Savvy adolescents are blogging – and earning
While their peers noodle around on social networks such as MySpace and Imbee, a few pre-teen entrepreneurs are making decent cabbage from their blogs.
Manchester, England’s David Wilkinson began establishing his professional blogging credentials last July, soon after he entered adolescence. By the time he turned 13 last month, the proprietor of tech blog Techzi.net had become a minor celebrity in the ProBlogging community.
Wilkinson is so good at grabbing eyeballs that one of his posts recently earned a coveted front-page spot on user-driven news aggregator Digg.com. He also made a name for himself with stints on other sites and consulting gigs such as helping a BBC Radio broadcaster set up a blog — which led to more publicity, of course.
He raked in nearly $1,500 from his online activities in February, mostly from donors who helped him transition Techzi to a new Web platform. But he typically pulls in $300 to $500 a month through ad revenue (he’s a search-engine optimization whiz), consulting and writing, most of which he plows back into the business.
Not bad for an after-school job.
And forget collecting MySpace friends: This budding mogul boasts more than 500 contacts on the LinkedIn network for business professionals. He’s leveraging some of those connections to build Zi Media Network, a group of sites he plans to maintain with a team of bloggers writing for a taste of the revenue. The first Techzi follow-up, Carzi.com, will launch soon.
Part of Wilkinson’s appeal stems from the fact that this polite, poised, savvy businessman looks like a kid you’d expect to see on the soccer pitch or shopping for new video games. (He is an Xbox fanatic, but lists golf as his sport of choice — giving him yet another way to expand his network of contacts.)
But he also delivers the goods as a writer. Wilkinson’s recent article on ProBlogger.net, “How to drive traffic to your blog,” was widely praised — especially for its advice on posting out-of-the-ordinary items to surprise and delight readers.
Still, most of Wilkinson’s teachers and classmates remain unaware he’s a professional blogger. “My Mum & Dad wish I’d use the computer less,” he admitted via e-mail. However, he added, “My parents trust me to manage my time and get a balanced life myself. I always make sure I get my homework in on time, and leave space to meet up with friends and have some fun.”
Despite Wilkinson’s talent and determination, the novelty of his youth has played a big role in helping him achieve online success, agreed ProBlogger.net proprietor Darren Rowse via e-mail.
“In terms of gimmick, I think most successful entrepreneurs find something about themselves or their product to … help them take a step up the ladder,” Rowse said. “David is no different, and for him it’s his age that is getting him on people’s radar.”
Sounding a note of caution, Rowse said it’s good for youngsters to bound into business online so long as “parents take an active role in providing some good boundaries and support — particularly in a medium with as much ‘rough and tumble’ as blogging.”
It’s also not something kids should do solely to supplement their allowances, Wilkinson insisted. “If you don’t have a passion for the topic … there are better ways to earn money,” the young businessman said.
That’s good advice no matter your age.
Drilling Down
Paris Spence-Lang is another golf-loving ProBlogger who got his start at 12 (though his FunnyMunny.ca site indicates he recently turned 13 as well). The Vancouver, B.C., student’s financial-advice blog isn’t as polished as Wilkinson’s site, but it snared Spence-Lang a Vancouver Sun profile last month.
So you don’t have to be young to break through as a professional blogger, but it helps.