Tim Denning – Twitter Badassery

Now, I don’t really use phrases like “biggest online writing shift in the last decade” often.

I’ve seen enough platform changes to know most executives just exaggerate how cool they are to impress investors, and keep the stock ticker going up.

But when I DO get a real “hunch” about something new…

I have a tendency to be right.

You don’t need my whole damn backstory.

But I also can’t expect you to blindly trust me.

(Even though you probably should. lol)

So, as a reminder of my history…

I know a thing or two about taking advantage of a trend.

Most of you found me from Medium dot com

That’s the place where I saw a chance at the right time, doubled down on myself, and RACED past A-list “influencers,” pop culture leaders, and even a politician or two.

Recognize any names on this list?

In fact, I have the highest active following on the platform. (Higher than that guy you see in second place up there).

Obviously, that’s pretty cool. But Medium isn’t the only place I’ve dominated.

It’s possible you may know me from LinkedIn.

And let’s just say… well, I go viral pretty much every week on that platform.

I guess you could say I’ve got a knack for going viral.

I can do it again and again.

These are only a few samples. To be honest, going viral on LinkedIn started to happen so regularly, I got tired of it screenshotting them.

Anyway.

Even before my online writing journey, I was building my “instincts” for rare opportunities.

•  Like the time I invested in Bitcoin at only $1,050 (an investment which has earned me, at minimum, 30x in value). At a time when the media, the mainstream news, and your mother were all calling cryptocurrency a scam, I did my research, saw the writing on the wall, and jumped in.
•  Then, there was the time when I saw an opportunity in the e-commerce space in the early days of the internet (2009-ish). My friend and I built a company, a 100-person team, and an 8-figure revenue business.

And over the last 3 years or so, I’ve been teaching students of my online academy to take advantage of opportunities like this.

Get ready to scroll…..

Not bad, ey?

I could show you more, but then you really would be scrolling all day.

Safe to say, I help people find opportunities.

In fact, Even before my online writing journey, I was building my “instincts” for rare opportunities.

•  Like the time I invested in Bitcoin at only $1,050 (an investment which has earned me, at minimum, 30x in value). At a time when the media, the mainstream news, and your mother were all calling cryptocurrency a scam, I did my research, saw the writing on the wall, and jumped in.
•  Then, there was the time when I saw an opportunity in the e-commerce space in the early days of the internet (2009-ish). My friend and I built a company, a 100-person team, and an 8-figure revenue business.

Twitter is about to solve some MAJOR problems for writers, business owners, and freelancers.

Right now, many people who want to build an audience are starving for attention.

Writers can’t find readers.

Business owners can’t find customers.

Freelancers can’t find clients.

The sad consequence of this is that all these groups will likely end up back in the old corporate chains.

These problems (usually) aren’t a result of lazy habits.

Many people I know stay up deep into the night, tapping away at their keyboard, trying to finish a blog post. They squeeze time in between meetings, after lunches, early in the morning, or wherever they can to make it happen.

But they aren’t able to get traction.

They don’t find a following.

They never get a viral post.

It’s not because they aren’t willing to invest.

I know people who have shelled out paycheck after paycheck, lunging at any opportunity to grow. They may try Facebook ads. They may pay to be sponsored in a newsletter. They might shell out big bucks for a super-expensive writing mentorship.

Despite the hard work and willingness to invest, these people never get what they want out of their writing.

They don’t get the fame.

They don’t get the money,

They don’t get the freedom.

That’s where Twitter comes in.

Right now, something is happening with Twitter that almost never happens.

New management has stepped in. A new path has been laid down. A new opportunity is opening up.

(Yeah, yeah, I know you want to talk about Elon. I’ll get to him in a minute)

This type of shift doesn’t happen very often. Normally, when a new CEO steps into an existing platform, the changes are slow, clunky, and ineffective.

I thought this might be the case with Twitter too.

No.

The changes at Twitter are fast-moving, useful, and opening up opportunity for everyone on the platform.

Obviously I don’t expect you to take my word for that (even though you just saw my track record), so…

Let’s walk through this in true “online writer” style.

Here are six reasons the Twitter Revolution is a breakthrough…

Reason #1 – Twitter is rapidly becoming the best place for creators to build an audience AND earn money

Compare Twitter to other platforms.

LinkedIn got stuck in the professional world (not necessarily a bad thing). Facebook and Instagram got greedy and drowned their audience in ads. YouTube got saturated.

For a while there, Twitter was stuck in a weird spot. By not defining itself as anything, it… well, wasn’t clearly useful for anything. Meeting people maybe? Twitter was a little bit of everything.

Now, the path is clear.

It’s going to double down on CREATORS.

(And reward people who want to build an audience.)

The new CEO revealed that people who CREATE will take the front seat in the future. That means people who want to build an audience can and will be able to do so.

Check this quote from a leaked text message:

“Splitting revenue…could be a huge unlock. We could literally give video creators 100% of their ad revenue up to $1m then do split.”

He was talking about video creators there, but in slide decks to investors, the new CEO made it clear writers will win as well. That’s why he intends to launch Twitter blog posts as well as tweets. (Expected any day now)

As one of my students, Donna said:

“Look, you can build a business on Twitter alone.” 

And… I’ve seen it happen already. I’ve seen nobodies become 6 and 7 figure creators on Twitter in under a year. Sometimes less.

Twitter is already a great place to build a business. And now, it’s actively building infrastructure to pay out EVEN MORE to creators than almost any other platform.

Don’t miss this.

YouTube shares ad revenue.

Medium shares subscription revenue.

Twitter is planning to share BOTH ad revenue AND subscription revenue with people who post on their platform.

People like you and me.

Hello extra income.

Once you make some extra income, you’ll be less fearful of layoffs and recessions.

Once you’re less afraid, you’ll have the option to quit your job, dial back your working hours, or build an automated side hustle.

Whatever your long-term goals are, they can start with Twitter.

Reason #2 – Twitter has over 500 million users

500 million is a conservative estimate. We know for sure it’s over half a billion users. That’s a big freaking opportunity. And the new opportunity we’re discussing here will likely make it much higher.

Ask yourself: What could I do if I had the attention of 500 million people?

I bet the answer is: a WHOLE DAMN LOT.

Skeptics are saying “Tim, I’ll never reach all 500 million people on Twitter.” You’re right! You probably won’t.

But imagine if you reached 1% of that user base, 1 time. That’s “only” five million people.

If you reach 0.1%, that’s a “little bitty” group of 500,000 people.

If you reach 0.01%, that’s a “teensy weensy” sliver of 50,000 people.

Should I stop?

Nah. One more.

If you reach ONLY 0.001% of Twitter’s user base, that means you still get the eyeballs of 5,000 people.

That’s 5x more than technology expert Kevin Kelly says you need.

For many of you 5,000 people is enough. For some of you, 500 is enough. For some of you 5 might be enough. Again, I’ll ask: If you were given a pool of 500 million people, don’t you think you could make something happen?

I’m thinking so.

Now, for the super skeptics, one more level of detail.

If you really know your stuff, you know YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok all have more daily users than Twitter.

But if you really, REALLY know your stuff, you know these platforms have a sketchy history. YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok have all made big algorithm changes in the last seven years that sent creators from the spotlight to the dumpster overnight.

Literally.

Reason #3 – The CEO shift has everyone rethinking the platform

Social networks follow a predictable pattern:

(This is dense, but it’s the best way I can say it)

—

Phase One 

The “early adopters” jump on the platform. They look for like-minded individuals. They fill up their feeds with new and interesting people. They post a few times to see how the site works. Important: MANY potential platforms NEVER get past Phase One.

Phase Two

More people join the platform. A “network effect” begins to take hold. Consumers enjoy all the new and fresh content. Creators find a fresh audience. Certain individuals begin to stand out.

Phase Three

The platform is established. More and more consumers rush in. Guess who benefits most from that rush? That’s right: the creators who established themselves in Phase One and Phase Two. The algorithm makes sure of it. During this phase, consumers start getting set in their ways. They are much less likely to follow new people. Their feeds are full.

Phase Four

The platform is mostly saturated. Consumers have WAY more information than they can handle. They are almost completely set in their ways. The algorithm makes it harder and harder for new people to get seen.

—

Most platforms you can think of are deep in Phase Four.

Phase Four never ends (as far as I can tell). Once the patterns are set, and the number of creators is high, it’s more difficult to get “big wins” for little effort.

UNLESS they hit the reset button.

That’s what Twitter has just done.

What happened when Twitter’s new CEO came on board? Do you remember?

Yep. Lovers of the “status quo” threw a fit. They swore off the platform and jumped ship to Mastadoon or some other infant, unproven platform in Phase One.

What does that mean?

It means there is now a gaping hole in people’s feed.

It means the users (all 500 million of them) have been forced to rethink who they follow and who they don’t.

When they start looking for new people, why shouldn’t they find you?