When I first began on YouTube, my Channel was not monetized right away. It took almost one year. That means there was no income during that time period until I achieved monetization. Basically, I was working for FREE.
Since the beginning, I’ve experienced countless accusations about shopping at the food pantry. I realized most channels that share food bank hauls received the same accusations. Seemed like it happened to everyone who cared to make a video about their haul.
It does not matter if I have a mini-fridge or if my floors are sub-flooring. Or if I don’t have kitchen cabinets. These are signs of a home that might be in need of an upgrade or update. Still the comments come in as if I am living this luxurious lifestyle that ought to prevent me from utilizing the food pantry. And my food pantry qualifies me to shop there, it’s not open to anyone and everyone.
I choose to make the best of everything I have because that’s how I can navigate my situation. I don’t feel bad about having access to an amazing food pantry. The food pantry staff structured it the way they desired so people like me can shop there. I get a lot of great items that I would not normally buy if I was at the grocery store. It’s an amazing Blessing to be able to get wonderful food!
Back to the accusations. I could be running a scam on the Viewers like I sometimes see other Channels do. My audience is primarily Senior Citizens and I refuse to scam these people. It’s strange to me whenever I encounter an accusation as if I’m doing something wrong by shopping at the food pantry. I could sit down and discuss the many things I need to improve my Trailer, open up a PO Box and just wait. Wait for all of the gifts people would send me. I don’t do that.
To be able to recognize the scammers, I had to start my own Channel. That’s how I learned how the scam works. A person could have a channel where they began as hard working and struggling, then became let’s say comfortable, maybe even rich on YouTube. Then they carry on as if that original struggle situation is their “current” situation. It’s so hard to enjoy watching channels anymore because I see the scam so often.
Even when I was able to create a Membership option, I chose the absolute lowest pricing YouTube would allow me to select. From my research, I don’t see most channels doing that. I continue to keep my “frugal living” audience in mind when making financial decisions. I could just do what I see others do, and people would understand. They’d even say “you gotta make your money”. It’s very hard to turn down opportunities that would make my life better. I could take on sponsorships, increase the pricing for memberships, insert more commercials into my video to increase ad revenue…not to mention open a PO Box then manipulate folks into sending me things that I can later act surprised to receive.
I would really like to increase my income through making content. The whole process for me, is a challenge. As I continue to navigate this work, I keep my viewers in mind. Especially the Senior Citizens. I wish more people understood what I’ve walked away from, to remain authentic to this work.
