X growth gurus are full of shit
this is why you don't get results
What’s good young and eager mind?
Scrolling on X this morning and stumbled on yet another bullshit thread from a growth guru.
What’s the problem with mundane advice like this?
Seems solid right?
Well, it’s okay… Not that you haven’t seen this exact thread 10,000 times but whatever.
Money X is one big MLM Scheme
The main issue is the dishonesty.
That’s why I hate it so much.
You see it’s not about the contents of this thread so much as it is what’s being left out.
These “entrepreneurs” are scamming vulnerable people because they won’t ever get results by implementing this advice because they’re leaving out the most important part.
So they’re lying by omission.
Suppose you’re following a fitness influencer who makes money selling you their workout routine.
But then you learn they were using steroids all along.
Or suppose you’re following an IG girl to get a big butt. She tells you to buy her bootie blaster 3000 workout program.
Then you learn she actually had a BBL done.
And the people they’re scamming could be cash-strapped single moms or teens who’ve scraped together enough money from their minimum wage job.
The dishonesty is the problem.
And it’s that dishonesty that ruins it for everyone cuz that’s how you get the stereotypical retarded Redditor who thinks everyone who sells expertise or gives bodybuilding or nutrition advice is a scammer. But there ARE actual scientists researching this stuff very carefully.
Here’s an example of a guy who does the same thing I do but in the nutrition space instead of the entrepreneurship space.
Imagine you’re a scientist and you’re trying to determine if some protocol is effective at achieving some goal.
The protocol works, with most things having little to no effect, and one thing having a huge effect.
But you hide that one thing because it benefits you and instead pretend the effect came from all the other little things.
That’s what’s happening right now and it’s grossly unethical at best and a flat-out scam at worst.
But RJY, aren’t they just playing the game?
Well, yes and no.
What you may not know, depending on how much of a beginner you are is that the game is rigged.
Beginners (White Belts) think that the way to grow on X is to make content people wanna consume
I did that for years and it doesn’t work.
Good content is necessary but on its own won’t get you anywhere.
With the exception of rage bait (politics, gender, trans, feminism, race, etc.) or clickbait (aggregating–read stealing–viral content).
You see, in order to grow on X, people need to see your content.
And the only way your content gets seen is when people engage with it, thus amplifying your reach.
First among those people’s audiences and then, if it does well enough, X will boost it outside of that pool to people who have no connection to you.
And that’s how growth works.
So then what’s the secret???
If you haven’t guessed by now, it’s buying engagement.
X is a game of engagement.
Engagement leads to an increase in reach and followers. And an increase in reach and followers leads to an increase in engagement.
There are two ways to do that:
Three if you count free engagement pods / genuine communities.
You join a paid cohort, paid community, or high-ticket coaching. *
You reach out to creators directly and buy RTs. ($150ish for 30 RTs)
*Note: if the course creators don’t RT your shit, you’re literally pissing away your money. That’s the only thing you should be buying. The rest is all bullshit. You do not need their trash advice. You only need their engagement.
All the growth gurus do this but never talk about it.
Or they hint at it by saying something like “I’m investing $30K in ‘coaching’ this year”.
The reason why that’s dishonest is because it makes you think they’re getting help with writing better or something.
While in reality, it’s just code for buying retweets with extra steps.
And that’s the scam…
They pretend their growth comes from their super secret, mega awesome, ultra clever, growth strategy… the one that’s the exact same as everyone else’s mind you…
Yet conveniently leave out what I just told you.
You can easily figure out who’s part of which engagement pods by looking at the testimonials.
What you’ll quickly discover is that it’s one big group of kissing cousins with everyone taking everyone else’s “courses”. Yes. That includes your favorite creator.
Big creators aren’t big because they’re making better content than you… they’re big because they’re better at playing the game than you.
If you’re reading this and are starting to hate the game, you’re not picking up what I’m laying down
I was hesitant to write this because I’m worried, the wrong people are going to resonate with this piece.
I’ll be the first to raise my hand and admit that I hated the game for years.
I had a boulder-sized chip on my shoulder.
You see, I’m well-connected in academia.
I’ve spent more than a decade digging through marketing literature. (Not 9-5s either… more like 12-14 hours per day.)
I’m friends and have worked with a ton of big-name industry experts (like Ogilvy’s Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland, AppSumo’s Noah Kagan, and The MOM Test’s Rob Fitzpatrick to name a few).
Hell, just go to my X and look at some of the people that follow me. These are not mouthbreathers.
And if I don’t know the answer to a question, I always know exactly whose area of active academic research it is.
Point is… I know my shit. I’ve earned my stripes. And I take my craft extremely seriously because it’s my vocation.
So then when you see your own well-researched thread get 2 likes and some mouthbreather’s thread full of misinformation go viral, it rubs you the wrong way.
But I now realize that was a HUGE mistake
Yes, the misinformation is definitely a problem.
I’m not excusing that.
But the virality part is about playing the game.
No matter how much you bitch about the game, the game is the game.
Either you choose to accept that or you choose to find yourself a different game to play.
I recommend YouTube since it’s the most meritocratic. If you make Good capital G content, YouTube WILL find you an audience or it’ll keep looking until it does. It’s not possible to upload Good content to YouTube and not find an audience whereas that’s the default on places like LinkedIn and X that are about engagement pods.
Very important YouTube disclaimer: Everyone thinks their content is Good capital G when it’s good lowercase g. Mr. Beast himself talked about how he was annoyed his content wasn’t doing well even though it was Good. Years later he realized it wasn’t.
Don’t get cynical… Play the game
What I want is for you to play the game too.
Just don’t lie about it or mislead people.
The X algo is astonishingly bad and although it’s better now than during the Twitter days, it’s still dogshit.
Implement the basics & then buy engagement.
That’s it.
That’s the secret.
Where you can still fuck up is by thinking the basics don’t matter at all.
That’s the cynical Redditor attitude. And that’s why I was hesitant to ship this piece.
But 0 x n still equals 0, no matter how large n becomes.
Here’s everything you need to know:
Pick a niche
Nail your profile (bio, banner, profile pic, and link)
Show don’t tell
Be a reply guy
Write daily long forms
Make killer content based on bigger accounts in the hopes they’ll retweet it
Make good lead magnets and then do giveaways
Jump on calls with other people who are trying to grow so you grow your tribe
Have a CTA under every post
If you’re fuzzy on how to do any of this, just hit me up & I will help you.
There you go.
I just saved you at least $1,000+.
You can still pay a creator but I guarantee you won’t learn anything other than what I just told you since all those mouthbreathers say the exact same thing just with slightly different terminology.
Your key takeaway should be this:
If you’re implementing the basics and not seeing results, don’t be programs from creators promising you their secret sauce. Buy engagement instead.
If you’re not implementing the basics and, for example, don’t know how positioning works, then hit me up.
Just reply “coach” to this email.
Also, I run a community for small creators who’re looking to grow on X.
While it doesn’t cost money, it isn’t free.
You pay by engaging with the content of the folks in it and by being an active and genuine member.
If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, come join us here.
Hope you enjoyed today’s piece & I’ll see you tomorrow for our regularly scheduled programming.
RJY
Wood. Water.