The argument in one line.
Hitting 10K followers on Instagram in 90 days comes down to a sequenced system: spend the first month validating your niche and building a content bank, the second month getting 1% better with each post, and the third month ruthlessly doubling down on the formats that drove actual follows — not just views.
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
- You are starting an Instagram account from scratch or have stalled below 1,000 followers and can't identify why.
- You post content but base your ideas on gut instinct rather than competitor research or analytics.
- You feel overwhelmed choosing a niche because you have multiple interests and don't know which one Instagram will reward.
- You are open to using AI tools to handle research, scripting, and analytics interpretation — not just content generation.
- You want a concrete monthly milestones framework rather than generic advice about 'posting consistently.'
SKIP IF…
- You already have a validated niche and 5K+ followers — the first 40 minutes of this is fundamentals you've cleared.
- You want platform-agnostic growth advice — this is Instagram-specific and the niche-down logic is argued as Instagram's unique constraint.
- You're not interested in the Stanley app, which is integrated heavily into the Month 2 and Month 3 strategies (it's also the video's sponsor).
The full version, fast.
Instagram growth to 10K is a three-phase sequence, not a trick. Month 1 (Ideation): lock a specific niche using the formula 'type + industry + audience' (e.g., 'simplified skincare for women 40+'), build a keyword-optimized profile bio with a 'unique edge' promise, and fill a content bank from proven competitor posts rather than raw inspiration. Month 2 (Creation): use analytics — or an AI coach like Stanley — to identify what's working at the 30-day mark and get 1% better on one element per video (hook, pacing, lighting, call-to-action). Month 3 (Optimization): sort posts by follows and shares in Instagram's professional dashboard, cut consistently underperforming formats, double down on the top two formats, and use Trial Reels to A/B-test hook variations before committing to a full post.
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00:00 – 00:51
01 · Hook & framework overview
States the 90-day premise, names the three-month structure (Ideation → Creation → Optimization), and promises AI prompts throughout.
00:51 – 06:59
02 · Month 1, Step 1 — Define your brand
Introduces student example Michelle (51-year-old beauty creator). Explains Instagram's account-embedding mechanic and why niching down is non-negotiable. Walks through the niche formula (type + industry + audience), content pillars, and mission statement.
06:59 – 13:08
03 · Month 1, Step 2 — Set up your profile
Covers keyword-optimized nameplate, profile photo, bio structure using student examples Tanya (doodle grooming) and Kira (chronic illness fitness). Introduces the 'unique edge' concept — a one-sentence transformation promise with time frame.
13:08 – 22:24
04 · Month 1, Step 3 — Build your content bank
Explains why Month 1 content should come from validated research, not raw inspiration. Introduces Stanley app (sponsored) for pulling 6 high-performing competitor videos and scripting them in your voice. Also covers manual research: search a content pillar, filter by view-to-follower ratio and recency, save to collections. Closes with permission to be messy in Month 1.
22:24 – 29:52
05 · Month 2 — Creation (get 1% better)
Goal is incremental improvement across every stage of the creative process. Use Stanley's analytics summary to learn what's working and what isn't at the 30-day mark. Per-video focus areas: one improvement per post (hook, pacing, lighting, format variety, AI editing tools like Gling AI and Submagic).
29:52 – 36:26
06 · Month 3 — Optimization (cut and double down)
Sort Instagram professional dashboard by Follows, then by Shares. Identify outliers — repost or remake top performers. Cut consistently low formats immediately. Pick top two formats and double down. Introduce Trial Reels for A/B-testing hooks. Pitch signature series concept as the viral multiplier.
36:26 – 36:49
07 · Outro
Teases Instagram monetization video. Subscribe / like CTA.
Lines worth screenshotting.
- Instagram assigns every account a single topical category — if your content spans multiple topics, the algorithm can't place you, and growth stalls regardless of post quality.
- A strong niche follows the formula: type + industry + audience. 'Skincare tips' is not a niche; 'simplified skincare for women 40+' is.
- Your bio's nameplate (the 'name' field below your handle) is indexed by Instagram search — pack it with the exact keywords your target audience types, not your personal name.
- The 'unique edge' is the one-sentence follow-worthy promise in your bio that explains what specific transformation a follower will get, ideally with a time frame.
- Month 1 is intentionally messy — the goal is to generate enough post data so Month 2 has something real to optimize against.
- Content research beats raw inspiration during a growth sprint: find videos with an outlier view-to-follower ratio in your niche, save them to a collection, and reverse-engineer the hook and format.
- AI scripting tools don't replace your creativity — they replace the blank-page spiral that stops you from filming in the first place.
- Sorting your Instagram analytics by 'Follows' (not views) reveals which posts actually convert watchers into followers — those are your repeatable templates.
- Sorting by 'Shares' finds posts with viral potential — shares push content to DMs and Stories, reaching cold audiences who don't yet follow you.
- Comment-to-DM automations paired with a freebie are among the highest-leverage engagement tactics available on Instagram — they compound because comments boost the post AND the DM converts the viewer.
- Trial Reels let you test three versions of the same script with different hooks and only publish the winner — use this in Month 3 once you have a working format to stress-test.
- A signature series (a recurring, named series of posts) creates a subscription dynamic — viewers follow to see the next installment rather than just responding to an individual post.
- 60–90 second educational reels consistently outperform 7-second trending-audio posts for accounts whose audience wants real strategy over inspiration.
- Being consistent as a content creator doesn't mean being repetitive in the wrong direction — if a format is consistently low-performing after 30 days, stop it.
The three-month Instagram system that compounds.
WHAT TO LEARN
Instagram growth isn't a content volume problem — it's a sequencing problem: foundation first, craft second, data-driven doubling-down third.
01Hook & framework overview
- The framework has three distinct phases — each with a different primary job — rather than treating all 90 days as identical 'post more' time.
02Month 1, Step 1 — Define your brand
- Instagram categorizes accounts by topic, not by the creator's intentions — if your posts span multiple subjects, the algorithm can't assign you an audience, and growth stalls regardless of quality.
- A niche is only specific enough when it names the type, the industry, and the audience in a single phrase. 'Skincare for women 40+' is a niche; 'skincare' is a category.
03Month 1, Step 2 — Set up your profile
- Your bio's nameplate is indexed by Instagram search — treat it as an SEO field, not a creative tagline.
- The 'unique edge' is the one-sentence transformation promise in your bio that answers why someone should follow you specifically, not just follow someone in your niche.
04Month 1, Step 3 — Build your content bank
- Month 1 should be deliberately messy — the purpose is generating enough post data to optimize against in Month 2, not publishing a perfect body of work.
- Content research during a growth sprint means finding posts with an outlier view-to-follower ratio from creators in your niche, then reverse-engineering the hook, format, and opening premise.
05Month 2 — Creation
- Month 2's job is incremental craft improvement: one element per video — hook, pacing, lighting, call-to-action — not a wholesale process overhaul.
- AI tools at this stage replace the blank-page problem and the analytics-interpretation bottleneck — not creativity itself.
06Month 3 — Optimization
- Sorting Instagram analytics by 'Follows' (not views) reveals which posts actually converted cold viewers into subscribers — those are the templates worth repeating, not the posts that went viral.
- Shares are the second most important metric for growth — a post that gets shared in DMs reaches audiences who have never seen your account.
- Trial Reels let you A/B-test hook variations on the same storyline before committing — use them in Month 3 when you have a working format but want to stress-test the opening.
- Cutting underperforming formats is not inconsistency — it is discipline. Consistency means publishing regularly in the formats that work, not persisting with what doesn't.
Terms worth knowing.
- Account embedding
- Instagram's process of assigning a topical category to an account based on its content. If the content is inconsistent, Instagram cannot embed the account properly, reducing distribution.
- Unique edge
- A one-sentence, follow-worthy promise in a creator's bio that states the specific result or transformation a follower will receive, ideally including a time frame or differentiating credential.
- View-to-follower ratio
- A metric for evaluating whether a competitor's post genuinely over-performed relative to their audience size. A post with 19M views from a creator with 19M followers is not an outlier; the same views from a creator with 500K followers is.
- Content pillar
- One of a creator's 3–5 recurring subtopics that all sit under their primary niche. Pillars give variety while keeping the account topically consistent enough for Instagram's algorithm to categorize it.
- Trial Reels
- An Instagram feature that lets you publish a reel in a limited test mode before committing it as a full post, allowing creators to compare performance across multiple versions of the same video with different hooks or formats.
- Signature series
- A recurring, consistently named and formatted set of posts designed to make audiences follow the account specifically to see future installments, functioning like a mini-show rather than a one-off video.
- Comment-to-DM automation
- A setup where a viewer comments a specific keyword and an automated system sends them a direct message with a freebie or resource link — boosting post engagement metrics while delivering value directly to interested viewers.
- Stanley (app)
- An AI coaching app for Instagram created by Stan Store. It analyzes a creator's actual Instagram profile and analytics to surface high-performing competitor content, generate scripts in the creator's voice, and produce a 30-day growth game plan.
Things they pointed at.
00:13linkFree AI prompts for content creators (linked in description)
Lines you could clip.
03:52
“Instagram creates an account embedding on your profile, meaning they're going to categorize your account under one topic. If you're posting about makeup and skincare and UGC with a bunch of different brands, Instagram is never gonna be able to categorize your account properly.”
09:17
“Your unique edge can make a promise of what sort of result or transformation you can guarantee your follower will get if they follow you.”
22:09
“Month one is like, you have your ideas and you're just gonna make them and make them messy. See how much you can post.”
33:23
“Being consistent as a content creator doesn't mean being repetitive in the wrong direction.”
32:06
“You're not just asking, oh, what posts went viral? You're asking, what result did this video achieve, and can I make that a repeatable system?”
Word for word.
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metaphoranalogystory
00:00If I only had ninety days to grow my Instagram from zero to 10,000 followers, this is the exact plan that I would follow. And since we are going to be working smarter, not harder, this strategy is going to balance some, like, old school timeless strategies with also AI implementation so that you could keep your authentic voice as a creator while also saving a lot of time.
00:20So in this video, I'm gonna walk you through my three month framework that I would follow if I was starting from zero. And throughout the video, there's going to be AI prompts that you could use for every step of the way. As always, time stamps are below.
00:30Use them if you need them. Let's jump in. Our ninety day framework is basically gonna be broken up into three months.
00:35So we have month one, month two, month three, where each month is gonna focus on a different type of approach. Month one, we're gonna focus on ideation. Month two is creation, and month three is optimization.
00:47Wow. I didn't know all of them ended in -ation, and that sounds kinda cool. Starting with month one, ideation.
00:53This is a month where you're gonna figure out where your vision of, like, what you wanna be as a content creator and your validated post ideas finally collide, which are probably the two most commonly asked questions that I get inside of my BSP Slack community with all of my BSP students. Number one question is how do I get clarity on my brand?
01:13How do I find my niche, my content pillars? Does this all make sense? And also, two, after you do figure that out, how the heck do I get video ideas that are going to perform well and also align with the personal brand that you have developed?
01:25I call this the ideation month because it's like putting together all of the ideas and finally getting them out there into the universe. With this ideation month, we're gonna break it down into three steps, defining your brand, setting up your profile, and building out your content bank. If you've been following me for a while, you probably know the breakdown of each of those steps.
01:42So today, I wanted to kind of walk you through how to actually do this with real life examples from my students in our Slack community. Let's start with defining your brand. What does that actually look like?
01:53How can you get clarity on that? Meet Michelle. Michelle is a 51 year old beauty creator.
01:58When she joined VSP, she shared how she wanted to post about skincare, makeup, UGC with the potential to also make and sell digital products someday, so monetize as a content creator.
02:10Her biggest struggle was getting overwhelmed, like, on the daily trying to figure out how to manage all the things because she's posting to Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
02:19And she also said her biggest weakness was Instagram. She just couldn't figure out what the audience over on Instagram wanted. So the first thing that she needs to do to define her brand is just getting even more clarity on what she wants to post about and specifically niching down.
02:34Now I say that with kinda like a scrunchy face, niching down, because nobody really wants to niche down. But on Instagram, it is like paramount.
02:44Am I using that word correctly? It is so important to niche down. Why out of all the platforms, Instagram is the one place that I will always tell people to niche down, whereas other platforms, you might not have to?
02:56Because Instagram, what they do is they create an , meaning they're going to categorize your account under one topic.
03:07And if you're posting about makeup and skincare and UGC with a bunch of different brands, Instagram is never gonna be able to categorize your account properly and show your content to the right people, which is why people who are posting lifestyle content on Instagram have such a hard time growing. It doesn't mean lifestyle is impossible.
03:24Lifestyle is great on other places, but for Instagram specifically, they don't know how to topically categorize your account and assign it to, like, one thing. Therefore, it's gonna be harder to grow.
03:33There's other reasons why niching down is actually a superpower. Like, if you are somebody who is open minded and open to niching down, it could be your biggest advantage, but we don't have to talk about that. So right now, what Michelle realized as she was kind of diving into getting clarity on her personal brand was she found that even though makeup was easier to post about because it's like there's endless products to review, she realized long term, when looking at the bigger picture, her true love was skincare, and that is what she truly wanted to focus on.
04:05That's what you have to do too when you are defining your personal brand. You need to figure out, like, why you're choosing your niche or why are you picking all these topics. Sometimes you might be choosing something simply because it's easy or because another content creator does it and because they're viral.
04:20It's like, oh, well, I wanna do that too because it's working for them. Or maybe you just feel like you're expected to because that's what your audience already wants. But at the end of the day, I need you to focus big picture, big goal for you, focus on you.
04:33What do you wanna be known for in the next three to five years? What lights you up? What could you talk about endlessly for forever and not get tired of it?
04:41Pick that thing, and that is going to be your niche. So when Michelle picked her niche, she set on simplified skincare for women 40. This is the perfect niche summary because it's not just skincare.
04:54You know? Like, she's getting specific on what type of skin care and for who. That is how you define a niche, the type of industry, and the audience.
05:03So simplified skin care for women 40 or at home fitness for moms. You know, it's the type, the industry, the audience.
05:11You need to get clear on those three things. After you have your niche identified, then you're gonna pick those content pillars, subtopics. This is like the umbrella.
05:19Other things you're gonna talk about for Michelle, it was ingredient translation, simple routines that work or skincare routines that work, myths and misinformation about skincare, product testing, and makeup for mature skin.
05:30That fifth content pillar was more of like a testing ground, kind of like a fifth open ended. Maybe we'll dabble in this a little bit and give her that option to niche out down the road. With clarity on the topic, who she wants to talk about, and how she wants to help them, she's able to kind of craft this mission statement that her whole content will follow and lean into.
05:49So that mission statement was I educate women 40 about skin care to help them stop wasting money, understand their skin, and follow simple routines that work. Basically, now anytime she's going to post a post, she's going to ask herself, okay. Is this in alignment with my niche, content pillar, audience needs, and mission statement?
06:06If the answer is yes, it's a good post. If the answer is no, it might be something to put on the back burner and maybe wait for another time, especially if your goal is, like, rapid growth. You need to be focusing on that clear direction.
06:16So to help you get started, this is likely the prompt that you're gonna wanna plug in to chat. And when doing this, literally, I need you to know, this is just like draft one.
06:27This is your framework. This is just something to get you going. This is your launch pad.
06:31This is something where you're like, okay. Cool. This is good enough.
06:34I don't need you to brainstorm something and be like, oh my gosh. I figured it out. This is perfect.
06:38You are not looking for perfect here. You are looking for just, like, a direction, somewhere to go.
06:43Because when you have, like, okay. This is somewhat of a niche. This is something I can get started with.
06:48As you start taking action, more and more clarity will follow. So I just need you to start on, like, that first draft and framework. After you have that figured out, you're gonna plug this into your profile.
06:57So that's when we go into step two, set up your profile. I like to have a solid profile set up before posting content just in case a video goes viral. This is going to set up my account so that it increases the likelihood of people actually following me after a video goes viral.
07:11So let me show you a solid example of what I feel is a great profile setup. Okay. This is my student, Tanya.
07:18Tanya and I go way back. I feel like she was, like, one of the o g BSP students. So let me show you how she has her account set up and why it works so well.
07:26So username, profile photo, nameplate, they're all very much communicating what her niche is. In her nameplate, she says doodle puppies and doodle grooming tips. Very clear if somebody were to go to the search bar and type in, like, grooming tips or, like, doodle grooming, her profile is going to show up because that nameplate or, like, the subheading, I don't know where you put your name, that is very searchable.
07:47So you wanna put in those keywords of what you think people are typing into the search bar to find you. So for Michelle, it might be like skin care tips for women 40. That's gonna be in her nameplate.
07:58But with Tanya, we have doodle grooming tips. Perfect. Good keywords that people can, like, search and find her.
08:04Profile photo is her and her doodle doggy, like, duh. What a perfect way to visually represent her niche. And then going down into her bio, she says, teaching you how to groom your doodle at home, judgment free, my way, with her email and a call to action, 10 must have products doodle parents need, call to action to her freebie in her Stan store.
08:25This is like chef's kiss. I love it. Telling her audience why they should follow her, what value do they get when they press the follow button.
08:31She's gonna teach them how to groom their doodle at home, basically saving them money. They don't have to ever take their dog to the groomer, which is amazing. Putting her email in her bio is just a strategy for creators to land brand deals.
08:42So if she's looking for more brand deals, it's a great way to put her email address in there. And then, of course, growing her email list, we have 10 must have products Doodle parents needs. This is just her freebie, and more people she puts on her email list from downloading that freebie, the more people she can sell to down the road or even just give more value to via email subscribers.
09:01So if I'm setting up my account again from Xero and I want my bio to just go over the edge of, like, this is gonna guarantee somebody is gonna follow me when they land on my profile, I'm gonna implement something called defining your unique edge. What is a unique edge?
09:17This is, like, the one sentence follow worthy promise that you make and differentiates you from other creators in your niche.
09:26It explains the immediate value that you provide, aka why somebody should follow you or why you're worth following. This one is kind of a harder one to identify. I mean, if you thought defining your niche was hard, it's like figuring out, okay, what makes you different from everyone else?
09:40And then you're like, I don't know. I'm just plain Jane, plain old me. Like, there's nothing that makes me stand out.
09:45I'm just Millie. You know? So it's gonna be harder to figure out what other people would see as a huge asset and a huge value add when to you, it's completely normal.
09:54So another way to think about this is your unique edge can make a promise of what sort of result or transformation you can guarantee your follower will get if they follow you. And I also like to add, like, time frames in there.
10:06For example, on my profile, I have helping anyone turn content creation into a career, twelve month creator plan, your step by step to going full time. One differentiator there is helping anyone turn content creation into a career that's, like, full time income and also just expanding on anyone.
10:23It's like that inclusivity of, like, I truly believe anybody could be a content creator. And then secondary to that, the specific result or transformation I could promise is, like, if you stick to it and you just follow the strategies I tell you, you can do that in twelve months or less. I've seen it happen time and time again.
10:38So here is your free guide to make it happen in twelve months. So my unique perspective of, like, I believe anyone can be a creator and also here is how you do it in twelve months. That is, like, that unique edge combo.
10:49Or if you wanna see another transformation, let me show you one of my students, Kira. So this is Kira's bio before she started implementing anything from VSP.
10:59So it's I teach women to thrive, fitness, mindset, personal growth. Right now, seeing that bio, it does kind of describe like, oh, yeah. I post about fitness, and personal growth, but it doesn't really tell a potential follower, like, why they should press follow.
11:12What are they going to gain? Is there a specific pain point that she could solve for me? So we wanna get really specific.
11:19And then after going through BSP, we defined her unique edge. One thing we expanded on is that she's a doctor, which, like, kinda could be cool, you know, good unique edge that she brings. And her bio says now helping women manage chronic illness with just fifteen minutes a day.
11:36My fifteen minute framework free guide. And then, of course, that call to action is leading people to her stand store, which has all of her products, her freebies, her paid products, her one on one consultations, and it is just so clear who her audience is, women who have chronic illnesses, and that practical takeaway of the unique edge, which is, like, I'm gonna give you some, like, simple things that you could apply.
11:58We're just fifteen minutes a day. We can manage this together. So I think that is just very approachable.
12:03It's like, okay. If somebody has a chronic illness, having that fifteen minute of, like, okay. This is approachable.
12:08I can do this if it's only gonna take fifteen minutes, and if it's gonna help me even just a little bit or, like, the slightest, this is somebody that I wanna follow. So that is kind of that transformation example of a unique edge. To help you craft your unique edge, this is the prompt that you're going to plug in to likely the conversation that you already have going with Chatuchipi Tea because if chat helped you create your personal brand, it has that backlog of memory to pull from, and then you guys can get even more clearer on that unique edge promise.
12:36Also, to make all of these prompts way more accessible for you, I know just, like, putting a bunch of text on the screen is like, okay. Let me take that out. No.
12:43No. No. I'll leave a link down below where I have a list of over 20 AI prompts that are specifically for content creators who are looking to go full time and grow and turn content creation into, like, a career.
12:55So I'll leave that link down below. It's free AI prompts for content creators. Now with both of those things figured out and implemented, my month one when I'm like, okay.
13:03I'm ready to start growing and going to 10,000 followers. Obviously, you're gonna have to start creating. You know, we need to build our content bank.
13:09So now it's time to do some research and start discovering what type of content it is that you're going to be creating over the next ninety days. For this ninety day road map, if I wanna hit 10,000 followers as fast as possible, every piece of content that I would post is not gonna be based on, like, oh, this is what I wanna post.
13:26Like, during that rapid growth phase, you have to put what you want or what you think you know to the side for a little bit. For example, like, raw ideas that just come to you when you're, like, looking at your personal brand that you define and you're looking at content, your pillars, and you're just like, oh, I can make a video about that.
13:41Let me do it. And then you film it and you post it. That's what I'm talking about.
13:44Like, the ideas that, like, just came to you and you're like, cool. I'm gonna create it. Write them down because you will come back to those.
13:50But with these ninety days where you're like, I want rapid growth, That's going to happen when you're doing a little bit more intentional content research and you're focusing not on what ideas just naturally come to you, but you're confirming what your audience wants. It's less about you and it's all about your audience.
14:06We wanna find ideas that are, like, proven to work in your industry and then apply it to your content. I'm not saying, oh, your ideas are bad.
14:15You can't create what you want. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying, again, that rapid growth phase, we wanna just double check our work in a sense and make sure the ideas that we have, they're going to actually perform well based off of what we're wanting.
14:27So coming up with content ideas. If you're somebody that has already been posting content relevant to your niche and the direction that you wanna grow in as a content creator, you actually have a slight advantage here. Because the simplest way right now to get proven Instagram ideas unique to you, your profile, your niche is to use an AI coach that specializes in Instagram specifically.
14:50Now the only tool that I know that does this, like, incredibly well is Stanley for Instagram. So what you're going to do is you're gonna go to the App Store, and you're gonna download Stanley for Instagram. This is like your personal AI coach or partner for daily sustainable actionable growth on Instagram.
15:07The reason this app works so well is because after you create your account, what Stanley does is it analyzes your actual Instagram profile, the content you're posting, all the things to better understand you and the strategy that you need to implement for how to best grow your audience. Here are some ways I've been using it.
15:25Okay. So right in our home page, Stanley is already going to show me six high performing videos that are in my niche so that I could see right away what's already working.
15:35So I'm gonna go to view all. You can tap into videos. Then on a video that you see, it resonates with you if you're like, oh my gosh.
15:42I can make something similar to All you have to do is press make it yours. Then if you see a video and you're watching it, you're like, oh my gosh. Yeah.
15:48I could totally make something similar. I could see the value in this. All you have to do is press make it yours.
15:53That is it. And Stanley will script a version for you in your voice that you could film and post. As you could see, Stanley just wrote the script for me in my brand voice, and we have a hook.
16:05And then you have, like, the beats that the video will hit with a call to action because call to actions are so important. So Stanley's making sure I'm not forgetting a call to action. And also visual cues, which I think helps with, like, that creative spark getting inspiration for visually what you can do when filming a script.
16:21Not only is Stanley, like, your researcher and scripter, but you could also use him to generate fresh ideas too. So right here in the chat, I can ask based on my out performers in my industry, can you generate 10 new real ideas for me that will help reach new followers and grow my audience.
16:50So here are the 10 ideas that Stanley generated for me. If I had to start making $10,000 a month as a as a creator in six months, this is what I would do. I like that.
16:59Here's a secret to becoming insanely consistent. The next six months can change your income. Gosh.
17:04Like, this is where I'm like, oh, I need to save this one for later, and you save this one for later. And then at the end, Stanley's like, idea feels right? We could adapt any of these ideas to a script or other formats.
17:13And then you should be like, oh, I really like number one. Can we script this out so I could film it today? Like, literally so easy.
17:19Now to be clear, this doesn't replace your creativity. It replaces that, like, blank page feeling and the, oh my gosh.
17:28What am I supposed to post about? What am I supposed to talk about? What am I supposed to create?
17:31Like, that spiral that we go down, it replaces that feeling. So if you're a content creator who loves having that spark of inspiration to help you get started with creating content, I will leave a link down below where you can download and try Stanly today. Stanly is an app that was actually created by Stan Store, which is probably why it's so amazing.
17:49And as you know, I'm huge, huge Stan fan. I've been an ambassador of theirs for years.
17:54They've sponsored countless videos on my YouTube channel because I genuinely think it's the best tool out there for content creators, and they're also sponsoring this video. Now if you're starting from zero and there's nothing on your Instagram right now, we're gonna do our content research the, like, tried and true way.
18:09I still do this all the time. Basically, what you're going to do is you're going to open up Instagram. And in the search bar, you're going to search one of your content pillars or your niche, your industry, and we're gonna press search.
18:22Then based off of the results, as long as it's as it's relevant to your niche, it looks like this is, self grooming. So I'm gonna change this dog grooming, see if that gives us more accurate representation of the type of content we create.
18:35I'm just thinking of, like, Tanya right now. So dog grooming tips. Okay.
18:39This is more relevant. I'm gonna look at these top results, and I'm kind of scanning to see the best view to follower ratio in addition to video recency. What I mean by that is what recent top performing video is an outlier or outperformer for another content creator.
18:57So this is how many? 19,600,000 views.
19:02So what I'm looking for before I even go to that content creator's account, I wanna make sure this content creator doesn't have, like, 19,000,000 followers because that would explain why she got 19,000,000 views. You know? So we want something that went maybe double her original following.
19:15So let's tap into her following. Oh, yeah. That went viral for her.
19:20So that might be something that I could lean into, the type of content, the hook text, the shots that she got.
19:28This dog is just, like, so chill and relaxed. So, like, if my dog is like that, then this would be a good one to kinda recreate for my content. But that's kinda what we're looking at.
19:36We're looking at the view to follower ratio, and let's also see how recent this post was. Oh, it is very old. So maybe it might not perform well.
19:45So you wanna see oh, this is from 2023. Oh, this is recent. 6,700,000.
19:52Oh, she's kinda got lots of followers. So that's kind of the strategy that I'm looking at. When you find one, let's say this one had, like, a solid view to follower ratio and it's like a recent post, what you're going to do is you're gonna press the three dots and you're gonna save it, and you're gonna create new collection on the content pillar that this is or on your specific niche that this is.
20:12So that way you could reference it and go back to it later when you are recreating and making content. Now if you are like, I don't wanna do content research, Millie. I really don't.
20:20I hate it. I hate it so much. Then, of course, you could use an AI prompt in an AI bot.
20:25Is this gonna guarantee that you're gonna see the best results? No. Maybe not.
20:28But, I mean, maybe the AI bot has some proven things that you could try, and it'll help you generate content ideas based on your unique edge, your audience pain points. So this is a prompt that you could absolutely plug into your preferred bot. Then what you're going to do with all these ideas that you have saved, you're gonna just start creating.
20:45Go into crazy creation mode, film things, edit them, post. For month one, I'm not even getting into the nitty gritty of all the millions of billion of strategies out there. Like, I know I mentioned, like, hook text earlier, but, like, you don't have to worry about, is this the proper hook?
20:57Oh my gosh. Like, that's not what we're worrying about yet. Why?
21:01Because if someone is truly starting from zero, the whole point of this first month is that you want it to be messy. I want you to give yourself permission to not have a perfect strategy in this first month because it's just to start.
21:15That's the point of month one. Start creating what you have as, like, your first draft for your personal brand. Start getting in the habit of filming and editing and posting even if it's not perfect.
21:25Start figuring out what sort of posting consistency is realistic for you to keep up with. So month one is, like, you have your ideas and you're just gonna make them and make them messy. See how much you can post.
21:36I'm still trying to be deliberate with what I'm creating because we are getting our ideas validated from specific sources, but I'm also just, like, posting and trying to see how much I could post and just, like, see how much I could churn out in this first month so that next month, you have a bunch of analytics that you could pull from and you could start adjusting strategy.
21:56So month one is like, yes. You might be throwing spaghetti at the wall, but I want you to, and I want you to do as much as you can without burning out. This is, like, realistic whatever you can do with your lifestyle.
22:06So if you learned something new so far, be sure to like this video because that's going to tell YouTube that other creators just like you will find this video valuable. And if you learn two new things by the end, consider subscribing since it's a free way to support me, my channel, and allows me to continue to make free content like this for you every single week.
22:24Now we're in month two. Month two is our creation month. The goal for month two is I want you to get 1% better during each part of the creative process, ideation, content research, filming, editing, posting, all those things.
22:38We wanna try to get 1% better every single time that we're posting. This month is when we start really leaning into more intentional creation.
22:47How can we be more intentional or strategic? And we wanna start doubling down maybe on what's working when it comes to analytics. That's why month one was so important to just, like, be messy and post post post because the more you post, the more data that you're gonna have to pull from and figure out what you need to adjust, how you need to adjust things.
23:05So the easiest way I know analytics can be overwhelming to some people, but the easiest way to read your analytics and figure out, like, what to post is literally just go to Stanley, go to home, and you could ask Stanley based on my analytics over the past thirty days, can you figure out what's working and what isn't so that I know what to lean into over the next thirty days that will drive more followers.
23:34Send. And then Stanley's gonna analyze all your analytics and tell you, hey. This is what you should be leaning into and maybe stay away from these topics.
23:42Okay. Stanley says, here's what I'm seeing from your last ninety days, Millie. What's working?
23:46Lean into these. Comment to DM call to actions with free resources. Honestly, I've said it a bajillion times in these videos, y'all.
23:54The comment to DM automations increase engagement so flipping much, and Stanley just kinda proved that for you. So if you haven't set up DM automations, do it, especially when it's associated with a freebie that your audience wants.
24:06Absolutely. So this is definitely one the brand deal hotel post. I know my audience loves that stuff.
24:13They they eat it up. So I definitely wanna do more hotel brand stuff, relatable personal journey and actionable steps, longer form educational reels. Interesting.
24:22Sixty to ninety seconds. Top performers this month are sixty to a hundred and twelve second range. You're not losing people with depth.
24:28They're staying for substance. So my audience wants real strategy, not the seven second trending audio with a motivational quote. You know what I mean?
24:36Oh, and then a new style that I was testing out was, like, motivational type videos where it's not, like, practical step by steps, but my motivational video of, like, step outside of your comfort zone, that one went well. And then it's going to show me also what's not performing. So I might just cut the fluff and focus on these top ones.
24:53Below that, I just got a thirty day growth game plan. Uh, yes, please. Thank you.
24:59So now I don't have to guess what to be posting over the next thirty days. To kinda give you a little bit more substance of okay.
25:06Well, you say with all these phases, the ideation, the content research, the planning, the filming, the editing, try to get 1% better with each of those things.
25:15What does 1% better actually look like? Let's start with content research. We kinda know the basics of our content research that we did from month one.
25:23So one thing we could do is start using our analytics and leverage our outperformers, lean into those, and see if we could, like, double down on those results. Something else to pay attention to with content research are different hook styles and different video format types that other creators are using in your industry and you also implementing that.
25:43And so what's that like hook text, The text that's on screen at the beginning of the video. What type of video is it? Is the creator talking to the camera?
25:51Is it b roll? Is it vlog? Is it kind of storytelling?
25:55Kind of questioning what kind of video is this? What is the beginning promise? Does the creator deliver on it?
26:00What is the call to action? So just, like, being more analytical of the videos that come up and the videos that you're saving to your collections. Like, when you save it, go back to the collections and be like, alright.
26:09Why do I think this video performed well for this person? I have, like, a whole deep dive on hooks and the hook layering strategies. So everybody talks about hooks, there's a bajillion different ways to lean into them.
26:21And they might seem either, like, so simple and no duh, or it might seem over complicated to you. But the more that you do it, the easier it becomes. So just start being curious as you do content research.
26:32When you're planning your videos and actually, like, scripting or outlining, be intentional with the hooks before you press film.
26:40Know what you're going to say. Know what the hook text is going to be. Know what visual thing you're going to do to grab your audience attention.
26:47Maybe you have a little duder at the beginning of your video and, like, you just catch it and you're like, five ways to blah blah blah blah blah blah. I don't know. But you're, like, doing something with your hands.
26:56Maybe you're making a coffee, and you're just trying to figure out visually how are you gonna get your audience engaged, holding a microphone, all the things. So before you film, just start planning ahead.
27:06What is my hook going to be? What is it gonna look like? What's the text?
27:09What am I gonna say? So try to plan all those things including your call to action. Some ways that you could get 1% better with filming is every time you film, maybe you work on one thing.
27:19You work on, okay. How could I get my lighting a little bit better this time? Or maybe this time, I'm gonna really set up my shot.
27:25I'm gonna clean up the background. Gonna make sure there's enough headspace for vertical videos at least so that there's, like, text above me. Or maybe you're playing around with different content types.
27:34You know? You talk to the camera in one video. The other one, it's just b roll with a voice over.
27:38You're playing around with maybe, like, a green screen to help share an idea that you have. Maybe it's gear. You're like, alright.
27:44Maybe let's experiment with a mic this time. For editing, some ways to get, like, 1% better is the pacing of your video. Ask yourself or look back at videos you've posted and be like, alright.
27:54How is the pacing of it? Did it kinda drag on? Was I getting bored?
27:58What could I have cut out to make it a little bit fast paced or a little bit more fast paced? Learning what needs to be in the video versus what you kinda want to keep in there, but maybe doesn't need to be in there. Are you repeating yourself?
28:10Can you cut the fluff? Can you cut anything extra out? Or maybe editing to get 1% better.
28:15It's leaning into AI aspects of editing and finding ways to auto edit for you using tools like Gling AI to auto cut all of your talking head videos or Submagic to auto add all of your captions. Improving efficiency is a way to get 1% better in a sense.
28:32Now I know that's a lot of suggestions. The thing is you don't have to work on all of them at once, but with each video that you're gonna post, with one video, I just want you to pick, like, one thing to get better at. You're okay.
28:42This video, I am just gonna, like, be intentional with my hook. This video, I'm gonna play around with, like, AI editing. That's what month two is for.
28:50It's to improve your creation process as a content creator. This is something you'll always be working on as a content creator, but for month two, you really want to lean into, like, getting better of, like, at making quality videos.
29:04I do that in quotes because it can be so intimidating to, like, create quality content because one person hears quality and they think, oh my gosh. I need to build be a filmmaker, cinematographer, have a freaking red camera and be super fancy with a bajillion lights. Like, that's not quality to everyone.
29:18So I say it in quotes because all you wanna be working on is, like, building your craft and being intentional when it comes to growing as a content creator. So month two, you have leveraged analytics, and you've gotten better with your content research to continue to churn out content that's, like, 1% better than all the content that you made the past thirty days.
29:38So going into month three, ideally, you have, like, thirty days of content or even, like, twenty days of content, which means you've gotten 20% better. And so by month three, you can move on with the ninety day road map, and now we're gonna lean into optimization.
29:53Optimization is this is, like, the month where I do want you to get a little bit more comfortable with looking at data and really understanding your analytics.
30:02I know last month, we used Stanley to, like, look at our data for you, and I do that all the time with Stanley. As you can see my conversations on the left, I have, like, can you look at my analytics? Can you look at my analytics?
30:13So I use Stanley to, like, look at my analytics all the time to help me come up with content ideas. But I'm talking, like, in your Instagram, your professional dashboard, I want you to start getting comfortable with looking at these numbers, and that way you're you can get more specific with, like, hook and retention and which videos got you the most followers.
30:32So I'm gonna go to, like, content you shared over the last sixty days. We'll do thirty three months so that we could look at all of the stuff that we've posted. We're going to filter by metric, follows, apply.
30:45If I want rapid growth, I need to make ish that's gonna get me followers. So I'm gonna see what gave me the most followers. Yeah.
30:51Holy cow. This one gave me 9,000 followers.
30:54So either I repost it, post it again, and see if it performs well, or I make a video super similar, and I could just look in the, like, cop the comment section to see what questions my audience had, like, maybe make a follow-up.
31:09I wanna look at this post specifically, and I wanna see the watch time. Wow.
31:14That's pretty great. Okay. Another thing I could do is I'm gonna filter by shares.
31:20Shares is going to be another way to reach new people and to grow. So I wanna see which video is getting a lot of shares, like, audience is sharing it in their DMs, to their stories, etcetera. Again, that one is good.
31:33Oh, interesting. The three pitch emails, that one's actually recent. So that's really cool that that one is outperforming.
31:40And so those two outliers, like, it looks like my average shares over the past three months. Average shares, it goes from 10 to 600.
31:50So I'd say average shares is, like, one to 200 shares per post. So anything that's, I'd say, 400 and up has good potential for me to recreate. Basically, it comes to optimization in month three, you're not just asking, oh, what posts went viral?
32:05You're asking, did this create a specific result? You're asking, what result did this viral video or did this video achieve, and can I make that a repeatable system?
32:17Now that we've looked at what worked really well for us, let's do sort by default views.
32:24We looked at the top of, like, oh, this is working really well. Anything that's working well, great. Double down.
32:29But also this month optimization, we wanna look at the bottom stuff. Let's just look at reels, and we wanna cut what isn't working.
32:37If a specific content type or style is consistently low performing, low retention, low results, stop forcing it right now. I mean, you could always go back to it later, but, again, we are trying to dial in and do, a ninety day rapid growth to 10,000 followers.
32:52Anything that's low on the bottom of this list, we're just gonna stop forcing it for right now. Being consistent as a content creator doesn't mean being repetitive in the wrong direction.
33:03I'm gonna pick my top two formats that I know have been working incredibly well, and I'm going to double down on them during month three. Anything else, this is where you could maybe start dabbling with trial reels.
33:16Now a lot of you have been wanting me to make my opinions in a post of, like, trial reels tutorial or what do I think. I know I get that question a lot with my students. And, y'all, I'm gonna be honest.
33:25I have been testing it or I've tested it with my team and I, and we haven't figured out this, like, viral formula or, like, if you repeat these steps, this can work for you. And because we haven't found any repeatable system of, like, what's working with trial reels, that's why I haven't, like, talked or educated on it. It's usually just, like, super random of, oh, wow.
33:43That performed well. I don't know why. We can't recreate it.
33:47So month three, if you have the capacity and you have some time and you're testing different, like, hook text, different visual hooks, verbal hooks, this is where you could, like, lean into trial reels a little bit and be like, okay. I have three videos. They all have a different hook, but it's the same storyline.
34:01Let me post all three to trials, see what's working well, and the one that it is, that's the one that I'm gonna post. Now, again, if you wanna take this over the top and you want to just, like, guarantee that viral growth, that one video that you saw for me that was like, oh, wow.
34:15This was absolutely an out performer. That is one that you could turn into a signature series. And signature series is y'all people gonna eat them up.
34:24You're gonna go I'm not gonna say you're gonna go viral, but having a signature series is definitely a way to get people to come back for more and follow you because they want to stay for the entire series. That is a topic in and of itself that could be it's entirely new own video.
34:40So if you want an entire video on, like, how to craft and create your own signature series, let me know down in the comments below. But in the meantime, I will leave you with an AI prompt that you could use to help you brainstorm a signature series that you can start creating. And, of course, we could open our friend Stanley home and then say, if I were to create a signature series that has the potential to go viral and get a ton of new followers who are content creators.
35:14I wanna be specific about the audience. What should my signature series be?
35:20I'm seriously this is not part of, like, the integration sponsor or, like, anything, but, like, I seriously haven't sat having so much fun with STANLEY because as of right now, I don't have anybody leading my short form strategy or anyone helping me with short form content. And so when I need help or brainstorming or I don't have the mental capacity to do, like, content research, I'm really having a lot of fun going to Stanley because I feel like he really does give me some solid examples of, like, oh, do this, do that.
35:47And I'm like, I literally would have never thought of that. You're brilliant, sir. So I'm excited to see what he's about to say.
35:53This is a great question. Here's what I would build. How I blank with blank series, how I made $5,000 with a 500 person email list, how I landed my first paid collab with this, how I built a 6 figure business posting this.
36:06Okay. Worst advice I ever got series. I kinda like the how I result with small number, and I'm wondering if we could lean it into the brand collab thing or, like, the hotel collab.
36:18So I could, like, brainstorm with Stanley and be like, okay. What about this? But we lean into here.
36:22What do you think about that? So that's something I'll have to do a little bit later. So these three months were focused on growth and creating for growth.
36:30I didn't sprinkle any, like, how to make money on Instagram in here because I didn't want this video to, you know, be, like, twelve hours long. So if you wanna talk Instagram monetization, how to make money on Instagram, watch this video next, and I will see you in the next one.
36:44Thanks so much for watching. Follow your joy. Bye.
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Ninety days, zero followers, one concrete system. The creator opens with a credibility-anchored personal bet — here is exactly what I would do — before laying out a three-month framework that separates the tactics most growth advice conflates. The promise is specific enough to be falsifiable: 10K, 90 days, balancing timeless strategy with AI implementation.
Named ideas worth stealing.
00:42model
The 90-Day Roadmap: Ideation → Creation → Optimization
- Month 1: Ideation (niche, profile, content bank)
- Month 2: Creation (get 1% better per post)
- Month 3: Optimization (data-driven double-down)
Three-phase Instagram growth model. Each month has a distinct job: Month 1 builds the foundation, Month 2 builds the craft, Month 3 builds the machine.
Steal forAny 90-day content sprint structure or coaching curriculum
05:40model
Niche Formula: Type + Industry + Audience
- Type (what kind of content)
- Industry (subject matter)
- Audience (who it's for)
A three-part formula for naming a niche specifically enough that Instagram can categorize the account. Example: 'simplified skincare for women 40+' vs. just 'skincare.'
Steal forNiche clarity exercises in any creator coaching product
09:17concept
The Unique Edge
A single bio sentence that states the specific result or transformation a follower will receive, differentiated by a credential, method, or time frame. The follow-worthy promise.
Steal forBio writing frameworks, email subject lines, landing page headlines
04:44list
Content Pillar System
- Primary niche topic
- Subtopic 1
- Subtopic 2
- Subtopic 3
- Experimental/stretch topic (optional 5th)
3–5 recurring subtopics that provide variety while keeping the account consistently categorizable. The 5th pillar is explicitly an 'open-ended testing ground.'
Steal forContent planning templates, editorial calendars
14:27model
View-to-Follower Ratio Research
When researching competitor content on Instagram, filter by: (1) high view count relative to the creator's follower count, (2) post recency. Outliers on both dimensions are the templates worth studying. Save to named collections by content pillar.
Steal forAny competitive content research SOP
30:34list
Month 3 Analytics Sort Order
- Sort by Follows — which posts converted viewers into followers
- Sort by Shares — which posts reached cold audiences
- Sort by Views (default) — identify bottom performers to cut
Three-step sort protocol for Instagram's professional dashboard to identify what to double down on and what to cut during the optimization phase.
Steal forCreator analytics audits, coaching reviews, monthly content retrospectives
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
36:26next-video
“If you wanna talk Instagram monetization, how to make money on Instagram, watch this video next.”
Clean handoff to a follow-up video. Mid-video CTAs also include subscribe/like ask (~22:26) and Stanley download link in description.
MENTIONED ON CAMERA
FROM THE DESCRIPTION
PRIMARY CTAWhere the creator wants you to go next.
AFFILIATECommission earned if you click.
- Try Stanley, your AI Instagram growth coach, using my link ➡ ↗
- go.itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- go.itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- go.itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- go.itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- go.itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- go.itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- 👉🏼Favorite link in bio tool (Stan Store) ↗
- 👉🏼Organize your brand collabs with Rella ↗
- 👉🏼Create & launch an online course (Thinkific) ↗
- 👉🏼Team’s Project Management Tool (ClickUp) ↗
OTHER LINKSAlso linked in the description.
- Grab my free AI Prompts for Content Creators here ➡ ↗
- itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- itsmodernmillie.com ↗
- 👉🏼 Keyword research tool for YouTube (TubeBuddy) ↗
- 👉🏼Video editors (Storyy) ↗
- 👉🏼Video membership for creators (UScreen) ↗
- 👉🏼Shop my YouTube set-up & favorite gear ↗
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Visual structure at a glance.
