Peet Montzingo and Kat Buno share why Shorts is worth a shot
Mar 28, 2024 – [[read-time]] minute read
Editor’s note: Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Peet Montzingo (18.4 million subscribers), an internet sensation who grew up as the only "tall" sibling in a family of little people, and Kat Buno (9.9 million subscribers), a beloved entertainment-driven Shorts creator. As two of our most successful Shorts creators, Peet and Kat have invested time, energy and love into the format and reaped the rewards. With an average of over 70B daily views and new ways to earn through revenue sharing, Shorts is changing the way creators make content and build communities on YouTube. Knowing that creators learn best from their communities, I picked their brains to understand more about their approach to Shorts and how it’s uniquely helping them build the business and community they want on YouTube.
Creating Shorts has allowed me to set the foundation for my YouTube channel. It literally changed my life. I got to build a community that loves to follow short snippets of my life, and I'm able to turn that into a full-time career.”
Kat BunoKevin: Both of you had been on YouTube a while before you started on Shorts. What made you realize Shorts was an opportunity you couldn’t pass up?
Kat: I have this huge passion for creating and expressing creativity. When I was younger, there was a harder barrier of access to creating when it came to long-form content; It's a lot of work. Then with the rise in short-form content, it was clear that this might be the way to go. Entering it just felt easier.
Peet: For me, I didn't have an editor when I started, so instead of blocking weeks of time, I'd rather just do a lot of Shorts. I put the same amount of effort into my Shorts as I do for my long form and see a faster and better return. I’m always thinking about how I can give that same energy that a long-form video demands but put it towards Shorts connecting with people.
Kat: Creating Shorts has allowed me to set the foundation for my YouTube channel. It literally changed my life. I got to build a community that loves to follow short snippets of my life, and I'm able to turn that into a full-time career, which is crazy. You can gain a lot of subscribers from posting Shorts, and I grew from two thousand to six million in a year. The grind doesn't stop, and now I'm projecting to hit 10 million soon.
Kevin: It's been about a year since we brought revenue sharing on Shorts to creators. I’d love to hear about your experience with it.
Kat: When Shorts got monetized, I was honestly really nervous but also excited. Initially we had the Shorts Fund, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be making more or less with the revenue sharing model, but it's been great. It's rewarding for creators because everyone who is eligible can earn from posting YouTube Shorts. It's also really amazing to be rewarded for different formats. YouTube is the first to really implement that opportunity for creators. Monetization on YouTube is significantly higher compared to the other platforms for the same amount of views and gives better demographics.
Peet: Because of its investment in revenue sharing, YouTube is the only platform that's gonna be able to sustain monetization, as everybody knows. This is just a perfect example of that. The trajectory of how everything's going? Only up from here.
Kevin: I'd love to hear more about how you both connect with your community on Shorts.
Peet: I do it through the Community tab and through responding to comments and replying to the comments and all that good stuff. But I also do it by taking other projects outside of YouTube and putting it into the platform. For example, I did that with my book: Little Imperfections: A Tall Tale of Growing Up Different. So I would have an interactive way to launch a product and make sure everyone is invited to the party. It was a very successful way to do that for me and allowed me to bring my community together. It's been very special.
Kat: I take pride in trying to be as original as possible. I like to share bits of my life with my audience to connect with them better. For example, if I'm traveling somewhere, I'm like ‘hey guys, I moved to a new house or I got a new cat.’ It makes your community feel engaged with you and almost like you're their best friend. I include stuff that I really love in my Shorts -- like everyone knows I'm like a huge stuffed toy fanatic!
“ I put the same amount of effort into my Shorts as I do for my long form and see a faster and better return. I’m always thinking about how I can give that same energy that a long-form video demands but put it towards Shorts connecting with people.”
Kevin: You’ve both been creating for years now. Has anything surprised or delighted you as you think about your journey with Shorts?
Kat: What surprised me was how important Shorts became on the platform. At first, I thought you can’t build a meaningful audience or connection to your audience in 60 seconds, but I was wrong. After posting hundreds of Shorts the past two years, I realize people can feel connected to you even in a short amount of time. It's also giving me an opportunity to share more parts of my life because I can create multiple videos about different things on the fly. Things that wouldn't work for longform. Like I want to make a Short about my new cat or if I’m traveling -- this is what I ate, where I went. I can go anywhere and make a Short about it.
Peet: Shorts have allowed me to diversify my content. It's allowed me to really progress in ways where I'm also following what my audience loves. I allow myself to be inspired by their comments. I get to lean on my community for inspiration, too. You can’t pay someone for that. It’s so nice.
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Kevin: There's this perception that YouTube is the place creators go to make it and other platforms are better for more casual creation. Given your experience with Shorts, would you say that's true?
Peet: On YouTube, it's a career. It's different. We’re entrepreneurs out here at YouTube. My theory is that YouTube is the only community building platform because on other platforms you just scroll. People aren't invested. Or if they are, they aren’t rooting for you like they do on YouTube. I find more inspiration. It means something.
Kat: YouTube is a longevity thing. I feel like YouTubers are more respected. It’s also about the platform -- and I’m not just saying this because you’re here, Kevin. YouTube cares about small creators. That doesn’t happen on other platforms. Small creators get recognized on YouTube and then, well, you may not stay small. We’re the proof!