I thought I would give a little update on my new brain game channel. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I found an inexpensive tutorial on creating a You Tube game channel, and I thought that it might be a fun and easy way to advertise my activity book as well as my Etsy shop.
Instead of only seeing a plain add with some pictures taken from a book or activity pack, viewers could have the fun of playing a brain game like this spot the difference puzzle in real time. And I would highlight my books and etsy shop by mentioning in the opening that these fun quizzes were made by De Graw Publishing, and in the closing of most videos I let them know that they can find more games and puzzles in my Etsy shop.
I was able to set up an automatic insert that allows me to add the link to my Etsy shop in all of my video descriptions. This is great because if I am having a bad day, which has been the rule rather than the exception lately, I can generate an AI video description, copy and paste it into the box, and at minimum have a link to my Etsy shop. If the video happens to be related to a topic for which I have already published a coloring or activity book or created an activity pack on, and I have a bit of energy to spare, I can just copy and paste the title and a link.
It is too early to tell if it will be successful. But hey, you never know if someone will enjoy a video so much that they decide to click on one the links and find something that they like. Even a couple of sales a year would be a small victory.
With 16 subscribers my channel could hardly be called a success. It certainly is not the great start imagined when hearing talk about how some of these game channels have thousands and even hundreds of thousands subscribers. Looking at channels where videos have thousands of views and twenty thousand, fifty thousand, even a hundred thousand subs, and comparing it to my little start is a rather discouraging.
I try not to, as I know it is highly unlikely that my channel will ever take off, but it is hard not imagine what it would be like if my channel took off. It is hard, after being shown channel after channel with millions of views making You Tube Ad money, not to dream of how different my life would be if I managed to make even the first layer of monetization for You Tube which requires 3000 hours of watch time and 500 subscribers where you can link a shop to your channel. Never mind full monetization where you can get paid commercial views, potentially have a link to your shop or book, etc. At that point the chances of making a sale in my shop or someone buying my activity books would increase tremendously.
While I worry about the risk of falling in the center of the donut hole, where my income is too low to cover medical cost and allow me to be a help to my family, the dream is if I could just bounce out of that hole to the other side where I could earn enough to help us afford our own home, pay my medical bills, and have enough for a few wants and needs like a small garden and some chickens, that would be so great.
Read more: Spot the Difference Royal Colors Edition: Exercise Your BrainI try hard not to let myself even imagine that, because I have so many days like today, when I have to prop myself up a bit with some pillows and pull the laptop desk under the sofa because I do not have the strength to sit up. And I know that my poor health is putting a big dent in the chances of my ever reaching my dream. In a thousand ways it impacts the likelihood of it ever becoming a reality as it impacts consistency, quality, and so much more.
Still, even though I know my hopes are most likely futile, I cannot put in words the joy and bit of hopefully healthy pride that fills my heart whenever I manage to upload a book, activity pack, or video. That little victory, pale as it might be in comparison to the grand accomplishments of someone fortunate enough to be selling $2000 plus worth of books, making $19000 a month in profit from one of their Etsy shops, or getting thousands of views a month from their video, is for me a bit like winning Olympic gold.
Because I know that had to overcome the looming hurdles of intense pain where at times, I could not find a comfortable spot or could barely tolerate to look at my screen, or energy so low that it seemed like it took every ounce of strength just to breathe. That book, pack, or video might represent the journey of a week, month, or even a year where like the turtle vs the hare I plodded along. Taking a few good steps to do one task, pausing for a time as I battled the great dragon of pain, recovered, licked my wounds, and completed the next task before monster fatigue blew its blinding haze upon me.
While it is heart breaking to me that my little channel, my books, my Etsy shop might not rise up in a blaze of glory, allowing me to fulfil my desire to take care of my mother and sister, there is a satisfaction in knowing that I tried. There is a something satisfying in knowing that when sickness knocked down my door, I did not lay down and give up and give in to pain. But with every ounce of strength that I had I fought to have some sort of life.
While it is true that my Etsy shop, my activity books, and You Tube channel are not a success by the world’s standard, in their own small way they are successful. Because each video, each book, each activity pack, each t-shirt or mug, or each pack that I manage to list represents a small victory in my determined war against the life altering battle with the misery that is fibromyalgia, migraines, anemia, and as yet unknown autoimmune disease.
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