Attention Idea: Wow... $12K/month with Al books:

Wow... $12K/month with Al books:

Twitter / X

General

Pat Walls

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Updated: August 4th, 2025

The Post

Title/Hook: Wow... $12K/month with Al books:
Format: Share A Customer Testimonial
Impressions: 200000
How many followers they had at the time: 80000

Check out the post -> link

Why it works

🧠 Part 1: Why This Post Works (Psychological Factors)

1. Contradiction + Curiosity Hook

"\$12K/month with AI books" followed by: – 90% of customers are over 65 yrs old 😆

This is an unexpected combo. AI? For seniors? That contradiction instantly creates intrigue. The emoji softens the tone and adds playfulness — you’re not just impressed, you’re charmed.

This hits on the "Curiosity Gap" — it creates a mental mismatch that makes you want to resolve the question: “How the hell is AI working for old people?”

2. Hidden AI = Anti-Hype = Trust

“Nowhere on the landing page will you find the word AI.”

This line is a masterstroke.

It taps into:

AI fatigue (many users are jaded by gimmicky AI products)
Authenticity bias — readers believe the founder focused on product-market fit instead of trend-chasing

This builds credibility and admiration: “Oh, this person is actually solving a real problem, not just riding hype.”

3. Low Barrier to Entry

“Started with \$500”

This sparks vicarious hope — readers imagine themselves doing the same.

Psychologically, it activates the "This could be me" effect. You're removing excuses by showing it didn’t require a big team, funding, or special access.

It also lends itself to status-reinforcement sharing — readers feel good reposting it because it aligns with bootstrapped, clever, scrappy values.

4. Credible Attribution + Social Proof

“He grew it 8X using the starterstory.com/academy framework…”

Now we move into proof-of-framework, which quietly sells without being pushy.

You take credit for the result without being salesy — instead, you frame the user as the hero. This is Trojan Horse marketing — the story delivers the value, and the framework rides in quietly behind it.

Bonus: “deep work every day, smart goals, shipping fast” sounds practical and achievable — even refreshingly normal — which reinforces the believability.

5. Tagging the Hero = Reciprocity Trigger

@TomFromRealLife you are a legend 👏

This is high-leverage:

It publicly rewards the creator
Encourages resharing by them and their community
Triggers identity reward: if they can be called a legend, maybe I can be next

People love posts that make others look good — it’s status gifting, which makes the author look generous and connected.

6. List Format = Fast Processing

Bullet lists break the story into digestible chunks. It’s skim-friendly, which is crucial on platforms like X where dwell time and scroll speed are everything.

meet the author

Pat Walls

I'm Pat Walls and I created Starter Story - a website dedicated to helping people start businesses. We interview entrepreneurs from around the world about how they started and grew their businesses.

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