Thomas Frank and Ali Abdaal Replied to My Tweet
When someone like that Tweets you, it’s only natural to tell the story.
In March of 2020, early-stage pandemic, I heard about a note-taking app called Roam Research. I fancy myself in being a neophiliac, so as soon as I heard this is a new company that didn’t even have a mobile app yet, I was hooked.
After I made an account and figured out the basic features, I took to Youtube to try and learn some good workflows. I came across a few videos, but nothing major. Instead of getting discouraged by the seeming lack of resources in the market, I decided to see this as an opportunity.
The Twitter community was raving about how awesome this app was and how much it was going to change the way people took notes. So, I learned the basic features and made some tutorials.
Currently, my channel has 715 subscribers and is growing every day. There is no doubt that all of the growth came from the content on Roam. Particularly, one video I made highlighting the differences between Roam, Notion, and Evernote (That’s now at over 8.6k views).
I was getting emails about how to use Roam and people were even hitting up my Twitter and Instagram asking for how to improve their workflow. Some cool stuff was happening with it!
However, people caught on. Other accounts started making the same tutorials and teaching others how to use the app. It was mainly smaller accounts, so I wasn’t too worried my audience would get taken.
However, Thomas Frank (1.94M subs) and Ali Abdaal (866K subs) have both recently made videos about it.
Upon seeing their videos and their countless subscribers ask them questions and take to the app, I was pretty discouraged. In one sense it was cool that bigger accounts were teaching an app I love. But on the other hand, I had a fear that my account would stop growing because now these huge accounts are making videos on it. So, I did what you naturally do when you’re discouraged — Tweet.
I contemplated whether or not I should tag them. I didn’t want them to think I was upset. Obviously, they can do whatever they want, but I did think people should be able to see their accounts if they wanted!
The next day, this whole incident behind me, a blue “4" appeared above the notification bell on my Twitter home screen. After I got my hit of dopamine, I clicked on the bell and see this:
I couldn’t believe my astigmatism-filled eyes. Thomas Frank replied?!
Within seconds, another notification appeared above his.
No way! Ali too?!
And then, the kicker of them all:
My stomach sunk beneath my feet.
He followed me?! Ali Abdaal followed my Twitter?!
I immediately sent a screenshot to my fiance. She was so proud.
Although some might feel it’s immature to act this way when someone Tweets you, it was a big deal! They’re both high profile Youtube accounts that post around the niche I’m in and I’ve learned a lot from both of them. Thinking about the time it took Thomas Frank to draft a four-part tweet, just to reply and encourage some kid on Twitter means a lot to me.
If I wasn’t already the biggest fan of both of them before, I am now. That’s the power of social engagement and what it can do to a personal brand.
If you have a brand account, personal or business, no matter how small or how large; engage with your community. You never know whose day you might just make.
And Ali, Thomas, if you ever need a video editor or content creator, I’m your guy.