You were lied to.

I’m exposing Gary V.

Yeah, I like him a lot, but it has to be done.

Because he’s been telling lies.

And as a result, thousands of:

• Creators

• Entrepreneurs

• And beginners

Spend countless hours creating content, only to watch their following grow by a couple followers a month on social media.

Which ultimately leads to:

• 0 clients

• 0 engagement

• $0 in the bank account

And eventually giving up because they think they’re not good enough to create content.

And this is the exact lie I believed at the start of my social media journey 4 years ago when I had 0 followers.

But if I didn’t get lucky and discover the truth about growing on social media?

I never would have grown my total audience to over 500,000 people and scale to a 7-figure business.

Now, before I reveal what Gary V and other big gurus are lying to you about…

I have to give you context on how I discovered this lie for myself.

How I Went From Failing To Thriving On Social Media

In September 2020, I was working a minimum wage job as a Domino’s pizza driver working graveyard shifts until 3am.

All while taking full-time classes in my 2nd year of college to become a high school teacher.

I was miserable.

I wanted to do work that was fulfilling and made me a lot of money.

I knew I had potential, but I was on a path that was selling myself short.

Up until that point, I had tried all kinds of things to try and make money:

• Amazon FBA

• Flipping mugs on eBay

• iPhone repair

• Blogging

• Day trading

• OnlyFans…

Kidding.

Or am I…

But I failed at all of them because I’d do it for a few weeks…

Lose interest…

And move onto the next thing.

I thought I wasn’t cut out to make money online, so I decided to go back to college and get an arts degree.

But at the start of my 2nd year of college, I was scrolling through Twitter and came across something that would change my life.

Someone promoting their $40 e-book on how to grow your Twitter following.

I saw this as my last life line.

If I didn’t make this work?

I’d just pursue a normal life of being a high school teacher and hope for the best.

So I bit the bullet and paid the $40.

Now, the content inside wasn’t really that good…

But it got me interested in social media and introduced me to a new world of creators and entrepreneurs.

And as I researched that world more, I started:

• Taking more courses

• Reading more books

• Listening to more podcasts

And of course, watching more Gary V YouTube videos.

But among these different sources, there was 1 common theme:

Many told beginners to create content around what they’re passionate about and you’d build a social media following.

So I did everything Gary V and the gurus said.

I spent hours every day creating content.

• I posted 5 times a day, every day

• I commented on other people’s posts

• And I only made content I was interested in

I talked about philosophy, working out, and anything else that was top of mind.

But after 3 months of consistently posting every day, hundreds of hours, and over $1,000 spent on courses, I only grew to 750 followers.

My self-esteem took a huge hit every time I’d spend hours working on a post, only to watch it flop.

A “viral” post for me was 11 likes.

And with every piece of content that’d flop, I grew more frustrated.

Until One Day, Everything Changed…

When I was scrolling on Twitter in October of 2020 when a social media account popped up on my feed…

Even though they just created their account, their posts were consistently popping off and getting 1000+ likes.

And within 30 days, he went from 0 to 1,000 followers.

What took me over 3 months, he did in 1 month with ease.

He knew something I didn’t…

And I wanted to find out.

So I started talking to him in the DMs and got on a call.

And what he told me on that call made me realize the trap I (and many other beginners trying to grow their audience) fell into.

He told me that a year before he tried the same strategy as me:

• Posting every day

• Commenting

• And creating content about his interests

And no surprise…

He barely grew his following, deleted his account, and went on to study copywriting and build a business around that.

But after a year, he decided to come back to social media and post content.

Now, the 1 thing he did differently with his social media this time was simple, but made a huge difference in his growth:

He based his social media content around sharing copywriting tips.

And that gave me a hunch…

What if you first have to give value to your audience to become valued?

So after that call, I did what any logical person would do.

I went all in on content and made the biggest bet of my life.

I dropped out of college.

I quit my job at Domino’s.

And I made a new social media account starting from 0.

But this time, I centered my social media content around giving writing tips.

I would obsessively study writing books, courses, and simplify what I was learning into actionable content on social media.

And where it took me 3 months to grow to 750 followers before…

It only took me 40 days to get to 1,000 followers on my new account.

Gary V’s Big Lie

When I saw the traction of my account, I realized Gary V and these other big gurus giving social media advice were wrong.

Gary V tells people like you and me that “You are the niche”.

He tells us to create content on what you’re interested in and you’ll somehow magically grow a following if you’re consistent.

But that’s a lie.

Sure, that works for Gary V now that he has millions of followers.

He can create content about anything and his fanbase will love it.

But what works for him now isn’t what got him to where he’s at.

He’s missing one piece of the puzzle that helped him and other beginners grow to millions of followers and make millions of dollars.

And I’ll show you how to do this for yourself in a second.

But think about it…

What’s the common theme among huge creators like:

• Alex Hormozi

• Iman Gadzhi

• And Gary V himself?

They ALL started by picking a niche and providing value.

Alex Hormozi started growing by giving actionable advice about sales and marketing.

Now he can create content about anything and his audience loves it.

Iman Gadzhi started growing by giving actionable advice about SMMA.

Now he can create content about anything and his audience loves it.

Gary V started growing by niching down to wine.

Now he can create content about anything and his audience loves it.

They all started narrow with a niche, gave a ton of value, and built their authority.

Once they gave a ton of value and showed their competence, then they all broadened their content to other things.

Because here’s the harsh truth:

When you’re starting out, nobody cares about you.

If Gary V makes a social media post saying “Believe in yourself” it’ll get 10,000 likes.

But if a random person posts the exact same thing, nobody cares.

The difference is that Gary V built his brand and reputation first, so people know, like, and trust him.

Which means he can post any broad content and it’ll work.

So when you’re starting out on social media, you need to realize that people care about 1 thing:

What’s in it for them.

So, if you want to avoid the mistake of posting broad social media content and getting 0 engagement, you need to create content around a topic you have an interest in AND has market demand.

If you don’t have interest in the topic, you won’t enjoy making the content and you’ll give up.

If there isn’t demand for the topic, nobody will want to consume your content or follow you.

But when you have both, it’s called “content market fit”.

The key is to provide value.

And I kinda hate that term because all these gurus tell you “Provide value, bro”.

But they never tell you what “Value” is or how to give it.

So, let’s fix that:

How To Build a Profitable Personal Brand

My definition of value is anything that solves people’s problems or moves them closer to a desired outcome.

And value you can give falls into 1 of 3 categories:

1) Health (improving people’s health)

For example, you can create content that shows people how to create healthy recipes that are quick to make and taste good.

2) Wealth (making people money)

You can create content teaching people a skill, like writing, marketing, or sales.

3) Relationships (improving people’s dating or family life)

You can teach people how to go on more dates.

And if you’re thinking “But I’m not an expert in anything.”

That’s okay.

When I switched my account to talk about writing, I wasn’t an expert either.

All you have to do is:

1) Find the top experts on the topic

2) Consume books, courses, and content from them,

3) Apply what you learn

4) Teach those a few steps behind you

The key is to look at what skills you currently have or would enjoy learning that you can create actionable content around.

And yes, you can and should create content around your interests…

But the core of your social media and personal brand should be around giving value at the start so people become invested in you.

Think of your social media like a tree.

The social media platform you grow on is the plot of land you choose to grow your tree.

The trunk is the core value you provide.

And eventually, as you grow bigger, you can branch out to more broad topics.

For example, I created content around writing on Twitter.

And as I grew my following and gained experience, I branched out to talk about content marketing, then online business, then more broad life topics.

So now that you know what to avoid, how do you actually take action on everything?

Well, my friend, I made a video showing you exactly how to grow your following on social media, starting from 0 followers.

You can watch it by clicking here.

Your Canadian friend,

Dakota “Not The Niche” Robertson