From $0 to $25,000 in 2019: A YouTube Channel Helps Others

Which careers are thriving through coronavirus isolation and still helping the victims of crimes? Video creators. I run the true crime-focused YouTube channel named Plunder, inching closer each day to 30,000 subscribers, with 275 original videos uploaded as of this writing.

The Side Hustle Struggle is Real

Working as a true crime journalist on YouTube is not always easy, but it is rewarding. Helping spread the word about missing children, endangered adults, and documenting the paths to justice for folks done wrong is fulfilling.

However, it is frustrating to track down clues to help a missing person and instead run into trolls on social media who try to hamper my research. Or even worse, the failing machinations of jealous YouTube competitors who attempt to shut down channels while doxxing or swatting successful channel creators.

The Creator Stays in the Pictures

Despite Plunder getting shut down twice in 2019, due to fake copyright strikes and other quackery, thank the Lord I was able to rebound. And the third time is apparently the charm.

The subscribers kept coming, and I rebuilt my channel, video by video. The shady tricks used by the “drama community” on the video-sharing website came to naught. And I grew in the knowledge of how to become a better reporter, voiceover artist, and video editor for my viewers. Blocking out the haters, I pressed forward.

Ultimately, the victims highlighted in each one of my true crime videos are the real stars of the show--the ones who deserve to have their plights told around the world. At times their stories end happily, like recently, when 4-year-old Vadie Sides went missing for more than 48 hours. Followers of her story rejoiced when the little girl was found safe and unarmed, after being lost in the woods with her dog.

Other cases may end tragically, but the true crime sleuthing community at large rallies together to find clues and help tell the stories of victims getting justice through the court systems.

Expanding Beyond True Crime to Help More People Tell Their Stories

Whereas long hours spent researching and presenting the fates of others in a palatable format isn’t always as lucrative as other careers, I was able to earn nearly $25,000 in 2019 from my true crime YouTube channel alone. And I want to use a portion of my earnings in 2020 to continue to help others and “pay it forward” in the form of real money.

I’ve launched a new channel called “Storytime, People!” under the Plunder LLC umbrella. I’ve begun to pay storytellers a part of my blossoming income to create content for the channel. Therefore, expanding beyond true crime to hire individuals to express their stories to the world is an additional way to move to the next level.

Not only do I aim to help victims who can’t speak for themselves tell their experiences, but my goal is to help anyone who has an interesting story to express out of their own mouths publish it in audio/visual format. They may have overcome adversity, had a run-in with a celebrity, or survived some crazy near-death event that changed their lives forever.

Do you, isolated boo!

If there’s anything that these challenging times of quarantine have taught me, it’s that it pays to be flexible when it comes to our jobs and lives overall. With Plunder LLC, I desire to help everyone learn to adapt to their new work-at-home environments and shift to earn income in new ways.

My goal is to inspire the out-of-work barber or weaveologist to teach others how to style their own hair via online videos and tell their best tales along the way. And help that laid-off bus driver or corporate executive find a whole new world of beneficial technology by hearing another person’s similar and inspiring comeback story. And maybe that bounceback will create fresh careers for the down and out.

All in all, my pay-it-forward gift is to help us all shift. For the better.