A lot of people engaged (relative to most of my posts) with this recent post on X:

I’m going to expand on this process in this newsletter.

Before I do, I’ll explain WHY I’m trying to grow on X.

I love to write. I always have.

I remember writing long books in elementary school about sports and cars and other topics that young boys tend to think about.

I went to college as an English major, but decided to switch to history (for reasons I don’t remember).

I’ve continued to feel an urge to write throughout my life. I’ve satisfied the urges through intermittent blogging and journaling. I also wrote freelance articles about fitness and health for a couple years.

I stopped writing consistently when I got back into college coaching from 2011-2021. But I still felt the urge.

I stopped coaching in 2021, which freed up my time and mental energy. I started a new blog and began doing research about how to make money writing online.

My research led me to Dan Koe. I followed Dan on X and found his content inspiring. I purchased Dan’s “2-Hour Writer” course, which gave me exactly what I was looking for: a proven process for writing online.

The course inspired me to create a newsletter for my advising business, “The Baseball Recruit Letter,” which has done well.

Because I engaged with Dan’s content so often, the X algorithm introduced me to other online writers/creators, including Dickie Bush, Jack Moses, and Nicolas Cole. These three and others have also inspired my online writing journey.

When Dan launched Kortex University, I saw an opportunity to learn from the best. I jumped on board and am still going.

Kortex introduced me to the fundamentals I’ll share below (along with providing incredible depth about the fundamentals).

Is 170 Followers in 6 Weeks Good?

You may be thinking:

Why is this guy bragging about 170 followers? That’s not too many.

The answer to this question depends on your perspective.

I know creators who’ve added three times as many followers in one day. But these creators have paid for reposts from bigger accounts.

This is a strategy I may employ at some point (Kortex recommends it), but so far I’ve decided against it because I don’t want to spend the money.

I do see an ADVANTAGE to NOT paying for reposts:

You attract “fans,” not just “followers.”

“Fans” are those who follow you because they’ve read and engaged with a lot of your posts. The X algorithm keeps putting your posts in front of them.

“Followers” are those who follow you because they saw one of your posts after a large account reposted it. They resonated with the single post, but they aren’t a “fan” yet.

Many of your “followers” will turn into “fans” (which is why paying for reposts makes sense), but you will need to keep putting valuable content in front of them to convert them.

7 Daily Disciplines to Consistently Convert “Followers” Into “Fans”

Here are the disciplines I’ve used (and recommend for you) to grow at a reasonable and consistent pace:

Post 3-5 Times Per Day

I started posting three times per day and increased to five after a few weeks.

I also repost 1-2 posts from previous days, making 6-7 total posts per day.

For the first month, I used the scheduling feature built into X. Now I use Tweet Hunter.

Despite Kortex and many others recommending Tweet Hunter, I balked at first due to the price. I’m now very glad I made the transition. It’s been well worth the cost.

Just posting isn’t a magic pill for growth. You need to post quality content. But posting consistently is the best way to improve and learn what resonates with other people.

Pay attention to which posts get the most engagement (likes, reposts, comments, etc.), then double down on those topics.

Send DMs

I spent approximately 30 minutes per day sending DMs to other creators.

I don’t try to hit a specific number of DMs. I take my time and make sure I’m crafting quality messages.

I start by responding to any DMs I’ve received. Sometimes these are from people reaching out to me and sometimes they are part of an ongoing conversation.

Next, I send DMs to people who followed me recently. I go through their feed to see what they write about, then I send a DM to thank them for following me and to tell them how their writing resonates with me. I typically follow back unless their content is particularly uninteresting to me.

Finally, if I have more time, I find posts in my feed that strike a chord with me and send a DM to the creator. I usually link to the post and tell them how I related to it. This often leads to a conversation and sometimes a follow back.

Learning

I spend at least 30 minutes every day learning about how to build an audience, build a brand, write content, create products, etc.

Lately, I’ve spent most of my learning time studying the wealth of information provided by Kortex. I skimmed through the information quickly at first and now am going back through the course more slowly and implementing what I can.

I devote more than 30 minutes to learning each day (i.e., books and podcasts), but I dedicate at least 30 minutes to my online business.

Replies

I devote two 30-minute time blocks to replying to those who comment on my posts and commenting on others’ posts.

First, I go through my notificaations and reply to everyone who posted a comment on one of my posts. This has become more time consuming as my audience has grown (a good problem).

Then I go through my X feed from the top down and comment on posts that resonate with me.

When I reply, I tell the creator how I relate to the post and/or ask a clarifying question about the creator’s perspective.

I’ve noticed that some people comment by rewriting the original post in their own words. I’ve done this, but I don’t care for this strategy. When people use this strategy on my posts, it seems like they are replying to reply (because they’re trying to hit their quota of daily replies) rather than trying to engage with me personally. I prefer a more personal touch.

Thread Writing

I allocate one 30-minute time block for working on threads to post on X. I’ve learned through Kortex (and now through experience) that threads tend to get more engagement than single posts.

Writing threads well takes time. It usually takes me 2-3 days to finish a thread, so I’ve only been posting a couple each week. I’m getting more efficient, though, so I plan to increase this number.

I used to write the threads in a Notion template and then copy/paste them into the X app. Since I started using Tweet Hunter, however, I’ve been writing threads within the Tweet Hunter platform.

Creating Offers

I also spend 30 minute every day working on offers.

I recently launched a productivity giveaway. This will become a small part of a life optimization system I’m working on.

I plan to deliver the life optimization system in multiple forms:

• Non-fiction book

• Online course

• Online community

• Fiction book

• Life coaching

I’m slowly but surely working on the system during these daily 30-minute time blocks.

Newsletter Writing

Finally, I spend 30 minutes each day writing this newsletter.

Here’s my process:

There you have it!

If you follow the process I laid out above, I guarantee you will grow.

How fast you grow will depend on how many people see your posts/threads and the quality of the posts/threads.

NOTE: Since April 2, when I posted the Tweet at the beginning of the article, I’ve added 55 new followers for a total of 225 since I started my journey on X. The process is still working!

Thank you for reading!

Matt