benfromwhere•This week
How I Made $250.000+ in a Year: A Case Study of My AI Influencer Journey
Update on February 22th: I changed my AI influencer's names because it caused some problems on my business.
One year, two AI-powered influencers, and $250K in revenue. Sounds unreal? It’s not.
Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on the strategies, tools, and hard-won lessons that took me from concept to a six-figure success story in the AI influencer space.
Hey, I'm Ben—a 32-year-old designer who spent the past year navigating the world of AI influencers. Let me clear up any confusion right from the start: I’m not here to sell you anything. This is purely a case study to share what worked, what didn’t, and what I’ve learned along the way.
I’ll also make sure to answer all your questions in the comments for free whenever I can, so don’t hesitate to ask.
Links to Past Topics:
If you're curious about some of the groundwork I covered, check out a few of my earlier posts here:
How I Make $10,000 Monthly | AI Influencer Management
How I Earned $7000+ in 15 Days | AI Influencer Business Update
These earlier posts cover a lot of the backstory, so feel free to explore them before diving into this one.
So if you're ready, here is the full story:
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The idea of creating an AI influencer was one of those “what if” moments that wouldn’t leave my mind. At first, it sounded futuristic—even a bit too ambitious.
It all started when I stumbled upon an AI influencer on Instagram with the handle AnnaMaes2000. Her content blew me away—the quality, the detail, and just how real everything looked.
I was instantly hooked and ended up going through every post, just trying to figure out how she was pulling this off. That’s when I knew I had to learn how this was done.
The next step? YouTube. I dived into videos on Stable Diffusion, soaking up everything I could about creating AI-generated images. Those tutorials taught me the basics and got me up to speed.
Then, I created my first AI influencer, let's call her Mel for now.
Right after that, to complete the storyline and boost engagement, I introduced Mel's “mother,” Jess. Adding Jess gave the whole project depth and a narrative that drew people in, creating a unique family dynamic that instantly elevated traffic and interest.
After thousands of bad photos, hundreds of deleted posts, and months of trial and error, you can now see the quality that defines my current accounts.
Here’s a rundown of the tools and checkpoints I’ve used from day one, in order:
Fooocus on RunDiffusion — Juggernaut V8
Fooocus on RunDiffusion — Juggernaut V9
Fooocus on PC (locally) — Juggernaut V9
Fooocus on PC (locally) —Lyuyang Mix + Juggernaut V9
Flux on PC (couple of photos only since it's so slow even on RTX 4090)
Flux on Fal.ai.
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There’s no magic Instagram hack that guarantees success, despite what everyone thinks and keeps asking me. Quality content, consistent uploads, and solid craftsmanship are what actually help your photos hit trends and show up on the Explore page.
Unlike 95% of low-quality AI accounts out there, I don’t rely on faceswap videos, spam Reels, or go around liking comments on other accounts. My approach is fully organic, focused solely on creating my own unique content.
By following Instagram's guidelines to the letter, I've managed to direct some of Mel and Jess' fans over to Patreon and Fanvue. There, for a small subscription fee, fans can access exclusive lingerie content.
For those looking for more, higher-tier subscriptions give access to even more premium content.
Some possible questions and their answers:
No, you can't share hardcore NSFW content on Patreon. You can do that on Fanvue.
Yes, you can create AI creators on Fanvue — OnlyFans doesn't allow it.
Yes, you can use your own ID to get KYC.
Yes, we're telling both Mel and Jess is (or use) AI to generate content.
And yes, some people leave and some people still have fun with chatting, having a good time and get perfect content for their needs.
And yes, we have a chatter team to work on these accounts.
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This journey wasn’t all smooth sailing. I faced unexpected roadblocks, like platform restrictions that limited certain types of content, and managing fan expectations was more challenging than anticipated.
Staying within guidelines while keeping fans engaged required constant adaptation. These hurdles forced me to get creative, adjust my approach, and learn fast.
Once I saw Mel and Jess gaining traction, I knew it was time to scale up. Expanding meant finding new ways to keep content fresh, creating deeper narratives, and considering how to bring even more followers into the fold.
My focus turned to building a sustainable model that could grow without sacrificing quality or authenticity.
If you’re thinking about diving into AI content creation, here’s my advice: patience, consistency, and a focus on quality are key. Don’t cut corners or rely on quick-fix hacks.
Invest time in learning the right tools, creating engaging stories, and building an audience that values what you bring to the table. This approach took me from zero to six figures, and it’s what makes the journey worth it.
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And finally, here’s the income breakdown that everyone’s curious about:
Mel on Fanvue: $82,331.58 (Gross earnings because we have chatter cuts like 15%)
Mel on Patreon: $50,865.98 (Net earnings)
Jess on Fanvue: $89,068.26 (Gross earnings because we have chatter cuts like 15%)
Jess on Patreon: $39,040.70
And thanks to Reddit and my old posts, I got a perfect investor like after 5 months, so this is a "payback" for that.
Like I said, I'll answer every question in the comments — take care and let me know.
