For those who’ve been on finance TikTok these days, you have in all probability seen Dean Indot reply his spouse Alexis’s finance inquiries to the tune of hundreds of thousands of views.
Dean, a industrial banking exec and Pepperdine MBA, and his spouse Alexis went viral from certainly one of their first-ever movies. It wasn’t lengthy earlier than Dean’s reading-chair rant on why you may not wish to use your debit card fairly often bought 14.5 million views. Now, their TikTok account, @alexisanddean, has 1.7 million followers.
We sat down with Alexis and Dean to debate why their content material struck such a chord, once they began making massive cash from it, and why instructional content material is so vital.
Alexis and Dean Idot
Credit score: Mashable composite: Zooey Liao; Instagram/ Getty Pictures
How did you guys provide you with the precise idea on your movies?
Dean: Alexis is fairly energetic on social media. I am under no circumstances. I exploit LinkedIn for work, and my firm manages that for me. And I exploit Twitter or X for my funding information feeds and knowledge. That is concerning the extent of my utilization of social media.
She at all times asks me questions, simply as a pair, about finance stuff. It is simply how we speak. We sit down and we hang around, and it is at all times questions. Proper after the mini monetary disaster in ’23, I am immersed in that as a result of I am a banker. So all of the bankers on the market had been closely immersed in that for these two to a few weeks of chaos. The lengthy story quick is: she requested me to elucidate it. She needed to know what was happening as a result of the typical individual did not perceive what it means when banks exit of enterprise. Why? So she requested me a query, after which I defined, and that was the primary video.
Had been you uncomfortable in any respect with the concept of answering her questions on digicam?
Dean: No. I did not notice it was being recorded [at first]. I am not uncomfortable in any respect. And enjoyable truth: I do not watch any of my movies. I might solely watch the movies in case there are modifying necessities or some remark that claims I stated one thing untoward or unsuitable. However I by no means watch my movies.
Do you edit them?
Dean: Alexis does all the pieces. She comes from digital advertising and is an entrepreneur. She had her personal enterprise for a few years, all of which was marketed and pushed by social media. I don’t know what occurs after she takes the video.
Alexis: I movie all the pieces in a single take. If it is for a model [and] if a model requires edits, I’ll do it in CapCut, however all of our natural content material is filmed in a single take, after which I publish it instantly on TikTok. I simply add somewhat title to it by way of the TikTok app, however I do not edit our content material in any respect.
Dean: For those who see the setup right here, you’d know there isn’t a manufacturing right here. I do not actually have a mic. It is her iPhone.
Alexis: All the things’s accomplished on the iPhone digicam.
Dean: Not even a stick or a stand. She simply holds it. And that has not modified since day one.
Why do you assume viewers gravitate towards that?
Dean: Authenticity. What you see is what you get,
Alexis: [We get] feedback [about how people] really feel like they’re sitting at a desk with us.
The place do you each provide you with inspiration or concepts on your movies?
Dean: I am very energetic in being attentive to information, to the financial system, to markets. I am an energetic dealer — not by commerce, however for private causes. I am actually sitting right here each morning earlier than the market opens, listening to information all day till it closes. I am a information hound. That is simply how I’m. What I do is interpret the information for the plenty on social media who do not wish to learn or haven’t got the time to learn. So the content material concepts simply come organically. If it is not a model deal, it is often natural. It is one thing attention-grabbing on the market that I wish to speak about, or she thinks it is actually attention-grabbing that folks do not perceive.
Alexis: There will be a headline within the information, and Dean shall be going off about it. And it makes good sense to Dean, however I don’t know what is going on on. I’d ask questions that appear elementary to him, however I type of signify our viewers in a means that not everybody understands what is going on on. So typically it’s going to be me asking questions, simply attempting to get a proof on present occasions.
Are you able to type of stroll me by way of the way you go from ideation to publishing a publish?
Alexis: I ask Dean the query, [and] I will get the content material that I would like. After which, so far as posting it, typically I’ll backlog content material. We’ll movie a bunch of stuff in sooner or later. Dean’s actually busy, so we’ll have filming days the place we do a bunch of content material in sooner or later. If it is a sizzling matter, we’ll movie it that morning and publish it straight away.
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After I’m able to publish that piece of content material, I add it to the TikTok app. It is essential to make use of hashtags on TikTok. Not a lot Instagram, however cataloging your content material on TikTok is de facto vital. So I ensure that I exploit as many related hashtags as I can consider. A few of our favorites are #FinancialLiteracy and #FinancialEducation. Dean would not know something about hashtag technique.
Dean: No concept.
Alexis: I ensure that I at all times hashtag related hashtags. Then I tag the placement, after which we add it. I do not maintain something within the drafts; I simply maintain it like on my digicam roll in my telephone. And it is actually simple and easy. There actually is not a lot of a course of aside from we movie.
What number of movies are you posting on common every single day?
Alexis: On common, we publish 3 times every week. One factor that we simply began is Monetary Literacy Fridays. I can movie a bunch of content material that is not time delicate with Dean after which maintain it as a backlog. That means, I am posting each single Friday, it doesn’t matter what. We simply did the primary one, and we bought virtually one million views. So it appears to be well-received. And that is hopefully a brand new cadence for us transferring ahead.
When did you notice you could possibly generate a major earnings from this?
Dean: The primary video [we posted] went viral, however I did not actually take note of it in any respect. I might say six months into it.
Alexis: Dean thought it was type of a joke at first, however we bought one million views on the primary video, after which that very same week, we bought one thing with like three or 4 million views, and nothing was getting beneath 300,000 [views]. And I knew that was a very massive deal. [It took us] two months to get into the TikTok Creator Fund.
Dean: They began paying out very well on engagement. As soon as it handed 5 figures in income, that is after I [said], “Wait a minute, that is bonafide. This isn’t a joke.”
You had been getting 5 figures from the Creator Fund?
Alexis: No, not [at first]. Solely this yr.
Dean: At first, we had small model offers right here and there, what I name “humorous cash.” It is fuel cash.
Alexis: However we’re actually solely two-and-a-half years in, and to see how a lot we have grown has been actually type of loopy.
Which monetization strategies do you utilize?
Alexis: The Creator Fund. There’s something known as Specialised Rewards on TikTok, the place they reward creators who make what they name instructional studying content material. And we have been chosen to be in that program as properly. In order that’s been actually nice for model offers.
Dean: Now we have a few longer-term contracts, however once more, we’re very choosy about that, too, concerning the model offers. I view this enterprise not simply as about making as a lot cash as I can as quick as I can; it is extra about serving to the neighborhood… I might by no means do a model deal if it is a product that I would not use or that I have never used already. I am very, very strict about that.
Alexis: Even when it is a product that I believe is an effective product. If Dean’s like, “It is a good product, however it’s not one thing that matches my way of life,” we nonetheless will not. It needs to be one thing that we personally use and luxuriate in.
Is that principally manufacturers coming to you?
Dean: No, all of them come to us.
Alexis: I’ve a supervisor, however I might say 98 p.c of all the pieces is inbound to us.
How rapidly you turned profitable on TikTok is kind of an anomaly, proper? It isn’t that frequent to have your first video go viral. Was this your first try at virality?
Dean: It wasn’t even a strive.
Alexis: I had different channels.
Dean: She thought it was humorous.
Alexis: Properly, no, I had a small enterprise that I might promote on Instagram that I’ve spent years constructing, and I by no means had the success that I had with this channel.
[For this project],I filmed one video and I launched myself and [said] what I used to be gonna be posting. After which that very same night time, I posted the very first query I requested Dean, and out of the gate, it did very well. It wasn’t an concept that I had recycled and needed to strive a number of instances. It simply labored the primary time. I believe it was a mix of the content material type and the subject that we picked. It was such a sizzling matter at the moment. I’ve realized that the content material that does the very best on our channel typically is a sizzling matter. Being on it with what’s related works very well with TikTok. The algorithm appears to love it.
What recommendation would you give to somebody who’s beginning out in content material creation and is seeking to construct a profession or develop their following much like yours?
Dean: What you see is what you get. I am not attempting. I am not doing something that is not usually me.
Alexis: What Dean simply stated. When individuals ask me, “How can we replicate what you guys have accomplished?” I simply inform individuals to be themselves. Once you’re creating content material, should you’re not filming with a accomplice in the way in which that we’re, I inform individuals to behave such as you’re on FaceTime with your folks. TikTok appears like somewhat neighborhood, a small household, individuals that you simply speak with every single day, and interact together with your feedback. Movie as should you’re speaking to your good friend on FaceTime.
