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5 Best AI Side Hustles in 2026 (ft. Iman Gadzhi)

2026-10-19 · long tutorial / working session · Adil, Iman Gadzhi · recording, 22:45 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Studio work & business (also: Prompting & AI assistants) · mode: Explainer · tags: guest or collaboration, prompts shared

In this long tutorial Adil and investor Iman Gadzhi present five AI side businesses that use Claude with Higgsfield MCP for production: UGC and hypermotion ads for online sellers, photos and 3D tours for property owners, websites for local businesses, a faceless YouTube channel and digital products. For each one they give prices, such as $50–100 per UGC clip, $150 per hypermotion video for a first client and $150–300 for a property package. They also explain how to find clients: give away three free product photos, then send at most 50 cold emails a day per inbox.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Adil introduces Iman Gadzhi; no need to quit your job

  • ★★ Adil introduces Iman Gadzhi, who has just become an investor and advisor for Higgsfield and owns Consulting.com. — 00:00:00 · Higgsfield AI
  • ★★ Adil says the video covers five of the easiest AI side hustles, which a complete beginner can start today to make over $3,000 a month. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says beginners need not quit their jobs or drop out of college: with the right AI tools, making money is simpler than ever. — 00:00:29 · also in: You don't have to quit your job to start with AI
  • ★★ Adil says e-commerce brands are pouring millions into three kinds of AI content: UGC videos, AI product photo shoots and 3D motion ads. — 00:00:59 · UGC, hypermotion · also in: Three AI content ideas for e-commerce brands

00:01:14 — The AI service brands keep buying: UGC for e-commerce sellers

  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says most online sellers sit on unsold stock, and marketplaces sometimes charge extra storage fees when it sits too long, so dead stock loses them money twice over. — 00:01:57 · also in: Why studio ads get scrolled past and UGC doesn't
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says relatable UGC videos sell much better than glossy studio ads that people scroll past. — 00:02:27 · UGC · also in: Why studio ads get scrolled past and UGC doesn't
  • ★★ Adil says a filmed UGC video starts at $200 for a 15-second clip, and with shipping the product and waiting for the final cut it takes a week at minimum. — 00:02:27 · UGC
  • ★★ Adil says the worry that people will spot AI UGC is gone: sometimes even he cannot tell whether a video is AI. — 00:02:27 · UGC
  • ★★★ Instead of waiting a week for one filmed UGC video, Adil says you can generate 100 AI variations with different AI actors, hooks and angles in a couple of hours. — 00:02:56 · UGC
  • ★★ Adil says that for a seller who can spend $3,000 on an ad shoot, paying $50 for an AI UGC video instead of over $200 for a filmed one is a no-brainer. — 00:02:56 · UGC · also in: 100 hooks, 100 AI actors, one afternoon

00:03:24 — Claude + Higgsfield MCP setup and the UGC skill

  • ★★ Since a random UGC video will not convert, Adil and Iman Gadzhi built a custom Claude skill that gathers the most viral content ideas for different brands and products, free in the description. — 00:03:25 · Claude
  • ★★ To install a skill, Adil opens Claude, clicks Customize, then Skills, and uploads the file. — 00:03:25 · Claude
  • ★★★ To connect Higgsfield to Claude, Adil goes to Settings, then Connectors, clicks Add Custom Connector, names it Higgsfield and pastes in the connector URL. — 00:03:25 · Claude, Higgsfield MCP
  • ★★ The UGC Claude skill first runs a competitive analysis of the top UGC trends and winning hooks in the niche, then writes scripts based on what already makes money; it asks for the product, shoot, format and number of videos. — 00:03:54 · UGC, Claude

00:04:22 — UGC packages, monthly subscriptions and the size of the market

  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi says creators charge $50 to $100 per AI UGC video, and most brands order a package of at least five clips, since virality has an element of luck that only posting at scale can offset. — 00:04:22 · UGC
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says a five-video UGC package is a $250 minimum payout from one client for about five minutes of AI generation, so five clients a month already make 1,250 a month. — 00:04:52 · UGC
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says UGC videos have a short life cycle, so brands need new content every month and a one-time $250 package can turn into a monthly subscription. — 00:04:52 · UGC
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says a single product category usually has at least 10,000 sellers, and there are hundreds of categories. — 00:04:52

00:05:48 — One photo, a bigger offer: free product photos, then hypermotion videos

  • ★★ Adil says marketplace listings with videos convert about three times better, yet most sellers do not use video because a shoot costs hundreds of dollars and needs a videographer, a studio and editing. — 00:06:05 · also in: Pitch your first client with 3 free AI product photos
  • ★★★ To find first clients, Adil advises offering three free high-quality AI product photos as a lead magnet, then upselling hypermotion videos, which make the real money. — 00:06:05 · hypermotion · also in: Pitch your first client with 3 free AI product photos
  • ★★ The hypermotion skill (linked in the description): upload a product photo, and the skill analyses the item, generates a cinematic lighting setup and builds the motion video inside Higgsfield. — 00:06:35 · hypermotion, Higgsfield AI
  • ★★ For a t-shirt, Adil explained the vibe of a dynamic high-budget TV commercial to Claude, approved the script, and it rendered a 30-second commercial. — 00:06:35 · Claude

00:07:45 — Free samples to paying clients: a three-step funnel

  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi advises never selling a full content package up front to a stranger: start a three-step funnel by giving something away free, three product photos that take minutes and cost almost nothing, as a foot in the door. — 00:07:45
  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi says the market pays about $300 and up for a hypermotion ad; with a first client, win on price, speed and value by charging $150 per video, half the market rate, delivered the same day. — 00:08:15 · hypermotion
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says content has a shelf life and stops performing, so a brand needs a fresh batch next month (November 2026) and the first payment turns into a retainer. — 00:08:44

00:09:11 — Find AI clients with Claude and the Client Finder skill

  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi's first two ways to find e-commerce clients: open a product listing and click the seller's name, where the business email often is, or find the brand on social media or ask Claude for its official contact info. — 00:09:14 · Claude
  • ★★ The third way is the Client Finder skill: it searches the niche, spots sellers whose listings have the problems covered, finds their official public contacts and drafts a personal message for each. — 00:09:43
  • ★★★ Adil's cold email rules: never send more than 50 cold emails a day per inbox, or the domain burns and lands in spam, and check your region's cold email rules, which differ by country. — 00:09:43
  • ★ Iman Gadzhi says half the viewers will forget the video in five minutes and half the rest will not install a skill, so simply following the instructions is an advantage. (overstated) — 00:10:12

00:10:34 — Your next clients are on the map: photos and 3D tours for realtors and hosts

  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says local realtors and short-term hosts everywhere struggle with empty calendars because big hotels pay for professional shoots while small owners take phone photos in bad lighting. — 00:10:41
  • ★★★ For property owners, Adil uploads their existing photos to Claude and asks it to make them look professionally shot, change nothing, regenerate with Seedream, then make a 3D tour with Seedance 3.5 (as heard). — 00:11:10 · Claude, Seedream, Seedance, Higgsfield AI
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says 3D visuals and tours help property owners get 10 times more bookings, since guests want to know if photos match reality and how big the room is. — 00:11:10
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi: Since old-school property owners may refuse a 3D tour they are pushed to buy, Iman Gadzhi advises selling them the photos and gifting the tour as a bonus. — 00:12:28
  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi says a photos-and-tour package for property owners can be charged at $150 to $300, so ten local owners or agents a month make $1,500 to $3,000. — 00:12:58
  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi: To find property clients, Iman Gadzhi advises searching maps for hostels or real estate agencies, or apartment listing sites, and emailing their public addresses, at least 20 to 50 prospects: it is a numbers game. — 00:13:24
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says that once you build a portfolio you rely less on cold outreach, because agents start referring you to other agents. — 00:14:00
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says that as a founder he loves being pitched directly with upfront proof of work instead of hunting for talent. — 00:14:29

00:14:50 — Build what local businesses are missing: websites with Claude and MCP

  • ★★ Adil says many local businesses have a terrible website or none at all, running off a Facebook page and a phone number. — 00:14:58
  • ★★★ Adil says Claude can code websites, but injecting content automatically needs Higgsfield MCP: one prompt generates images, embeds motion videos and applies the design, with a few prompt adjustments still needed. — 00:14:58 · Claude, Higgsfield MCP
  • ★★ Adil advises pitching a website client with the finished site ready to click through instead of an idea. — 00:15:27
  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi says the build fee for a local business website can be $750 to $1,000, already undercutting what most places charge. — 00:16:07
  • ★★ Adil says most people run faceless YouTube channels wrong, which is why their channels get shadowbanned or YouTube refuses to monetise them. — 00:16:07 · faceless channel, YouTube

00:16:25 — One project, three ways to earn: the faceless channel

  • ★★ Adil says a YouTube channel needs 4,000 watch hours and at least 1,000 subscribers to be monetised. — 00:16:36 · YouTube
  • ★★ Adil says a faceless channel's first income stream is as a public portfolio: big creators want AI visuals for inserts, B-roll and cinematic scenes they cannot film themselves. — 00:16:36 · faceless channel
  • ★★ Adil says that with a business email in the channel description, leads come in, and creators pay $300 to $500 to have AI visuals generated for their videos. — 00:17:25 · faceless channel
  • ★★ Adil says brands start paying $500 and up per sponsored integration at around 10,000 subscribers; below that a channel mostly gets affiliate deals and free products. — 00:17:25 · faceless channel
  • ★★ Adil says edutainment on broad topics everyone clicks on, such as science, is a format that reliably pulls in millions of views. — 00:17:54
  • ★★★ Adil says YouTube does not fight AI but lazy content and will not monetise meaningless cartoons or random clips; the safety checklist is an original script with real insights, a fitting voice and properly edited scenes. — 00:18:23 · YouTube
  • ★★ Adil advises choosing a faceless channel's niche by the advertisers it attracts: money history content for finance brands, geography for travel companies. — 00:18:23 · faceless channel
  • ★★★ Adil's faceless video workflow: ask Claude to analyse the top videos in the niche, pull topics that crossed a million views in the last year, pick one and make a five-minute video; Claude researches and scripts, Higgsfield makes the video. — 00:18:49 · Claude, Higgsfield AI

00:18:53 — Let AI handle the production: a faceless video and its packaging

  • ★★ For packaging, Adil asks Claude for the title, description and thumbnails, and Higgsfield generates high-CTR thumbnails with its built-in skills. — 00:19:17 · Claude, Higgsfield AI
  • ★★ Adil sums up the faceless channel system: the channel builds a portfolio, the portfolio brings clients, and YouTube pays on top. — 00:19:17 · faceless channel, YouTube

00:20:04 — Create once, sell again: AI digital products

  • ★★★ Iman Gadzhi defines a digital product as packaged information that solves someone's specific problem, such as a guide, template, checklist, short program or toolkit. — 00:20:06

    “A digital product is packaged information that solves someone else's specific problem.”

  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi calls digital products the highest-leverage side hustle: built once, a product can be sold to every next buyer the same way, so scaling is infinite. — 00:20:35

  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says that when he started 10 years ago, making a digital product took years of expertise and a team; now AI is all you need. — 00:20:35
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says AI pulls together what is written on a topic into a finished digital product, helps define who it is for and its problem, and writes the store page, pitch and FAQs. — 00:21:04
  • ★★ Iman Gadzhi says selling digital products needs no face on camera or big audience, since digital marketplaces already have millions of people looking for such solutions. — 00:21:33

00:21:47 — Which AI side hustle fits you; pick one and start

  • ★★ Adil urges viewers not to waste time choosing among the five AI side hustles: pick one and start. — 00:22:03
  • ★★ Adil calls AI the ultimate equalizer, blind to background, degree or experience: a year ago he was a bartender, and now he is here. — 00:22:03

In the description and comments

  • ★ Higgsfield: Asked about a course on Disney-style cartoon videos, the channel says Higgsfield has a separate animation channel that breaks down animation styles step by step. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Claude · digital product · faceless channel · Iman Gadzhi · UGC

Also: Organizations: Consulting.com · YouTube

Concepts: hypermotion · lead magnet · YouTube monetisation

Products: Adil and Iman Gadzhi's viral UGC Claude skill · Client Finder Skill · Higgsfield MCP · Seedance · Seedream

Also centred on Iman Gadzhi: You don't have to quit your job to start with AI

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