Meet the Girl Who Cracked YouTube Shorts (Jenny Hoyos Interview)

Replace algorithm with audience and you will succeed. What gives you so much confidence that every video you make can be a winner? It's all about storytelling.

I believe that social media growth is completely skill and is not luck. YouTube is the best platform for content creators. $40,000 in two days.

Today, I'm joined by Jenny Hoyos, the veritable master of YouTube shorts. Over the past two years, Jenny has amassed over 980 million YouTube views, which is just insane, as well as has attracted millions of subscribers and made quite a splash on Tik Tok and Instagram as well. And as if that wasn't impressive enough, Jenny has done all this at just 18 years old.

So today, Jenny and I are going to decode YouTube shorts for you, breaking down exactly how to pick the perfect topics. You kind of just have to take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere, design mesmerizing content, I would say a good short is one that has a really strong hook that not only stops your scroll but also gets you to watch till the end of the video. Film, edit, and post short-form videos on YouTube.

You know, the majority of the CHS takes no more than an hour. Jenny has claimed she can make anything go viral. "I don't ask this to go viral, I can figure out how to make it viral," and I think she has a track record that backs this up.

So let's look at how you can win with YouTube shorts as well. Jenny Hoyos, it is such an honor to get to sit down with you today. Yeah, of course, I'm excited to be on here.

Thank you for having me. So it's kind of the fame Jenny Hoyo quote at this point. I think you've claimed that if an idea is good enough, you can make anything go viral.

So what's your strategy on that? What gives you so much confidence that every video you make can be a winner? I believe that social media growth is completely skill and is not luck.

So if you have a good idea and you're a good storyteller, you theoretically should be able to get views. Because at the end of the day, people say, "Oh, you got lucky by the audience," but it's actually the audience. Replace algorithm with audience, and you will succeed.

I know it's such a cliche thing to say, but it's true. I'd say the most important thing is just focusing on storytelling. If you can master storytelling, you can blow up and make anything viral.

Because at the end of the day, people love stories. People have been telling stories for years now, and that's never going to change. So you can make anything viral as long as you know how to tell a good story.

You know, I couldn't agree with you more. I think so often people get caught up in trying to game the algorithm, and they think that they need to somehow figure out how to trick the algorithm into showing their content or figure out how the algorithm works so they can hack it or something like that. So I really want to get into story with you today and talk about how to put together a good story, especially in the span of only 30 seconds or so.

But before we get into all of that, I would love to know kind of your like reason why. Why YouTube shorts, out of all the platforms you could have chosen? And there are obviously a lot of them.

Why did you settle on YouTube shorts as the place to make to put your stamp? Yeah, totally. So growing up, my childhood dream was to become a YouTuber, and I know it's so cliche, but I really wanted a play button.

And that's actually why I got started on YouTube. But now that I've accomplished that, why am I still creating content focused on YouTube shorts? Well, that's because I believe that YouTube is the best social media platform for content creators.

In my opinion, the reason I say that is because one, YouTube shorts has the best monetization, has the best support team, and has more data available to view and analyze compared to any other platform. So I feel like, not feel like, I know for a fact, and I could feel it as a creator, that YouTube is setting me up for success and longevity, unlike other platforms that hide these analytics or don't really feel like they're there for the creators, but they're for the money. Oh, yeah, totally.

I mean, I really couldn't agree more. That's why I have chosen also to primarily build my brand on YouTube. Okay, so I have six big topics that I want to get into today.

Choosing video topics, scripting, filming, editing, posting, and continually improving. But before we get into any of those details, let's zoom out for a moment and talk about the big picture. Big picture, what would you say makes a good short?

Yeah, it's a very broad question, but I would say a good short is one that resonates with your audience. Of course, everyone has different viewing behaviors. That's why we're on different niches.

But to me, I would say a good short is one that has a really strong hook that not only stops your scroll but also gets you to watch until the end of the video. Followed by having continuous progression in the sense that every line must progress the video. The video should always be going up, and the video is always progressing.

And you do that by getting straight to the point and giving the viewer that value proposition that they are going to get by the end of this video. So much. To unpack, let's move on to my first big topic, which is choosing short video topics.

What does your strategy look like on this? How do you come up with ideas and then how do you decide which one to actually make into a video? So I come up with video ideas everywhere.

You kind of just have to take inspiration from anywhere and everywhere. So for one, I would look at trending topics that's trending on YouTube, Google Trends, and then I'll also use AI. Describe what your channel is, your values, your goals, your mission statement, and then tell us to come up with video ideas.

And then also just random things that happen in my life. I try to be my avatar, and I recommend that you try to be your avatar as well, or know your avatar and think like, what happens in the daily life of your avatar and make a video around that. I feel like that's one of the best ways to come up with ideas.

But now you're probably going to have like hundreds of ideas. Which ones do you pick? Well, for me, my order of selection is one, am I passionate about the idea?

And if I am, it goes next to the next filter. Does it fit my channel branding? So, for example, if I make videos on saving or making money, it would not fit my channel branding if I did a tutorial on how to cut your my dog's hair.

So, make sure it fits your channel branding. And three, that it actually resonates with your audience and your avatar. And that's the way I think about it.

And from there, I will also send it to friends, family, my team to get some extra thoughts. How are you differentiating between that second and third filter? The second one being, does it fit within your topics and the third one was, would it resonate with your audience?

Talk me through that last question a little bit more. Okay, great, yeah. So, for example, I've had this idea where I made money doing Uber Eats.

And that would fit my channel branding because I do side hustles making money content. However, my specific avatar is actually a middle schooler, meaning they cannot drive and they cannot do Uber Eats. My avatar is that kid in school who's selling candy, not the kid that's selling things on Uber Eats.

So, it fits the channel branding, but does not resonate with the avatar. I see. So, it needs to fit both topic wise and then also fit that avatar.

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So, what would you say are some mistakes that you've seen people make when trying to come up with ideas for shorts? Is there anything that kind of sticks out to you? Not brainstorming enough?

Sometimes, you'll think you have a good idea, but it's only good because it's the only one that you're looking at. So, you want to have multiple good ideas to pick from because if an idea stands out from all the good ones, then that's how you know it's a great idea. So, simply just brainstorm a bunch.

Have you been listening to me Jenny? Because I say that all the time. Dude, that's awesome.

Yeah, I always tell people, especially even before you start your channel, that I challenge them to come up with at least 50 video ideas. You need to have a big bank of content ideas to start with so that, like you were saying, you can kind of pick the best instead of just going with the first idea. Yes, exactly.

I love that. I have a list of a thousand ideas. Yeah, that's awesome!

That's amazing! That's probably more than I've heard anyone else say that they have. Well, at one point, I was raving about like 10 ideas every day and like eventually it adds up.

Let's shift a little bit to talking about the schedule of shorts. Do you think that there is any science to how frequently you post shorts if you want to grow? I don't think that there is a special science.

As long as you're making good videos, you will get views. But I recommend at least once a week so you have data to pull from. If you're posting once a month, you're not going to have analytics or data or comments to read to make sure that you're on the right track.

Yeah, absolutely! And also, going back to, it's really the people, not the algorithm. If you only make one short a month, that's not going to be frequently enough for people to get to know you at all and even remember you.

Yes, exactly! Looking at my analytics, my average viewer is like 3 to 6 and they're not even subscribed. So the fact that they see me like six times and they still haven't subscribed shows that they need to see a lot of shorts to build that deeper relationship.

Oh, that brings up something I'm curious about. As a primarily shorts creator, I know you make long-form videos now too, but you got most of your views from shorts. What does your analytics look like in terms of your percentage of views from subscribers versus non subscribers?

It's nearly all non-subscribers on my channel. I have 1 billion views but only 1 million subscribers. Well, not only that, that's a lot.

But you know what I mean, it's like 0. 1%. And I have like 10 million returning viewers per month and that shows that I am reaching the same avatar and they are actually returning.

And that's what matters much more to me because I know eventually they will subscribe. Subscribers are just a vanity number as well. So, that's so true.

What do you think the most important metric when it comes to shorts getting recommended is? Is it the fact that someone watches it all the way through? If they watch it multiple times?

Are there any other factors that are the most important you think? There's the top three. There's my top three and I want to say them.

So, number one is retention. Well, overall, I just want to say that I just want to emphasize viewer satisfaction is the most important thing. The algorithm is looking for viewer satisfaction.

So, just because you get a specific percent number doesn't mean the video is going to go viral. You want to target viewer satisfaction. But viewer satisfaction can be found in retention, rewatchability, which is basically the average views per viewer on that short, as well as subscribability.

That's what I believe. So, you think those are the three primary indicators that the viewer was satisfied? I'd say so.

Those are the three primary indicators based on the data that we've done. We put it onto a bunch of excel sheets and formulas and we've even done a piercing correlation to each individual thing. So, that we can see these variables and we've even tried to separate the variables.

And from what we found, we have the best Pearson correlation with those specific metrics. Well, you answered my next question before I even got to it, which was like how have you determined that? Is it just like a feeling you have?

But, no, you've done the research on at least your videos. Have you analyzed any other channels' videos as well? Yes, so I used to analyze a bunch of other people's videos by just going onto their channel and watching their videos, using AI to dissect them as well to help me.

But nowadays, I actually make friends, analyze their videos, and ask for their retention graphs and their data. I love how savvy that is. I've totally done what you're talking about too, running other people's videos through AI, trying to think what the tool that I used to do that is called.

Do you remember what the tool you were using to do that was? I use Harpa AI. So, basically, the idea here, just for everyone listening, is that at least this is what I would do.

I would take the video and there are tools that can basically watch the video for you, transcribe the video, and break it down into chapters for timestamping. So, then I could go through and I could see how other people's videos were structured and what different topics they covered in their videos and things like that. Was there anything else that you were looking for, Jenny, when you did that analyzing?

Comments. So, most importantly, I would have the AI analyze the comments and then let me know, if I were to recreate this video based on the comments, what would have made this video better. And I think that's huge because then you learn what you should do.

Yeah, oh wow, that's super clever. Okay, let's move on to talking about how you actually script your shorts. You mentioned it starts out with a good hook.

Is that where you start when you are thinking about scripting it? It always starts with a hook. So, I try to think of the best hook and sometimes you might have to.

Change the idea, just because, like, the hook matters so much more. So, when I think of the hook, I try to, again, I try to stop their scroll by, like, having, like, a power word in the beginning. So, I want to start with, like, "free" or "save money.

" So, when I'm scripting, that's the first thing I make sure. The first word is going to get value. And if it's not the first one of the first words, then also, I try to think within the hook how can I make the viewer know what they can expect by the end of the video.

So, one of my favorite hooks is, "What does $10 get you in Miami? " So not only does it tell you what the video is ("What does $10 get you in Miami? "), It also tells you that the video ends when I spend $10.

So you have a perfect expectation of the video. How do you think a hook should be, or how long do you typically go for, and how did you settle on that length? No more than three seconds.

So, the most important thing is flow, there's no magic number. I think like roughly 3 seconds gives a really good idea. Like, it kind of gives an example of the sort of length we're going for.

Are we going for 3 seconds or are we going for 10 seconds? We're going for 3 seconds. But basically, it sounds like it needs to be like one short sentence, would you say that's accurate?

One short sentence that is still enough to hook the viewer. Sometimes people would like make a really short hook and it's like, I don't even understand what the video is about. Just make sure the viewer has a clear expectation, as long as it takes to give them a clear expectation.

Basically. And so I know hooks are really important so I want to spend just another minute or so here. You gave an example of what you consider to be a really good hook, "What does $10 get you in Miami?

" For someone who's right now just like thinking, but wait, how do I write a hook, where do I start, sort of thing, could you give them any more guidance? Either a few more examples or do you have any go-to formulas you use, or anything like that? My number one go-to formula is questions.

When you ask a question, the viewer knows that they're going to get something by the end of the video. But then you're also making them think about something and now they're curious. It's like questions are the best in my opinion.

So, try to think of, can you ask a question, and if you can't, try to think of how could I put power words in the beginning. So, like I said, "free", "save money", but also credibility sometimes helps if you say a statement, but then also say, "and learn from me as a therapist" or "as a billionaire" or, you know, showing some sort of credibility. Every video, I write at least 10 hooks and then I also send it to my data analyst, SEO strategist who's actually doing all these data things and actually knows what is statistically working.

Okay, so this is a little bit of a side tangent then but I'm curious, your relationship with your data analyst or strategist, what is that like, how did that start, how did you find someone who is like qualified enough to be able to help you at this level basically? He started editing my videos about 6 months ago and he ended up becoming passionate about analytics and data. And on his free time, he was just like, "oh, I'm just going to export your data and analyze the analytics because he was naturally curious.

And I think that that's the key thing, just finding someone who's really passionate about what they do, and you know, someone who's passionate always beats someone who isn't, right? Yeah, that's cool, I love how it just naturally grew right, it wasn't like something you tried to force. Okay, let's move along and talk about how you film your shorts.

So broad strokes, do you film them in the order that people are going to watch them, like do you film them chronologically, what does that look like? Yep, I film chronologically, but sometimes we will rearrange the story just like so it could be funnier or make more sense. Like, usually in my videos, I'm showing a journey and character development and if we're messing around too much and rearranging and not doing things in order, then there's no character development and you don't see character growth.

It's like all getting rearranged. But for storytelling type content, it does, I'd say it does need to be in chronological order, which is why I do that. And how long does it take you to film a short typically?

It depends on the short, but majority of the shorts, it takes no more than an hour. Some of my longer ones can take up to like 3 hours. I like to film my shorts like long forms as, like, to explain it what do you mean by that?

Oh, I mean in so many ways. I only make a short if I think it can go viral on long form because if it can go viral as a 10-minute video, imagine how viral it would be as a 30-second video. Because it shows how much effort you put in, like people would comment and be like, "you realize she just did this whole thing just for a 30-second video," and like my family.

Says that too. They're like, "Why are you doing this whole production or like this whole thing for it to just be a 30-second video? Is there any other way in which you film your short videos, like a long-form video?

Honestly, lots of talking. I lose my voice by the end of it, and it almost feels like I filmed a long form and then it ends up being a 30-second video, so you just end up cutting down a whole lot. Who ends up making the editing decisions, you or your editor?

" "My video editor – first year and a half of my channel, I edited them myself, but I ended up hiring him because, you know, of course I wanted to scale. And he's a storyteller. I think that's a big tip: if someone's going to hire an editor, don't hire a video edit; hire a storyteller.

How did you find a storyteller? " "We became friends and Creator now. There are lots of talented storytellers and Creator now, which is like a program for people who want to learn YouTube.

So there are a lot of creators, but also a lot of scriptwriters, editors, and – oh my gosh – it's like free promotion. But I'm just saying, I made a lot of friends and met a lot of people through Creator now who've helped me. Yeah, that's awesome.

" "So you only have worked – like you edited your videos for the first year and then you've just worked with this one editor since and it's just been a great fit. You didn't have to try out a bunch of people or anything? " "Oh gosh, I had to try out so many people.

I – it was terrible. I've probably tried like at least 25 people – trial as in like, we worked together for like a week and then it didn't work out. It's very tough to find an editor.

And I will say, the biggest tip to finding an editor is - it's so cliche, everything I say is so cliche, but it's so true. I was looking for someone who is a great editor, incredibly talented; when you watch the video, you're like, 'Wow, they're great. ' But then, for some reason, you just – you just don't – you guys don't get along.

They don't want to listen, they – it just, the relationship is not there. They don't want to – they're doing it for money, they don't want to better themselves. Like, I always had – it was always a different problem every time.

So, when I stopped looking for someone talented, I – it sounds so funny – I stopped looking for someone who is good, and I started looking for people who were passionate. And the editor that I hired had little to no experience. I didn't even like the videos that he's edited, but I saw the passion because I was friends with him, and I knew like he is going to be very talented because I see the potential.

And you know, here we are today, and he is – he's, I think, one of the best editors on YouTube; going to win a Streamy, like if not next year, the year after. One more question about you filming your videos: how much help do you have? Do you do it all by yourself or do you have someone helping you?

" "Yeah, I film all the videos by myself. But I will say, transparently, my parents do help a lot in the sense of like, for example, balancing ideas and preparing the shoots. It seems so funny – yeah, maybe I'm only filming for an hour, but sometimes to set up the area, clean the house, make sure the lighting's good – that does take some time.

So, you know, they'll be there and give a helping hand. Yeah, that's really nice. I got one more question for you about editing, I guess, and that is when you were editing your own shorts, how long did it take you to edit one?

" "One short typically about 10-20 hours, and it takes my editor the same amount of time. So, you're probably thinking, 'That's ridiculous,' and it is. It is a lot of time.

" "Once you've got your video back from your editor and it's time to post it, what are the nuances that might make one short perform better than another? Is there YouTube SEO that you need to make sure you have configured properly for your short? " "In my opinion, no.

Especially not for shorts, given that like, for one, people aren't watching shorts by going on search. Some people click on shorts through search, but like, when people are searching, usually they want to watch a long form. Shorts is primarily like, you know, the shorts feed, which is why SEO, I don't really think matters for shorts.

But also, the YouTube algorithm is just really good, and like, I believe in hashtags, good descriptions, and things like that on TikTok and Instagram, but on YouTube, their AI, their algorithm is so good that it will do that metadata for you in the back end, you know, it's just that good, to be honest. " "Yeah, I feel like that stuff matters less and less now that AI is so good, that it's literally instantly transcribing your video. It knows exactly what you're talking about in the videos.

You did talk earlier about how if you have multiple videos, like you were saying about your cooking videos, that you would try to maybe more carefully tag them there to get viewers from one video to a new video. Is there any nuance there to? " How do you try to configure that?

Yeah, so I love that you mentioned that. But the primary thing I focus on is, for one, having a similar format and script. Because, like we were talking about, AI does transcribe the videos, so it does see that, "Oh, this is following a very similar format, it's a very similar video.

" So I do it in that sense. But also, I try to make the titles as similar as possible. So usually, it will have like the same words but maybe, like, let's say, episode one, episode two, or just like you replace it with the food item that you're making, you know, just like keeping the same title.

Also, not for the algorithm, but also for the viewer. They'll probably run into the video and they'll be like, "Oh, this is the same thing as well if they are to run into it. " But yeah, that's the primary way.

And I put them all into the same playlist as well. Let's move on to this last topic, which is learning and improving. So what are the analytics that you pay the most attention to?

And then, also, of those analytics you pay attention to, what do you do with that information? The number one thing that I am actively paying attention to is retention graphs. Not retention percentage, but retention graphs.

Because if you look at your retention percentage, you'll be like, "Well, I got 90%. Okay, next video. " It's like, what do you even do with that?

Versus if you have the graph, you'll see exactly where the viewers are leaving and it actually tells you about the viewers' behaviors. So I would just like actively look at that to see where people are leaving, where people are staying, where people are rewatching. And I think you would see tenfold the improvements than any of the other things.

You know, there's this law where it's like you want to focus on the 10x things, not the 2x. So I think the retention graph is like how you can 10x improve and everything else is probably just going to result in 2x. That's what I believe in.

So, there's one last thing I wanted to talk with you about today, Jenny. And if you don't want to talk about this, we don't have to. But I have a feeling you might be willing to, given the topic of your whole channel is about making and saving money.

Would you mind getting into the money of shorts and how profitable it's been? Yeah. So, transparently, I make about $5,000 to $7,000 a month on YouTube ad revenue, like from shorts.

And this is on, I believe, like 60-80,000 views a month. So, it's not incredibly profitable in that sense. It's still something because I have an 11 cent RPM.

But the real money is to be made on products for sure or other streams of income. So, for example, I offer consulting and that's where my primary source of income is. And I teach others how to grow their social medias, their businesses in a two-day weekend teaching what I know.

I made, I believe it was $40,000 in two days. But then there's also brand deals where you promote your products, you know what I mean. So, I would definitely focus on products and other external sources because the reach is insane, the reach is incredible.

And it's like when you're getting, for me, I'm averaging 10 million views per short, what brand wouldn't want to get like 10 million views? So, I get the same views as the Super Bowl but imagine a brand gets to pay like what, like 100x less for the same views, it's incredible. Yeah, absolutely.

Could you would you be willing to share how much your brand deals are currently going for? How much brands are currently paying you for a feature? They have to at least be in the five figure range to work with me.

Do that again, that gives a ballpark like, you know, for people who are just curious like, are we talking millions, are we talking hundreds, like five figures. Five figures, something right? If someone was interested in possibly working with you, as you mentioned you've been doing some consulting and things like that, how could they get in contact with you to find out more about that?

Yeah, so feel free to email me at Team Jenny Hoo. com. Okay, well, try not to flood your inbox too bad, right?

Well Jenny, this has been amazing, an absolute master class in YouTube shorts. Thank you so much for sharing everything with us about how to grow on YouTube shorts. I've learned so much and I'm sure all the listeners have as well.

Thank you so much for having me, this is so much fun. Now, if you take action on what you learned from Jenny today, I have no doubt that you will soon be racking up the views on your YouTube channel. So, let's talk about the next step, which is monetizing those views.

I made a video which you can check out right here all about the full monetization process, how many views you need, how many watch hours, and all the other monetization requirements. So, if you're interested in learning how you can start making money on YouTube, then watch this video right now.