Preface
As I’m writing this, I’m not sure if I’m writing this for you, my audience, of for me as more of a diary entry to clear my brain.
Channel History
I started making content regularly on my DB Tech YouTube channel starting in January of 2020 when I released a video about how to install Plex on OpenMediaVault 5.
I started making content because I wanted to create something and share it with anyone who would watch.
But, more than that, it was a way for me to rebuild my voice after losing it in 2016. If you’ve watched my content, you’re familiar with my sort of rough, gravelly voice.
My voice hasn’t always sounded like it does now.
This is the video I recorded a week before I was hospitalized for about 5 months in 2016:
I made multiple videos on that channel while I was in the hospital and even made a few after I got home.
Now I use that channel to share my medical updates as they come up and have been doing that for several months now.
In addition to creating content on that channel, over the past 4 and a half years I’ve released hundreds of videos about a number of topics on the DB Tech YouTube channel.
In that time I’ve had a lot of fun creating that content, getting to work with some great companies and interacting with viewers.
I admit that during some of that time I was toxic to people leaving comments. It’s easy for me to say that I was going through some hard times with my mental health early in that process, but I still don’t feel that it excuses my hostility and nastiness.
For those peope who I was ever unnecessarily rude and/or disrespectful to, I’m sorry.
Over the past few years I’ve recognized those shortcomings and have tried to make myself a better person. I can’t take back the vitriol that I unleashed, but, again, I’m sorry.
I’ve really enjoyed making content on the platform during these past few years. And there was even a period of time where, not only did I get to make content I wanted to make… content I was excited about, I made a comfortable living at in the process.
I had the opportunity to work with great companies who sponsored content and helped me provide a lifestyle that my family and I enjoyed.
More Recently
Over the last year or so, my mental health started to decline and I became inconsistent with my uploads. My anxiety got the best of me frequently and I was unable to fulfill my obligations.
I let down a few different companies who trusted me to represent them and do what I agreed to.
To those companies who I let down, I want to apologize to you as well. I’m sorry for letting you down.
Then in late 2023 my health started going downhill.
I spent a good chunk of January in the hospital with pneumonia, bilateral pulmonary embolisms (blood clots in both of my lungs), Deep vein thrombosis (blood clots in my legs), and I managed to catch Covid for the first time while in the hospital.
Even after I got home from the hospital, my recovery took months. I made multiple efforts to create content, but it was very, very difficult.
In January, February, and March, I released a combined total of 5 pieces of content and earned between $900 and $1000 each month. In May, I released 9 pieces of content and earned about $1000. In June, I released 8 pieces of content and barely earned $800.
But only about $110 of that $800 was from the content I released in June. The rest of the revenue was from evergreen content and channel memberships (which was about $25).
June was also the fewest number of views I’ve had since July of 2022 despite making more content that month that had the first 3 months of the year combined as I mentioned earlier.
Sidenote
The RPMs (what advertisers pay to place ads on my channel) is still $11-17 per 1000 impressions. But my CPMs (what I actually get paid per 1000 ad views on my channel) is in the $3 range.
So, a video that gets 11.6k views might earn me around $37. Here is an example:
Unfortunately, most of my videos are more in the 4-6,000 view range, so you can do the math.
That video has a $10.78 RPM and a $2.07 CPM.
Some Thoughts on What’s Going On
That said, I truly feel as though my channel is dying and it is largely a result of me.
While I don’t have full control over the random medical things that keep coming up that doctors still can’t explain, the reality is that I’m inconsistent and unreliable and, as a result, my channel is being penalized from the YouTube algorithm.
It’s just like any other job, if you don’t peform your duties, you don’t get paid. I 100% understand that.
Why Not Take On Sponsorships?
I’ve been approached by literally dozens of companies about sponsoring content on my channel. There are just a few problems with that.
The first problem is that most of the companies that reach out to me want to send me hardware in exchange for a video. While that sounds great, hardware doesn’t pay the bills.
The next problem is that a LOT of the companies who reach out to me to inquire about sponsoring content are scams. They’re either trying to scam me or they want me to promote a scam. I want no part of that. My integrity is worth more to me than that.
There are, however, companies who are legit who have reached out to sponsor content, but they are very often cloud hosting companies. And while I appreciate the offer, it goes against what I’m trying to teach on the channel, which is how to get AWAY from using companies like that. I try teach how to host your applications and websites on your own hardare in your own home to save money and that sort of thing, so promoting a third-party hosting company seems contradictory to what we’re doing here.
My Current Dilema
The problem that I’m currently facing is that I can’t realistically go get a “real job” working somewhere due to the recent medical issues that have come up (again) and the doctor appointments that I keep having to go to, sometimes with no notice.
The beginning of this week I had no appointments. Yesterday morning I had nothing until I received a notice that an appointment had been scheduled for me this morning at 9am.
This was a result of my recent blood labs coming back with numbers that have a few of my specialists baffled.
My Red Blood Cell Count, Hemoglobin, and Hematocrit levels have all spiked recenlty and we’re trying to figure out why.
These numbers (with the exception of the white blood cell count) are cause for concern as they can lead to even more blood clots, which, of course, could be catastrophic to my existence.
So now I have appointments every day the rest of this week and I’m sure there will be more next week after I hear back from some of my other existing specialists and the referrals that have been put in.
And some of those specialists that I’ve been referred to are hours away from where I live.
What Am I Going to Do?
I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t know when I’ll be able to record videos. I don’t know when I’ll be able to edit those videos. I have a script or two written, but no time to record them at this point and less time to edit them.
Also, recording a video isn’t just something you can do when you don’t feel well or when you’re not in the right head space. It shows on camera and, as a result, it shows in the numbers on YouTube.
My stress levels are higher than they have been in a while and my primary care physician, my nephrologist, my hematologist, and my rheumatologist have all told me to do whatever I can to keep my stress levels down. My blood pressure is already through the roof for unknown reasons, and my unlerlying chronic condition could come out of remissions if my stress levels are too high for too long.
I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for what I do have going for me. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the community that I’ve built. If it wasn’t for you guys, I would have never made it this far and would have never had the opportunities that I’ve had.
I knwo that this sounds very much like a “poor me” post and I guess it is, but sometimes you gotta get your thoughts out and let the chips fall where they may.
Possible Livestreams?
Last weeks I did a livestream and talked about some of this, but it was a very disorganized bit of rambling where I was trying to explain this stuff while also interacting with the few dozen people who stopped by.
Several people in the livestream were generous with donations, channel memberships, and joining my Patreon and I cannot thank those people enough. I haven nothing to offer in return at this point other than my thanks and that will never be enough in my own brain.
That said, I feel like the only way I’m going to have any chance of keeping the channel going is to start doing livestreams until I can have the days and hours to set aside to come up with ideas, write scripts, and produce the content that so many of you have subscribed to my channel to see.
Years ago I signed up for a Twitch account and had people follow it for an entry into a giveaway I was doing, but I don’t know if I’ve ever actually livestreamed on the account.
So I may start livestreaming on both YouTube and Twitch simultaneously via Streamlabs when I have some down time between all of the things going on as they are a great way to connect with my audience in real time as well as have some fun in the process without the stress of creating tutorials and reviews. And, obviouly, hopefully generate some revenue in the process.
These are the links where I will be streaming:
If you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Fosstodon/Mastodon, or Discord, you’ll get notifications when I go live via my Activepieces automation system, though it may be a bit delayed in the social media post.
If you want more real-time notifications, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t already.
If you’d like to find other ways to follow me online you can go here: https://dbt3.ch/@dbtech
That page has links to my socials as well as different ways you can support my efforts.
Thank you for getting this far into this post. It really does mean the world to me that you care enough to read this far. Even if you’re hate-reading, that’s okay, too. You spent a few minutes learning about what I’m going through and I appreciate it either way.
Thank you.