Free data studies

I study what works.

I pull real data on YouTube, ads, outreach and business, then test what I find on my own channel. Every study is free.

$6.19 what a typical long video paid per 1,000 views43× more views for true crime than finance on small channels67% of channels got more views on their longer videos3.4× more weekly views posting 4–7 times a week vs under once7% between the best and worst day to post74% of viral videos made a different promise33% of viral thumbnails had a bigger face. Most didn’t.170 words a minute, viral and normal scripts alike0.30× the views of a long video, for a typical short54% a coin flip: how often the higher-res video won42.7% of their subscriber count: views on a small channel’s typical video$6.19 what a typical long video paid per 1,000 views43× more views for true crime than finance on small channels67% of channels got more views on their longer videos3.4× more weekly views posting 4–7 times a week vs under once7% between the best and worst day to post74% of viral videos made a different promise33% of viral thumbnails had a bigger face. Most didn’t.170 words a minute, viral and normal scripts alike0.30× the views of a long video, for a typical short54% a coin flip: how often the higher-res video won42.7% of their subscriber count: views on a small channel’s typical video

138,645YouTube videos studied

11free studies so far

$0to read any of it

The studies

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Money · Data study

$6.19

How Much Does YouTube Pay? 82 Creators’ Real RPMs, by NicheA typical long video paid about $6.19 per 1,000 views. Shorts paid 16 cents.Read the study YouTube · Data study

43×

The Best Faceless YouTube Niches for Small Channels (572 Channels Ranked)True crime got 43× the views of personal finance on small faceless channels.Read the study YouTube · Data study

67%

How Long Should a YouTube Video Be? 111,322 Videos Compared Within Their Own ChannelsLonger videos won in 2 out of 3 channels, but only by about a fifth.Read the study YouTube · Data study

3.4×

How Often Should You Post on YouTube? 1,664 Channels and 42,629 UploadsPosting more spreads views thinner per video, but adds up to more per week.Read the study YouTube · Data study

The Best Time to Post on YouTube (24,918 Uploads Say It Barely Matters)The best day beat the worst by about 7%. The hour made no real difference.Read the study YouTube · Data study

74%

Why YouTube Videos Go Viral: 1,019 Outliers vs Normal Videos From the Same ChannelIn 74% of pairs, the viral video simply promised something different.Read the study

Watch the videos

YouTube channel

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How to Go Viral on YouTube Like MrBeast, Explained in 241 Seconds

The patterns behind the most viewed videos on YouTube, in four minutes.

Alex Hormozi’s YouTube Growth Formula Explained in 269 Seconds

I Got 7 Million Views and Only Made $500

Door to Door Solar Sales: 2 Years, $12K Months, Then I Quit

The Free AI Clipping Tool Nobody Talks About

I Quit Every Business I Started… Here’s What I Learned

More studies

YouTube · Data study

33%

What Makes a YouTube Thumbnail Work? 2,038 Thumbnails From the Same ChannelsViral thumbnails weren’t brighter and didn’t have bigger faces.Read the study YouTube · Data study

170

I Compared 1,888 YouTube Scripts. Viral Ones Weren’t Written DifferentlySame pace, same sentence length, same openings. The viral one was just longer.Read the study YouTube · Data study

0.30×

YouTube Shorts vs Long Videos: 586 Channels That Post BothThe typical short got a third of the views of the same channel’s long video.Read the study YouTube · Data study

54%

Does 4K Get More Views on YouTube? 693 Pairs From the Same ChannelsNo. The higher-resolution video won 54% of the time: a coin flip.Read the study YouTube · Data study

42.7%

Is YouTube Killing Small Channels? What the Data SaysRelative to their size, small channels got 6× the attention of big ones.Read the study

Who’s behind this

I’m Elijah.

I’ve started and quit a lot of businesses. I did door-to-door solar sales for two years, and I built an app with AI without knowing how to code (Meal Monster).

Now I pull the data before I try anything, and I post what I find, including what flops. Right now I’m posting 1,800 shorts in 30 days.

More about me