40 Shorts in 8 Days
The Real Deal with YouTube Shorts: An Experiment and Revelation
"An avalanche of YouTube Shorts, some scoring big, others fizzling out! What's the secret sauce to Short's success? Let's crack the code!"
Did I Just Crack the YouTube Shorts Algorithm?
As I observed YouTubers, big and small, experiment with YouTube Shorts, I started to notice some weird and possibly exploitable patterns.
Many fell short, seeing little to no growth.
However, a select few hit the jackpot, witnessing an exponential surge in their channel growth.
Intrigued by these polarized results, I pondered if there was a hidden secret to tapping into the power of YouTube Shorts.
In my quest to unveil this secret, I embarked on what some would call an insane experiment – posting five YouTube Shorts every day for ten days straight.
The outcome? I believe I've broken part of the YouTube Shorts code and the results are staggering!
Cracking the Code: YouTube Shorts Algorithm
In this video, we are about to embark on an exhilarating journey into the world of YouTube Shorts.
We'll dissect the hype around Shorts and get down to the facts by answering the burning question: should you dive headfirst into YouTube Shorts?
Here's a sneak peek into what we'll explore:
A Brief Dive into My Channel: I'll provide context about my channel, Sigma Back, and its unique positioning, which serves as the backdrop for this experiment.
Why would I try this insanity: I breakdown what I want to achieve and how I think shorts can help.
My Approach to YouTube Shorts: I'll share how I planned and executed my own YouTube Shorts experiment, attempting to strike a balance between success and failure stories I had observed.
The Results: This is where things get really interesting. I'll unveil the astounding results of my experiment, shedding light on the true potential of YouTube Shorts.
Should You Do It? Based on my firsthand experience and the insights gained, I'll answer the million-dollar question: should you be investing your time and effort into creating YouTube Shorts?
Cracking the Algorithm: Lastly, I'll share some crucial insights I've unearthed about the YouTube Shorts algorithm. We'll explore some strategies that can help you take full advantage of this platform, potentially catapulting your channel to new heights.
Now that you know what to expect, let's dive right into the exciting world of YouTube Shorts!
Unveiling My YouTube Channel: Sigma Back
Sigma Back, the name of my channel, might lead some to associate it with the prevailing male ego archetype.
However, I believe this interpretation is quite misunderstood. In my perspective, Sigma represents an indomitable spirit, an individual who forges their own path, undeterred by societal norms or judgments, and relentlessly pursues success against all odds.
My channel’s ethos is deeply personal, intricately woven with the threads of my own life journey. I've wrestled with numerous physical challenges, including severe chronic pain that has significantly impeded my ability to engage in physical work.
Yet, these hurdles have only steeled my resolve to become self-reliant, to overcome and manage pain, and to lead a fulfilling life, regardless of these setbacks.
Sigma Back is more than just a YouTube channel; it’s a window into my life as I endeavor for self-sufficiency, experiment with ways to control and conquer chronic pain, and harness the transformative power of emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), to assist me in this journey.
The advent of AI has been a game-changer, opening up possibilities that were previously unimaginable.
What Does Sigma Back Offer?
I have long wanted to share my experiences and learnings, and my channel provides a platform to do just that. The content pillars of Sigma Back are:
Health and Well-being: This is the cornerstone of success. I delve into topics such as diet, pain management, and mental growth. I strongly believe that humor and meditation are essential tools for fostering mental resilience and growth.
Embracing AI: AI is an enabler, equipping individuals who lack specific skills with the ability to carve out a future and generate income independently. I explore how we can use AI to our advantage, reducing dependency on others.
Empowering Others: I am committed to helping others adapt to and harness AI to shape a better future. I have seen many instances over the last few decades of pivotal moments like the invention of social media iphones and the internet but none of these compare to what's coming in AI. In the face of rapid technological advancements, it's easy for many to feel overwhelmed and left behind. I strive to dispel this fear and guide others in utilizing AI to their benefit.
Yes, at first glance, the channel might seem a bit scattered in its focus areas, but I assure you, there's an overarching strategy in play.
The essence of Sigma Back is about tenacity, resilience, and innovation, regardless of the adversity life throws at us. It's about embracing the future with open arms and leveraging technology, specifically AI, to propel us towards success.
So, here we are, at the beginning of a fascinating journey where I'll share the highs and lows of my YouTube Shorts experiment. As we delve into the results and insights, I hope this will shed some light on the YouTube Shorts hype and help you decide whether it's a path you wish to tread.
Let's buckle up and dive into the world of YouTube Shorts!
Why did I do this insanity of a project?
On my journey to build and grow my YouTube channel, Sigma Back, I had a few goals in mind. First, I wanted to share my journey and, hopefully, help others.
Second, I was aiming for financial independence, and I hoped to earn a good living from this venture. With these clear goals, I knew I needed to increase my subscriber base and get more eyes on my content.
As a new channel, I was aware of the hurdles to monetization: 1000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in a year, or a whopping 10 million views on Shorts within 90 days.
The latter, while technically possible, seemed unlikely without a stroke of viral luck.
Therefore, my focus naturally moved towards collecting those 4,000 watch hours, which equals 240,000 minutes.
To achieve that, I needed more exposure for my content - more views and more subscribers, essentially.
If your average watch time is 2 minutes per view, you would need a total of 120,000 views in a year to reach 4,000 watch hours (240,000 minutes / 2 minutes/view = 120,000 views).
Spread over a year, this averages to about 329 views per day (120,000 views / 365 days = 329 views/day).
On the other hand, if you increase your average watch time to 6 minutes per view, you would need a total of 40,000 views in a year to achieve 4,000 watch hours (240,000 minutes / 6 minutes/view = 40,000 views).
This breaks down to roughly 110 views per day (40,000 views / 365 days = 110 views/day). So, I set a two-part goal:
Start with achieving over 100 views a day, then work on building that as fast as possible to the 200 or 300 views a day mark. The 'Shorts' test is key to this, as I needed to know if I could drop daily content without having to spend too many hours creating it every day, and manage my channel growth time effectively.
Spend the bulk of my time producing better content and constantly improving not only the quality of the content and its editing but also making it more engaging and relevant to what my viewers want to see. If the 'Shorts' work as I think they will, it will not only grow my subscriber base and get more eyes on my content, but it will also teach me editing tricks, how to retain viewers in those first crucial seconds, and finally, provide free advertising for my long-form content.
How i did this experiment
My experiment with YouTube Shorts was designed with a clear goal in mind: to create Shorts that would not take up too much of my time.
This way, I could use the saved time to focus on understanding and learning about the relationship between the Shorts, YouTube's algorithm, and the feed.
From my observations of other creators and the performance of my previous Shorts, I noticed a pattern.
Most creators would post a bunch of Shorts. Some would perform moderately well, gaining around 50 to 700 views, while a couple might even reach a thousand or more views.
But many Shorts seemed to get no views at all. Moreover, if the Shorts didn't make it into the feed, they didn't seem to get any views, at least not in the short term.
This observation led me to develop a couple of theories. Could posting too many Shorts in a quick span confuse YouTube's algorithm? Could it trigger an anti-bot mechanism, causing these Shorts to be excluded from the feed?
With these questions in mind, I set out to test my theories.
The first step of my experiment involved sourcing content for my Shorts. I turned to ChatGPT, an AI developed by OpenAI, to provide me with 40 dad jokes that embodied a "sigma" attitude – signifying resilience and independence, which aligned with the core values of my channel.
I then used Canva to create a 10-second template for these Shorts. I provided the voiceover and selected a unique background video for each. The entire process, including editing captions, took me around two hours.
I created a single, continuous video with all the jokes and added a music track that could play seamlessly through all the Shorts when watched sequentially on my playlist.
Next, I spent several hours making AI art and combined it with four original dad jokes I created. These four Shorts were unique and required a more significant investment of my time – about six hours in total.
I also spent two hours editing a Short from content on my old gaming streaming channel.
This Short was close to 60 seconds long and featured numerous high-impact moments with music edited to match those moments – the editing was some of the best work I've done, and I was really proud of it.
Finally, I created several other Shorts from a meditation video I had previously made. These Shorts were essentially advertisements for the longer video and took only a few minutes to edit.
This process left me with four distinct types of Shorts:
Forty 10-second Shorts, which required minimal effort and were posted in the entertainment category.
Four unique Shorts, which required more effort and were also posted in the entertainment category.
One 57-second Short, which was highly edited and of which I was particularly proud.
Three Shorts, essentially ads for the long-form video, that required minimal effort.
With these four types of Shorts, I had a diverse baseline to start my experiment.
The following steps were based around my thoughts on the shorts feed: if Shorts don't get pushed into the feed, they don't get views, and would not in the near future.
Therefore, my posting strategy hinged on optimizing for feed visibility. I live in Sydney, Australia, So I aimed to post Shorts between 6 pm and 11 pm.
My thoughts for this timing matched Aussies getting home from work having dinner and chillax while watching youtube and it also coincided with morning hours in the US.
I posted each Short as a 'premiere' and made sure to watch it, adding an extra two minutes of watch time.
This step aimed to give the Short and watch time boost to help it stay in the feed longer. And holy smoke Batman, I was right! Ok let's not get ahead of the story.
With this strategy, I held off posting the next Short until the first one had made its way into the feed. I kept posting Shorts until they stopped appearing in the feed. Also as i didn't want any dead shorts to muck up the data i would delete the short that did not hit the feed and repost it after at least a hr or 2 or the next day.
This process applied to every Short, regardless of its type, helping me establish a stable baseline for my research.
Results and conclusions
Before diving into the results, it's crucial to highlight a few lessons learned during this experiment.
First, any changes made to the title or the field of a posted Short (for example, adding '#shorts', changing the wording, or altering the audience field like 'entertainment') would invariably interfere with YouTube's algorithm.
This always led to the Short not making it into the feed, forcing me to delete and repost it. Therefore, ensure everything is set before posting, and avoid making adjustments until after the Short has entered the feed.
Another noteworthy observation was the impact of early success on the longevity of a Short.
If a Short immediately hits the feed, and viewer retention and views are high, YouTube tends to push the Short widely, often leading to 500 to 1000+ views in a short time.
However, this is not always beneficial. The sudden surge can negatively affect retention rate, and as soon as that drops, the Short's presence in the feed dwindles.
Non-targeted viewers often click off the Short, hurting the click rate and causing the Short's overall performance to tank.
Interestingly, every single Short that started slowly and accumulated views over a few hours consistently outperformed the 'rocket' Shorts that peaked quickly but briefly.
The slow and steady Shorts were often given a second, more targeted run in the feed after about 6 hours, leading to better overall performance.
Two major conclusions can be drawn from these observations:
Don't worry if a Short is growing slowly - as long as it's in the feed, it should perform well over time.
Unless a Short has viral potential, those that appear to be taking off rapidly often fail.
Finally, the simplicity and brevity of Shorts proved to be crucial. The 10-second Shorts consistently outperformed the longer, more detailed, and better-edited Shorts.
This suggests that, at least for now, YouTube's Shorts algorithm rewards quick, easily digestible content over detailed, effort-intensive Shorts.
If you're looking to use Shorts as a vehicle for rapid growth, focus on creating fast, simple Shorts that align with your channel's core message, rather than on creating complex, highly edited pieces.
If you plan to make shorts that have the potential to go viral, and that is the main focus of your channel, by all means go for it, but that's not for me. My eventual goals are based almost entirely around building a community and my long form content.
Overall Results: How YouTube Shorts Helped My Channel Grow
This is what happened when I posted 40 YouTube Shorts in eight days. I'll try to word it in a way everyone can relate to.
Picture a massively large concert, with 173,500 seats. That's the number of times my shorts appeared in the YouTube feed - enough to fill that concert venue to the rafters!
Out of all those potential views, 63,800 people chose to watch my videos. That's equivalent to selling out a large football stadium!
932 people liked my videos. "Consider going to a massive convention and receiving a thumbs up from 932 people. You'd often pay thousands to 'gurus' to get that kind of attention."
The highlight? 88 people subscribed to my channel. Think of them as passengers on a fully loaded train - those passengers represent my new subscribers and are on the train to the city of my community.
With this pace, as long as I maintain 4 to 5 shorts a day in fewer than 100 days, I'll have 1,000 subscribers. That's like the entire population of a small town following my channel!
The takeaway: YouTube Shorts propelled my channel growth significantly.
While the growth figures from YouTube Shorts are impressive, I believe they can be a double-edged sword. Used recklessly, YouTube Shorts can potentially harm the impact of your long-form content.
So, how do we maximize the benefits while minimizing the risks?
The key is relevance. Make sure the Shorts you put out specifically target your audience. Alternatively, consider stretching your niche to reach a wider audience.
For instance, I used dad jokes in my Shorts. Why did I choose this? Well, there are a couple of reasons:
Laughter as a Healing Tool: One of the core themes of my channel is self-improvement, with a specific focus on mental resilience and managing life challenges such as chronic or extreme pain. Humor, especially in the form of laughter, is often considered the best medicine.
Embracing the Sigma Attitude: As part of my channel's ethos, I embrace the Sigma attitude - the attitude of being self-sufficient and not caring about societal expectations. Dad jokes, quick and easy yet amusing, perfectly fit into this attitude.
In conclusion, be strategic with your Shorts. Tailor them to your audience and make sure they align with your channel's focus. That way, you'll be able to harness the power of YouTube Shorts without jeopardizing your long-form content.
Should you use shorts my Future Plans/Strategy
With the results I achieved , I believe any new channel would be crazy not to pump out shorts as fast as possible, at least posting a couple a day, once the beginning goals phase of the channel is achieved.
I believe you should take a good look at your channel to determine what you want to do and how you could use shorts to your channel's benefits in the long run.
I found the feeling of watching the shorts gaining views, likes and subscribers as I watched each one intently, a lot of fun and almost addictive. As I was fully analyzing everything in real time.
I was sometimes having as many as 15 different tabs open at once flipping between all the shorts I had up, watching the data roll in real time.
I feel I have to give a warning: shorts in the long term are not something you can do to earn a lot of money.
Sure if you make it your entire channel's purpose and refine what you do those “6c per 1000 views may add up but i doubt it”.
But that is not why I did this experiment. I wanted to use shorts as free advertisement and a way to initially get more eyes on my content.
Shorts are and can be mind numbing and if not used carefully, they may actually take from you time effort and focus off what your real channel goals are.
My plan for shorts after i get enough base subscribers for the channel
After gaining initial traction and building a solid subscriber base, I feel it's time to refine our strategy. The aim is to hone in on our target niche and boost the visibility of long-form content. So, how are we going to achieve this?
I'll put this in context. I created as part of my planned schedule of blogs and videos a 16-minute video about different types of meditation - a beginner's guide.
It's aimed at those interested in managing pain, expanding their mind, or focusing their thoughts. This will be a consistent theme throughout the Sigma Back channel.
Now, from that single video, I created three Shorts, each with links back to the original long-form content. Sure, these Shorts might not attract as many eyes as a quick 10-second joke.
But the viewers they do attract will be genuinely interested in one of the core themes of the channel. Without major effort this got me 4 new subscribers.
I know the numbers are small but we have to start somewhere and they all add up from what i have learned the average youtube channel that posts consistently takes 3 to 6 months or longer to get there first 100 subscribers after 6 weeks of consistent uploads i am at 502 subscribers today so very very happy with my strategies so far
Think of it this way - these Shorts are not just promoting the Sigma Back channel, they're specifically spotlighting the long-form content. It's like free, highly targeted advertising!
But what about the viewers who joined us for the humor? Don't worry, we haven't forgotten about them. Regularly, say once a month, I will dedicate an hour or two to creating a new batch of 10-second Shorts.
These will be scheduled to release 2 or 3 a day, ensuring a constant stream of fresh content to keep the humor-loving viewers engaged.
This two-pronged approach – continuing to post quick Shorts for humor and creating Shorts from long-form content for more niche engagement – balances both growth and viewer retention, keeping everyone satisfied, I hope.
Thank You so much for reading this blog and or watching this video and I hope it has managed to help someone in their own journey into the madness that is youtube shorts.
