Hessa lives in Sharjah Al Majaz and has 7,400 Instagram followers. She is what most agencies would call a micro-creator and most brands would call too small to bother with. Her February revenue was AED 8,950. After every cost, she kept AED 7,830. Here is how every single dirham of that broke down.
Revenue: AED 8,950
- 6 Reels at AED 800 each: AED 4,800
- 2 venue visits at AED 1,500 each: AED 3,000
- 1 styling session at AED 650: AED 650
- 1 Story set add-on: AED 500
Costs: AED 1,120
- Editor for three of the six Reels: AED 600
- Petrol and parking for venue visits: AED 220
- Coffee and refreshments for the styling client: AED 80
- Platform payment processing fees across the month: AED 220
Time spent
She tracked her time honestly for the first time this month. Filming and editing took 21 hours total across the six Reels. Each venue visit ate 2.5 hours including travel. The styling session was 90 minutes plus a follow-up Story. Admin and brief reading was around 4 hours across the month.
Total: roughly 32 working hours.
Effective hourly rate
AED 7,830 net across 32 hours is AED 244 an hour. For context, that is more than most junior agency strategists earn in Dubai. The number that brands and other creators chase, follower count, has very little to do with this. The mix of services and the fixed prices do.
Seven thousand four hundred followers and I am out-earning friends with sixty thousand. Nobody talks about this.
— Hessa, Sharjah-based fashion creator
What she is changing for March
- Adding a flat-fee bundle: Reel plus Story plus Post for AED 1,400
- Raising venue visits from AED 1,500 to AED 1,750
- Blocking Sundays as a no-shoot day to protect her energy