Since I started YouTubing in 2016, I have never missed a single Wednesday when it comes to uploading new videos. But yesterday…my record was finally broken. Against my will!
Believe it or not…I’m currently serving time in the YouTube slammer. I inadvertently violated one of their terms of service, so they issued a strike against my channel…and blocked me from posting any new content for one week. This means I can’t post ANYTHING — no videos, no photos, not even a god-damn short — until Tuesday, April 11.
What did I do to warrant this jail time, you might be wondering?
Some of you (over 11,000 of you, actually) may have watched my latest Death Valley Life video, wherein I promoted our local fire department fundraiser party coming up on April 15th. Well, in that video, I also went on to talk about some stuff going on in my personal life — sort of an update of what’s going on around the compound.
The main thing on my mind was money, unfortunately — as of January, I have noticed my ad revenue from YouTube dropping DRAMATICALLY. I am currently earning about 60% of what I used to make, and I couldn’t figure out why.
At first, I thought I was just a washed-up loser that everyone was tired of watching. Even though I wasn’t losing any subscribers, and my “watch time” numbers were the same…my ad revenue (the money I get paid from YouTube, as a result of the ads they place on my videos) was almost half of what it used to be! I just couldn’t figure it out…and it was pretty depressing!
I have since learned that revenue is way down for many creators — so it’s not just me! And I’ve heard all kind of different explanations for why this is happening. Some say YouTube is focusing on “shorts” right now (you know, those 1-minute vertical videos meant to be watched on your phone, like TikTok). Some say advertisers are just paying less for ad space these days, because a recession is coming.
Whatever the case, everyone I watched who talked about it agreed on one thing: you can’t rely on YouTube ad revenue to make a living! It’s too volatile. You need to diversify your income, and focus on selling books, merchandise, and other products.
So, I decided I’d better start promoting my line of hemp-derived Delta 9 THC gummies more.
I don’t LIKE promoting them, because I feel like it’s annoying to my viewers who do not use cannabis or hemp products. But I felt it was the reasonable thing to do in this situation. So…I talked about my gummies at the end of the video. Since they are made of hemp-derived THC, which is Federally legal (and since all cannabis is legal in more states than not these days), I figured it was OK.
HA!!
MEANWHILE, totally unbeknownst to me, YouTube had just changed its Terms of Service. They do this periodically, and notify you with an email. I guess you’re supposed to log in and read the entire thing every time they change it — but who has time for that?!
Well…I guess I’d better start making time for it. Because this time, they had added the following:
“Content intending to sell certain illegal or regulated goods and services, such as drugs or pharmaceuticals without a prescription, is not allowed on YouTube. This includes directly selling or providing links to sites that sell regulated goods and services.”
D’oh!!!! This means I can no longer promote my gummies on my YouTube channel — which is a real bummer, because a LOT of viewers seemed to really like them — especially the sleep formula. (Come find out I’m not the only one who has a hard time sleeping!)
Anyway, because of all this, YouTube issued a strike against my channel, and I am blocked from posting new content for one week. The strike was issued on Tuesday – -so that means I can’t post any new videos until next Tuesday, the 11th.
It sucks, because I had two juicy new videos ready to go yesterday (Wednesday)…but I couldn’t post them. And consequently, I have gotten MANY concerned emails from viewers, asking if I’m OK. Because, like I said at the top of this post — I have *NEVER* missed a Wednesday!
But, the good news is…if I mind my Ps and Qs, and don’t commit any further violations, the strike will expire in 3 months and I’ll have a clean slate again.
HOWEVER, if you get 3 strikes in that timeframe…they can permanently disable your channel altogether!
So I had to go through and remove ALL references to my gummy website on my channel…which, unfortunately, meant deleting a few videos. I had to take down the one where I went to the weed trade show in Vegas in my marijuana showgirl costume — which had over 122,000 views 🙁 I also had to take down my WalMart tire rant video, because I talked about them in that one, too. And, out of an abundance of caution, I even took down the one where I toured my neighbor’s cannabis farm.
I felt I couldn’t be too cautious, because I *REALLY* don’t want to lose my channel altogether. But in the meantime…I needed a place where I COULD promote my gummies, and talk about whatever I WANT to talk about, uncensored.
My first thought was to try posting content on Rumble.com, which is sort of the right-wing version of YouTube. But after a few seconds on their miserable, post-apocalyptically chaotic homepage, my head almost exploded and I knew that wasn’t right for me at all.
So, here I am. My plan is to try and re-vamp this website, which I haven’t used much since I started YouTubing, and turn it into sort of a basecamp for Wonderhussy Operations, where me and my followers can connect, hang out, and I can share the latest news of what’s going on in my life. And I can promote my gummies…or whatever else I want to promote, because it’s MINE! (Okay, it’s hosted by GoDaddy…so I can’t spout white supremacist crap, or they’ll shut me down like they did to that Nazi newsletter. But you get what I mean.)
My tentative plan is to re-do this website, and then link THAT to my YouTube channel. That way, interested parties can come here, check it out, and join my email newsletter list. Once you’re on my email list, NO ONE can stop my from communicating with you!
My only concern is that YouTube terms ALSO prohibit sharing external links to “pornographic” websites. Although this website is clearly not pornographic…I do have nude photos in many of my blog posts about modeling, so I’m worried they might not allow that, either.
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH! What to do???
I really hate to give up the URL “Wonderhussy.com…” but going through all my old blogs and deleting the photos would basically be impossible. I suppose I could just delete all the blog stuff altogether, and start with a totally clean slate….but I really hate to lose all that content — which, if you’ve bothered to read any of it and have half a brain, you’d probably agree is actually quite literary, and not pornographic at all.
Anyway, I guess I’m currently mulling all this over, and planning my attack for what’s next. Because one thing’s for sure: it would be foolish to continue to keep all my eggs in one basket, on YouTube. I need to build my OWN platform, independent of any corporate oversight (as far as that’s even possible in this day and age!).
In the meantime…unfortunately, you’re going to have to wait until next Tuesday to see any new videos from me. Unless….
If you follow my friend Ross, the one-legged miner who bought that big mine complex down the road from my Death Valley compound…you may catch a surprise appearance from me on his YouTube channel! Ross and I are planning a special “dispatch from jail,” where I will make an appearance in one of his videos sometime in the next few days. So if you’re interested, subscribe to (or at least check out) Ross’s channel: https://www.youtube.com/@tecopamines4572
So….now you know what happened. It was an honest mistake, and it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is!
I won’t be talking about my delicious hemp-derived THC gummies on YouTube anymore…but every now and then, you may hear me obliquely reference my “Magic Beans.” Like my Magic Bikini, this is a device meant to subvert the totalitarian moral police…and those of you who have read this, will know what I’m REALLY talking about 🙂
