Interview: Bryn Youngblut

Bryn Youngblut is a full time entrepreneur and affiliate marketer. He has been designing websites and doing various affiliate marketing for over 7 years. You can read his personal blog at www.bryn.me.

Tell us a little background info about yourself. Where are you from? How old are you? How long have you been working in this industry?
I am 22 years old and have been living just outside of Toronto, Canada for my entire life. I've been doing affiliate marketing full time for just over 2 years now, but I have promoted lots of affiliate programs for years before I even know people did this as a job.

What accomplishments so far are you the most proud of?
I would have to say, simply just being able to buy my own house and move out on my own.

How did you come to learn about this industry? Why did you choose this career? When did you first realize the full potential in affiliate marketing? When did you first “hit the big time?”
As I mentioned earlier I kinda just fell into it because I had been promoting various affiliate programs for many years. I don't know why I chose this, I've done many things and tried to make many successful websites that ended up going nowhere. I think I realized the full potential in this business when I read some post on John Chow's blog, I forget how but I happened to stumble upon it and I figured if that fool can make 40k a month posting all that garbage there's gotta be a lot more money out there. The first "big time," well I guess that depends on what you classify as big, I've had lots of success but I am not where I want to be yet. I think once I own an office building with my name on it I will count that as hitting it big time.

What do you think it takes to be successful as an affiliate?
Determination, networking and willingness to share. Some of my best successes have come from helping others who later returned the favor big time.

What have been your biggest failures and frustrations?
I've had many, as a matter of fact I probably have a few failures every day...it's just the way it is. If you're not constantly trying new things you will never be able to move forward. One of my biggest frustrations was when I was first starting out and I didn't have a high credit limit or cash flow to work with so I literally had to wait to get paid so I could resume a campaign. It was annoying knowing how much money I was losing by not having the cash flow to finance it.

What is the single toughest problem you've had to face, and how did you get through it?
I would say probably the cash flow problem, I built it up pretty quickly though with help from some networks sending me 2-3 wires a week. I also didn't go out on weekends or buy a single thing for months so I could keep building up.

Is there anything that you don’t like to do, that you just hate working on?
It all really depends what mood I'm in, sometimes I get "in the zone" as I call it and can just crank out campaign after campaign. I would say hate writing ad copy the most.

What is the future of marketing?
Whatever you make it.

Do you think anything particular in your past prepared you for this industry? Your education? Jobs you’ve held before?
I think the only thing in my past that would have prepared me for this industry would be what I taught myself. When I was 15 I sold virtual items for 2 years and I was profiting over 2k a week, which is pretty substantial for a 15 year old. It's pretty fun to think back about it actually, my parents hardly knew what I was doing nor how much money I was making. I was working a "real" part-time job like most high school kids in a grocery store to please my parents. I remember I used to skip school or head home for lunch to fulfill peoples orders as quickly as possible, I was a one man show and I prided myself on delivering goods 24/7.

What are your greatest strengths?
I'm a pretty easy going person and tend to get along with most people which seems to have helped me with networking, which I definitely think is huge in any part of life and business.

What are your greatest weaknesses?
I procrastinate a lot. When I am having a ton of success with campaigns I can tend to get lazy and slack off.

What motivates you?
Never having to work for someone else, I'm not a fan of being told what to do.

What is the best advice you’ve been given and try to apply to your life?
Money won't make you happy. Anyone who disagrees is either lying or doesn't have enough money yet to realize it.

What kinds of people do you have difficulties working with? Any good stories?
People who are not open and straight forward. If you're going to beat around the bush I don't even want to waste my time with you.

What are some of your long-term goals? How much is enough? If money was no object, what would you be doing?
I pretty much have everything I need. I think it would be cool to own my own office building. I think enough is however much you need to feel secure.

Where do you want to be ten years from now?
I really have no idea but probably somewhere warm and with family.

How do you like to spend your free time? What does work-life balance mean to you?
This is a great question and something I feel strongly about. When I have a family I want to be able to hang out with my wife and kids and spend as much time as possible with them. If you have all the money in the world and all you want is more, by the time your kids hit 18 and they move out you will regret not spending more time with them for the rest of your life. I never used to spend much time with my parents as I would usually be focused on something to do with the computer, nothing else mattered to me. Now that I live on my own and am older and more mature I've realized what really matters, the people who will be there for you no matter what happens. I make sure I go over to my parents at least once a week to have dinner with them.

If you could go back to being 18, what different career choices would you make?
I wouldn't change a thing.

What are some of your unfulfilled dreams?
I badly want to travel the world and I hope to get around to that within the next 5 years.