How Dan Koe Turns Failed Freelancing Into A $5M Creator Business
Learn How Founders Build Their Brand, Content Strategy and Create Viral Moments.
*This is Dan's total engagement numbers from his 5-year journey (through December 15, 2024)
Dan’s Creator Story
Dan has become a LinkedIn legend, built a massive Instagram following, turned into a YouTube star, created a thriving Twitter community, and grown a dedicated newsletter audience that hangs on his every word.
But back in 2016, Dan Koe was just a regular guy trying to figure things out.
But as a young guy, his secret weapon was being observant. While everyone else followed the crowd, Dan watched and learned. He just didn’t want to go where 99% of the people are going.
"Pursuing your curiosity is the transition from a life of doing what others tell you to doing what you enjoy." This became his guiding philosophy. But finding that path wasn't easy.
Dan tried everything…
First, he tried some YouTube fitness content- that burned him out fast. Then he got a camera and started building an Instagram following. While growing his first 2k followers, he booked courses on Facebook Ads, web design, marketing, etc.
He tried every single thing he knew to do…
- Digital art creation
- Facebook Ads agency
- Fitness YouTube channel
- Rave clothing dropshipping store
- Minimalist wallet e-commerce brand
But he failed every single time.
But then, he started journaling his thoughts daily. This simple habit of writing for clarity would become the foundation of his future success.
When nothing seemed to work, Dan took the conventional route - applying for web design jobs and picking up freelance work. Working a 9-5 job wasn’t his dream path, but he learned valuable skills along in the process: SEO, web design, social media, marketing, and sales.
Having tried before on Facebook and later LinkedIn before taking his long break, he started posting on Twitter. This time was different - he understood what he needed to do. If he could build the audience and provide value, he could make it.
Now, Dan has a critical decision to make. He has to niche down to one thing.
That’s probably the most confused state he ever is. And the reason is simple. He’s interested in a whole lot of things… web design, graphics, photography, spirituality, fitness, personal development, continuous learning, self-awareness…
After thinking about it all, he made the strangest choice that goes against what everyone says… he chose NOTHING!
HE BECAME HIS NICHE.
Here’s how he sees the idea of ”niche-ing” down to one thing on social media.
It was a risky move that paid off big time. Dan realized something powerful - everyone's unique, so why try to fit into what 99% of people are doing?
Dan believes that everyone is unique and can find their unique place in life. We all don’t have to fit into what 99% of people are doing.
But this can only be achieved through the art of focus… not just any focus, but the kind that helps you tune out the noise and build something meaningful - and it became the foundation of his book The Art of Focus. I read the book and will talk a little about it later.
Sometimes the best path forward is the one nobody else is taking. By refusing to fit into traditional boxes and staying true to his observant nature, he built something far bigger than just another social media following.
Let's talk more about it…
Dan’s Platform Expansion
Here's how Dan built a 3.3M+ following across social media by turning one platform's success into fuel for another.
He started on LinkedIn in June 2019. But after a few posts, Dan disappeared for 28 months. He probably gave up… at the time.
When he returned in November 2021, he wasn't just another creator testing the waters. He had already built a following on Twitter and defined a clear brand voice that would resonate across all platforms.
This is what makes Dan’s approach really powerful - he built one unified brand voice and let each platform amplify the others. But his strategy is not just about cross-posting content. It was about creating an ecosystem where each platform fed into the others.
Here’s an example of how he does it on LinkedIn...
This Is a LinkedIn post’s also a teaser to the pinned comment. Now, if you follow the link (I actually did)... it leads to a copy page, and here’s what you’ll see.
The first is a teaser to drop your email as a newsletter subscriber. The second is the YouTube video on the subject. The third is a 36-minute long podcast, The Koe Cast - a deep dive into the subject. Then, you can proceed to read the newsletter edition.
That’s 4 things on a single page. And how did you get here?
From LinkedIn.
Now, let’s break down exactly how Dan built his empire platform by platform…
After his initial failed attempts at content creation, including that fitness YouTube challenge, Dan found his groove on Twitter. He launched his account on November 23, 2020. This time was different - he'd mastered copywriting and understood how to grab and hold attention.
Twitter became his testing ground. Ideas that resonated here would be expanded into fuller content on other platforms. The platform's character limit forced him to distill complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights.
Instagram is where Dan built his largest community - 1.6M followers through 1,185 posts. But this wasn't built in isolation. His Instagram strategy perfectly complemented his other platforms:
Twitter insights became carousel posts and YouTube shorts became Reels. He still maintains a consistent brand voice across all content.
When he started building on Instagram with 2k followers…that’s not where he is today.
YouTube
Dan's YouTube strategy shows the power of cross-platform promotion. Instead of building a separate audience, he leveraged his existing followers from other platforms.
He often gives really good and valuable posts on LinkedIn and teases the content of the videos. Then leads his audience to follow him to his YouTube channel. Dan’s keeps expanding his single voice brand.
His YouTube videos are scripted from his newsletters. So, he really never has to generate new ideas for his scripts. That’s still building ONE brand voice.
With 900k+ subscribers and 176 videos generating 31M+ views, his approach clearly worked.
His first video wasn't a timid test - it was a one-hour Modern Mastery Podcast featuring Justin Welsh, pulling in 223k views.
His most popular video, "How To Get Ahead Of 99% Of People (In 6-12 Months)" hit 1.6M views after its December 25, 2022 release.
His LinkedIn-to-YouTube promotion strategy was subtle but effective. He'd drop value bombs like:
"You (yes you) are a copycat.
This can be a very good thing...
Or a very bad thing."
Then close with: "For the entire rundown, explanation, and step-by-step process — my latest YouTube video just went live.
You can find it in the comment section to watch now or subscribe and save it for later."
Newsletter
Dan's newsletter growth shows the power of consistent cross-platform promotion, and ultimately getting them here.
As of December 2024, Dan’s got 175,000+ subscribers.
His promotion strategy uses specific numbers to create FOMO… like in his post on June 25, 2022.
“In about 5 hours — 20,232 people will learn how to discover their life's work and differentiate themselves from the sea of solopreneurs (that are all following the same advice).”
But perhaps his smartest move is leaving newsletter links as pinned comments on popular posts. That’s for people who are interested in getting the newsletter but missed its release… they can still go and read the same as a blog post on his site.
Every piece of content, whether it's a tweet, YouTube video, or LinkedIn post, serves one purpose: building Dan's unified brand voice online.
Dan’s Content Strategy
Here’s how Dan turned his struggling LinkedIn account into a content empire.
When Dan first launched on LinkedIn back in 2019, his strategy looked nothing like what you see today. His first post, on June 13, 2019, was surprisingly... about Facebook:
“There are many aspects of FB ads that affect conversion rates.
Your offer plays a HUGE role in this.” (2 reactions, 2 comments.)
In fact, his first four posts were all about Facebook marketing. His fifth and final post of 2019 hinted at what would later become crucial to his success… copywriting:
“In your opinion, what is the highest ROI skill that anybody could learn?
To me, it is direct response copywriting.” (4 reactions)
Then... silence. Dan disappeared from LinkedIn for 28 months.
But this isn’t goodbye. While his LinkedIn lay dormant, Dan took a break and later started building on Twitter. Soon, he realized that LinkedIn was more than what he thought it to be. It’s not just a platform for recruitment and finding jobs. It’s a land of unlimited potential, especially for his personal brand.
Dan realized that LinkedIn’s got the people who would really listen to him if he could speak loud enough. His audience is really here.
When he returned to LinkedIn in November 2021, everything was different. He came back with a clear message centered on one word: Focus.
His comeback post set the tone:
“Focus is a currency.
The news, social media, entertainment, books, opinions, advice, etc.
Invest wisely, your mental wealth depends on it.”
Simple. Direct. And for the first time ever, someone actually reposted his content.
This wasn't just luck - Dan had spent several months crafting and testing his message online. When he returned to LinkedIn, he knew exactly what would resonate.
His second post of 2021 proved this perfectly. No text, just a screenshot of his viral Twitter post with 1.5k likes and 200+ retweets. He wasn't starting from scratch - he was leveraging proven content.
His third post showed his evolving strategy:
“3 priority tasks
+
3 hours of focused work
+
3 months of consistency
=
An entirely new outlook on what you are capable of.“
You can tell he knows what he’s doing and if he can be consistent with posting (pinching the right nerve), his right audience will come to him.
Each post built on the last, testing what resonated with his audience.
He brought it to LinkedIn. Smart move - if content performs on one platform, it'll work on another (if adapted the right way).
By the end of 2021, his strategy was working. His final post that year pulled 57 reactions and 10 comments. Small numbers, but steady growth.
In 2022, Dan took another break - 4 months off LinkedIn. But when he returned in late April, he came back swinging. Daily posts. Consistent value. And a clever twist - leveraging his success on other platforms.
As he was growing LinkedIn, he was also growing Instagram and Twitter. So he shared this on May 19, 2022…
"I didn't start with 300,000+ followers (on Twitter & Instagram)
I started with the classics:"
This post was one of the key moments that changed the momentum for him on LinkedIn. It may not be the most powerful post he made, but it’s definitely one of the most important posts in his journey.
This post pulled 97 reactions and 28 comments. Not viral numbers, but here's what made it brilliant - Dan had only 600 LinkedIn followers at the time, but he was showing receipts from his success on other platforms.
He wasn't just teaching; he was proving his methods worked.
Although this post has about 100 engagements, it set the pace for the following posts… the engagement moved to hundreds and thousands permanently.
3 days later, his post got 1,476 reactions, 148 comments, and 34 reposts. The momentum was now building.
But Dan's real genius showed in how he started using the comment section. Instead of letting engagement die in the comments, he turned it into a funnel. Here's how…
He'd close posts with:
"P.S. If you have no idea what you should be focusing on, read the post linked in the comments."
Then in the pinned comment:
"Here's a post that gives an overview of the digital economy https://thedankoe.com/the-future-of-work-will-be-play/"
Here’s another one he used…
“Yesterday we had a 1.5 hour Content Psychology training that goes in depth about the foundation of writing content that people love.
If interested, check out the "Featured" section of my profile and look for "MMHQ."”
This wasn't just engagement - it was a strategic pathway leading followers deeper into his content ecosystem.
At this point… it may look like he had mentioned focus once or twice. But that really isn’t his gist - at least not at this point.
He’s still talking about a whole lot more things altogether.
- Sales
- Copywriting
- Ideas generation
- How to sell online
- How to boost productivity
- Building a personal brand (he’s big on this)
He had also started responding to comments.
His post on June 22, 2022, is what further amplified his voice on the focus thing. The short post got 11.5k likes.
Then he dropped the curtain on his entire content system. Here's how he grew to 386k followers across platforms in 2.5 years, writing just 1-2 hours daily:
“- 3 tweets a day
- 1 thread a week
- 1 newsletter a week
- 1 LinkedIn post a day
- 1 Instagram post a day
- 1 YouTube video a week”
He further explained how…
“Tweets are for testing ideas.
The good ones (most engagement) get distributed to other platforms and become potential newsletter or thread ideas.
Newsletters get turned into YouTube scripts.”
My process is similar to this… but it’s between LinkedIn, Newsletters, and YouTube (for now).
But content was only half the equation. After writing, Dan spent 30-60 minutes daily engaging with others and reaching out to people he wanted to connect with.
His repurposing strategy stood out too. While most creators simply repost old content, Dan reimagined it. He'd take successful concepts and present them in fresh ways, keeping the core message but updating the delivery.
As his following grew, Dan's content evolved to focus more on mind management. He started talking about your mind as a supercomputer and your attention as RAM, teaching his audience how to guide their emotions and attention.
By the power of focus, Dan learned how to make work work more for higher rewards… so he modified Parkinson’s Law into Koe’s Law. Check it out.
“Parkinson's Law: work expands to fill the time allowed for its completion.
Koe's Law: work evolves to earn more in the same time allowed for its completion.
If you want to work less and earn more, eventually your work must evolve to higher leverage tasks and business models.” (281 reactions, 68 comments, 5 reposts)
Another thing that Dan constantly talks about is the power of consistently building something for one hour every single day. That’s all it takes to build something that matters to your life… like in this post:
“Every morning:
Phone off. One future-building project in front of you. Do not do anything else until your priority tasks are done.
It only takes one hour a day to build the thing that will change your life.” (806 reactions, 138 comments, 25 reposts).
When it comes to content style, he tried everything from short, punchy posts to long-form text, Twitter screenshots to carousels, and even animated illustrations. Instead of native video, he mostly linked to YouTube content.
What made it all work? Once Dan found his unique value proposition - FOCUS - he stuck with it. Sure, he'd test new angles and iterate his approach, but the core message stays constant.
He also understands reciprocity in the creator economy. When Dickie Bush shared one of Dan's Twitter posts in October 2022, Dan returned the favor two days later, resharing one of Dickie's viral tweets.
Even his insight into content creation was unique. He consistently reminded followers that they don't owe anyone anything - just post valuable content without unnecessary pressure. This takes the anxiety out of content creation and keeps you focused on just providing value.
But perhaps most importantly, Dan never stopped evolving his strategy. He didn't just find what worked and stick to it blindly. He constantly evaluates, tests, and refines his approach.
Here’s the numbers…
Year | 2019-2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Post | 17 | 120 | 538 | 357 |
Reactions | 136 | 144150 | 307472 | 259844 |
Comments | 35 | 15326 | 53289 | 50377 |
Reposts | 4 | 4891 | 10349 | 10354 |
How Dan Makes Money
Back in November 2023, Dan shared a modest milestone:
“I will hit $700K this year as a one-person business.
My goal was $1M.”
But that was just the beginning. By the end of 2023, he'd hit $4.1 million. Fast forward to November 2024, and he's crossed $5 million with his "little" creator business.
Here’s how Dan built a $5 million creator business.
The Art of Focus
Everything changed for Dan when he launched his book, The Art of Focus. The launch strategy was powerful. On October 2, 2023, he announced the prelaunch of a book three years in the making.
Instead of just dropping the book, Dan spent months building anticipation. He shared quotes, insights, and teasers - posting about the book 8 times in October 2023 alone.
By November 17, he was sharing behind-the-scenes glimpses:
“18 hours of sitting complete.
The Art Of Focus audiobook is off to be edited.”
When the book finally dropped on January 16, 2024, the response was immediate. Just four days post-launch, here’s what he posted:
“5600+ copies have been sold across digital, paperback, and audiobook versions.
Previously we sold 1700 Keepsake copies.
7300+ copies of the book are out circulating the world.”
After reading Dan’s The Art of Focus, I came to the conclusion that he was right.
He’s right about the fact that all that matters is focus. Whatever you focus on is what you will create in your life. As I’m building my personal brand, I’ve come to the conclusion that Dan is right and it’s all that matters.
The book addresses the modern challenges of distraction and lack of purpose. It simplifies how to find meaning, reinvent yourself, and create your ideal future.
It offers a practical framework for reclaiming attention and designing a more intentional life, with particular emphasis on becoming part of what Koe calls "The New Rich" - focusing not just on wealth but on schedule control and fulfillment.
I don’t know how much exactly Dan makes from this project… But it’s going to be substantial.
The One Person Business
Dan also launched this program, The One Person Business (A launchpad to your first $5-$10k) to help individuals make their first $5,000 in business with focus on traffic generation and payment processing, among other things.
The course teaches students how to create a marketable offer based on their skills and interests, set up their digital presence (store, website, blog, and newsletter), and implement a three-point marketing strategy.
It includes practical templates for social media content, marketing strategies, and payment processing tutorials, all aimed at helping complete beginners launch a sustainable one-person business without significant upfront investment.
The course sells at $99.
The 2 Hour Writer
The 2 Hour Writer is a comprehensive writing course that teaches how to create high-impact digital content in just two hours per day using Dan's 2 Hour Content Ecosystem.
The course focuses on high-impact writing foundations, unlimited idea generation, and content ecosystem implementation. Dan also added stuff like his Twitter growth strategies, writing templates for Notion and Kortex, a database of successful tweets, and a breakdown of how to monetize content.
The course is self-paced with lifetime access and combines written curriculum with implementation videos.
In November 2022, he mentioned having 1,279 students on The 2 Hour Writer program.
As of December 2024, he’s got 13,108+ students.
The course is $150. That’s over $1.9M from this course.
Mental Monetization
On June 2, 2024, Dan posted about releasing his new course Mental Monetization at $75 (on preorder) the following day…
And he indeed released the course on June 3, 2024.
Mental Monetization is a course designed to help creators turn their knowledge and expertise into profitable digital products.
The course teaches students how to develop product ideas, create unique marketing strategies, build compelling sales pages, and execute successful launches without relying on client work.
Dan also includes practical templates and frameworks based on his experience scaling multiple products to 6-7 figures, along with bonus materials covering viral content creation, brand building, and micro-product development.
The course is priced at $225, and 3,191 students have taken the course; that's ≈ $717k+ in revenue
Kortex
Dan first talked about Kortex on LinkedIn in April 2024. Then on July 7, 2024, he mentioned building the online writing app and all the benefits. And later, on September 15, he mentioned that it would be released on the 20th.
All alone, he was building a waitlist a huge momentum for the release.
Here’s how he described the app…
“For the unaware, Kortex is a second brain for your ideas, bookmarks, notes, and writing.
"Like Notion, Obsidian, and Google Docs had a baby." ”
The Kortex Writer's Bootcamp is a comprehensive content creation program offered in three tiers:
- Curriculum Only ($199)
- Full Experience ($399)
- Lifetime Tier ($1,995)
The program teaches participants how to build a content ecosystem through a 5-week curriculum focused on audience building, digital writing, and content repurposing.
Students learn to transform single pieces of content into multiple formats (20 posts, 2 threads, 1 newsletter) and adapt them for various platforms, including YouTube.
The bootcamp includes practical projects, templates, and a second brain system built in Kortex for continuous idea generation.
Takeaways
I’m going to be talking about how I’m applying what I’ve learned from him in this book to my personal brand journey (so far).
We’re specifically going to cover:
- Becoming a glitch in the matrix
- Having full control of your mental energy
- The human superpower is choice
But before we get into all that here, let’s talk about what focus is.
Focus is attention with intention.
Learning how to direct your focus (and not get distracted) is one of the most challenging things to do these days with our phones buzzing 24/7.
As you’re building your personal brand, it will require the time and energy to focus on understanding who you are and what you stand for. In order to do that, you need to have a clear vision of where you stand today and what you’re trying to achieve in life.
Some of us have been stuck in the matrix for so long we don’t know there are other ways to thrive in this life.
Becoming a glitch in the matrix
I am not Neo (but I would follow the white rabbit).
In order to truly build your personal brand in 2024, you need to be fully bought into the fact that it’s a different way of life. This is not about going to get a traditional job at an office that allows you to take PTO and vacations. This is about building something vs. leasing or renting space.
You’re building for your future self and you’ll be rewarded handsomely but it will take time.
Here’s what I mean:
The rat race: Typically everyone starts off by getting a job doing a service or work for someone else. Some of us continue on that path until we retire at 65 and use our last years to wonder and hope we have enough money to live before we die. That’s the traditional path that most people follow.
The red pill: Neo took the red pill in The Matrix. It opened his eyes to what’s possible and allowed him to understand the true power of what he’s capable of. This is how you’re going to see clearly what’s possible. It’s not going to happen immediately but by taking the red pill, you’ll join others that have been freed from the rat race.
Power in focus: Building your brand strategy will take time and it’s not going to happen overnight. Your goal should be to make the decision to focus on starting your personal brand. Once you’ve decided this is a path for you, that is the time at which you can start to move into focusing your mental energy in the right direction.
Remember to acknowledge where you are today and build a realistic plan to get to the next phase of your life.
Having full control of your mental energy
“Full control over where we focus our mental energy thanks to our ability to achieve personal goals, create efficient systems and solve better problems.” - Dan Koe
The last part of this quote sticks with me everytime: ‘Solve better problems’.
That’s exactly what we’re doing here. With focus on the right things, you’ll solve better problems in your life. This is not about anything else. Remember that what you focus on will breed results in a much better way for your future self. Here’s how I apply this:
Setting goals: I use to set SMART goals for myself every year. That is until I read Ali Abdaal’s Feel Good Productivity book that talks about making everything that is hard, fun. I have layered in Dan’s perspective of focusing your mental energy with the idea of Ali Abdaal’s idea of listening to music during a tough task. I now set goals that allow me to have fun (even if I don’t like the task at hand).
Systems: Most of what I do now has a system. I’ve built out a system for producing my content, automatically posting it on the platforms and blocking off time on my calendar to make sure I’m engaging as much as I should. I’ll write a detailed edition of this newsletter around systems at some point but understanding the need for using them is the first step.
Better Problems: By having goals set and systems to help me get to the outcomes, I’ve been able to focus on bigger (and better) problems. Right now, I’m working on figuring out how to scale up YouTube production without more production time.
Here’s a question to think about as you’re working on your goals and systems to achieve more:
How can I achieve this outcome without doing any additional work?
I know the question sounds odd but when you start asking interesting questions, you’ll get interesting answers from yourself.
The human superpower is choice
“One meaningful project. One hour of focused work. One day at a time, without waver. That’s the secret you’re looking for.” - Dan Koe
You can choose what to spend time on. It’s just a matter of whether it’s important enough for you to actually do something about it. It’s like saying ‘I’m going to the gym’. You can talk about it but until there is some change in action - you’re going to be the same person you are today.
For me, this quote was one of the most powerful things that I took very seriously.
Here’s why:
Focus is a muscle: I just started going back to the gym 4-5x days per week. This is a new thing for me to focus on. It’s a priority and it’s changed my life. I go to sleep at 9pm now and wake up at 4pm to get my 7 hours of sleep. I’ve now started building the muscle around writing this newsletter on a weekly basis and having time to create for others. It’s a new muscle that needs to be focused on for it to reach my goal.
Building habits: Once you’ve started to build your new muscle of focus, it’s time to convert that into a habit. Habits take repetitions over a long period of time to turn into a habit. Start with 3 sets of 30 minutes per week. Rest between sets to build this muscle of focus. When you start to feel your mind get stronger, add more time and reps. Increase it to 4 sets for 45 minutes. You’ll find the time in the day if it’s important enough to you.
Long term games: Choosing the right game to play requires long term thinking. Building your personal brand is a long term game. This is not a get rich quick scheme or like buying a Powerball lottery ticket. Interest on your money compounds in a bank just like creating content for your personal brand. Choose the right long term game and find your long term people to build it with.Wrap Up
Focus is attention with intention.
It matters more than anything in your life. Whatever you decide to focus on will become your reality. Whatever you’re looking to do with your life, focus on it. Focus will allow your future self to be calm and ready for anything.
Remember to:
Have a wonderful week my friends.
Until next time,
Keep growing!
Learn How Founders Build Their Brand, Content Strategy and Create Viral Moments
Each week, I breakdown a founder brand, their journey and how you can weave their strategies into yours.
About the author
I'm ANDREW MCGUIRE
Founder & Ghostwriter
From burnt out exec (3 exits & 15 years experience) to effortless growth by finding my creator style.
Living in Bend, Oregon and taking advantage of all the outdoor adventures.
If you can't find me, I'm probably lifting some weights in the gym, sweating in a sauna or freezing in a cold plunge.
Now I'm on a mission to help you understand how top creators have gone viral so you can weave it into your growth strategy.
Connect with Me Here: