- Joined
- May 27, 2012
- Messages
- 5,196
- Location
- Bellmere, QLD
- Website
- www.selfsufficientme.com
- Climate
- Sub-Tropical
- Admin
- #1
G'day Everyone,
I'd like to apologise for not making myself more accessible here on our forum over the past few months and indeed for some time longer than that my presence here has been limited, to say the least.
I understand that many of you have joined our forum because you have seen my videos on YouTube and might even be subscribed to my Channel. Therefore, it is likely that you are disappointed to find I am not as active here as you (and I ) would like.
All I can say is I love interacting with people and my intent was never to set and forget this forum rather I set it up to engage with people and for the record, it doesn't make any money so if this was my main motivation it sure isn't working out too well lol...
The reasons I am scarce here at the moment and to be fair over the past 18 months is due to my own personal workload - I'm simply stretched for time. Some of the main reasons why I am time-poor are:
Anyway, as I've said several times already I hope to spend more time with you here on Self Sufficient Culture soon so please keep posting and staying an active member.
Cheers,
Mark
I'd like to apologise for not making myself more accessible here on our forum over the past few months and indeed for some time longer than that my presence here has been limited, to say the least.
I understand that many of you have joined our forum because you have seen my videos on YouTube and might even be subscribed to my Channel. Therefore, it is likely that you are disappointed to find I am not as active here as you (and I ) would like.
All I can say is I love interacting with people and my intent was never to set and forget this forum rather I set it up to engage with people and for the record, it doesn't make any money so if this was my main motivation it sure isn't working out too well lol...
The reasons I am scarce here at the moment and to be fair over the past 18 months is due to my own personal workload - I'm simply stretched for time. Some of the main reasons why I am time-poor are:
- Answering email questions - I get approximately 400 emails related to gardening and self-sufficiency each month this is on top of comments and messages I receive on YouTube and Facebook which number over 7,000. I enjoy answering questions and acknowledging comments etc but it isn't possible to get to them all. Up until now, I have been answering as many email questions as possible but this has to change. Recently, I created an auto-reply on my email requesting people come here to the forum and ask their question as I "may not" be able to email reply but soon I will be stopping replies to email gardening/self-sufficiency questions altogether and only answer questions here on our forum (if they sign-up and post it of course). This should free me up a little.
- Patreon - Some of you might not realise that I have a small but significant supporter group on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/selfsufficientme these supporters pay a subscription fee of either $5 or $25 which gives them exclusive access to extra content such as podcasts, random posts, and videos. I also give them priority when they ask questions. Patreon helps me directly through "crowd support" to fund my content creation and is a backup against the often large and seasonal fluctuations of ad revenue from YouTube and my Website.
- Covid - This horrible illness itself has actually been "good for my business" because more people are now wanting to learn about self-sufficiency and this is a positive! However, it has meant a huge rise in the popularity of my channel and content which has meant more people wanting to engage with me from supporters to businesses. I'm not complaining but just stating it has caught me by surprise and has added to my busy schedule that already was on a "run" since about mid-2017.
- Upgrades - Because of all this extra interest in my work, I needed to upgrade my systems behind the scenes and this is still happening now with our forum recently upgraded (more to come soon) and my website currently being overhauled. Also, I will be contracting out a large chunk of IT to help me with the upkeep and editing of my websites. All this should free me up considerably once it is done.
- More content - Due to the current appetite of people wanting to consume more lifestyle content I have increased my content output on YouTube including creating a second channel Self Sufficient Me 2
- Work around our property - My content is mostly based on our own backyard projects so I'm busier than ever DIY and conducting experiments in the backyard to use in my content.
- Homedad - As many of you know, I am a Homedad (have been since 2008) I'm just lucky that I also have full-time work doing something I love that at least for now gives me and my family a decent income. However, Nina (my wife) works in the city at a hospital and that means whilst she is commuting and working hard I need to do my duty to our kids.

Anyway, as I've said several times already I hope to spend more time with you here on Self Sufficient Culture soon so please keep posting and staying an active member.
Cheers,
Mark