I’m on a mission to break down what the best are doing in their marketing & business so anyone can do it, too.

“To break the rules, you must first master them.” - Audemars Piguet

I hope you enjoy it!

— Andrew

The $2 Billion Lead Gen Strategy Top YouTubers Use That Anyone Can Steal

This YouTube video strategy has catapulted videos to over 7 million views, but it’s also even made a single company over $2 billion, so what exactly is it? And how can you leverage it on your channel?

This YouTube video strategy is a “video sales letter.”  A video sales letter (VSL) is a video that pitches your product or services to a potential prospect.

Even the few people who leverage this strategy miss maximizing its potential.

So I’m going to share how the few best people actually leverage it fully to make millions (not an exaggeration; they run $5 million and larger businesses).

On YouTube, a VSL is a form of informational selling at scale by focusing on:

1. singular, specific problem
2. providing the solution to that problem
3. then asking them at the end to take the next step (call to action)

But before we look at how people in real estate have used this strategy to go viral and get 70,000 to 150,000 views literally, we need to look at the best of the best.

One thing I learned really early on in life is that when you want to model a “play that works” (Tom Ferry), going to the best will show you how to actually execute a high level.

So that’s what we’re doing looking at Ali Abdaal, who has over 5 million subscribers, making over $5 million a year from his YouTube channel, and has a handful of these types of videos.

One of the most recent has over 2.6 million views.

As well as Iman Gadzhi, a 20-something-year-old who’s a master marketer who has received over 7 million views on one of his most recent VSL’s.

Side note: I only observe the psychology of what he’s doing vs. his actual content because it’s engineered for a specific purpose.

But Iman has an impressive net worth of $33M to $85M (it’s challenging to find an exact number for obvious reasons) at only 23 years old.

So there’s definitely lessons we can learn from his marketing and business skills.

What did Ali and Iman do exceptionally well?

Even those in real estate using this lead generation strategy aren’t leveraging it fully like them yet.

First, Ali Abdaal has 2 consistent YouTube videos he creates for this strategy:

1) If I {WANTED X THING}, I’d Do This

Insert the what or who for your ideal audience:

• Business
• YouTube Channel
• Audience
• Millionaire

Ex. If I started in real estate in 2024, I’d Do This

He’s recreated it multiple times and even with different angles than that one.

2) How to {DO X THING}

Or the better video topic that Alex Hormozi would make is How I {DID X THING}.

Ex. How I Moved to Tampa - A Locals Guide

Because “How I…” is irrefutable and unduplicatable content. It’s unique. Aka zero of one.

But the structure is what makes their content work:

1. Hook & setup
2. Main value points & storytelling
3. Ending & payoff
4. Call to action

The hook and setup are like the blog title and intro paragraph, making you want more.

This generally talks about the problem and the solution the video will provide for that specific problem.

The main points and storytelling are the solution and how you present that information more engagingly by telling authentic stories & experiences.

This is a massive opportunity most miss… information is black & white and boring.

That’s why we get bored in school & inspired at church or during keynote speeches.

Telling authentic stories also allows us to add credibility to the conversation.

Notice how I said conversation?

Stories can turn it from a monologue to a dialogue in our head.

The ending and payoff are the rewards people gain from watching until the end.

Some use the 1.0 version of this, which is a summary.

Few use the 2.0 version of this to answer the question we’re all wondering, closing the story's loop.

The call to action is where you finally make the ask you’ve been waiting for. For real estate agents, it is, “So if you’re looking to buy or sell in my city, then email me @ to get started.”

So, one-way agents can leverage this is by creating a video about moving to their city and what someone relocating would need to know before moving there.

Then, link that video in the description of the other videos they create monthly.

But what Ali does that most agents don’t do is that he links this video underneath every other video on his channel.

This allows him to consistently send traffic to the VSL and close more clients on YouTube.

You may think you can take this and run with it, but Iman Gadzhi does something even Ali Abdaal doesn’t do with his VSLs.

While Iman’s strategy and structure are very similar to Ali's, Iman takes it from a VSL 1.0 to 2.0 by making it a campaign on his YouTube.

He thinks about it holistically throughout a given period, whether 30 days, 90 days, or a year.

There’s a complete strategy behind how he drives traffic to the video.

And I will break it down in more depth later so we can keep this shorter & sweet.

First, it builds on what Ali Abdaal does, but more is that Iman actually creates videos around the topic for months and then pitches throughout those videos or, at the end, to watch the VSL video.

Top YouTubers use this strategy at the end of every video to keep you watching more after the call to action. They “pitch the next video” and explain why you should watch it.

So, as an agent, I would:

1. Create the VSL video
2. Link it underneath every other relevant video i.e., other relocation videos
3. Pitch the video at the end of other relevant videos to send viewers to the VSL

And just by doing those 3 simple things, you can create a consistent flow of traffic that transforms viewers into warm leads to clients on YouTube.

But to fully understand why VSLs print money for top YouTubers (& before we dive into the full real estate version of this), we need to see how the Wall Street Journal used regular print sales letters to make over $2 billion before the internet.

The sales letter that printed $2 billion nearly on autopilot over 28 years

The famous Wall Street Journal direct-sales letter “Two Men” from 1975-2003 is responsible for more than $2 billion in sales and subscriptions.

Sales letters work because you exponentially scale sales beyond the time of 1 or even multiple salespeople because you remove time from the equation.

A sales letter is an asset you create once; in the WSJ’s case, for example, the only thing they tweaked for nearly 3 decades are just numbers, which printed over $2 billion.

Now, if you take that asset and layer on video, which is the quickest way today to build:

1. Trust
2. Connection
3. Credibility

You create a cocktail founded by a guy named Jon Benson, the godfather of the VSL and a billion-dollar copywriter.

Rather than relying on the written word, video can leverage:

• Tone of voice
• Facial expression
• Storytelling
• Emotion

Now you start to see why this YouTube VSL strategy has made people like Ali Abdaal and Iman Gadzhi millions of dollars. But what about real estate?

Two people in real estate really hit the nail on the head when it came to incorporating a VSL on their YouTube channel. But I don’t know if both did it on purpose or not.

First, the agent/course creator, Jackson Wilkey created a video called, “If YOU are Relocating to HOUSTON TEXAS... WATCH THIS!!!” With 80k views.

For reference, the Living in Houston Texas channel has only 30k subscribers, so it broke out and went viral, aka an outlier video for their channe

Jackson’s video structure:

1. Hook and intro - talks about if you’re moving to the area; this video will show you the top areas you should consider and the areas you will want to rule out.
2. City overview & geography - this briefly talks about the general geography and how people get around the area. This is a macro map breakdown of the city.
3. The main top areas are broken down into segments (main value points)  - one example of this is north, south, east, and west. This is where they talk about the main factors buyers care about: schools, homes/new construction, affordability, things to do/amenities, commute, and other local insights & recommendations.
4. Ending call to action (payoff) - this is where they summarize, plug the playlist for more detailed area videos to get them to watch more, and invite viewers to book a consultation call.

However, Jackson could model Iman and Ali by having the primary CTA in the first line of the description or at least somewhere in the description of other relevant videos.

Now, Brad’s most recent video has gone really viral, with over 130,000 views and counting in only 3 months.

For reference, he only has 43,000 subscribers, so that video broke out. It’s an outlier video.

Brad’s video structure:

1. Hook & intro - he hooks you in by sharing stats of Calgary’s growth and then the goals of this video: share why people move to Calgary, what to expect, and who it might not work for
2. The main points are everything A to Z:
3. City overview - he talks about facts about Calgary you need to know about: the population, location, landscape, diversity & economy.
4. Affordability - he talks about jobs, household income, home affordability, and other cost of living factors.
5. Housing - while that was more macro market details, he dives a little into the micro. Details on low speculation, abundant land for building, and supply/demand balance enabling affordable properties.
6. Personal Story - personal experience living here long term & transitioning to realities some may not expect.
7. Weather - overview, comparison between 2 other major areas Ontario & Vancouver, and main benefits of Calgary
8. Outdoors - overview and some specific details
9. Things to do - the slower pace, entertainment, major attractions, etc.
10. Other practical things - transportation, healthcare, and education
11. Retention secrets Brad uses are all in the filming, the broll, etc
12. Ending calls to action - summary, feedback in the comments, and then pitch more Calgary content for people to watch.

One thing Brad can do now is plug this video into other videos on the channel in the description.

He can mention it in other videos or pitch it at the end, as viewers need to watch the following video if they’re considering moving to Calgary.

I want to be clear that Brad didn’t build his highly successful listing business using this strategy.

It was built from his world-class listing videos, which I broke down in this YouTube case study article.

So I wanted to share this strategy because, unless you’re studying marketing, you may never see it.

But now you can leverage the VSL strategy like top YouTubers.

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