About this video

• Video Title: How I Gained 7.8 Million Followers In 40 Months (6 Key Lessons)
• Channel: Alex Hormozi
• Speakers: Alex Hormozi
• Duration: 45:33

Overview

Alex Hormozi details his rapid growth in followers across multiple platforms over 40 months, from zero to millions. He shares six key lessons learned from this experience, emphasizing the shift from "edutainment" to education, focusing on the audience, narrowing content focus, tracking revenue over views, prioritizing long-form content, and making content accessible to new audiences.

Key takeaways

• Massive Follower Growth: Hormozi achieved substantial growth across YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Twitter/X, Facebook, podcast downloads, and email subscribers in just 40 months.
• Six Key Lessons: The video outlines six strategic shifts that contributed to this growth:
  1. Edutainment to Education: Moving from content that entertains and teaches to content that primarily aims to change behavior.
  2. For Us to For You: Shifting the focus from what the creator wants to make to what best serves the target audience.
  3. Wide to Narrow: Reducing the breadth of topics to focus specifically on business-related subjects.
  4. Views to Revenue: Prioritizing metrics like ad revenue and conversions over raw view counts to indicate audience quality.
  5. Shorts to Longs: Recognizing that long-form content drives more conversions than short-form content, though shorts can still serve as an entry point.
  6. Assume More to Assume Nothing: Creating content that doesn't assume prior knowledge of the creator or their brand, making it accessible to new audiences.
• Data-Driven Strategy: Hormozi emphasizes using data, such as ad revenue (RPMs) and conversion metrics, to guide content decisions rather than solely relying on superficial engagement like views.
• Value of Education: He highlights that educational content, targeted correctly, leads to higher quality engagement and conversions (book sales, opt-ins, applications) compared to purely entertaining content.
• Accessibility is Key: Making content understandable and relatable to new viewers by introducing oneself, explaining references, and avoiding inside jokes is crucial for audience expansion.

The video mentions the following numbers:

• Impressions: 2 billion
• New Subscribers/Followers: 7.8 million
• YouTube Subscribers: 2.23 million (grew from zero)
• Instagram Followers: 2.5 million (grew from 7,000)
• LinkedIn Followers: 324,000 (grew from zero)
• TikTok Followers: 856,000 (grew from zero)
• Twitter/X Followers: 617,000 (grew from zero)
• Facebook Followers: 25,000 (grew from zero)
• Podcast Downloads: 25 million (grew from 3,000)
• Email Subscribers: 700,000 (grew from zero)
• Book Copies Sold: 1 million

The video discusses the shift from "for us" to "for you" in content creation. Here are five key points related to this concept:

1. Serving the Wrong "Who": Hormozi realized that while his content might have been liked by many, it wasn't resonating with or attracting the specific audience he was best suited to serve – business owners doing $10 million+ in revenue.
2. Tactical Adjustments: The "for you" approach involved several tactical changes:
   • Different Packaging: Moving from vague thumbnails and headlines to clear and specific ones that accurately represent the content.
   • Different Introductions: Shifting from confirming the title/thumbnail to providing proof of expertise and clearly stating the promise of what the viewer will gain.
   • Different Meat: Emphasizing language and clear steps/stories over flashy "razzle-dazzle" in the core content.
   • Different Visuals: Moving from over-produced visuals that could be distracting to visuals that enhance understanding, such as data visualization.
   • Different Pre-work: Prioritizing thorough research and planning ("pre-search") over extensive post-production editing.
3. Resonance is Key: The realization that content might not "resonate" as much with the target audience, even if it's technically good, was a significant turning point.
4. Audience Alignment: The content needs to align with the values and goals of the intended audience. If you aim to serve business owners, the content should speak directly to their needs and interests.
5. Impact on Business Metrics: Serving the right audience ("for you") has downstream impacts, leading to better engagement from those who are more likely to become customers, apply for services, or purchase products, as opposed to just accumulating views from a general audience.

Yes, that's a core point Alex Hormozi makes in the video. He states:

"Entertainment people want more entertainment content and education people want more say it with me education content."

He argues against the common "funnel theory" where entertaining content is supposed to lead people to more educational content. Based on his data (book sales, email opt-ins, business applications), he found that this transition doesn't happen at a significant rate. People who engage with educational content tend to seek out more educational content, and similarly, those who prefer entertainment tend to stick with entertainment. This observation led him to double down on creating educational content for his audience.

"Proof, Promise, Plan" is a framework Alex Hormozi introduced for structuring the introductions of educational videos. It's designed to increase the viewer's perceived likelihood of getting value from the content.

Here's a breakdown of each element:

• Proof: This is about establishing credibility and showing why the viewer should listen to you. It answers the question, "Why should I trust you?" This can be demonstrated through past results, data, expertise, or credentials. For example, Hormozi starts his presentation by showing his follower growth statistics as proof of his methods.
• Promise: This clearly states what the viewer will gain or learn from watching the video. It answers the question, "What's in it for me?" This sets expectations and highlights the value proposition. For instance, Hormozi promised to save viewers $4 million and three and a half years by sharing his lessons.
• Plan: This outlines how the promise will be delivered. It tells the viewer what to expect next in terms of content structure or the steps that will be taken. It answers the question, "How will you deliver on that promise?" Hormozi explained that he would walk through six key changes.

The order of these elements can be flexible depending on what is most important for a particular piece of content, but including all three helps to effectively engage an audience, particularly for educational material.

The video uses the example of learning physics to illustrate how certain production elements can hinder, rather than help, educational content.

Alex Hormozi explains that if someone is trying to learn physics, and the video they are watching has distracting elements like "whizbangs and popups and changing backgrounds," it becomes very difficult for them to learn. He contrasts this with visuals that enhance understanding, such as clarifying text on a screen if the presenter's handwriting isn't clear, or visualizing data on a chart to show scale, scope, or changes over time.

In essence, the example highlights the principle that over-production that distracts from the core learning objective is detrimental to educational content. The goal should be to use visuals to clarify and support the information, not to entertain or impress with flashy effects.

"Wide to Narrow" is one of the six key lessons Alex Hormozi discusses for growing a brand and generating revenue through content. It refers to the strategic decision to focus content on a more specific niche or topic, rather than trying to cover a broad range of subjects.

Here's what it entails:

• Shifting Focus: Instead of creating content on many different topics (like relationships, college, food, lifestyle, as mentioned in the video), the focus narrows down to specific areas.
• Example: For Hormozi, this meant doubling down on content related to business models, business leverage, and selling within a business. The word "business" became central to all his content topics.
• Audience Alignment: This narrowing strategy helps attract and serve a more specific, targeted audience. People who are interested in business will be drawn to business-focused content, rather than a mixed bag of topics.
• Why it Works: Hormozi observes that people who engage with a particular type of content tend to want more of that same type. For instance, people interested in relationship content primarily seek out more relationship content. By narrowing the focus, you cater directly to the audience segment you want to attract and serve effectively.
• Contrast: The opposite of this is creating content that is too broad, which might attract a wider audience superficially but less of the specific audience that is likely to convert into customers or dedicated followers for a particular niche.

"Assume More to Assume Nothing" is the sixth key lesson Alex Hormozi shared for building a brand and making money with content. It's about making your content accessible and welcoming to new audiences who have no prior knowledge of you or your brand.

Here are four key points related to this principle:

1. Avoid Assuming Prior Knowledge: The core idea is not to assume that viewers already know who you are, what you do, or understand your brand's context. Content that relies heavily on inside jokes, past references, or assumes familiarity will alienate newcomers.
2. Introduce Yourself and Your Value: Every time you create content, reintroduce yourself and clearly state why the audience should listen to you. This involves explaining your credentials, results, or the unique perspective you bring, even if you've done it before.
3. Explain References and Inside Jokes: If you make a reference or tell an inside joke that stems from previous content or brand lore, fully explain it. This ensures that new viewers aren't left out and can follow along, rather than feeling excluded.
4. Welcome Newcomers: Mentally, and in your content strategy, act as though you are always talking to a stranger. This ensures that your content is welcoming and easy to engage with for anyone discovering you for the first time. Hormozi suggests that even established shows like The Simpsons adapt their introductions slightly to cater to both new and long-time viewers, and that existing popular content can be re-shared for new audience segments.