Man reveals jaw-dropping earnings from YouTube video with 9.8m views

'Side hustles' have been dominating conversations for a while now with more people expressing their desire to escape the corporate grind and build financial freedom from their passions. And it's no secret that social media and platforms like YouTube remain a powerful tool for earning passive income, especially if you can tap into the right audience.

So when a former doctor tried his luck on YouTube back in 2017, he was stunned to discover the financial results.

Ali Abdaal is now an entrepreneur and author. He previously expressed his passion and goal to earn a "passive income" since around the age of 13. Today, he has garnered over six million YouTube subscribers off the back of his online success.

In one of his viral clips, Abdaal candidly lifted the lid on the amount he makes from YouTube, admitting that he didn't make any money for nine months.

At the time, Abdaal had created and shared 85 videos for fun, adding: "If I'd quit 84 videos in, the last five years would have never happened."

Ali Abdaal/YouTube

But it all changed when one of his clips racked up a staggering 9.8 million views, which earned him an estimated $191,258.16 (£154,787.20).

In one of his educational explainers titled '9 Passive Income Ideas,' he delves into creating a YouTube channel. Abdaal has even launched his very own academy teaching aspiring vloggers the essentials of setting up.

Abdaal said that while it's easy to set up the channel itself, it takes an average of 90 uploads to hit 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time, YouTube's requirement for monetisation.

"It took me six months and 52 videos to get my first 1,000 subscribers," he told viewers, later adding: "If you're thinking you're going to start a YouTube channel and start making money from day one, that's basically not going to happen."

He shared that you "have to be able to put in the effort and do this for a very long period of time. At least once a week, I say, for at least two years before you can expect anything in return".

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