Joey ViolaFor brands · media kit
4,478,608 people watched me split a paycheck.
One reel. Thirty-nine seconds. Shot on a phone, no studio, no ad spend. I make that for budgeting apps, banks and investing platforms: direct to camera, the money on screen as I say it.
Before this: brand marketing on Robinhood’s social team, on creator campaigns — so I read a brief from the inside.
Or write to [email protected] — I answer every brief myself.
4.47MThe original paycheck split. 39.8 s runtime, 19.5 s average watch, 49% held, Instagram’s own figures.Watch the reel →
Proof
Six reels did 8.9M. The other 199 posts did 2.3M.
Both numbers are real and you should see both. The six below are the strongest, across four different videos — every row is a live post you can open right now, with the platform’s own view count and retention figure on 14 October 2026. Short, dense, direct to camera, and people stay for half of it or more.
| Reel | Where | Views | Avg watch | Held | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The original paycheck split55 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 15, on screen · 9 Aug | 4,478,608 | 19.5 s | 49% | Open ↗ | |
| The paycheck split, second postingSame cut, one week later · 16 Aug | 2,774,163 | 19.2 s | 48% | Open ↗ | |
| How I Split Every PaycheckThe same reel on YouTube Shorts · 9 Aug | YouTube | 816,004 | 28.0 s | 70% | Open ↗ |
| The $6K splitA viewer’s take-home, run through the five numbers · 13 Aug | 442,986 | 17.2 s | 42% | Open ↗ | |
| My paycheck split“Multiply your monthly income by these 5 numbers” · 24 Aug | 277,827 | 16.5 s | 38% | Open ↗ | |
| Financial freedom targetsThe number to hit at each stage · 11 Aug | 163,038 | 13.9 s | 42% | Open ↗ | |
| Six posts, one month | IG + YouTube | 8,952,626 |
“Held” is average watch divided by runtime: the share of the reel an average viewer sat through. Anything past a third is strong for short-form; these run 38 to 70%.
And the baseline underneath. One creative — the paycheck split — carries about 79% of my lifetime views. Set the six above aside and a median post lands near 2,260 views on Instagram and 1,891 on YouTube. That is the honest floor to price a placement against, and it is the number I would want if I were the one buying. The case for working with me is not that every reel does 4M. It is that one did, I know which format produced it, and that is the format your product would sit inside.
One number worth qualifying. Instagram folds plays on Facebook into its view count, because my reels crosspost there. Measured across the 96% of Instagram views where I hold the breakdown, Facebook is 1.1% of the total, so the figures above are Instagram audience almost end to end. The single exception is one reel that ran 93% on Facebook; it is not in the table and not in any number I quote.
YouTube audience
The same reel, two audiences.
What that means for a US brand
Roughly half my YouTube audience is American against roughly a tenth of my Instagram audience, so the 816K YouTube cut delivered about as many US viewers as the 4M Instagram one. If your product is US-only, YouTube is the number that matters. Audience geography from YouTube Studio and Instagram Insights, 13 October 2026; the YouTube figure is measured across 1,033,396 views, the Instagram share across a much smaller sample and is indicative rather than exact.
What’s for sale
Four ways to put your product where the numbers are.
The viewer watches your product do the thing rather than hearing about it. A dedicated video starts at $600, or price it on performance instead. The rest depends on usage, and I would rather quote your brief than a menu.
Dedicated video
A reel built around your product. The hook is a number, the product does something on screen, the comments carry the CTA. Runs on my channels, one cut per platform.
From $600Sponsored integration
Your product inside a reel I was already making: the split, a viewer’s number, a target. Named, shown, used, in the first fifteen seconds.
Rates on requestLink placement
Your link in my bio, on this site, or in the comment the split reels already send people to. Measured with my own tags, reported to you.
Monthly, on requestUGC for your channels
Reels you run yourself: a base cut plus alternate hooks, raw and captioned, cleared for paid use by term. Whitelisting from my handle available.
Per deliverable, on requestOr put the risk on me. Instead of a flat fee, a dedicated video can run at $250 base plus $2 per 1,000 verified views, capped at $2,500 — you pay for what it actually does, and the cap is yours, not mine. Usage rights and whitelisting add 50% for 90 days: every price here is for my own channels, so nothing runs as your ad until that is agreed separately.
What I make
One person, one number on screen, no fluff.
The hook is a number.
“$3,500 after taxes.” “Your rent times three.” A specific figure in the first second, before a face or a logo. That is the entire reason anyone stops.
The product does something.
Not a mention, a use. Open the app, type the paycheck, watch it split. For a budgeting or investing product the demo is the pitch.
The comments are the CTA.
My reels end by asking for the viewer’s own number. Two to three thousand accounts engage a day. That mechanic ports straight to “comment for your link.”
Working together
Brief in, reel out, rights that are clear.
Built for performance teams that test. Hooks are the variable that actually moves, so the standard package ships a base cut plus alternates rather than one precious edit.
Deliverables
- Single reel15 to 45 s · vertical 9:16
- Hook bundle1 base cut + 3 alternate opens
- Raw + captionedboth, every time
- Revisionstwo rounds included
- Turnaround3 to 5 business days
- Productionme on camera, dedicated editor
Usage & rights
- Organic use on your channelsincluded
- Paid social usagequoted by term
- Whitelisting / Spark Adsfrom my handle, monthly
- App store & siteperpetual, quoted separately
- Best fitbudgeting · banking · investing · credit
Get a reel
Send the brief. You get a first cut inside a week.
Twenty-two, works a restaurant job, $120K invested, which is why the audience believes the numbers. I will say the same about your product only if it holds up.