How Dylan Built Millions of Followers With Better Intros  🔗 **Source:** [How Dylan Built Millions of Followers With Better Intros](https://share.snipd.com/episode/5348d208-74c9-4e7a-b12c-65bbfb817bfd) ## Highlights - **High School TikTok Breakthrough With Voiceover Stories** - Dylan started making TikTok voiceover story videos in high school and found a repeatable format that scaled during the pandemic. - A cardboard boat video hit ~55 million views and pushed him from hundreds to millions of followers. Transcript: Dylan Okay, yeah, I'm Dylan. I'm 22 years old. And I've been making videos. I mean, pretty much full time. It's kind of been my career since I was 16. So in high school is when I really started having success with it. And I got started on TikTok and the pandemic is where I started having success and kind of took things from there. And I was always kind of before that, like, early on, like 14 years old and even earlier. But really, when I was about 14, I started getting really into YouTube. And this idea that people are YouTubers, that's crazy. You know, and I kind of thought that was such a cool thing. And I started a little channel. And then some people at school found out about it. And I like kind of shut it down and privated all the videos. And but then I was a lifeguarding the summer of 2019. And I saw these people dancing and making these little videos on this app called TikTok. And it kind of peaked in my brain right then and there, like very early on with TikTok, I was like, this could be like Vine where people, you know, kind of blew up and then they launched their Career into social media from that success, from that like short form viral success. And I was like, if that's my shot, then I'm going to like learn everything I can about TikTok and try all these videos. And so I did that that summer. And that whole like first semester of my junior year, just learning everything I could about TikTok and trying everything. And I made several different accounts because I'm like, oh, my videos aren't getting views because my account is messed up. That's why they just were really bad. Anyway, I eventually found kind of a groove and a creative style that worked really well on TikTok at the time because it was really different than a lot of the things that were being posted On there. It was a repeatable format. And that was the big thing is when I found something that I could repeat, repeatedly come up with ideas around a format. And then from there, I just started really grinding on it. ([Time 0:01:13](https://share.snipd.com/snip/17929022-1f04-4cef-9045-f6e9f7757011)) - **YouTube Shorts Grow Fast But YouTube Is More Evergreen** - YouTube remains more evergreen than TikTok or Instagram, so older videos can keep getting recurring views. - Dylan noted Shorts grow channels quickly, but YouTube long-form often continues earning views months later. Transcript: TubeTalk Host That you notice between them like is there anything you think that you have to think differently about the audience um i would say youtube is more evergreen still than any other like Dylan Even with short form and so it's kind of op also in the fact that you know you might have a video from a year ago and it's still getting more reoccurring views than in videos you're recently Posting and like tiktok doesn't do that. Instagram doesn't do that really. TubeTalk Host How long does a video, a typical video live on TikTok for you nowadays? Dylan I don't know, actually. I don't like examine it that hard. I mean, maybe, maybe a month. Oh, okay. TubeTalk Host Well, that's still longer than I would have assumed. ([Time 0:17:40](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a30f4e1c-f964-4372-a85c-7c6b989f14f3)) - **Test Intros With Trial Reels Before Posting Widely** - Test multiple intros and pick the version with the highest swipe/stay rate before wide posting. - Dylan used Instagram trial reels to compare versions and increased retention by ~4% which turned into millions more views. Transcript: Dylan I mean, number one is the idea probably for, for me. And honestly, maybe even more so is like the intro and the way you present the idea. I'll just like say an example. I've had, which one, one new thing I love is trial reels. Do you know about trial reels? TubeTalk Host Oh, I've heard about them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you explain that to people who don't know what they are? Dylan Yeah, trial reels is a new Instagram feature where basically you can post multiple versions of the same video. And Instagram sends them out to non-followers, like a batch audience. And then so you can see which one does better, which one gets more views. And then you can see which one has the better analytics and the most important analytic there that I'm normally testing, right, which normally used to, we didn't have this, you just Kind of had to guess and then maybe delete and repost. But is the swipe view ratio or the skip rate, it's called different things. But basically, the percentage of people that stay and watch a video versus scroll and skip past it. And I mean, 80% of people staying to watch is like golden, like that's the video is probably going to go viral. And so I've had videos like where I tested on Instagram, like this one, it got 30,000 views and I knew the idea was pretty good. And I was like, I feel like this has viral potential. And so I reworked the intro and the, it went up like 4%, the rate. And it got like 8 million views after that. TubeTalk Host What was the difference? What was the thing that you, you tweaked ?aked like give me a specific so people can kind of understand simplified the intro like of explaining the idea and it was more into the action Dylan So like it was it was cut it was these money sheets and and i was like cutting them up and like to spend them and instead of like showing the money sheet and explaining it ([Time 0:20:41](https://share.snipd.com/snip/4a69a316-e3da-4a71-9706-67a3cea9cc0f)) - **Open Shorts In The Middle Of The Action** - Start your short videos in the action and simplify setup so viewers see the hook immediately. - Dylan changed a slow explanation to opening on him cutting money sheets and retention jumped dramatically. Transcript: Dylan I've had, which one, one new thing I love is trial reels. Do you know about trial reels? TubeTalk Host Oh, I've heard about them. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you explain that to people who don't know what they are? Dylan Yeah, trial reels is a new Instagram feature where basically you can post multiple versions of the same video. And Instagram sends them out to non-followers, like a batch audience. And then so you can see which one does better, which one gets more views. And then you can see which one has the better analytics and the most important analytic there that I'm normally testing, right, which normally used to, we didn't have this, you just Kind of had to guess and then maybe delete and repost. But is the swipe view ratio or the skip rate, it's called different things. But basically, the percentage of people that stay and watch a video versus scroll and skip past it. And I mean, 80% of people staying to watch is like golden, like that's the video is probably going to go viral. And so I've had videos like where I tested on Instagram, like this one, it got 30,000 views and I knew the idea was pretty good. And I was like, I feel like this has viral potential. And so I reworked the intro and the, it went up like 4%, the rate. And it got like 8 million views after that. TubeTalk Host What was the difference? What was the thing that you, you tweaked ?aked like give me a specific so people can kind of understand simplified the intro like of explaining the idea and it was more into the action Dylan So like it was it was cut it was these money sheets and and i was like cutting them up and like to spend them and instead of like showing the money sheet and explaining it more it was like right On me cutting it is when the video started and so you're like already in the action you're seeing like me cut up this money and you're like what's going on here so that's that's sounds like TubeTalk Host What you're saying for short form stuff it's much more important to get right to the point um which is something that we try to tell people to do but i think you're even being more specific Because um you know you're talking about this money sheet. If you can visualize a sheet of money, which is basically how money is made, it's just a big sheet that gets cut from dollar bills. And it would be interesting in general, maybe even a long form content to show that sheet, explain it and see what it is. But short form, you have so little time to get someone to not scroll, because I think most people are looking for a reason to scroll, that you already have to be in the action to the point Where does it almost feel awkward at times you're like i didn't get to say anything about this like it's just happening i ([Time 0:20:58](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9fd22f1d-c0af-43b2-abc5-9e3a8d4c6572)) - **Craft Short Form Story Flow During Shoot And Edit** - Plan the story while filming and refine flow during edit instead of rigidly labeling acts. - Dylan builds the arc mentally on set and tweaks pacing in edit until the story 'feels' right. Transcript: Dylan I mean i think it's more almost a skill i've just kind of developed from making so many short form videos, where I kind of have an idea and I build the story in my head. And while I'm filming, I'm thinking about the story. And so then when I get in the edit, I also build the story even further. And I'm like, okay, and it's not necessarily me breaking it down to okay this is the beginning this is the middle this is the you know the climax the climax this is the whatever i'm i'm more Just thinking about is the story flowing and i kind of feel you can kind of feel when you're editing like if this is making sense if the story is like flowing in it or if it just feels off. ([Time 0:24:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/25dc0561-a216-4331-aa6b-16f0e425b780)) - **Turning $1,000 Of Pay Dirt Into A Viral Long Form** - Dylan made a long-form video buying $1,000 of pay dirt to extract gold, estimate value, and melt it into a bar. - He treated the long-form intro like a short and that hook produced a strong early retention bump and cross-platform clips. Transcript: TubeTalk Host I'm really curious about, because some of those are great. But the did you think that the turning $1,000 of dirt into a gold bar was going to do as well as it did? I mean, 2.4 million views, not too bad for a bag of dirt. Tell us what, how you came up with that and what that entails. Dylan I know that's crazy. I mean, here's the thing about long form. I just want to say real quick is I think I messed up in the sense that I would like make a video, like put all this effort into one video and then wait a long time before I'd make another one Because the video maybe would start off and then I put all this effort in and then I'd focus back on the short form. And then, but sometimes long form videos take a while before they like reach their full potential. And so I think the better thing would have been just like consistently have which this is what i'm trying to do right now uh consistently put out long-form videos like even like once a Month and then look back over the year and be like all right let's see what did well and plan based on that but uh no i didn't expect it to do that well i mean i'd kind of done some research on The topic and there was some other similar videos that had done well. And I thought, oh, maybe it'll do similar to these and it did better than those. But, uh, I kind of came up with the idea because I, all the short form content I was doing around that was going viral, like everywhere. And I was like, I need to up it, up the idea and make it one long form and a short form and then promote it through that. And that was a big part of it, too, is because the short form linked the long form, and it did really well. TubeTalk Host Talk to us about what happens in the video, just for people who haven't seen it. And certainly the audio podcast listeners can't see it. So tell us what happens in that video. Dylan I bought the so these are called uh pay dirt and it's basically dirt harvested from like places rivers and stuff where there's gold and people paying for gold but you can literally just Buy the dirt bags for however much and i spent a thousand dollars on dirt bags basically to find gold and the idea of the video was let's see how much gold we can find, estimate how much it's Worth, and then have a jeweler melt it into a bar. And then we're going to take it to the pawn shop and like sell it or something. TubeTalk Host Wow, that's really cool. What a cool idea. So talk to us about the intro, because I feel like whether it be long form or short form, the intro has to deliver and just based on the views alone, it must have talked to us about the process You went through to figure out what that intro was. And and also explain to us what the intro is, because again, some of us can't see it. Dylan I mean, I don't remember exactly, I would literally have to go back and watch it. But I remember thinking a lot about the intro so much so that after I made the video, I had another idea for an intro. I was like, Oh, this intro is so much better. This would have worked out so much better. TubeTalk Host But the did get it anyway so it doesn't really matter looking at it it's you're holding a bag the bag and you're kind of looking at it just as a reminder um it says lucky bag and you're just Kind of looking at it maybe because people never have heard of a bag of dirt that you could buy i certainly haven't i think i remember thinking that i wanted to make the intro feel like a Dylan Short form at first, because I feel like I was thinking if I can make it so engaging that it would work in a short, that it's going to be a great intro for long form too. TubeTalk Host And you succeeded because when you look at the video on YouTube, I'm looking at right now, you know how you can see like the retention thing and the playlist, there's a bump at the beginning, Which almost never happens on YouTube video, long form YouTube videos. It's usually somewhere in the middle or in like something weird happens. So whatever you did there succeeded. And it's, uh, it's really interesting to take a short form mentality for the intro of a long form that actually kind of makes a little bit of sense. Cause you know, just like Mr. Bees always says, you know, you want to kind of definitely deliver on the promise as soon as you get in. So is that something that you've been doing since then? Are you continuing to do that naturally? Or do you really overly think these intros? Dylan Yeah, no, you definitely have to overthink the intro. Or like, I wouldn't say overthink to a bad point, but you have to really think about it. And because, you know, people aren't going to watch the whole video if it doesn't seem interesting and if they're not hooked right away. And I mean, the other great thing about that too is, which I recently saw speaking of this video, that intro does work well for short form. Because somebody clipped my whole first half of that long form and threw it on their TikTok and got 23 million views like a few months ago. And I saw this. I'm like, what the heck? I didn't. How did I not think of this? I'm like, did they make money from this? It was like a four minute video. And I was just like, what the heck? But I think also it like hit a different algorithm. Like, I don't think it would have done that on my page necessarily. But I did throw it on my Facebook and got like several million views. So that was interesting. ([Time 0:27:57](https://share.snipd.com/snip/16e098d7-6cda-4f9b-a2ca-cc71626c2794)) - **Creator Work Is Mostly Time Management And Energy Allocation** - Being your own boss shifts work to deciding the best use of limited creative energy and time. - Dylan limits team size (brother films part-time) and prefers editing control to protect quality and avoid headaches. Transcript: Dylan It's kind of just the whole, you know, being your own boss thing and running your own, doing all the things and deciding what's the best use of your time day to day so you're your own do you Have a team at all um i have uh my brother part-time films for me okay for you so then i edit everything and you know film anything else oh wow okay is there is there a thought where you might TubeTalk Host Expand that into something bigger do you have aspirations of doing more or do you like kind of where you are right now and what you're doing um i mean yes and no i do like where i'm at right Dylan Now because um it's less stressful that like if no one relies on me like i don't have a full-time editor or anything you know and um i kind of am very particular about my videos like i've TubeTalk Host I've outsourced editing before and it's always just so much of a headache i'm probably doing it wrong but uh what would the perfect um kind of dylan empire look like like what would be The type of content you would do what would would you have how many channels would you have like what would make sense because i mean you're still young you have a long way to go and i don't Know how long you want to do this for but i think at this point you're young enough you could do it for a very long time and it's you'd still have a lot of life left um what would like a five year From now dylan uh web channels look like that's really interesting um because the thing is like right now with the success you have and any money you're making, you can invest into yourself And your channel. And then, of course, thinking about other not even platforms, but other like niches that aren't doing the things that you do in your video, knowing that if you understand the intro really Well, that you could blow up any niche. Dylan And some of those niches pay very uh especially on like youtube i actually had thought about that before one time i was like you know i'm gonna make a minecraft shorts channel and then I never did it but because i was like looking at all these minecraft shorts channels i'm like i could do this and but uh it's it's also a time balance thing i mean i think it would be awesome Eventually if i did have somebody that, uh, like locally would be the probably best that could do editing for me. Yeah. That, I mean, and then, I mean, I wouldn't really want much bigger of a team than one to two people. ([Time 0:33:55](https://share.snipd.com/snip/eaf0a0b7-fb17-4851-87e9-16af716e009e)) - **Experiment Widely Until You Find A Repeatable Format** - Try many formats early to find a repeatable style and then iterate from what works. - Dylan copied a TikTok voiceover format, made it his own, and scaled by repeating idea-based storytelling. Transcript: Dylan Think it would uh depend what kind of content you're making so i would say because i was i'm trying to think about this if you're new to social media i would say try lots of different styles And formats and until you find one what you're comfortable with and what you feel like you could be good at and what works and like it's also different if you like have specific niches See what's popular in your niche and i mean a big thing i think is which don't steal anyone's content but like there's the phrase steal like an artist so a lot of times to find your own voice, You have to kind of base it off of something else. Uh, at the start, kind of like what I did on TikTok, what I was telling you about, I saw that guy's format working and I'm like, I'm going to make my own version of this. And then it kind of turned into my own thing. Uh, so, and it was through just doing and making videos like that that i did find my own voice on tiktok and my own uh style because if you're not like i think just doing number one uh and trying Lots of things and getting better at making videos um is really important and then being very selective like let's say you're making a video like mine and uh you know it's it's about an Idea you had to do something be very uh selective about the each shot and each segment of the video and making sure each part looks good and like you're being very intentional about what It looks like and what it's going to look like when you edit and that sort of thing. ([Time 0:39:07](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3470367c-2ed0-4446-8aac-a4251893a631))