Squatter Marketing: How Dylan Jardon and Henry Belcaster Built SmartNonsense to $1M+ Without Permission

Dylan Jardon and Henry Belcaster didn’t pitch their way into success—they published their way in.

With no formal outreach, they built SmartNonsense into a $1M+ agency by creating content for influential creators without being asked.

This approach, which they called Squatter Marketing, turned unsolicited work into high-visibility assets that hijacked attention and landed paying clients.

Make High-Value Videos First, Let the Audience Do the Rest

In the beginning, they didn’t ask creators for permission. They made videos for people like Shaan Puri, Naval Ravikant, and the My First Million podcast—then posted the clips online and tagged the creators. These were polished, bite-sized edits optimized for social media.

One early breakout featured Shaan discussing Naval’s “Work like a Lion, not a Cow” framework.

That clip went viral, got shared by Shaan, and quickly led to inbound client interest from his audience. It wasn’t a one-off. Jardon and Belcaster kept doing this with more creators, and each video became a magnet for attention.

Even when the original creator didn’t respond, the audience did. Followers, fans, and peers who saw the content would reach out—often with interest, budgets, and problems SmartNonsense was already solving.

The strategy worked because it skipped permission, skipped sales, and proved value upfront. The content itself did the heavy lifting.

One Viral Post = Endless Leads, No Cold Outreach Required

Each unsolicited video was a Trojan Horse. It wasn’t just made for the creator—it was built to ride their distribution. And if that creator reposted the clip, it created a compounding effect: new eyeballs, new credibility, and often, new clients.

It also acted as a live portfolio. Instead of promising what they could do, they showed it—using the creator’s own brand, voice, and message. The videos functioned as real-world demos and proof-of-work in one.

To scale it, they built what they called a Binge Bank—a library of clips showcasing their editing style and creative voice. The more videos people saw, the more they trusted the work. No ads. No sales calls. Just visible, bingeable, high-quality output.

The result was a waitlisted agency built entirely on inbound demand—sparked by value, not outreach.

Squatter Marketing Works Because It Hijacks Trust and Leverage

Psychologically, Squatter Marketing triggers multiple trust levers:

• Reciprocity: You gave something first—high-effort, high-value work—so creators feel pressure to respond.

• Social Proof: When big names share your videos, others assume you’re legit.

• Commitment Bias: Once someone shares your work, they’ve subtly endorsed you.

• Momentum Bias: There’s no friction—just an easy yes to keep working with someone already adding value.

SmartNonsense didn’t steal attention. They earned it—by proving, visibly, that they were the best at what they did.

The strategy was simple: pick your targets, do the work first, publish it publicly, and let your results become your sales funnel. Squatter Marketing turns borrowed distribution into long-term demand.

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