Build the crowd first. The show can come later.
Every brand will need its own crowd in the next 10 years. Real faces, a machine that turns 1 hour into a month of posts, and real rooms where people meet you. Here is how we are building one, with every screenshot.Every brand will need its own crowd. Here is how we are building one, with every screenshot.
- Every live event your brand runs is now also a shoot for a month of posts.
- Ai makes posts cheap. Real faces and real rooms are the part nobody can copy.
- We recorded episode 1 of our show, binned it, and still got 9 reels, 8 carousels and 40 posts.
- Build the crowd and the machine first. The perfect show can come later.
In this article
This month I heard a well known marketer say something simple. Every brand now has to run live shopping and its own show, out in the real world. And every live event a brand runs, a launch, a workshop, a store opening, should be treated as a shoot for social posts.
I agree with all of it. And I think it goes further. In the next 5 to 10 years, the brands that win will own 3 things: a crowd that listens to them, a machine that turns 1 hour of talking into a month of posts, and real rooms where people can meet them.
So I am testing this on myself. With a show that is not even planned properly yet. This article is what we built, what broke, and every screenshot along the way.
01The trend: every event is now a shoot
Here is the change in plain words. A brand used to make an ad, pay to show it, and stop. Now people trust people. They follow a face, not a logo. They want to see the room, the team and the real reaction, not the polished version.
And Ai makes this more true, not less. Anyone can make 100 posts a day with Ai now. So posts are cheap. What is rare is a real person people know, and a real room people were in. That cannot be copied.
I learned this from my own workshop in March 2024. My team shot photos all day, with a camera on a tripod filming the room. That 1 day still gives me pictures for my posts. 107 stage photos from it feed my content in 2026, 2 years later.
Posts are cheap now. A real face and a real room are not.
02Our test: a show called Certified MAD
Certified MAD is a show with 3 people. 2 Gen Z sisters, 16 and 13, and me, the millennial uncle, 37. Gen Z against millennial. Funny first, useful second. We started it in September 2026 with no studio and no plan for episode 1.
What we did have was a rule: build the crowd and the machine first, and let the show get better in public. So before we recorded a single minute, this is what got built.
What got built before the show was ready
- 0111 September
A WhatsApp group for the 3 of us. Ideas, photos and topics start here.
- 021 October
The first call, and a Telegram bot that turns a photo and a line into a post in the show's own look.
- 033 October
A website with 3 voices, 1 for each of us. Still private, behind a passcode.
- 04The studio kit
Start cards, name cards, stickers, a ticker and QR codes, so a home recording looks like a show.
- 0510 October
We recorded episode 1. 68 minutes.
None of this is expensive. It is a studio tool that runs in the browser, a few cards in our own colours, and a set of stickers that pop up when someone says something wild.
And this is what the studio looked like on the day. 3 tiles, 2 countries, 1 screen, with the show's name cards and ticker running live.
03We binned episode 1. It still made 9 reels
Here is the honest part. Episode 1 was not good. 40 minutes in, we still had not picked a topic. The first 9 minutes were mics and links. And I found the sound effects button, so it got loud. Near the end, one of the sisters said it best: we have successfully wasted 1 hour, guys.
So we binned it. It never went out as an episode. But this is where the machine paid for itself. 68 minutes of messy talk still had small moments that were real, funny and useful. The machine found them.
- 68 minrecorded, then binned
- 9 + 8reels and carousels cut from it
- 324single person frames for later posts
Cut from 1 binned episode
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowwe recorded episode 1. then we binned it.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowthe more you can hold your breath, the longer you will swim.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollow143. every millennial knows it. the sisters had never heard it.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowthe sisters asked the uncle 1 question. do you know what this is?
certifiedmad_goingmadFollow40 minutes in, no topic... and then she noticed the screen.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowwe asked maanya what she wants from this podcast.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollow2 teenagers are on this show. that changes the rules.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowa confession, years late.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowday 1 of blue light glasses.
We made 8 carousels from it too. Here are 3 of them. Swipe them the way you would on your phone. The first one is about binning the episode itself: why it went wrong, in 3 honest reasons, and what we fix next time. People love a real story more than a perfect one.
Swipe them
certifiedmad_goingmad
certifiedmad_goingmad we recorded episode 1. then we binned it.
certifiedmad_goingmad
certifiedmad_goingmad 143. every millennial knows it.
certifiedmad_goingmad
certifiedmad_goingmad the 1 useful part of our binned episode.
Swipe the slides, or use the arrows.
The fix for the real episode 1 is on the last slide of the first one, and I said it on the same recording. 1 topic. 22 minutes, not 68. 60% value, 40% fun.
Then the posts got lined up. 40 posts on the board from 11 to 30 October, 2 a day, each one waiting for a yes before it goes out. The show is still not ready. The crowd building has already started.
And short wins. So on 15 October we cut 3 more reels from the same recording, 7 seconds each, in our news card look. A big headline on top, the 3 of us under it, and our real voices.
3 new reels in the news card look
certifiedmad_goingmadFollow1 hour on tape. then we binned it.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollow143. the code every millennial knows.
certifiedmad_goingmadFollowyou abandoned us... the sisters have not forgiven the uncle.
None of these needed a studio day of their own. They came out of 1 messy hour that never went out as an episode.
04Why the crowd comes before the show
Most brands do it the other way round. They wait until the product is perfect, the studio is ready and the launch is planned. Then they go looking for an audience. By then they are shouting into an empty room.
The usual way and the way we are testing
After the launch
From day 1, while you build
A logo
Real people, with real names
Something to hide
A post
1 video
Reels, carousels and a month of posts
The second way needs 2 things the first does not. Real people who are happy to be seen. And a machine behind them, so 1 hour of their time turns into weeks of posts without them sitting at a laptop.
For MAD, our own machine does this. For my clients, this is exactly what STORM does. You talk once, in a voice note or a video. The team turns it into reels, carousels and articles in your voice. Nothing goes out without your yes.
Do not wait for the perfect show. Start the crowd now, and let the show get better in front of them.
05Real people first, then real rooms
Now the part we have not done yet. Online is how people find you. A real room is how they decide to stay. The brands that will last the next 10 years will mix both.
For MAD, the next step I want is a room. A recording with real people sitting in front of us, not only 3 tiles on a screen. I have not planned it yet. But I know what it will give us: real reactions, real faces, and a full day of photos and clips for the next month.
How online and offline feed each other
- 01Online brings people
Posts with real faces, every week, so people know you before they meet you.
- 02The room makes them stay
A workshop, a live recording, a meetup. People who were in the room remember you.
- 03The room is a shoot
A camera on a tripod, all day. 1 event gives you a month of posts.
- 04The posts bring the next room
Those posts bring new people to the next event. Then it goes round again.
This is not only for shows. A clinic can run a free talk. A setup firm can host a breakfast for new founders. A shop can run a live session. Each one is a room for the people who come, and a shoot for the ones who did not.
063 things to do this month
You do not need a show to start. You need these 3 things.
Your first 3 moves
- Pick the real faces of your brand. You, a partner, a team member people already like.
- Treat your next event as a shoot. A phone on a tripod, filming all day, is enough.
- Build the machine before the perfect show. 1 recording a week, turned into posts.
And when your first try is messy, do what we did. Post about it. A real story beats a perfect one.
Look at your calendar for the next event your brand has. Put a phone on a tripod in that room. That is your first shoot.
07Questions, answered
Do I need a podcast or a show?
No. A show is only 1 way. What you need is a real face, a habit of recording, and a machine that turns that recording into posts. A voice note works.
Why not just use Ai for all the posts?
Ai is great for the making. But Ai posts are everywhere now, so they do not build trust on their own. People trust a real person and a real room. Use Ai behind the face, not instead of it.
What if my first try is bad?
Ours was. We binned episode 1 and still got 9 reels, 8 carousels and a post about the failure. A messy start that is posted beats a perfect plan that never goes out.
How does an event become a month of posts?
Film the whole day on a phone on a tripod, then cut the best minutes into reels, the best frames into carousels and the best ideas into articles. 1 day, many pieces.
If you want STORM to turn you talking once into a month of posts, in your voice, start with the Capacity Diagnostic.
Digital PratikA 37 year old, smiling, practical Gujarati, a Kathiyawadi businessman. Founder of JorrDaar LLC, Dubai.
