Here’s a true story that demonstrates the power of leveraging short-form videos. Platforms are begging for short videos, so the same content can be used from Instagram to Snapchat to LinkedIn.
Why should you care? Because this one format is taking over all the platforms! Even Spotify announced a vertical discovery feed ala TikTok. Our future likely features servant robots with vertical-screen-faces handing us coffee while sharing a dancing celebrity for entertainment!
This is a business that sells millions of dollars of products each year and spends zero dollars on ads.
Isaac Medeiros moved from Brazil to the US to chase his fortune.
Inspired by Mark Cuban’s story of perseverance through business failures, Isaac focused on getting his ideas to market as fast as possible.
He built up six different businesses. They all failed within 10 months. And along the way, he taught himself sales and marketing.
Isaac started selling Minikatanas in 2019, but Facebook soon banned his business page for advertising a weapon. On the eve of 2020, Isaac told his girlfriend that if his business didn’t work he would finally get a real job. The next day, January 1st, Minikatana’s latest video on TikTok went viral with 50k views. They sold out their online store. They had broken the code to reach the masses.
Since then Minikatana has grown to a multi-million dollar business, cranking out up to 300 videos per month. Check out these insights from Isaac:
Get started with a 30-day challenge
Create a new account and Post 60 videos in 30 days and see if it does well or not.
The most important thing is to draw the viewer in with the first ten seconds.
“The hook is 80% of the video.”
And if it doesn’t do well switch to a different topic / focus / niche. You can start a new account every 30 days until you find something that lands. (Much easier to say than do for months on end!)
Experiment with the highest-leverage technologies
The two biggest things with the most leverage now are (1) software and (2) short-form video.
It’s never been the case that you can take your content and post it on any platform from TikTok → Reels → Twitter → Snapchat. If the video is good it will perform well.
Isaac even shares on LinkedIn which grows more followers per post than anywhere else!
Should you sell products directly to consumers?
Unless you can’t help but put cool physical stuff in the world don’t plan to start a big e-commerce company.
Isaac’s exact words are – “it’s very very hard. Hardest it’s ever been.”
** You might also enjoy my top lessons from my experience inventing new products and advice for finding clearer focus for your goals – Three Mistakes to Avoid when Inventing a New Product **
