Yesterday I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and a particular post caught my eye.

Now, I don’t normally open Twitter on Sundays. 

But I’m currently going balls to the wall to build the first iteration of this course for you guys. 

And that means talking to as many people as possible to find out EXACTLY what you guys need. 

It’s taking some time. It’s taking some testing. It’s taking lots of tweaks and refinements. 

But when I’m done, this thing is going to be a literal Cheat Code for you when it comes to creating content. (Overdelivering, after all, is what I’m all about).

But anyway. Back to the post I saw yesterday…

And you know, it's interesting. Because it wasn’t the post itself that caught my eye.

It didn’t have an incredible hook.

It wasn’t some “earth-shattering” new idea I’d never considered before.

And it didn’t have a sexy-ass visual that would make a Canva designer go weak at the knees.

But it caught my eye for one very specific reason.

It exposed…

The big FAT lie all creators tell you

Now, there’s lots of BS floating around the Twitter ecosphere.

Gurus telling you about offers when they’ve never landed a client of their own.

Beginners telling you how to write your welcome email when they don’t even have a newsletter of their own.

People dishing out copywriting advice despite having a landing page that’s easier to decipher than the local Chinese takeaway menu.

In all honesty, I can only name you a handful of creators I genuinely trust nowadays.

But this (in my opinion), is the BIGGEST lie all creators tell you.

It genuinely harms people’s progress (especially newer creators).

And that’s what I want this email to be about today.

So, what is this vicious lie?

What is this utter BS that’s been 

What is the complete horseshit that's likely confusing the hell out of you right now.

Well, it’s this…

“Impressions don’t matter!”

“Followers don’t matter!”

“Stop chasing the vanity metrics!”

Now, some of you will look at that and say:

“What are you talking about, Harry? You always tell us not to chase the vanity metrics? Shouldn’t we be optimising for money, not followers?”

And if you’re asking those questions, then it’s a fair point.

But the reason you’re confused right now is because you don’t yet understand the nuance behind them. 

I’ll get to that in a minute.

But first, let’s play a game…

Let’s say you click on two different people’s profiles.

You’ve never heard of these guys before (so you have no “preconceived” notions about whether they’re a good creator or not).

They both have the same follower count.

Their bios are pretty similar.

And, as far as you can tell, they’re both offering pretty much the same thing.

But there’s one crucial difference…

One averages 1,000 impressions per post

And the other averages 5,000 impressions per post.

Now, remember:

You have never heard of these guys before. You don’t know about their brand. You don’t know about their offer. And you’ve never chatted to them.

All you know is that one of them gets SIGNIFICANTLY more engagement on his posts than the other.

Well, let me ask you a question:

Which one of them are you going to trust more straight out of the gate?

The dude who averages 1,000 impressions?

Or the dude who averages 5,000 impression?

Obviously it’s going to be the dude who gets more impressions.

Because while vanity metrics aren’t everything...

We are ALL suckers for “more is better”.

We equate it with status (even if we don't realise it).

And we buy stuff based upon perceived status above all else.

And here's the thing...

It works the same with followers!

In fact, I’ll show you how...

I have had the EXACT same strategy for DM’ing creators for the entirety of my Twitter journey:

Follow them.

Engage with them on the timeline for 3-5 days.

Shoot them this EXACT message: “Hey dude. We’ve been chatting on the timeline for a few days now. Figured it was time I popped in here and said hey.”

And you know what?

When I send a DM now (at nearly 5,000 followers) I almost ALWAYS get a response.

Like literally 95% of the time.

But back when I only had a few hundred (or even 1,000) followers?

It was a coin-flip (at best).

And even when the person did respond, they were significantly invested in the conversation compared to now.

I’m not saying any of this to brag.

I’m saying this so you understand that perceived social status is MASSIVE on Twitter (and any other social media platform, for that matter).

Status makes people follow you.

Status makes people trust you.

And, most importantly, status makes buy from you.

And, like it or not, getting more followers and impressions on your posts is the quickest way to increase your status in the Twitter hierarchy.

But don’t get this twisted…

Because there’s a right and a wrong way to interpret this.

For example…

Does this mean you should go out there chasing virality, posting “growth” tweets and spamming out enough platitudes to get an interview at a Hallmark Card factory?

No.

I am not saying that.

I do not advocate that one bit.

And in gaining nearly 5,000 followers over the past 6 months I have never once relied on that as a tactic.

Because (and here comes the nuance…)

You don’t need to chase the vanity metrics.

You need to attract the vanity metrics.

Which then begs the next question…

How to I get the vanity metrics (impressions, followers etc) without chasing them???

And the answer, to me at least, is very simple:

By becoming a leader.

By going against the grain.

By sticking your neck out on the line, having some genuinely original thoughts and being prepared to be guillotined to high hell by the absolute swamp dwellers who are locked in their parent’s basement and just waiting for that oh-so-sweet hit of dopamine when they get to yell “I told you so” in front of the whole internet (despite the fact they haven’t been able to see their toes for the last 3 years…)

That is what I have ALWAYS done.

I’ve approached things with common sense, sure.

That has always, and will always, be the foundation of my brand.

But deeper than that, I have always tried to SET the trend rather than follow it.

And if you want to grow a die-hard, cult-like audience in the quickest way possible, then that is what you must do too.

You must have original ideas.

You must speak with unwavering conviction.

And, more than anything else, you must be okay with occasionally getting things wrong (trust me, I’ve done this more than enough times…)

Because while I absolutely abuse platitude enjoyers on Twitter every day, there is ONE platitude which I will repeat until the day I die:

If you want people to follow you, then you must be willing to lead. 

And as I say that, I can already sense the objections:

“Easy for you to say. You have a lot of followers at this point. People aren’t going to call you out. But what about me? I only have a few hundred followers. How do I speak with conviction without ending up as one of those “newb gets it wrong” viral posts plastered all over Twitter?”

And it’s a fair question.

But, shockingly, I have another platitude for you to help you navigate this conundrum:

If you’ve done it, reflect.
If you haven’t done it, predict.

What does this mean?

It means if you’ve already achieved results (“I gained X followers in 30 days”, “I scaled to $5k/mo”, “I just landed my first client…”)

Then you should focus on writing from a position of “Been there, done it. Follow along to learn how.”

But if you haven’t done it, you should focus on writing from a position of “Here’s my plan. Follow along if you like my plan and wanna see how it plays out.” 

Because this way you get the best of both worlds:

Once you’ve gotten results, you can explain how you did it and people will follow you because they want those results for themselves.

And if you haven’t gotten results, then everyone else who’s floundering around like a kid that’s lost his mum in the supermarket will follow you in the hopes you might have some answers.

All without coming across as one of those inauthentic fuckers preaching “how to build a 6-figure business” when he’s barely scraped together enough internet money to buy a packet of cheese and onion crisps from the local corner shop.

You want to gain followers so you can become a high-status creator?

You want to earn money so you can escape your 9-5?

You want to become a leader so you can truly start enjoying this creator world?

All without sacrificing your brand’s integrity?

Well, then the “How I’m planning to” angle is your best friend.

And you should use it every day to invite people along on this mad fucking journey you’re on.

Peace, I’m out.

Talk soon,

Harry

PS. I built a $10k/month brand in under 4 months.

Want to know how?

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