Interview with Tyler Cruz, an Internet Entrepreneur

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Welcome to the first article of a new interview series called Winners’ Web. I will be interviewing some of the most successful and established Internet gurus including Internet entrepreneurs, SEOs, affiliate marketers, web designers, bloggers, and more. If you’re interested in being featured here, feel free to drop me a line.

First up we have Tyler Cruz, a very successful Internet entrepreneur who one day decided to move out of his parents’ house and venture out on his own in Internet business. A very fun ride indeed. I’m sure he’s not looking back. Take a look below and see if you can achieve similar success.

Name: Tyler Cruz
Age: 24
Average monthly income: Around $6,000/month, not counting domain/site sales such as the $23,000 domain brokerage earlier this year.
Favorite method of making money online: Anything that is passive, residual, income, such as lifetime referral/affiliate earnings. Selling private ads on websites would be second.
Top money maker: PokerForums.org

Now into the head of Tyler Cruz…

Gyutae: A couple years back, you moved out of your parents’ place and decided to live out on your own. Looking back, do you think this was a risky decision?

Tyler: It depends how you define ‘risky’. I was only 21 or 22 at the time and it’s not like I was working a prestigious job as a hedge fund manager or anything. The only risk involved was that if I couldn’t make enough to support myself then I’d have to get a temporary ‘real’ job until I could find a way to do so. I was fully prepared to work at McDonald’s if I had to as I knew it would only be temporary.

The ‘McDonald’s’ factor was certainly a help in pushing me to be successful online, but the truth is that I was already making around $2,000 per month online at the time I moved out. The real question was if I could sustain this, as it was just enough money to live comfortably on.

I often hear young webmasters and entrepreneurs saying that they’d need at least $5,000 a month to live comfortably and do this for a living. This obviously depends on where you live because of housing costs, but for the most part I think this is a major exaggeration. I was very comfortable living on my own when I was making $2,000 a month. Things change a lot when you’re only working a few hours per day, from home. Life is a lot easier and less stressful than working a traditional 9-5 job, and $2,000 a month can buy you all the comforts you need if you really think about it.

At $4,000 a month as a web entrepreneur, I think you can live like a king. Remember, the fact that you’re working from home, as your own boss, and working when you want to adds a lot of value to that $2,000 or $4,000 a month.

Gyutae: What is your favorite part about working for yourself from home?

Tyler: I’d say there are four favorite things, if I may.

1. Freedom

I’ve been very busy with work the past few weeks, backlogged and swamped, really. But I still only work around 3-4 hours a day. I refuse to work any more than I feel comfortable with, as then work stops being fun. And that’s the whole point.

If I wanted, I could take a 1-month trip right now. Or, I could travel the world as a wandering nomad for the rest of my life, as long as I bring my laptop with me.

As we speak, I’m listening to music and am massaging in my new leather massage chair, drinking a Red Bull. In 30-minutes I plan to go play some Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Wii I just bought. This is my life.

2. Being my own boss

I don’t have a boss to report or suck up to, and even better, I don’t have clients. A lot of people work form home and don’t have a boss, but still don’t work for themselves, because they have clients (Ooooh, I like that. I’m going to use that if I ever write a book ). Clients are very often much worse than having a boss.

Fortunately I’m able to escape both clients and a boss. I work for myself, and myself only.

3. Challenge

I’m a very competitive person by nature, which I think is a good thing. I love the challenge of being an Internet entrepreneur, and the freedom and creativity it carries with it. I’ve worked a number of ‘real’ jobs in the past, none of which ever challenged my abilities or creativity. I’m sure that 95% of people who work traditional jobs feel the same way.

4. Money Potential

And then, of course, there is the income potential. A traditional job will give you the relative security of a fixed amount of income each month, with the possibility of a small wage increase if fortunate enough. But the web can make multi-millionaires overnight.

Gyutae: If you didn’t have an online business, what job or profession do you see yourself having?

Tyler: That’s very hard to say because I can’t picture myself doing anything else anymore. Even before I did this ‘web entrepreneur’ stuff, I worked with the Internet and computers: I had owned a tiny business called Tyler’s Photo Restoration where I restored or colorized old photos with Photoshop, I was the web developer for a real estate company here for a couple years, and before that I worked at an Internet access centre.

So to answer your question, I’d probably still be doing something Internet related, but just working for somebody else. Perhaps working as a web designer, SEO, or something like that.

Gyutae: You’re well known for being very transparent about your websites and your income. How has this influenced the way you do business? For good or for bad?

Tyler: The only way I think this influenced how I conduct my day to day operations is that I am much more cautious and hesitant about sharing information. I’ve had a lot of copycats, people who have ripped off my sites completely, purchasing similar domains, copying my designs, web content, etc.

The best example, though, would be revealing my designer and programming sources. I think that one of the hardest things in this business is to find quality, affordable, and reliable designers and programmers. I used to reveal who I used, which was a very bad decision.

For example, I used to use vBulletinSkinz.com, but what happened was that so many people flocked to them, and not only did vBulletinSkinz raise their price because of the newfound heavy demand, but I found myself having to wait months because the waiting list was so long. And, of course, several of my competitors used them as well.

As a result, I now keep who I use a secret if I can, unless some sort of deal is made.

Gyutae: Who is your greatest online money making inspiration?

Tyler: A lot of people think I kiss John Chow’s ass, but I don’t care. He deserves the recognition. I saw him build his blog up from when it was fairly new, to what it is today, and he’s now making over $23,000 a month from it.

John is just a very smart guy and understands how to make a buck. He’s not just a successful blogger; he ran, and still runs, TheTechZone.com which is a very successful technology review site, and employs a number of people. And he’s had his hand in countless online projects and endeavors that most JC fans don’t even know about.

And his knowledge with money doesn’t just apply to the Internet; he’s very good with finances, investing, and real estate.

John is now a superstar of blogging, has been on TV several times, on the front cover of major newspapers, and best of all has fun doing it. This is why John is my hero

Gyutae: If you could only own 1 website, which niche would you choose?

Tyler: Hmm… I’d have to say that would depend on a few things such as how big the site was, if I had to build it from the ground up or it was already established, etc. Depending on these factors, I’d probably choose poker.

Poker is just simply one of the highest-paying niches out there, but it’s also one of my hobbies and passions.

Gyutae: Any tips for a young and aspiring Internet entrepreneur just getting started?

Tyler: Ah, the million-dollar question. I’d like to make two suggestions that are a bit offbeat:

1. Limit the amount of reading you do.

Reading blogs and forums is an invaluable tool, and I’m not suggesting not to do this, but I think what happens to a lot of people is that they’ll start reading blogs such as JohnChow.com, Problogger.net, and Shoemoney.com or forums such as DigitalPoint and Sitepoint, and end up simply becoming followers or ever worse, just simple passive readers.

You have to get out there and do your own stuff. Work. Think. Do. Yes, it all sounds very lame like some cheap Tony Robbins inspirational book, but it’s true. Too many people bask in the glory of others and start to live vicariously through them, instead of trying to actually become them.

I actually rarely visit webmaster forums or read web entrepreneur blogs anymore. The exception is JohnChow.com where I usually skim through the posts once every couple days.

So, try to limit the amount of blogs and forums you frequent or bookmark. Of course, you need to subscribe to my RSS and visit TylerCruz.com everyday; that is the exception

2. Don’t be afraid to spend money.

Part of the definition of entrepreneurship, in my opinion, is risk. Do you have to spend money to make money? No, you don’t. But I think it’s a lot faster and easier to do so.

If you’re making $100 a day at you day job, spending $160 for a vBulletin license instead of using the free phpBB board is only two days wage. Getting a beautifully designed skin or website is only a week’s wage. Try to look at things like that, and not “Oh gosh, I can’t risk $700 on this stuff!”.

People waste money on beer runs and Pay-Per-View fights that could potentially be the changing factor in their online business, so don’t be afraid to spend a few bucks online. Just don’t go overboard and take out a second mortgage on your home.