The $40,000 Instagram DM

Imagine waking up to an Instagram DM from someone you’ve never met asking how they can work with you for $40,000.

No discovery call. No sales page. No funnel. They’ve already decided. They just need to know where to wire the money.

This happened to YouTube expert Adam Ivy three times in four months. Three separate $40,000 contracts. $120,000 in revenue from people who found his channel, binged his content, and reached out ready to buy.

One messaged on Instagram. One sent an email. One found him on WhatsApp. Within 24 hours, they were wiring $20,000 deposits.

When I asked Adam how this happened, his answer was simple: “I earned their trust so much that by the time they reached out, they were like, ‘I don’t see you have an offer for anything. How can I work with you?'”

That’s the power of YouTube when you understand how to build trust at scale. Not through pitching. Not through aggressive CTAs. But through providing so much value that people actively seek out your paid offerings.

If you’re a coach or consultant tired of chasing leads, this strategy changes everything.

The Problem Most Coaches Have Isn’t Lack of Content Ideas

When Adam asks coaches what’s holding them back from YouTube consistency, they usually say: “I don’t know what to post.”

But that’s not actually the problem.

The real problem is they don’t have a system for capturing and organizing ideas. They’re starting from scratch every week, staring at a blank screen hoping inspiration strikes.

Adam uses what he calls the “50-5-1 Framework”—a modified version of an ideation process he learned from his mentor Patty Galloway.

Here’s how it works:

Step 1: Generate 50 ideas. They can be iterations of the same idea. “10 ways to fix back pain.” “Top 10 stretches for lower back pain.” “10 mistakes making your back pain worse.” Keep going until you hit 50.

Step 2: Narrow to 5. Look through your list and find five that make you go, “Oh, there’s something there.” The rest? Probably crap. That’s fine. You only need five.

Step 3: Pick 1. Which of those five excites you most? Which one makes you want to hit record right now? That’s your next video.

If you do this consistently, you’ll never run out of ideas. 52 videos a year is nothing when you have a list of 300-400 ideas banked.

Study What Works—Then Apply It to Your Space

Here’s the tactical move most coaches miss:

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You need to study what’s already working in adjacent spaces and adapt it to your niche.

Adam gives a perfect example: “If you’re in the chiropractic space and you find an Alex Hormozi video called ‘The 10 Fastest Ways to Make Money Online in 2026,’ you could make ’10 Fastest Ways to Alleviate Back Pain in 2026.'”

Same format. Same structure. Different topic.

This isn’t copying. This is learning from professionals who are 20 chapters ahead of you.

Use tools like vidIQ, TubeBuddy, or viewstats.com to find outlier videos—content that performed way better than average. Look for formats that resonate: listicles, how-tos, myth-busting videos, case studies.

Then ask: “How can I apply this format to my audience?”

A fitness coach could adapt “10 Business Lessons from Navy SEALs” into “10 Workout Principles from Elite Athletes.”

A business coach could turn “How I Built a 7-Figure Agency in 12 Months” into “How I Helped a Client Build a 7-Figure Coaching Business in 12 Months.”

The format is proven. You’re just translating it to your niche.

The “By the Way, Anyway” Call to Action

Here’s where most coaches sabotage their own content.

They’re providing massive value in a video. Teaching a framework. Sharing insights. Building trust.

Then suddenly: “Now, before we continue, I want to tell you about my program. I spent three months building this tool that’ll serve you and your business…”

The flow stops. The trust breaks. The viewer feels pitched.

Adam has a better way: The “by the way, anyway” CTA.

Here’s how it works:

You’re delivering value. You hit a big aha moment. The best part of your video. Right after that peak moment, you casually mention your lead magnet.

“By the way, I have a free guide that walks through this entire framework. A bunch of people have loved it. Link in the description. Anyway, back to what we were talking about…”

It doesn’t interrupt the flow. It’s helpful, not salesy.

Adam compares it to a barbecue: “If you’re at my house and you mention you need to do a brake job this weekend and need a puller tool, I’m not going to stop the conversation and give you a sales pitch about my garage. I’m just going to say, ‘Dude, come over. I have everything you need. You can borrow it as long as you want.’ Then we keep enjoying the barbecue.”

That’s the energy. Helpful. Generous. No pressure.

The Barbershop Analogy: Why Platforms Punish You for Pulling People Away

Here’s the thing most coaches don’t understand about YouTube:

YouTube doesn’t want you taking people off the platform.

Adam explains it with a brilliant barbershop analogy:

“Imagine my barbershop’s been in town for 15 years. Great reputation. Every Friday and Saturday night, I have a line out the door. People wait till 1am to get a haircut.

Then you open a barbershop across the street. It does okay, but it’s not as busy as mine.

On a busy Friday, you look out your window and see all these people in my parking lot. You think, ‘He’s not going to be able to cut all these people.’ So you walk across the street and say, ‘Hey guys, I have three chairs open right now. I’m a little cheaper. Come on over.’

That’ll happen one time. The next time you try it, I’m sending some big burly dude to beat you up.”

That’s exactly what YouTube does when you constantly tell people to leave the platform.

Every time someone lands on your video and you immediately redirect them to your website, YouTube sees that as stealing their customers. You’re not going to get shown to anyone.

The “by the way, anyway” CTA works because it lets people open another tab but stay engaged with your video. You’re not forcing them to leave the party to come to your thing.

This is how all platforms work. If you’re the person who pulls people away, the algorithm stops showing your content.

When You Provide Value, People Seek You Out

Here’s what Adam learned that changed his entire approach:

If you provide immense value in a way that’s refreshing and packaged well, people will find your paid stuff. You don’t have to tell them about it.

Most people are gatekeeping. Holding back their best insights. Saving the “good stuff” for paying clients.

But when you give away incredible value for free, something magical happens:

People binge your content. They watch hours of your videos. They start to see you as a friend, a mentor, someone who genuinely cares about helping them.

And then they think: “If this is what I’m getting for free, imagine what the paid program is like.”

That’s when the DMs start coming.

Adam’s three $40,000 clients didn’t find a sales page. They found his YouTube channel. They watched video after video. By the time they reached out, the sale was already made.

As Adam puts it: “By the time they are offered something, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s my friend. Oh, that’s my mentor. Oh, that’s somebody I respect. That’s somebody who’s provided me with so much value for free that I would have paid for that anyway. Of course I’m going to do the next thing with them.'”

You don’t get that from paid ads. You don’t get that from social media.

You get that from YouTube.

The One Thing You Can Do Today

If you want to level up your YouTube game right now, here’s your action plan:

Step 1: Open a Google Doc and brainstorm 50 video ideas. Use the framework Adam shared. Look at what’s working in adjacent spaces. Don’t overthink it. Just write.

Step 2: Narrow to 5 ideas that excite you. Circle the ones that make you think, “Oh, there’s something there.”

Step 3: Pick 1 and film it this week. Choose the one that makes you most excited to hit record.

Step 4: Add a “by the way, anyway” CTA. Right after your biggest aha moment, casually mention your lead magnet. Then get back to teaching.

Step 5: Study what works. Use vidIQ or TubeBuddy to find outlier videos in your niche or adjacent niches. What formats are crushing it? How can you adapt them?

That’s it. Don’t overcomplicate it.

YouTube success isn’t about being everywhere, posting constantly, or having a million subscribers.

It’s about providing so much value that people can’t help but come find you when they’re ready to invest.

What to Do Next

Stop gatekeeping your best insights. Start giving them away for free.

Because when you genuinely help people through your content, they don’t just watch. They binge. And when they’re ready to take the next step, you’re the obvious choice.

Want to see this strategy in action? Watch the full conversation with Adam Ivy on episode 15 of the Coaching with Content podcast.

And if you’re ready to build a systematic YouTube strategy that attracts premium clients, visit 1898creative.com.

Your future $40,000 clients are already out there. Make sure they find you.

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Full Transcript

Darren: Give us one thing that somebody could go and do today. Like they’re out in the world of YouTube, they’re trying it, they’re trying to stay consistent, they’re doing their thing. What’s one thing that they could do today to level up just a little bit?

Adam: A couple of different things come to mind. If you are a business owner, an entrepreneur, a business minded creative, somebody that just wants to share your passion, your expertise, build authority, build trust, you have to look at what has worked not only in your space, but adjacent spaces, right? For example, if you are in the chiropractic space and you find an Alex Hormozi video, that’s like the 10 fastest ways to make money online in 2026, you could literally make a video that’s like the 10 fastest ways to alleviate back pain in 2026. And you could talk about the different stretches and the different positions and the different maybe tools or chiropractic offerings.

And so it’s finding a format that resonates and has done very well as an outlier, meaning it does, and you can use tools like vidIQ, TubeBuddy, viewstats.com, and you could find these outliers and then try to apply it to you, right? Listicles are always great, but what I’m getting at is if your packaging, meaning your title and your thumbnail suck, don’t expect anybody to click on it. But then when they do, you need to fulfill on that promise.

So I go by an ideation process that I kind of modified from a mentor of mine named Patty Galloway. He has 110, 100 ideas, 10, one down to one. I do the 55 one because maybe I’m lazy, 50 ideas and they could just be iterations of one idea. And then you find five that speak to you. You’re like, oh, there’s something there. These are all kinds of crap. There’s something there. And then you pick the one that stands out and makes you most excited to shoot.

And if you continue to build this ideal list, you are, you’re going to have an endless amount of ideas going forward. 52 videos a year is nothing when you have a list of three or 400 ideas. And the more you do it, the more you study what has worked. And I’m not saying copy, but take influence, take reference from the people that are 20 chapters ahead of you. Then come back to the game or come back to the drawing board and play the game the way the professionals are playing it, not the way that the amateurs are playing it.

And so another way to scale your business, build a list, build trust quick is what I call a by the way, anyway, call to action. So when you’re providing value in a video, in your segments, and I have a whole framework for this, after a big aha moment, you’re going through, you’re like, oh, that is like the best part of this video. Right after that, have your lead magnet, which is just a free giveaway of some sort to get somebody on your mailing list. And you could say, by the way, I have everything you need in XYZ. Bunch of people have loved it. Go check it out anyway.

So it’s not stopping the flow to get salesy. It’s no different than, you know, Darren, if you and I are at a barbecue and you’re like, man, I got to do a brake job on our truck this weekend and I got to go get a puller tool and some other stuff like, no, no, no, dude, like come over to my garage. I have everything you need. You could borrow it as long as you want. Like come on over. It doesn’t stop us from enjoying the barbecue. I’m just helping you in that moment with something that I didn’t even, you didn’t even know that like I had.

So if I say, by the way, it’s like, I thought of something, oh, by the way, like I have this thing if you want it, if not cool anyway. And you get back into the meat and potatoes. It’s a very disarming way to provide extreme value in a short amount of time without saying, now, before we continue the video, I’ve spent the last three months, meticulously building a tool that’ll serve you and your business. It’s like, oh, cause I mean, you’re not another thing that I need people to understand is that when you have people watching your channel, the last thing that YouTube wants is for you to take them off the platform.

So imagine if I use this example a lot, but imagine if Darren and I had barbershops. My barbershop’s been in town for 15 years, has a great reputation. Every Friday and Saturday night, I have a line out in the parking lot of people that’ll wait till one in the morning to get a haircut, because that’s the type of community I’ve developed. And then Darren, literally across the street, has a barbershop that he might have started, I don’t know, a couple of years ago. But it does okay, but it’s not as busy as mine. And on a busy Friday, Darren looks out his window and he sees all these people hanging out in my parking lot. And he’s like, he’s not going to be able to cut all these people. Let me go get new.

Come over to my barbershop, you say, hey guys, I have three chairs open right now. I’m actually a little bit cheaper. Like come on over, I invite you. That’ll happen one time before the next time you’re walking across the street, I send some big burly dude to beat you up. I was going to use a profanity there. That’s exactly what YouTube does when every time somebody lands on our videos, we’re like, hey, go check out this thing. Like stop what you’re doing and go to my thing.

That’s why I do a by the way, anyway, call to action because they’ll open up another tab, but stay in the conversation. We’re not trying to get them to leave the party to go to our thing. Yeah. Yeah. And so, and that’s how all platforms work, by the way, if you are the guy who has everybody landing on your stuff, guy, girl, whatever comes in and then all of a sudden they lose that person to go to your thing, you’re not going to be shown to anybody. And that’s just how it works.

Darren: That’s about serving the work, serving YouTube coming in with that mindset, still being able to use it to grow your business, but playing the game, if you will, in the right way.

Adam: You know the crazy thing that took me years to understand and blows my mind to this day that people don’t understand this? If you provide someone with immense value in a way that’s packaged, that’s refreshing, that gives them incredible value per minute, and that they’re not used to because most people are gatekeeping the dumb little piddly stuff, people will come find your paid stuff. You don’t have to tell them about it. They will actively seek it out. It’s amazing how that works.

Dude, I mean, true story in the last, it’s a little bit more than 90 days. Let’s say since October 1st, so about four months now. I’ve done three $40,000 contracts from people that found my new YouTube channel that I didn’t even have a sales page. I didn’t even have a funnel. It’s just, they messaged me on Instagram. One guy emailed me, one guy found me on WhatsApp. And a day later, they’re wiring me $20,000. And so like, side note, I work with like high level entrepreneurs for a year. That’s why the program is like that. But I’m like in their business. I’m not just sending them to an online course, but that’s finding clientele because I earned their trust so much so that they’re like, yo, I don’t know. Like, I don’t see you have an offer for anything. How do, how can I work with you?

That’s what you want. And that’s why YouTube is so powerful. You don’t get that from paid ads. You don’t get that from social media. You get that from somebody binging your content over and over, ingesting hours of time with you. And by the time they are offered something, they’re like, oh, that’s my friend. Oh, that’s my mentor. Oh, that’s somebody I respect. That’s somebody who’s provided me with so much value for free that I would have paid for that anyway. Of course, I’m going to do the next thing with them. That is what YouTube is good for.ast.