After reviewing thousands of Shorts, I've noticed that many creators don't know what makes a good hook.
Here are a few things you need to understand:
1. A good hook can't save a bad idea.
You can spend hours rewriting your opening sentence, adding sound effects and making the editing more engaging.
But if the actual topic isn't interesting, you're just finding a better way of presenting something nobody wanted to watch.
Before fixing your hook, question whether the idea itself is worth watching.
2. Curiosity isn't enough, you need a reason to care.
There's a difference between making someone wonder what's going to happen and making them actually WANT to find out.
"This guy did something crazy..." creates a question.
"This guy escaped from prison using a toothpick..." gives you something specific to anticipate.
The second is easier to care about because you immediately understand what you're waiting to see.
3. Your visual hook can do more work than your script.
A lot of creators obsess over their first sentence while completely neglecting what's happening on screen.
Sometimes a genuinely interesting visual can make an average opening work very well.
Ask yourself:
If I watched the first 3 seconds on mute, would I still have a reason to keep watching?
If not, you might be relying far too heavily on your voiceover.
4. Confusion kills curiosity.
A lot of creators deliberately withhold information because they think it'll make people curious.
But there's a difference between not knowing what happens NEXT and not understanding what's happening NOW.
You want the viewer to understand the situation immediately while leaving the outcome unresolved.
That's what gives them a reason to continue.
Before posting your next Short, ask yourself:
- Is the topic genuinely interesting?
- Do I understand what's happening immediately?
- Do the visuals and words complement each other?
- Is there something specific I'm waiting to see?
igorm retweeted
To continue the tradition,
here's a recap of my Q3,
I made $328,112.36 - 96.1% margins,
highlights:
> lost everything,
> made it back again,
> bought my mentor @yt_igm a rolex,
> went to the 2nd earnit meetup,
> pulled strangers out of the trenches,
> crossed $500,000 lifetime profit,
/
message to myself: hit 1m lifetime profit bro.
I wonder which country has the highest concentration of YouTube killers.
My guess is the Netherlands as Dutch people seem to crush every online biz model.
There鈥檚 a ton of killer Indian creators too but they have 80x the population lol.
Curious who would be #1 per capita.
It's crazy how many Shorts creators finally find something that works and then immediately start chasing something else.
I've seen loads of creators spend months mastering a niche, building a channel making good money, then suddenly want to switch because they've seen someone earning more in another market.
Meanwhile, they haven't even scratched the surface of what they could achieve with what they're currently doing.
If you've found something that consistently works, rinse tf out of it.
Start more channels, increase output, build a team around it.
Stop chasing someone else's opportunity when you might already be sitting on your own goldmine.
After filming this vid @SebShorts went on to crack a $65K month with just 1 Shorts channel.
He runs one of the biggest animation pages which many of you are familiar with.
This interview is packed with value.
Search @yt_igm on YT to watch.
Over the last 2 days many Shorts creators saw a random bite being taken out of their rt.
Dw it's not some shadowban or a sign you're about to get demonetized.
This seems to happen a few times a year, usually around when algo updates are announced.
Keep posting as normal.
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鈥揂ugust 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鈥檚 free resources, I made my first $1K in September.
Thank you, Igor 鉂わ笍
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.
















