Locked · B2C · gamified self-improvement to-do app
DM 500 creators a day from several verified accounts with 1,000+ followers
3-4% reply rate on Instagram, ~2% on TikTok; 5-10K creators contacted
What they did
What happened
- Effort
- 5,000-10,000+ creators DMed; 500+ DMs/day at peak
In their words
Evan Yadegari - The 14-Year-Old Who Built a $14k/Month AI App
Joseph Choi5 to 10,000 influencers. Wow. And you're just doing all this like manual DMs?
Evan YadegariExactly. We just go through, click on their profiles, DMs. At- at the peak of Locked, when the whole team was locked in, we were sending over 500 DMs a day.
Joseph Choi500 DMs a day. And then, are there like rate limits on each account where you can't DM too many times?
Evan YadegariI typically see that we get hit with the rate limit around 100 DMs a day, and then of course they reset the next day. That's why we create multiple accounts.
Joseph ChoiYou basically have to create Right. You have to create multiple accounts. And then do you get those with followers and like, verified? Like how- Like the accounts probably look kind of I don't know, sus if they're if they're like brand-new, right?
Evan YadegariYeah, yeah. We always bought over 1,000 followers to the account, then of course we get it verified.
Joseph ChoiOkay. So verified and 1,000 followers, and then you're reaching out to 100 accounts per day per account. Okay, yeah. And then what's next in the process? What do you actually say in your in your message?
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More from this episode
- Try Reddit, X, paid ads and influencers, then go all in on influencersInfluencers won clearly; no numbers given for the other channels
- Pay day-in-the-life creators to check off each task in the app on cameraOne ~1M-view video made $3K+ and the first $1,000 and 1,000-download days
- Start creator DMs with 'Paid promo?' and always move the deal to a callFounder says it stands out in flooded inboxes; no numbers
- Pay creators a flat fee, but they keep posting until a view target is hitBest of four deal types; works out to $1-2 per 1,000 views
- Pay creators $1-2 per 1,000 views with a cap, below what 1,000 views earns$1-2 CPM paid vs $3-4 revenue per 1,000 views
- Pay a flat $500 a video ($1,200 for four) only to reliably big creators
- Pay creators $250 per video plus $250 more at 250,000 views
- Post 'What's the app called?' under the video; creator replies with the name and pins itFounder says curious viewers find the app through it; no numbers
- Have creators show the app within 15 seconds; approve posts, then re-sign winners biggerProfitable creators renewed and moved to bigger deals; no numbers
- Pick creators by real comments and 5K+ views per video, not followersEarly follower-based picks with weak comments were the biggest mistake
- Reuse your old TikTok account for each new app and pitch it head-onOne 200K-view 'finish homework in 10 seconds' video drove ProblemPal to $2K/month
- Turn a to-do list into a game with XP for Gen ZBecame his best app at $14K+/month
Tags: instagram, tiktok, cold-dm, outreach-volume, multiple-accounts, bought-followers, verified-account