How We Grew to 740k followers in 8 months + New Recipes, New Pup Pot Meals and COOKIES!
Today I wanted to share with you our journey to 740,000 subscribers on social media (Tiktok & Insta) over the last 8 months. It’s been a lot of luck, but there are some things that I’ve learned along the way that I hope can help and inspire other people to do new and creative things.
Before that, a few updates:
New recipes posted for you and your pup!
Bark BQ Bao
Product Updates
All preorders for Pup Pot Meals shipped earlier this week. It’s in stock now, but supplies are super limited. Due to the success of our Pup Pot Meals we decided to add a hypo-allergenic mix that includes omega-3s from salmon and natural zinc from oysters. Instead of beef & eggs, all you need for this one is ground turkey to make a balanced meal. It’s on presale here now!
We get asked a lot about when the cookie mixes are coming back. Our new spring flavor, Berries and Cream, is on presale now too. They will ship in March. If you’ve been waiting for them, pick them up here now.
How we grew to over 700,000 subscribers
The Beginning:
Cedric started his life on antibiotics because his whole litter came down with a nasty bug. It really messed up his insides and he started having digestive issues on kibble. His stools were like tar. Out of desperation I fed him an egg. Not only was he able to keep it down, he absolutely loved it and slowly he started to get better. It struck me then that I needed to be feeding him real food.
Thecedlife began as a personal channel to document Cedric as he grew up, mostly so that I could remember it and share it with my friends and family. I posted once in a while, usually about cute daily things like the clothes I would make for him or training him with talking buttons. One of the first videos that got a little traction was him trying on some dog boots. I just tried to capture funny things and share them.
Lesson #1: Take a strong position
Early on I posted a video about litter box training. I tried to be funny by saying that I can sleep in while other dog parents have to take their dogs out in the rain. It garnered interest and a lot of push back. Some people loved the idea and asked how I did it. Other people were grossed out by the idea of their dogs pooping in the house (don’t you also poop in your house? hehe).
With any idea or content, there will be people who like it and people who dislike it. The more that this happens the better it is, because then people actually care. It’s great for dialogue and means people are interested in the topic. The stronger your stance the more dialogue it creates. It’s why you see crazy content made especially to trigger people all over social media. It works.
Lesson #2: Find a strategic angle that’s both novel and practical
My first food video on Tiktok didn’t actually perform very well. It was a video showing Cedric’s daily stew and how I prepare it with high-quality ingredients. Because it didn’t get many views, I didn’t do food for a while because I (mistakenly) believed that people didn’t want to see his food. I went back to trying funny things, some of which actually did quite well. One video I used Cedric’s paw as a phone, another one was a video of him trying on shoes which was super silly. Both of those videos got hundreds of thousands of views.
Because there was no theme connecting our videos, I was always lost on what to post next. I tried a second dog shoe video, but that one only did a small fraction of the views of the other shoe video. Would I be able to build a channel on just shoes when most dog owners don’t even use them? What is something practical and useful where I could take a strong position? The most special thing about our lives was the homemade food, so I decided to lean into it and try different concepts. Shortly afterwards it became clear that people liked when his food looked good enough for humans to eat. That became our theme, because why shouldn’t dog food actually look and taste delicious?
Lesson # 3: Keep experimenting
Most content creators have a video formula that they always follow. A lot of them are very successful, so there’s no need to make any changes. If something works why fix it? But throughout history the organisms, people and companies that outlast the others are the ones that are the most adaptable. It’s never been the strongest or fiercest that last. T-rex was a formidable creature, but died out quickly when the environment changed. Cockroaches, though, survived and still thrive today.
To be adaptable I’m constantly trying new video formats. They often flop. The challenge is figuring out if it is the execution (e.g. how I shot or edited the video) or the idea itself that wasn’t successful. How can I create the most value for the person watching? Is something that’s always on my mind. When I go back and analyze old videos with fresh eyes, it usually becomes clear why they were successful (or not).
Lesson #4: Don’t go at it alone
Mr. Beast is probably the best creator in the world now. If you listen to his interviews he talks about this group of Youtubers that he worked with every day for the first few years. They just got on the phone and talked in between making content.
Even though you don’t see him in my videos, I have a partner, Robin, that I work with closely. We are constantly brainstorming ideas and new ways to do things. Finding the right collaborators helps to amplify and improve ideas. When you get the partnership right, the added brain power isn’t just 1+1=2, it’s more like 1+1=1000.
Lesson #5: Figure out what you’re giving your audience, and amplify it
Every movie, every book, every good piece of content has a specific intention. People go see a Rom-com to laugh and feel warm inside. They go to watch thrillers to get excited and feel nervous. Or they go to horror movies to get frightened. The best directors are super clear with their intentions and do everything they can to build these feelings in their audience.
The clearer you are on the specific emotion for your content, the easier it is for you to make decisions. If your goal is humor all you have to do is ask yourself if this is funny. Whatever it is, the more you can explain it, clarify it and be intentional, the more this will improve your ability to create this emotion in your audience.
Am I trying to teach something? Is it just for entertainment purposes? Are also good questions to guide the way you craft content.
This is by no means a definitive guide. It’s really just what’s worked for me. I think that most of these points are applicable beyond just content creation and really can be used for any creative work.
I hope you all have a great rest of your week and enjoy the weekend!
All the best,
Joelle, Cedric and Edith