So I came across this kid randomly via TikTok. Then I started seeing his story on almost all other platforms (brilliant). What amazes me the most about this is that at just 15 years old, he’s a savvier marketer than most adult marketers I know. He intuitively “gets” it.

Now, after watching some of his videos, I realized he’s doing a great job of sharing everything that’s worked for him so far. It’s smart — he’s spent 2 years (from 13 to 15) “honing” his craft, and is only now sharing lessons and “secrets” learned. He’s even honest about the fact he outsourced his early design and editing jobs, just so he could make his money first.

Snapchat’s Discover feed is where hundreds of millions of people find relevant, inspirational, entertaining and informative content every month. Shows are distributed within the Discover feed and are created by a select community of global partners, including trusted news outlets, media companies, creators, sports teams, and more.[1]

Daniel and his friend (Luke) hopped on to Snapchat Shows pretty early on, which meant they were able to capitalize on the exclusivity. It wasn’t a well-known way to make money, and so they kept it that way while they “raked in the dough.”

Two years later, they’re only now sharing their process with others. And kudos to them! I had never heard about anyone making money from Snapchat Shows alone. They found their money-maker, kept it hidden, and doubled-down on it.

Here’s a summary of the above interview:

The way Daniel and his friend make money is crazily simple, but the best business models usually are. They made mid-six figures per month through Snapchat shows alone.

Their main source of income is ad revenue generated by their faceless channels on Snapchat. They create content automation, running various accounts with voiceovers or compilation shows.

Additionally, they also make money through ad revenue on YouTube. They focus on pulling views on these faceless channels and monetizing them through advertising.

Becoming Snapchat content creators posed several challenges for Daniel and his partner. Here were just some of their challenges:

Despite these challenges, they persisted by learning from their experiences, adapting their content, and taking advantage of the opportunities Snapchat provided for content creators.

As Mark Cuban essentially said, once you’ve found a truly novel way to make money, keep it to yourself. This is actually a timeless principle from Napoleon Hill’s Think & Grow Rich. Once you have your “definite purpose,” stay silent about it while working towards it.

You may talk publicly about all the other things you’re doing that’s related to your goal, but your main aim might be better hidden (until you’ve achieved it). This is a way you can balance your inner work with outer.

The reason for keeping it hidden is because not everyone will have your best interest at heart (even some family and friends). In Issue #064 of my newsletter, I spoke about Alex Hormozi’s $100M Leads book launch. There’s this video of his where he talks about what he experienced at the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey, to when he started becoming “successful.”

When he was sleeping at a gym, people were supportive. But as soon as he started growing, the very same people started to treat him differently (exhibiting everything from jealousy to envy). It really hit him hard. The lesson he learned was, “people will support you so long as you’re not better than them.”

In conclusion, Daniel's story of making $500,000 a month through Snapchat Shows is an inspiring example of what can be achieved with persistence, creativity, and a willingness to try new things. His success serves as a reminder of the importance of finding the right niche, trend-jacking, and creating entertaining content to gain viewership. Additionally, his decision to keep his money-maker hidden until he was ready to share his lessons and secrets learned is a valuable lesson for aspiring entrepreneurs.