If I Started From 0, Here's How I'd Get 10K on Instagram in 4 Steps
A four-step system for building an Instagram account from zero: set up the algorithm once, pick one easy format and stick with it, build a reusable AI brand kit, then run the same weekly loop until it compounds.
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yesterday
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Big Idea
The argument in one line.
Reaching 10,000 Instagram followers from zero is a repeatable four-part system — algorithm setup, format choice, a reusable AI brand kit, and a weekly loop — not a series of secret growth hacks.
Who This Is For
Read if. Skip if.
READ IF YOU ARE…
You have zero to a few hundred Instagram followers and want a repeatable weekly system instead of chasing individual viral posts.
You're comfortable using an AI chat tool like Claude or ChatGPT and want to fold image generation into your content workflow.
You'd rather commit to one simple content format for months than keep experimenting with a new style every week.
SKIP IF…
You already have a defined brand system and content calendar — this is a from-zero setup, not an optimization pass.
You're looking for algorithm exploits or growth hacks rather than a consistency-based posting habit.
TL;DR
The full version, fast.
The video argues Instagram growth to 10,000 followers is a repeatable system, not secret tricks. Step one sets up Instagram's own algorithm-preference page with six niche keywords and a saved collection of twenty posts, which doubles as research and an idea bank. Step two picks one low-effort reel style to run for ninety days alongside carousels, posting three to five times a week. Step three builds a reusable AI 'brand spine' — a visual dashboard and voice block generated once in Claude connected to an image tool via MCP — so every future post stays on-brand. Step four is a weekly loop with a symptom-based fix for when growth stalls.
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Cold-open thesis: followers aren't the asset, the four-step system is. Promises a document with the entire process.
00:40 – 03:15
02 · Build Algorithm
Set Instagram's own 'Your Algorithm' preference page with six niche keywords, save twenty posts into one collection, and follow the accounts behind them — this produces both an idea bank and a format map.
03:15 – 08:42
03 · Viral Formats
Reels (reach) vs. carousels (depth) — pick one of six low-effort reel styles and commit for ninety days, split time roughly half and half, post three to five times a week.
08:42 – 22:54
04 · Brand Build
Live build of a reusable AI 'brand spine' — a visual dashboard and a voice block — using Claude connected to Higgsfield via MCP, then using that brand spine to spin a saved reference post into a finished carousel.
22:54 – 27:31
05 · 0 to 10k: The Rulebook
The full weekly system on one page: first-seven-days checklist, the rules that don't change, a symptom-based fix-it guide, what the first six months actually look like, and what 10K really adds up to.
27:31 – 27:54
06 · Outro
Recap and like/subscribe ask, plus a repeat of the DM-for-templates offer.
Atomic Insights
Lines worth screenshotting.
The four things that actually matter for Instagram growth are algorithm setup, format choice, a brand system, and a weekly loop — not secret tricks.
Six keywords fed into Instagram's own 'Your Algorithm' settings page do more curating than manual scrolling ever will.
Reels earn reach because they get shown to non-followers; carousels earn depth because saves and shares turn a stranger into a follower.
The single biggest beginner mistake is picking a reel format that looks impressive instead of one that's still doable on a busy, tired week.
Commit to one reel style for ninety days before switching — most people quit by month three because they keep changing formats instead of building consistency.
Three to five posts a week is the target — not four times a day — because consistency beats volume.
A single AI-generated 'brand spine' (visual dashboard plus voice block) makes every future prompt produce on-brand content without re-explaining the brand each time.
Every carousel needs three parts — the hook (cover line), the middle (slide lines), and the end (caption) — skipping any one loses the reader.
A cover line should be judged by whether a stranger understands the post in two seconds, not by how clever it sounds.
The diagnostic for a stalled account is symptom-specific: low views means fix the cover, saves without new followers means fix the ending — not the whole brand.
Redesigning the brand after a flop is almost always the wrong move; the brand was rarely the problem, and an all-out rewrite makes consistency worse.
The first six months follow a predictable shape: near-total silence in month one, one post doing noticeably better in month two, followers arriving in small bursts by month three.
10,000 followers is roughly 200 posts, about a year at three to five per week; most posts do little and growth comes from the few that travel.
Screenshotting a post that performed well and feeding it to an AI with your own brand spine is a legitimate way to learn formats before you have original ideas of your own.
Takeaway
Growth Is A System, Not A Trick
THE GROWTH SYSTEM
The path to 10,000 followers is a four-part system — a one-time algorithm setup, one committed content format, a reusable AI brand kit, and a repeatable weekly loop — not a string of secret growth hacks.
02Build Algorithm
Instagram's own 'Your Algorithm' settings page can be manually tuned with keywords — search it under your profile, then add the six terms that describe your specific niche, not just your general interests.
Avoid generic or unrelated keywords (the video's example: skip 'Spider Man', 'football', 'gardening' if that's not the account's actual subject) — vague signals produce a vague feed.
Saving twenty posts into one collection does double duty: it trains the algorithm to serve more of that content, and it becomes a personal idea bank to reference later.
03Viral Formats
Reels and carousels serve different jobs — reels get shown to non-followers for reach, carousels convert strangers into followers through saves and shares.
Pick a reel style that's actually achievable on a bad week (text overlay, b-roll loop, in-frame-not-talking, direct-to-camera talk, screen recording, or narrating an existing routine) rather than one that looks impressive but requires a crew.
Lock in one reel format for ninety days before switching — most people quit by month three because they keep changing formats instead of building consistency.
The target cadence is three to five posts a week, split roughly evenly between one chosen reel style and carousels, not the four-times-a-day volume some creators push.
04Brand Build
A one-time 'brand spine' — a visual identity dashboard (colors, mood, headshot treatment) plus a written voice block (who you help, tone rules, banned phrases) — removes the need to re-explain your brand in every future AI prompt.
Building the visual half starts from either your own brand colors or a Pinterest mood board screenshot; feeding that plus a reference photo into an AI image prompt produces a reusable dashboard image with hex codes.
The voice block is built from four inputs — who you help, what you help with, who you'd explain it to if only one person, and words to ban — kept short and free of jargon.
Once the brand spine exists, generating an on-brand carousel is a repeatable loop: screenshot a post that performed well, feed it to the AI with the brand spine attached, and it returns a cover line, slide lines, and caption matched to your palette and voice.
050 to 10k: The Rulebook
Every post needs to pass a two-second check before it goes up: can a stranger — or your dad — understand what it's about that fast, without relying on the caption to explain the visual.
Diagnose a stalled account by symptom, not by starting over: low views means fix the cover, views without saves means fix the middle, saves without new followers means fix the ending — not the brand.
The tempting reactions to a flop are almost always wrong: don't redesign the brand, don't buy followers or join engagement pods, don't post three times a day to compensate, and don't start a second account.
The first six months follow a predictable shape — near-silence in month one, one post outperforming in month two, followers arriving in small bursts by month three, real compounding by months four to six — so a quiet start isn't a sign to stop.
Glossary
Terms worth knowing.
Brand Spine
A single reusable AI-generated document — a visual identity dashboard plus a written voice block — pasted into every future content prompt so output stays consistent without re-explaining the brand each time.
MCP (Model Context Protocol)
A connector standard that lets an AI chat tool like Claude call an outside service — in this case an image-generation platform — directly from inside the conversation.
Idea Bank
A saved collection of posts from other accounts in your niche, built by saving twenty examples, that becomes a running supply of formats and angles to adapt.
Format Map
The pattern that emerges once you've saved enough posts in a niche — which visual and structural formats keep reappearing because the audience responds to them.
Cover Line
The headline text on the first slide of a carousel — the single line a stranger has about two seconds to read before deciding whether to keep swiping.
“If every account I own disappeared tomorrow, millions of followers gone, I'd have a new page at 10,000 plus followers in just a few months on just one hour a week.”
cold-open thesis line that stakes the whole video's premise in one sentence→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
00:00
“So the followers were never the asset.”
sharp reframe, quotable out of context→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote
02:27
“Six keywords is all you need. So those six keywords will give you basically infinite amount of data.”
concrete, specific number claim→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
03:18
“This is the single biggest decision that you will ever make if you want to pass 10k.”
high-stakes framing of the format choice→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote
22:24
“I honestly hand on heart use them even if they weren't sponsoring this video.”
sponsor-credibility line, useful for the money-trail context→ newsletter pull-quote↗ Tweet quote
23:44
“Redesigning your brand because a post flopped. The brand was not the problem.”
counterintuitive advice against a common reflex→ IG reel cold open↗ Tweet quote
27:31
“Post again next week.”
closing line of the entire rulebook document — the single rule that matters→ TikTok hook↗ Tweet quote
The Script
Word for word.
Read-along
Don't just watch it. Burn it in.
See every word as it's spoken — crank it to 2× and still catch all of it. The same dual-channel trick behind Amazon's Kindle + Audible.
17px
metaphor
If every account I own disappeared tomorrow, millions of followers gone, I'd have a new page at 10,000 plus followers in just a few months on just one hour a week. So the followers were never the asset. Knowing the four things that actually matter is.
Here's why you can watch a 100 videos like this one and still be sat at, 200 followers. Every one of them hands you a strategy. None of them hand you an actual post.
So if you take action when I take action in this video, by the end, you'll have everything you need to grow. Four steps. Every single one of them happens on screen, and there's a document with the entire process from prompts for you to follow along.
Here's step one before you post everything. And trust me, you don't wanna miss this.
Okay. So the first thing we need to do is set up our algorithm. So it doesn't matter if your zero followers, a 100, have no bio.
We're gonna go through everything, but we need to set up this algorithm as this is going to be the foundation of everything. So here you can see I'm on my Instagram. This button right here, bottom right with magnifying glass, that's your for you page or your explore page, and this is going to be the key to everything.
So, essentially, Instagram have released a new feature, which if you go to the top right up here, you'll see your algorithm, and this is a beauty. Essentially here, you'll be able to see what the algorithm is going to be showing you. So you can see for me, it's showing me AI and content creation, brand strategy, brand business strategy, graphics design, etcetera.
What you want to do is pick six keywords for your niche, your world, your market, and put them here. You do not want to have things like Spider Man, football, gardening, cooking, if that's not what you're trying to build your account on.
This is extremely important when building a business. We're trying to grow.
We're not trying to build a random, you know, account. Okay? You need to take this serious.
So put in six keywords. I'll have a bit more information about that later in the video, but this is super easy. Press add, and over time, this will develop.
And anytime you want to remove something, you simply come here. But, essentially, this is the foundation. When we're on our explore page right here, you can see for you, this is kind of the generic one or the kind of the overall one of everything.
But if I go to up here, you can see if I press graphics design, it will only show me graphics design content which is performing really well. And now we have this set up. You need to do this.
Let me explain the two ways that we're going to use this to speed run to 10 k followers and beyond. Okay. So a quick recap.
We just need to do what we've just done essentially once. Six keywords is all you need. So those six keywords will give you basically infinite amount of data.
I want you to then save 20. Okay? Because this is gonna start building that collection, helping the algorithm follow some of the accounts that post this content, because so they just automatically come up in your feed.
Now we get two different things from this. We get an idea bank, which is gonna tell us what to post, what the audience likes at literally at a click of a button, and a format map.
This is where everyone makes their single biggest mistakes is the format. Because if you get your format wrong, you will quit, you will give up, and you will never reach 10 k and beyond. So let's dive into formats so that you can understand that properly.
But, essentially, your research, your algorithm is set up. Let's move over to the next most important actionable step on this road to 10 k.
Okay. Now it's time to pick our two formats. This is the single biggest decision that you will ever make if you want to pass 10 k.
I don't care what anyone else says. Now there are two basically main formats on Instagram, and that is your Reels, which is essentially a video like this. It's literally a video, you know, in this kind of way.
Then you have a carousel, which is a graphic kind of post where you can swipe through. And for me, I love carousels, they perform extremely well for me. So these are the two different formats, and often people make tons of mistakes in this.
Get this wrong, and you will literally give up within the first month or by month three guaranteed. Now we need both of these. Okay?
So reels, so the videos, these essentially get reached. So these usually go out to more kind of non followers. So these are obviously super important, but people make a ton of mistakes here.
Carousels, again, are super important for depth. This is what turns a stranger into a follower.
This allows you to give more value. This is the best in terms of conversions if you want to make money because the saves and the authority you build is so big. So carousels are extremely important, and carousels are essentially which allow you to turn a stranger into a follower as they get so much more saves and shares than anything else.
Now we essentially want to post both. Okay? There is no denying that we need to post reels, but we also want to post carousels.
And I recommend doing a fifty fifty split. It doesn't need to be complicated. Now reels are hard.
Reels are hard. You have to film yourself. You have to if you're doing face search, have to edit.
You have to find an editor. You have to do a ton of stuff. Right?
So, essentially, your feed, which we we've already kind of looked at, has told you all the different kind of real formats that work well, okay, or that your audience likes to watch. Now we need to pick a real format which is easy.
The biggest mistake that happens is we'll go on to for example, this is my feed, my personal feed right here. And I will go into my feed and I'm, you know, creating content for the first time, for example. And I will, you know, look at a video and be like, you know what?
This video is really cool. I'm gonna make something like this. And we'll pick like a really hard one just because we think it looks great.
And then we'll and then once we start creating or trying to be like it, it doesn't look anything like it, and it's just too hard for us to do. And that's the biggest mistake is us creating content just because it looks good without understanding that we need to create what we can actually do.
So I recommend for your first reels, pick easy options, and here are the easy options in my opinion that anyone could do, faces, personal brand, business, whatever. You have the text overlay.
This is a really simple one. This is, for example, when you have, like, literally, just like text on top of something.
Okay? So for example, I'm having k likes.
She's not actually kind of speaking. She's just, you know, the b roll is speaking, then she has this text, and then she has the full thing right here. Super easy to do.
Compare compare that to, for example, this is just a whole different ballgame. Now my point is that you don't you know, for example, if you're a professional videographer, have a whole team, you have a million dollar budget, go for But in reality, most of us don't. So we wanna pick easy options for us to begin.
Again, you can see this option right here works super well for him. 250 likes. Fourth of July.
You know, he's just sitting at the desk giving information about Fable, which is his expertise. Then you have a yap method, which you can see right here. The yap, you know, which is literally you just speak into the camera, you know, no BS, and it's that simple.
These formats are all over your feed. You know, all you need to do is look at it. So go to your feed and look for it.
Some of them will be a bit more complicated. Some of them less complicated. Look for the ones that are less complicated and think, you know what?
Okay. There's a clear indicator that the audience likes this. I'm gonna go for this style.
Lock that in. Test it. It's honestly that simple.
When it comes everyone will be like, you know, look at the stats that these creators that I've just shown you got. When it comes to, like, reels and stuff, everyone would be like, oh, you need to do your hooks. You need to do all of this.
Guys, at the beginning, you know, there's too much for us to focus on. If we focus on everything, we're never gonna do nothing. The most important thing is get your reels, pick an easy option for you to begin, and we're going to put our depth and a bit of our focus, but ultimately, I'm gonna show you how to do it with AI so that this whole process is easy to create carousels.
Now this is where you actually get good because there's no camera, no editing, no reshoots. It's just one idea explained clearly, which your audience is going to love. Every carousel is one of these.
It has data. It has a list of steps. It has a set of principles.
It's a story. It flips a belief. It's a simple equation for us to stick to.
So if you saw one of mine that worked really well, you know, and for me personally, I love doing carousels, and, you know, they always work really well as you can see from the stats right here.
So once we understand that we can post rules, really easy option, and we can post the carousel, things become much clearer. Okay. We have an our idea bank, and now we we have off two formats.
And I've picked this rule which is perfect for me, works really well, and I've seen that it works well for my audience. I want you to aim to three to five posts a week. It's honestly, that's it.
Okay? People telling you to post four times a day and all of this stuff, for me, I just don't think that that's good advice because we all have, you know, our lives.
We all have our struggles, etcetera, and we need to live in reality. And you there are tons of people that post three times a week, once a week, and and grow, but my I recommend three to five. Don't fall in this habit of trying to be efficient, overcomplicate everything.
Just stick to it. One reel, one carousel, one by one, three to five times a week. Now let's actually create something.
I'm gonna show you step by step how to turn date once you understand your formats and your ideas, how to turn it into something practical, we're actually going to create some visual content right now and take it further. Okay? This video is getting better and better, so stick around.
Okay. So next up, we have your brand spine and zero two ten k, which I'm about to go through live step by step with these two documents, which are available in my description. Simply go to my Instagram, send me a message saying spine, and this will be sent over to you.
Be sure to be following to get that message, and stick around because trust me on Instagram, I'm sharing a ton of stuff and giving away free resources literally almost every day, so stick around. Now we need to get to 10 k followers. Right?
To do that, we need to post content. To post content, in my opinion, if you're not using AI, you are staying behind because AI is going to make your workflow so much easier. Now to build a professional account, to have consistency, you need to have a decent brand.
So we're gonna quickly build that the easiest way I can do it for you. And you can see I've just built one for me in a matter of seconds, and I'm gonna show you exactly how you can have the same thing, which even you can use for your story highlights. I could use this as my profile picture.
I could use this as inspiration for my actual feed and for colors for when I'm creating reels for anything in the future for my brand. So this is super important. Then we're gonna jump into the zero in 10 k, and I'm gonna show you all the other steps for that.
So let's jump into building this brand, Spype. Now for this, we're going to be using Claude. You can use ChatGPT.
You can use Gemini, whatever. It doesn't matter. We're also gonna be using some image generation models.
Okay? So, actually, let me just zoom out of this slightly so maybe it's easier to see. But, essentially, for this, we're gonna be using Claude.
So the first thing we want to do is you can connect your Claude to an image generation model. And for me, I use Higgs field for this.
The link will be in the description. Higgs field is my number one place for where I'm able to do all my video generations and image generations. So for example, for my carousels, this is literally my go to.
And you can see right here, has the latest AI model so that I don't need to go to Charjibouti. I don't need to go to Nanabanana. I don't need to do all of this.
It's in one model. I connect it to Claude, and you'll see how I use it. And, essentially, when something comes out that's new, for example, Chachi b t 29, it will be here.
Seed seed dance, whatever is all here, and it's extremely useful. The link will be in my description. Do not miss out.
So, essentially, to do this, you just go to MCP right here. Follow these steps. So copy Hicksfield.
Go to Claude customize, which is on the left of your Claude. Open Claude. Connect these two, and you're done.
And you'll be able to basically do what I'm about to show you right now. So for example, what we're going to do is head here. So you can see right here, I've got this prompt.
Now this prompt is going to be right here. Now this document is gonna also, you know, go through step by step how to do everything, but the first thing is we wanna get this brand spine so we can start creating content. So, essentially, this is gonna be in two halves.
I would need a visual, and I need my voice, if I wanna create carousels or even, you know, if I'm creating brules in the future. Now for this, if you get stuck at any point, I have already prepared this view which guides you kind of through everything, but I'm gonna be doing this live so that you can actually copy me.
So version a with a photo of you. So if you are a real person or if you're a faceless, there are two options here. So for example, for me, I've put my picture right here.
Okay? So because I'm doing this for my personal brand. But if you don't, you have a logo or you don't have a logo, this will do everything for you.
You can just change this so if you don't have your image or view. And essentially at this point, you have a few different options.
If you already have, like, brand colors, you already have an idea of what you want to do in terms of colors, visuals, you can put fill in the information yourself. If you don't, what I recommend doing is going on to a platform like Pinterest, for example, and just getting, like, kind of a mood board. So these are images that kinda fit the vibe of what you wanna create.
Um, so for example, for me, I was doing some research and came across kind of these just random images and then opened up this one here, and I like the vibe of this one. I think it's got kind of colors that look clean, that stand out. So I went with this.
So I literally screenshotted that, put it here, and then put the image of me, and then literally copied and pasted this prompt right here.
And essentially from that, I was able to get this these, um, kind of dashboards. Okay? So this will create you a brand dashboard.
And if I press one of these right here, you can see it gives me all this information. Again, I could use these as story highlights on my Instagram, and it would just give me this initial base that I need for creating content in the future.
Now, again, one thing I wanted to test is just different models. You know, you can see right here essentially, I always use Charjibouti image two.
You might be watching this in the future where nano banana is the latest model is out and might be performing better. But, again, if you wanted to try a different model and the beauty of using Higgs Field again is that it has kind of all the latest models you can see, you can literally go to your Claude and say try with Nano Banana two and Pro and do four of each, for example.
And, again, it will just create them for you with that one. And if and, obviously, they're all kind of similar because the prompt is pretty good, but they all do have the discrepancies or the differences, and you can see right here.
So they're all slightly different, and you would just pick the one you like most. So, you know, for example, if I like this one here, this one with nine of an on a pro, which is a very good model as well. And if I had and the beauty of it, again, it puts the hex codes again.
If you go into Canva or something later on, it will all be here. So the next thing here is literally downloading one of these. So pick one, download it, and we will go to here right now.
Okay. So the next part is the voice part. Now for this part only, you would need to open another chat.
So you can see right here, I've opened another chat and literally copied that prompt, And then this is the only time you're gonna have to fill anything out, and it's super simple. You know? Who I help, what I help them with, and if I had to explain to this one person in my life, it would be this.
You literally just wanna put who you want to help. So if you're in the pet space, you wanna help other pet owners or Labrador owners, whatever, Just put a little bit of information because this is gonna help you build a structure, a system. Okay?
So for me, who I help creators, entrepreneurs, founders, coaches, boom, put it all there. After ten years in content marketing, I now teach people social media by using AI and visual systems. Again, it does the prompt, and it will give you this voice block, this, you know, these different bits of information that will allow you to again, it will give you also bio options.
So if you haven't done your bio yet, you've got your story highlights, and you've got your bio options as well right there. Now we take this. So if we follow our document right here, get your span spine together.
So now we have our kind of dashboard. We have our voice. We're going to connect these together.
So download one of these. Come back to the main chat. So attach your dashboard.
Attach your information which you created. So you can see the voice block right here. You just put it at the end.
And back, you will get this. So this is colors and your mood, your image style, etcetera, and some information.
And this is super, super important because when you're creating content at any point using AI, this is something that you can always reference. If you want me to go deeper into branding and kind of building your aesthetic, again, just let me know in the comments. But, essentially, all I do have these videos right here as well.
But, essentially, the next part, if we follow the document, is what do you already have now? So you can see what we have right now, the idea spinner. So this is where we start to actually generate our ideas.
So, essentially, what we want to do is this. We earlier, right, we saved a bunch of content.
Okay? So for example, this is the content that I've saved, you know, in the past, and let's say this one right here. Let's say I wanted to spin this.
Now, of course, this video isn't just me telling you to just copy, copy, copy because that's not the case, and, honestly, it's not the best thing to just copy. I recommend watching this video right here to understand a bit more about kind of how to copy but not copy. Um, but, essentially, what we're doing is to build two ten k, you need to actually start posting some content, start to understand things.
And simply from you, like, screenshotting this, actually looking it, you're actually learning. Okay. This one worked well.
You started to digest it. AI can help you digest it and recreate something. And over time, you'll start to come up with your own ideas.
So this isn't something that you're gonna do forever, but it's a very good way to start and actually get your momentum. So I would just simply screenshot this, take this to your chat so you can see right here.
I've put in the screenshot right here. Then what you will do is put in the prompt, which is available right here, and then you will put your brand spine. So, for example, the brand spine, which was here, I would have copied that right there.
Put it into the prompt right there, and, essentially, it will then give you a, uh, carousel, you know, the information. So your cover line, your sidelines, etcetera, and it also provides you a caption.
Okay? So I deserve a like. Then it's actually time for us to create our content.
Okay? Now, again, we're going to be using Higgs field inside Claude.
You know, you've got multiple different options for this. For me, personally, if you know, when it comes to carousels, I love doing carousels. I love the creative aspect of them.
I love, you know, being able to create them and make them kind of, you know, stand out and tell a story simply, you know, when the world is so focused on videos and AI and stuff like that. Being able to be creative is a blessing, and for me, that's something that I just love doing, which is why you see my carousels like this.
So, you know, for me, for this particular one, I want, you know, the cover always to kind of match my brand and also the mood of, you know, what the carousel is about. So in this particular case, the carousel is about see which part of your post is losing people. So, you know, does it match the vibe of my brand and the potential topic of the video?
I mean, of the carousel? Yes. You know?
And I could easily put text here. I could put some stuff. You know?
So this is a great base image. And, you know, if you want, you can literally run this through different AI models. You can also turn this into real if you wanted.
You know, this video isn't about carousels. It's not me deep diving into how to create a perfect carousel. If you want me to make a video where it's more about creating these images for hooks for your carousel, again, just let me know.
You know, just comment. Let me know hooks or something because it's obviously a massive thing, and I love hooks for carousels. But, essentially so that's it if I just do a prompt and feed it the information in terms of my brand and, you know, the information in terms of the slides.
Okay? So it was able to the AI was able to generate this based off its own accord. Okay?
And, essentially, you can see right here, it was able to do that. So make the cover boom.
Now a bonus thing that I did, which is not in this document, and for those who are watching still, what we can do as well is we can go to Pinterest, for example, and grab any image.
So, for example, what I did again was just exploring. Um, I believe I was exploring around here somewhere, and I essentially just literally, like, you know, opened it in new a new tab and thought, you know, this would look pretty cool in my colors as well.
So I literally screenshotted it, went back to my Claude and Hicksfield, and asked it recreate this in my brand colors, use Chatty Beauty image two and Higgs field. Again, you know, if there's a specific model you want, just put this line at the top. So I put the screenshot, and essentially, it was able to recreate this in my brand colors.
And it came out pretty good. You know? And, obviously, if I wanted the, you know, the moon or this to be Mars, a different color, you can just make those tweaks.
But it did an exceptional job, I must say. Like, for I would use this cover 100%.
This video is making me question my choices in terms of brand colors, because I do love this, like, blue kind of pinkish vibe. And, again, you know, do this in Nano Banana Pro and two as well, and you can see the differences. You know, they're all pretty different.
Which who do you think won? So this is Nanobanana Pro.
This is, um, Chatubita Image two.
And then did I do another one? Yes. Nanobanana two.
So it seems Nanobanana two and pro, they're, like, denser colors, but maybe slightly less real. I don't know.
I think this one is pretty epic, to be fair. Yeah. Who won?
Very interesting, actually. See, because there is subtle differences, but there is big differences as well. Um, but, essentially, okay.
At that point, what we can do is then create a full carousel from it. So you could download this, take this to Canva, or you can add text to it right here. You know, you've got so many different options.
You know, Higgsville just gives you this kind of unlimited creativity. And and with this simple process you've seen, we've been able to build. And I'm already starting to create content now.
Okay? If you want me to dive deeper into using, like, front covers, you know, to create these magical covers with hooks, again, let me know.
But we also have the option of letting this be built directly in Claude. So you can see right here, Claude itself was able to build this carousel or turn it into a carousel, and it did a pretty good job.
So slide one, slide two, slide three. Yeah.
You know, it's put it together. I haven't given it too much, like, information in terms of how to build it, but I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out.
What happened here actually, and it's showing you the same one now, but, essentially, sometimes when you're creating content, especially on Claude and stuff, you know, can we have a more variety in the way the slides look? So, for example, I believe all of the slides looked with this style, and then I just asked for a bit more variety, and then it created, like, this one as a secondary one.
It stuck to my fonts, etcetera. But simply from you experimenting, making small tweaks, you then get a kind of carousel that works.
You download it all, and next time, you can use those as your reference. But in a matter of minutes, you've created content. So this alongside, for example, your reels, and you have, you know, a content plan.
You have a brand. You have a profile picture. You have story highlights.
You have everything you actually need to get to 10 k. But now let's take this further and go from zero to 10 k, my rule book, and I want you to pay super close attention. Again, if you want access to Hicksville, the link will be in my description.
This video is sponsored by them, but I honestly hand on heart use them even if they want sponsoring this video. I use them for all my content, my carousels that you see on my page. Let's jump to the next section where it's super important to pay attention to.
If you want the resources I've mentioned in this video, be sure to go to my Instagram. Simply follow and DM me saying spine, and I'll send you the assets from today's video. Be sure to check out the post as well.
It's trust me, I'm constantly dropping fire on there. I'm going all in on my Instagram right now, so be sure to check that out. Let's get back to Okay.
So zero to 10 k, the rule book, and beyond, to be honest. Like, everything from the video, want you to pay attention. This is the loop that I want you to, you know, focus on.
One else has given you stuff like this. Be sure to drop a like and let me know if you like this format of me using kind of a Word document. Believe this is the first time I'm ever doing this.
If this helps you because these are the documents I actually give you, again, please let me know that feedback. That would be amazing. The whole thing on one page.
So every week, three to five ideas is simple. Okay? Spin each one, cover or text led.
Again, you can create your own ideas, okay, and still even just throw it into the prompt that I gave. Like, it's up to you. That's just an easy way to get you started because consistency, posting, action is what gets you started, not all these tricks and hoops and stuff that people tell you to do.
K. So one real style for ninety days. That's my recommendation.
You can add two, but I recommend just sticking to one and building that foundation. It's important to use words that a 12 year old gets when you create your content. Okay?
Super important. Brand Spine is there now for you to use at any time. Okay?
Now the check before anything posts. In two seconds, can people understand what the carousel is about? Can they understand what the real is about?
That's something that's super important for you to remember. Can you explain it to your dad? These are the type of questions that actually matter.
Because as soon as there's, like, a confusion, boom. They're gone. Okay?
When it breaks, low views, fix the cover. Views but no saves, fix the middle. Saves but no follows, fix the end.
Nothing for a month. You change format again. No ideas.
You stop saving. These are simple tricks, but let's jump into them. So your first seven days.
So day one, set up your feed because, you know, I don't I make these videos a lot of the time. We get all these videos, you know, zero to 10 k, how to grow, whatever. But there's not, like, actual steps.
I wanted to do that for you today. Your first seven days, set up your feed. Doesn't matter what how many followers you have right Six keywords.
Save 20 posts into one collection. Follow the accounts behind them. This is to take you ten minutes.
Day two, make your brands you can't do this all in one day. Make your brand spine. Dashboard image, voice output, then the block.
About twenty minutes, and you never need to do it again or at least for this kind of period. Yeah? Day three, build one carousel.
Start to finish just one. It will take longer than an hour, and that's fine. I do want you to take a bit longer on this particular first carousel.
Just get the foundations to use Hicksfield if you decide to use that, to use Canva, whatever you decide to do. Okay? Day four, post it.
Do not redesign it. Do not sit on it. Post it, then post.
Okay? Then post your reel. Then just start to build that float.
Okay? Save 10 more posts to your folder while you scroll. Build three carousels in one sitting.
This is the one that shows you the hour is real. Okay? Now schedule them across the the next week.
Close the laptop. Like, it's honestly super, like, simple when you think about it.
Okay? Like, you don't want to overthink things. And I'm gonna be honest with you.
If you are at zero, it's likely your carousel will get zero likes. Doesn't matter. Just build.
People will scroll down. They'll see it in the future. Get momentum from your reels.
Just keep posting both. Okay? They will carousels have a long shelf life, I've found.
So it doesn't matter if it's got zero likes after one day. It might get one like next week, two likes, three likes. It builds.
The weekly loop. Open your folder. Pick three to five ideas.
Spin each one cover line. Five slide lines caption. Cover image.
Boom. And it's the same thing. Okay?
One real style ninety days, carousels get the time. I do still recommend putting that time to carousels. If you want me to make more videos about carousels, please let me know in the in the comments.
The four second check. Can someone get the point in two seconds? Is there only one idea on this slide?
Could you explain it to your dad? Does the visual say what the text says? It's simple things like this, which are going to make you grow.
Okay? These are the most common kind of issues that you will ask. Saves, but no new followers.
One post did really well. I'm getting low views. Alex, you've run out of ideas.
Here's the answer. It it there is nothing magical or complicated. Yep.
These are the answers. There's no hashtag. There's no follow this this.
No. These are the answers. Yeah?
What will be tempted to do instead? Again, don't fall into this.
We've all been there. You don't need to follow into these. Redesigning your brand because of post flops.
Don't do that. Believe in what you're doing. Now the first six months, you know, can look completely different.
Some people grow very quickly. Some people take a bit of time. What matters is you're building towards something.
I've never seen anyone who keeps posting not grow. Okay? Obviously, the point of this video is not to just keep posting because we're building the brand.
We're building the foundations. We're building the understanding. We're building everything so that you're posting effectively, but you can achieve 10 k and beyond.
We all can, but don't overcomplicate it. If this video has helped you in any way, please be sure to like or subscribe.
And if you want me to make a video going deeper into automating your ideation or creating your carousels or the image for your hooks or hooks in general, please let me know in the comments.
If you want my entire carousel process, which is now available, the link is in the description.
Be sure to check that out if you're serious about
The Hook
The bait, then the rug-pull.
Grow with Alex opens with a thought experiment — erase every follower he has and he'd rebuild past 10,000 in a few months on one hour a week — then spends the rest of the video proving it with a four-part system: algorithm setup, format choice, an AI-built brand kit, and a repeatable weekly loop.
Frameworks
Named ideas worth stealing.
02:41list
Set It Up Once
Six Keywords
Save Twenty
Follow The Source
A ten-minute, one-time setup of Instagram's own algorithm-preference page: pick six specific niche keywords, save twenty already-working posts into one collection, and follow the accounts behind them so the feed keeps training itself.
Steal forany account onboarding checklist
03:05concept
Two Things, Not One
An Idea Bank — what to post
A Format Map — how to post it
The algorithm setup produces two separate outputs: a folder of ideas to draw from, and a visible pattern of which formats the niche's audience already responds to.
Steal forcontent research workflow
03:56concept
You Need Both, Not Equally
Reels — for reach
Carousels — for depth
Reels get shown to non-followers and drive reach; carousels convert strangers into followers because saves and shares are the stronger signal.
Steal forany content-mix decision
05:33list
Pick One, Ninety Days
Text Overlay
B-Roll Loop
In Frame, Not Talking
The Yap (direct to camera)
The Routine (voiceover)
Screen Recording
Six low-effort reel styles ranked by ease rather than by how impressive they look; pick the one that's sustainable on a bad week and lock it in for ninety days.
Steal forchoosing a starter content format
07:50concept
Three to Five Posts a Week
One reel style — for reach
Carousels — for depth, most of the hour
The recommended weekly cadence: one chosen reel style plus carousels, three to five posts total, rather than the higher-volume advice most creators give.
Steal fora realistic posting schedule
26:16list
The Rules That Do Not Change
One reel style, ninety days
Carousels get the time
One idea per post
Words a twelve-year-old would understand
The cover says what they get
The brand spine goes in every prompt
Nothing gets posted until it passes the two-second check
Seven fixed decisions from the '0 to 10K' rulebook document that stay constant regardless of what's trending.
Steal fora personal content constitution / posting checklist
26:37model
When It Is Not Working
Low views → fix the cover
Good views, no saves → fix the middle
Saves but no new followers → fix the end
Nothing worked for a month → check the format
Run out of ideas → open the folder, save more
Don't like posting → post the cheapest thing you have
Want to change the brand → wait nine days first
A symptom-to-fix diagnostic table so a stalled account gets a specific, targeted change instead of a full restart.
Steal fora content troubleshooting checklist
CTA Breakdown
How they asked for the click.
VERBAL ASK
22:24product
“This video is sponsored by them, but I honestly hand on heart use them even if they weren't sponsoring this video. I use them for all my content, my carousels that you see on my page.”
The sponsor (Higgsfield.ai) isn't a single ad break — it's the AI image tool used live for every generated visual across the whole brand-build demo, with the paid link repeated in the description and called out verbally twice. A separate recurring CTA (DM 'spine' on Instagram for the free templates) runs three times through the video as a soft email/DM capture.
A screen-recorded Claude Fable 5 session builds five reusable documents -- audience, offer, sales, knowledge, and headquarters -- for one real dormant account, then hands the running of it off to cheaper models.
A tech-and-productivity Instagram creator with a big following but no product gets a brand, a priced offer, launch content, and an email funnel -- all built inside one Claude Fable 5 chat connected to Higgsfield for the visuals.
A stalled Instagram account went from a few thousand views a post to 30,000 new followers and roughly $10,000 in revenue in 30 days, using one content format, one topic, and a two-step comment funnel.
A creator breaks down the exact Instagram trial-reel system — recycled winners, hook testing, and a comment-CTA flywheel — that took his account from 480 to 21,000 followers in 97 days.
Eleven repeatable rules — from reprogramming the Instagram algorithm in ninety seconds to a five-question interview script — for building a personal brand without guessing.
Daniel Priestley sits down with Neel Dhingra at a live mastermind to break down the semantic algorithm reshaping every platform, and the short form, long form, lead form funnel behind tens of thousands of monthly leads.
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