This success story shows us the potential of AI in content creation and audience engagement, which we can apply in our own business.
Dom Ashburn, a serial entrepreneur, set out to build a media platform with the ambitious goal of gaining 100,000 subscribers in just 30 days.
In the end, he accomplished in a mere 22 days.
Why we need to look at this case study?
The challenges faced by content creators in today’s digital landscape are:
(1) Many struggle to find a clear direction
(2) Content creation require significant time and resources, which are often limited
(3) the abundance of theoretical tutorials but lack of practical, actionable guidance
Dom’s diversified revenue streams, including consulting, brand partnerships, and course sales, illustrate a sustainable business model that many aspiring content creators and entrepreneurs can learn from.
Let’s dive in to see how he did it~
Dom’s background:
Dom has always been a playful (innovative) kid. When he was in primary school, he received an ordinary geography homework — to draw a topographic map with colored pencils.
Most of his classmates completed it obediently (by drawing), but Dom was not satisfied with the “ordinary”. aa
He ran to his father and said: “I want to make a real topographic model!”
His father not only supported him, but also accompanied him to buy model trees and glue, and even went to the park to collect moss.
In the end, he brought a super three-dimensional topographic model to school, which instantly shocked the whole class! This experience taught him that: “As long as you dare to think and find a way to realize it, you can create results that exceed expectations.”
The journey has its ups:
After dropping out of school, Dom did not stop.
He and his friends opened a small waffle stand in the school cafe, used the money they earned to buy their first camera, and set up a small design company.
His first client turned out to be a professor at the school!
The professor trusted him completely and asked him to take charge of a large-scale photography project.
This experience made Dom feel the true creative freedom and strengthened his confidence in starting a business.
And downs:
But reality is not always rosy.
He found that starting a business was much harder than he had imagined.
Customers were unstable, income depended entirely on word of mouth, and he was worried about rent every month.
He described those days: “Life was like a tug-of-war with no end.”
And the common question:
He tried various directions: trend culture, brand design tutorials, and even angrily filmed a “complaint video”, but none of them attracted attention.
Every time he opened social media and saw the cold interaction, he couldn’t help but doubt himself:
“Am I really suitable for this?” (who can relate? If it’s you as well, pls comment “self doubt” so I know this is what you’re facing!)
Just when he was about to give up, ChatGPT had just appeared.
After a series of failed startups, Dom decided to try content creation.
He made a bold decision: to rely entirely on AI to help him create!
He began to study how to use technology to optimize the creative process and free himself from the tedious content production.
He had an idea: “Since I don’t know how to do it, let the AI tool tell me!”
He decided to input the brand information he wanted to build into the AI tool, get creative suggestions every day, and continuously optimize the content strategy based on the feedback.
So in 2023, he boldly launched a challenge: using AI (ChatGPT) to gain 100,000 followers in 30 days.
By interacting with AI, he not only achieved his goal in 22 days, but also successfully turned this process into a global phenomenon, attracting countless people to imitate and learn.
What can we learn from this case study?
(1) Core questions: Why do it? What do you do?
What is Dom’s original intention?
Help more people find their own possibilities. Dom has had the habit of “exceeding expectations” since he was a child, and likes to achieve unexpected results through creativity and action. This way of thinking has helped him find his own direction in content creation — not only to create content, but also to create valuable content.
(2) What problem do he solve?
Dom’s challenge is: how to win in the fiercely competitive content creation market? How can you stand out from the crowd? (who can relate? If it’s you as well, pls comment “stand out” so I know this is what you’re facing!)
He found that many people are interested in creation, but lack direction and tools.
His content not only records his own growth, but also helps viewers find their own breakthroughs through real stories and methodology.
(3) What value do Dom provide?
Market needs are:
It is difficult for content creators to get started and the direction is unclear. Many people lack time and resources and cannot create efficiently. Most tutorials are too theoretical and lack practicality. So Dom’s positioning is very clear:
through real experience sharing and tool assistance, he helps ordinary people quickly get started with content creation.
We also have to find our value when starting a business. (will share more details about it later)
(4) How Dom attracts customers:
How to get users?
- Challenging content to attract fans: He attracted a lot of attention with the challenge of “increasing 100,000 fans in 30 days”, and the audience was moved by his real experience and efficient methods.
- Continuously output useful information: He not only shares successes, but also shares lessons from failures, which brings him closer to the audience.
- Community: Through interaction and Q&A, a highly active fan group has been established.
(5) How Dom maintains customer relationship:
Dom’s core strategy is to attract fans with real growth stories, use tools and methodologies to truly help the audience, and then achieve revenue growth through diversified monetization.
(6) Dom’s key activities:
Dom does not simply publish content, but constantly optimizes his creative strategy through data analysis and audience feedback.
For example, he will observe which videos have high interaction rates, and then adjust the script and rhythm to further improve the effect.
(7) What Dom gets:
Diversified income through course sales, brand cooperation, consulting services
(8) What Dom costs:
Nothing or just the subscription fees to AI tools!
This is a very classic “content + education” path, but Dom uses his own experience to make it more down-to-earth and credible.
His journey from a dropout to a successful content creator provides reference value to us to learn from his model.
It is one of the best business to start with as little as no costs.
IF HE CAN DO IT, YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
I’m using the personal business model canvas to analyse,
if you want my guide on creating your own personal business model like Dom, follow and DM me at @conniethegrowthbabe on IG “business mode” and I’ll fetch you the link to download.
