Alemán Progresivo
My most successful content creation venture with viral German learning videos.
With this project, I was experimenting to see if I could create viral short-form videos. I made several videos in Spanish, experimenting a lot with formats and ideas to find what would resonate with audiences.
The approach was methodical but intensive—I was willing to invest enormous amounts of time into individual videos to understand what made content go viral and to master the technical skills needed for professional-quality short-form content.
Intensive Production Process
I would often spend an entire day on a single video—sometimes 13 or 14 hours—and in some cases, I didn't even finish in one day. I remember spending up to four days on a single video, just to see if I could make it go viral.
This extreme time investment was partly due to perfectionism and partly due to the learning curve of mastering video editing software and viral content strategies.
Learning Curve
A big part of the time investment was due to learning the editing software. I was exploring new features, trying to improve my editing skills, since I had no real experience apart from editing the Formula 1 videos for my old YouTube channel about ten years earlier.
To my surprise, some of the videos actually did go viral—one reached over 11 million views on Instagram, and several others passed the 1 million mark on both Instagram and TikTok. This success validated the intensive approach and showed that viral content was achievable with the right combination of effort and strategy.
Instagram: Major Success
My Instagram account grew to over 130,000 followers with multiple viral videos, including the 11-million-view breakthrough that demonstrated the platform's potential for educational content.
TikTok: Strong Growth
My TikTok reached about 45,000 followers with several videos crossing the 1-million-view threshold, showing consistent performance across platforms.
YouTube: The Missing Piece
Like many short-form creators, I struggled to gain traction on YouTube. While my presence there remained almost nonexistent, this platform is where creators can actually earn money from views.
Views Don't Equal Income
Unfortunately, the platform where it's actually possible to earn money from views is YouTube, and since I wasn't successful there, I wasn't able to generate any income from my viral videos.
This highlighted a crucial gap in the creator economy—massive reach on Instagram and TikTok doesn't automatically translate to sustainable income without additional monetization strategies.
Maximum Impact, Minimal Content
All of this success—130,000 Instagram followers, 45,000 TikTok followers, and multiple viral videos—came from just 13 videos total.
This demonstrates the incredible potential of well-crafted short-form content when it resonates with audiences, achieving massive reach with relatively few pieces of content.
Eventually, I decided to use the attention to promote my own website, Alemán Progresivo.
However, the transition from viral content consumption to paid course enrollment proved more challenging than anticipated, highlighting the difficulty of monetizing social media audiences.
Burning Through Savings
Since there was no income and I was burning through my savings while focusing fully on content creation and programming projects, I made the decision to stop producing these videos altogether.
The experience taught me that viral success without a clear monetization path is ultimately unsustainable, regardless of how impressive the metrics appear.
Quality Over Quantity
Investing significant time in fewer, higher-quality videos can yield better results than producing many mediocre pieces of content.
Platform-Specific Strategies
Different platforms require different approaches—success on Instagram and TikTok doesn't automatically transfer to YouTube.
Monetization Planning
Viral content strategy must include clear monetization pathways from the beginning, not as an afterthought.
A Viral Success Story
While ultimately unsustainable, Alemán Progresivo demonstrated the potential of well-crafted educational content to achieve massive viral reach and build substantial audiences.