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If I Wanted to Make $10,000 as a Student, I'd Do This

2024-07-09 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 14:33 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Business and entrepreneurship · mode: Explanation and tutorial · tags: Aimed at students, His own numbers, His medical past, His own products discussed, Sponsor segment present

Ali says how he would make $10,000 as a student: sell a service to businesses rather than individuals, find five clients at $2,000 or one at $1,000 a month, pick a skill where what you are good at, enjoy and the market needs overlap (for example social media management for local businesses), work free for the first client, then charge $300 a month and ladder up with referrals.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — How his first $10,000 as a student changed his life

  • ★★★ Ali made his first £10,000 as a second-year medical student; it changed his university experience and introduced him to making money properly on the internet. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ After his first £10,000 as a student, Ali made about 40K in profit the following year and about 50K the year after; his business now does several million a year in revenue and in profit. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ Earning his own money at university let Ali go on holidays and trips without worrying about finances, and gave him a profound sense of empowerment that asking his mum for money would not have. — 00:00:29
  • ★★★ Finding a way to make 10K a month on the internet off your own back is a very learnable skill that can massively change your life, Ali tells students. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ At 18 or 19 the most Ali had earned was about £15 an hour, about $18, doing private tutoring, so he would have thought teaching people to make $10,000 absurd. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ Looking back, Ali says he had a skewed, scarcity-minded view of money, like a teenager for whom $20 is a lot; changing what you count as a big sum changes your energy and makes earning it feel doable. — 00:01:27

00:01:49 — How to make the first $10,000: many small sales or five clients paying $2,000

  • ★★ To make $10,000, Ali advises beginning with the end in mind and setting that goal; broadly there are two ways to make money: selling products or selling services. — 00:01:49
  • ★★ You earn money by providing value to people who can afford to pay for it, Ali says: money is simply an exchange of value, so work out how to add at least $10,000 of value to people or businesses. — 00:02:11 · first law of making money
  • ★★★ In about his third year of medical school Ali made 10 grand in a single day teaching the BMAT Crash Course, a course on getting into medical school, to 150 people in a lecture theatre at about £89 a ticket. (hedged) — 00:02:11 · 6med
  • ★★ Ali's single BMAT Crash Course day brought in £13,000; about £1,000 for booklets and about £2K for the venue left him about £10,000 profit. (hedged) — 00:02:40 · 6med
  • ★★★ You can charge a small amount to many people, Ali says, but the way that is way easier, and his advice to himself as a student, is to find five people to pay you two grand. — 00:03:09
  • ★★★ It is very hard to make money selling to individuals, as Ali did with his course, and a lot easier to sell £2,000 or $2,000 packages to businesses five times; ask what service you could offer a business worth more than that. — 00:03:43

00:04:14 — Finding your high-income skill: the Venn diagram and social media management for local businesses

  • ★★ High-income skills that let a student charge businesses $2,000 include copywriting, web design, graphic design and consulting for software, Ali says. — 00:04:14
  • ★★★ To choose what to sell, Ali advises finding the Venn diagram of things you are good at, things you enjoy and things there is a market need for. — 00:04:44
  • ★★ At 18 Ali would have made the money from website design and development, which he had done in his spare time after school since the age of 13; he says most people are not like that. — 00:04:44
  • ★★ Students who grew up with social media understand it better than most business owners, Ali says, so offering social media management to local or online businesses can be highly valuable. — 00:05:23
  • ★★ A local coffee shop probably would not pay $2K a month for social media management but might pay $1K a month on a 12-month contract, which makes a student 10 grand, Ali says. (hedged) — 00:05:23
  • ★★ Every local business knows it should be on social media but probably not how, Ali says: approach coffee shops, restaurants, accountants, dentists and private doctors within three miles of your home, university or school and ask what they struggle with. — 00:06:03
  • ★★★ Ali recommends doing the work free for your first client as a student looking for experience, then using their testimonial as a case study, with follower gains and results, to win later clients. — 00:06:31
  • ★★ If you feel you are not good at anything, Ali says you are probably wrong, and if you are bad at everything you can simply learn: find something you might enjoy that you think there is a market need for. — 00:07:00

00:07:40 — Trading 212 sponsor read

00:08:28 — Start free, then charge businesses and increase your prices

  • ★★★ Students ask how they could charge a business $1,000 a month because they think like consumers, Ali says: normal people pay that for nothing, but businesses value money in a ridiculously different way from individuals. — 00:08:28

  • ★★★ You have no business charging anyone if you cannot give the thing away free and provide value, Ali says: aim to add so much value free that the owner feels indebted and gives a glowing testimonial. — 00:09:06

    “You have no business charging anyone for anything if you can't give it away for free and provide value.”

  • ★★ Ali criticises the get-rich-quick content seen online as often about swindling people out of their money with a substandard service. — 00:09:06

  • ★★★ After working free for one client, Ali advises asking what they would have paid or what you could charge another business, say $300 a month, then pitching a restaurant at that price with confidence and conviction. — 00:09:40
  • ★★ For help with selling, Ali suggests reading books such as Million Dollar Weekend or watching videos on how to do sales. — 00:09:40
  • ★★★ When pitching a service, Ali advises aiming to get rejected about 20 times: the goal is to aim for rejection, and he guarantees you will land at least one client. — 00:09:40
  • ★★★ When a happy client wants to continue, Ali suggests keeping them at $300 a month in return for a referral, mentioning you planned to raise prices to $500, because most entrepreneurs know other entrepreneurs; pitch those referrals at $500. — 00:10:27
  • ★★ Ali advises laddering prices up over time while giving clients so much value that $500 a month feels like a bargain: provide more value than you charge for. — 00:10:56
  • ★★ Ali's business does 5 million a year in revenue, so $500 a month does not even register in its profit and loss. — 00:10:56
  • ★★ A private medical practice probably makes over $500 a consultation, Ali says, so if 30 days of Instagram or TikTok posting brings one more client it is probably ROI positive. (hedged) — 00:11:35 · Instagram, TikTok
  • ★★ As you ladder up your prices you realise you have value and feel empowered as an entrepreneur, Ali says, and can keep raising them until, quoting Alex Hormozi, you question what money means. — 00:12:04 · Alex Hormozi

00:12:26 — Feel-Good Productivity plug

00:12:42 — Final thoughts: $10,000 is achievable for any student

  • ★★ In the UK, US, Canada, Germany and almost any European country, $10,000 is very achievable as a student, Ali says; where businesses cannot afford it, adjust the numbers for purchasing power parity. — 00:12:42 · United Kingdom, United States
  • ★★ Ali has made money on the internet since 18, has just turned 30, and has made over about 15 million online in that time. (hedged) — 00:12:42
  • ★★ Looking back, Ali felt bad charging £59 for a course as a student, did not realise he could charge businesses, thought like a consumer and had so much imposter syndrome around charging money, all unnecessary. — 00:13:16 · imposter syndrome
  • ★★ It can seem a scam, Ali says, but teenagers make $10,000 a month from social media management, web design or web development; it is not that hard, though it feels like a black box until you know how the game works. — 00:13:45 · cracking open the black box
  • ★★ Ali tells students to pick one of the high-income skills from his video on them, learn it and sell it to businesses, and guarantees they will make at least $10,000. — 00:14:11

Threads in this video

  • refine · Should you start a side hustle, and which one? — Finding a way to make 10K a month on the internet off your own back is a very learnable skill that can massively change your life, Ali tells students. (00:00:58)
  • restate · Should you start a side hustle, and which one? — You earn money by providing value to people who can afford to pay for it, Ali says: money is simply an exchange of value, so work out how to add at least $10,000 of value to people or businesses. (00:02:11)
  • looked back · SixMed, Ali's medical school admissions courses (2012) — In about his third year of medical school Ali made 10 grand in a single day teaching the BMAT Crash Course, a course on getting into medical school, to 150 people in a lecture theatre at about £89 a ticket. (00:02:11)
  • restate · How should you price your first offer? — You can charge a small amount to many people, Ali says, but the way that is way easier, and his advice to himself as a student, is to find five people to pay you two grand. (00:03:09)
  • refine · How should you price your first offer? — After working free for one client, Ali advises asking what they would have paid or what you could charge another business, say $300 a month, then pitching a restaurant at that price with confidence and conviction. (00:09:40)
  • restate · Who should a first business sell to? — It is very hard to make money selling to individuals, as Ali did with his course, and a lot easier to sell £2,000 or $2,000 packages to businesses five times; ask what service you could offer a business worth more than that. (00:03:43)
  • restate · Which skills should you learn now? — High-income skills that let a student charge businesses $2,000 include copywriting, web design, graphic design and consulting for software, Ali says. (00:04:14)
  • refine · Which skills should you learn now? — Students who grew up with social media understand it better than most business owners, Ali says, so offering social media management to local or online businesses can be highly valuable. (00:05:23)
  • refine · How do you find a business idea? — To choose what to sell, Ali advises finding the Venn diagram of things you are good at, things you enjoy and things there is a market need for. (00:04:44)
  • refine · How do you find your first clients for a service? — Ali recommends doing the work free for your first client as a student looking for experience, then using their testimonial as a case study, with follower gains and results, to win later clients. (00:06:31)
  • refine · How do you find what you are good at? — If you feel you are not good at anything, Ali says you are probably wrong, and if you are bad at everything you can simply learn: find something you might enjoy that you think there is a market need for. (00:07:00)
  • refine · How do you sell without feeling sleazy? — You have no business charging anyone if you cannot give the thing away free and provide value, Ali says: aim to add so much value free that the owner feels indebted and gives a glowing testimonial. (00:09:06)
  • refine · How do you deal with rejection and failure? — When pitching a service, Ali advises aiming to get rejected about 20 times: the goal is to aim for rejection, and he guarantees you will land at least one client. (00:09:40)
  • mentioned · Ali does freelance web development on getacoder.com as a schoolboy — At 18 Ali would have made the money from website design and development, which he had done in his spare time after school since the age of 13; he says most people are not like that. (00:04:44)

Mentioned

Central: high-income skills · social media management

Also: People: Alex Hormozi

Works: Million Dollar Weekend

Organizations: 6med · Instagram · LinkedIn · TikTok · Twitter · YouTube

Concepts: cracking open the black box · first law of making money · imposter syndrome

Places: Canada · Germany · United Kingdom · United States

Also centred on high-income skills: 5 High Income Skills for Students to Learn in 2026

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