- The Furrha family earns nearly $20,000 a month from Snapchat's Stories Revenue Share program.
- They gained over 1 million subscribers by posting lifestyle content, like their cooking and travels.
- Their success has led to ventures in real estate and separate members creating individual accounts.
When you're watching videos of the Furrha family cooking big meals or running around pranking their younger children, you might wonder how much money they're making from the dozens of clips they upload to the platform.
The Michigan-based family started posting on Snapchat in 2022 and quickly amassed 1.12 million subscribers by filming content like workout routines, pregnancies, and traveling to other parts of the world.
"The internet goes crazy whenever we celebrate important milestones in our life," Salem Furrha, who runs the main account with his wife Samah, told Business Insider.
Since January of this year, the Furrhas have earned nearly $20,000 on average a month through Snapchat's Stories Revenue Share program, according to documentation viewed by BI.
Snapchat has become the family's most important social-media platform, even though they have much larger audiences on Instagram and TikTok.
"Snap's our priority now because we've seen the rewards, you get out of it what you put in," Salem said.
As they started making what Salem called "life-changing" money, the older children branched off to create individual accounts — some of them, like 28-year-old Sammy Furrha, have surpassed the original account's earnings. He made $50,332 in July alone.
"We basically compete to see who's the most popular," said Sammy, who's winning the contest right now.
Weekly planning sessions keep their content on track
When the Furrhas first shifted their content strategy to Snapchat, they caught the attention of Snap's Talent Partnerships team, which regularly scouts the platform for creator accounts that go viral. The representative reached out and introduced them to the ad revenue sharing program, where Snap creators earn money from the ads that are placed in between the stories they post.
This program is one of several tools that Snap offers creators to financially incentivize them to keep posting on the platform. The app also has a reward program for those who create short viral videos that are featured in the "Spotlight" section of the app, which the Furrha family also takes advantage of.
Managing all the different content ideas that their family has, especially since it's recently expanded with new sons-in-law, daughters-in-law, and their children, was difficult at first, but now the group sits down once a week to brainstorm what they should post. Everyone provides one idea, and they vote on their favorite concepts, even the younger children.
"Every time we film, we ask for permission," Samah said, with her husband adding that anyone can walk away at any time if they are ever having a bad day or don't want the camera on them.
The Furrhas post at least 100 times a day on the main account, which increases to more than 200 when they share cooking videos. According to Samah, the audience's favorites are the Arabic dishes they make, like Maqluba, or a labor-intensive dish like a seafood boil.
"The harder to make, the better the views," she said. "That's how we've gone so viral."
Similar to the Furrhas, other Snapchat creators BI has previously spoken with post 100 to 200 times a day, taking their audiences along their day from the moment they wake up. The frequent posting cadence helps them earn thousands of dollars; the more stories they post, the more ads are shown to their subscribers.
With their earnings increasing, the Furrha family has now ventured into real estate, buying and developing condos near the University of Michigan. Those with separate accounts, like Sammy, are also investing their money in property. Others, like Samah, are setting aside the money for the younger children to have when they grow up.
"I always try to give them whatever they want, now there's just more to give," Samah laughed.