Okay, it’s the obligatory video and I’ll freely admit this video exists, because I had planned some content about snaps and its experimental features, but that doesn’t work anymore and Canonical wasted 2 weeks in my content calendar, so really, you can go thank Canonical for wasting my time by wasting your time.

But I also got the idea from being transparent about my financial situation and the absolute state of my channel. So if you are interested in making a YouTube channel, what I go through as a creator, and keeping the channel sustainable and at its current level of quality.

What was the origin of the Vtuber getup?

I want to be transparent about why I chose to do this whole thing to begin with.

I used to be innocent just like all of you. I would watch people on YouTube and I could live blissfully unaware of all of Big Tech. In my personal life, I don’t have a Google account, don’t use social media like Facebook, Twitter, or Mastodon, and haven’t bought a single item off Amazon in 4 years. But as I watch many people in tech YouTube, and with a heavy slant towards Linux YouTube and occasionally I hear some of the worst hot takes ever and I didn’t want to sit idly by and watch misinformation get thrown around.

Enter my channel, where I chose to do the news on YouTube livestreams for a time (You can’t get them now, but they’re really bad). I tried doing narrated deep fake videos. After discovering what the whole avatar thing was, I decided to do that and things took off from there.

On a side note, some people wanted Vtuber “lore” or something, you know, did you get fired from Microsoft? Did Tim Cook ruin your life because he did the prayer hands one too many times? Will you ever find Mark Zuckerberg ever be unironically funny? You want some lore, I’ll give you guys some.

I work in a job with not a lot of income. I don’t get paid minimum wage, but I don’t make a 6 figure salary. I used to be married, but my wife left me, took my kids (who I only get to see twice a year since they live in a different state), and I have to pay her alimony every year, which is why I ebeg on the internet and try to get you to give me money on Patreon or something! If you wanted a story there it is!

A few people have asked what I do for a living. I won’t get too much into detail, but I don’t have any formal background in technology and my job really doesn’t require it of me (they assume if you’re over 50, you don’t know the “computer things”). I’m just a loser who reads way too much on the internet.

Less than 10 people in my life know my YouTube channel exists. Eventually the cat will be out of the bag, and I’ll know who really approves of my life choices.

But I choose to be a Vtuber because I want to push the medium forward. In my bowels of internet research, the vast majority of “internet-famous” Vtubers literally fall into the following categories:

• They sing songs. I have a basic musical talent, but can’t play any instruments or sing. Trust me, you don’t want hear me sing.
• They play video games. Video games became a thing when I was much older than the majority demographic of the people who watch my channel. I never grew up with gaming so it escapes me why you would stream copious hours doing something better off alone, unless it’s a multiplayer game, like pong.
• Have a funny voice.
• Finally, they’re mostly young kids like you. I have confidence that 95% of all Vtubers are significantly younger than me (even this is generous and probably much higher). I don’t have the status of youth anymore, but I can pretend I do as a Vtuber!

Something you’ll notice is I don’t ever promote myself specifically as a Vtuber. YouTube’s algorithm as well as people’s preconceived notions of what a Vtuber is, is frankly in an awful state. I believe I can do more than sing, play video games, pretend to be a seiyu, or be young.

Think about it like this. It’s bad enough people already have biases against your race (unfortunately), your religious views (or lack thereof), or your sexual orientation never mind about your content or if you have a real body or not! I don’t want to be caught in that boat and unfortunately, I have to resort to being very coy about it on the internet. That’s why you will never see in my thumbnails, my profile picture, or branding anywhere the stereotypical baggage of being a Vtuber is something I can never do.

I have some hard rules that I want others to keep in mind:

• I’m not getting involved in drama. If I want drama, it better be in anime form.
• No politics, unless it’s explicitly technology related. I’m not the next Tucker Carlson, no matter how much YouTube wants me to watch his videos (for some reason).
• No crass language. While I will admit, yes I know other creators do utter such words, I believe it’s largely unnecessary for me to curse to get a point across. Now I have shown some of such language, but only when necessary or applicable.

What does running the channel look like?

I also want to be transparent about how the channel is run. It works something like this: I am the writer, designer, video editor, content manager, subtitles, and holder of all accounts and finances. I essentially control and run everything myself, including the creation of my own body. There are no third party editors, contractors, or artists involved.

My buddy Winward, who tags along for many other videos, literally does nothing except pitch ideas, most of which have led into circles and not content. He’s a zoomer just like most of you and probably wastes too much time watching Pokemon or Minecraft speed runs than actually earnestly seeking answers to his questions or making Apple content.

It takes me on average 4 hours/day to edit a video:

1. Write a script in markdown.
2. Record and execute said script. Patrons and soon YouTube Members will receive a podcast recorded before or after said recording session.
3. Edit video by removing all instances of dead air or fluff.
4. Edit video by inserting text and memes.
5. Edit in subtitles, upload video, and deal with social media.

This allows me to set aside enough time when I want to go out with friends or do something other than the channel while continuing to do my day job.

In the interest of financial transparency, this channel is very close to breaking even, but not financially stable. I pay for the following things for the sake of the channel and if you want to get started online, consider this:

• A burner phone, exclusively for use on the channel. This costs roughly about $15/month for the lowest plan I could find. This has now moved to a VOIP number, so even if you did figure it out, you can’t sim swap me like you could a normal cell phone.
• My vanity domain, trafotin.com. This is $13/year, which averages around $1.10/month. I have been working on a website and the latest series of videos all have individual written tutorials and transcripts on a beta version. Hosting a website via VPS will also cost an additional $4 a month, increasing how much I need to receive. Building the website will require I make special changes to the server, so Gitlab pages, Netlify, and that kind of thing are off the table.

Then my financial situation. I’m going to have to be very careful about this because Adwords has changed rules about what I am allowed to say publicly in the past.

• I currently make $13/month on Patreon. This grants subscribers access to a bonus podcast thing run every other week, which is where some of the footage you see in videos comes from.
• YouTube AdSense: This is where things get complicated. I was not officially a partner until July 2022, but while a decent amount, I have come to view this money as YouTube’s blood money. I do not believe in YouTube’s business model at all and I’m simply trying to make the best of it. At least I can attempt to mitigate the harm of the industry by taking some of it, but this money will 100% never be used for my livelihood or the sustainability of my channel. The newest policy changes and the strike/warning I received previously are proof you cannot rely on YouTube for money.
• I am working on YouTube memberships. I would say something about the number 30 and how it’s related, and while I am working on tiers, some things are left better unsaid. I want members to get the same benefits Patrons do.
• I have no interest in doing YouTube full time ever. Too many creators have been screwed over by literally entrusting their livelihoods to a platform run by robots. I might consider part-time way off in the future, but even then, I don’t think I would.

I want to also make it clear I make less than $6/month in ads. Whether you choose to watch them or block them is up to you. This money is going towards recouping almost 2 years of not being sustainable right now, but I want this money invested in things that Google can’t take away by hitting my channel. Namely, one-time purchases. If I’m going to be doing hardware reviews, this money will be dedicated to doing hardware reviews because while YouTube staff could take away my channel, they can’t take away a computer from my house. Right now at my current rate, it’ll take another year to buy one computer (and the economy right now sure won’t make this easier!).