I Tried It: The Watch YouTube Videos to Make Money Online Side Hustle (My Honest Results)

A YouTube video promised a brand-new way to make money online by simply watching YouTube videos. No experience required. No selling. No website. The process looked simple enough on the surface: find viral YouTube clips, run their links through a paid URL shortener called ShrinkMe, add those links to a LinkTree profile, then post Pinterest pins that drive traffic through that chain. Alston tested the whole thing live so you do not have to waste your weekend figuring out whether it works.

The short answer: after setting up the full method, his ShrinkMe account showed a balance of one dollar. That dollar came from ShrinkMe’s automatic signup bonus, not from a single qualifying click. Here is the full breakdown of what the method actually requires, what the payout math looks like when you run real numbers, and what a much smarter approach to Pinterest income looks like instead.

What You’ll Walk Out With

A clear map of the ShrinkMe plus LinkTree plus Pinterest method, step by step
The actual payout rates ShrinkMe uses, not the headline number they advertise
The five eligibility requirements that cut your real earnings before you see a cent
Why Pinterest’s own algorithm works against this specific method
Alston’s live account results after testing the method himself
A step-by-step alternative approach to Pinterest that actually converts
The real income math behind each step of this side hustle chain
A free tool to find which online income method fits your actual skill set: finder.platformproof.com

The Method: What You Are Supposed to Do

The original video that inspired this test laid out a four-step process. Step one: go to YouTube and search for viral videos. Sort results by view count and pick clips that are already getting enormous traction. You are not creating anything new. The idea is to borrow the attention these videos already have by putting yourself in the traffic path between viewer and video.

Step two: take that viral video’s URL and run it through ShrinkMe.io. ShrinkMe is a URL shortener service that pays you every time someone visits your shortened link. Instead of sending people straight to the YouTube video, you route them through ShrinkMe first. ShrinkMe shows visitors an interstitial page with ads, counts their visit if it meets the eligibility rules, and then eventually delivers them to the final destination.

Step three: take your ShrinkMe link and add it to a LinkTree profile. LinkTree is a free tool that puts multiple links behind a single clean URL, which matters here because Pinterest pins can only contain one outbound link. Step four: create a Pinterest pin using the thumbnail from the viral YouTube video, post it to Pinterest, and when users click it they go to your LinkTree, which sends them to ShrinkMe, which eventually delivers them to the original YouTube video. That is the entire chain. Four platforms, one goal, and several points of friction between the person who clicked and any money you might collect.

What ShrinkMe.io Actually Pays

ShrinkMe’s front page advertises $220 per 10,000 views. That headline figure comes from their top country rate, which at the time of this test was Greenland at $22 per 1,000 views. Working through that math: $22 per 1,000 views equals $0.022 per qualifying view. To earn one dollar from Greenland traffic alone, you would need approximately 46 qualifying views from that country. Greenland has a very small population, so that rate is largely theoretical for most content.

The US rate on ShrinkMe is $8 per 1,000 qualifying views. That comes out to $0.008 per view. At that rate you need 125 unique US visitors who meet all of the eligibility requirements to earn a single dollar. The worldwide catch-all rate is approximately $3.50 per 1,000 views, meaning roughly 286 visitors from mixed international traffic to produce one dollar. Those are the numbers that actually apply to most accounts running this method.

ShrinkMe sets a $5 minimum payout threshold. Working backward from the US rate, you need between 600 and 700 qualifying views before you can withdraw anything at all. That is before any of ShrinkMe’s visit eligibility rules cut into your count. Once you factor those in, the number of total Pinterest clicks needed to generate 600 qualifying views gets very large very fast.

The Fine Print Nobody Shows You

ShrinkMe publishes a list of requirements that every visitor must satisfy before that visit counts toward your earnings. Visitors must be unique within a 24-hour window, so if the same person clicks your link twice in one day, only one visit counts. Visitors must have JavaScript enabled. Visitors must have cookies enabled. Visitors must stay on the interstitial page for at least 10 seconds. Visitors must reach the destination final page after the timer expires. Every one of those requirements must be met for that click to register as earnings.

Each rule trims your qualifying view count. Users with ad blockers often have JavaScript disabled or restricted, which voids their visit. Users who see an unfamiliar page and close within a few seconds do not reach the 10-second threshold. Users whose browsers block third-party cookies do not qualify. The gap between total raw clicks and actual qualifying views is much wider in practice than the method’s promoters ever walk through in their videos.

What Happens When Someone Clicks Your Link

Here is the experience from the point of view of someone on Pinterest. They see a pin featuring a thumbnail from a funny YouTube video. They click it expecting to watch that video. Instead of YouTube, they land on your LinkTree profile. That is an unexpected stop they did not ask for. They see a button with a link, click it, and now they are on the ShrinkMe interstitial page. In the test Alston ran, this page included what looked like a prompt to install Adobe Flash Player and other software, the kind of page that has been widely associated with adware and potentially unwanted programs for years.

Think about that from the user’s perspective. You clicked something on Pinterest expecting a funny YouTube video. You ended up on two intermediate pages you did not ask for, and now you are looking at a prompt to install software. The majority of users close immediately. Even the fraction that stays for 10 seconds faces another hurdle: they still have to click through to the final destination page. At every step in the chain, a portion of the audience drops away. The conversion rate from Pinterest impression to ShrinkMe qualifying view is a tiny fraction of what the method implies when it talks about “getting traffic to your links.”

Why Pinterest Is the Wrong Platform for This

Pinterest operates as a search engine, not a social media feed. Users come to Pinterest with specific intent: they are searching for beauty hacks, meal prep ideas, bathroom renovation inspiration, or step-by-step tutorials for a specific craft project. The results they engage with are pins that match their search and promise to give them what they were looking for. Pinterest users are in problem-solving mode, not entertainment mode.

A pin using the thumbnail from a “must-watch new funny video” does not match any query a Pinterest user is running. Nobody opens Pinterest to find viral YouTube clips. Even if someone sees the pin and clicks, they immediately encounter the mismatch between what they expected and what the chain delivers. Pinterest’s own guidance confirms this: pins should be keyword-optimized around specific search terms and should lead to content that helps users solve a problem or accomplish a goal.

There is also a volume problem. Pinterest requires consistent, high-volume publishing to build any visibility in the algorithm. Alston’s research puts the minimum effective pace at 10 new pins per day, with 20 to 25 per day being more realistic for meaningful growth. Creating 10 to 25 Pinterest pins every single day, for viral video thumbnails that earn fractions of a cent per qualifying view, does not produce a return that justifies the time cost. The hours spent creating those pins would need to generate thousands of qualifying views just to produce a five-dollar withdrawal.

Alston’s Real Results After Testing This

Alston set up the entire flow exactly as described in the original video. He created a ShrinkMe account, built a LinkTree profile with his ShrinkMe link, found viral videos on YouTube sorted by view count, downloaded their thumbnails, and created Pinterest pins pointing back to his LinkTree. He posted the pins using the approach the method recommended.

After running the experiment, his ShrinkMe dashboard showed a total balance of one dollar. ShrinkMe credits every new account with a one-dollar signup bonus automatically. That one dollar was the full balance. No clicks from Pinterest had registered as qualifying views. No earnings beyond the signup bonus had appeared. His comment on the result: “Do not try this method. Do not waste your time, energy, and effort on this. The math does not add up. Even people in the comment section of the original video confirm they have not made any money.” Real results from real testers, not just theory.

Not sure which online income method is actually worth your time?

Answer a few short questions and get a personalized recommendation matched to your schedule, skills, and starting budget at finder.platformproof.com.

A Smarter Way to Use Pinterest for Income

Pinterest itself is not the problem. The way this side hustle uses Pinterest is the problem. A real Pinterest income strategy starts with keyword research, not viral video thumbnails. You open Pinterest’s search bar and type a broad topic that relates to a niche you understand or care about. Pinterest auto-suggests more specific searches that real users are running right now. Those suggestions are your content targets because someone is actively looking for that information.

From there, you create original pins using a design tool like Canva. Each pin is built around one of those keyword-specific searches. The title text on the pin directly echoes the search query so Pinterest knows what it is about. The destination behind the pin is not a ShrinkMe interstitial; it is content you own: your blog, a YouTube video you made, or a landing page. Sending people to content you control means you capture the audience rather than handing them to a third-party ad page that may look like a scam to them.

Pinterest prohibits direct affiliate links in pins, but sending users to a blog post or landing page that contains affiliate recommendations is a legitimate path. Once someone lands on your content and trusts what you are sharing, affiliate commissions and digital product sales become realistic outcomes. Alston recommends using a scheduling tool like Tailwind to queue pins in advance, so maintaining 10 to 25 daily pins does not mean logging into Pinterest manually every morning. That full system, keyword research plus original Canva creative plus owned destination plus automated scheduling, is what makes Pinterest a real long-term traffic source.

The Real Numbers: Step-by-Step Income Math

Here is what the income math actually looks like for this method when you run it through realistic assumptions using the US rate as the benchmark.

ShrinkMe US rate: $8 per 1,000 qualifying views equals $0.008 per view. You need 625 qualifying views to reach the $5 minimum withdrawal threshold.
Pinterest engagement on entertainment pins: Pins for viral entertainment content with no keyword match get low organic reach. If 10,000 people see your pin and 1% click, that is 100 people clicking through to your LinkTree.
LinkTree drop-off: Of the 100 people who land on your LinkTree, a portion closes immediately because this was not the YouTube video they expected to reach. Assume 70% continue and click the next link. That leaves 70 people arriving at the ShrinkMe interstitial page.
ShrinkMe interstitial drop-off: Of those 70, many close the moment they see a page that looks like a software install prompt. Conservatively, assume 25% stay for 10 seconds and complete the visit. That turns 70 arrivals into roughly 17 qualifying views.
To earn $5: At 17 qualifying views per 100 raw Pinterest clicks, you need approximately 3,700 raw clicks. At a 1% click rate, you need around 370,000 pin impressions. Building that kind of Pinterest reach without keyword-targeted content is a very long process.
Time cost comparison: Creating 10 pins per day at 15 minutes per pin is 2.5 hours of daily work. That pace sustained over several weeks to build toward 370,000 impressions represents a significant investment at an effective hourly rate far below minimum wage for most beginners. One affiliate sale on a $97 product at 30% commission pays $29.10, which equals roughly 3,637 qualifying ShrinkMe US views in terms of earnings. A single sale through an owned-destination Pinterest strategy outperforms weeks of this method.

Honest Drawbacks Worth Naming

Even if the payout rates were triple what they are, this method has problems that hustle alone cannot fix. You are building on someone else’s content without permission. Using viral video thumbnails without licensing those images or getting permission from the original creator puts you in a gray area around copyright. Pinterest can remove pins flagged for using images without rights.

There is also nothing compounding here. Every pin you post either gets a little traction or it does not. The moment you stop posting, traffic stops. No email list gets built. No niche authority accumulates. You have no returning audience. Contrast that with a blog post optimized for search, which can keep bringing visitors for years after you write it once.

Account risk is real on two fronts. LinkTree can suspend accounts that send traffic through interstitial ad pages, which breaks your entire link chain and orphans every Pinterest pin that pointed to that LinkTree URL. ShrinkMe can also restrict accounts if they detect traffic patterns that look like manipulation or if the interstitial experience generates complaints. Losing either account means rebuilding from scratch.

Find Your X

The ShrinkMe plus Pinterest plus LinkTree side hustle is not worth your time. But that does not mean making income online is out of reach. It means this specific method is the wrong tool for the job, and picking the right tool starts with understanding your own schedule, your starting budget, and the skills you already have. Those three variables determine which online income path actually makes sense for you.

The free finder at finder.platformproof.com takes a few minutes, asks a handful of honest questions about your situation, and gives you a personalized recommendation. No upsell, no email required to see your result, no cookie-cutter “just start a YouTube channel” advice. A straight match between your real-life constraints and an online income path that has a realistic shot at actually paying you back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does ShrinkMe.io actually pay its users?

ShrinkMe.io does process real payouts, but the amounts are much smaller than their advertised headline rate. The $220 per 10,000 views figure applies only to traffic from their top-paying country, Greenland, which has a very small internet audience. Most users see US rates of $8 per 1,000 qualifying views or the worldwide blended rate closer to $3.50 per 1,000. Payouts require a $5 minimum balance and every visit must meet five separate eligibility conditions before it counts.

Why does the ShrinkMe plus Pinterest method not generate real income?

The method fails at multiple points simultaneously. Pinterest users search for solutions to specific problems, not for entertainment videos, so the pins do not match real search intent and get poor organic reach. Each step in the chain from Pinterest to LinkTree to ShrinkMe to final page loses a large percentage of visitors. The ShrinkMe interstitial page looks like a scam prompt to most users, causing the majority to leave before the 10-second threshold that qualifies the visit. The result is that the number of qualifying views earned from any realistic Pinterest reach is too low to generate meaningful payouts.

Is ShrinkMe.io itself a scam?

ShrinkMe.io is a real URL-shortener service that pays per qualifying view. The service itself is not a scam. What is misleading is how promoters of this side hustle present the payout rates, focusing on the highest country rate rather than the worldwide average that most traffic actually earns. The way this specific method applies ShrinkMe to Pinterest entertainment pins is unlikely to produce meaningful income, but the service does process payments to users who meet the eligibility rules.

How many views do you actually need on ShrinkMe to earn five dollars?

At the US rate of $8 per 1,000 qualifying views, you need 625 qualifying views to reach the five-dollar minimum payout. At the worldwide blended rate of roughly $3.50 per 1,000 views, you need approximately 1,429 qualifying views for the same five dollars. These are qualifying views, not total clicks, meaning every person in that count must have stayed on the interstitial page for 10 seconds, had JavaScript and cookies enabled, and reached the final destination page. Raw click totals needed are much higher once drop-off at each step is factored in.

Can Pinterest actually generate real online income?

Yes, Pinterest is a legitimate traffic source when used correctly. The key distinction is that it works as a search engine for problem-solving content, not as a discovery platform for entertainment videos. Accounts that do keyword research, create pins optimized around specific search terms, and send traffic to owned content like a blog or landing page can build steady organic traffic over time. That traffic, combined with affiliate marketing or digital product sales, is a real income path. The ShrinkMe method is not how that works.

What tool did Alston mention for scheduling Pinterest pins?

Alston recommends Tailwind for scheduling Pinterest pins in advance. Tailwind lets you design or upload a batch of pins and queue them to publish throughout the day automatically. This matters because building visibility on Pinterest requires posting 10 to 25 pins per day consistently, and managing that manually is not sustainable long-term. Scheduling tools separate the creative work (done in one session) from the publishing schedule (handled automatically), which is how creators maintain volume without spending hours on Pinterest every day.

Why does Alston test side hustles from other YouTube creators?

Alston’s “I Tried It” series exists because many side hustle videos on YouTube are created to generate views and ad revenue for the person making the video, not to give the audience accurate information about whether the method actually works. By testing each method himself with a live account and reporting exactly what happened, Alston gives viewers an honest answer before they invest hours or money into something that the math says will not pay off. The goal is to help people find methods that work for them, not to generate engagement by making everything sound easy.

What should I do instead of the ShrinkMe Pinterest method?

A better starting point is picking a niche topic you understand, doing keyword research on Pinterest to identify what people in that niche are actually searching for, and creating original pins that address those specific searches. The destination behind each pin should be content you own: a blog post, a YouTube video, or a landing page for a product or email list. From there, affiliate marketing is a natural fit since Pinterest’s platform allows affiliate income as long as it flows through your own content rather than direct affiliate links in the pin itself. Pair that with a scheduling tool like Tailwind and consistent posting, and you have a real foundation instead of a multi-step redirect chain that earns fractions of a penny per click.

Sources

ShrinkMe.io payout rates page, accessed at time of recording for this episode
Pinterest creator best practices on keyword optimization and pin destinations
Alston Godbolt’s live ShrinkMe account test: zero qualifying views, one-dollar signup bonus only
Original YouTube side-hustle video described in this episode of the “I Tried It” series
Tailwind scheduling tool for Pinterest: tailwindapp.com

Helping 1 million working adults make their first $3,000 online with the skills they already have. Alston Godbolt, Platform Proof.