Louis Butterfield

I'm shutting down my business.


because I royally fucked up and I feel like I let a lot of people down.

Basically, I tried scaling a product before I had product-market fit. We iterated our offer 7 times in the past year. But basically, the foundation was broken the entire time.

So I'm shutting down Video Heroes (my community).

Community success rates across the industry sit around 30%-50%ish. No, not every community - don't worry.

But honestly I just don't want to run a business model where the majority of my customers struggle to get results. That's not the business I want.

I'm moving to 1:1 + digital products. And I'm moving to YouTube.

LinkedIn is where you build a network and start conversations. I love it for that. But YouTube is where you're rewarded for depth and storytelling. And if I'm being real, that's always been my thing. I've been a video specialist for years, worked with some of the biggest names on this platform, and every single day I geek out on ideation, packaging, scripting, research, etc.

On LinkedIn I need to explain why video matters. On YouTube everyone already knows.

So I'm taking everything I've learned here from 120+ clients and $2.4M pipeline, bringing it to YouTube, and building the whole thing in public. You'll see exactly what's working and what isn't as I go.

I'm still gonna be posting here. But the next chapter starts on YouTube.

if you want to learn all my Youtube strategies, it'll be on my email list for free:
https://lnkd.in/gRyHKm67

On to the next one. ✌️

In 20 years, we'll look back at gender wage gaps the same way we look at smoking on airplanes now.

Fucking insane that it was ever allowed.

I grew up in a house where my mom was the breadwinner.

She was a geologist.

Made six figures.

My dad stayed home with me until I was 7.

And I never thought it was weird.

Not once.

It was just... normal.

Fast forward to today.

I'm building a business with my wife - we crossed $200K in the last 12 months - and she's one of the hardest working, most talented, most driven people I know.

Not "for a woman."

Just period.

But I keep hearing these stories.

Women afraid to take maternity leave because it might kill their career.

Women being passed over because employers see them as a "liability."

Women doing the same work for less money and being told it's just "how things are."

And every time I hear it, I feel this weird mix of sadness, anger and confusion.

Because how is this still a conversation?

Especially now.

When dual incomes aren't optional anymore.

When the cost of living has skyrocketed.

When we 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 everyone working at full capacity just to keep up.

The math doesn't even make sense.

Let alone the morality of it.

I don't have some grand solution here.

No five-step plan to fix systemic inequality.

This post isn't about that.

It's real.

And it's bullshit.

And if you're someone reading this thinking "how the fuck is this still happening?"

You're not alone.

I guess I'm just lucky I get to build something with someone who never had to justify her seat at the table.

She sat down and got to work.

The way it should be for everyone.

We launched our funnel this month
and got 94 sales with 22 posts (100% inbound)

This is with 0 sales calls.
This is only month 1.
This is my first funnel.
It's not life-changing money.

But a year ago, I literally would never have dreamed it was possible

I don't come from money.
I never had a corporate job.
I used to be a veggie farmer.
I lived in a Mongolian yurt for 2 years.
I couldn't afford rent for 2 MORE years after.
I'm just figuring it out as I go.

I just believe this place needs more creativity.

And apparently, so do many other folks.

Keep going friend.
Nobody's perfect.

And if you want to see how I'm scaling it to $300k/yr;

I'm hosting a private workshop next Tuesday

Comment "WORKSHOP" if you'd like an invite.

LinkedIn is a dating app.

Change my mind.

I got a little video surprise for you:

https://lnkd.in/gmAUkHSw

2 months ago, I was burnt out. Working 60+ hours/week.

Nervous about revenue despite hitting $200K.

(ps - here's the free playbook I used to go 100% inbound → https://lnkd.in/guAS3MP4)


After working with 80ish founders, I've realized something:

most people already know what they’re doing
they just don’t have a system that lets the world see it.

So they copy the “big accounts.”
They sound smart, but not seen.

but the more you chase polish, the more invisible you become.

We're messy.
We make mistakes.
We have imperfections all over the place.

And when you try to hide that?
People smell dat shizz.

And they don't trust it.

up until 2 months ago, I was working 60+ hour weeks.

Burnt out.

Nervous about next month's revenue despite hitting over $200K this year.

Always wondering if I got lucky or if I actually knew what I was doing.

(side note: I don't)

But I've made more money by being:

Weird.
Creative.
Fun.

and the proof is in the pudding mi amigo.

Last week alone:
→ 4 posts
→ 3 emails
→ 11 new clients
→ Weekend walks
→ Actual time off
→ Sauna with my wife’s Finnish grandparents (mandatory tradition)

I'm working 30-40 hours a week now.
Not 60.

You don’t need to become someone else to succeed.
You just need a system that lets people see the real you.

Because people don't buy perfection.

They buy proof that you've been where they are.
That you've failed.
That you got back up.

And that uou actually figured it out - messy bits and all.


Is your content strategy something you can do for the long run?

Will it be fun?

Will it feel good even when you're selling?

If the answer is no, you're building a prison.

If the answer is yes?
That's where the money is.
(And the fun.)
(And the freedom.)

And once you figure that out, everything shifts.

❤️

I tested something weird with 859 followers.

It generated $200K in a year.

Here's what's happening in your brain right now.

You see this post. You see my face.

Your brain scrambles to figure out: do I trust this person?

but what's SUPER interesting is...

When you see me next to someone you already know and trust, your brain makes a connection between us.

Their credibility transfers.

That's not marketing bullshit. That's neuroscience.

It's called associative memory and it's why collaborative content is the fastest way to build trust on LinkedIn.

But here's where most people get stuck.

They think:

"I only have 1,200 followers. No one big will say yes."
"I need to build my audience first, THEN collaborate."
"I have to grind for years before anyone takes me seriously."

I believed that too.

Until I had 859 followers and decided to test it anyway.

Pitched collaborations with people who had 10X, 20X, even 50X my following.

And you know what happened?

They said yes.

Not all of them. But enough.

12 months later, I had a multi six-figure business. 100% inbound. Zero paid ads.

I wasn't special. I wasn't connected. I just stopped trying to build an audience from scratch and started borrowing instead.

Many (not all) big accounts WANT to collaborate.
They're looking for fresh voices and new energy.

They just need you to pitch them the right way.

And when I teach people my exact pitch framework (one I'm walking a client through right now who just landed his first 100K-follower collab), you know what surprises them most?

How simple it is. How willing people actually are.

You don't need a fancy media kit.
You don't need to beg.

You just need to understand what they care about and show up with clarity.

That's why I'm hosting a private workshop next Tuesday.

I'm breaking down the exact system I used to build this business through strategic collaborations.

The pitch templates.
The outreach strategy.
The follow-up framework that gets responses.

Everything I've learned stealing other people's audiences instead of grinding alone.

Comment "WORKSHOP" and I'll send you the details.

This is literally how you shortcut years of posting into the void.

Let's go.

AI bros are a bunch of milk drinkers.

you know the ones...

- they post fake $1M job postings for their AI startup

- they replace hardworking folks with shitty bots

- they comment "haha totally agree—curious how you're implementing AI in the next stage of your business? 🚀"

- they genuinely think AI girlfriends are cool

- they have weird DM autoresponders so they never have to talk to another human being

(because efficiency bro)

I'm not against AI. I use it often.

I'm against the milk drinkers who use AI to put lipstick on a pig.

"Now that impressions are down, why make videos?"

You shouldn't. They suck.

jkkkkkkkkkkkk

Here's my very professional thoughts

As a founder, you need 2 things to build trust online:

1. Connection
2. Time under attention

And there are TONS of ways to do it


Ways to build connection:

- Voicenotes
- Lives
- Personal stories
- Showing what's "behind the curtain"


Ways to increase Time Under Attention:

- Emails
- Carousels
- Lives
- Workshops
- Mini-Courses


These all work.

But the easiest way to do them both at once...

(that I've seen)

Is short-form video that shows your personality.

Yes, I'm biased. And i'm willing to be proven wrong.

But 1 video can be scripted + filmed + edited
in 1hr

And that 1 hr can equal 10hrs24m of watch time

well... that's a lot of time under attention.


So are videos still worth it?

I dunno, that's up to you.

But I know it helps us get 1-10 leads per post

So if you want to learn how to make it work:

You can check it out here → https://lnkd.in/gzN8hVf2

I tested something weird for 3 weeks and it brought in 94 sales with only 14K followers.

For context, my videos used to get 10K to 100K impressions pretty regularly.

Then July hit.

Reach tanked.

(Kinda like everybody else's, amirite?)

But in the last 3 weeks I got...

→ in front of 123,950 people.
→ 1,215 new followers
→ 94 sales

With a "dead" algorithm.
So what changed?



So if you've read this far, odds are you probs want more reach.

I call this the visibility cage.

What I mean is...

6 months ago organic content could reach 2nd + 3rd degree connections no problem

but now your posts get shown to the same small group of people.

(it's kind of like the Facebook algo imo)

And when your content DOES reach a wider audience?

It either...

→ has nothing to do with your services
→ attracts a bunch of freebie seekers with "handraisers"

The only exception is if you sell LinkedIn content services... on LinkedIn.

We're not in the attention economy anymore.
We're in the energy economy.

LinkedIn's algorithm is conserving energy by keeping you in your lane.

It's serving your content to people who've already engaged with you because that's the safest bet for platform retention.

New reach is expensive (algorithmically speaking).

So unless your content breaks a very specific pattern, you're confined.

Most people think posting consistently will fix this.

It won't.

You're just yelling louder in the same room.

We need a way to reach outside our inner circles without

→ attracting freebie seekers with "handraiser" posts
→ spending hundreds of hours DMing, commenting
→ selling our left kidney for ads

..and I discovered Trust Bridging works perfectly for this.

When you create a win-win piece of content with another creator, you both get in front of a larger audience.

If you share a similar ideal client?

You're now both in front of thousands of new potential buyers.

My cofounder Jenna has less than 4K followers.
Trust Bridging still works for her.

Our client Luke landed a collab with HubSpot.

"L" is collaborating with LinkedIn at their event.

Sunny had her highest engagement on a video ever this mth.

Any account size can do this.
And once you do?

You never have to wonder how to get more reach again.

Literally.

Now most of the time when I say this, people say:

"But How do you get larger accounts to say yes?"
"Who is even the right person to ask?"
"How do you pitch without coming off needy?"

Great questions.

That's exactly what we're showing in our private workshop tomorrow.

And today's the last day to sign up.

If you want an invite, comment 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗞𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗣 below and I'll send it to you.

Because if you still want more reach, engagement, and inbound leads through content...

If you're tired of your posts flopping...

If you don't want to do "freebie seeker" posts...

And you want something fun, simple, creative, and repeatable using video...

This workshop was built for you.

see you there mon amie

I got 304,968 impressions from 5 posts in the last 3 weeks. ALL of them were memes or rage bait.

LinkedIn feels like Facebook 2014.

Like, I went through the profiles of every creator I know pulling serious views right now.

it's memes and rage bait. Across the board.

(with some exceptions obvs)

And I think a lot of people are feeling this but not saying it. You spend 2 hours writing something you're proud of and it gets 800 impressions. You spend 4 minutes on something dumb and it gets 50K.

So you do more dumb stuff. And it works. And slowly nobody even knows what you do anymore.

i LOVE memes. but I don't want to get good at making memes 😂

I want depth.

LinkedIn doesn't reward that right now. YouTube does.

So I'm going.

Not leaving LinkedIn. Still gonna post here (cause i love the community + shitposting).

But the stuff I actually care about, the deep work, the real storytelling, the content I'd be proud to put my name on in 5 years? That's going to YouTube.

and I'm giving away all my strategies for free on my email newsletter as I build in public. Here it is if you want the goods:

https://lnkd.in/gRyHKm67

🥔

Creators featured in this video: Collin Strachan, Christian Sancto, 🏴‍☠️ Bill Yost, Karen Kluss 🍬, Jacob Pegs, Nick Broekema, Matt Barker

I just flew to Thailand without a return ticket.

This time last year I couldn't take a weekend off.

I was deep in 10-12 hour days. Telling myself "this is what it takes."

I don't fully regret it. We built something I'm proud of. But somewhere along the way I started measuring the wrong things.

Hours worked instead of hours lived.
Followers gained instead of memories made.
Engagement instead of... being engaged with my life.

I was helping a client hit 120+ leads in 10 days last week. I'm SO stoked for him.

But it forced me to ask myself some uncomfortable questions:

→ Do your kids love you? (Or will they?)
→ Did you do something today that filled your cup?
→ Are you building toward MORE time with loved ones?

We all know "the algorithm" is bullshit when you're dying.

Yet we're terrified of it anyway.

Jenna (my wife) and I decided we want to see the world before we start a family.

So we just... booked a one-way ticket. No return date.

This isn't me saying quit your job or burn it down.

It's me saying: the life you actually want?
The one you keep pushing off?

You're allowed to want that.

You're allowed to build something you're proud of when it's over — not just something that performs well while you're alive.

If you're building a life that you'll be proud of when you die..

I see you. You ain't alone. Let's get this bread.

ps - our waitlist is open until Monday. Here's a link: https://lnkd.in/g_P9ZUpS

My YouTube launches next month and I have 0 fucking clue what I'm doing. Here's how I'm using a "Content Wall" to launch.

On YouTube there are basically two rules:

1. Get them to click.
2. Get them to watch longer.

To do #2, I'm implementing something called a “Content Wall”.

This improves your average view duration (AVD)...IF your videos hold attention long enough for people to watch the whole thing.

In total, I'm launching with five videos at once:

1. Deep dive to outline our process. 45min-1hr long
2. Social hacking video 1
3. Social hacking video 2
4. Rapid-fire listicle (16 lessons from $2.4M pipeline)
5. A break down of my AI scripting process in Claude

Videos #2-#5 are designed to get reach and eyeballs. They feed into video #1.

Video #1 becomes the pillar video. It has a link to our low-ticket offer/free resource. 

If you launch with multiple videos at once, you can use them as CTA's to one another. This is what YouTube wants.

But you still need an initial traffic boost.

Which is why I'm doing panel lives with other creators to bring in an initial influx of subscribers and viewers.

After that we'll see if the algorithm deems my content worthy or not 🤞

If you wanna do longform video, I give all my secrets for free on my email list. Later this week, I'm showing my email list how I do YouTube research using Claude Cowork:

https://lnkd.in/gRyHKm67

🫶

Last month, our client scored a huge collab with HubSpot


Here's the skinny yo. FROM ZE TOP.

1/ He fixed his messaging.

We got him to speak directly to his ideal client.

(Tech & Life Science Companies)

now his ideal client knows it's for them

bam. simple.

---

2/ He showed his story AND built his authority at the same time

Talk about wins
Show the losses along the way

As a result, his engagement increased.

Now he shows proof without being salesy.

This is how you speak to internet strangers.

Being subtle wins.

---

3/ We gave him consistent feedback based on what worked best for him.

This helped him go from 0 to 11 high quality inbound leads/month.

This is what’s working today for founders.

Not 2023.

Boots on the ground.



Obviously Luke is a rockstar and put in the effort.

but all it takes is simple tweaks and iteration.

to get where he is.


If you want to know the full system we used to do it

I'm hosting a private workshop next Tuesday


check it out here yo:
https://lnkd.in/gJNizA54

❤️

My wife Jenna just got 58,916 impressions from 3 videos.

Same week, we helped 5 clients generate $327,524 in pipeline.

(Here’s the system we used https://lnkd.in/gRyHKm67)

The hilarious part is she's just being as creepy as possible in these videos. 0 value.

As a result, I keep getting people in my DMs saying they found me through her which is AWESOME 😂

And we're starting to notice a pattern.

The videos that perform best aren't the ones explaining what you do. They're the ones a total stranger can enjoy without knowing who you are.

If you show them something they already know
(trends, memes, cultural moments).

Or show them someone they already know
(feature a bigger creator, borrow their audience).

Both get you introduced to cold networks you'd never reach otherwise.

"But impressions don't pay the bills."

You’re right. But relevant attention does. That's why we had a 100% success rate with our clients last week.

Also Jenna looks great with a mustache.

So that helps.

I stole 2 posts from Facebook and put them on LinkedIn.They became my top 2 performing posts in over a year. 132K and 111K impressions.

here's what I think is happening:

LinkedIn published an internal engineering paper where they replaced parts of their algorithm with Meta's LLaMA 3. the algorithm now decides what you see based on how long you spend on something and how many buttons you push.

i break this whole thing down in the video (and if you want the actual white paper + weekly breakdowns like this, i send them here → https://lnkd.in/gRyHKm67)

but the short version:

if I post a meme that takes 2 seconds to read but people stare at it for 15 seconds trying to figure it out, then react because they finally get it... the algorithm goes "this must be incredible content"

dwell time relative to post length. that's the game.

short posts that hold attention longer than expected = algorithm thinks you're a genius. long posts where people leave halfway = buried.

So if you make an ultra short post, but people take an extra 10 seconds to look at it, it's deemed as valuable to the algorithm.

You're being rewarded for short posts.

"but memes don't get clients"

Collin Strachan left a comment on one of my posts where a client spent thousands with him after originally following off a meme. we've had the same.

memes capture attention. 
you move that attention somewhere useful after.

now if you don't want to play the meme game, I get it. that's why I'm going to YouTube. because YouTube rewards the exact opposite. a 10-minute video where you explain how you solve a specific problem is invisible on LinkedIn. nobody pushes buttons for it.

on YouTube that's gold.

LinkedIn robot brain rewards buttons and short posts.

YouTube robot brain rewards time and returning viewers.

they have different uses
but I know which one I'd rather build on.

MASSIVE respect to everyone on Linkedin who:

- Steals other people's content word for word
- Tries selling me the same services *I* offer
- Posts AI comments on 243 posts/day
- Fakes engagement with pods
- Pitch slaps in the first DM

Keep going.
You've got this.
Just stay consistent.

Most B2B content just straight up sucks.

AI slop in drag as "thought leadership"
↳ Stories with the emotional tension of a parking ticket.
↳ “Hot takes” colder than last night's Chinese food

Every post sounds like someone’s being held ransom - 500 words or your family gets it.

And then you see guys like...

Ademola Adelakun, MBET
Henry Hayes
and Aidan Brannigan

...who are actually making this space fun again.

And they've got the receipts too.

→ Company pages with 1M+ followers
→ Viral videos (not once - 100's of times)
→ Campaigns for $232B+ brands

They’re the proof that B2B doesn’t have to bore people into submission.

and they're going to show what is ACTUALLY working

So if you’re done “being consistent” while dying inside every time you hit post...
 
this is for you.

no pitch. 45 mins. pure value. let's go.

everyone on LinkedIn loses their shit over copycats.
fair enough. but on YouTube, copying is literally the game.

I'm building a YouTube channel right now and sharing everything I learn for free on my email list → https://lnkd.in/gRyHKm67

and the first thing I learned is you HAVE to find winning formats. that's not optional. the problem is most people copy their direct competitors and end up looking like a watered-down version of them.

when Jenna and I started making LinkedIn videos, we copied Ryan Trahan.

a 26 year old YouTuber who makes videos about surviving on $1 for 30 days.

nobody could tell. because why would a LinkedIn creator be copying a challenge vlogger? it doesn't even cross your mind.

but the pacing, the cuts, the energy, the way he holds attention for 20 minutes with zero budget. that's what we took.

that's the trick. you don't copy the topic. you copy the format from a completely different niche. the underlying psychology that makes someone stop scrolling is the same whether they watch minimalism content or consulting content.

I built a research bot in Claude (1,200 lines of prompting, 5 context documents) that does exactly this. it doesn't look at what's working in my niche. it finds audiences who think like my viewer but watch completely different stuff.

it's saved me days at this point. the video breaks down how it works.

hEeR'eS 10 tIpS tO nOt Be sToOpId aNd GeT RiCh

i kNoW hOw tO mAkE $69,420,000 iN 1 dAy

okay good, you clicked read more. time to blow your mind.

Looking at my data, tips and tricks are getting f*cking wrecked right now. The algorithm calls it AI slop from a mile away and it's done.

(pssst our waitlist closes today, 51 founders are on it: https://lnkd.in/g_P9ZUpS)

But here's what I find interesting.

It's not that tips aren't valuable.
They're just not...you.

Anyone can list 8 stages of a funnel. The ones who break through are the ones who can flip how you see those 8 stages.

Tips add. Tipping points transform.

(Read that again.)

Alex James literally got 8,000 followers from one carousel last year doing this.

Not tips. A tipping point. A reframe so visceral people had to follow to see what else he'd flip upside down.

That's the game now in 2026.

You're not competing on information anymore - everyone and their grandma has ChatGPT.

You're competing on perspective.

Can you change how someone sees something they thought they already understood?

Can you make people question the lens they've been using—without making them feel stupid for using it?

that's how you get people to buy into your unique way.


ps - thanks Alex for this suuuuuuper meta example. Mark "meta" Zucks would be proud.

I honestly hate that I have to say this...
but Collin Strachan is lying to you.
And I can prove it.

First off:

He claims to get 300,000-400,000 impressions per week

i actually snuck into his community to see if this was true.

it's not.

He gets more like 500,000
then does it for his students too.

he also says he's like 5'6"

he's not.

He's 6'3" and chiseled af

I honestly despise it when "LinkedIn gurus" lie about their results. Makes me sick.

Don't believe everything you see online.