Hey Samson, finally get the chance to chat with you! To start off, can you introduce yourself?

Of course, my name is Samson Vowles, and I run a YouTube channel about the latest AI called Delightful Design. Specifically, I focus on AI art. I've been experimenting with Opus for the last few months. And I also have a number of courses, and I've just done a podcast as well. So these are the main projects that I'm involved with at the moment.

How long have you been creating shorts to help with your social presence?

So it's been an experimentation that I have dipped in and out of every so often, I had a couple of goals of doing this a year ago. I recognized that my long form content had the most value, where I was getting more views and more engagement, and it was generating more revenue and translating to more sales. I wanted to revisit this, and Opus gave me that opportunity to create short form content again, without having to invest so much time and effort to create something.

How did you first find out about Opus Clip?

Oh well, it's actually quite an interesting story. I was sitting around one day, and I opened an email and somebody had sent me a short from one of my YouTube videos that they had made. And they were offering to make shorts for me for $25 each. And I thought, Oh, this is interesting. But something about the shorts, there was something I was curious about. So I looked into it. After doing a little bit of research, I recognized that it was made with Opus Clip. I looked into it and thought this was a fantastic tool. So rather than paying this guy $20 to make one short for me, I'm actually going to use it myself, or get my assistant who I already have hired to make it for me.

You mentioned that you have your courses and also a podcast now. What do you usually use Opus clip for?

I've been using Opus clips to take my longer videos and create some shorts from it. The ones I've been clipping most out of are video courses, which are very long tutorials. The videos that I find Opus works rhe best with are tutorials that are about 14 minutes long. And it did a fantastic job of selecting very interesting parts of this.

"Opus Clip is not replacing my editor. It's actually increasing my output and productivity."

What kind of tools did you use to create shorts before?

Before Opus, I was hiring editors to take my long form content and cut it down, or I would give them a voiceover and then ask them to edit it and add the stock footage or relevant visuals.

I still work with two editors pretty much full time. And I work with them very closely. They certainly saved me a lot of time.

This is interesting. Many video editors are concerned that our product will eventually replace them and are a bit aversive as a result. I want to know what is the synergy between your video editors and Opus Clip?

That's a great question. My video editors are not involved with Opus Clip at all. I have virtual assistants who are making clips using Opus Clip aside from some administrative tasks. I think Opus Clip does 90% of the work, but there is an opportunity to really touch them up and add a few details to just take them to that next level of coherence and perfection. And at the moment, I'm trying to work out a process where my assistants can export clips from Opus Clip, and then hand them over to my editor, who is going to essentially just add those couple of tweaks to make sure they are up to the quality that I want to release on my channel.

Agree. We are not here to replace video editors, because that 10% of human creates creativity can never be replaced. We will actually launch some features soon to get Opus Clip better integrated into the workflow of professional video editors.

I totally agree. For me, I wouldn't have been making these shorts otherwise. Opus Clip is not actually replacing my editor. It's actually just increasing my output and productivity.

Has Opus Clip helped with your social presence in any ways? Can you share with us some statistics?

In the last month, shorts accounted for 10% of my views. And this is an extra 10% that I would not have had otherwise without Opus Clip. None of them have gone super viral, but they have reached a reasonable enough view count that encourages me to continue doing it.

I think short video is definitely a channel and medium that I've not leveraged enough, and there are competitors in my niche who have performed very well with shorts. This is a huge opportunity for me to grow, and it's something I'm continuing to look at investing more time and resources in. The other big thing is the fact that short videos are cross-platform and it makes it such a good investment.

What is the biggest value Opus Clip has brought to you?

The biggest value, I would say, is that it has really inspired me to try to make short form content again. It's lowered the level of creating short content. And it's really allowed my assistants to take up some of that work. Now they don't need to be editors, but they can basically help me and support me creating more content more quickly and repurposing the content I have. And I think that's very helpful.

"Opus gave me that opportunity to create short form content again, without having to invest so much time and effort to create something."

You're a big creator in your niche. I wonder what separates you from other similar creators? What is your secret to success?

That's a very good question, and I reflect on that quite often.

I try to speak in my own voice and use my talent that is unique to me and make that my selling point. So I like to have a very energetic, quite chitchaty and conversational style for my videos. Essentially, Im leveraging my personality for my videos.

I particularly enjoy incorporating the opportunity to keep it light. So it's entertaining as well as educational. And that doesn't mean you're adding superfluous, extended, ridiculous jokes, but you're actually using the jokes as a vehicle to explain the information. And I will say that's one of the reasons people resonate with my content.

I agree, one thing that really attracts me is the visual aspects of your content. It's always so colorful, so vibrant, and one can see your personality through those contents. One last question. Do you have any advice that you want to give to aspiring YouTubers who want to succeed in either short form content or long form content?

Yeah I'd love to share some advice. If I were going back and starting again, I would want to create more content more quickly, with less of a desire to make it perfect, and I would focus on a small niche, and really focused on who I'm targeting. Even for myself now, I feel sometimes I go a little bit too broad, and I switch around a little bit too much within the AI niche. But if I were really to focus down, I think that's a fantastic approach to building a loyal audience, and it also helps the YouTube algorithm find people who want to see your video.

But the most importantly, I would call people to make sure that they're making videos that hit a couple of different points. One, they need to be something that you're genuinely interested in, as people can feel if you're interested or not in a video, and it's such a downer if the person makes a video just because they want to get the views. People won't subscribe or connect to your channel if they feel that. Second, you can jump on it from a unique angle. So if you take somebody else's video or something's doing well, make sure you add your own spin on it and be creative. Do something that works. It's like taking a fine cake recipe, and changing the icing, or redesigning the way you package it. Copy what works, but add your own spin to it.

‍