Story of the Week
Since this experiment is still ongoing, I won’t be linking to the exact channel just yet. I will eventually, but I’m still running some micro-experiments and don’t want to influence the results with outside traffic. I promise I’ll share more later.
Yes, I am that anxious to share what I’ve learned. 😊
First, I want to explain why this experiment is happening in the first place. If you’ve been following me for a while, you may remember that I speak strongly about my preference for long-form content over short-form. I compare short-form content to passing out candy on Halloween, while long-form content is like cooking a multi-course meal for your guests that they can savor and experience. Long-form goes deeper and generates more revenue.
I still believe that to be true, and I’m still in favor of long-form content over short. In fact, part of this experiment is to see the difference between long-form and short-form when both are actually successful. Are all those views even worth it?
Long-form is king; however, short-form should not be discounted. I recently learned a lot from my friend Alex, who has posted a short video on YouTube and his social media channels for the past 100 days straight. Although it’s not bringing in direct revenue — indirectly it’s giving him constant exposure and brand recognition. He’s also seeing many new doors open with bigger brands. If you have reach — even with short form — you have leverage, and that’s valuable to brands looking to connect with that audience.
To make short-form content work on platforms like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels, you have to post often — ideally once a day.
The last time I tried shorts and TikTok, I tried to create something new each day. This made editing difficult, drained my brain power, and took too much time — time I felt would be better spent creating long-form content, where I could go deeper with my audience and generate more revenue. Except Alex taught me something:
What if it didn’t take long to create these videos? What if I had a video style that was repeatable and easy to edit again and again?
And, what if I got out of my own way and just created something daily, without worrying about whether the videos would perform well?
This time around, I changed the goal. Instead of trying to get a viral video each time I focused on simply creating a daily video in a potentially bingeable series that was easy to understand and easy to edit. If I could keep up the task of creating a video each day — the one thing I could control (because I can’t control the outcome) — then I’d consider that a win. And each day, I tried to improve the series.
So that’s what I did. I started a new channel with the idea of creating a miniature show or series. Remember, people don’t subscribe because they loved the video they just watched; they subscribe because they want more videos like the one they just watched. That’s a big reason why the sub count is growing so much.
And because it’s the same format each time, the editing has become faster and faster each day. What started as 30 minutes per day has gone down to just 10 minutes on average. (And yes, I’m doing it all myself — no outside help whatsoever).
I took inspiration from channels like Wuki, a DJ and producer with a series called “Beats I Can’t Release,” where he mashes up classic songs, like “My Girl” by the Temptations, with club-style beats. He’s currently on episode 164. After watching one of his videos I immediately subscribed and went back to watch them all. He’s been booked like crazy since his series went viral.
The same goes for Tim Naki, a viral sensation on short-form platforms who bet $0.10 on Blackjack for every follower he had. I caught him on day 15, went back to watch every single episode before, and have been following him ever since. He reached $1M in earnings this way and has since started a second series with millions of subscribers, along with deals with large brands and sponsors.
Then there’s Ryze Hendricks, the guy who raps “weird bars,” laying down random and silly words on top of classic rap beats for over 200 episodes straight. Now he is on tour for what he’s built.
The mini-show format is the key: A beginning, a middle, and a payoff — in 60 seconds or less. So when I created my new channel, I leaned into that format as much as possible.
The Quick-Start Beginning
Each of these channels (and others like them) has a quick-start beginning that sets the scene and keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next.
For Wuki, it’s the start of some song you recognize, but then his “roommate” (himself from another angle and in different clothes) comes into the scene and gives a weird face for playing it.
Tim Naki gets right into it: “It’s day 100 of betting 10 cents for every follower we have, let’s see what happens.”
For Ryze the rapper, the screen says “Weird Bars Episode 216” as he’s set behind a microphone, with his producer waiting for him to start rapping over a beat that’s already playing.
For me, I quickly show a pack of Pokémon cards on the screen, and then a radio-style jingle plays that says: “Should I open it? Or should I keep it sealed?”
The jingle was built to be catchy, and it plays at the beginning of every episode. But more importantly, it creates a sense of curiosity in viewers’ minds within the first few seconds: if I open this sealed pack of Pokémon cards, will it be worth it? Once the question is posed, you need to know the answer, which is why retention is high.
Here are the stats for the latest upload:
Now, you may be wondering, “Pat, you’re opening packs of Pokémon cards? Isn’t this the same as your other channel?”
It’s the same subject matter but treated in a different way. It’s actually a different audience too, because people who watch short-form content are not the same as those who watch long-form content. In general, they’re different audiences with different viewing behaviors. As I said, I did not do any promotion or direct linking from one channel to the other, partly because I didn’t want to skew the experiment, but also because I knew that it could potentially put the videos in front of the wrong audience.
My experience on the other channel really helped because I knew exactly what makes this audience “tick” and what goes on in their heads. They like to see packs opened and will watch until the end of the video to see what’s inside. I also included a little jingle at the end depending on the value of the card I get, which serves as the payoff for their time watching. Then it makes you wonder, “Does he get a good one in the next pack, and the next, and the next?”
Again, how can you reverse engineer a concept to get replies like this:
When a person subscribes to a Short, Reel, or TikTok, they immediately get fed more videos from that creator. If you have too much variance in content, they stop watching. However, if they see more of what they like, they keep watching, and that’s when the algorithm kicks in to find more viewers like them. The gains can be huge.
So you got a lot of views. Now what?
This is where it gets interesting. I have yet to unlock monetization because views are delayed in their system regarding the 10M Shorts views you need within 90 days to unlock monetization with Shorts alone.
Once that unlocks in a few days, we’ll see what happens. However, here’s what I imagine will happen: it won’t be anything significant at all. The amount of money a Short can make on YouTube varies. After watching several creators reveal their revenue from Shorts, it’ll likely be around $200 to $400 for every one million views.
In comparison, I earn $3.2k to $6k for every million views on my long-form Pokémon content. It’s the same subject matter but with much higher ad revenue.
The large number of views is great, but so what? The attention is there for a moment, and then it leaves. With my other channel, people become part of a community; they join the live streams, attend my events, and send letters, creating a real connection. In contrast, Shorts feel very surface-level. Despite YouTube’s efforts to bridge the gap between long-form content and short-form content, it hasn’t worked because they’re different audiences.
I can see why people get so obsessed with short-form content — it’s exciting to see millions of people watch something I created that I spend very little time on. It’s validating and exhilarating. But if it’s all I did, I’d get sucked into a vortex of creation, constantly chasing more and bigger just to make a few dollars. I’m not entirely convinced this is worth it yet, but like I said, I’m still in the middle of the experiment. Once I unlock monetization and have a few weeks of experience under my belt, I’ll come back and share more.
I do share the same videos on Instagram and TikTok and have seen rapid growth there as well. My Deep Pocket Monster Instagram went from 30k to 90k subscribers in 30 days, and my TikTok doubled from 20k to 40k — all with the same videos uploaded natively on each platform. Sometimes, the same videos perform just as well on each platform. Other times, only one platform seems to appreciate a video, causing the others to throttle its reach. It’s weird.
The biggest lesson I can share at this point is quantity is important on these platforms, and to be consistent, you have to get out of your own way. Instead of focusing on achieving big numbers, try to create a show that’s bingeable and prioritize consistency in your uploads. Don’t let the results of the videos dictate success. Instead, let your consistency define it, and the numbers will follow.
I know this was a lot, and it’s sort of a brain dump, which is not as organized as previous newsletters, but I hope this was at least interesting and helpful. I appreciate you, and there will be more to come, so stay tuned!
