Interview With a 13 Year Old Entrepreneur

David Wilkinson is not your typical 13 year old. (he is just barely 13, by the way)

He is founder of Zi Media and runs a successful blog at Techzi.net. He has already been featured on the BBC and other news outlets. David is unique not only because he started seriously blogging at such a young age, but he takes a very professional approach to his blog and has a writing style that is not typical of a 13 year old. I got the chance to interview him…his responses are below…best of luck to you David!

How old are you and how long have you been blogging and making websites? How did you get started?

I’ve just turned 13, and have been blogging since late July of ‘06. I’ve
been making websites for the past three or four years though. I started
out simple, then I learned some design skills, some CSS, and put
together Techzi with the help of a few friends. I started blogging, as
something to keep me busy during the 6-weeks holidays, but it soon
became something that grabbed my curiousity, and I’ve become passionate
about sharing my thoughts & views, and through this, have built a fairly
substantial readerbase.

Besides Techzi.net, do you operate any other websites?

I’m founder of the Zi Media Network (ZiMedia.net) and through this, you
should see the launch of several other blogs these coming months,
possibly weeks. Carzi (Carzi.com) will cover automobile news of all
sorts, and we hope to have several feature interviews with industry
insiders from many leading car makers. Think Top Gear. Think Blog. Think
Carzi.

How much time do you spend per day on your blog?

Most, it’s a three or four hours a day, but on school days, this just
isn’t possible. I do my best to scrape out some new, relevant
interesting content though each day, and like to watch reader’s
comments, as they’re often highly entertaining and informative.

Is your blog making you any money? If so, how do you monetize your blog?

I make a bit of cash from AdSense, but I’ve tried to keep the website as
ad-free as possible. My aim is not to make money, but to have a great
time, meet some amazing people and to write about what I enjoy. We do
however offer some advertising options to people, where they can choose
to buy a monthly text-link or image-link, which for the leads it
provides, is excellent value for money.

Do you have any employees or partners?

I have several guest bloggers working at Techzi, and Carzi will be, in
the large, run by other ProBloggers. My good friend Nate Whitehill
(NateWhitehill.com & infinFX.com) will be helping me on the
administrative side of things, so yeah. Life is good.

What kind of plans do you have for the future? Do you see yourself in a career on the Internet?

I’d certainly hope so! I’ve spent most of the past five years surfing
the net, designing websites, doing basic journalism, and most recently
blogging, so if I could manage to get by on the Internet with a
full-time income, that would be great! Something I’m quite interested in
at the moment, is Internet Marketing. I’m a big fan of Michael Cheney
(MichaelCheney.com) and his excellent video tutorials.
(AdSense-Videos.com & 11DaysToListProfits.com)

What advice would you give to people who want to start (or are just starting) a blog?

If you’re just out to make money, don’t bother. There are easier ways to
earn a living from the net. How can you make sure you’re doing your very
best on the net? Write about something you personally enjoy. Not the
person next to you, not the person in the corner with a wad of cash, but
YOU. People can tell from someone’s writing style if they’re passionate
about what they write, what they say, what they share.

Share This

Did you like this? If so, get FREE blog updates by email!