Hey everyone! My name is Neil and I am just a normal 22 year old from Wisconsin who happens to have crazy hair and makes a full time income from the internet.
I have had a lot of ups and downs in internet marketing, but I would not have it any other way. I finished college, have a great supportive girlfriend, live in a beautiful city, and have a “job” that allows me the freedom to enjoy it all.
My Story
It all started around 7th grade when I got my first computer. I believe this was around 12-13 for me, and the internet was an exciting place. It allowed me to talk to school friends over AIM and MSN (do you remember those?).
If you are anywhere close to my age, you probably remember the RuneScape craze. I was not lucky enough to escape it, and spent as much time as I could playing.
Skip forward a few years and I entered High School, where I became addicted to the online game World of Warcraft. I played religiously whenever I could. As it turns out, this was a great time for online marketers where all you needed was an exact match domain and some spam to rank number 1 and stay there. I wish I would have known that then (think of the possibilities!).
My second year at my new school is where I took an intro to HTML class where we learned to created simple programs with an HTML editor called Taco. I remember thinking how exciting this was. My little mini sites were not on the internet, but they could be!
Soon after, I put a few of these sites online in hopes that I would be the next big thing. It turns out, it is not that easy. The sites saw no traffic, and no earnings. But hey, I had learned some skills right?
The next year I was contracted by my father to build a website for his company. It took a while to set up, but when it was done I was so proud of what I had done. When I look back at what the site used to look at, it is almost embarrassing. It is a good thing that I finally redesigned it in 2013 and he now has a professional looking website.
Fast forward to 19 years of age and I still loved the internet. I had finally stopped playing World of Warcraft and had transferred to The University of Wisconsin – Madison. Life was going in the right direction.
Up until this point, I had had only retail jobs. When I turned 18 I spent 9 months working at a Sams Club which is owned by Walmart. The next year during the summer I worked at Sears selling tools on commission. I knew I needed a job and since my resume was not particularly great, I applied to wherever I could.
Not a single place called me back for an interview except for Target. I ended up getting a job pushing shopping carts in a two level Target store for $8.00 an hour. This was both a blessing and a curse.
A curse because over the next 10 months this job would be the bane of my existence. I dreaded going to sleep at night because I knew I would have to get up and go work where I was treated almost subhuman. After all, someone pushing shopping carts must be an uneducated fool right?
Little did I know, taking this job was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I was so fed up with the way I was treated, I decided to do something about it. I never really forgot the dreams I had as a younger version of myself of making money online. I knew there was money to be made, I had seen ads every day since I was 12. I just did not know how to do it.
One night after a particularly long shift in the scorching summer sun, I got back to my place and started researching.
I landed on a website that many of you know well, Flippa. This is an online market place that allows you to buy and sell online real estate. After a bit of searching, I landed on a listing for a site that was selling for $40,000. This was a LOT for someone who had not even cleared $2,000 that summer working long days.
I took a look at the website that was listed and was dumbfounded. The site was downright awful. The listing said that this site was making over $10,000 a month. I knew if this guy could make this kind of money with a site this bad, then I could too!
I am not sure if I slept that night. There was so much to do and so much that I had no idea what to do. I knew how to put together a quick site with WordPress on web hosting, but I had no idea how to get it ranked for keywords that would actually make me this kind of money.
Over the next few months, every moment I was not at Target, I was researching and testing.
I knew I needed money to invest into my new project. It started out as a pipe dream, but I was determined to make this a reality and quit my job.
You have probably heard stories of people eating only Ramen noodles so they could survive, or use money saved elsewhere. You may have thought this is a joke. This actually happens, and I was one of those people. I spent as little on food as possible. It was Ramen noodles, rice and frozen veggies every night for months.
Everyone told me that I could not do it and that I would never make money with my new site. It took 6 months and $3,000 invested into backlinks but I finally made it. I beat out the site that was selling on Flippa and within 6 months I had a passive income of over 5 figures rolling in.
Within a month after I saw that this income was not going to go away soon, I walked into Target and gave my 2 week notice. If there is a place for top feelings of all time, this has got to be one of them. I had done it, I was free!
The next few months were really good. I was free to work on new sites whenever I wanted. I could finally afford to eat whatever food I wanted. I even bought a car, which in hind site is exactly what you should NOT do when you start making money. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, and still do.
The last 3 years I have been living my dream. I work for myself, make my own hours, and chose how projects get done, my way. I graduated college this year and have gone to work full time in my business.
The thought of leaving your dreaded 9-5 job (8-5, maybe even 7-5… hell, any hour you work for someone else seems long), may just be a dream and seem impossible. I am here to tell you that that dream is achievable if you set your mind to it. I am here to show you what is working right NOW.
Let me help you achieve the impossible.
~ Neil
Hi Neil,
You need to get to the sun….your winter is coming!
‘Im a 65 yr old, who’s always been an internet geek, did some SEO, websites, google adsense, affiliate marketing, built websites etc, but never made any money. I also used all the wonderful ideas at Flippa. I left all that and am just finishing a Masters in Education (same amount of work I put into internet stuff!)
Now I need a nice easy passive internet income to take me to my dotage, so found your site and hope it will inspire,
Cheers
Thanks Suzie! Hopefully you find some things of help here. It is already getting so cold up here! I think I need to move.
Hi Neil,
I just finished reading your ebook How to Start a Profitable Blog in Under an Hour. Great book! I love the step by step instructions.
I was a bit lost when I got to the end of the book and realized, how do you get paid? Where does the money come from? We’re we supposed to create a website to sell.on flippa?
A little clarification would be helpful. Thanks.
Hey Shai, glad you liked it! Money can come from anywhere but what I focus on is affiliate marketing. One place that a lot of people like to start is building a site around Amazon affiliates program and recommending products from there. All you need is to sign up for an account to get the affiliate links and then when someone buys a product, you get a cut of the price. There are affiliate programs for almost ANYTHING out there, so you can build a site on anything that interests you.
Do you build passive income websites?
I sure do!
This story seems a little bit out of a fantasy world. I am in the internet business for a long time, started my own business in January 2016 with products 100% Made in USA. My products are listed on my own website, on Amazon and on eBay and so far I sold almost nothing.
You compete with thousands others and this website seems just an advertisement for an own service.
Feel free to believe what you wish Jeff. I run this blog as a hobby to what I do for a living.
Jeff, while I am skeptical of a lot of online claims made by people nothing Neil said is outlandish by any means. You can’t say just because you didn’t have success it’s impossible for anyone else to.
It’s very possible you selected a product that nobody buys. Did you do analytic research on Terapeak, Unicorn Smasher or Jungle Scout prior to buying inventory? It’s possible you entered into a category like phone chargers where your competing with a chinese manufacturer. Are you marketing your product or just throwing it up on eBay and Amazon and expecting it to sell?
While I love ecommerce I find it’s a buzz word lately and everyone is rushing in which may mean it’s time to look into other avenues be it affiliate marketing, content creation, etc.
What’s the old analogy don’t get involved in the gold rush sell picks and shovels. Maybe setup a site you can charge other ecommerce sellers to market their wares.
Hello Neil,
I have a great branding story for T-shirts with some designs. Would you like to partner with me and make money?
The brand is about unity, uniqueness, and potential. I know my designs will appeal to a lot of people but I just do not know how to get it to the market.
Franck
Hello Franck. Your best bet would be to get those designs up on some Print on Demand sites and start selling them yourself! If you are not sure how to get them to market, read all this information here: https://merchinformer.com/blog/
Im ken and my family has a site that sells seasonal decor . At the first of the year we started selling tshirts on merch. they only let me put up 10 shirt designs. Your ebook is a huge help. Now maby we can selling steadily up. Thanks ken at Seasonal Boutique.com
Neil,
Thank you for this post! Just that fact that you take the time to answer comments demands much respect. I am happy to hear of your success and you are inspiring others to do the same. Experience goes where energy flows!
Hey Neil, so you started in affiliate marketing and that’s how you made passive income of 5 figures? Would you recommend this or stick to the merch business? Thanks.
Yep! I would recommend both but Merch is probably a bit easier.
Hello Neil,
Thanks so much for your honesty. I am about to read your book on How to Start a Profitable Blog in Under 1 Hour. I am dying to quit my job. I hate it. I hate the hours, what I do. I have studied so much and I feel I am overworked and underpaid. I am looking forward to financial freedom!! You have inspired me.
Hi Niel,
Your story is inspiring. Many of us have felt the same way as you when beginning our journey. I just wanted to say Thank You! for the wisdom and kind words. YourDiamonique💛