If I told you this high school dropout was a YouTube genius, would you believe me? I'm about to reveal the real truth about how Iman Gaji is worth over $100 million at just 24 years old. People think Iman came from money, but the truth is, he was as self-made as it gets. Born in South Russia, he was initially raised by a single mom and his grandparents. He started a service-based business to run ads for businesses called IA Media. While that may have made him a few extra pennies, there's a secret to Iman's fame and fortune over the last couple of years that no one is talking about.

The true brilliance of Iman has to be the business he's built off of his YouTube audience. I mean, literally, less than two years ago, he had 200,000 subscribers on YouTube. But now, he has over 42 million, averaging a million views per video and gaining 200,000 subscribers per month. This is something that absolutely no one has done in the make-money online realm. And there's one thing he did back in July of 2022 to spark this unreal fame: he built an in-house short-form content team of 20 people to put out 7,000 pieces of content across all platforms. Yeah, 7,000 shorts, and he gets over 100 million views combined with this method.

Iman even claims that because of this, if he stopped posting, he'd get 5,000 subscribers a day and millions of views per month. Still, even with those few factors, there's still something missing, because just posting content, getting videos posted about you, and swapping out a few thumbnails won't do anything long-term if the strategy isn't right, not to mention if the videos themselves are good. But we'll get into that a little bit later. Puzzle pieces will start to connect for you with how he monetizes everything together to make millions a month.

First, he uses a mass-market appeal approach to reach as many people as possible, but even though it's mass-market, there's still specific targeting in mind, particularly those who are time-rich and cash-poor. These are the people aged 15 to 30 who want to escape the matrix. So Iman gives them exactly what they want and what they need: a path to follow, a leader to believe in, and an enemy to blame for their failures. This is the perfect recipe to get a cult-like following. Iman fortifies his relationships with the audience by building more credibility with his vlog and behind-the-scenes content, where he flashes his lavish lifestyle, cars, and bodyguards that open doors for him. This creates such authority that it allows him to sell the dream when he does.

So his content strategy is obviously great, but how does he use all these eyeballs to make money? At the top is his attention funnel, fueled by short form, and his VSL disguised as the best business video. And this is his most popular video because, A) it's an interesting topic, and B) he has every other long-form video linked to that one. These naturally bring awareness to his brand and link to the offer landing page. His offer was the course Agency Incubator many years ago, but that has since turned into Navigate. And now that course is a part of his education company, Educated.io, where he's building a full-stack, make-money online education program. So that's the main left side of the funnel that powers everything consistently.

The other side of the funnel is the events that he does every quarter. These start with a ton of YouTube and Instagram ads to collect emails, which then push a YouTube miniseries of three to four videos over a 10-day period where he creates an enemy, such as the government or social media apps, and ultimately defeats them with a new installment of his course inside of Educate in the final video, where he pushes viewers to buy. It's actually a textbook replica of the product launch formula by Jeff Walker, but it is genius and it works, so can't blame him.

So now that you understand his content strategy and his business model, there's just one puzzle piece left to put into place: Iman uses his personal brand to create an offer that fuels the majority of his businesses. So if you want to inject some juice into your personal brand, fill out the form on my website, and we'll see if we're a good fit. If you're not a personal brand and don't want the juice, then join my free weekly newsletter for growth tips. The final piece to put in place is how exactly Iman is a master in video creation itself. And though it's not the editing, animations, and lighting that's taken over YouTube finance, it's the subtle things that keep your eyes peeled on it.

It all starts with the hook in the first act of the video. Rather than using a flashy intro, he confirms the click by using psychology and emotion. Doing so using a four-step simple formula. First, he makes a bold claim. Then he defies the norm with denial and curiosity. He fulfills his claim with evidence and provides the solution. Typically resulting in a

lingering question in the viewer's mind that brings them to the next stage of the video.

Iman has a few more tricks up his sleeve to reel the viewer in. He uses dramatic music to enhance the viewer's emotions, specifically the fear of missing out. Not only for yourself, but for your future family. He'll also add in a time factor. But not in the Mr. Beast 24-hour challenge way. Honestly, you have no time to waste.

That isn't all, though. There's still even more that goes into this hook. Starting with the dramatic background lighting. He uses two primary colors, red and blue. And this, of course, is the iconic combination for Iman. Not only does this establish intense branding for him, but also the psychology behind those two colors. Because red means power, seduction, and danger. But blue means trust, intelligence, and depression. These colors are often used in the thumbnail on a similar set as his actual one. This helps condition the viewer to click because they see the red and blue, and they're actually conditioned to watch because of the final two acts of the video.

Iman creates questions in the viewer's minds that we feel need to be answered. That is more than likely, most people think. They want my life, but they don't really want my life. And this is done through the power of nostalgia and creating expectations. He addresses common concerns and typical life events of the viewer to drive this home. Then he'll bring in the dim reality of the situation, not achieving goals, etc. And if you feel stressed today, take a break. You know, give yourself a break. You deserve a break. It will be stressful, and it will be painful. You will suffer from mental health issues. This stimulates the brain to stick around for a good ending.

And no, I don't mean the end of the video. I mean the end of the curiosity loop. Because once Iman brings up a question in the viewer's mind and provides a good ending, listen, it's not all perfect. I feel like at least you're a little bit more prepared to go into war. He'll immediately open up a new question, thus creating a loop. The third trait needed to become a millionaire simply isn't talked about enough. This is done over and over throughout the video. Lucas wouldn't be nearly as effective if he didn't have the visuals at the beginning of each one. That is where the editing comes into play. Other than that, the editing actually plays a very minimal role overall.

In the final act of the video, Iman brings the harvest home. He focuses on the viewer themselves, bringing them a positive impact at the end to make them feel productive and happy once again. Harping emotions—they're the most powerful tool a creator has. And Iman is a true puppet master of it. But even though you understand his business model and how he reels you into his videos, this isn't the only way to go about it. In fact, there's another kid born near Russia who blew up in this same space on YouTube. See how he did it and made his millions right here.