{
  "id": 14073137,
  "title": "I earn £120,000 a year making social media videos go viral",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/i-earn-120-000-a-year-making-social-media-videos-go-viral-14073137",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-12T23:01:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "BBC News",
    "slug": "bbc-news",
    "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84g12v3lk20o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Eknoor Singh, a 22-year-old Londoner, claims he can earn over £120,000 annually by simply using his mobile phone and stable internet connection. As a professional clipper, Singh is hired by clients to create short, vertical videos for social media platforms, aiming for them to go viral. The more views a clip garners, the more money Singh earns. The client, which could be a clothing brand, record label, movie studio, podcaster, or influencer, provides a longer video, and Singh selects the 30 to 60-second best parts to upload.\n\nSmall clips can fetch up to $3 (£2.30) per 1,000 views across platforms, making it a potentially lucrative venture if a video goes viral. Singh's earnings have skyrocketed since he made $300 from a Dua Lipa video on Instagram last year, now consistently making at least £10,000 monthly. He looks for clips that are humorous, brief, and engaging, such as a video he produced in May featuring Sabrina Carpenter's reaction to her dress being stepped on at the Met Gala.\n\nAnother clipper, 24-year-old Ethan Weems from Wichita, Kansas, makes at least $1,000 per month by producing short videos for YouTuber and podcaster Caleb Hammer. This side hustle allows Weems to work from home and spend more time with his family. However, social media consultant Lia Haberman cautions that while some clippers can earn well, the majority make little to no money. Similarly, streaming analyst Devin Nash warns that success in clipping requires extensive time invested in watching content.\n\nPlatforms such as Clipping Culture, Vyro, Whop, and Kick bridge the gap between clippers and clients, offering video job listings. These platforms take a fee from the companies seeking the work. For large firms like Boxabl, hiring young clippers from their bedrooms is more cost-effective and effective than using traditional advertisements. Gig economy leader Evan Stanfield, who is 21, founded Clipping Culture to connect brands with over 340,000 clippers globally.\n\nEknoor Singh stays \"clipping non-stop,\" wherever he is, and even makes money while on holiday. The popularity of short-form videos is attributed to the decreasing attention spans of consumers, according to Clipping Culture's founder Evan Stanfield.",
  "summary": "Social media \"clippers\" make short, vertical videos that appear on the likes of Instagram and TikTok.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "BBC Business",
        "title": "I earn £120,000 a year making social media videos go viral",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/i-earn-120-000-a-year-making-social-media-videos-go-viral",
        "published": "2026-10-12T23:01:45.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}