To most people, Carl Niels David Ocab is a typical 15-year old junior high schooler at San Beda Alabang. The only thing that initially makes him stand out is his stature - given that he's 5'9" it would be easy to think that he plays basketball for a varsity team.
What most people don't know is that he's the famous 'kidblogger'. He became one of the most talked-about people among internet marketing gurus for coming out of nowhere and ranking high in the Google search results for the much coveted keyword "make money online" (go ahead, check it out). He runs the blog
http://www.CarlOcab.com.
I checked my Adwords Analyzer and "make money online" has 28,600 searches every month. It's close to 1,000 visitors a day. And that is just for one keyword.
A few days ago, Carl visited my office along with his dad, Alan. Joel "Masterbuilder" Christopher, the famous U.S.-based Pinoy Internet Marketing guru, arranged for the visit. He also followed us for the meeting.
Carl agreed to meet me to be interviewed for the PMT readers. I had fun talking with him. He is just like any other teenager - loves games and gadgets. And yet inside his head contains a motherlode of knowledge in making money online.
He has been using the PC to play games since he was four years old. For several years he played MMPORG online games like Ragnarok.
Using the internet, however, wasn't the only thing he learned at a young age. When he was in Grade 3, he started referring customers to his mom who was selling chocolates. He earned his first 'affiliate marketing' commissions.
In Grade 6, he started buying boxes of Pokemon and NBA collectible cards. He then sold the individual cards for a higher retail price.
When he was 13 years old, his Dad teased him about spending too much time on internet games and not making money out of it - spending money on internet game cards. He thought about it and made his first site - a blog and forum about RAN Online game.
Then he began reading Daryl Rowse's ProBlogger.net. While reading a topic about 'making money online', he noticed an 'advertise here' banner. He found out it was being rented for $50, and decided he could probably also do the same thing. Thus, on February 4, 2007, he started CarlOcab.com at the age of 13 years.
And just everybody else, he started placing Adsense ads. He also began promoting HostGator hosting as an affiliate. He also went into different topics but had zero earnings. Sounds familiar guys?
His crash course on SEO started when his Dad brought him along to the awarding ceremonies of a local SEO competition called "Ituloy angsulong" sponsored by SEO consultant Marc Macalua. He learned a lot of techniques by just asking a lot of questions in forums such as SEO.ph. Soon he was also joining other forums such as DigitalPoint.
Soon afterwards, his blog started to rise up the Google rankings and the gurus began noticing him. He has talked, chatted or emailed with gurus such as Terry Dean, Stephen Pierce, Joel Christopher, Rosalind Gardner, Jack Humphrey, author Jim Donovan, Keith Wellman, Ross Goldberg, Eric Rockefeller, Reed Floren, Jason Dinner, Simon Hodgkinson, Ewen Chia, Chris McNeeney, Seth Godin and others.
These days he is busy with school work. He only spends up to 3 hours a day blogging and promoting and tried to catch up more time during weekends.
How much is he earning? More than enough to pay for his own tuition and for his gadgets like iPod and cellphone. You could say his parents are sitting pretty when it comes to his school and personal expenses.
So what are his plans for the future? Apparently, a lot!
He and Joel Christopher are coming up with a mentoring program for parents and kids working together on an online business.
He is making plans for an ebook on SEO. Also on the drawing board is an online business for OFWs.
I asked Carl what advice he can give for young would-be entrepreneurs. He said you only need two things:
1. get a mentor, a guide. He will point you to the right direction. Being a young person, this takes out a lot of guessing and making a lot of mistakes
2. focus. This is one of the biggest factor for your success.
Reflecting on what he said, I also realized that his advice even applies to veteran online marketers: focus and get a mentor!
So guys, if earning big time still eludes you, follow this kidblogger's advice.
There were rumors before (but quickly disproved), that he was not the actual blogger and got a big help from his parents. I have been in the online business for the past 8 years now and over the years got to job interview hundreds of applicants. I think I would know most of the time if someone is faking his answers. We touched on subjects such as 'link baiting' and onpage optimizations. He knows them very well.
His parents own an events management company - I am sure he's gotten good advice on self-promotion and branding. But the 'kidblogger' is the real thing.
Note:
Since Carl is just 15 years old, he was not able to register in PMT since a member should be at least 18. I emailed FutureGizmo and got permission from him to approve Carl's membership. I am sure you guys wont' object, right?
So the Kidblogger is now ready to answer your questions!
Posing With Internet Guru Joel Christopher
