How a 24-year-old Moulvibazar CNG driver made over Tk20,000 from social media
Hasan, a rising vlogger and CNG driver from a remote Moulvibazar village, used to secretly create vlogs because his family did not approve of his dreams of becoming a content creator. But things changed when he started earning from the platforms
"I am Hasan Ahmed. I have always dreamt of becoming a popular YouTuber. But my family wasn't financially solvent. So I had to drive CNG."
When I asked the 24-year-old from a remote village in Moulvibazar to tell me his story on Messenger, he started with this.
Hasan is a rising vlogger with around 55 thousand followers combined on Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok, but has already managed to earn Tk24,000 from Facebook alone.
But this journey of his was not an easy one.
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'You will never become a YouTuber'
Hasan made small videos besides driving CNG for three years straight and worked on at least 6-7 YouTube channels. But none of them saw any sign of success.
"Seeing this, my family members, relatives and even friends kept telling me to stop doing this. They didn't believe that I could do what I wanted to do and demotivated me from chasing my goals in every way possible. But I didn't give up," said Hasan.
"One day, my father threatened to throw me out of the house. That was the worst day of my life. I cried a lot that day," he added.
Hasan was determined and unwilling to sacrifice his dreams. He started making motivational videos and continued driving CNG.
"Crying made me want more to become what I want. I was determined that I would keep making videos, even if it meant to be thrown out of my family. And then, it hit me."
Hasan's struggles become his choice of content
Since Hasan was already struggling, he thought about turning those bits of struggle into content, and for the first time since the start of his journey, he started getting responses from the viewers.
It was November 2023.
"I started making vlogs when I was driving my CNG. So I didn't need to spend extra time on it. I couldn't let my family know I was still making videos. So I had to record the voiceover in secret," he said.
"I used to get 200-400 views in my videos with many negative comments. But I suddenly started getting an average view of 1-3 lakh on Tiktok," he said.
It took him around two to three months to get the first 1,000 followers. But the rest followed very fast as his content almost always trended on TikTok, and people started seeing his presence while scrolling through reels on Facebook and YouTube.
So far, Hasan Ahmed earned Tk24,000 from Facebook in two paychecks this March and April.
Coupled with his earnings of around Tk20,000 per month from driving CNG, Hasan feels a bit stable now.
A setup bought using CNG earnings
Hasan's setup for creating vlogs is simple. He has a smartphone, a laptop, a tripod, a green screen and a Boya M1 microphone.
It took him almost a year to buy a laptop for Tk50,000. At the beginning, he recorded his videos using a smartphone from Infinix that was priced at Tk10,000.
This laptop was his first investment. The second one was a new smartphone, which was meant to be a gift. But he had spent a good amount on it.
"One of my uncles lives abroad. I often requested my mother to get me a phone through my uncle. I promised to pay back the money for the phone bit by bit from my earnings from driving CNG," said Hasan.
"Did you pay back the full amount?"
In response, he said he did pay some money but didn't track how much he paid.
"I earlier said that I didn't receive any support from my family. Now that I think of it. I did get some support. This Samsung A52 smartphone was a great help. I couldn't have bought it by myself," Hasan said.
Hasan gave his first Facebook earnings to his mother
After withdrawing both paychecks from Facebook, Hasan gave them to his mother.
"She was very happy. They used this money to repair my room. We installed a Partex ceiling, and I bought a cooler," he said.
Hasan said his family has become more understanding of his passion now.
One of his followers from the US also sent him Tk11,000 as a gift on Instagram.
"Many of my followers want to send me gifts from abroad. I usually refuse. But he was very persistent," he said.
Hasan is happy now. After getting the next paycheck, Hasan plans to improve all the rooms in his house, starting with his parents' room.
Most importantly, he is happy that he doesn't need to make videos in secret anymore, and his family finally started appreciating what he does.
