Thread by @ianrborthwick

How I went from 0 - 40k followers in a year in a half.

A thread

👇👇👇

1/ 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐤

A drugged David Dobrik called, said I was on the vlog & he wanted to negotiate a promo live 😬

I don’t remember the convo, bc the thought 20m ppl listening made me have a panic attack.

Spent the next 12 hrs trying to figure out if we actually had the money.

2/ 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠

We did 15 videos since then, &
I clout-chased everyone.

If David tweeted, I responded immediately.

I amassed a loyal following of 10k+ David Dobrik fans.

Which was cool, but as a 30 year old I was a bit out of my wheelhouse.

3/ 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫

With a following, I pivoted into influencer marketing content.

Which I actually knew about & that worked.

Problem was I was too pithy. It was either how great my marketing was or how stupid everyone else’s was.

Which is a toxic mindset.

4/ 𝐍𝐨𝐰?

I’ve seen the most growth (20k → 40k) actually trying to provide value.

• Story breakdown
• Rise of a creator

Bonus: I actually get to think critically & learn

5/ 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐞

Everyone talks about growth hacks, but for me it was mostly luck, and then clout-chasing

...until I realized I could actually say “things” and put myself out there.