How I got 120,000 followers on social media in 3 months in Pakistan without Paid ads.
My exact roadmap to build a personal brand 2026. People pay $10,000-$50,000 in the US to learn how to grow their personal brands. You'll get it from me for free.
What This
Is About
First things first, I'm not here to advise you about the best HOOKS or the best scripts or the best trendy music or posting 5 times a day, because I did none of that.
I will talk about psychological triggers that made people want to follow me without me ever begging for attention.
Be polarizing ONLY by showing real personality
WHY SHOULD PEOPLE FOLLOW YOU? There are a million other lawyers, plumbers, comedians and marketers online sharing valuable business tips and funny content? How do you avoid becoming a commodity? The answer is simple, people tend to follow others who are culturally similar to them.
People WANT TO FOLLOW other people they share ideologies with, sharing valuable content and entertainment content isn't enough, Andrew Tate isn't being followed only because he has the best business tips, he is being followed because he shares his opinions with the world. Watch my profile! I don't hold back on my thoughts, I show my personality and voice my opinions even though 10,000 people unfollowed me instantly when I spoke about Islam and its rulings, but that didn't matter since that was neutralized by 30,000 more people following me.
Well wouldn't I have 40,000 if I didn't voice my opinions on things that got me backlash??? The funny thing is that I wouldn't have gotten the 30,000 followers if I didn't lose the first 10,000 – THAT'S THE IDEA BEHIND IT. 50% of people will unfollow you BUT the other 50% that follow you will do so for life since they share the same ideologies and opinions as you do.
People don't know how to be polarizing the correct way, people try to be controversial and edgy to get views but they end up being cringe and fake. You only need to talk about your hot takes which you GENUINELY believe in…..
So whatever opinions of mine you see online, know that I genuinely believe in them and I will defend them unapologetically.
- →Have an enemy: example: The Matrix
- →Have a mission: example: Make America Great Again
- →Create rules your followers follow: example: No listening to music and early marriage and learn how to use guns
- →Create your own aesthetic: example: my color combination is Red, White and Black and have my own fonts
Speak with conviction
People follow certainty and leadership. Whenever I speak, I speak with conviction and confidence, which makes people have conviction in my words, and if people have confidence in my words, they will follow me. People WANT to follow a person they can trust because why would people follow a person who isn't sure about his own advice? Always speak like you know more than the next person, But how do you develop confidence? The only real way to develop genuine confidence is to get REALLY GOOD at whatever you are speaking about. Fake confidence can be spotted from a mile away.
People need surety and guarantees, for example if I am presenting a business strategy and i articulate loudly and clearly and say "THIS WILL 100% WORK", people will feel comfortable investing their time and financial resources into executing that strategy since your words gave them the final push and certainty they were looking for. Keep that up for some time and you become the source of tried and testing information for the people
Only speak on things you've earned the right to talk about
- →If you haven't done it - don't teach it
Build real confidence through competence:
- →Do the thing
- →Fail at the thing
- →Learn from the thing
Eliminate weak language:
- →Remove words like "maybe", "I think", "probably"
- →Replace with: "This works", "This doesn't work"
- →Speak like you're teaching, not asking. Don't seek validation from your audience
Make either entertainment or value content
You have to understand that people ONLY follow you once you give them something in return. There are ONLY 2 WAYS to give them something in return to get more followers, nobody follows you out of kindness. Either give them…
- →Valuable content
- →Entertaining content.
- →Both
So this means either helping them solve any issue related to their business, health, relationships, skills ORRR making entertaining content like news or comedic content, and if you manage to do both at the same time like I'm trying to do, no one can beat you. Andrew Tate has mastered doing BOTH of them at the same time, he is sharing business and relationship tips while making comedic content, hence resulting in the virality of his brand.
It's easier for people to follow me since I satisfy one of the world's most in demand thing, the need of MORE money. I spend 10s of thousands of dollars on COACHING programs to learn the most up to date business tactics and systems and then teach them to my Pakistani audience for free, so I'm giving out valuable information, in return I get followers. But at the end of the day, there are others doing what I'm doing, so why should I get followers and not the other business coaches like me? Let me answer this question in the following points.
- →Pick a niche to make content on and contribute to people's lives (top 3 are health, wealth and relationships)
- →Use politics to make content: example: Talking about the importance of having an overseas business with rise of taxes (use ongoing controversies but tie it somehow to your niche content)
- →Solve people's problems: example: Make content on people's problems and give them solutions
- →Speak your opinions: example: Say something controversial, the masses listen to controversial takes and take it as entertainment.
Share VALUE as primary data only
Make sure that the value you share comes from you and is NON-OBVIOUS advice. There is a reason why I wrote every word in this article with my own hands and not from AI. You want to know the best way to grow on social media??? you share first hand experiences (AKA primary data), people are dying for original experiences and new things, half of the people are adrenaline junkies on social media and want constant stimulation of new dopamine. Repeated content doesn't feel the same way since they have seen that video idea or script 10 times before they stumbled upon your video.
The best way to share original experiences is to HAVE original experiences. I make mistakes on purpose and take uncalculated risks so i have stories to tell and unique perspectives to share. I started a call center and had to fire everyone because I didn't know how to run it properly, then restarted it. That's an original experience that I can share with everyone and now can easily make a video on the topic "how to start a call center by avoiding the mistakes I made". Well couldn't have I just watched a youtube video about how to start a call center and then made my version of that video? Why did I need to invest in a call center myself and spend months on it? The answer is I COULD HAVE but that wouldn't be MY EXPERIENCE would it??? That would be someone else's opinion just coming out of my mouth (AKA secondary data)
If I'm so good at being a mouthpiece for other people's opinions, why do people need to follow me in the first place? Why don't they follow the person that I'm copying?
- →Do something before you talk about it: example: Start a small business instead of just explaining business ideas
- →Put money or time on the line: example: Invest your own savings into a project and document the outcome
- →Share failures publicly: example: "I lost $2,000 running ads and here's exactly why"
- →Show behind-the-scenes reality: example: Record the process of building something instead of only showing results
I started YAPPING & made unedited content
People are tired of consuming polished robotic content, they want authenticity. I take out my front camera, record whatever comes to mind and post, THAT'S IT! That's how I get MILLION+ views. Instagram's new algorithm is pushing unedited yapping content simply because people are tired of watching robotic videos with AI scripts, people want to see HUMAN content. MY first video to hit 50k views was me making a video in complete dark and stuttering while I was trying to speak with a low quality phone, that's because people value originality. People think if they post unedited content without any fancy edits, they wouldn't be seen as professionals. The truth is that people will just start seeing you as a HUMAN. This is the best year to post content, no need to hire editors, writers, or even social media managers.
- →Post without overthinking: example: Turn on your camera and talk immediately without scripting
- →Use low-effort setups: example: Record in your car, room, or even in the dark
- →Speak like you talk in real life: example: Stutter, pause, and be natural instead of sounding robotic
- →Prioritize speed over perfection: example: Post 3 raw videos instead of spending hours editing one
Be OMNI PRESENT
I'm omnipresent because I'm posting on all social media platforms, which includes TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts. People who don't see me on one platform will see me on the other platform. So I'm getting followers on each platform, so my audience is not limited to only Instagram. 2nd reason being how DIFFERENT PEOPLE REACT DIFFERENTLY to the same type of content, what might not get me views on Instagram WILL get me views on tiktok because of different audience demands. I got 2.5 MILLION views on an Instagram video which only got 300 views on Tiktok.
Pro tip: Once you've identified the type of content that performs well on a particular platform, focus on consistently creating and sharing that specific kind of content there to maximize engagement and reach.
- →Post the same content everywhere: example: Upload the same reel on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts
- →Let platforms decide what works: example: A video that flops on TikTok might go viral on Instagram
- →Focus per platform after testing: example: Double down on talking videos on IG but hooks-heavy content on TikTok
- →Build recognition through repetition: example: People see you 5 times across platforms and finally follow
How I use trial reels
Trial reels are FREE advertising for my personal brand, but Instagram doesn't let you post the same video twice, so here how I use them: If you create a single video for your main page, make five variations of it with different hooks and filmed in different environments. Since the original video comes from your own idea, I assume it'll be easier for you to create different variations of the same idea. You know the content inside and out, so you can easily paraphrase it in five unique ways. Post those five variations as trials and Instagram would count it as a new video, and they serve as free advertising for you.
- →Create multiple versions of one idea: example: Same topic but 5 different hooks
- →Change environments to trick the algorithm: example: Film one video in your room, another in your car, another outside
- →Rephrase, don't repeat: example: Explain the same idea in different wording each time
- →Treat each variation as a new ad: example: Post all versions as trials to maximize reach without extra ideas
Be consistent
No need to explain this, I didn't get 120k followers with just a few videos, do all of the above work consistently so you see results.
Want to Work With
Shadab 1-on-1?
If you are a B2B agency or a freelancer and want to scale your business, DM the word "MENTOR" on Shadab's Instagram and let's talk.