Omar is at his desk in Business Bay surrounded by three smartphones, two laptops, and a small fan whirring beside a thermal pad. He reviews tech full-time. February gave him AED 19,800 in revenue across four service lines.
The breakdown
- 4 sponsored review Reels at AED 2,200 each
- 3 unboxing-only Story sets at AED 800 each
- 1 corporate AI literacy workshop at AED 6,800
- 5 community-product affiliate features at an average AED 320 each
Why workshops are his hidden margin
The workshop alone made up 34 percent of his February revenue. He runs them once or twice a month for SME teams across Dubai who want a non-jargon walkthrough of how AI tools fit into their workflows. He listed it as a fixed-price service on his storefront after his first paid one in November and now gets two enquiries a month consistently.
A workshop pays roughly AED 850 an hour after prep. A Reel pays him AED 280 an hour. The work he loves and the work that pays best are not always the same, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Reels keep me visible. Workshops pay my rent. They are different jobs.
— Omar, Dubai-based tech creator
Costs and tooling
- Editor for two Reels: AED 600
- Workshop slide deck designer (one-off): AED 350
- Software subscriptions: AED 290
- Coffee and venue rental for one off-site workshop: AED 220
What he is testing in March
A AED 1,400 group office hours session: a 60-minute video call with up to eight people who pay individually. He thinks it bridges the workshop and the consultation tier and is curious whether it sells.