I'm a sucker for an inspiring story, so locked my sights right in on this one over at FastCompany.
Girl Power - WhateverLife.com - No rich relatives? No professional mentors? No problem. Ashley Qualls, 17, has built a million-dollar web site. She's LOL all the way to the bank. ;-)
"At 17 going on 37 (at least), Ashley is very much an Internet professional. In the less than two years since Whateverlife took off, she has dropped out of high school, bought a house, helped launch artists such as Lily Allen, and rejected offers to buy her young company. Although Ashley was flattered to be offered $1.5 million and a car of her choice--as long as the price tag wasn't more than $100,000--she responded, in effect, Whatever.
Ashley is evidence of the meritocracy on the Internet that allows even companies run by neophyte entrepreneurs to compete, regardless of funding, location, size, or experience--and she's a reminder that ingenuity is ageless. She has taken in more than $1 million, thanks to a now-familiar Web-friendly business model. Her MySpace page layouts are available for the bargain price of...nothing. They're free for the taking. Her only significant source of revenue so far is advertising."
WHAT ARE THE KEYS TO HER SUCCESS???
Was she smarter than you? Probably Not!
SHE FOUND A NICHEY NICHE - Not just Myspace layouts, but layouts for teenage girls.
SHE FOUND A NICHE SHE KNOWS LOTS ABOUT - everything she does is geared toward girls just like her, so she knows what they like.
SHE'S PASSIONATE ABOUT HER NICHE - Read the article and see how even the way she designs her room - her office reflects what she does online.
SHE DOESN'T LET ANYTHING GET IN HER WAY AND IS DETERMINED to SUCCEED.
SHE WORKS HARD!
Those that hang here in the forum or read my blog on a regular basis have heard me stress those keys to success many times. This strategy may not work for everyone, but here's proof that it can pay off big-time for some!
__________________ Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Recruiting, Promotion & PR
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Good for her! It makes me happy to read stories like this Her site is really cute
I'm sure she will have plenty more offers to buy her company..since myspace is so popular and not everyone knows how to build their profile.
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Pretty amazing. Also amazing to think that this could have been ME or any one of us.
I was the somewhat geeky girl at school who learned HTML.. unfortunately that was a little before the time of myspace etc but this girl got in at the right time. Good on her!
I like how she is employing her friends!
Looks are deceiving, I thought you were a guy.
Nice to meet another geeky girl!
__________________ Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Recruiting, Promotion & PR
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Always love a good success story, but I do think it's just awful that she dropped out of school. That could haunt her the rest of her life -- and this may not last for her, either.
I wish her well, but education is SO important that her dropping out of school didn't show too many "smarts".
Here is a link to a CNN video report about Ashley. You will get a chance to see and hear some of what she has to say and see the house she has bought. Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com
VERY cool Larry. Thanks for adding that to the story!
__________________ Linda Buquet :: Affiliate Recruiting, Promotion & PR
The free forum support we provide is made possible by all the 5 Star programs at the top of the right sidebar & in the directory below. Please visit & support our merchants.
This is a great story and an inspiration to all affiliates.
Affiliate marketing does not always have to be within the most popular niche.
Just remember, if you find an affiliate program offering small comissions but there's not much rivalry/comptetiton, although the comissions are small you still can make a great success from it.
A weak market has stronger potential than a strong market, also you will find that with new or weak niches you will not have to invest heavily into ppc campaigns, ad campaigns, email capaigns etc. Good use of articles, keywords, a good site design and content can go along way into getting your site a good google ranking.
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Experienced web designer with 2 years experience working for one of the worlds top affiliate companies.
Now with a web design agency where I have been for 1 and a half years.
I have a strong passion for web design and believe there is not a single web site that cannot be improved.
17 yo Girl Makes $70K a Month with her Web Site
whateverlife.com
Her site is really cute 
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