The What's Up Strategy
Ten seconds of unsolicited attention turns followers into super fans.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 92%
The What's Up Strategy is Flynn's method for tipping community members into super fans through tiny, unsolicited personal messages. He picks a recurring window — walking his dogs for an hour on Fridays — and fires off quick personalized video messages to people who recently commented or subscribed. Each message takes under ten seconds, asks for nothing, and simply thanks the person and offers help. He gets through 60 to 80 in an hour with a 95% reply rate, and many recipients become super fans because they received something other brands never give: a little attention.
Origin
Flynn developed the tactic as a practical demonstration of a super-fan conversion point in his book Super Fans, and lives it as a personal ritual on his Friday dog walks.
Core principles
- 01Not everything in business should be 100% scalable, especially human-to-human interaction.
- 02A small moment of surprise and personal attention costs nothing but time and consideration.
- 03People screenshot and share genuine personal reach-outs, multiplying the effect.
- 04The underlying human need being met is belonging and being seen.
How to run it
- 1
Choose a repeatable window
Anchor the habit to an existing routine, like a one-hour dog walk, so it happens consistently without stealing dedicated work time.
Pro tip Two leashes in one hand, phone in the other — the point is it fits into life you're already living.
- 2
Find recent engagers
Open comments on a recent post or your list of brand-new subscribers to find people who just raised their hand.
- 3
Send a quick personal message
Record a short video or voice note using the person's name, thank them for following, and offer to help with anything — under ten seconds each.
Pro tip Use their actual name so it's unmistakably personal, not a template.
Watch out Do not sell anything in the message — a pitch collapses the goodwill instantly.
- 4
Do it in volume
Batch dozens in a single window. Flynn reaches 60 to 80 messages per hour with a roughly 95% reply rate.
In the wild
Mid-interview, Flynn opened Instagram, found a commenter named Omar on a recent post, and recorded a quick video: 'Hey Omar, it's Pat Flynn here, I hope all is well... thank you so much for following the channel.' He sent it and noted it took under ten seconds.
→ Demonstrated live how effortless the tactic is; recipients like this routinely reply saying it made their day and often screenshot and share the message.
Common mistakes
Chasing full scalability
Insisting every activity scale to infinity means skipping the unscalable personal touches that actually create super fans.
Sneaking in a pitch
Turning a warm hello into a sales ask breaks the surprise-and-delight effect and makes the outreach feel transactional.
Is it for you?
Best for
Any creator or founder willing to trade a bit of unscalable time for deep fan loyalty.
Not ideal for
Teams unwilling to have the founder personally show up, or purely automated funnels.
From the transcript
“on Friday I walk my dogs around the neighborhood for one hour... I'll get through 60 to 80 in in that one hour 95% reply…”
“not everything in business should be 100% scalable especially when it comes to the human to human interaction”
From the episode
Pat Flynn: Online Business 101, How to Generate 6 Figures of Passive Income and Create a Cult of Superfans
Pat Flynn