Michael Strahl, a 41-year-old senior construction technician and content creator based in Minneapolis, earns an average of $10,000 in monthly revenue from the Amazon Influencer Program. He balances this side hustle with his full-time job as a lineman, which requires him to be on call 24/7, and his family life with his wife and two children, ages 9 and 11.
Strahl plans to transition to full-time content creation after paying off his house in August 2024. He joined the Amazon Influencer Program in August 2023 after a viral Facebook reel about his family’s five-acre farm caught the attention of Amazon. His success stems from creating in-depth, shoppable product review videos, which appear directly on Amazon. He focuses on categories like tools, camping gear, automotive, electronics, and household items.
Strahl spends no more than 20 hours a month on his Amazon side hustle, producing over 900 shoppable videos since joining. He reviews 75% of the products himself and collaborates with brands for the remaining 25%. His approach involves long-form, highly descriptive videos, which he believes contributed to his quick success. He has also experimented with other side hustles, including YouTube, Etsy, and direct-to-consumer farming, but found Amazon to be the most profitable with the least effort.
Strahl emphasizes that his Amazon side hustle provides flexibility to work around his demanding full-time job and family commitments. He started with no prior video editing experience and learned everything from scratch. His revenue grew to $5,800 in his fourth month after joining the program.