something comes up
36:57like a problem or just some idea, and
37:00then you can write about that thing, and
37:02then you can send the post to them and
37:03be like, "Hey, I just wrote this up. It
37:05was inspired by a previous conversation.
37:08Um if you hit it with a share, I'll hit
37:09you back at some point." Or just be
37:12honest. Like my favorite outreach
37:13strategy in general is just brutal
37:15honesty and be like, "Hey dude, I'm
37:16really trying to grow.
37:18Um if you could share this, that would
37:19be awesome. If not, absolutely no
37:21worries at all. I'm not expecting
37:22anything." And so that's literally it.
37:24You have two levers. You can write
37:26validated content, and then if the
37:28algorithm doesn't magically pick it up,
37:29which it probably won't, especially if
37:31you're a beginner, then you have a
37:32manual way of making friends and having
37:36them share it to their audience so that
37:38it can at least get kick-started. Is
37:40this all going to happen overnight? Is
37:41it going to happen tomorrow? The next
37:43day? Probably not. It's going to happen
37:44over the course of 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 3
37:48months. But it will compound, and you'll
37:51definitely see some growth out of this
37:53because these aren't
37:55levers that you guess at. They're just
37:57levers that you pull. It's just an
37:59action that you do and you get better
38:01at. It's a skill. Not that you're going
38:02to DM 500 people, but if you DM'd five
38:05people a day for 30 days or 60 days,
38:07it's a lot of freaking people. And if
38:09one isn't kind enough or close enough of
38:11a friend to share one of your posts,
38:14then you're doing something wrong. So
38:15that's it. Those are the two ways to
38:17grow. If you like this video, like the
38:18video, subscribe. If you want to
38:20research outlier your or have a place to
38:22write high performing content, check out
38:24the new version of Eden. I think it's
38:26really cool because I like just saving
38:28links to boards and being able to write
38:30with them open next to it. So, check
38:31that out. I'm super excited about it.
38:33Yeah, that's it. I'll see you in the
38:34next video. Bye.

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This page contains the full transcript of How To Grow An Audience If You Have 0 Followers (It's Only 2 Habits) by Dan Koe, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 8,329 words across 1,161 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

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Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to choose a caption track available on the video.

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