Most people think their short-form looks amateur because they don't have "the right footage."

Wrong. Mute the last 5 posts you published. Watch only the first 3 seconds.

If you can't tell what the video is about with no sound, the cut already lost. The algorithm didn't bury you. You started at the beginning of the clip instead of the first moment a stranger would stay.

Amateur edit: start at the intro.

Pro edit: start at the change — a face, a gesture, a caption punch.

Do it on one underperforming post tonight. Find the first frame where something actually happens. Make that frame 00:00.

That's the whole job. Everything after is decoration.