On Apple TV+’s show, Severence, which just aired the Season 2 finale, workers are “severed” from their non-work lives. The employees of the fictional company, Lumon Industries, undergo a procedure that allows them to maintain a true work-life balance — the “innie” worker and the “outie” person have no recollection or memories of each other once they clock in and out.

Now, a new survey by People Managing People, a publication and community space for HR leaders, revealed that work-life balance is still so tough to achieve that nearly 70% of respondents would consider trying the memory-splitting procedure — for a salary of at least $100,000 a year.

The poll, which surveyed 200 workers around the world, found almost a quarter (21%) of respondents said they “definitely would” or “probably would” be willing to accept the procedure with a lower salary.

Related: The Eerie Lumon Industries Office Building Is Real. See Inside Bell Works, Where ‘Severance’ Is Filmed.

“One in five people being curious about it tells us there are a lot of people out there dealing with a desire to disassociate from what they do for a living,” said David Rice, HR expert at People Managing People, in a statement.

Which Generations Would Want to ‘Sever’

Millennials and Gen X were more likely to consider the procedure, with more than a third (37%) of respondents aged 35 to 44 saying they “definitely would” or “probably would” try it.

David says this could be due to the age group enduring multiple recessions and “one crisis related to the economy and politics after another” that “shows a sort of numbness and willingness to disassociate over time.”

Related: Gen Z’s Main Career Aspiration Is to Be an Influencer, According to a New Report

In typical Gen Z fashion, this age group reported being most willing to undergo the procedure — but only if they can get more money. Only 13% of people aged 18-24 said they wouldn’t consider it, while almost half (44%) of Gen Z respondents said they would for a salary of more than $500,000.

“Being willing to traumatically alter the function of your brain and human experience for money is disturbingly dystopian,” David said.

For the full report, click here.

In today’s hyper-connected world, learning a new language isn’t just a personal goal—it’s also a professional power move. Whether you’re sealing international business deals, planning an overseas retreat, or just want to confidently navigate a vacation in Rome or Tokyo, Babbel gives you the tools to get there.

And for a limited time, StackSocial is offering a lifetime subscription to all 14 languages for just $124.99 (reg. $599) when you use code LEARN at checkout—no renewals, no subscriptions, just unlimited access for life.

What makes Babbel stand out? First, it’s built for real-life use. The platform offers short, digestible lessons—each just 10 to 15 minutes long—designed around conversations you’d actually have: how to ask for directions, order at a restaurant, or negotiate at a meeting.

And thanks to its AI-powered features, like personalized learning paths and smart review tools, the app adapts to your pace and style. You’re not just memorizing vocab lists—you’re building practical language skills that stick.

From speech recognition technology that helps you sound more authentic to offline lesson downloads for learning on the go, Babbel fits into your life wherever and whenever you’re ready to learn. Professionals can take advantage of global networking opportunities, families can prep for international travel, and lifelong learners can finally tackle that bucket-list language—without being tied to yet another monthly subscription.

This lifetime offer is valid for three days only, and it’s the lowest price StackSocial has ever offered. Use code LEARN at checkout to claim your discount and start speaking the languages you’ve always wanted to know.

Why this deal is worth it

For just $125, you’re unlocking lifetime access to all 14 languages Babbel offers. That means no renewal reminders, no creeping monthly fees, and no limitations. Whether you’re brushing up for business trips, dreaming of dual citizenship, or just want to crush trivia night with your multilingual flex, this deal pays off again and again. It’s practical, flexible, and rooted in real-world scenarios—all backed by expert linguists and AI-driven personalization. And the best part? This is the lowest price StackSocial has ever offered.

Get lifetime access to all of Babbel’s languages for just $124.99 through March 31 at 11:59 p.m. PT with code LEARN.

Babbel Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (All Languages) – $169.99

Use LEARN here

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Small businesses can easily spend more than $10,000 per year on technology, a CompTIA study found. Setting up your workstation configuration is pricey but essential to success as an entrepreneur or small-business owner.

But what happens when you have to leave the office to work in the field or even travel abroad for a project? You need a powerful, lightweight laptop that doesn’t double your technology spending to take with you, like this refurbished MacBook Air 13.3″ (2017) for just $199.97 (reg. $999).

Lightweight but not light on power

Even in an older model, MacBook Air’s robust construction outweighs newer laptops of other brands. Just 2.96 lbs heavy and 0.68″ inches at the thickest, this laptop is designed to slip in purses, briefcases, or backpacks.

It packs in a Core i5 1.8GHz Intel processor that is now unavailable in later Apple models. Between that and the 8GB of RAM, you’ll find yourself crunching through projects and navigating seamlessly between programs. Stash whatever files you need on the 128GB SSD storage.

The 13.3″ inch display combines with an Intel HD Graphics 6000 card to render the highest quality images and streamed videos.

Whether in the field all day or staying connected while flying, you’ll have the energy to do it with a battery that supports up to 12 hours of use.

Bottom-line-friendly cost with refurbished equipment

Running your own business means considering the bottom line with every purchase. The less you spend on a laptop, the more you have to reinvest in the business. Grade “A/B” refurbished Apple products are very bottom-line-friendly while still offering a high-quality product. To make this top grade, this MacBook Air must have:

• Only light to standard visible wear with no dents, cracks, or missing parts
• Unscratched screen; potential faint screen burn
• Clean and operational keyboards
• Minimum 70% battery health

Things happen while you’re traveling, including accidentally spilling an entire venti soy latte on your laptop while running for your plane. The perfect thing about this MacBook Air is that it’s affordable enough to replace. Tech troubles are always a hassle, but when you’ve purchased a laptop at 79% off, it doesn’t hurt as bad if you damage or lose it while traveling.

Excellent doesn’t have to mean expensive when you take advantage of this unheard-of price drop on a MacBook Air 13.3″ for just $199.97.

StackSocial prices subject to change.

Your marketing team has spent a great deal of time honing your business’s brand image, from picking just the right color scheme for the logo to crafting the perfect language for your website. While marketing tactics like these are important, they aren’t sufficient to convince today’s increasingly skeptical consumers to purchase your goods or services. A public relations approach that gives your brand a compelling narrative can make all the difference.

Here, I’ll explain what a brand narrative is in the context of PR, why having one is advantageous, and how to shape one effectively to build awareness of your brand.

What is the PR approach to brand narratives?

The PR approach is a form of strategic communications that aims to influence consumers toward purchasing what clients have to offer, but it’s different from marketing or advertising. Since healthy relationships are two-way streets, the best public relations firms understand that their main job is to protect and nurture the relationship between their clients and the public.

When taking a PR approach, business leaders provide more value to the target audience than a relentless focus on sales would suggest. They may even serve the public in ways that don’t appear connected to the bottom line, such as giving expert advice, helping people understand current events, or presenting a living example that comforts or inspires.

This last example is where brand narratives come in. Leading PR firms tell your enterprise’s story in such a way that people feel an emotional connection to it, start associating your brand with positive things, and even identify with it.

PR is an indirect method of encouraging sales. Instead of directly promoting your product or service, you work to demonstrate your business’s good character, which makes people more likely to support you and your venture. That’s why providing opportunities to build credibility, reputation management and crisis communications have long been integral services that the best PR firms offer.

Public relations campaigns are essential to reach today’s skeptical consumers.

Related: How to Create a Brand Narrative That Inspires and Engages Your Audience

How do effective PR strategies reach skeptical consumers?

A Nielsen study has found that 64% of customers skip ads on streaming platforms. This trend is especially true for the younger generations. According to research, 99% of Gen Z say they frequently skip ads.

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Nielsen study discovered that 63% of participants would likely purchase something if the brand shared “relevant, valuable content beyond selling their product.”

In other words, today’s customers look for authentic connections and would be more likely to buy if the brand did PR. As more consumers turn away from traditional ads and marketing strategies, public relations will become increasingly important.

One of the main ways America’s best public relations agencies level up a brand’s image and help achieve their business goals is by crafting and deploying an advantageous brand narrative.

How to form a compelling brand narrative for public relations

In brand narratives for PR purposes, the product doesn’t take center stage. The people behind the product do. This storytelling holds the audience’s attention through suspense and conflict. The protagonist must overcome adversity.

For example, consider a professional skydiver who is tragically injured in a car accident. He can never skydive again. During his recovery, he discovers the benefits of CBD and eventually even starts his own CBD company.

Or consider a young mother who loses her husband in a tragic accident. Now a single parent, she struggles to get an adequate life insurance policy to protect her children. Since no one should ever have to go through such a difficult and complicated process, especially during such a devastating time, she uses her technological acumen to create her own online life insurance portal that can process applications and offer accurate quotes in only five minutes.

These are a couple of dramatic but real brand narratives from businesses we’ve helped in the past.

How to choose a PR firm that can deliver the right brand narrative

Plenty of entrepreneurs and business leaders craft their brand narratives themselves. In my experience, however, it can be difficult for people inside an organization to perceive the extra value the business could offer the public or the story that would resonate best with the ideal customer. This is only natural since leadership and employees tend to be focused on being productive and achieving high performance on their KPIs. For instance, it would be normal if you read the examples above and thought to yourself, “I wish we had a dramatic story like that to share, but I don’t think we do.”

That’s why it can often make sense to enlist the help of a PR agency. The experts will first ask you or your team a series of questions to identify potential stories that would spotlight your organization’s best angles.

To ensure you select the most high-impact firm for you, look for agencies that can supply case studies that demonstrate their success with businesses similar to yours. Also, spend time reading their reviews. Since many leading strategic communications firms, digital communications agencies, and full-service PR agencies, as well as boutique agencies and independent PR firms of all kinds, offer free consultations, there’s no reason not to hop on a call.

Related: These 4 Storytelling Elements Will Empower Your Brand in 2025

PR agencies harness the power of brand narratives for the best PR

No matter which kind of PR firm you choose, don’t underestimate the power of PR. Brands across industries can harness brand narratives to reach today’s skeptical consumers and drive results.

Americans have filed more than 21 million new business applications in the past four years, per the latest U.S. Small Business Administration data. Entrepreneurs filed an average of more than 440,000 new applications every month.

But figuring out where to start new businesses can be daunting, as there are certian areas of the country that offer better entrepreneurship opportunities than others. Using data collected in January from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau, business travel experts at Booking.com for Business examined which states were best suited for startups.

Related: Small Businesses Are Struggling in This Densely Populated U.S. State — and Thriving in These Others

When it comes to cities with the highest number of startups, San Francisco topped the list, with companies like OpenAI and Grammarly calling the city home. New York City, Mountain View, Boston, Redwood City, and Palo Alto were also among the top cities for startups.

However, even though California cities appear often on the top cities list, California was only ranked the tenth best state for startups. The state has a high number of startups, with 179,415, but the 10-year survival rate of these companies is 35%, which led to its lower ranking.

The researchers created a startup opportunity score out of 10 for each state, taking into account the total number of startups in the state, the number of startups per 100,000 people, and the 10-year survival rate of startups.

Montana, which was ranked the No. 1 state for startups, has a startup opportunity score of 9.55, the highest on the list, and a 10-year survival rate of 41%. Montana has a high number of startups compared to people in the state, or 422 startups per 100,000 people.

Vermont, which is ninth on the list, also has more than 400 startups per 100,000 people.

Here are the best states for startups, according to Booking.com.

1. Montana

^{Bozeman, Montana. Credit: Getty Images}

Total number of startups: 4,800

Startups per 100,000 people: 422

10-year survival rate: 41%

Startup opportunity score: 9.55

2. Oregon

Total number of startups: 15,149

Startups per 100,000 people: 355

10-year survival rate: 36.4%

Startup opportunity score: 8.00

3. Nevada

Total number of startups: 12,034

Startups per 100,000 people: 368

10-year survival rate: 33.5%

Startup opportunity score: 7.20

4. Utah

^{Salt Lake City, Utah. Credit: Getty Images}

Total number of startups: 13,384

Startups per 100,000 people: 382

10-year survival rate: 35%

Startup opportunity score: 7.15

5. Florida

Total number of startups: 86,692

Startups per 100,000 people: 371

10-year survival rate: 34.7%

Startup opportunity score: 7.10

6. Wyoming

Total number of startups: 2,782

Startups per 100,000 people: 473

10-year survival rate: 34.5%

Startup opportunity score: 7.10

7. Idaho

^{Boise, Idaho. Credit: Getty Images}

Total number of startups: 8,548

Startups per 100,000 people: 427

10-year survival rate: 33.1%

Startup opportunity score: 7.05

8. Delaware

Total number of startups: 3,565

Startups per 100,000 people: 339

10-year survival rate: 32.8%

Startup opportunity score: 7.00

9. Vermont

Total number of startups: 2,843

Startups per 100,000 people: 438

10-year survival rate: 37%

Startup opportunity score: 6.85

10. California

^{San Francisco, California. Credit: Getty Images}

Total number of startups: 179,415

Startups per 100,000 people: 455

10-year survival rate: 35%

Startup opportunity score: 6.25

For the full study, click here.

Are you just using AI to save time, or are you ready to unlock its true money-making potential? Basic AI usage is like navigating a city with a street sign – you’re missing the map to seven-figure profits. The real game? It’s hidden in your data, and I’m about to show you how to exploit it. Forget surface-level metrics. We’re diving deep into the psychological triggers that drive buying decisions, using AI to uncover what I call the “conversion catalyst code.”

What you’ll discover:

• Cognitive dissonance exploitation: Learn how to use AI (specifically, FREE tools like Google AI Studio) to identify and leverage your audience’s deepest frustrations, turning them into massive sales boosts.
• Loss aversion loophole: Uncover the secret to analyzing your website’s visitor flow and pinpoint where you’re losing potential customers. Tweak your copy with AI-powered insights and watch your conversions skyrocket. Make more money with fewer visitors.
• ‘Mere exposure effect’ mastery: Discover how to create emotionally resonant micro-narratives that build instant trust and familiarity with your brand. Replicate the strategies that generated $2.3 million in revenue.
• ‘Von Restorff effect’ advantage: Stop blending in. Learn how to use AI to identify your competitors’ weaknesses and create content that stands out, grabs attention, and drives action.

I’ll show you how to use AI to create offers and marketing that truly resonate and generate seven-figure revenues.

Download the free “AI Success Kit” (limited time only). And you’ll also get a free chapter from Ben’s brand new book, “The Wolf is at The Door – How to Survive and Thrive in an AI-Driven World.”

As AI transforms the world at an unprecedented pace, it is up to each of us to use our critical thinking powers to be sure we use technology properly.

AI tools are a productivity enhancer. When it’s time for ideation, entering search strings into an AI platform generates a list of topics for managers to discuss with their teams in the next staff meeting. And entering a prompt to generate text for a presentation or a white paper saves time and money.

However, AI is no substitute for the human soft skills required in everyday business transactions. I’m talking about critical thinking and emotional intelligence.

Related: AI Is an Answer, But Not the Only Answer — Here’s Why It Can’t Replace Humans

The need for critical thinking

A couple of months ago, I was talking with a prospect who had been excited to use an AI tool provided by a new vendor. This vendor had sold them on the idea that AI could do all their research and even create their pitch deck.

They thought they would save time and money. Maybe the AI-generated research and pitch deck would be better than anything they’d previously developed in-house.

They took their first AI-generated dataset and slides to a medium-sized company and began to sell their product during the presentation. Then reality hit. The CEO attended the meeting and quickly made her opinion known, announcing, “This looks like something I could’ve pulled from ChatGPT! Were you even listening to us?”

The prospect and I touched base a few days later when he told me how embarrassed he was and wanted to know how they could salvage the situation. I helped him see that without real, verifiable insight and a human touch, they had arrived at the company’s office with a dead-on-arrival pitch deck. The details and recommendations had not been personalized to the target business. The research they quoted didn’t actually exist. Relying on AI, in this case, caused them to break a primary rule of sales — solve the problem, don’t pitch a product.

I advised him to use some of the proprietary data my company provides. The most valuable and insightful business information is often behind a firewall and is not available on the free internet. I also suggested they redo their deck, add a case study and connect with their prospect on a personal level. This time, they used AI as a tool, not a shortcut, and verified its output against reliable sources using their critical thinking skills.

They were able to snag a second chance to make a presentation. And they won the deal because they realized the promise of all the great things AI can do has not yet been fulfilled. They provided real value and insight to the account. And my prospect was so happy they asked for a proposal to put me on retainer.

This story holds an important lesson for business owners who believe artificial intelligence is a total replacement for critical thinking and emotional intelligence. It isn’t. In fact, Gartner predicts that roughly  30% of new sellers entering the workforce through 2028 will experience a reduction in critical analytical skills as well as social skills like relationship building, empathy and active listening due to an overreliance on AI technologies — much like my prospect did.

Related: Why We Need to Become More Emotionally Intelligent In An AI World

Emotional intelligence is your entrepreneurial superpower

Our soft skills are what separate humans from machines. We feel the raw emotions of a client who’s struggling to save their business, and we can assure them that we understand their situation. We can relate to the anxiety of a buyer with FOMU (fear of messing up). We are able to pivot quickly when our prospect throws us a curveball. In these situations, we can access our experiences and suggest an alternate solution.

AI must fake emotions and life experiences. Keep in mind that if you conduct business like a robot, you will be replaced by a robot. EI is your entrepreneurial superpower! Don’t forget to use it — and never surrender your humanity to technology.

There are many ways to end up on the wrong side of a business conversation with a prospect or an account. Closing deals and retaining customers is challenging. There is no reason to make the process unnecessarily difficult. By combining AI-generated data with critical thinking and emotional intelligence, we can demonstrate that we always have our clients’ best interests in mind.

Every successful business I’ve launched has had one important thing in common: They’ve solved a pain point.

Back in college, when I was building a website for an on-campus association, I needed a membership system that allowed people to create profiles and browse others. That’s how, long before social media became a thing, I created Profile Manager, essentially a proto-Facebook. It became a hit because so many other websites had the same needs.

Fast forward a few years, to when I was a developer at a New York media company, wasting hours at my desk building forms. I hated the task of building those forms — it was time-consuming and boring. My company, Jotform, exists today for two reasons: 1) Forms are incredibly useful, for a variety of things, and 2) I never wanted to waste time building one from scratch ever again.

No matter how flashy a product, or how well-marketed, it’s never going to take off if it doesn’t solve a problem.

Related: Don’t Go Looking for Problems: Curing Your Own Pain Points Is a Good Way to Develop a New Product

The importance of pain points

Some founders believe that if they create something cool enough, customers will magically materialize. It never works. As a result, those founders release a product with exactly zero users. Remember Juicero, the $400 juicer whose sole function could easily be done by hand? It became the laughingstock of the internet, before quickly dying out. If you’ve ever watched the show Shark Tank, you know how often unique, quirky and wholly unnecessary products get funding (rarely).

To be clear, solving a pain point doesn’t necessarily mean developing a completely novel idea — it may just mean taking an existing product and making it better. I always think of Warby Parker, the glasses purveyor that changed the way we shop for new frames. It’s not that you couldn’t buy glasses before — it’s just that Warby Parker’s innovative home try-on program made it way easier and way more affordable.

Find the pain point

A small, wealthy subset of the population will pony up for flashy, untested products and services, a founder’s best bet is to target regular people.

The fact that the vast majority of Americans — 98%, in fact — use smartphones has opened up enormous potential for revolutionizing how services are delivered. Many companies succeeding in this space aren’t exactly sexy — take Remitly, which allows customers to send money internationally from their devices without having to travel to Western Union; or Cityblock, a tech-driven healthcare provider that offers care for underserved communities.

Finding the right pain point is an art — for me, my goal was to solve my own. But you can also look to people you know, within your community or the world at large. If you’re searching outside yourself or your immediate circle, it pays to go where people are venting. Forums like Reddit, Slack groups and Discord servers are rife with people sharing their frustrations. Your goal should be not to pitch, but to listen and see what people are saying.

If you have an inkling of an idea already, set a Google Alert for some keywords and phrases associated with it, or use BuzzSumo to see what discussions are happening around your topic.

Related: How to Identify the Pain Point in Your Customers To Skyrocket Sales

Get the facts

The above suggestions represent where you should start doing your research — but that’s just the beginning. “While gut feel or personal experience with a problem can be a strong signal there is a problem to solve, without proper product discovery work you won’t truly know if you have a winning solution,” says Julia Austin, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School.

A crucial question I ask all of my mentees is this: “If the product was ready right now, how would you get 100 people to use it in a short time?” This gets to the root of the important distinction between interest and problem validation. While interest can be measured in a number of ways — positive feedback, social media engagement, etc. — this is not the same as problem validation, which is the process of confirming that not only is there a problem worth solving, but how a product can most successfully solve it.

One good way to kick the tires on your idea is by testing your product manually, otherwise known as Wizard of Oz testing. This allows you to gather feedback while saving the effort of building a full prototype. Be sure to pay attention to the responses you’re getting — the reactions to your manual solution will be critical when you build the real thing.

Solving pain points isn’t just a path to business success — it’s the foundation. Whether you’re addressing your frustrations or tapping into the needs of others, the key is to listen, validate and innovate. When you focus on real problems, your product has the best chance of making an impact.

Want to read more stories like this? Subscribe to Money Makers, our free newsletter packed with creative side hustle ideas and successful strategies. Sign up here

You can get anything delivered nowadays, from groceries to shampoo to a new car. But cash? That’s usually reserved for people with special needs or especially high bank accounts.

But on Wednesday, at its second annual keynote event, “The Lost City of Gold,” Robinhood, a fintech platform for buying and selling stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, announced a slew of new products and services, with one perk standing out: banking options with cash deliveries.

“With Robinhood Banking, we’re trying to solve many of the challenges presented by legacy banks,” said Deepak Rao, GM and VP of Robinhood Money, in a statement. “Robinhood Banking is thoughtfully designed to be as easy to use as possible, while still delivering cutting-edge features historically reserved for the ultra-wealthy.”

Robinhood’s Gold membership program ($5 monthly or $50 annually) gives users access to the company’s premium features and the new banking program, which will offer traditional checking accounts, high-yield savings accounts, and other private banking services for individuals and families.

Members will get exclusive tickets to events like the Met Gala, Oscars, F1 Monaco Grand Prix, and The Masters, plus discounts on private jet travel and members-only vacation clubs.

Related: Robinhood Is Offering a Credit Card for the First Time — and It’s Available in 10-Karat Gold

Other perks include getting “cash delivered on-demand right to your doorstep, eliminating the need for an ATM,” the statement reads.

There’s no word yet on how the cash deliveries will take place, what identification will be required, or how the company will ensure the safety of its drivers.

The fine print only adds: “Cash delivery service coverage varies based on geographic location.”

The program also offers instant transfers and wire services.

“Our goal is for Robinhood to give you a world-class financial team in your pocket, with cutting-edge tools you can’t find elsewhere,” said Vlad Tenev, chairman and CEO of Robinhood, in the statement.

Related: Robinhood CEO Says Big Banks Are Taking Advantage of Americans. Now His Company Wants to Put More Money Into Your Wallet — No Investing Required.

^{Want to read more stories like this? Subscribe to Money Makers, our free newsletter packed with creative side hustle ideas and successful strategies. Sign up here.}

Your YouTube Shorts content could soon be racking up much more views.

YouTube announced that starting Monday, it is changing how it counts views on YouTube Shorts, its short-form video section that has a 60 second or less format. Previously, a view only counted if someone watched a Short for a certain number of seconds. Starting on March 31, a view counts instantly when someone plays or replays a Short video.

“Views may be higher moving forward,” YouTube wrote in a statement.

That means that even if a user scrolls past a video within a few seconds of it playing, it still counts as a view. This is also how Instagram and TikTok calculate views for short-form videos.

Related: ‘I’ve Never Regretted Leaving the Corporate World Behind’: This Former Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here’s How

YouTube stated that it was making the update in response to feedback from creators who expressed that they wanted to know how often their Shorts were seen, not just how many people watched a substantial portion of a Short.

“We hope that this deeper understanding of your Shorts performance will help you inform your content strategy,” YouTube said in the statement.

YouTube is still keeping track of how many people choose to keep watching a Short under a new metric called “engaged views,” which pinpoints the number of views from people who watch a Short for a certain length of time. YouTube will base earnings and eligibility for its monetization path, the YouTube Partner Program, on engaged views.

More engaged views could also mean more earnings for entrepreneurs.

Since YouTube Shorts launched in 2021, it has allowed more than one in four creators in the YouTube Partner Program to earn money through the platform. The average earnings are between $0.03 and $0.07 per 1,000 views on a Short, or between $30 and $70 for one million views, per the social media toolkit site Buffer.

Related: YouTube Takes on TikTok With New Tools: ‘You Can Build a Business’

Attorney and personal finance expert Erika Kullberg has over 21 million followers on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. She noted in May that her top 10 YouTube Shorts received a range of 6.3 million to 48 million views but far less pay than her longer-form YouTube videos with comparable views.

^{Erika Kullberg}

For example, her 48-second Short on negotiating medical bills with over four million views generated $106.85, while her 12-minute longer YouTube video on how she quit her job got slightly fewer clicks, at 3.9 million views, but yielded $45,639.14.

Kullberg says that for her, YouTube is the platform with the biggest payout and that she has made $353,000 from YouTube from 2019 to 2024.

YouTube Shorts draws an average of 70 billion daily views.