What I Do
Track YouTube video performance to discover patterns in what works. This is "poor man's reinforcement learning" - manually logging outcomes to improve over time.
The RL Loop
1. PUBLISH -> Upload video with hypothesis (thumbnail style, title hook, topic)
2. WAIT -> Let it run for 48-72 hours
3. LOG -> Record in Notion with views, CTR, retention
4. ANALYZE -> Compare winners vs losers
5. REPEAT -> Apply learnings to next video
Key Insight from First Data Point
Video 1: "Using AI agents to pay bills and send invoices"
- 8 views in 1 day
- Plain talking head thumbnail
- Generic title
Video 2: "Paying My Contractor Through Claude | AI-Powered Finance"
- 133 views in 5 days (16x better!)
- Thumbnail shows: Face + Product UI overlay + Text "I Let AI Pay My Bills"
- Title has: Specific action + Brand name (Claude) + Category tag
What Made Video 2 Win:
- Thumbnail has TEXT overlay - "I Let AI Pay My Bills" creates curiosity
- Shows the PRODUCT - UI screenshot proves it's real, not just talk
- Face + Context - Person looking at the UI, not just talking
- Specific title - "Paying My Contractor" > "pay bills" (concrete vs abstract)
- Brand name in title - "Claude" attracts AI-interested audience
- Category tag - "AI-Powered Finance" helps discoverability
Hypothesis to Test:
Thumbnails with TEXT + PRODUCT UI + FACE outperform plain talking head thumbnails by 10x+
Database Schema
Core Fields (Outcomes)
| Property |
Type |
Purpose |
| Title |
title |
Video title |
| Views |
number |
Total views |
| CTR |
number |
Click-through rate (%) |
| Retention |
number |
Average view duration (%) |
| Days Live |
number |
Days since publish |
| Views/Day |
formula |
Views / Days Live |
| Worked? |
checkbox |
Binary gut-check - was this a win? |
Input Features (What You Controlled)
| Property |
Type |
Options |
| Thumbnail Style |
select |
Talking Head, Face+UI, Face+Text, UI Only, Meme |
| Has Text |
checkbox |
Does thumbnail have text overlay? |
| Has Product |
checkbox |
Does thumbnail show the product/UI? |
| Title Hook |
select |
How-To, Story, Listicle, Question, Bold Claim |
| Has Brand |
checkbox |
Does title mention a brand (Claude, ChatGPT)? |
| Topic |
select |
AI Finance, Automation, Product Demo, Tutorial |
| Duration |
number |
Video length in minutes |
| Posted |
date |
When published |
Reference Fields
| Property |
Type |
Purpose |
| URL |
url |
Link to video |
| Thumbnail |
files |
Screenshot of thumbnail |
| Notes |
rich_text |
Why did it work/fail? |
First Entry: The Baseline
Video 1 (LOSER):
- Title: "Using AI agents to pay bills and send invoices"
- Views: 8
- Days Live: 1
- Thumbnail Style: Talking Head
- Has Text: No
- Has Product: No
- Title Hook: How-To
- Has Brand: No
- Notes: Plain talking head, generic title, no visual hook
Video 2 (WINNER):
- Title: "Paying My Contractor Through Claude | AI-Powered Finance"
- Views: 133
- Days Live: 5
- Views/Day: 26.6
- Thumbnail Style: Face+UI
- Has Text: Yes ("I Let AI Pay My Bills")
- Has Product: Yes (shows invoice payment UI)
- Title Hook: Story
- Has Brand: Yes (Claude)
- Notes: Text overlay creates curiosity, UI proves it's real, specific action in title
Thumbnail Patterns to Test
Based on initial data:
| Pattern |
Example |
Hypothesis |
| Face + UI + Text |
Video 2 |
Best performer - proves reality + creates curiosity |
| Face + Bold Text |
- |
May work for controversial takes |
| UI Only |
- |
Good for tutorials, may lack personality |
| Talking Head |
Video 1 |
Worst - no visual hook |
| Before/After |
- |
Good for transformation content |
Title Patterns to Test
| Pattern |
Example |
Hypothesis |
| Specific Action + Brand |
"Paying My Contractor Through Claude" |
Winner - concrete + searchable |
| Generic Action |
"Using AI to pay bills" |
Loser - too vague |
| Question |
"Can AI Really Pay Your Bills?" |
Untested - may drive curiosity |
| Number + Outcome |
"I Automated 5 Hours of Finance Work" |
Untested - quantified value |
Weekly Review Process
- Sort by Views/Day - normalize for time live
- Filter by Worked? = true - what patterns emerge?
- Group by Thumbnail Style - which visuals win?
- Group by Title Hook - which hooks work?
- Compare Has Text vs No Text - does text help?
- Compare Has Brand vs No Brand - do brand names help?
Integration with YouTube Studio Skill
Use skill("youtube-studio") to:
- Upload new videos with test hypotheses
- Update thumbnails based on learnings
- Track which changes improve performance
Reference Image
The winning thumbnail (133 views) vs losing thumbnail (8 views):
Key visual differences:
- Winner: Face looking at UI, text overlay "I Let AI Pay My Bills", product screenshot visible
- Loser: Plain talking head against brick wall, no text, no product context
1---2name: youtube-rl-tracker3description: Track YouTube video performance for "poor man's reinforcement learning" - learn what thumbnails, titles, and hooks work4license: MIT5---6
7## What I Do
8
9Track YouTube video performance to discover patterns in what works. This is "poor man's reinforcement learning" - manually logging outcomes to improve over time.
10
11## The RL Loop
12
13```
141. PUBLISH -> Upload video with hypothesis (thumbnail style, title hook, topic)
152. WAIT -> Let it run for 48-72 hours
163. LOG -> Record in Notion with views, CTR, retention
174. ANALYZE -> Compare winners vs losers
185. REPEAT -> Apply learnings to next video
19```
20
21## Key Insight from First Data Point
22
23**Video 1:** "Using AI agents to pay bills and send invoices"
24
25- 8 views in 1 day
26- Plain talking head thumbnail
27- Generic title
28
29**Video 2:** "Paying My Contractor Through Claude | AI-Powered Finance"
30
31- 133 views in 5 days (16x better!)
32- Thumbnail shows: Face + Product UI overlay + Text "I Let AI Pay My Bills"
33- Title has: Specific action + Brand name (Claude) + Category tag
34
35### What Made Video 2 Win:
36
371. **Thumbnail has TEXT overlay** - "I Let AI Pay My Bills" creates curiosity
382. **Shows the PRODUCT** - UI screenshot proves it's real, not just talk
393. **Face + Context** - Person looking at the UI, not just talking
404. **Specific title** - "Paying My Contractor" > "pay bills" (concrete vs abstract)
415. **Brand name in title** - "Claude" attracts AI-interested audience
426. **Category tag** - "AI-Powered Finance" helps discoverability
43
44### Hypothesis to Test:
45
46> Thumbnails with TEXT + PRODUCT UI + FACE outperform plain talking head thumbnails by 10x+
47
48## Database Schema
49
50### Core Fields (Outcomes)
51
52| Property | Type | Purpose |
53| --------- | -------- | ---------------------------------- |
54| Title | title | Video title |
55| Views | number | Total views |
56| CTR | number | Click-through rate (%) |
57| Retention | number | Average view duration (%) |
58| Days Live | number | Days since publish |
59| Views/Day | formula | `Views / Days Live` |
60| Worked? | checkbox | Binary gut-check - was this a win? |
61
62### Input Features (What You Controlled)
63
64| Property | Type | Options |
65| --------------- | -------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
66| Thumbnail Style | select | Talking Head, Face+UI, Face+Text, UI Only, Meme |
67| Has Text | checkbox | Does thumbnail have text overlay? |
68| Has Product | checkbox | Does thumbnail show the product/UI? |
69| Title Hook | select | How-To, Story, Listicle, Question, Bold Claim |
70| Has Brand | checkbox | Does title mention a brand (Claude, ChatGPT)? |
71| Topic | select | AI Finance, Automation, Product Demo, Tutorial |
72| Duration | number | Video length in minutes |
73| Posted | date | When published |
74
75### Reference Fields
76
77| Property | Type | Purpose |
78| --------- | --------- | ----------------------- |
79| URL | url | Link to video |
80| Thumbnail | files | Screenshot of thumbnail |
81| Notes | rich_text | Why did it work/fail? |
82
83## First Entry: The Baseline
84
85```
86Video 1 (LOSER):
87- Title: "Using AI agents to pay bills and send invoices"
88- Views: 8
89- Days Live: 1
90- Thumbnail Style: Talking Head
91- Has Text: No
92- Has Product: No
93- Title Hook: How-To
94- Has Brand: No
95- Notes: Plain talking head, generic title, no visual hook
96
97Video 2 (WINNER):
98- Title: "Paying My Contractor Through Claude | AI-Powered Finance"
99- Views: 133
100- Days Live: 5
101- Views/Day: 26.6
102- Thumbnail Style: Face+UI
103- Has Text: Yes ("I Let AI Pay My Bills")
104- Has Product: Yes (shows invoice payment UI)
105- Title Hook: Story
106- Has Brand: Yes (Claude)
107- Notes: Text overlay creates curiosity, UI proves it's real, specific action in title
108```
109
110## Thumbnail Patterns to Test
111
112Based on initial data:
113
114| Pattern | Example | Hypothesis |
115| ---------------- | ------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
116| Face + UI + Text | Video 2 | Best performer - proves reality + creates curiosity |
117| Face + Bold Text | - | May work for controversial takes |
118| UI Only | - | Good for tutorials, may lack personality |
119| Talking Head | Video 1 | Worst - no visual hook |
120| Before/After | - | Good for transformation content |
121
122## Title Patterns to Test
123
124| Pattern | Example | Hypothesis |
125| ----------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
126| Specific Action + Brand | "Paying My Contractor Through Claude" | Winner - concrete + searchable |
127| Generic Action | "Using AI to pay bills" | Loser - too vague |
128| Question | "Can AI Really Pay Your Bills?" | Untested - may drive curiosity |
129| Number + Outcome | "I Automated 5 Hours of Finance Work" | Untested - quantified value |
130
131## Weekly Review Process
132
1331. **Sort by Views/Day** - normalize for time live
1342. **Filter by Worked? = true** - what patterns emerge?
1353. **Group by Thumbnail Style** - which visuals win?
1364. **Group by Title Hook** - which hooks work?
1375. **Compare Has Text vs No Text** - does text help?
1386. **Compare Has Brand vs No Brand** - do brand names help?
139
140## Integration with YouTube Studio Skill
141
142Use `skill("youtube-studio")` to:
143
144- Upload new videos with test hypotheses
145- Update thumbnails based on learnings
146- Track which changes improve performance
147
148## Reference Image
149
150The winning thumbnail (133 views) vs losing thumbnail (8 views):
151
152
153
154**Key visual differences:**
155
156- Winner: Face looking at UI, text overlay "I Let AI Pay My Bills", product screenshot visible
157- Loser: Plain talking head against brick wall, no text, no product context
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