Real talk: YouTube Shorts is not your revenue channel. It’s your funnel.

Treat it like a funnel. Drive people to where they can actually buy.

Same with Instagram Stories — they’re better for engagement and reach than the feed right now, but they’re not where the money is. They’re where the ATTENTION is. And attention is the first step of the funnel.

So stop trying to monetize Shorts and Stories directly. Build them as top-of-funnel traffic drivers. That’s the play.