Alex's first 20,000 followers came from a single accidental viral video. A friend named Presley invited him onto a podcast and offered to film three free short-form clips afterward. Alex had never made a Reel or TikTok before. He improvised three clips off the top of his head with no script. The first one he posted hit 2 million views and added nearly 20,000 followers almost overnight. Before that, Alex had built an audience on Twitter/X the hard way — starting with zero followers, becoming a "reply guy" responding to larger accounts, then writing valuable long-form threads. The hook-writing discipline he developed on Twitter (only 240 characters to earn continued reading, no thumbnails or fancy edits) translated directly into his short-form video hook instincts. He credits Twitter as his real copywriting school.
Alex Aiden / Personal Brand + Closify
Personal brand in tech/SaaS niche generating 5-figure monthly via brand deals and dev agency
9 moves, in order
- Pre brand (Closify growth)Twitter dms and facebook groups
Grew Closify's first clients through manual outbound Twitter DMs and engaging in relevant Facebook groups to find early customers for a commission-only sales rep marketplace.
First paying clients acquired - Closify scalingCold email and linkedin outbound
Launched cold email campaigns and hired an SDR to do LinkedIn outreach, then layered in cold calling. Each channel was cracked then scaled by adding more reps doing the same outreach.
200+ sales calls booked per month at peak; team of 2 closers, 5 SDRs, 1 sales managerMRR $30k - Closify scalingSeo
Hired an SEO agency once hitting ~$20-30K/month. Took 3-4 months to see ROI. Targeted high-intent keyword 'hire commission only sales reps' and became the #1 organic result.
#1 organic Google result for target keyword; SEO became a major inbound client acquisition channel - Personal brand launch (March 2023)Instagram reels viral hook
Posted first-ever Reel improvised at a friend's podcast studio — no script, just a hook thought up on the spot referencing Iman Godzi shutting down his agency to go all-in on SaaS. Did not study other creators beforehand.
2 million views, ~20,000 new followers from a single videoUsers 20k users - Audience growth (March 2023 – end 2024)Instagram reels content batching
Batched 14–28 Reels per shoot session, shooting twice a month (~5 hours total monthly effort). Used a hook framework: top-of-funnel videos referenced viral influencer names (Iman Godzi, Brez Scales) to capture existing audiences. Cross-posted to TikTok. Also produced 2 YouTube videos per shoot session.
Grew to 250,000 followers cross-platform; posted ~1-2 Reels/day for ~1.5–2 yearsUsers 250k users - Monetization – NewsletterInstagram bio cta to newsletter
When follower growth exploded and he had no offer, he quickly set up a Beehive newsletter, dropped the link in his bio with a CTA ('free tips on how to start a software company'), and let organic follower traffic fill it. Was adding 1,000+ subscribers per day at peak.
0 to 20,000 newsletter subscribers very quickly; grew to ~40,000 subscribers - Monetization – Brand dealsInbound brand deals email and dm
Never did outbound for brand deals. Tech companies scraped his contact info and emailed him or DMed his account. He monitored multiple email inboxes and DM requests. Refused one-off Reel sponsorships (~$1K each); instead pitched bundled monthly packages (e.g., 4–5 Reels/month for $4K/month). YouTube integrations routinely fetched $4–5K per video.
One brand deal alone paid more per year than a finance degree salary; 5-figure monthly revenue from brand deals - Monetization – Dev AgencyNewsletter email sequence
Sent a monthly email listing 3–5 software ideas with rationale, go-to-market strategy, and build complexity, ending with a CTA to book a call with his dev agency. This single email type 'booked calls like crazy' every time it went out. Leads were pre-warmed from prior educational emails.
Consistent call bookings; agency took 2–3 deals/month at high ticket; described as primary revenue driver alongside brand deals - Monetization – AffiliateYoutube description affiliate links
Dropped affiliate links for tools (Go High Level, ClickFunnels, Beehive, payment processors) in YouTube video descriptions on how-to tutorial videos. Made all core information free, monetizing purely through affiliate commissions on recommended tools.
Described as making 'really really good money' from YouTube affiliate before joining Whoop
Prior Twitter/X audience-building experience sharpened his copywriting and hook-writing skills before he ever touched video. He also had cash from his Closify exit, giving him runway and credibility to speak authentically about building and selling software companies — a highly monetizable niche where tech companies "have more money than they know what to do with."
instagram_reels_viral_hook
One-off sponsored Reels deals (charging ~$1K per video felt not worth it); forcing himself to post content when not feeling creative led to half-assed output he later stopped doing. Clipping/content-rewards programs explicitly noted as not suitable for his talking-head format. Private equity exit offers had predatory earnout terms and were avoided.
I exited a $1.5M/year startup at 22yo. Then went viral by accident.
Charlie Chang (YouTube Channels)
Personal finance YouTube creator monetizing via affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and AdSense
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