The Story
Vasco built Arvow - an AI-powered SEO tool that helps marketing agencies and business owners do SEO faster. The app scaled from zero to $70K MRR fully organically, using just one platform: YouTube.
Vasco's journey started in 2015-2016 when he discovered Alex Becker's videos about rank-and-rent SEO. He started doing local SEO, got clients, then moved to selling SEO services on Fiverr and Upwork. He noticed these marketplaces were missing features, so he built his own SEO marketplace called Vetted and sold it.
When the AI wave hit, Vasco knew he wanted to build something in SEO with AI. He built Arvow as an AI writer for SEO content. But the real magic was his growth strategy: YouTube.
His philosophy: "The way you get people to buy from you is if they know, like, and trust you. The best way to have someone know, like, and trust you is if they see your face and hear your voice for long periods of time."
Key Insights
Why YouTube Beats Everything
- •Long-form content builds deep trust
- •Videos rank on both YouTube AND Google
- •Videos get recommended in LLMs (ChatGPT, etc.)
- •Evergreen content keeps generating views for years
- •Better effort-to-results ratio than TikTok, blogging, or Twitter
The 3-Step YouTube Playbook
Step 1: Produce Money-Making Assets
- •Evergreen videos (still get views 2 years later)
- •News-relevant videos (spike in first 2-3 days, good for subs)
- •Viral/Mr. Beast style videos (harder but high impact)
Step 2: Multiply Yourself
- •Create multiple YouTube channels in your niche
- •Find potential creators on Upwork (look for video in profile)
- •Pay per performance or per video
- •Expand to other languages (Portuguese, Spanish)
Step 3: Scale with Paid Ads
- •Use YouTube infeed ads on videos that performed well
- •Infeed ads appear on homepage and sidebar (look organic)
- •Revive videos that got views/sales but stagnated
Tracking YouTube ROI
- •Dedicated UTM in each video description
- •Dedicated coupon code per video
- •Welcome questionnaire asking which creator they came from
CTA Optimization
- •Move CTA to beginning/middle (not end - most don't watch through)
- •Make CTAs interactive and specific (not generic "check out the website")
The $5K Challenge
Vasco's bold claim: "If any viewer posts a video on YouTube every day for 45 days and doesn't make at least $5,000, I'll PayPal you $500."
Business Numbers
- •$70K MRR
- •~600 paying clients
- •Pricing: $99/month to ~$700/month
- •Fully organic growth (no paid ads initially)
Tech Stack
- •Loom Premium (HD recording)
- •Miro (whiteboard for tutorials)
- •Camtasia (video editing)
- •Good mic (Shure SM7B)
- •Good camera and lighting
Key Advice
- •Post a video every single day for 45 days
- •Videos don't need to be polished - just valuable
- •Consistency + volume = success
- •To be in the 1%, do what the 99% won't do
- •20-30 minute videos daily for almost a year
Resources
- •Follow Vasco: https://x.com/vascoabm
- •Arvow: https://arvow.com/