I’m only 19 but make $3,790 a month scrolling through social media – obsessed fans call my account ‘the Instagram bible’
A TEENAGER has figured out how to make thousands of dollars online and build a massive fanbase by reviewing social media profiles.
Evan Smith,19, has been dubbed the Instagram Bible by his 200,000 followers, due to his social media rating system.
Smith (@Evangraysmith) made a name for himself by rating his followers' Instagram profiles and offering them key advice on how to improve them.
At first, the influencer began rating his friends' profiles for fun in 2022.
However, it quickly took off, since his followers valued his detailed advice.
“I always was into my Instagram feed,” Smith explained to NBC.
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“It was always something I was hyper-fixated on, no matter where I was or what time of my life.”
His fans began asking him to rate their accounts as well, with the demands getting so high that he had to create a waitlist.
By the fall of that year, he began charging people for profile reviews.
At first, he priced his services at $3 but then raised the prices to $12 for a private review and $25 for creating feed designs, using Pinterest as his inspiration.
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The college student's work paid off last month when he earned about $1,090 for temporarily offering monthly submissions to his followers as well as receiving $2,700 from TikTok’s Creator Fund.
He revealed that his fans love to binge-watch the series on his page, which contributes to his creator fund earnings.
Smith added that after proposing a partnership with Adobe Lightroom, the brand paid him to create three preset filters.
With his social media presence rapidly growing, he admitted that his reviews have even gotten him recognized in real life.
“The other day, this girl stops me on the sidewalk,” Smith said.
“She’s like, ‘You’re Evan Smith. You rate the Instagrams.’ She was like freaking out.”
Side hustles in numbers
Based on new research from Finder, an estimated 22.8 million Brits are using side hustles to top up their income.
Among those aged 18-23, 68 percent have a side hustle in 2024.
Those aged 24-42 aren’t far behind, with 65 percent having an additional source of income.
Side hustles are less popular among older generations, with 40 percent of those aged 43-54 having one.
Whereas 23 percent of people aged 55-73 and just 7 percent of those aged 74 and over are earning extra cash this way.
However, with his newfound fame and income, he is still looking to turn his social media platform into a lifelong endeavor.
“I want to turn this into something long-term,” Smith said, acknowledging fame and money can dwindle after a few years for influencers.
'FOLLOWER COUNT DOES NOT MATTER'
Smith is not the only person making thousands through social media.
A woman named Becca (@socialwithbecca) revealed that she was able to use Pinterest as a high-paying side hustle.
"Pinterest is such an underrated platform because follower count does not matter," she said.
"I was making $5,000 a month with 100 dollars when I first started".
She instructed her followers to make a Pinterest business account if they wanted to do the same, so they could see the analytics of their posts.
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Then, she told them to use those posts to promote other products through affiliate marketing.
This allowed Becca to earn commission every time someone purchased an item by clicking a link to her page.