I've Tried That - We lose money so you don't have to!

I want to introduce you to this kid. Name’s CJ. I don’t mean any disrespect with “kid,” but he is fresh out of high school. That means he’s one year older than my oldest daughter, so that qualifies him as “kid.”

However, his behavior and success are very un-kid-like. Why? Well, for starters, he is incredibly driven. He used to get up at 2:00 A.M. so he could work through Wealthy Affiliate University and learn affiliate marketing. Now, if you’ve ever had a teenager or been close enough to observe one in its natural habitat (or been one yourself), you know that that kind of motivation is pretty unusual.

The sleepless nights have paid off. CJ plans to pay for college with his online business, and has a goal to make six figures per year by the end of his second year in school.

I interviewed CJ to see how he did it.

First of all, in a classy move, he attributes his success to his dad. Hey! Father’s Day is this Sunday in the U.S.

If it were up to me, I would have gotten a job at 7-Eleven. But instead, my dad being the business man that he is didn’t want to get me in the habit of thinking like an employee so told me that if I wanted to make money so badly, I would find a way to make it but just couldn’t work for anyone or do anything illegal of course. And that’s how it all started.

Like many of you, he tried a number of things online and was always disappointed. He then started to make a little on eBay by selling phones he bought on Craigslist! How cool is that?

But eBay wasn’t going to cut it for long. Especially since he had college to think about. Then he heard about Wealthy Affiliate and signed up. It took him about six months to start making respectable money. He said:

At first I was skeptical but after a month or so, things started to kick off and I was making money as an affiliate marketer. At first I wasn’t making enough to cover my college fees but after time, I started to get better and before you know it, I found myself to be really successful with making money online. Yes, it took time but now I don’t even have to go to college if I didn’t want to but the way I look at things is that, I can only learn more, plus all my friends are going.

He says that the Wealthy Affiliate forum is one of the site’s best features because that’s where he got the idea for his profitable Web site, CJ’s Review. “The forum is honestly one of the coolest parts of it because there are so many members who all participate and it’s a great place to learn and brainstorm,” he said.

Check out his site, where he reviews programs and passes along what he learns. If you want to get a quick and basic introduction to affiliate marketing, which Steve and I have been yammering about, you can sign up for his 5-day guide to making money online. It will give you an idea of what it’s all about.

Finally, I asked him what advice he would give people who want to make money online. “Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, but if you don’t put any eggs in any basket you make no progress. Basically work hard and invest in yourself but only invest that which you can afford to lose.”

He’s the real deal. Not a millionaire (yet), but making enough to be independent with a respectable part-time income. And he has a solid plan for making more. This is one to watch.