I made a video for Arcade Errors (and why you should make your own)

Hey guys,

I just made a video for Arcade Errors, a tool that turns boring error pages into fully playable retro arcade games.

This is very similar to the videos I'm going to be making for the #1 winner every week. That's one of the prizes for finishing on top. Arcade Errors actually took #1 in its launch week back in May, before I started doing these, so this one was a bit overdue. I thought it was a really cool project, and I needed to get back in the swing of making these anyway.

To give you some context on how well these tool videos can do, here's my top video. It went super viral on TikTok:

And as more proof: a few years ago, a video like this literally doubled the revenue of my product Notifier.so overnight and took it past $10K in monthly recurring revenue. It was made by Ross, an influencer whose audience was a perfect fit. He later became my co-founder on a different product, Stammer.ai, which took off in 2023 and is still going strong (I'm more passively involved these days).

So yes, videos like this, and influencer marketing in general, can work really well.

Two ways to do it

You can either make the videos yourself (which I highly recommend), or find influencers to make them for you. If you go the influencer route, keep two things in mind:

1. Audience fit is everything. I got lucky with Ross because his audience was exactly the kind of people who'd want Notifier.so. Most people don't get that lucky. Always ask yourself: is this person's audience actually likely to care about my product? If not, it doesn't make sense.
2. Expect to pay. You'll rarely find influencers who will do videos for rev share. You wouldn't believe the amount of money poured into influencer marketing. Some brands have even pulled back because the ROI isn't always there, and now they mostly use creators for UGC content to run in their own ads.

Some founders go after micro influencers: smaller audiences, but up and coming creators who are cheaper to work with. I've never done that myself, because I decided to just make my own videos. Even at my size (about 12K followers on TikTok and 11.3K on Instagram), I get offers all the time of around $500 a video to promote random AI startups. These are called brand deals, and I turn them down. I have my own AI products, and it's just not worth it to me.

Make them yourself

But here's the whole point of this newsletter: don't be afraid to just make these videos yourself.

I can't tell you what an accelerator it was in my own life once I stopped worrying about what people think. You're going to think I'm an idiot, but here's what did it. Back in 2024, I moved from Texas to California to start Stammer.ai. The business was going incredibly well, but my personal life was falling apart. I had just gone through a bad breakup, and I made a decision: I was done letting fear decide what I do.

As part of that, I started cold plunging. There's something about forcing yourself to do one thing every single day that scares you a little. For you it doesn't have to be cold plunging. It can be making videos. But you have to stop fearing what people think about you. That alone will unlock so much.

It doesn't matter if you think you have no presence. Your first videos are going to suck. As far as I'm concerned, mine still suck, but you should see the ones I started posting three or four years ago. They were so bad. You'll improve fast. Just get out there and make them.

And remember, every week I'm making one of these for the #1 winner. So stay tuned.

P.S. This week's launches are live, and voting closes Sunday at midnight Pacific. Go vote for your favorites, or if you're launching something, submit it here for a shot at #1 and your own video.

Tim