Start From Scratch: About me

Who's Jhonny W. Walker?

Hey! I'm Jhonny.

I've been an internet marketer for some time now.

Before that, I already was a web-based worker, offering my services a a freelance ghostwriter, translator, 2D and 3D designer, marketing consultant...

I set up my first online business back in 2004 (i was just a kid then, still at school), making a few hundred bux here and there.

After school, I worked regular 9 to 5 jobs, mainly related to science and engineering.
But I worked long hours (that's just the way I am, can't help it!), and the paychecks seemed a joke compared to the pile of bills I received in the mail every month...
Now, that sucks, right!?

Having encountered many deceptions in my professional career, mostly because of my (lazy) co-workers' and (greedy) bosses' state if mind, I got to a point I thought:
'Why bother? Why keep going on sweating everyday to make my boss rich?'

So I threw all that down the drain, and decided to become my own boss, and start making really money from internet.

I wasn't exactly starting from scratch, but it was really close.
I had almost no money, and only my skills and ideas to get myself a web-based income that was able to cover my rent and bills...

I rolled up my sleeves, and got down to setting up my first ever enterprise.

The first month, I barely reached $700, working up to 70 hours a week to find costumers!

The second, I reached the $1,000 mark, still working crazy hours.

On the third month, things finally stared settling down, and I would easily make over $2,000 a month working (almost) regular hours.

6 months later, I was making $3,000 to $5,000 of monthly income as a service provider.

And I was happy and proud! ;)

Then, someone come along...
Some kind of 'behind the scenes' internet marketing 'guru'.
He started talking to me about his regular costumers, and how he made crazy money setting up multi-million web launches for them...

He talked me into working with him as an affiliate manager.

Now, I had an important decision to make: trash my own company and start fresh on something that could, apparently, make me rich, or keep going my own way.

Naive as I was, I chose the first option and reached out to my own costumers, telling them I was closing down and directed them to some of my competitors.

Little did I know I was shooting myself in the foot...

The first launch I worked on as an affiliate manager went well, we almost reached one million dollars in a sales!

And I got paid well enough for the job (so I thought at the time).

I took a jump start in the affiliate marketing business, and over the next year, I worked on a few other launches, helping my costumers to cash in like nothing I had ever seen before.

Only THEY cashed in, and I had no visibility over the accounting, and no signed contract. I went along with what I was told, trusting the person that brought me into the game, and his 'costumers' (friends).

And, looking back, I really shouldn't have!

As an affiliate manager, I was entitled to juicy commissions. Most of which I never got paid!

That was just too much for me, but I had only myself to blame: I trusted the wrong people, and that was my mistake, so I had to handle the consequences.

I got involved with a handful of dishonest and greedy cheats.
Even the products they sold were close to scams I discovered later on, surveying some of their buyers.

So I packed my stuff, and moved away from that team of scammers.

And here I was , back to square one, starting from scratch again.

My name (not Jhonny Walker, you've probably guesses it's not my real name, right?) was associated with low moral marketers, and I had to do it all over again.

Well, almost all...
I was know skilled in the affiliate marketing business, and I knew the people I had worked with were only a few among the many.

Not all marketers are scammers, of course.

I started rebuilding a business, with another name, as a marketing coach, affiliate manager and general web based service provider.

Only I wanted to do it differently this time. One thing I had realized over my last experiences in the Internet Marketing world, was that beginners are rarely given a real chance in the online money making sphere.

They are merely seen as easy to fool costumers, willing to pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for easy to find information.

It's like the 'gurus' think there's not enough space for everyone. They think that if they teach people how to succeed, they will have to share too much of the profit they are making.

It really struck me as an affiliate manager.

For starters, I regularly have to fight my butt off for sellers to accept to hand out more than 50% commissions to their affiliates. They don't seem to understand that the more they share, the more their name and products get spread around, the more they'll sell, and the more money they'll make in the end, even if they earn less on a single sale...

Another thing that amazes me is that a lot of sellers refuse to take in beginner or novice affiliates and let me train them a little.
They only want super affiliates with at least 30,000 or 40,000 contacts in their email lists...

Now, I do understand that having 10 super affiliates will be more profitable in the short run than having 100 beginners selling your stuff, but what about the long run?

Super affiliates can be fussy, asking for favors and increased commissions. And what if one day, they decide to turn to the competition and let the seller down?

And why refuse an affiliate only because of his geographic location?

It just doesn't make any sense to me!

Internet Marketing isn't rocket science. Once you know the basics, making a little money is no big deal. Really.

A beginner, given the right tools and advice, can become an internet superstar in a few years, no matter if he's never sold anything before, or if he comes from Africa, India or China!

Plus, if a seller gives him a chance and a decent training, chances are he will be so grateful he will be loyal to him for years to come, promoting him as a true ambassador.

This is the idea behind this blog, Start From Scratch: giving YOU the tools to get started, even if you know nothing about the game.

And, unlike a lot of other internet marketers, I want to cut the crap here: yes, I do promote and sell stuff.

But my goal isn't to rip you off. What would it achieve? I'm making money already.

What I want is to show beginners how they can do it too, and without having to spend tons of cash to get started.

This is part of the reason why I'm using the free Blogger platform here. I want to do what I preach: you can get started making money online with little, or even no investment at all!

SFS is marketing lab in a way: I'm testing how easy it is, as an internet marketer, to start from scratch with close to no money to invest. And I want to take you along with me.

OK, it will take some hard work and some time, but once you've stared, it will just keep going.
Learn, apply, and money will come rolling in!

So this is what this blog will teach you: what cheap or free tools you can use to set up your own web business, and how to properly use them to generate a passive income.

Of course, tools can't do all the work. You need skills and knowledge too. And you'll get that if you bear with me for a while.

So get to it now, and build your online empire. Here's the place to start: