Social growth plan: what to do with your hours

His big idea: an ad video and a free post are the same video. Stop thinking of them as two jobs. Post everything for free first. Only pay to push what people already chose to watch.

In his words: "You should always post every piece of content you make for a sale or an ad organically first. If it performs well in views compared to your norm, that's what you start running media on." (2 July 2026)

His answer to your question. A mix, but not the mix you described. Put about 90% of your hours into short videos, 12 to 15 a week, many of them new takes on what already worked. Nothing on a scripted weekly long-form show.

From week 3, he'd add one thing for long-form: once a week, you and Nick sit down for 30 to 45 minutes, unscripted, and answer the best questions from the comments. That goes up raw as the YouTube long-form video, and Claude cuts it into 8 to 10 Shorts. He calls this "document, don't create": film what's already happening instead of producing a show. It costs you about 1.5 hours a week.

Your 80 to 90% no-product rule is fine for the free posts. He gives no ratio ("It's the mix"). What matters is that when a video wins and goes into ads, the product and the offer get added on top.

How to grow very fast while spending as little as possible on ads:

• Never pay for a video nobody watched for free. "Not a dollar of media should be spent on creative that does not get views organically." (17 March 2026) The free post is your test. Ad money only goes to proven videos.

• Start with your proven hits. "AI reverse age" and "Top 3 supplements to live to be 200+" go into ads this week, run from the post itself so the views and comments carry over.

• Post a lot, in more places. Two a day on the side TikTok accounts, Instagram Reels shared to Facebook, and YouTube Shorts. He tells brands to be on seven platforms; four is his starting point for a team of two. On Shorts: "At bare minimum, all of that content should be posted on YouTube Shorts." (4 June 2026)

• Remake winners before inventing new ideas. He once posted the same idea four times with small changes. Three got about 70,000 views each, and the fourth got 6.3 million (his own figures). So make 4 or 5 new takes on "reverse age" and "top supplements" this week.

• Answer everyone. Reply to every comment and DM while you have under about 10,000 followers. Ask questions inside the videos (for example, "What do you want to know about NMN?"). The answers write next week's scripts.

• Use creators. He says small creators and affiliates are still "underpriced". Send product to 10 to 20 of them in week 3.

• Go live and sell. He calls live selling "mission-critical to a consumer brand in 2026". You host, Nick co-hosts ("you need a co-host. Look at QVC"), with a giveaway. Supplements have been invite-only on TikTok Shop since early 2026, so first we check that we're invited and allowed to sell live.

• Let each week's winner write the email. Nick builds the week's email from the top video. He says this lifted Wine Library's opens from 27% to 37% (his own figure).

What he'd tell you not to do now:

• A scripted, edited weekly long-form video. It takes the most hours for the slowest payback.
• New ads that never had a free test first.
• Polishing the Instagram grid. He says that even for a massive influencer, "less than 5%" of viewing happens on the grid, and our still posts there get about 155 views each.

His first 4 weeks for us:

• Week 1 (Fri 16 to Thu 22 Oct). The two proven hits go into ads by Saturday. Nick's team posts the videos shot 9 to 15 October, 2 a day on each of the four places (ad versions stay off the main TikTok, as you ruled). You shoot two afternoons, 6 to 8 scripts, half of them new takes on the winners. Nick's team replies to everything.
• Week 2 (23 to 29 Oct). 12 to 15 new videos, 2 a day. Every morning, check the free posts against your 9 October winner rule. Each winner gets its ad cut within 48 hours and goes into Meta and TikTok, paid for by taking budget from the weakest untested ad, not by adding money. Nick writes the week's email from the top winner.
• Week 3 (30 Oct to 5 Nov). Same pace. The first weekly unscripted recording with you and Nick, on longevity and our lab tests, up on YouTube and cut into Shorts. Product goes to 10 to 20 small creators. You and Nick spend 20 hours learning live selling, 10 studying and 10 doing.
• Week 4 (6 to 12 Nov). First TikTok Live, 45 minutes, if TikTok Shop allows it. Clip it, and put money behind the clips that win. Monthly look back: do more of the topics and ads that won, drop the rest.

Hours on his plan (estimates). You: about 15 a week (scripts 6, two shooting afternoons 4, reviewing edits 2, reading comments 1.5, the weekly recording 1.5 from week 3). Nick: about 7 to 8 (posting to four places 3, replies 3.5, the email 1).

How he'd know it's working (his estimates, built on very small numbers so far):

• Free views a week across all accounts, and how many posts pass your 9 October winner rule (at least twice the account's usual views, with a floor of 500 views on Instagram and 1,000 on TikTok). Week 2: 20,000 to 50,000 views and 2 to 4 winners a week. Week 6: 100,000 to 250,000 views and 4 to 6 winners a week, one of them at 10 times the usual. Week 12: 500,000 views or more a week, with a 10-times hit most weeks.
• Whether the ads made from winners beat the untested ones. Week 6: winner ads at break-even or better. Week 12: most of the budget on winner ads at 1.1 times break-even or better.
• If views climb and sales don't, change the topics, not the method. He says himself that a view isn't a buyer: "does that equally mean that they want to buy? No."
• He warns the first three or four weeks of a new account feel slow. Keep going.

Where his advice fits us less. His proof is his own accounts and his agency's clients, with his own numbers. And his free-test method works best with a steady stream of views; our side accounts usually get a few hundred views a post, so early reads will be rough.

Alex Hormozi. Pick one machine and go all in: short videos built to be ads, posted free first, with the ones that sell moved into ads with the offer. Judge videos by who bought, not by views. Shoot lots of openings (10 scripts with 3 openings each), and feed the "proof machine": Nick asks recent buyers for 20-second phone clips, and you film the lab report next to the capsule. Say the offer in every ad's close: more active ingredient, published lab proof, 180-day money-back. You: 14 to 18 hours. Nick: 4 to 6.

Jack Appleby. One stream of videos, each made to work both free and as an ad. Spend your hours on great ideas and great openings, shoot 3 openings per script, and keep the one that holds people longest. Replay your greatest hits before inventing new ones. Judge by how long people watch, not likes. A no-product video has to be something only Opus could post: generic longevity tips fail, you on what the lab tests found passes. Post fewer, better videos rather than daily filler. You: 12 to 15 hours. Nick: 2 to 3.

Taylor Holiday. Ads only, for now. Most ads lose money and the top 5% of ads produce 73% of all ad value (his firm's study of about 1.3 million Meta ads), so launch as many as you can, about 8 to 12 new ads a week. Post the free version of each one on TikTok with the Shop link, but don't film anything extra for free posts. Get creators on commission so you only pay for winners. Nick adds a "How did you hear about us?" question after checkout and a 30-minute Monday scorecard of all sales against all ad spend. You: 20 to 25 hours. Nick: 6 to 8.

Cody Plofker (with Connor MacDonald and Connor Rolain). About 80% ad videos, with the free posts coming from the same shoot. Each script goes out the same week as a Meta ad, a TikTok GMV Max video and a free Reel and TikTok. Make 5 truly different stories a week rather than lots of small variations, because Meta can treat look-alike ads as one ad. Post 3 to 5 Reels a week on the main Instagram. Send product to 20 to 30 small creators, paid in product plus commission. Park YouTube: a new channel takes three to six months before you can tell if it's working. You: 14 to 18 hours. Nick: 4 to 6.

Joel Contartese. On TikTok, the video that pays is the one tagged to a product, so tag every video and let GMV Max pick it up. You can't be the volume; creators are. Nick builds a small creator group around BROQ: samples to 40 to 60 TikTok Shop sellers, a one-page brief (the lab proof and the guarantee), one call a week. Keep sending to creators who post every week, sales or not. Watch Amazon and people searching for Opus or BROQ by name too, because TikTok lifts sales elsewhere. You: 14 to 16 hours. Nick: 6 to 8.

Allison Ellsworth (Poppi). You're already the face, which most founders won't do, so tell your story. At Poppi the clever formats did nothing, and the night she told her story it "did a million views while we were sleeping". Shoot one founder video this week: why you started Opus and what the lab tests found about other brands' capsules. About 70% ad videos and 30% free-only short videos, shot in the same sessions. Nick's team answers every comment and DM within 24 hours. Collect emails and phone numbers. You: about 16 hours. Nick: about 7.

Paddy Galloway (called in for YouTube). A brand YouTube channel is all or nothing: "you either do it or you just don't do it at all." A weekly show squeezed between ad shoots is the half-done version he warns brands against. And Shorts viewers are a different audience from long-form viewers, so daily Shorts won't build a long-form audience later. Treat each short's first second like a title and thumbnail. Keep a list of short topics that beat their account's usual views by 5 times; those become your long-form titles when you're ready. Before starting long-form, you'd want 22 or more hours a week for six months. You: 14 to 18 hours. Nick: 4 to 6.

Where they agree:

• One shoot, both jobs: every video is an ad and a free post (all eight).
• No weekly long-form YouTube now (seven; Allison Ellsworth had no view on it).
• Your hours go into short videos, shot in batches, about 14 to 18 hours a week.
• Topics close to what we sell, with the lab tests and the guarantee at the center (Hormozi, Appleby, Ellsworth, Gary).
• Creators on commission, never flat fees (Gary, Holiday, Plofker, Contartese).
• Nick's team, not you, answers comments and DMs (Gary, Ellsworth, Hormozi, Plofker, Galloway).
• Judge it by sales, not just views (Hormozi, Holiday, Plofker, Contartese, and Gary for the ads).

Where they disagree:

• Free test first, or straight into ads? Gary, Hormozi, Appleby and Ellsworth want new videos posted free first, with only the winners going into ads. Holiday, Plofker and Contartese would launch them in ads right away, alongside the free posts, because more launches find more winners.
• More openings or more new stories? Gary, Hormozi and Appleby say shoot several openings for each idea and remake winners. Plofker, Rolain and Contartese say new stories find new buyers, and too many look-alike versions waste money on Meta.
• Who makes the volume? Gary, Hormozi and Ellsworth put it on you. Contartese, Holiday and Plofker put it on creators.
• Does a video have to name the product? Contartese and Holiday want every TikTok tagged to a product so it can sell on TikTok Shop. Gary is fine with mostly no-product free posts.
• How often to post? Gary says 2 a day. Appleby says about every other day per account, unless the ideas are good enough for daily.
• The Instagram grid. Ellsworth says make it a polished storefront, because people check it before they buy. Gary says even for a big influencer it's under 5% of viewing.
• Long-form later. Gary would start a cheap, unscripted weekly recording in week 3. Galloway says do it fully or not at all.

The simple version:

• No long-form YouTube for now. Look again at week 12.
• Your hours go into short videos, 2 or 3 shooting afternoons a week, about 6 to 10 scripts with 2 or 3 openings each.
• Every video goes out as ads and as free posts on four places: the side TikTok accounts, Instagram Reels, Facebook and YouTube Shorts.
• The proven hits go into ads now. After that, each week's free winners get ad versions.
• Nick starts creators on commission this week.
• Nick's team answers every comment and DM within a day.
• One weekly check of a few numbers: the Meta and TikTok 72-hour numbers you already watch, how many videos are at or above break-even, and how many free posts passed the winner rule.

What it should do, and when. These are the experts' estimates, built on our small numbers so far. They're not promises.

Ad numbers from Hormozi, Holiday and Plofker. Free posts from Gary. Creators and TikTok Shop from Contartese.

Hours a week (the experts' estimates). The first number is the full range across the eight; the second is where most of them landed.

The mix costs you about the same as ads alone, because it's the same shoot. The extra is mostly Nick's team's time, for posting and replies. For comparison, from 9 to 15 October you shot about 7 scripts and 15 versions, on three shooting days plus the earlier video 2.

• Gary Vaynerchuk: the person you asked about; free posts first, then ad money behind the winners.
• Alex Hormozi: offers and volume; judges content by sales, not views.
• Jack Appleby: creative strategy; fewer, better ideas, judged by how long people watch.
• Taylor Holiday: ad economics; most ads lose money, and profit is the only scorecard.
• Cody Plofker, with Connor MacDonald and Connor Rolain: hosts of the Marketing Operators podcast who run brands like Jones Road Beauty, Ridge and HexClad, and two new supplement brands; joining ads, free posts and creators.
• Joel Contartese: Bloom Nutrition, a supplement brand that runs on TikTok Shop creators; the closest match for TikTok Shop.
• Allison Ellsworth: Poppi's founder; founder on camera, community and replies.
• Paddy Galloway: YouTube strategist, called in to answer the long-form question.

• Meta, last 72 hours (13 to 15 Oct): 0.76 of break-even. Best window 12 to 14 Oct: 0.96. Before the video ads (8 to 10 Oct): 0.15.
• TikTok, last 72 hours: 0.75 of break-even, held at $200 a day.
• Meta budget: about $337 a day across four ad sets.
• TikTok GMV Max, 1 to 14 Oct: 62 orders, $3,472.98 in sales on $1,003.51 of ad money. BROQ was 90.8% of it.
• 12 of the 15 best-selling GMV Max videos were our own posts.
• Our biggest free hits: "AI reverse age" (29,400 and 23,100 views across its versions; the biggest ever, 500,600, was a different video, "You need to hear this", in November 2025) and "Top 3 supplements to live to be 200+" (19,700 views on 13 Oct).
• Usual views per post on the side TikTok accounts: about 270 to 790. On the main TikTok: 506.
• Instagram still posts: about 155 views each.
• Followers: main TikTok 4,707, @sulforaphane.longevity 1,344, Instagram 3,470, Facebook 204.
• Your output, 9 to 15 Oct: about 7 scripts and 15 versions, on three shooting days (12, 13 and 15 Oct) plus the earlier video 2.

• What changed from the earlier plan (15 Oct). That plan kept your time to 20 to 30 minutes a week and only posted videos already made, with YouTube Shorts in month 2 and long-form at day 90. This one answers the bigger question, where your 14 to 18 hours go, and starts YouTube Shorts and the hit re-cuts now.
• Ask buyers for short phone clips (Hormozi), and shoot one founder-story video about why you started Opus and what the lab tests found (Ellsworth). Both feed the ads.
• A "How did you hear about us?" question after checkout (Holiday). It's free, and after about 100 answers it shows roughly what the free posts are doing for sales.
• Collect emails and phone numbers from the free posts (Ellsworth), and let each week's winner write the week's email (Gary).
• Keep a list of short topics that beat their account's usual views by 5 times or more (Galloway). When long-form starts, those are the first titles.