I'll start where it actually began for me. I've been making AI-assisted YouTube videos for a good while now. Got into it through shorts first, the popular bait stuff like "animal rescue" and "what if skeletons." I wouldn't say I blew up, since shorts need a huge amount of views to earn anything real and you can't predict what lands. But I came out of it knowing the whole process inside out: script, visuals, voiceover, editing.

Then I figured out the thing that changed everything for me. Adults prefer long-form videos, and that's where you get predictable, stable reach and predictable income. I run 3 channels now, mostly history and finance, and together they do around $5K a month.

The main problems with long-form are the cost per video and the time it takes to make. I know that pain well. When I started, I could burn $15 on a single 45-second short, and since you need plenty of attempts before anything hits, it stacks up fast. Long-form is worse on both counts. The cost per video climbs higher, and the time goes up several times over. Research, scripting, voiceover, visuals and editing on a single 10 minute doc is easily 30+ hours. That's the part that made me want to automate it.

So I went hunting for ways to make my workflow cheaper and faster. Through plenty of testing and mistakes, I found something useful: Google gives every new account $300 in free cloud credits for AI content, and almost everyone already has a Google account. Those credits realistically cover your first 6-10 full videos before you pay anything out of pocket. After that, you're running on your own cloud at real cost, which for me lands around $35 to $55 a video, depending on length.

So I built a system that runs the entire pipeline automatically on your own Google account. Research, script, voiceover, scenes, animation, final video. I spent about seven months building it. That's OpenVidi.

These days I can make 3 videos for my channels in a single day while I'm at the gym. Obviously, you can produce complete slop with this. The output is only as good as your topic and script. But if you have a system, you can earn real income without sitting at a computer all day.

Honest caveat, since this sub has seen every AI money claim there is: the tool doesn't make the money. The topic and the consistency do, not the software. AI just removes the 30 hours per video wall that makes most people quit before they ever monetize. Treat it like a real content business, not a press-button-get-money scheme.

One more honest thing, because it's the part people actually get stuck on. It's not fully hands-off. To run it you connect your own Google Cloud account, and that's how you get Google's $300 and pay them directly, with no markup from me. I did everything I could to make that step simple, but it's still there and I won't pretend it isn't. It looks intimidating the first time you see it. But if you push through it, I think the result will genuinely surprise you.

If you want to poke at it: https://openvidi.com

Question for the community: for those of you doing long-form or faceless YouTube, what do you actually spend per video right now, in time or money? Curious where everyone's getting stuck.

Happy to answer anything. AMA.

Are there anything that will bring in passive income while I sleep??

I'll be honest for the past few years, I haven't traveled at all and desperately want to go on a trip. The problem is I don't have the money. I'm genuinely asking you all for help. I just need 3 to 4k for a budget trip, that's it. Is there any legit way I can do something online to get income? I'm ready to learn and hustle for the next 9–10 months. Please tell me a legit way, guys!

I’m looking for things that can fit into random gaps during the day without turning into a second job. Short online tasks, quick testing work, simple research or occasional local gigs seem more realistic for that than trying to build something from scratch

What do you usually do when you only have a little free time and still want to make something from it?

No business is really a luck game. Most of the time, you put in quality work, stay consistent, learn from what doesn't work and slowly start seeing results.

The same goes for any type of online business, especially if you consider digital products. I see so many people now want to get into this. A few days back, one of my cousins asked me about this business, so I shared some lessons I have learned along the way.

Here are the biggest ones:

1. Product creation is actually very easy. But marketing? Hell no! So put more effort into marketing your products. For me, its 80-20 rule. 80% goes into your marketing, and the rest goes into product creation. I used to give more time to my product research and creation. But now it's marketing most of the time. I actually spent the whole day creating content and engaging on social media
2. When I was starting out, many told me to collect emails. But I didn't listen! Create an email list from the start! You'll definitely thank me later for this!
3. Track your finances. I started tracking my money in 2024. So it's almost 2 years now, and my accounts are getting better. Previously,, I used to spend mindlessly. But that's not the case anymore. Also, marketing requires a budget after a while 😄
4. I have seen that not all months' revenue is the same! Some are really good, while some are really, really bad. Some months I can afford to travel abroad, while other days I sometimes cannot pay my rent. The results are sometimes unpredictable, so it's necessary to work on it every single day!
5. Dont bother too much about the niche! You can always figure it out later!

This is all!

Tell me what the biggest lessons you have learned from your digital product journey so far are.

Do share with us 😄

I know this subreddit is for side hustles. But hear me out.

When you're juggling multiple side hustles from the same four walls, things can get overwhelming pretty quickly.

I've experienced this more times than I can count.

Currently, I manage THREE different side hustles -

• My ebook Business
• My Google Sheets business
• My Instagram Music store, which I run on weekends

From the outside, it probably looks like I am always making progress.

I am always creating something.

Building something.

Trying a new idea.

But there is one more side of the journey that I rarely talk about.

The days when I don't feel motivated anymore.

When I am sitting in the same room, staring at my laptop, wondering what I am doing!

And sometimes I feel completely lost and LONELY.

That's when my productivity took the biggest hit.

I tried fixing it the way most people probably do.

I bought productivity tools/

Tried different apps.

Changed my daily routines.

Looked for better systems.

But in the end, I realized something uncomfortable.

The problem wasn't my tools. It was me.

I didn't need any productivity tools. I just needed to change the way I approached my work and my life.

That's when I started exploring Japanese philosophies. My cousin introduced me to them, and at first, I honestly didn't think much of it.

But the more I learned, the more I started seeing my work - and my struggles- with a completely different perspective.

The Japanese Teaching That Increased My Productivity

1. Nemawashi - Prepare before you act -> For this, I have started making a list before I start my day's work. I handle multiple businesses, so better to have a list before I open my laptop.
2. Danshari - Let go of unnecessary things -> This has helped me a lot. When the noise in your life is removed, you have more time and energy for your work. Most people call this MONK MODE. Remove tasks, tools, commitments, business ideas you no longer need.
3. Kintsugi - Your failures are part of your story -> It took me 6 months to make my first sale from digital products. If I had given up during those 6 months and gone back to my 9-5, I honestly don't think I would be where I am today. Sometimes, you don't need a better idea. You just need to stay long enough to see your idea work.
4. Oubaitori - Don't compare your journey -> I am mostly called a perfectionist. But honestly, I think a big part of it came from comparing myself to others. I would look at someone else's business, success, or progress and wonder why I wasn't there yet. This taught me that everyone has their own pace.
5. Montainai - You know the shiny object syndrome? I used to start one project and then suddenly find a new idea that looks more exciting. I already have so many unfinished digital products with me right now because of this. This philosophy taught me to stop wasting what I already have. So instead of chasing the next idea, I now always ask - "can I make better use of what i already have?"

This is all from me for now!

How do you stay productive when working on your side hustle? I would love to hear what works for you.

Should i earn money by posting or write stories?

Anyone here can share how you do aide hustle jobs? I am flexible and willing to do task.

Hi, is there anyway to make 1000 soon online? I recently got scammed and the bank won't do anything about it, because of my parents and studies im not able to leave the house at all so that is why I cant even ask for a job. Im just wondering if there's any options for me at all im so sorry. I have exams and rent to pay for and my parents aren't able to financially support me unfortunately.

I’m in my mid 30’s and have a second child on the way come early 2027. I have a full time job already in the insurance industry that I want to keep and grow with as my company is a great company but my income mixed with my wife’s (teacher) doesn’t seem to cut it even with just our one child. We often feel like we’re living paycheck to paycheck and I want to pursue additional income, especially considering her student loans are starting up soon and will be just under $700 a month (forced into income based loan payment track).

I’ve been in my industry for almost 4 years now and enjoy it and want to stay. My previous work I was in real estate for a few years (didn’t much enjoy it) and also the fitness industry for over half a decade where I trained group fitness classes and managed a boutique studio and trainers/staff. I do have a passion for fitness and helping people as I’ve been resistance training myself for 14+ years now. I’m even entertaining the thought of 0F since I have an athletic/muscular physique, but go back and forth on pros/cons to this one.

I started to try to sell some custom workout programs on Fiverr but have not gotten any traction. I’ve considered driving for Uber Eats, Grub hub, etc but I have a pre 2020 Lexus that takes premium gas so mathematically it feels like that route could be a wash.

I may be asking for too much but am looking for ideas where it won’t conflict with my current full time job and/or take me away too much from family time with my wife and kids.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

Hi, is there anyway to make 1000 soon online? I recently got scammed and the bank won't do anything about it, because of my parents and studies im not able to leave the house at all so that is why I cant even ask for a job. Im just wondering if there's any options for me at all im so sorry. I have exams and rent to pay for and my parents aren't able to financially support me unfortunately. I can do coding and what not and legal stuff but im not sure if thats helpful

Hey guys...so the thing I'm student from india and I need 21k inr asap cuz I want to help my family and my dad he's such an ***** and my mother recently lost her job to and we have so many loans but atp we need 21k inr ...can you guys suggest me how I can earn asap like skills or whatever maybe and I'm willing to learn skills and if possible suggest me any side hustle that I can do it home as I'm not allowed to go outside

Plz ik I should focus on my studies as I'm so young for this but I'll somehow manage my studies bcz i genuinely want to help plz if you're going to suggest me focus on studies etc don't even try to reach me out and no scams plz