Helping creators print with YouTube Shorts. Join 100+ members👇
Joined May 2024
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If you don't understand hooks, you don't understand YouTube Shorts.
I've spent the last 4 years figuring out what actually makes people stop scrolling.
Here's everything I've learned in 20 minutes.
I've been doing YouTube Shorts for over 4 years now.
Here are 7 things I wish I understood when I started:
1. Good stats don't guarantee views.
I've had channels with 80%+ swipe rates and insane retention that barely went anywhere.
I've also had videos with much worse stats get millions of views.
Supply, demand and saturation matter far more than most people realize.
Perfect stats won't save content nobody wants to watch.
2. What you make matters more than how well you make it.
You can spend 10 hours editing a Short and get destroyed by someone who spent 20 minutes making a basic video in a better niche.
Before obsessing over production quality, make sure there's actually demand for what you're creating.
3. Stop copying older established channels.
Just because a channel has been doing 100M views/month for years doesn't mean you can replicate it easily today.
I'd much rather find a newer channel with 10-30 uploads that's already getting consistent viral videos.
It'll be a lot easier for to break through down that path.
4. Your winning format won't last forever.
I've made this mistake across multiple channels.
Something works, so you keep repeating it until the views eventually die.
Double down on what's working, but always test potential replacements in the background.
The channels that survive are the ones that adapt with market demands.
5. Move faster when you find something that works.
One of my biggest regrets is how slowly I scaled when my channels were doing well.
I'd have 2-3 channels making good money and get comfortable because the ROI on my time was already great.
Looking back, those were the exact moments I should've been pushing harder.
When you've found a genuine edge, make the most of it while it lasts.
6. Stop trying to keep 100% of everything.
I used to cheap out on editors, do everything myself and avoid giving up revenue because I wanted to keep as much profit as possible.
It cost me far more in missed opportunities than I ever saved.
Hiring killers may cost you more in the short-term but it's so worth it. Incentivize them with AdSense splits.
7. Surround yourself with people who are better than you.
You need to be around people who are ambitious and operating at a high level in what you do.
It completely changes what you consider possible and how quickly you think you should be moving.
igorm retweeted
Thanks @yt_igm
May–August were the worst months of my life. I lost my Insta page, got scammed, and struggled to pay rent.
With my last $300, I invested in a pre-monetized channel. Using Earn It Media’s free resources, I made my first $1K in September.
Thank you, Igor ❤️
If you plan on abandoning a monetized channel just list it up for sale instead.
The sooner you do it the more you will make as the price will keep decreasing as momentum drops.
You can list for 4x your last 28d rev on Flippa or DealBaron.
One thing I've noticed between the killers in the yt space is that there are 2 groups.
Stims vs no stims.
The first runs on ungodly amounts of caffeine, zyns, moda, literally any stimulant they can get their hands on.
The second is obsessed with sleep, diet, exercise and keeping everything natural.
There are absolute killers on both ends of the spectrum but I genuinely wonder which group performs better on average.
Didn't want to risk malware from YouTube downloader sites, so I made my own.
Literally took 2 mins, it's free and better than any site I've used.
Here's how you do it on Windows:
1. Right-click Start → Terminal
2. Paste this, press Enter, type Y if asked:
winget install yt-dlp.yt-dlp Gyan.FFmpeg
3. Close Terminal, then open Notepad and paste this:
@echo off
setlocal EnableDelayedExpansion
title YouTube Downloader
set "OUT=%USERPROFILE%\Videos\YouTube Downloads"
if not exist "%OUT%" mkdir "%OUT%"
:loop
echo.
set "URL="
set /p "URL=Paste a YouTube link (or Q to quit): "
if /i "!URL!"=="q" exit /b
if "!URL!"=="" goto loop
echo 1^) Best quality 2^) Max 1080p 3^) Audio only (MP3)
set "CH=1"
set /p "CH=Choose 1-3: "
set "TPL=%OUT%\%%(uploader)s\%%(title)s.%%(ext)s"
if "!CH!"=="3" (
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 -o "!TPL!" "!URL!"
) else if "!CH!"=="2" (
yt-dlp -f "bv*[height<=1080]+ba/b" --merge-output-format mp4 -o "!TPL!" "!URL!"
) else (
yt-dlp -f "bv*+ba/b" --merge-output-format mp4 -o "!TPL!" "!URL!"
)
start "" "%OUT%"
goto loop
4. File → Save as → Desktop
5. Set "Save as type" to "All files" (important)
6. Name it: YouTube Downloader.bat
Double-click it, paste a link, pick 1, 2 or 3.
Videos save to Videos → YouTube Downloads.
If Windows says "protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway.
If it says "yt-dlp is not recognized", restart your PC and try again.
A few years ago I spent a stupid amount of money on camera equipment to try make satisfying ASMR videos.
I set up an entire studio in my grandparents' living room while they were away and nearly burnt the house down after setting random shit on fire.
The videos took ages to make, especially the sound design and it was nowhere near as fun as it looked.
Made the whole gaff smell like melted plastic but it was worth a shot.
I've seen so many creators hit numbers they once thought were impossible and somehow start working LESS.
That's completely backwards.
When something is working is when you should be pushing the hardest.
Your current opportunity has an expiry date.
And there will be plenty of times when you're searching for your next opportunity.
Do not waste the periods where you've already found one.
