# The DM Scripts — Four Variants **From Chapter 7.1 of *The 4-Hour Side Hustle*.** The three-message sequence, then four versions of it: B2B, creator, service, and the path for people who aren't on Instagram at all. --- ## The failure to avoid > *"Hey! Thanks for commenting! Here's the link: [url] — also check out my course!"* Three things wrong. It gives nothing before asking. It treats the email as a toll rather than an exchange. And it upsells a stranger who has known you for eleven seconds. The DM is a conversation with someone who just raised their hand. Most people write it like a vending machine. --- ## The structure — three messages, ~15 seconds apart **Message 1 — deliver something before any ask.** A real, specific, useful fact that costs nothing to receive. **Message 2 — the ask, with a genuine reason attached.** Not a pretext. A real constraint. **Message 3 — confirm, set expectations, and name the exit.** Everything below is that structure with the details changed. --- ## Variant 1 — B2B / professional *Marcus's, from the book. Compliance and credit risk. The register is calm and specific; the reader is at work.* > **1.** "Hey — you commented COVENANT on the testing-dates clip. > > Quick version while I find the file: the single most common error I see is testing quarterly covenants on the calendar quarter instead of the borrower's fiscal quarter. About a third of the portfolios I've reviewed had at least one of these. > > Want me to send the full checklist?" > **2.** "Sending now. What's the best email for it? It's a spreadsheet, so it won't send properly here — and I'd rather you have the working file than a screenshot." > **3.** "Sent. Check promotions if it's not there in a few minutes. > > I write one email a week about this stuff — mostly things that go wrong and how to catch them early. If it's not useful, the unsubscribe link is at the bottom of every one and I genuinely won't be offended." **Why it works here:** the fact in message 1 is checkable and slightly alarming. A professional reader can test it against their own portfolio in ten seconds, and if it's true, you've been useful before asking for anything. --- ## Variant 2 — Creator / audience-first *Faster, warmer, shorter sentences. This reader is on their phone in a queue, not at a desk.* > **1.** "Hey — you said TEMPLATE on the batching video. > > One thing before I dig out the file: the reason batching stops working around week three is almost never discipline. It's that you batched the filming and not the writing, so you sit down to record four videos with nothing to say. Write four, then film four. > > Want the whole system?" > **2.** "Cool — what's the best email? It's a Notion template so the link needs to go somewhere it won't expire, and DMs eat links." > **3.** "Sent — check promotions. > > I send one thing a week, usually something that broke and what I changed. Unsubscribe is at the bottom of all of them, no hard feelings." **What changed:** shorter sentences, a contraction-heavy register, and a fact that reframes a failure the reader has personally had rather than one they might find in their data. The reason in message 2 is still real — links do get mangled — but it's stated in one line instead of two. --- ## Variant 3 — Service business / local *The reader may become a client, not just a subscriber. The restraint matters more here, not less.* > **1.** "Hi — you commented PRICING on the quoting post. > > While I find the sheet: the fastest fix I know for quotes that get haggled is putting the exclusions above the price rather than below it. Same document, same number, and the conversation changes completely — people argue with a price they don't understand the boundaries of. > > Want the full quoting template?" > **2.** "Sending it over. Best email? It's an Excel file with the formulas live, so it needs to arrive as an actual attachment rather than a screenshot." > **3.** "Sent. Have a look at the exclusions tab first — that's the bit that does the work. > > I send one email a week about pricing and quoting. If you'd rather just have the file and never hear from me again, the unsubscribe link is right at the bottom." **The thing not to do here:** do not pitch your service in message 3. You are eleven seconds into knowing this person, and a service pitch converts a useful exchange into a sales call they didn't agree to. If they want you, the weekly email is where they'll find out — and they'll arrive warm rather than cornered. --- ## Variant 4 — The no-DM path (LinkedIn, YouTube, newsletter) If you built Chapter 5 on the camera-optional path and live on LinkedIn or YouTube, **the DM mechanic doesn't transfer.** LinkedIn's automation tolerance is far lower than Instagram's, and YouTube has no equivalent at all. Don't force it. Replace it: **One landing page per asset, form straight into Kit.** Ninety minutes to build, zero platform risk, and nothing that can get your account restricted. The post does the giving that message 1 would have done: > *[Post ends]* > > "The most common error I see is testing quarterly covenants on the calendar quarter instead of the borrower's fiscal quarter — about a third of the portfolios I've reviewed had at least one. > > The full checklist, including the eleven amendment clauses that get missed, is at [yoursite.com/checklist]. No opt-in gymnastics, just the file." **What you lose:** the conversational back-and-forth, and the small commitment escalation that makes the DM convert well. **What you gain:** no platform risk, no ManyChat subscription, no Professional-account prerequisite, and a link that works identically for every reader on every platform forever. For most professional audiences this is the better trade, and it's worth being honest that it isn't a fallback — it's a legitimate first choice. --- ## Prerequisites for variants 1–3 **ManyChat needs your Instagram account to be a Professional account** (Business or Creator) with a Facebook Page connected. Switching takes about two minutes in Instagram's settings and changes nothing your followers see. If you have no Facebook Page you'll create an empty one; it exists purely so Meta has something to attach permissions to. **Do this first, on your phone, before opening ManyChat at all.** It's the one prerequisite that stops the chain dead, and it isn't obvious until you're an hour in. **Also: reply publicly to the comment, not just by DM.** Keep the public replies human and varied — a hundred identical "Sent!" replies looks exactly like what it is. --- ## Checklist - [ ] Message 1 contains a real, specific, useful fact — checkable in ten seconds - [ ] Message 1 asks nothing - [ ] Message 2's reason for needing an email is genuine, not a pretext - [ ] Message 3 names the unsubscribe and means it - [ ] Nothing is upsold in any of the three messages - [ ] Public reply sent as well as the DM, worded differently each time - [ ] Instagram switched to Professional, Facebook Page connected — before touching ManyChat - [ ] Kit tag records the *specific video*, not just "instagram" - [ ] Not on Instagram or TikTok? Variant 4 chosen deliberately, not as a consolation