Why I Switched From Long Form To Shorts

I'm still in my season of learning.

The main activity? Editing short-form content.

Return On Time

A 40-second YouTube short will get 6 hours of watch time.

Cost? 2 hours of editing.

Those same 2 hours if I spend on a 7-minute long form video, I will only get 1 hour of watch time.

The conclusion is, I've got a skill deficiency in terms of making long form content.

What's The Focus?

YouTube is not the main hustle. It's the simply the platform I upload my content on.

The main focus is getting better at the skill of editing. Whether that's doing my own edits, or replicating other people's style of edit.

With each edit, I'm getting better.

Because, what is my end goal? Landing a job as a video editor/marketer.

The views and engagement are a bonus.

The trap I'm trying to avoid is getting caught up on the vanity metrics. Of course, the more views and retention means a better piece of content.

However, that's something outside of my control. What really matters is I uphold my own standards when it comes to editing video.

As long as I get that right, the outcome will take care of itself.

In saying that, I made the executive decision to focus on short-form because of the ROI it had.

(As demonstrated in Return On Time)

Then, I think of what Alex Hormozi said in $100M Leads, start with short form content until you get better at it.

Then, you can look at doing longer form content.

Where Will Long Form Content Come In?

Confiding with a friend, I might go back to my videos being 'video blog' -esque. I'm not here to teach anyone anything.

There are better teachers, marketers, editors that will add a lot more value than what I can provide in that discipline.

I need to purely document. Documenting how I edit. What goes through my mind as I cut video. The process I use to find edits.

Or even, documenting my feelings and reflections.

That's the objective of the long-form video. Not nearly to be engaging. (I will say, it's an active skill I'll try getting better at) But capturing a moment in time where I spent hours a day on video editing shorts.

Is it meant to create an audience? I supposed it can. And I want to emphasise it's not the main objective. It's more like,

"Here's what I'm doing. You can come join the ride if you want."

Am I Trying To Freelance?

From the other video editor YouTubers, I'm not trying to actively make freelancing my full time job. I actually want to actually work under an employer and get paid to learn from them.

(If no employer wants me, I might start working for free for clients)

As great as having freedom is, I'm lucky that my constitution points towards video marketing. Even if I had all the money in the world, I'd probably go back to my craft: whether it be editing, piano playing, learning Japanese.

Life Trajectory

It's sort of the course correction. I want to be wealthy, of course. For the current stage of life I'm at, it's about getting as much experience in, in terms of work and life.

From what I've noticed among my peers, we want to work. We even say aloud that on our day offs, we are bored. We rather be trading the mountain of time we have to work, learn and earn.

I probably made this article from an investors' letter, to a personal diary entry.

Months ago, I worried. And I think getting a job that makes a living calms those anxieties.

Upon reflection, I realise why I find writing enjoyable. I have time to gather my thoughts. Create word play and rhyme. Trying to do the same thing in front of the camera creates pressure to get the right flow and cadence.

The switch to editing short form content is signalling a step back from the front stage. If my career is about editing and marketing for other people, I need to learn that I don't have to be the frontman.

And, why would anyone listen to a 19 year old, anyways? I have no track record. No formal career.

If I can make the audience of my vlogs for my future self, the version of me who can look back with fond memories, then I am satisfied.

I am not the teacher you are looking for. I can only point at my own mistakes and learnings and tell you what I did.

Because, it's not my time to talk to the world. It's my time to retreat to the crucible of learning and application. Becoming the individual I need to be.