Jon Wheatley is one of those people who just wreaks success on every project he touches. He’s a young and aspiring entrepreneur with lots of experience and plenty of notches on his belt. From my time with Jon, I could tell that he was a very down to Earth kind of guy. He definitely enjoys his job and for the right reasons. There’s plenty of things that someone could learn from Jon, and this 20 year old United Kingdom native is definitely someone to keep an eye on as his success and reputation will only increase in the coming years.

Basic Information:

• First and Last Name: Jon Wheatley
• Location: United Kingdom
• Years in Industry: 10 Years
• Expertise: Marketing

Please note that my questions and comments are in Bold. Everything you read is exactly verbatim from my conversation with Jon.

What was your first website?

Haha, well my first real website was a site called http://phized.com/ (pronounced “fizzed”) it was a general entertainment website that was basically just full of miniclip flash games and little else. I was about 14 when i developed it and when I found out about google adsense and started making a massive $1 a day i was amazed and have been hooked on the internet and making money ever since.

Where is Phized now?

I sold it shortly after launching it for $2,000. At that age $2,000 was a hell of a lot of money for me.

I completely agree. At 14, How did you have the knowledge to develop a site?

My friends Dad was a “web developer” so he was quite into making websites and things like that. I remember my friend came round my house one day after school to start showing me how to make a website, i was so sure it would be a wasted journey because i didn’t have any software of any sort that would even remotely make a website but my friend assured me it would be fine. He then boots up notepad and i think its all been a massive joke until he busts some simple html code and opens it up in a browser.

I think there was a <marquee> tag in there somewhere, i thought it was the coolest thing i’d ever seen.

That’s awesome. So you were pretty much around people who were knowledgeable about the topic.

Well after that day i didn’t get much help apart from the odd html question… but from that point on i was totally hooked and wouldn’t talk about or do anything else.

And how many sites has this addiction lead to now? How many sites do you currently own?

Sites in total? I have absolutely no idea. Probably pushing at least 500. Some big, some small. Right now i own about 10.

That’s a hefty total. What’s your personal favorite site (both currently, and all time)?

You’re asking me some very tough questions here Bryan…

…The site that springs to mind is a site called shockarcade.com. This site was a concept i came up with and managed to punt out and get online within a few weeks. The coder i used was absolutely fantastic and the finished site was so solid with some many nice little features. Essentially all the site was is a social networking style site based around online games. I’ve since sold this site and the script has been raped and released to the public. Once upon a time it was a good site, honest.

My main project right now is probably one of my all time favorites. I won’t bore you with the details but the site is called dailybooth and it will be marketed as a social networking site with a new kind of blogging (pblogging) with some sexy widgets. (I made “pblogging” up just then but it sounds pretty good).

Lol, pblogging. that’s very interesting. can you tell us what the P in pblogging means?

pblogging stands for “Photo Booth Blogging”… although thinking about it “plogging” sounds even better than “pblogging”…

…Yeah, “plogging” has an awesome ring to it…

…plogging plogging plogging…

Haha, if you end up calling it plogging, I guess everyone just witnessed history in the making

oh yes!

What are you opinions on the industry now, and the direction its headed? How do you perceive the future?

I can only hope that people keep spending money online the way they are at the moment. The second people stop buying things online is the second publishers stop making money. I’m sure, as with everything, it wont last for ever but if all goes to plan i’ll have made my million and will be on a beach somewhere by then.

The second people stop buying things online is the second publishers stop making money.

Do you think we’re at the peak of internet marketing? or do you think its only just begun?

I would say we’re somewhere in the middle.

What is a typical work day?

Wake up around 11am, have a coffee and a cigarette, sit down at the computer, check and reply to any emails or blog comments, browse around the internet for a few hours, (i class this as working, i’ve made a lot of money just being in the right place at the right time), do any actual work i have to do (this normally consists of writing project briefs or talking to designers or developers) and sometimes, if i’m very lucky i’ll spend the evening with a bottle of wine or a create of beers throwing ideas around with a few trusted friends.

It’s the best job in the world…I would do it even if i didn’t make any money.

It seems that everyone knows who you are, and everyone knows about your projects. What can you credit to becoming well-known?

haha, I wouldn’t say i was “well known” by any sense of the means… although i’ve found running a blog with a decent sized reader base is a fantastic base to launch projects from. Although, it does have a massive down side, the more readers your blog gets the more likely people are to copy your ideas. It has happened to me so many times.

Lightning Round:

• Age: 20
• Favorite Movie: Pulp Fiction
• Current Inspiration (can be related to the industry or not): kevin rose
• Dream website (can be something you can make, or not): jon.com … i’ve tried so many times to get that domain, the guy wants over $100,000 for it though…what an asshole! (I know!)
• Blondes or Brunettes: brunettes
• Favorite hobby outside of webmastering: pool
• Advice: any money you make, reinvest it… don’t spend it on xbox games and ipods…BEST ADVICE EVER…HONESTLY
• Shoutouts: josh is rubbish, david… i got this, JULIAN U … I CAN’T BELIEVE

(3 personal jokes)
sorry

hahaha, gotta keep your friends close

[end]

Jon is currently overseeing operations of his very own network called YesThat. He currently operates a very popular personal blog in addition to the sites and projects listed above in the interview.

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