Some side hustles are more attractive than others. Michael Strahl, a 41-year-old senior manufacturing technician, says he earns $10,000 a month through the Amazon Influencer program, reviewing Amazon products and posting videos of himself on Amazon and other social media websites.
“If you’re looking for a side hustle that you can do while the kids are sleeping or in your free time, it’s easy to fit in,” he told Business Insider (1).
Strahl works full time. He is a husband and father of two children. Despite his busy lifestyle, he still has time to earn a huge extra buck each month – spending no more than 20 hours on his side.
An Amazon Influencer is a content creator who inspires their audience with product recommendations, according to the official website (2). Simply put, the program pays creators like Strahl to funnel buyers to products through informative videos and affiliate links.
For example: a buyer watches a video, clicks a link and buys a product. The manufacturer earns a cut. There are other ways to monetize, such as by directing shoppers to your Amazon store — but Strahl says his strength lies in creating high-quality videos. He focuses on products including tools, camping gear, automotive and household items.
“I made about $5,800 in revenue the fourth month I joined the program,” Strahl said, “and it just kept growing from there.” He recommends shooting and posting 100 videos to learn the ropes. That is, Amazon lets you participate.
To join, you must apply to the program from a YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok account. Amazon reviews how many followers you have, among other things (3). But if you can swing it, the program can open the door to an attractive side hustle.
In a 2025 Reddit thread, Amazon influencer McKay Christensen (4) also recommends the program with some caveats. Christensen runs the GoTechGeek Amazon storefront, where he sells shoppable products. Like Strahl, he focuses on posting high-quality videos to earn revenue. He calls his exposure to the program “life-changing,” despite recent changes (5) that have made it more difficult to earn big bucks.
Christensen says he started the program in June 2022, “when it was pretty easy money.” Now, he posted, “those days are gone.”
Despite the challenges, which include the rise of creators posting videos on Amazon, he thinks there are “still great opportunities” to make money from product reviews.
Read more: How to apply Dave Ramsey’s 7 Baby Steps to your life
Let’s say you enter the program. What’s the best way to start?
Strahl attributes his rapid success with the program to “deep, highly descriptive, long-form videos.” His videos aren’t cinematic quality, but they are highly detailed and include production B-roll, a technique that shows the production being described during a voiceover.
Likewise, Christensen suggests creators focus on high-quality videos. He also says it’s important when posting content on third-party platforms like YouTube.
In fact, most of Christensen’s income no longer comes through the Amazon Influencer program. He urges new creators considering joining the program to regularly post videos on TikTok, YouTube or Facebook. He says he would make a third to a quarter of what he would have done without his YouTube channel.
Strahl opened his own YouTube channel in 2024, a year after joining the Amazon Influencer program. There, he reposts his best Amazon shoppable videos, which drive traffic to his Amazon site. He says it took him 11 months to monetize.
According to The Penny Hoarder 2026 survey (6), side hustles in the US bring in an average income of $1,275 per month. The publication cites the gap between what the typical American earns and the cost of household expenses. Certainly, $10,000 per month can go a long way to bridge that gap.
It’s unclear what the average Amazon Influencer makes through the program. A popular 2024 thread on r/Amazon_Influencer suggests that the average creator who posts earns about $300 per month. Many commentators say earnings are inconsistent. One says they earn between $165 and $1,200 in any given month (7).
Big earners like Strahl are probably major outliers. He said, it is possible to achieve some success with this program.
Christensen cautions against thinking of it as a get-rich-quick side hustle, as it is sometimes advertised. He credits dedication, learning and perseverance as the keys to his success.
Unlike some entry-level roles, you don’t need experience to dive in. “I started by reviewing products with no prior knowledge of video editing, and learned everything from scratch,” said Strahl. He believes it’s still a good time to start.
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Business Insider (1); Amazon (2), (3); LinkedIn (4); Reddit (5), (7); Penny Hoarder (6)
This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the headline: A Blue-Collar Worker Says He Earns $10,000 a Month from Amazon for Just 20 Hours of Work – How You Can Do It
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