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1 tweet got me 1300 followers + more. Here's how I prepared

460,082+ impressions & 1300+ followers with one tweet looked like a dream until it happened. But once it happened, I believe it may be repeated a few more times.

Here's the tweet which got me 460,082 impressions, 686 RT's & 2.9k likes.

Here are the analytics:

Analytics of the tweet

I executed what Jack Butcher calls 'The Permission-less Apprenticeship'. In his own words "If you want to catch the attention of someone you admire, give yourself a job working for them."

Hence, I decided to make infographic summaries of tweets of people I admire.

Here's why I did what I did:

Why did I choose infographics as the format?

I already have a product on sale. It's doing well [1,2].

By sticking to infographics I would

  • Reinforce that I make infographics
  • I'll make myself better at making infographics

Why did I choose to make infographics on Naval tweets?

  • I looked for people who provide value
  • I looked for people who engage with followers
  • I looked for people with massive following

I made a list of people who fit in & Naval came on top.

How did I choose the topics to make infographics on?

  • I analysed the most engaged tweet-threads
  • I picked topics which resonated with me

Once I knew what I was going to summarise, 50% felt done. The rest 50% of making infographics was completed and I was ready to show.

Here are 2 reasons why I choose to tweet all the 5 infographics at once instead of spacing them on different days.

  • To maximise the impact to get Naval & his followers attention
  • I wanted people to have top tweet guides of Naval at one place

How did I market it?

  • I prepared the content for each tweet well before.
  • I turned on the notification for Naval tweets/replies.
  • The moment I got a notification, I tweeted the infographics [to not miss out when Naval is tweeting]
  • In parallel, I posted on Reddit (r/Naval & r/Meditation) about the infographics.

Naval retweeted and the followers found value. People appreciated the effort and gave back with RT's, Likes, follows & sales.
Give value & you might get back some.

On twitter, someone asked me -What's next from here?

I don't know where this will lead to (apart from sales). But, hopefully I will figure out along the way. Reminds me of a tweet which I put out - Commit first, figure out later.

Here's what I'll do

Be consistent with producing infographic guides around blogposts, tweets & books.

5 point Summary to redo this:

  • Find influencers who align with your goal
  • Provide value. Massive value to increase the odds
  • Pick topics that align with your goal
  • Stick to one content format
  • Be consistent. You might not strike every time :)
  1. 1

    Thanks for breaking that down. Smart to turn on notifications of those you're looking to connect with. I've had a similar experience of having someone RT my work and it gets so much more visibility than on my own.

    Funny enough, it was a reply I made on one of Jack Butcher's posts: https://twitter.com/stew_hillhouse/status/1263255689314603008

    1. 2

      Ha ha nice Stew. I remember seeing your work :)

  2. 1

    Nice to hear the story behind a viral tweet. This sounds pretty straightforward and replicable, though I imagine that there's still some luck involved with that person retweeting you. Was this the first time you tried something like this? And do you plan to try it again with someone else?

    1. 2

      You're 100% right. I'd say 85% is preparation & the rest 15% is luck (the influencer retweeting).

      This was the first and I replicated it here & here. And out of these only 1 was RT'ed :)

      1. 1

        Here's a thought - Getting retweeted from Jason Calacanis or Naval is one in a hundred chance. However, mid-level influencers who do not get enjoy as much adulation perhaps are more likely to retweet. You could try with just a single infographic as opposed to five.

        1. 2

          Agreed. Since, I was just starting out, I tried them (& got lucky). My next line of set is to target a spectrum of influencers and increase the odds

          1. 1

            Awesome, keep us posted.

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