I first met Neil Patel at Blog World. Before then, I only know Neil through his Pronet Advertising blog. However, Neil is more than just a successful blogger. He is a very successful businessman. Neil is the CTO of Advantage Consulting Services, a company that he co-founded in 2003. ACS works with 22 of the other Top 100 Technorati blogs and made $2.5 million last year. Neil is also the co-founder of Crazy Egg, one of the best visual visitor tracking tools on the Net. And here is the kicker. Neil is only 21 years old and still going to school.
You would think with running a Technorati Top 100 blog and two companies and going to school, Neil would have no time for personal blogging. Well, you would be wrong. Quick Sprout is Neil’s personal blog about branding yourself for success. Branding is something every blogger should work on. If you were to ask me what separate me from the 100+ million bloggers out there, I would have to say, I have a brand. Neil calls it the rock star formula.
American Express Centurion Card Holder
Neil is one of only two people I know who owns a Black American Express card. However, unlike my friend Tyler Dikman, Neil got his card for free. How did he do that?
I am currently on the Board of Advisors of a handful of companies. One of them being Affiliate Programs (who is mainly known for owning a lot of the media properties in the online gambling space). Because I am on the board of advisors for that company, one of the perks that they provided me was a Centurion card. The best part about getting the card through them, is that they paid for the upfront fees to obtain the card and they pay the monthly card bill.
That’s a pretty damn good perk! The fee for getting a Black Amex is $7,500 and you have to charge a minimum of $250,000 a year to get one. And Neil doesn’t have to pay the monthly card bill? His advice must be worth a lot of money to Affiliate Programs.
If Affiliate Programs is willing to give that kind of perk for Neil’s advice, then he is definitely someone you want to keep an eye on and learn from. I’ve added the Quick Sprout RSS feed to my Google reader and I advise you to do the same if you want to achieve rock star status.
I wonder if Neil will let me borrow the card for the next John Chow Blogger Dinner?
I have always appreciated Neil and am following pronetadvertising on a regular basis, definitely a bright young man and I’m sure that we will see some more than interesting projects from him in the future.
Alan Johnson
respect neil! congrats!!
Yes it is nice to see more and more young people are doing that well. All the best man.
Gives hope to youngens like myself.
~ Dave
He had earn money at this age, what a great job he got here. Looks like he could be earning a lot more if he continue with his current plan. I also a college student and blog almost everyday but currently not earning any money yet 😆 probably hoping that i would earn some money from my blog in the next few months. Good luck to you everyone.
I always recommend doing instead of hoping. You are blogging everyday? That is definitely a start, keep it up but don’t expect things to happen overight. If you publish quality content on a regular basis, it is only a matter of time until you will be rewarded.
Alan Johnson
David: Why don’t you try bum marketing, or creating squidoo lenses about affiliate products?
What’s bum marketing?
It’s a form of article marketing. Search digital point forums, there is 10000000 threads on it.
we are on the same side.HAHA. Hope to earn money from my website
He’s been in an impressive list of publications. I saw him in WSJ I think.
Neil’s a stud in terms of anything online whether it’s marketing, SEO, or social media. And, he’s a hell of a nice guy as well.
true that!
John, if you’re reading this (sorry for going a little off-topic btw) be sure to head on over to your Ruff PC competition post and check out TechTreak’s current vote count. It’s incredible, but he has now taken the lead with almost 58% and a total of about 24k votes (last time I checked, you were in the lead with about 68%).
It is definitely clear that his vote count is outrageously high given his traffic level, there’s clearly something fishy going on.
Alan Johnson
Wow… that’s a hell of a swing. Reminds me of the Chow vs. Shoemoney contest… 👿
Time to show Mr. TechTreak what evil really is!
How the hell did that guy manage to collect that many votes? 👿
Care to share what you did John? 😛
Now the real question, do you repay evil with evil? 😉 just kidding.
John, Thanks for introducing us to Niel, I believe you guys are model for us to learn and to succeed in online money making.
A fellow Indian!!
Inspiration!!
That is amazing what he received as a perk! Neil is definitely an inspiration and good example. I have heard his name a lot but now I’m going to check out his blog and what he does.
Wow!! Is that Neil’s photo you have there ?? He looks just like another Tom, Dick or Harry. But I’m sure his asset value is worth the combination of hundreds of CEO’s salaries add up together. He is definitely a person we all can learn from. It’s frightening to think that internet has created a lost of young millionaires or even billionaires…
Hi, John. Sorry for double submission. I was submitting the first article and realise the spelling mistake.
“…a lost of young millionaires…”
But it was too late to stop the process.
Hey John, you can remove the first comment, if you wish.
Sorry about that. 😳
Wow!! Is that Neil’s photo you have there ?? He looks just like another Tom, Dick or Harry. But I’m sure his asset value is worth the combination of hundreds of CEO’s salaries add up together. He is definitely a person we all can learn from. It’s frightening to think that internet has created a lot of young millionaires or even billionaires…
joerk
says:A fellow Indian!!
sorry, it is my first comment on this blog. wow! Neil is only 21 years old. A young CTO. 😉
the only other internet marketer I know who has the black Amex card is Amit Mehta of Super Affiliate Mindset. Saw him in Vegas last month.
great guy! mmmm.. now im more inspired.. to do more of the blogg’n. just hope my employer won’t kick me out of the company premises for surfing the net more often that working..
$2.5 million/year and a Black American Express card at 21 shows he knows ‘someting’ about business. 😀
Another inspiring fellow. I am visualizing myself in his shoes….. (Using the law of attraction)
DAM. That is incredible. Not being racist or anything, but people from Asia (China, Japan, India, Taiwan, Korea) are generally extremely hard-working individuals. That’s why he’s so successful – He’s worked at it.
I love CrazyEgg.Congrats Neil
That’s great! I hope I will someday qualify for a free Black AE card.
I just bagged on you on my blog. Sorry someone had to do it.
Um… I don’t see anything but an introduction post on your blog
😯 This guy is freaking great…
Sweet deal.
I herd the name before and I think he mentors an IM’er I know.
Nicely written post John!
Michael
That is an amazing perk. He must be good. I had heard of Neil before but didn’t really know anything about him. And he is so young. Well done Neil.
to all john chow readers..
help john chow by voting him on the contest..
now JC is nothing to compared to the blogs that he fight on..please do vote him here :
Vote JC
I put code to vote on my blog – yesterday John was winning!?
I can see on my blog :
Yes, John, you are winning!!
John Chow Dot Com (116930 votes) 71,87%
TechTreak (45598 votes) 28,03%
Hi John
It is advice not advise. Just thought you should know.
Later
The Mad Ape
lol the name is fitting for the comment 😆
Yeah i also have one but i payed for myne, there is some pretty cool perks that come with the card too. Once me and my ex girlfriend went shopping for clothes, when i got out my card to pay, every sales assistant in the store jumped to us, they shut the store down 30mins whilst we browsed in private. Neil is an awesome guy and I have a lot of respect for him.
btw don’t forget that neil isn’t running ACS by himself, there are a bunch of other really talented folks there too (Hiten, Cam olthuis used to be there, and others). regardless though, he has done a masterful job of self-branding, and building his business.
blogging about making money won’t make you money, its implementing the methods you are blogging about, thats the key.
Only 21? Way to go Neil!
Oh wow! I must have a lot of things to learn from Neil… Just added his feed to my google reader. 😳
aaawwww man
i want one black card for me toooooo
Wanting is definitely not enough
Now that you have a goal, it’s time to work towards achieving it, and that will, of course, not be happen right away, patience is of extreme importance.
Alan Johnson
wow a black visa card that show something this guy is much younger than i am i wish I could follow in his foot steps well i am going to work that remeber John Chow Allen Johnson is going to be one of the top bloggers this year
Neil is an amazing person! I’m only 20 and I hope by July, when I turn 21, I will be 1/4 of what he is
-Mike
nurgle
says:Did Neil Patel buy a reviewme here that you aren’t telling us about?
No, Neil did not order a reviewme. I’ve done a bunch of profiles of success already. Look for more in the future.
Some people deserve to be featured without having to pay for reviews and Neil is definitely one of them, given his accomplishments. Definitely an example of hard work and determination.
Alan Johnson
Niel or John.
What do you think, can 😎 DubaiMLM be a “the rock star formula” for 2008. For is in a way ‘new Agloco’ with a difference, that there is no DubaiBar. But, 50.000 in 3 weeks – they are saying it is wolrd MLM record.
Congrats, Neil!
I like this “the rock star formula” . I suppose that only few can get black card – sure
not me!
Why not? He is only human and the fact that he has managed to get this far shows you that it is possible, it shouldn’t be intimidating.
If others can do it, so can you, but you have to understand that you have to take it one step at a time and that nothing is possible without patience and determination.
Alan Johnson
As you said, what’s most impressive is that Neil is only 21!
Congrats to you Neil.
Well that’s too cooool – 21 and going to school 😉
Much respect to Neil. Crazyegg rocks – I love what you can get from them for absolutely free. Their heatmap and link click reports give you great feedback about what users are doing on your site. Keep these success profiles coming, they are very inspiring.
nick smith
He’s got a picture up of a pretty impressive bill as well. Let’s just say its for more than my house 😯
That is VERY impressive for 21 years old. I’m only 20 so I still have a bit of time 😉
~Jonathan
It is ALL about branding one’s self and company. It looks like Neil has done a Great job! I give him kudos for running his websites while in school.
YoRapper
says:Man Indian guys run this internet thang! And some Chinese guys…
It really doesn’t matter what country you’re from, as long as you are determined, have your feet on the ground and are offering value to the Web, it’s only a matter of time until the rewards start rolling in.
Alan Johnson
A Black Amex that you must spend $250K per year on is some serious perkage.
Of course, it definitely means that Neil’s partners are more than happy with his performance
Alan Johnson
He must be quite valuable to them and creating many times worth of the Black Amex in revenue.
looks like you’re living the dream neil! what do other students think of you?
What about what he thinks of other students? 😛 😈
The fact that he isn’t giving up school, even with his success is definitely something to be appreciated, I’ll definitely have my son read this article since he seems to always think that having an education isn’t exactly that important
Alan Johnosn
whew, is he human? 😕
I’m 30 and I’ll be happy even by just receiving 10% of what he receives in a year. Oh, make that 2% and I would still be a happy man! He’s definitely an inspiration.
When you are passionate about what you’re doing, it is definitely easier to give it 110% like Neil does. I’m sure he loves every minute of what he’s doing, and, of course, earning money in the process never hurts
Alan Johnson
Wow, pretty impressive.
Very successful person, I would love to have one of those cards, I dont know if I would be able to spend $250,000 😮
Let’s just say that you would definitely not have any problems spending such an amount, reaching an income level which brings you in such a position, well that’s when it becomes tricky
Alan Johnson
Well, so the AMEX isn’t really his. I’m sure they don’t say “yeah, buy whatever you want and we will pay the bill.” I have credit cards for all my employees and officers but they are for business expenses.
Maybe that is how they pay a portion of his fees. Giving him a $250,000 fun money card would be a drop in the bucket for these companies. He is obviously doing something right and is a valuable commodity to them.
Maybe you have an employee in your company that deserves one and maybe, just maybe…that employee is me.
The Mad Ape
Only 21? Damn, makes me feel old and I’m only 25