If I Started Social Media From 0 Followers In 2026, I’d Do This

0:00I've spent the last 6 years learning how social media works and the results are in. I've got 25 million followers, 500 million views a month. I figured out. I know how it all works and I'm going to teach you it today.

0:17So, number one on my list of things that you need to know, be authentic. You have to tell your story, you have to share your reason why you're doing it. You probably all know my story. I was 15 years old when my father died and I was kicked out of home. I was homeless and I tried to get a job and I couldn't get one. I tried to go to social services and get help and they said no. I was on my own. And the only thing that I could do was start a business. I didn't want to be an entrepreneur, I needed to be an

0:44entrepreneur. And telling you that story helps you understand why I'm doing something and you need to tell the same story. Don't try and be someone else. You're unique and you must play to that strength. By the way, I've written a book called What's Your Story? If you're not sure how to craft a story or make

1:00your story real, the link's down below. This book can help you do it, but being authentic is key. So, learn to know who you are. If, for example, you are building a business and you perhaps are tempted to start giving advice to people, perhaps you're not there yet. Better instead talk about what you're struggling with and what you're learning along the way and building public that way as opposed to pretend to be a guru, right? I see a lot of people pretending to be something they're not. You don't need to do that. The second thing I want to teach you is you've got to tailor-make your content for each

1:28channel. A lot of people when they go to do social media, what they really want to do is a quick video, put it up and get millions of views. But the real way to make social media work is to think about the channels that you're on. And one simple hack is each of the apps, like it if you actually tailor the videos inside the app. And when you go and load up a video, for example, on TikTok, use the in-app edit to make the screen caption really clear cuz when people see a video, they want to know what the video's about. And then the hook, of course, hopefully is

1:59interesting. You need a hook on a video, but that will draw people in. And that's what you need initially to get people to watch video, but what I'm getting to is like that platform likes to think that the content is tailor-made for that platform. So, Snapchat, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, go in and edit your video in those apps. It's a hack that not a lot of people have shared because I think people are lazy and they don't want to hear it. Don't be lazy. That's a very important part of being sure social media works. Do [snorts] the work. I'm also, while I'm at it, tailor-making each of the platforms also means going

2:28into the comments and replying on each platform, ideally yourself, but equally, if you need to go and get help to do it, but reply to people. Give them information. You can even use tools like ManyChat, which don't sponsor this video, but it's a good tool, where you can basically get the app to apply to

2:45your comments and engage with people. Send them information. Send them follow-up. But learn to engage in the comments. Again, not a lot of people do that, and they get a bit lazy and they can't be bothered. They might check it for the first 10 minutes and then leave it. You're leaving engagement on the table. If someone asked your question and you reply with an answer and or a question, they reply again, the algorithm likes to see on all platforms engagement with the audience in the comments. And I will just finally say on something like Snapchat, they want you

3:11to make the actual video in the app. Recently, they launched a feature where you can see if the video was made in the app. So, you record the actual video in the actual app, and then it shows on Snapchat that it was recorded on Snapchat. It wasn't an uploaded video, it was created in Snapchat. And the way you can also look at other platforms is on stories for Instagram, you want to create the video in real time, but actually recording the story in the moment. Don't make a standard video and upload it into stories. Create an original video. And the general principle for every platform, but I will

3:43go into this more depth another time, but the basic principle is make the app believe that it's an original piece of content for the platform that you're uploading on. And that will ensure the platform thinks it's unique content it should push out. The third thing I want you to understand is how important data [music] is. Now, data on social media is really split into two camps. The first

4:05is what does each video data show you? Is the hook getting retention? Are people staying on the video and are they watching it again? If you can see in the data that they're not watching the video to the end, you might want to re-edit the video and put it out again. Basically, what the platforms want is for the video to get watched initially and then for it to be repeated so you stay on platform. And it's fine to

4:29understand how these platforms work. They make money if people stay on platform, right? So, they want you to make content that people engage with. So, looking at the data to see is the graph showing a retention? Are people staying on the video and are they watching it again? Will help you understand whether you've edited it right. The other side of the data that you need to think about is every time you put a video out, you ideally want someone to join your mailing list. But

4:55you want people to join your community. So, one of my ambitions with the 25 million followers I have is to get you guys to sign up to my mailing list. And by the way, if you want to, there is a link down below in this YouTube video. But my point is, of course you have to offer value to people to do that. So, in my case, I'm doing a weekly newsletter teaching people all the latest trends and business news that they need to know to make their business successful. Of course, you need a hook, give people reason to sign up. Every time a video goes out, I don't want to rely on any

5:20social media platform in the future actually working, actually not blocking me, actually not to suddenly suppressing my videos. So, every time I make a video, I want to encourage people to join my mailing list in some way, even if it's in the body text down below or I encourage people in the video to do it directly. But that's what I want you to also think about because if you have a database of a thousand people that you can email about your business, your service, your product or ask them to promote your business, service or product. That's so much more powerful than maybe a million views on a video

5:51where there's no engagement, right? Where there's no interaction. So, ultimately, collecting data and analyzing data is a real key part for making social media sustainable in the future and successful in the short term. If you're listening to this and thinking, I need more help or I'd like to do this with other people, we're running the world's biggest business competition and basically we're giving up to a million US dollars away and free help. So, if this is something you're interested in, it's absolutely free. The link's down below. Join. It'll be fun and we'll help you make your dream reality. The fourth thing I want to tell you is something that I know when I tell

6:25people this, quite often they reject it. You don't want to hear it. You have to be consistent. There's no such thing as passive income. I know you don't want to hear it. I know it makes the video less exciting because I'm telling you the truth that you have to want to do the work, which is why I always say, follow your dream. Because if you follow your dream, then ultimately you're going to be doing something that you love. I want to fix the education system. I want to get knowledge in the hands of young people in particular who weren't given it at school to follow the dreams they

6:50want to follow, right? You have to be authentic to you. Like, what is it that you want to sell? You have to apply yourself every single day. One of the reasons I've been super successful in social media is because I've posted a video every day for 6 years. Go back and look on my TikTok. You'll see some of the early videos are really bad. The very first video I did was me and my son at the zoo. And I was just learning how to use the filter, the music in the background. But basically, I posted every day, no matter what. Even if I had a big video and I was scared to post

7:19another one in case it got no views, I posted it anyway. You have to get up every day and be consistent. And you have to not be lazy. And one way to get over laziness, a quick hack, if you don't put the video out, someone dies. You have to control your mind to make you do it. If you don't make a post tomorrow from all this knowledge that I've given you, then you won't be successful. But if you make a post tomorrow, there's a 10% chance you will be. And if you make another post the following day, there's a 12% chance you will be. You have to be consistent. You

7:47have to be persistent. Now, it might be you can't make a video every single day. So, another hack in social media is batch record. Make sure you post every day. Either get quicker posting or ask your mom and dad or a friend post for you, but do it every day. You'll be making money from social media while you sleep. And if you stay consistent, over time that attention can turn into trust, and that trust can help you sell your product or service. But when someone watches your content and decides they want to buy from you, you need to be ready to turn that interest into an

8:17actual sale. Where does the money go? How do you invoice them? And how do you keep everything organized so you look professional from day one? I've seen people put all the work in to build an audience and win a customer only to lose momentum because they weren't ready to take the money. And that's why I recommend Tide, who are sponsoring this video. You can set up a business account quickly, send invoices, and get paid without all the usual friction. So, you can focus on creating content and growing your business. If you're watching this in the UK and building a business of your own, you can get set up

8:48properly using the link below. And right now, if you sign up using that link, use the code Simon, and spend £100 and you'll get £50 back. Because social media isn't just somewhere to consume content. Used properly, it could be one of the biggest opportunities you have, especially if you're young. The fifth thing I want to teach you, discipline. Using that word again a little bit, consistency. What I always say, consume 10% make 90% in content. You want to make sure that you're in touch of what's happening. And I do actually consume quite a lot of content. 9 hours of my day is put towards making something, and

9:241 hour of my day is put towards consuming something. You don't want to consume too much, but you need enough to sustain inspiration, knowledge, insight. How are other people doing it? I do street content. It's not an original idea. It was an original execution. Use the system, don't let the system use you. That's how you get rich in life. You learn to leverage the place, you learn to leverage the platforms, so your life's better. Don't let them leverage you. Get the balance right. The final thing I want to teach you is probably the most important and equally one of the hardest to actually achieve. Most people, when they do social media, they

10:00think it's one person and a camera making content is a team sport. Behind the camera right now, I have my two colleagues helping me do this video. And without them, this quality of this video would be lower, perhaps even the way I deliver it, even though I know business. I've been doing business a very long

10:18time, I still might miss something. Because we can't do it on our own. The school system teaches us to sit down and do an exam on our own. And if you get an A, you're successful. And if you get a D, you're a failure. In the real world, every business I've ever built is done in teams. So as quickly as possible, you want to try and build out a team. Now, everybody's different, but I'll give you a little advice on what team structure to go for. To make social media very sustainable, you really need a few different key people. And you can be any one of these people yourself or bring

10:43someone in. And I'll teach you quickly how to bring someone in so it doesn't cost you a lot of money. But first, of course, you need a good camera person, someone that understands how to use a camera and make sure they capture the footage that you are producing. The second thing is you need an editor. Now, the editor and the cameraman can be the same person. They don't necessarily have to be. And sometimes, people that are good at camera work doesn't mean they're good at editing and vice versa. But of course, holy grail would be both. All the business knowledge is in my head, but I think you need someone often to

11:09structure out what is the content, how will it play. Storytelling is very important. But you kind of need that that team. And then ideally, you need someone who's focused on posting up the videos. Again, these all can be one person if you get lucky. But I want you to know how I've structured it. Of course, my channel's at massive volume now, so I can afford to have all of those people part-time. But it wasn't always the case. Now, the hack for getting a team on board is actually a hack for making every business successful. Share the upside. There are 716,000 kids in England right now that can't

11:39find work. They come out of uni and they can't find a job. That's a lot of talent that isn't earning right now. But if you said to them, "Hey, let's start a YouTube channel teaching people how to play chess and I'll give you 50% of the revenue that the YouTube video produces." Perhaps that person will give you their time for free. Perhaps they'll come and join you as a co-founder in the business. Share upside in your business is one of the biggest hacks I personally learned. I don't want 100% of a business I don't enjoy doing every day. I'd rather have 10% of something that's having a big impact in the world and I'm

12:08able to do it with people I love working with that are working as hard and care as much as I do. And that's worth giving up equity to. Despite what you hear about having to have it all for yourself, trust me, success comes working in teams. I hope you've enjoyed today's video. I want to give a thousand pounds away to anyone that makes a social media post sharing what they've learned here or just putting up a video from what you've learned today and tagging me in it. I'm going to give a thousand pounds to one person. Thank you

12:34so much for listening today. Goodbye.