🔥 Quick Intro
YouTube Shorts can grow your channel - or wreck it. Jeremy Vest breaks down why both stories are true, and how to make Shorts a “surgeon approach” instead of a shotgun. You will learn the YouTube Shorts strategy behind niche-first virality, the 3 metrics that matter, and the hook + payoff patterns used in viral YouTube Shorts and long-form YouTube shows.

👉 Episode in a Nutshell
Jeremy Vest explains why YouTube is shifting from “lean forward” to “lean back” viewing, especially on TVs (verify). He argues creators must rethink long form YouTube show formats, but start by mastering short form storytelling first. He shares the 3 signals for viral YouTube Shorts: niche fit, watch time, and swipe-away rate. You also get a simple anatomy for short form videos (showing vs talking), plus repeatable interview hooks like the “Golden Nugget” formula. Finally, Jeremy shows how Creator Unlock uses competitor data to generate strategic ideas and audits.

⏰ Timestamps
00:00 - Shorts can help or hurt your channel - and why both camps think they’re right
01:08 - YouTube watch time shifting to TV screens (verify) and why it changes long form
03:19 - Why 45-minute episodes can beat 6-8 minute videos on watch time
07:30 - Deep dives vs podcasts - the real driver is YouTube hooks and storytelling
09:20 - Turning “how-to” into story: the leaky toilet title rewrite
12:53 - The big myth: YouTube Shorts “hurt your channel” - when it’s actually true
14:02 - Start with Shorts first: master 15-45 second short form storytelling
17:24 - The 3 viral Shorts signals: niche, watch time, swipe-away rate
19:14 - Two types of Shorts: showing a thing vs talking about a thing
21:08 - Hook + payoff: anticipation is the engine of a viral short
22:14 - Talking head example: “no prenup” hook and why captions matter
26:33 - Creator Unlock: niche detection + top competitor videos + transcripts
32:47 - The real edge: make 100 videos, get 1% better, keep going
35:15 - “I” and “You” - the two most powerful words in hooks
37:33 - The Golden Nugget formula for podcasts: “Did you see that? Pull that up.”
44:53 - Shock and polarization: how to open with a contrarian idea
47:06 - Long form YouTube show advice: good headlines are not clickbait if true
51:37 - 2026 playbook (verify): deep conversations + deep dive videos in your niche
54:08 - Where to start: free channel audit + coaching options + Niche King program

💡 Key Takeaways
- YouTube Shorts strategy starts with niche alignment - go viral outside your niche and you can fragment your audience.
- Viral YouTube Shorts are measurable: watch time + swipe-away rate + niche fit.
- Under 30 seconds: aim for 100% watch time (Jeremy’s rule). Over 30 seconds: aim for 80% watch time (Jeremy’s rule).
- Swipe-away rate target: under 40% swipe-away (meaning 60% keep watching).
- Short form storytelling is hook + anticipation + payoff. The payoff is the moment viewers wait for.
- Two short formats win: “showing a thing” (visual payoff) and “talking about a thing” (instant clarity + strong idea).
- Long form YouTube show growth now favors deep dives and podcast-style conversations, built around repeatable formulas.
- “Clickbait” is not the headline - it’s whether the headline is true.
- Repeat what works. Don’t reinvent the wheel every upload.

🔗 Resources
- Creator Unlock | Free channel audit and AI video strategist mentioned in the interview | https://creatorunlock.com
- Colin and Samir (YouTube) | Example of long-form creator interviews Jeremy references | https://www.youtube.com/@ColinandSamir
- MrBeast (YouTube) | Example of repeatable show formulas and idea-first storytelling | https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast
- vidIQ | YouTube education channel Jeremy references | https://www.youtube.com/@vidIQ

🔥 Quick Intro
Pat Flynn shares the real story behind his “Should I Open It?” Shorts series and why video #35 was the turning point after weeks of low views. This episode breaks down persistence, open loops, and why daily reps matter more than chasing viral hacks.

👉 Episode in a Nutshell
Pat explains how he committed to a 60-day Shorts experiment with strict rules: no help, no cross-promotion, and daily uploads. For the first month, most videos sat at 200-500 views. Then video #35 hit 750,000 views and everything changed. He unpacks what he learned about hooks, curiosity, storytelling, and why quantity plus value beats perfection when you’re building momentum.

⏰ Timestamps

• 00:00 - Why video #35 took off
• 00:38 - The 60-day Shorts experiment
• 02:23 - The “Should I Open It?” hook and open loops
• 03:56 - Why curiosity makes people lean in
• 06:14 - Storytelling lessons from movies and books
• 08:34 - Being stuck at 200-500 views
• 10:06 - The breakthrough on day 35
• 11:12 - Patterns that helped performance
• 15:12 - The fishing analogy for content
• 17:07 - Quantity vs quality (with value)

💡 Key Takeaways

• Commit to a fixed experiment window before judging results
• Open loops and curiosity drive retention
• Daily reps dramatically speed up skill improvement
• Patterns matter more than guesses
• Quantity works best when value stays high

🔗 Resources

• Lean Learning (book by Pat Flynn) | https://amzn.to/4pcTBjz
• Save the Cat (book) | https://amzn.to/3YQJBle
• ScreenFlow | https://www.telestream.net/screenflow/
• Smart Passive Income Podcast – Episode 824 | https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/podcasts/spi-824-quality-or-quantity-shorts-update/

🔥 Quick Intro
Daily short-form video sounds simple - until you try doing it every day for a year. In this episode, Leslie Samuel breaks down what actually happens when you commit to Shorts, Reels, and TikTok, and how AI and automation made consistency possible.

👉 Episode in a Nutshell
Leslie Samuel shares the results of a one-year daily short-form video experiment on his Interactive Biology channel. He explains why engagement mattered more than virality, how Shorts stabilized subscriber growth year-round, and why community exploded. Leslie also walks through how he uses AI and n8n automation to generate ideas, write scripts, batch record months of content, and remove editing and publishing bottlenecks without losing authenticity.

⏰ Timestamps
00:00 - Was the one-year short-form experiment worth it?
00:21 - Why Leslie started short-form after Pat Flynn’s success
01:50 - How long Leslie posted daily Shorts and what consistency looked like
02:38 - Views vs engagement - what actually mattered
03:23 - How short-form created real community for the first time
05:51 - Engagement signals and why they matter to algorithms
06:15 - Subscriber growth before and after short-form video
07:27 - Consistent growth during normally slow seasons
08:16 - New opportunities and interviews from daily Shorts
09:39 - Monetization realities of short-form video
10:33 - Why Leslie paused daily posting
12:09 - Editing as the biggest bottleneck in video marketing
14:14 - The “Truth or Trash” short-form format explained
15:01 - Using ChatGPT for ideas and scripting
16:27 - Automating idea generation with n8n
18:11 - Batch recording 30-90 videos at a time
19:31 - Teleprompters, AI scripts, and authenticity
22:26 - Training AI to sound like you
26:23 - Prompt refinement to hit a 95% voice match
27:31 - Live walkthrough of Leslie’s n8n idea generator
33:13 - n8n vs Zapier vs Make.com
36:35 - Turning automation into a new business
38:29 - Using AI for research, promotion, and growth
43:25 - Where AI and short-form video are heading next
45:25 - Final thoughts and where to find Leslie

💡 Key Takeaways
- Consistency beats virality for long-term growth
- Short-form video drives deeper engagement than long-form alone
- Daily Shorts stabilize subscriber growth year-round
- AI can handle ideas and scripting without killing authenticity
- Teleprompters work when scripts match natural speech
- Automation removes the biggest friction in content creation
- Batch recording is the key to sustainability

🔗 Resources
- https://iamlesliesamuel.com - Leslie’s content and automation services