I Got 374 Views on a Video That Landed a $10,000 Client

Last Tuesday, I did something that makes most marketers cringe.

I checked the analytics on a video I’d posted a week earlier. A 45-second clip explaining one obscure compliance issue for financial tech companies.

374 views.

By any normal standard, a complete and utter flop. My mom probably accounted for 10 of them.

But then I checked my DMs. Four messages. Not from teenagers asking about my setup, but from VPs of Operations at actual, real-life companies. Two of those conversations turned into sales calls. One of them closed last week.

$10,000 in annual recurring revenue. From 374 views.

I’m not a genius. I just stopped playing a game I was destined to lose. And based on the desperate "how do I go viral?" posts I see every day, you're playing it too.

We're all doing this wrong.

The Dirty Secret About Going "Viral"

Here's what nobody wants to admit: chasing viral views is a sucker's game designed to sell you courses and keep you addicted to vanity metrics.

That video with the trending sound and a million loops? Complete theater. It's a dopamine hit that does nothing for your bottom line. You aren't trying to become a famous entertainer. You're trying to find the 10 people this month who have the exact problem your business solves.

The real kicker? I spent more time last year trying to brainstorm "funny skits" and "viral trends" than actually talking to potential customers.

That's not a strategy. That's a content lottery.

What Actually Works (Based on Real Leads, Not Marketing Hype)

I decided to burn my old social media playbook. No more chasing trends. No more praying to the algorithm. Just a simple system for turning tiny videos into a predictable lead machine.

Here's what I learned:

1. Your Hook Should Repel 99% of People

The first three seconds of your video aren't a welcome mat. They're a bouncer at an exclusive club. Your goal is to actively turn away everyone who isn't on the list.

Stop using hooks like "You won't believe this one weird trick..."

Get specific. Get "boring." Call out your ideal customer so directly they feel like you're reading their mind.

"If you're a founder of a B2B SaaS company, stop rewarding your sales team for booking demos."
"Your e-commerce store's cart abandonment rate is creeping up, and I'll bet it's because of this one setting in your checkout."
"For every project manager still using spreadsheets to track team capacity, you're burning at least 10 hours a week."

The test? If your hook could appeal to your cousin, your neighbor, and your ideal customer, it's too broad. Go back and make it more specific.

2. Stop Tracking Views. Start Tracking Conversations.

You know that analytics dashboard with the graphs and big numbers? Ignore 90% of it. Views, likes, and shares are fool's gold. They tell you how many people saw your video, not how many right people saw it.

I built a dead-simple spreadsheet. You should steal it.

After two weeks, the data was screaming at me. The "Controversial Opinion" videos got half the views but 5x the qualified DMs. The "Funny Skit" got 10,000 views and zero leads.

Starve the content that gets views. Feed the content that starts conversations.

3. The "DM Me a Keyword" Magic Trick

Can we talk about the "link in bio" problem? It’s the weakest, most useless call to action in marketing history.

I saw the solution in an old marketing forum, and it changed my entire business. Instead of begging for a follow, you make a specific offer and require a specific action.

"I put together a checklist on [solving the specific problem]. If you want it, DM me the word 'CHECKLIST' and I'll send it over."

This is genius. Here's why:

It filters out the lazy. Anyone who can't be bothered to type one word was never going to buy from you anyway.
It starts a 1-on-1 chat. You've instantly moved them from a public forum to a private sales conversation in your DMs.
It's perfectly trackable. You know exactly which video brought them to you.

This isn't a CTA; it's a self-qualifying lead magnet.

My Current "Boring" Video Stack

For my last marketing push—targeting that niche B2B finance audience—here's what my "viral hit" looked like:

Video: A simple screen recording of me pointing at a confusing regulation on a government website.
Hook: "This one sentence on page 47 is costing most fintechs a 5% compliance fee."
CTA: "I wrote a one-page brief explaining how to fix it. DM me the word 'FIX' for the guide."
Views: 374
DMs: 4
Revenue: $10,000

Result: A predictable lead from a high-value client. All for less effort than it takes to learn the latest trending dance.

The 1-Week Test That Will Land You a Real Lead

Here's your homework:

Identify ONE expensive, "hair on fire" problem your absolute best customer is facing right now.
Film ONE 30-second video on your phone explaining a single, non-obvious insight about that problem. No fancy lights. No editing. Just you and your brain.
End it with a "DM me a keyword" CTA. Offer a simple checklist or template as the reward.
Post it.
Ignore the view count for 7 days. Your only job is to watch your DMs and have real conversations with the people who respond.

The Truth About a Video Strategy That Actually Works

The best short-form video strategy isn't the one that gets you interviewed on a podcast. It's the one that you actually use to get clients.

Your content should feel like a magnet for your ideal buyer, not a megaphone shouting at a crowd.

The real question isn't "How can I make this video go viral?"

It's "How can this video make the phone ring with the right person on the other end?"

Start there. Your sales team will thank you.