The Time I Made $130 From A Million Views
Last month, one of my Shorts hit a million views. Finally, I thought, time to cash in.
The payout? $130.95.
I stared at my screen. That’s… thirteen cents per thousand views. For reference, my long-form videos earn anywhere from $3 to $18 per thousand views depending on the topic. But here’s the thing—that Short took me fifteen minutes to make. The long-form video? Three days of filming, editing, and second-guessing every cut.
When I was working on “Blood Buddies” last year, we spent weeks on a two-minute scene. Perfecting the lighting, nailing the performances, getting every frame just right. That’s filmmaking. YouTube Shorts feels like the opposite—quick, rough around the edges, unpolished in the best way possible. And somehow, it’s one of the most important tools for content creators right now.
Yeah, the money per view is terrible. But that million views? It brought 3,000 new subscribers. Those subscribers watched my longer videos. And those videos paid my rent.
The Problem: Nobody’s Explaining How Shorts Actually Work
Every guide I’ve read about YouTube Shorts sounds like it was written by someone who’s never actually made one. They tell you Shorts are “vertical videos under 60 seconds.” Cool, thanks. Super helpful.
What they don’t tell you is that Shorts work completely differently from regular YouTube videos. The algorithm is different. The monetization is different. Even the way viewers find your content is different.
When you upload a regular YouTube video, people subscribe to your channel, they get notified, they click. Simple.
Shorts? They’re served in an endless feed. Nobody’s searching for them. Nobody subscribed specifically for them. YouTube just… throws them at people. If your Short grabs attention in the first two seconds, great. If not, swipe. Next video. You’re competing with literally every creator on the platform, not just people in your niche.
And the monetization? Forget everything you know about YouTube ad revenue. Shorts don’t work like that.
The Underlying Cause: YouTube’s Playing Catch-Up With TikTok
Here’s what happened: TikTok exploded. Instagram panicked and launched Reels. Facebook copied them. And YouTube, the biggest video platform on Earth, suddenly realized they were losing an entire generation of creators and viewers to 15-second dance videos.
So they built YouTube Shorts. Fast.
The problem? They couldn’t just slap ads on Shorts the way they do with regular videos. The format’s too quick. So they came up with this weird pooled revenue system that nobody really understands. (I’ll explain it in a minute, don’t worry.)
Meanwhile, TikTok had the Creator Fund, which paid out… basically nothing. Instagram Reels had no monetization at all. YouTube saw an opportunity. They built the YouTube Partner Program to include Shorts, making it possible to actually earn money from short-form content.
But here’s the catch: the requirements are high, the earnings per view are low, and the whole thing only works if you understand how to use Shorts as part of a bigger strategy.
Most creators don’t. They upload a bunch of random Shorts, wonder why they’re not making money, and give up.
The Solution: Use Shorts as a Growth Engine, Not a Money Printer
Let’s be real: you’re not getting rich off Shorts ad revenue alone.
But Shorts can grow your channel faster than anything else on YouTube. And a bigger channel means more views on your long-form videos, where the real money is. It also means brand deals, affiliate sales, and merchandise revenue.
Think of Shorts like a free billboard on the busiest highway in the world. YouTube serves your content to millions of people who’ve never heard of you. Some of them stop scrolling. Some of them subscribe. And those subscribers become your actual audience.
This is exactly what happened with my channel after I started posting Shorts consistently. I wasn’t making much from the Shorts themselves. But my regular videos started hitting 50k, 100k, even 200k views because Shorts brought in subscribers who actually cared about my content.
And yeah, you can make money directly from Shorts. Just not the way you think.
Implementing the Solution: The Full Breakdown
Step 1: Join the YouTube Partner Program
You need to hit specific thresholds before you can monetize anything:
For full monetization (ads on Shorts and long videos):
- 1,000 subscribers
- Either 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days OR 4,000 watch hours on long-form videos in the last 12 months
For early monetization (fan funding only):
- 500 subscribers
- Either 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days OR 3,000 watch hours in the last year
Once you’re in, you need to accept something called the “Shorts Monetization Module” in YouTube Studio. This is what lets you earn from Shorts.
Step 2: Understand How Shorts Monetization Actually Works
Here’s where it gets weird.
YouTube pools all the ad revenue from Shorts into one big pot. Every month, they look at how many views your Shorts got compared to everyone else’s, then give you a slice of that pot. You keep 45% of your allocated share. YouTube keeps the other 55% (partly to cover music licensing costs).
Let’s say there’s $100,000 in the U.S. Creator Pool for a month. Your Shorts got 5% of all eligible views in the U.S. that month. You’d be allocated $5,000. You get 45% of that, which is $2,250.
If you use licensed music in your Shorts, it doesn’t reduce your cut. It reduces the total pool. But that’s already baked into the system.
Your earnings depend entirely on:
- How many views you get
- Where those views come from (different countries have different ad rates)
- How much ad revenue YouTube made that month
This is why most creators earn between $0.03 and $0.16 per 1,000 views on Shorts. Sometimes less. Occasionally more.
Step 3: Create Shorts That Actually Perform
Here’s what works based on my own experiments and watching what blows up:
Hook in the first 2 seconds. Not 5 seconds. Not 3 seconds. Two. If you don’t grab attention immediately, you’re done.
I tested this with two nearly identical Shorts. One had a slow build-up. The other started with “This lighting trick saved me $500.” The second one got 10x more views.
Keep it under 30 seconds if possible. Yeah, YouTube lets you go up to 60 seconds (or even 3 minutes now), but shorter Shorts tend to perform better. People rewatch them. The algorithm loves that.
Use trending audio, but don’t force it. If a trending sound fits your content, great. If not, don’t try to shoehorn it in. Authenticity matters more than chasing trends.
Make seamless loops. If the end of your Short can transition smoothly back to the beginning, people will watch it multiple times without realizing. More watch time = more reach.
Add captions. Most people watch with sound off. If your Short doesn’t make sense without audio, you’re losing viewers.
Step 4: Upload Properly
Uploading a Short is easy, but there are a few tricks:
On mobile:
- Open the YouTube app
- Tap the “+” button at the bottom
- Select “Create a Short”
- Record (or upload from your camera roll)
- Add text, music, or effects
- Write a title and description (include #Shorts to be safe)
- Hit upload
On desktop: Just upload like a normal video, but make sure it’s vertical (9:16 aspect ratio) and under 60 seconds. YouTube will automatically categorize it as a Short.
Pro tip: The title matters more than you’d think. Use keywords, but make it punchy. “3 Filmmaking Tricks Nobody Talks About” beats “Some Cool Lighting Techniques.”
Step 5: Beyond Ad Revenue—The Real Money Moves
Shorts ad revenue is pocket change. Here’s where the actual money comes from:
Affiliate links: Mention a product in your Short, drop an affiliate link in the description. If you’re reviewing gear or recommending tools, this adds up fast. I make more from affiliate commissions than Shorts ads.
Brand deals: Once you hit a decent subscriber count, brands will pay you to create Shorts featuring their products. This is where creators actually make money from Shorts. We’re talking hundreds or thousands per video, not pennies per thousand views.
Driving traffic to your long-form content: Every Short should hint at a longer video on your channel. “I filmed an entire breakdown on this—link in bio” or “Full tutorial on my channel.” Long-form videos have way better ad rates.
Selling your own products: Digital downloads, merch, courses, whatever. Shorts are free marketing.
Channel memberships and Super Thanks: Once you’re monetized, viewers can tip you or pay for exclusive perks. Some creators make serious money from this.
Step 6: Post Consistently (But Strategically)
You don’t need to post five Shorts a day. That’s exhausting and usually leads to garbage content.
Two to three high-quality Shorts per week is enough. But you need to be consistent. The algorithm rewards channels that show up regularly.
Also, timing matters. Post when your audience is actually awake. Check your YouTube Analytics to see when your viewers are most active. For me, that’s late afternoon EST. For you, it might be different.
Step 7: Track What Works
YouTube Analytics is your best friend. Look at:
- Average view duration: Are people watching your whole Short or bailing after 3 seconds?
- Traffic sources: Is your Short getting views from the Shorts feed, your channel page, or external sources?
- Audience retention: Where do people drop off?
Double down on what works. Kill what doesn’t.
When I analyzed my Shorts, I realized my “behind the scenes” content performed way better than my “tips and tricks” videos. So I made more of those. Views doubled.
Wrap-Up: Shorts Won’t Make You Rich, But They’ll Build Your Empire
That $130 from a million views? Still stings a little, not gonna lie.
But those 3,000 subscribers that came with it? Worth way more than $130. Some of them have watched every video I’ve made since. Some bought my presets. Some hired me for freelance work.
Shorts aren’t about the direct payout. They’re about the doors they open.
If you’re serious about growing on YouTube in 2025, you need to be making Shorts. Not because they pay well (they don’t). Not because they’re easy (good ones aren’t). But because they’re the single best tool YouTube has ever given creators for reaching new people.
So yeah. Make the Shorts. Just don’t expect them to pay your bills directly.
At least not yet.
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About the Author:
Trent Peek is a filmmaker specializing in directing, producing, and acting. He works with high-end cinema cameras from RED and ARRI and also values the versatility of cameras like the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema.
His recent short film “Going Home” was selected for the 2024 Soho International Film Festival, highlighting his skill in crafting compelling narratives. Learn more about his work on [IMDB], [YouTube], [Vimeo], and [Stage 32].
In his downtime, he likes to travel (sometimes he even manages to pack the right shoes), curl up with a book (and usually fall asleep after two pages), and brainstorm film ideas (most of which will never see the light of day). It’s a good way to keep himself occupied, even if he’s a bit of a mess at it all.
P.S. It’s really weird to talk in the third person
Tune In: He recently appeared on the Pushin Podcast, sharing insights into the director’s role in independent productions.
For more behind-the-scenes content and project updates, visit his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@trentalor.
For business inquiries, please get in touch with him at trentalor@peekatthis.com. You can also find Trent on Instagram @trentalor and Facebook @peekatthis.
