My 20-Minute Instagram Routine That’s Raised Over $2M

We’re going to talk about how to get investors to come to you—one post at a time. Specifically, how to raise capital using social media.

This was the same presentation I gave at last week’s Charleston Mastermind. If you missed that episode, definitely go back and check it out—it was a good one. I shared this talk with all the Mastermind members during our time in Charleston, and honestly, I think this is kind of my superpower.

Focus on the Right Audience, Not Just the Numbers

Over the past 12 months, we’ve raised over $2 million in capital just through social media. That’s not from ads, paid traffic, or massive teams—just smart, intentional posting. Most people don’t realize this is even possible, or they assume it’s out of reach.

Some don’t know where to start or feel intimidated to take that first step. Many think they don’t have time. That’s why I want to walk you through what we’ve done—and how we’ve made it work—without spending hours every day.

Let’s start with something important: nobody cares about private lending. Most people haven’t even heard of it, and yet, I see a ton of beginners trying to grow their audience by posting about it.

It’s way too niche. You’re not going to get mass engagement, and more importantly, you’re not going to attract capital investors that way. People with money—like your neighbor, cousin, or coworker—don’t even realize private lending exists.

So, if your goal is to raise capital, don’t lead with that. It’s not what works. You need to think bigger and meet people where they already are.

When people ask me, “What should I post about then?” my answer is, I don’t know exactly—but here’s what I do. I post about general finance because it interests me, and it speaks to a much broader audience.

If you’re not already following me, I’m @BryceMathis on Instagram. You’ll see I talk about budgeting, saving, investing, and sometimes roast Dave Ramsey. I focus on building wealth and growing your lifestyle—not just one small niche topic.

That doesn’t mean you need to do the same. You could talk about financial freedom, the pros and cons of the stock market, passive income, or something else entirely. As long as it’s relevant and you’re genuinely interested, it works.

As long as it’s relevant and you’re genuinely interested, it works.

If you’re stuck, here’s a great mental trick: think about what pisses you off the most—and turn that into your mission. Most people can list five things they hate way faster than one thing they love. Use that emotion as fuel.

If I asked you to name the worst part of your day, you’d probably have a few answers instantly. Ask about the best part, and you’d need a minute to think. Lean into those frustrations—they’re a great place to start when you’re unsure what to post.

Now let’s talk about views—because they don’t matter… until they do. And not in the way most people think.

I’ve had videos go viral that brought me tons of new followers—but zero qualified leads. One example: my first viral Reel hit 3.9 million views. I gained 1,000 new followers, but not a single person reached out to invest.

This was when I had maybe 1,500 total followers. I was experimenting, trying to figure out what would stick. That video? It was me in a drive-thru behind a flatbed trailer with a bumper sticker that said, “Fat girls welcome. It’s a one-ton.”

Funny? Sure. Relevant to my audience? Not even a little. The video took off, but I attracted people completely outside my target demo. Think Idaho, dirt bikes, and beer—not passive investors.

That’s when I learned: views don’t matter unless they’re the right views.

Then I posted another video, which ended up being my highest-viewed video ever. Nearly 9 million views. I gained 2,100 followers and 17 leads. Seventeen out of nine million.

The concept was solid—it was a joke about the IRS. I’m at my desk, staring at a framed photo. The caption says, “Sometimes when I get stressed, I remind myself who I’m doing this for.” Eventually, you see the frame—it’s the IRS logo.

It was funny and somewhat related to finance. That’s why it worked better. Still, it wasn’t hyper-targeted, so it didn’t drive real investor action.

Now compare that to another video I posted. This one only had 337,000 views. But it brought in over 250 leads. That’s the difference between going viral and getting traction with your actual audience.

The video? Just some B-roll of me leaf-blowing my driveway. The caption said, “Investments I don’t f*** around with as a financially free real estate investor in my 30s.” In the post, I listed the things I avoid—crypto, Bitcoin, and so on.

That’s it. That simple post made me look like an authority. It drew in my ideal followers. The kind of people who messaged me directly with one word: “Invest.”

I replied manually to each one: “Hey! I’d love to tell you more about our real estate investment opportunities.” Some didn’t qualify, some didn’t have the money—but even converting 2–5% of those messages made a real impact.

That’s what I mean when I say views only matter if they’re coming from the right people.

… views only matter if they’re coming from the right people.

Let’s shift to followers, because this is another vanity metric people get caught up in. I’m not saying followers are useless, but they’re not the goal. They’re a signal, not a strategy.

Here’s how I measure success: I compare my follower count to average video views. If you have 1,000 followers and average 1,000 views per post, that’s excellent. If you’re pulling double that? Even better.

A 1:1 view ratio is strong. Less than 1:1 is incredible. 2 or 3 views per follower is still really solid. But 4:1? Average. 5:1 or higher? Not ideal.

If you have 1,000 followers but only 200 views per post, something’s off.

Right now, I get around 5,000–6,000 views per post. I’ve got about 10K followers. That’s a 2:1 ratio—pretty solid. If you’re performing under that, it’s probably time to tweak your messaging or your content style.

I’ve got a friend with 100K followers. His posts get 2,500–4,000 views. That’s a 25:1 follower-to-view ratio and that is not good.

To be fair, he’s shifted his focus away from social growth. He’s not trying to convert leads online anymore, so it’s less important for him. But if you are trying to build your brand and attract investors, you can’t afford that kind of drop-off.

Bottom line: followers don’t matter that much. What matters is who’s watching—and why they’re watching. Make your content for the right people, and everything else takes care of itself.

Pick Your Lane and Own It

The next thing I talked about was having a “thing.” What I mean is having something you’re known for—some little signature that sticks in people’s minds.

During the presentation, I showed a picture of Gary Vee. If you know anything about him, what’s the one thing he always talks about wanting to buy? The New York Jets. His content isn’t about that, but he’s said it so often that now people connect the two automatically.

Same with Alex Hormozi. He never skips dessert. That’s become part of his personal brand. His content is about business, sure, but that one quirky detail gives him personality. When people see dessert, they think of Alex. That’s the goal—stay top of mind, even in small, silly ways.

That’s the goal—stay top of mind, even in small, silly ways.

For me, it’s White Monster energy drinks. If you follow me, you already know. I went a little dramatic during the presentation and said: “Bryce only drinks White Monsters because they’re not just energy drinks—they’re the liquid embodiment of ambition, bottled lightning forged in the frostbitten heart of a productivity god.”

It got a laugh, but the point was real. I love White Monsters. I think they’re absolutely delicious and I’m not exaggerating—I get 10 to 20 reels a day from random people tagging me in White Monster content.

Now, every time someone sees one, they think of me. That’s branding. It doesn’t have to be your main thing. In fact, it shouldn’t be. But you should have some kind of fun, quirky signal.

Maybe yours is pickleball. Maybe it’s gardening or knitting or gourmet hot dogs. Doesn’t matter. I follow a guy named Eric who has this hilarious running bit. Every time he boards a plane, he records the gap between the jet bridge and the plane door and grades it. If there’s no light showing through? That’s a perfect 10. If it’s wide open? He’ll roast United Airlines with a “5 out of 10.”

Now, every time I board a plane, I find myself judging the gap. I think of Eric. It works.

Let’s move to the next point: you absolutely need a curiosity gap.

A big mistake people make in content is giving away the payoff too early. Someone will say, “Today, I’m making chocolate chip cookies,” and boom—scroll. The brain says, “Got it. Next.”

A big mistake people make in content is giving away the payoff too early.

Think about the movie Taken. If Liam Neeson rescued his daughter in the first 15 minutes, would you stick around for two more hours? Of course not. There’s no tension, no build-up. Nothing pulling you to the end.

The best-performing content always leaves some curiosity unanswered. I saw a reel recently where a guy rolls a giant wooden spool into frame. Then he tapes a five-gallon water jug to it. Then he drills holes, adds foam, and builds something strange.

You can’t look away. You need to know where it’s going. That’s the power of a well-executed curiosity gap.

Here’s one I did: My wife filmed me pulling food out of a Chipotle bag. The caption read, “When I’m rich, I won’t tell anyone—but there will be signs.” I take out my bowl, then chips… then pause.

People are glued to see what’s next. Finally, I reach in and pull out the little side cup of guac. Boom. It lands. Funny, fast, and it keeps viewers until the end.

That’s the goal: get people to stick for at least six seconds. If you do that, the algorithm will reward you. I promise—you’ll get at least 100,000 views. Probably more. It’s not about hacks – it’s about holding attention.

Now, let’s talk platforms.

I personally focus on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. That’s it. I don’t mess with TikTok, LinkedIn, or Snapchat anymore.

I personally focus on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. That’s it. I don’t mess with TikTok, LinkedIn, or Snapchat anymore.

I’ve tried them all. Instagram and Facebook give me the highest click-through rates. YouTube is a close second—or even better in some cases. TikTok? Lots of views, zero clicks.

People used to flood TikTok because it was easy to go viral. But remember what I said: views don’t matter unless they convert. You can have a million views and still no one clicks your link or fills out a form.

Same story with LinkedIn. I’ll admit—I might just suck at LinkedIn. It probably works for some people, but short-form content doesn’t thrive there in the same way.

Snapchat? Even worse.

Now, Instagram has a great feature: when you post a reel, you can toggle it to also post on Facebook. It doubles your exposure with zero extra effort. That one little setting has gotten me some serious traction.

In fact, I posted a video to Instagram that hit 16,000 views. Same video, same moment, auto-posted to Facebook? Over a million views. Wild. It was another Chipotle video too, which I guess the internet loves.

I don’t know why—but Facebook’s making a comeback.

And YouTube? Don’t sleep on it. The click-through rate is massive. If I were starting from scratch today, I wouldn’t spread myself thin. I’d pick one platform, maybe two, and go all in.

If you’re more into short-form content, focus on Instagram. If long-form’s more your thing, go with YouTube. You can always clip YouTube videos into shorts and reuse them on Instagram too.

Just don’t try to be everywhere. Pick your lane, own it, and let the compound effect do its thing.

Just don’t try to be everywhere. Pick your lane, own it, and let the compound effect do its thing.

Making Social Media Work for You

Next, let’s talk about something crucial: don’t try to automate your creativity. People can tell. It feels robotic—and it’s boring.

When I started creating content around private lending, I had the same idea most people do. I thought, “Cool, I’ll just record one podcast per week, chop it into seven clips, and post them every day.” I figured I’d hand it all off to a VA and call it done.

Bad move. That formula screams lazy content. It’s what everyone’s doing, and no one cares.

You’ve seen it: Zoom podcast clips, person on top, person on bottom, talking into bad mics with echo-y audio. Unless you’re already famous, that content’s getting 200 views max. People might watch Hormozi or someone big, but they’re watching because of the person, not the clip itself.

If you’re building from scratch, those Zoom-style clips are dead in the water. Skip them.

If you’re building from scratch, those Zoom-style clips are dead in the water. Skip them.

There’s one exception: in-person podcasts shot with high-quality cameras. You’ve seen these too—multi-angle setups, crisp lighting, solid audio. The vibe is totally different in person. There’s more energy, more presence, and your audience can feel it.

Still, even with those, don’t overdo it. I’d recommend posting maybe one or two of those a week. If you post one every day, your audience will check out. People are craving real, raw, authentic content.

We’re in the era of the iPhone. If your video looks too polished, people assume it’s an ad and scroll past. That might shift in the future, but for now, vertical, iPhone-shot content wins because it feels personal and real.

Now let me walk you through my Instagram blueprint—what I do daily to stay consistent without losing my mind.

I post one reel per day. I post three Instagram stories per day. That’s it. Takes me about 20 minutes total.

Sounds like a lot? It’s not, and I promise you can do it too. The trick is to build a backlog of content so you’re not scrambling every day.

Whenever I make a reel, I always save it before posting. There’s a small down arrow icon in the editor—tap that. It saves the high-quality version to your camera roll

Once you post a reel, you can’t re-download it in full quality unless you use a third-party tool, and trust me, those degrade the video. Reposting a low-res version rarely performs well. People can tell when the quality’s off.

So I save every reel in a folder on my phone. On days when I’m swamped or uninspired, I just grab one from the archive, hit post, write a quick caption, and I’m done. It is a massive time-saver.

At first, yeah, you’ll have to create new content to build that library. But once it’s there, it’s a goldmine.

… you’ll have to create new content to build that library. But once it’s there, it’s a goldmine.

And let’s be real—we all doom scroll. You’re lying in bed, you’re on the couch after work, just scrolling reels. I save the good ones because inside Instagram, you can tap the little flag icon to save content to a folder.

On days I don’t want to repost but need inspiration, I go to that folder. There are thousands of reels in there I can recreate or remix. I’m not copying them word-for-word, but I’ll put my spin on it—usually in the finance niche. That practice has saved me countless hours.

One quick myth to bust: captions don’t matter that much.

I don’t mean ignore them entirely, but don’t stress over writing an essay below every reel. Especially don’t rely on hashtags to carry your content. Hashtags are mostly useless now.

People used to think hashtags boosted discoverability. Not true anymore. Nobody searches by hashtag, and Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t favor them like it used to. I’ll toss one or two in now and then, but I don’t expect them to move the needle.

Instead, think of your strategy as jab, jab, jab, jab, hook. Most of your reels should just provide value—make someone laugh, teach something quick, or tell a story. Don’t always sell.

If you’re throwing a right hook every time—asking someone to buy, DM, opt in—you lose trust. Save your CTA for the moments that matter.

Save your CTA for the moments that matter.

Speaking of CTAs, here’s a big shift I made: I stopped putting them in the reel itself. That last slide that says “DM me XYZ”? It tanks performance. No idea why. Maybe it’s Instagram throttling the reach, maybe it turns people off. Either way, it flops.

What I do now is write my CTA as a comment on the reel and pin it to the top. More people see it and it feels less aggressive. And it gets way better engagement.

Few people scroll down to read captions. But they do read the top comment. That one little change has made a huge difference—especially when a reel starts to go semi-viral. I’ve had 50k+ view videos where I wished I had pinned a CTA earlier.

Trust me. Save the good reels. Pin the CTAs. You’ll thank yourself later.

Save the good reels. Pin the CTAs. You’ll thank yourself later.

Now let’s talk hooks. If you don’t grab attention in the first two seconds, you’re toast.

You know what doesn’t work? “Today we’re baking cookies.” Instant scroll. No tension, no story, no hook.

I’ve built a whole list of hooks I use and reuse all the time. Here are a few of my favorites:

• “If you take away one thing from this reel, let it be this…” That line grabs people fast. Then I follow with something punchy—like “stop budgeting, start investing.”
• “Wait… have we talked about this?” Feels casual and mid-convo. It makes people curious.
• “So I’m scrolling Instagram and I see this…” Simple. Relatable. People stop to see what comes next.
• “Does anyone else feel confused as hell?” Great way to lead into a clarifying point.
• “And what people don’t understand is…” It feels like they’re jumping into a hot take mid-flow. High curiosity.
• “Stop doing this one thing…” Classic, but it works.
• “You want to know the dumbest thing I’ve seen?” Gets people to hang around just to see if they agree.

Cycle through these. Mix them in. Having a bank of tested hooks will keep your content sharp and scroll-stopping.

Lessons, Hacks & Final Thoughts

Okay. Moving on to the stories. I typically do three a day – minimum.

And I do no more than 10 maximum. There’s a sweet spot, right? So three times a day is fine. Five times a day is fine.

Once you get past like 6 and up to 10, people get bored and they swipe and go on to the next person. I’m sure you’ve seen it before where people have had like all those little teeny tiny dots at the top of their story because they’ve put like 200 on for the day.

And it’s just like, ah, I don’t have time with this. I just go next, next, next, next. I don’t have time for that.

There is a sweet spot. I would also say a lot of people tell me, “Bryce, I don’t know what to share”. There’s all sorts of stuff.

It doesn’t have to be like unique or newly curated content. Just talk about what you’re doing. You can also reshare a reel of somebody else’s.

It doesn’t have to be like unique or newly curated content. Just talk about what you’re doing.

I do that all the time. Obviously reshare a reel of your own or any other semi-applicable thought.

For example, the other day, Robert Kiyosaki posted something on his Instagram, which was absolutely stupid. He was talking about how paying off debt was one of the biggest financial risks ever. I can’t remember exactly how he said it, but that was the gist of what he said.

So, I reposted that and said, I get what he’s saying. I know what he’s saying, but I also disagree with this. You should pay off your debt, but I wouldn’t say paying off your debt is one of the biggest financial crisis that you could run into. Obviously it’s Robert Kiyosaki, so he has his own avatar and audience that he’s getting towards, but that was on my story. I just commented and reposted it, then I got some engagement from that.

So basically any semi-applicable thought as I’m going through other people’s content you can share.

Now I would make sure to stay away from any super polarizing topics like religion or politics. I have an acquaintance that I know on Instagram and she had like 110,000 followers. Around the election she posted a story of her wearing a MAGA hat and overnight she lost 30,000 followers.

Now, I don’t care if you’re Republican or Democrat, but I would just stay away from politics on Instagram because it is so polarizing because you’re going to lose people. You’re going to gain a more dedicated audience, but the goal is we want to kind of cater to everybody so that we cast this broad net rather than being super hyper focused and niched on this other stuff.

The other thing you can talk about—and I know earlier I said not to—is private lending.

Now, I still wouldn’t recommend making reels specifically about private lending. But if you’re discussing loans you funded that day or paid off, absolutely share that in your stories. This is where you can show up authentically. It’s just you—if people don’t like it, they can mute your stories.

… if you’re discussing loans you funded that day or paid off, absolutely share that in your stories. This is where you can show up authentically.

It really doesn’t matter. Talk about your wife, your kids, or even the movie theater you visited. That kind of personal content is totally fine because it keeps you front of mind and present.

Now, the last thing I’ll say about stories is something I call the 24-hour story reset hack. Occasionally, I’ll post a sequence of fix-and-flip before-and-afters, and at the end, I include a call to action like, “We’re looking for private investors.”

Here’s the issue: Say you have 1,000 followers and on any given day, you might only get 100–250 story views. Realistically, it’s probably closer to 100.

So what do you do if you want to get more eyes on your stories? Let all of them expire—don’t post anything for 24 hours. Then, wait another 24 hours.

After that full day with no posts, upload the exact same content you would’ve shared before. That post will likely get 500 views or more, depending on your following.

Why does this happen? Honestly, I’m not sure. My theory is that Instagram rewards your return with a little visibility boost—almost like, “Oh, they’re back! Let’s push their stuff.” Whether it’s intentional or not, I’ve seen it work repeatedly.

So if I’m planning to do a plug—like, “We’re looking for investors for XYZ deal”—I’ll let everything expire first and wait a full day.

Then I’ll post my call to action, and it consistently gets far more views than it would have otherwise. Keep that in your back pocket—it’s a handy little hack.

A few other closing thoughts on social media:

Be very careful when soliciting deals online. That’s where you might brush up against SEC securities laws.

Unless you’re running a 506(c) fund, and your investors are accredited, you cannot publicly say, “I’m raising capital for XYZ.” That falls under general solicitation.

Most people don’t have a fund like that, and if you’re under a 506(b), it’s still not allowed. However, what you can say is:
“We just funded this deal—my investors made $12,000.”

That works because it’s a statement of fact, not a direct solicitation. If someone reaches out to you after seeing that, that’s different than you broadcasting, “We need funds.”

So be mindful—there’s room to share, but stay on the safe side with SEC compliance.

So be mindful—there’s room to share, but stay on the safe side

Here’s another quick takeaway:

In the past, I used to get really worked up about negative comments on my content. People would hate on my videos, and I’d let it bother me. I’d reply in DMs or respond in the comments section.

Now? I genuinely don’t care and it’s actually become humorous. What I’ve realized is that my reaction to haters says more about my self-perception than anything else.

You cannot cater to everyone—and you shouldn’t try to. Some people will always disagree. That’s okay. Let the hate roll off your back.

That said, I occasionally like to do a “Trolls of the Month” reel where I poke fun at the most ridiculous comments I’ve gotten.

Ironically, those posts tend to perform really well. Most people aren’t trolls—they actually agree with me—and they enjoy seeing that kind of content.

So how’s that for information overload? That was basically the presentation I gave to our mastermind group in Charleston.

If I can help you sidestep the mistakes I made, speed up your content creation, and raise capital faster, then it’s all worth it.

If you have any follow-up questions, I’m all ears. Feel free to reach out at podcast@joinlender.com—I’m happy to offer tips, tricks, or insight.

I’d also love to hear what’s working for you. So, if you’re creating content that’s working well, or if there’s something I’m missing, let me know.

Take it for what it’s worth—hopefully, you pulled something valuable from it.

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