most people will never grow on this platform because they have no idea how this platform works...
they think volume is the name of the game, when they haven't even gotten past posting into the void...
the wild thing is, you can skip that stage
i'm going to break down the entire system i used to take 10+ of my mentees to 5 figure followers in under a month
the algorithm doesn't matter when you have 0 followers
X is one of those platforms where you'll be punished if you just post without knowing how the algorithm works...
you can't just post and expect to blow up, it doesn't work like that, even if you post great content on a fresh account your tweet will be shown to maybe 50 people...
every single tweet you post either builds your reputation or damages it, there is no neutral, think of it like a credit score for your account, if you consistently post content that gets engagement, the algorithm starts treating you as a trusted source and gives your future posts more reach
if you spam content & it gets zero engagement, the algo will treat you like a low quality account
setting up your account
if you make a brand new account right now and start posting, it likely won't get views even if a big account engages with your content, X treats fresh accounts with suspicion
two ways around this...
use an old account you've been lurking on, that's your best optio
or buy an aged account from 2012-2016 and change everything, the email, password, username, name, location, and grab X premium
your profile needs to look like a REAL person w/ authentic branding, not a linkedin normie
keep your name simple and memorable, your real name or a nickname works
avoid names like "john - landing pages for business owners" because that just gives off crazy "i'm tryna sell you something" vibes
your bio should be one line that explains what you do, something like "running paid ads for dtc brands" or "vibe coding & sharing my learnings", that's it, no three line bios with calls to action, no corporate lingo, no link spam
the truth is your name, pfp and bio don't matter THAT much as long as you don't make it look try-hardy
choosing your niche
x has niche "buckets", these are groups of people with shared interests that form networks across the platform, when your post starts getting pushed, it gets sent to your immediate network first
so the niche you pick is essentially choosing which network you want to tap into and dominate
your niche must be 1:1 with the product you're selling, this is non-negotiable
if you're selling a saas for graphic designers, you need to be on design twitter, if you're selling coaching for marketers, you need to be on marketing twitter, your audience must be your potential customers
too many people build an audience in one niche because it's "easier" then try to pivot and sell to a different audience, it doesn't work, you end up with thousands of followers who don't care about what you're selling
1,000 followers in the EXACT niche you're selling to will generate more revenue than 10,000 followers in the wrong one, because they're pre-qualified buyers who already trust you...
the niche value hierarchy
you can work just as hard in a low-value niche as a high-value one but the monetary outcomes will be drastically different
high-value niches include business, marketing, ai, tech, crypto, trading, these work because the people in them either have money or are actively trying to make money, they're willing to pay for solutions, tools and education
mid-value niches like fitness, health and design can still be profitable but the audience is more price-sensitive, you'll need a bigger following to hit the same revenue
low-value niches like entertainment, sports, pop culture and conspiracies are extremely difficult to monetize, you can build massive followings but converting attention into revenue is HARD because the audience is there for entertainment, not to solve problems...
importance of your own unique angle
you can't be a copy of someone who's already crushing it, there are already successful accounts in every niche, if you're just repeating what they say in the same way, why would anyone follow you instead of them?
your angle comes from the overlap of what you know, what you've done and what you can teach
maybe you took an unconventional path to a desired outcome, maybe you figured out how to do something faster, cheaper or simpler than everyone else... THAT'S your angle
and if you're just starting out and don't feel like an expert yet, that's fine, you don't need to be the world's leading authority, you just need to be a few steps ahead of your target audience
watch youtube videos, read articles, take courses, note down what you learn and turn it into valuable tweets, you're acting as a curator, taking complex information and making it digestible, this is GENUINELY valuable because most people don't have the time to consume hours of content, they want the key insights delivered quickly...
how the algorithm actually decides who sees your content
the algorithm values engagement metrics, likes, replies, bookmarks, retweets and quote tweets, but not all engagement is equal
retweets and quote tweets are the best because they expose your content to entirely new audiences, likes and bookmarks are good but replies are usually what makes a post really pop off
profile clicks from your tweet give a MASSIVE boost, when someone clicks through to your profile, that's the algorithm saying "this person is building a brand people want to follow"
then there's dwell time, the amount of time someone spends on your tweet, this is one of the most underrated factors, if people scroll past in half a second that's a negative signal, if they stop and read for 10-15 seconds that's a positive signal
the algorithm also uses a relationship graph, it maps how closely connected users are based on interactions, when you tweet it tests your post with people in your immediate graph first, if it gets strong early engagement it expands to similar audiences, this is how tweets go from 100 views to 100,000 views...
the first 30 minutes make or break your tweet, engagement velocity is very important
how much engagement you get in the first 30 minutes determines how well your tweet will do, the algorithm uses this as a leading indicator, if you get strong engagement immediately it pushes your tweet harder, if it falls flat early it'll die
this is why your core audience is your launchpad, if your immediate connections react well, it gets pushed to a broader graph...
avoiding posting into the void
here's the system that works every time, there are two variables
variable 1: clear valuable content that's targeted to one specific niche and is ACTUALLY valuable to the reader, if your content is bad, no amount of promotion saves you, people might click through to your profile but if the content doesn't deliver they won't follow
variable 2: an outside push from a big account in the niche the tweets are targeted to - when you have zero followers the algorithm doesn't know who to show your content to, but when a big account engages with your tweet the algorithm gets a massive signal, "show this to people who follow this big account"
when choosing which big account to work with, ignore follower count, look at their average impressions, there are a lot of accounts with 100k followers averaging 2k impressions, someone with 20k followers averaging 15k impressions would be a better account to work with...
two methods to get that outside push
the first one is the affiliate play - find a big account with a product, offer to become an affiliate, promote their product and ask them to engage with your early content in return, it's free but less reliable because their incentive is conditional
the second is the paid method, this is essentially to pay a bigger account on a performance basis, something like "$5k to actively engage with my content until i hit 5k followers", this aligns their incentives with yours and is the most reliable path
if both variables are fulfilled, clear valuable content plus an outside push, your chances of success are basically 100%...
final tip to wrap this up
every single tweet should either teach something, inspire or provide a fresh perspective, if you're just tweeting for the sake of tweeting your engagement will suffer
ask yourself before hitting post "would i find this valuable if i saw it in my feed?" if the answer is no, rewrite it or don't post it
your job as an x creator is to take complex ideas, distill them down and make them instantly useful, do that consistently paired with the outside push method & the algorithm will do the rest of the work...
