I've seen her story from yahoo.com, and now countless sites (including mine) and lots of tv appearances are making this young girl from Detroit a celebrity in her own right. So who is Ashley Qualls?
She's a 17 year old teener who owns the site Whateverlife.com that offers free Myspace layout. At the young age of 9, she was already learning basic web design. In 2004, from the $8 she borrowed from her mom to pay for a host and domain, she applied her knowledge of HTML to building Whateverlife.com. Now her site is a multi-million earner, and earning for her a whopping $70,000 a month from Google Adsense!!!
According to Google adsense analytics, her site receives 7 million visitors and 60 million page views a month. That's more traffic the AmericanIdol.com and Oprah.com get. Her audience is larger than teenage magazines like Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and Cosmogirl, all combined!!!
Wow, her story is truly amazing. Hmm, I wished I also learned html before.Hehehe. That's one lesson learned, but here are the other lessons from this teenage entrepreneur:
- The internet is the ultimate equal opportunity employer. Your age, race and gender aren't obstacles, they're opportunities.
- Base your internet business on something you love to do. If you're having fun, the money will come.
- Be selfless. When Ashley started her website it was all freebies all the time – and still is.
- Keep at it. Most really successful online start ups like Whateverlife.com are offshoots of something you're already working on.
- You don't need tons of money. Starting an online business is a true "sweat equity" opportunity. Everything you need to get started is available on the web for free if you have the time to look.
