Jeremy had already been building an audience on Twitter under the handle "van man," posting about health topics, anti-fluoride content, and his experiments making DIY toothpowder from baking soda and eggshell powder — all while living in a $2,000 Craigslist van. He documented the product creation process in real time on Twitter, and followers who were already bought into the "animal-based" health paradigm organically expressed interest in buying. When he finally listed the toothpowder on Shopify, he announced it to his existing Twitter community. Within 20 minutes the batch was mostly sold out — he sold roughly 100 units that first day, far more than the 5–15 he expected. There was no paid advertising involved; the first customers were people who had been watching him build the product and were already pre-sold on the philosophy behind it.
Van Man
Natural animal-based hygiene products (toothpaste, balms, deodorant) sold online
8 moves, in order
- Pre launch (van life era)Twitter — organic
Jeremy posted consistently on his 'van man' Twitter account about health topics, anti-fluoride content, and documented his DIY toothpowder experiments with baking soda and eggshell powder in real time, building an audience that shared his animal-based health worldview.
Built a pre-sold community that converted immediately on launch day - Launch (Day 1)Twitter — organic
Announced the toothpowder listing on Shopify to his existing Twitter community. No paid ads — just a post to followers who had already been watching product development. Priced under $20.
~100 units sold, batch mostly sold out within 20 minutes - Month 1Shopify direct
Handmade all product himself (scooping tallow by hand with a spoon), packaged and shipped from a single San Diego warehouse. Kept prices under $20 per SKU to lower the barrier to a first purchase.
~$5,000 first month revenueMRR $5.0k - Early growthInstagram viral posts
Started posting deliberately divisive/controversial content on Instagram designed to generate comments and shares. Observed that polarizing posts got surfaced algorithmically and drove spikes in sales directly correlated to post performance.
Noticeable same-day sales spikes following viral posts - Early growthMeme marketing instagram
Created meme content using recognizable celebrity faces (e.g., a photo of Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg captioned with Van Man's brand voice). Timed memes to current events — e.g., posting a UFC-related meme the day after a big fight while it was still fresh. Tied memes back to the product.
High share/traction rate with minimal production cost (~5 minutes of work per post) - GrowthEmail marketing
Built and leveraged an email list, which outperformed Jeremy's initial expectations. Used email alongside Instagram as one of the two primary owned channels.
Better-than-expected sales contribution (specific figures not stated) - ScalingProduct line expansion
Expanded from toothpowder into tallow honey balm, mint bone toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash, and hair oil — all under the animal-based hygiene umbrella. Each product priced under $20, but multiple SKUs drove higher average order values and repeat purchases.
~40% customer repeat purchase rate; first million-dollar month achieved; $5M+ annual revenueMRR $417k - ScalingCommunity engagement comments
Jeremy personally stays active in post comments and DMs for hours after publishing each piece of content. He explicitly refuses to delegate this, treating comment sections as a real-time pulse on customer sentiment and brand perception.
Strong word-of-mouth and organic sharing — customers share Tallow Honey Balm unprompted with no paid incentive
Jeremy had a pre-existing Twitter audience ("van man" account) built around health and alternative lifestyle content. This audience was already ideologically aligned with his animal-based, anti-fluoride product philosophy, making them a captive first-customer base who needed no convincing on the concept.
instagram_viral_and_meme_marketing
No channels explicitly called out as failures. Email marketing was initially underestimated ("I didn't think email marketing would do much") but turned out to perform better than expected — so it's a near-miss rather than a clear failure.
I Built This $5M/Year Business From A Van
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