How I've Grown By 800,000 Followers Since 2016

Here are the highest follower counts I’ve had on each platform since 2016:

1. Facebook - 500k before deletion

2. Youtube - 160k

3. Medium - 60k

4. TikTok - 48k

5. Instagram - 20k before deletion

6. LinkedIn - 20k

7. Substack - 17k

Combined, I’ve garnered over 800,000 followers online since 2016. You might look at all that and say “Wow Tom! What growth hacks were you using?”

Well, I wasn’t exactly using any growth hacks.

I was doing something subtle that every single person reading right now can do..

• I saw what worked on certain platforms.

• I created stuff I loved that also worked on these platforms.

Many writers think that growing an audience requires making stuff you hate. In reality, and no bullshit here, it’s about finding what works on social media and creating stuff you love within that box.

In December of 2018, I was staying in a high-rise Airbnb in Manila. I rented it for a month as I searched for long-term apartment leases, and it was my third full month in the Philippines.

My Facebook Page was growing rapidly back then. Every time I posted a video that got more than 200,000 views, I’d grow by thousands of followers in a matter of hours. I kinda felt on top of the world.

Not many know this, but Facebook actually pays video creators really well, too. A few months before I came back to the Philippines, I made a video that got 2,000,000 views, and it made me $2,000. That was way more than what Youtube was paying me for 1,000,000 views.

At the time, the Miss Universe crown had just went to a Filipino, and there was some big drama surrounding her for an answer she gave in the final round.

First off, you have to understand that Filipinos love their beauty pageants. I once got to be a judge of one in a Filipino province. It was an.. interesting experience, and taught me that Filipinos really look at beauty pageants as a source of pride.

I read her response, which was about poverty in the Philippines, and couldn’t for the life of me understand what was wrong with her answer. She really knocked it out of the park.

So I wrote a video script about what happened, sharing my thoughts on the matter, and made an entire video in about 6 hours. When I published it, I could tell immediately this video was going to go viral. It had like 60 shares within 15 minutes, and by the time I went to bed it was already up near 200,000 views.

It ended up finishing with over 6,000,000 views, and I made $6,000 from 6 hours of work.

I tell this story to show you a core belief I have about growing an audience online.

It’s impossible to grow an audience if you aren’t making stuff you believe in.

Literally all of my most viral articles, videos, Substack Notes, etc. featured thoughts I believed in with all my being, with no thought given to self-censorship.

This takes believing in yourself as a creator.

Two years before this video went viral, I was road tripping across the United States in my Mazda 3. I wanted to be a travel blogger, and figured I couldn’t be one without actually, you know, traveling.

I had little confidence as a writer, and didn’t think my words, or myself really, held a lot of value. This was before I even started writing on Medium.

But one fateful night I wrote a more personal article than usual, and shared it on Facebook. A few hours later, a girl I knew from high school—who I had a huge crush on—sent me a message saying how much she liked my latest blog post.

I can’t tell you how much this meant to me. It felt like winning $1,000,000. It was oxygen for me.

The truth is, gaining confidence in ourselves as creators is really hard when we’re stuck in the void. And that confidence, I’ve realized, is absolutely essential for making stuff you believe in.

So, how do you get that confidence?

Honestly, for me it came from pure trial-and-error. Like, I just made a bunch of stuff and eventually one or two people started taking notice. It was pure consistency and randomness.

Randomness not just with the “luck” of finding an audience, but with topic. I’d write about my favorite sports show, then a place I visited, then a personal thought I had. I was really exploring many different areas in my writing, and eventually people—and myself—realized I was pretty good at writing the personal stuff.

Funny, because that’s also the stuff I loved writing the most!!

It took me years of trial-and-error to get there.

For me, there’s three immutable rules of growing online..

1. Make stuff you believe in with all your heart.

2. Have complete trust in your creative talents.

3. Make stuff that also works on social media.

It’s really not about growth hacks. Yes, studying what goes viral is important, but it’s more about understanding it so you can make something genuine that fits into that “viral” box. See what I’m saying?

Unfortunately, it takes a LONG time to learn all three of these rules.
FORTUNATELY for you, there’s an upcoming program from my good friend Teri Leigh 💜 that will teach you all of these rules and more.

The Creator Retreat is a 10-month writing program with 10-15 participants. It starts in March and goes until December. There’s four main facilitators..

• Teri Leigh 💜 - Founder of the Creator Retreat, my good friend, and mindfulness mentor who helps folks uncover the inner wisdom they don’t even know they have.

• Alexander Lovell, PhD - INCREDIBLE writer on Substack who’s stories teach us how to live a little better. He’s written many viral Notes featuring down-to-earth mini-stories.

• Amanda Saint - The official writing expert of The Creator Retreat’s 2026 cohort. Amanda writes a bestselling newsletter on Substack, where she combines practical writing craft instruction with a mindfulness approach to help writers develop authentic, powerful voices.

• Neil Cunningham 🫧 - Low-key the coolest member of the 4 facilitators.. Neil is known for offering feedback that helps writers tune into what they’re really trying to say—then discover the next version of it.

It’s really cool, because the Creator Retreat has two kinds of monthly workshops..

1. Spiritual inner-work

2. Writing as craft

Like I said, you need to not only know how to write, but also have confidence in yourself.

Every month, Teri, Alex, and Neil lead workshops about spiritual inner-work. For example, in May there’s a focus on rootedness. Teri writes,

“Rootedness shows up in the way we pace ourselves, the way we hold boundaries, the way we trust our own timing. We notice what strengthens when we stop floating above our lives and start writing from the ground we actually stand on.”

I love the last part of that, “and start writing from the ground we actually stand on.”

That sounds a lot like trusting in yourself as a creator instead of making what you think people want to see.

Here’s a list of all the “topics” for each month from March to December. Each month builds on what you learned in the previous one, until you’re 100% clear on what makes you stand apart as a creator, and what lane you need to occupy in 2027 and beyond.

Then you get more tactical monthly workshops from Amanda Saint, who covers things like:

1. MARCH: Clarity in Chaos: Writing Techniques for When Your Mind is Scattered

2. APRIL: Purpose-Driven Prose: Crafting Writing with Clear Intent

3. MAY: Sensory Writing: Creating Immersive, Grounded Experiences

There’s also a monthly workshop with a guest speaker. Some guest speakers include Kristi Keller 🇨🇦 , Mel Moseley, and Megan Lee. I’m also guest presenting in August! So I’ll see you inside if you want to apply.

Apply For The 2026 Creator Retreat

I don’t know about you, but I find it basically impossible to write about something I can’t stand talking about. My work NEEDS to be connected to me, and what I yearn to say. If not, writing feels like pulling teeth.

Other writing programs will teach you how to grow an audience, but most of them pay little mind to marrying your writing with who you actually are. And why would they? It takes a LOT of 1-1 time and familiarity to understand who someone actually is so you can guide them in the right direction as a writer.

It’s easy to give out viral templates. It’s hard to teach people how to grow online WHILE staying true to themselves. That’s damn near impossible, because it takes time.

Teri’s Creator Retreat is a 10-month program. Yes, it’s involved. But I guarantee when you get to the end of it, you’ll have 100% crystal clear clarity on what sets you apart as a writer, who you actually are, and how to get views on your work.

Some people spend years figuring that out. Some never figure it out.

You owe it to yourself to grow AND love what you’re making at the same time. For me, there’s no alternative to that worth talking about. If you’re not enjoying what you’re making, it doesn’t matter. And with Teri’s Creator Retreat, you will enjoy what you’re making.

If you’re interested in this, apply to her program right here.

Applications close on January 31st, and the program starts in March.

I hope to see you inside!

Tom Kuegler