There's a Gold Mine sitting in your DM inbox right now – and most people walk right over it every single day.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with my good friend Sean Malone on the Marketing Minds Podcast. Sean is the co-founder & CMO of Flow Chat, the author of the book “DM Me,” and quite possibly the most qualified person on the planet to talk about Direct Message selling.

Why? Because over his 25+ year career, Sean has personally sent over 1.5 Million DM conversations – and he's tracked what actually works the entire time. He's trained over 8,000 sales professionals, worked with 5,000+ founders, and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales through the DMs.

In our conversation, Sean shared the 4 Most Profitable DM Campaigns he's ever discovered, his 3 Golden Rules of DM Copywriting, and the exact framework he uses to turn a cold message into a closed deal. I took a LOT of notes, and today I want to share the best of it with you.

As a Reminder, Our Goal with this Newsletter is to Give You the Highest Level of Value Possible. That's my Promise to you & I intend to Over-Deliver!

Here's a Sneak Peek at What's Inside This Email:

• The 4 Most Profitable DM Campaigns of All Time (Sean's exact frameworks after 1.5 Million DMs) 📩

• The 3 Golden Rules of DM Copywriting – including one counterintuitive rule that boosts reply rates by 35%+

• The 4 “Hinge Points” every DM conversation must move through to close a deal

• How to speak the right “dialect” on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram & X

• A link to the Full Interview on YouTube where Sean shares even more 🎙️

Alright, let's Dive In…

Watch the Full Video on YouTube:

The Cash That's Sitting in Your Inbox

Here's a stat from our conversation that stopped me in my tracks.

Sean told me that most people he works with – and remember, that's thousands of founders & business owners – have easily Six Figures, if not Seven Figures, sitting unread in their inbox right now.

He calls it “the cash can of social media” because most people walk right past it. They'll chase a brand new ad strategy or a shiny new funnel, when the truth is there are warm conversations already waiting for them on every platform.

And here's the part I love: this doesn't compete with your other marketing – it multiplies it.

Think about it. You run paid ads, and only about 3-7% of the people who see your ad actually click through to your landing page. But what about the 60, 70, even 80% of people who liked & commented on your ad and never went any further?

DMs become the glue. They're the filler that catches all the people slipping through the cracks of your existing system. You mine the conversations you already have, that funds more ads, and those ads create even more conversations. It all works hand in hand.

So let's talk about how to actually run those conversations.

The 4 Most Profitable DM Campaigns

After tracking 1.5 Million DMs over 25 years, Sean narrowed the winners down to just 4 core campaigns. Two are for Inbound traffic (people coming to you) and two are for Outbound (you reaching out to them).

Here they are:

1️⃣ The Two-Step Post Flow (Inbound)

You've seen these before – a piece of content that says “comment this keyword below” or “DM me this word.” That's step one, and it draws the inbound traffic in your direction.

Step two is where the magic happens. Instead of jumping straight into a pitch, you open with a simple, easy question:

“Thanks for the comment. Are you here for the content or something else?”

That's it. It's so easy to answer that it gets them to engage – and engagement is the whole game (more on that in a second).

2️⃣ The Follower Flow (Inbound)

This one is nearly identical, but it's built for paid ads where your call to action is “Follow my profile.” When someone follows, you reach out with:

“Thanks for the follow. Are you here for the content or something else?”

It's personalized enough to draw a reaction, but it never leads with a pitch. Which brings me to Sean's biggest warning…

The #1 mistake people make in the DMs is the “Pitch Slap” – that giant opening message that screams “Here's who I am, buy my stuff, here's my link.” We ALL get a million of them. Nobody likes them. Don't be that person.

3️⃣ The Group Flow (Outbound)

This one is for anyone building a community. The first message is a casual invite to your group – with NO link:

“Looks like you're crushing it in the YouTube game. I just launched a really interesting community that talks about X, Y & Z. You wouldn't be interested in learning more, would you?”

Notice there's no link. It's a soft invite that lets THEM raise their hand. Once they say “Actually, that's interesting to me,” THEN you drop the link:

“Here's the link, let me know when you join and I'll make sure my team gives you a warm welcome.”

(I'll share Sean's brilliant “warm welcome” strategy in the full video – it's a masterclass in grabbing mind share.)

4️⃣ The Book-a-Call Flow (Outbound)

This is the one most people use, and Sean's approach is genius. The very first message is nothing but a genuine, authentic compliment:

“You're crushing the YouTube game right now and all the video stuff you teach – it's amazing to watch. I'm crazy busy today, probably like you, but I'll be back tomorrow to say something more intelligent. In the meantime, keep up the great work.”

The goal of that first message isn't to sell anything. It's simply to get them to engage. That's it.

So how do you know which campaign to use? Sean's answer was simple: it comes down to your business model. Do you have a sales team? Do you sell without a call? Do you run webinars or paid ads? Whatever you already have in place, you slot the DM campaign that fits best right into the equation as the glue.

This Edition of the Marketing Minds Newsletter is Sponsored by:

125,000+ podcasts, transcribed and searchable in minutes.

Particle transcribes 125,000+ podcasts where executives, officials, and analysts talk candidly and publicly, transcribed and queryable within minutes of airing.

Watch a company, a person, or a theme with the Particle API and get alerts whenever they're mentioned.

Particle is built by former Twitter and Tesla engineers, using an AI-native transcription pipeline that delivers high accuracy and extensive data enrichment.

Start with $10 in free credit.

The 4 Hinge Points of Every DM Conversation

Here's what I found fascinating. Sean said that every single DM conversation he's ever been in – out of 1.5 Million – moves through the same 4 “Hinge Points.”

Master these and you have a repeatable system instead of just winging it:

• Hinge Point 1 – Get Engagement. This is why that first message never sells. All you want is for them to say something back to you. Nothing else.

• Hinge Point 2 – The Transition. Now you use 2-5 questions to qualify or disqualify them. The trick is to craft questions that pull out your “secret sauce” without them realizing you're steering. For Sean, it's as simple as: “Have you ever closed a deal through the DMs before?” – which puts him right on topic no matter how they answer.

• Hinge Point 3 – The Invite with a CTA Link. Once they're qualified, you invite them to the next step: “I think we should have a conversation, this looks like a fit. Are you open to it? Great – here's my link, let me know when you book.”

• Hinge Point 4 – Clear the Future. This is the step right before the call: “Before we hop on, watch this 2-minute video, it might spark some ideas for our conversation.” It sets the table so they show up ready.

None of this was theory. As Sean put it, this was built over millions of real conversations, watching exactly why things worked and why they didn’t. He's a data nerd (like me), because numbers & math are what create the results we all want.

The 3 Golden Rules of DM Copywriting

This was my favorite part of the whole interview. Sean broke down 3 rules of DM copywriting – and rule #1 might be the most counterintuitive marketing tip I've heard all year.

Rule #1 – Do NOT use the person's first name in the first 5 words of any DM you send.

I'll be honest, this one caught me off guard because I've been breaking it! 98% of people open with “Hey Sean!” or “What's up, Aleric?” And yes, psychology tells us people love hearing their own name.

But that's exactly the point. If everyone does it, doing it makes you blend in. You want to stand out.

So instead of “Hey Aleric, I see you're killing it in the YouTube world,” you flip it: “You're crushing it in the YouTube world, Aleric.” According to Sean, that one tiny change can boost your response rate by roughly 35-38%. Zig while everyone else zags.

Rule #2 – End every single DM with a question.

And make it a question that's simple enough to answer in one or two seconds. Questions position you as the Trusted Advisor and let you guide the entire conversation. Ask enough of the right questions and eventually the dam breaks – they'll tell you everything going on in their world. That's when you've built the rapport to move the conversation anywhere you want.

Rule #3 – Match their cadence.

This is a personality rule. If someone fires back a one or two word reply, you keep yours short too. If they send you a big long paragraph, you send a big long paragraph right back. Subconsciously, they think, “This person talks just like me, I like them, we're the same.” That mirroring builds the rapport that gets deals closed.

Every Platform Speaks a Different “Dialect”

One more gem before I send you to the full video. Sean explained that each platform has its own dialect – like how Spanish in Mexico differs from Portuguese in Brazil. Same idea, slightly different language. Here's how he breaks down the Big 4:

• Facebook – Casual & friendly, like you're whipping towels in the locker room with an old buddy. Message people as if they're already a close friend.

• LinkedIn – Suit-and-tie and more direct. There are more founders & business owners here who are short on time, so you can get to the point a little faster (just don't hit them with the pitch).

• Instagram – The language of beauty. Short, beautiful words. Incomplete sentences and a missed bit of punctuation are totally fine – it makes you human.

• X – A cross between Facebook & Instagram. Beautiful words, a bit longer, kept casual.

Speak the right dialect on the right platform and you'll win far more often than you lose.

Watch the Full Interview on YouTube:

There was SO much more that Sean shared that I couldn't fit into this email – including his “warm welcome” Facebook Group strategy that floods a new prospect's feed with your content for free, how to prime your profile to hit a 25%+ connection rate, how to use AI to do the heavy lifting while keeping a human in the loop to close, and even the story behind putting a QR code on the cover of his book.

Do yourself a favor and watch the full conversation – it's packed with actionable value from someone who has truly done the work:

Watch the Full Interview with Sean Malone on YouTube! (Click Here)

Watch The Full Video on YouTube:

Complimentary Video Marketing Strategy Call!

Are you looking to Scale your Business with Video Marketing?

I want to invite you to a 1-1 Strategy call with my Team to map out a YouTube Ads & Video Marketing Strategy specifically for your Business!

This is a 45-minute call where we’ll dive into your Business, your Goals & map out a Custom Strategy to help you Achieve them through YouTube!

Fill out the Quick Booking form to Schedule your Strategy Call.

Book Your Complimentary Video Marketing Strategy Call Today!

More Value Coming Next Friday!

Stay Tuned for More Great Value & Content Coming your Way!

Here’s a Sneak Peak at What’s Coming Next:

• More Free Trainings & Resources — In your Inbox!

• Real Case Studies & Examples of the Marketing Funnels that Scaled Coaching Businesses past 7 & 8 Figures

• The REAL on-the-ground insights into what’s going on in the Online Marketing & Coaching/Consulting/High-Ticket Industry (Based on our Insights working with Thousands of Clients)

• The Latest YouTube Ad & Marketing Strategies as we Discover Them – So that you’re Always on the Cutting Edge

• Guest Articles, Videos & Podcasts from the Top Marketing Minds of Today — Stay tuned for some exciting announcements around this 😉

• And a LOT More…

I’m serious when I say I want this to be The Most Valuable Newsletter You’re Subscribed to — Look out for us in your Inbox Every Friday!

I’ll see you in the next one!

To Your Success,

– Aleric Heck | Founder & CEO of AdOutreach

This Edition of the Marketing Minds Newsletter is Sponsored by:

Tax Prep with Confidence

Tax season doesn't have to mean wondering if you have the right forms, second-guessing your deductions, or scrambling to pull everything together before the deadline.

With BELAY’s Tax Prep Checklist, you can start preparing for tax season with confidence.

Download the Free Checklist