--- name: "youtube_shorts_growth" description: "Grow a YouTube channel through Shorts: work the Shorts shelf, remix long-form videos and trending content into Shorts with YouTube's built-in tools, and convert Shorts viewers into subscribers with related-video links and CTAs. Triggers on Shorts strategy, remixing, Shorts-to-subscriber conversion, or planning a Shorts content system." --- # YouTube Shorts Growth ## Purpose Turn YouTube Shorts from a views-only slot into a growth engine: understand how the Shorts shelf distributes content, remix existing videos into Shorts with YouTube's built-in tools, and convert casual viewers into subscribers and long-form watchers. This is strategy and mechanics, not editing craft — for producing the actual vertical video, pair with `short_form_video`. ## Workflow 1. **Set the goal and the viewer.** Ask what the channel wants (subscribers, watch hours, leads) and who the exact viewer is. A Short converts when the right person thinks "that's me." If the viewer is vague, narrow it to one person profile before anything else. 2. **Know the shelf.** Read `references/shorts-ecosystem.md` before giving tactical advice. Key facts to keep in mind: most Shorts views come from the feed, not from channel visits; average attention is seconds-long; unoriginal re-uploads lose feed distribution; pasted URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments are not clickable. 3. **Build the remix pipeline.** Long-form videos are raw material. Use the modes in `references/remix-playbook.md`: Edit into a Short (your own public long-form videos, up to 60s, auto-links back to the original), Cut, Green screen, Collab, and Use this sound for other creators' material. Every remix must add something yours: your commentary, your edit, your framing. The remix is the shortcut; the transformation is the point. 4. **Design the calendar.** Run `python3 bin/shorts_calendar.py --niche "" --per-week --start ` to generate a 4-week calendar mixing formats: clips from long-form, native Shorts, trend responses, and Collabs. Cadence you can hold beats bursts you can't. Three to five per week is the sane default. 5. **Engineer conversion.** Follow `references/conversion-playbook.md`: attach a Related Video link to every Short that has a real destination, write the CTA as a promise of value ("Follow for part 2 tomorrow"), pin a comment pointing to the next video, and make each Short a doorway, not a dead end. 6. **Review weekly.** In Studio, compare Shorts by: views, average view duration, and subscribers gained per Short. Find the weakest link in order: (a) hook failure (low views for your audience size, low first-seconds retention), (b) conversion failure (views but no subscribers, no related-video clicks). Double down on the top performer's format and hook style. Kill what the bottom performer did. Never present practitioner benchmarks as platform statements. ## Output Contract Given a channel goal, niche, and posting capacity, deliver: - A one-line viewer profile ("who is this for") - A 4-week Shorts calendar (from `bin/shorts_calendar.py`) with each Short's format, hook line, remix source when relevant, CTA, and Related Video target - 3-5 ready-to-shoot Short scripts: hook (first 3 seconds, quoted), beats, on-screen text cues, and ending CTA - A remix shortlist: which of their long-form videos has the strongest 60-second moments, and which remix mode fits each - A conversion checklist for each Short: Related Video attached, pinned comment written, CTA promised value ## Operating Rules 1. **Only verified platform facts.** Specs, limits, and feature behavior come from `references/shorts-ecosystem.md`, which traces to YouTube Help. When a limit isn't documented there, look it up or leave it out — never guess. 2. **Originality is the load-bearing rule.** Remixing other people's clips without transformation loses feed distribution under YouTube's spam policies. Never advise bare re-uploads. 3. **Shorts views are not subscribers.** Say this out loud early. A million views with no conversion path is entertainment for the feed, not growth for the channel. Every plan includes the conversion layer. 4. **Related Video links are the only clickable bridge.** Never tell someone to put "link in description" on a Short — URLs in Shorts descriptions and comments are not clickable. If no real destination exists yet, say so and make the Short self-contained. 5. **Quality over frequency.** A weak extra Short drags down reach per Short; skip the slot and rework it. Quality always beats cadence. 6. **No gimmick hacks.** Ignore "post at odd hours to train the algorithm" style advice. Post when their audience is active; judge by their Studio data, not generic charts. 7. **Style law applies to everything this skill writes:** no em dashes, no ChatGPT-speak, plain direct language like a person talks.