Guide
If I started today video format: two moves to make, one to skip
In an if I started today video, someone experienced says how they would begin again now, with a set budget or deadline. Here is a 45-second structure, an example script and hook lines.
In short
- An if I started today video is where an expert says what they would do if they started again now.
- This format works best at 40 to 50 seconds, covering the premise, your experience, two moves to make and one to skip.
- The hook needs a limit, such as $500 or 90 days, so the advice becomes a real plan.
- The move to skip is often the most useful part, because beginners rarely know what to leave alone.
- length of the example structure
- 45 s
- moves: two to make, one to skip
- 3
- words in the example script
- 105
What is an if I started today video?
An if I started today video is a short talking-head video where someone experienced says how they would begin again now.
- It usually runs 40 to 50 seconds, in vertical 9:16, with you talking to the camera.
- It opens with the premise and a limit, such as five hundred dollars or ninety days.
- One sentence says how long you have done the job.
- The middle gives two moves you would make and one expense you would skip, each with the mistake that taught you.
- People save it because it turns years of experience into a plan a beginner can follow.
- The limit matters because a fixed budget forces real choices, which keeps the advice concrete.
Who should make an if I started today video?
It works when part of your audience wants to do what you do.
- Coaches, course creators and consultants can use it when beginners follow them.
- Tradespeople and shop owners can draw on years of their own mistakes.
- Founders who are hiring can use it to show how they think.
- Suppliers can use it too, because buyers trust someone who knows where beginners waste money.
- You need real experience for this format, because the sentence about your years has to be true.
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How to structure an if I started today video in 45 seconds
Your experience gets 6 seconds. Each move gets 9 to 10 seconds.
- The experience line needs only one number of years and one admission, such as "I made most of the mistakes".
- Each move works best when you name the mistake it replaces. The mistake is what makes the advice believable.
- Say the limit as a number in the hook. Without it, the advice is a wish list, not a plan.
An if I started today video in 45 seconds
Two moves to make, one to skip, each with the mistake behind it.
Premise
0-5 s. Starting again, with a limit
Experience
5-11 s. Years in the job, mistakes made
Move 1
11-21 s. What to buy or do first
Move 2
21-30 s. Where the first customers are
What to skip
30-39 s. The expense to leave alone
Call to action
39-45 s. Follow for the next part
Example if I started today script
Here is an example script for a gardening business. It is 105 words, which takes about 45 seconds to say out loud.
Example script: starting a gardening business
One line for each part of the structure above.
| Part | Time | What you say |
|---|---|---|
| Premise | 0-5 s | If I started my gardening business today with five hundred dollars, here is what I would do. |
| Experience | 5-11 s | I have run one for eleven years, and I made most of the mistakes. |
| Move 1 | 11-21 s | First, a good used mower and a strimmer. Nothing else. I spent two thousand on a trailer I did not need for a year. |
| Move 2 | 21-30 s | Second, I would knock on forty doors on one street. Ten lawns on one street are worth more than thirty across town. |
| What to skip | 30-39 s | I would skip the logo and the website. A clean van and a phone number did more. |
| Call to action | 39-45 s | Follow, and next week I will show you my pricing sheet. |
Part: Premise
- Time
- 0-5 s
- What you say
- If I started my gardening business today with five hundred dollars, here is what I would do.
Part: Experience
- Time
- 5-11 s
- What you say
- I have run one for eleven years, and I made most of the mistakes.
Part: Move 1
- Time
- 11-21 s
- What you say
- First, a good used mower and a strimmer. Nothing else. I spent two thousand on a trailer I did not need for a year.
Part: Move 2
- Time
- 21-30 s
- What you say
- Second, I would knock on forty doors on one street. Ten lawns on one street are worth more than thirty across town.
Part: What to skip
- Time
- 30-39 s
- What you say
- I would skip the logo and the website. A clean van and a phone number did more.
Part: Call to action
- Time
- 39-45 s
- What you say
- Follow, and next week I will show you my pricing sheet.
Hook lines for an if I started today video
The hook is your first sentence. It is the premise, with a number in it.
- If I started [business] today with [budget], here is what I would do.
- [Number] years in. If I had to start again with [limit], here are three moves.
- What I would skip if I started [job] again this year.
Where to put the headline, b-roll and captions
Put the premise on screen as a headline, with the budget in it.
- Stay on your own face for your experience and the thing to skip. Those are the personal parts.
- Use b-roll during the two moves, such as the mower, the street and the front door.
- A headline that looks like a lesson title suits this format, because the premise reads like one.
- Film short clips of your own tools and van. They are more believable than stock footage.
Headline styles that read like a lesson title
Hook card styles from the Cutroom editor that read like the title of a lesson.
Title
Spotlight
Type
Slab
Common if I started today mistakes
The format fails when the advice could have come from anybody.
- Leaving out the limit turns the plan into a wish list. Name a budget or a deadline.
- Moves without a mistake attached sound like guesses. The trailer nobody needed is what makes the mower advice believable.
- General advice with no story behind it reads like a search result.
- A 20-second introduction loses people. Say your experience in one sentence with one number.
- Selling a course at the end costs you the trust you built. Point to your next video instead.
If I started today videos on Reels, TikTok and Shorts
It works best as a normal post on all three apps. It earns saves and follows rather than clicks.
- Keep it out of paid ads to strangers, unless you sell to beginners.
- If you sell a course or a starter kit, the same video can run as an ad when the call to action points to it.
Where an if I started today video works
| Platform | How to use it |
|---|---|
| TikTok | Post it as the first video of a series. |
| Instagram Reels | Post it as the first video of a series. |
| YouTube Shorts | Use the premise as a title people search, such as how to start a gardening business. |
Platform: TikTok
- How to use it
- Post it as the first video of a series.
Platform: Instagram Reels
- How to use it
- Post it as the first video of a series.
Platform: YouTube Shorts
- How to use it
- Use the premise as a title people search, such as how to start a gardening business.
Making an if I started today video in Cutroom
Cutroom edits the video for you. You say the script to the camera once, and get a finished vertical video back.
- You upload one video of yourself talking, up to 3 minutes long.
- You write the headline that opens the video, or pick one Cutroom drafted, then choose its style and height.
- You upload clips of your own tools and highlight the sentences they belong to. Each clip lands on those words.
- Captions are timed to your voice and burned in, in one of 40 caption styles.
- You get a 9:16 MP4. Your first video is free, with no card, and you have 7 days to make it.
Questions people ask
- How long should an if I started today video be?
- 40 to 50 seconds. The example here runs 45 seconds and 105 words. Three moves with a mistake each need about 9 seconds apiece. If you have five moves, split them into a series.
- Do I need years of experience to use this format?
- Yes, enough that the sentence about your experience is true and specific. With two years behind you, narrow the premise to something you have done many times, such as finding your first ten clients.
- Why include a move to skip?
- Because only experience gives that advice. Anyone can list what to buy. Knowing that the logo, the trailer or the office can wait saves a beginner real money.
- Can this format sell a product?
- Yes, when the product is one of the moves and the audience is beginners. A tool supplier can make the first move the tool. Keep the other two moves free of products, so it still reads as a plan.
- Can Cutroom edit an if I started today video?
- Yes. Film the script as one video of up to 3 minutes and upload it. Cutroom returns a captioned 9:16 MP4 with the premise as the opening headline and b-roll on the phrases you highlight. Your first video is free, no card, and you have 7 days to make it.
- When is this the wrong format to use?
- When your audience has no wish to do what you do. Homeowners do not want to start a gardening business. For buyers, turn the same experience into a 3 mistakes video or a pricing explainer.
Name your budget, say the three moves once, and let Cutroom edit it. Your first video is free.