So, Shorts are generating around 200 billion views a day. That's roughly 70% of that traffic comes from viewers who have never seen the creator before. Nuts, right 🤯 The way I see it, that's the opportunity in a single number. Here's the simplest way to think about it. A Short is a 10-15 second introduction to a stranger. Your job isn't to close them in that window. I think your job is to give them something useful enough that they're willing to spend more time with you. When you do that consistently, the algorithm starts placing your longer content in front of people who are already favourably disposed toward you. The mechanics are straightforward. Take the strongest 60-90 seconds from your long-form video. Put a clear hook at the front. Add one line at the end pointing people to the full video. That's it. One video you've already recorded can become 8-12 Shorts. So, you're not creating new content. You're expanding the number of entry points into content you've already built. So, making that one video work so much harder. The specific sequence that works: open with a direct promise or surprising question, deliver one concrete insight fast, then invite people to the full breakdown.

From what I have seen so far this year, most creators I talk to are doing the same thing. They find a topic that is working in their niche, they make their version of it, and then wonder why it barely moves. In my opinion, the issue is not the topic. It is the angle. From what I can see, YouTube is not rewarding the fifth video on the same subject. It is rewarding the one that fills a gap the other four left open. That gap is usually something only you can fill because it comes from your own data, your own recent tests, or your own point of view on where the common advice is wrong. Before you script your next video, ask yourself three things. Is there anything in this video that only I could say? Am I solving a 2026 problem or one I learned about two years ago from someone else? And what does the existing content on this topic consistently get wrong? That last question is almost always where the best video lives. Not a contrarian take for its own sake. A genuine gap between what the popular advice says and what the data actually shows when you test it. What is one piece of received wisdom in your niche that your own experience contradicts?

That’s it, my 30 day YouTube shorts sprint is over 🙏 I want be analysing the results yet but there’s no doubt it’s not only help my channel but also helped my confidence with long form 🎥

Staring at a blank notes app, wondering what to film next, is one of those things nobody warns you about when you start a channel. Here are six methods worth keeping in your back pocket. None of them requires waiting for inspiration. 1. YouTube autocomplete: start typing your topic into the search bar and let the suggestions do the work. Those are real searches happening right now. Turn the best ones into titles. 2. Comment sections on bigger channels in your niche: look for questions, frustrations, or "I wish someone would explain this" moments. Those are video ideas sitting there unaddressed. 3. Communities and forums: Reddit, Facebook groups, wherever your audience spends time. What are people debating or struggling with? Go answer it on camera. 4. Your own analytics: sort by watch time or views over the last 28 to 90 days and look for patterns in your top performers. Make more of what's already working. 5. AI: give it a specific prompt about your niche and your audience. The more detail you add, the more useful the output. 6. Winning titles in your niche: find high-performers and try a new angle, a fresher hook, or an updated version of the same topic. Most of these will give you three to five ideas in a single sitting. The goal is to batch them so you always have a backlog and never make decisions from a blank page. Which one do you tend to skip or forget about? Des

If you're using AI for YouTube content, you've probably noticed the default outputs feel a bit flat. Generic hooks, safe titles, scripts that don't quite sound like you. The fix is usually how you're prompting it. These 5 prompts have made the biggest difference for me: "Why does this suck?" - Gets the AI to critique its own draft and rewrite it stronger. Works better than asking it to "make this better." "This is vague. Give me specifics." - Useful when a script is full of advice but short on real examples. "You sound like a corporate robot. Write like a real person who has lived this." - Good for stripping out the polished-but-lifeless tone AI defaults to. "Tell me why this fails. Be honest." - I use this on video ideas and hooks before filming. Saves time. "Remove anything that doesn't stop the scroll immediately." - Forces every line to justify being there. Simple ways to apply them: Script draft: prompt 1, then 3 Title ideas: generate a list, then run 5 and 2 on it Hook or thumbnail copy: 5 and 3 together Give one a try on something you're currently working on. What improved?