One viral video uploaded to YouTube racked in $10,000 for a homeless man and his teenage son, quickly turning around their lives.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, things were looking down for Lionel Barnes and his son who were living out of their car after Barnes had been let go from his information technology job.
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Homeless and on the hunt for employment, Barnes would park in front of restaurants and use the free Wi-Fi to submit job applications.
Barnes later began using the Wi-Fi to upload YouTube videos after remembering his old Google Adsense account, a program that allows creators to earn money from their online content.
“I had $38 in there, and you need at least $100 before YouTube will payout. I thought, if I could just make another $62, I can get a whole $100,” Barnes said according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Barnes created The Lionel Barnes Show, later shortened to The Lionel B Show, in which he discussed Black celebrity gossips such as Steve Harvey’s divorce and Lil’ Kim’s “baby daddy.”
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Barnes’ videos garnered views in the thousands, which were far from allowing him to earn a living.
Then he uploaded “Jay-Z Runs Up on Offset About Beyonce,” a video in which Barnes speculates about a drama between the men and included footage of Jay-Z talking to the rapper Offset backstage at an arena.
The viewed amassed more than a million views in one day and kept growing.
When Barnes checked his Google Adsense account, he discovered an earning of more than $10,000.
“I was like, there’s no way they’re going to send me that much money,” Barnes said. “It has to be an error or something.”
According to the Tampa Bay Times, the father and son sat in the car in a McDonald’s parking lot the day the money was supposed to be deposited in Barnes’ account.
When it happened, Barnes said, “our lives changed in an instant.”
After nearly three months on the street, Barnes’ first transaction was booking a hotel room, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Since then, Barnes has not looked back, continuing to grow his online audience and pursue a career in the entertainment industry.