The problem with short-form video

This week, we're digging into the world of short-form video. We discuss why it's popular, where we're heading, and my personal approach to short-form.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [Creator Science]( Presented by [Sam Vander Wielen]() Hello my friend! I'm playing around with the format of the newsletter a little bit! You may have noticed that I've been writing more long-form essays lately. I like doing this because it's more challenging, more fulfilling, and the finished product is much more referenceable over time. The problem with more long-form essays that I want to give an enduring life too is that I destroy their evergreen nature by putting in too much of my current-day reality. So the options are either: - Avoid talking about the current-state of my business and life - Find another way to share that behind-the-scenes with you that doesn't involve injecting it directly into these essays. So what I'm going to try and do is start each of these newsletters with a brief note from me about what's going on in my life and business and then highlight this week's essay in the block below. Since it's long-form, you'll need to click the button to read the essay on the website. I know I used to embed the full essay in this email, but not only are these essays too long for that, but my website supports all kinds of embeds (like watching example TikToks)! I'm always open to feedback on this sort of thing. Hit reply any time! Onto this week's newsletter... ​ ​ [Sponsor Image]() PRESENTED BY SAM VANDER WIELEN 5 Steps to a Legally Legit™️ Business Do you worry if your content is legally protected? Far too often, creatives skip getting legally legit™️. But, if you’re doing any business activity online — you really need to legally protect yourself. Fortunately, we have Sam Vander Wielen, an attorney-turned-entrepreneur. She helps online business owners ditch the fear of messing up and grow the business of their dreams. You can get started right away with Sam’s free checklist, 5 Steps to a Legally Legit™️ Business. It covers must-dos like contracts, scope of practice, and business registration… plus 1 key step most online business owners miss. [Get Instant Legal Tips Here]() ​ ​ [Featured Image]() READ THIS WEEK'S ESSAY Taking the long view on short-form video The year is 2077. You're reflecting on your life, your creative career, and the body of work you're leaving behind. With a little mental math, you realize you've probably posted about 20,000 videos to TikTok and Reels (averaging one per day every day for 55 years). That's 10,000 hours of recorded content, not including the time producing the content itself. "Thank goodness I spent all that time making TikToks," you think to yourself. This week, we're digging into the world of short-form video. We discuss: - Why short-form is popular - What short-form platforms want - The optimistic case - The critical case - Where we're headed - My approach to short form [Keep reading (8 min) ↗]() ​ ​ CLICK WORTHY 🔥 Check these out 🐦 [8 things your video setup says about you]() – In this thread, Kevin Shen shares some of the common mistakes he sees with home video studios and how you can change your setup to reflect the vibe you're trying to put out. --------------------------------------------------------------- 📹 [The Man Behind GaryVee's TikTok Growth AND Alex Hormozi’s Content Strategy](=) – Caleb Ralston worked with Gary Vaynerchuk between 2018 and 2020 and was recently hired by Alex and Leila Hormozi to run their content. (90 mins) ​ ​ LISTEN ON CREATIVE ELEMENTS #115: Jason Sew Hoy of Supercast How and why to create a premium podcast subscription [Creative Elements Cover Art]() Jason Sew Hoy is the cofounder and CEO of Supercast. He was previously COO & Chief Growth Officer at 99designs. Supercast is a podcast subscription platform for thousands of podcasters, networks & publishers. Their top 10 podcasters earn $12+ million a year directly from their listeners. In this episode, we talk about Jason’s path to Supercast, when a premium podcast subscription makes sense, how to create good incentives for subscribers to pay, and why none of this has been possible without Experimentation. [Play episode]() [Apple Podcasts](=) [Spotify]( [Stitcher]() [YouTube](=) New to the show? Start with a [curated playlist](). ​ ​ LAST WORD 👋 Thanks for reading! It was a pretty insane week. In jus the last few days, we've had nearly two dozen new members [join The Lab](=)​ We've grown to more than 125 members! And a big reason for this recent surge is that the cost of admission is going to increase TOMORROW (Monday). Here are the highlights: [Pricing changes for The Lab]()​ There is zero pressure or expectation from me, I just wanted to give you a heads up about this upcoming change so you can take advantage of current pricing if you're in a position to! ​[Learn more or join The Lab](=) ↗ This is just ONE product that I offer and it's for more advanced creators. If you're feeling like you're not able to budget that cost, that's OK! Maybe sometime down the road. Thanks for supporting my work and I'll talk to you next week! Cheers, Jay --------------------------------------------------------------- [Photo of Jay Clouse]( Jay Clouse [Say hi 👋 on Twitter]() or [Instagram]( ☎️ [Book a 1:1 call with me]( Thanks for subscribing! 📬 Reply to this email or [contact me]() anytime. [Edit your profile]( or [unsubscribe here](. This email was sent with [ConvertKit]() and designed using [Palladio](=). Want to say thank you? ❤️ ☕️ [Buy Me A Coffee]() or send a note to P.O. BOX 797, Worthington, OH 43085. 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