Young Entrepreneurs - David Wilkinson

David Wilkinson has been blogging since his summer holidays in 2006, when he was just 12 years old. In an interview with Michael Dunlop of Retire@21.com, David explained the appeal of starting out in business at such an early age.

I love to hell what I do and by doing it, I know I'm setting my future up. I used to play video games which was albeit fun. After a while though, you'd really start to wonder what you were gaining by playing them. The answer? Nothing. I was wasting my time and it was that sense of realisation that led me where I am. I decided to do something worth while with my time and the satisfaction I get from that and logging in each day to my merchant accounts is fantastic.

David writes a blog on technology called Techzi, and it didn't take him long to start earning money from his passion.

He told the BBC:

I really like everything to do with technology and this is a great way to talk about it and let others know what I like.

His early experiments with Adsense weren't particularly lucrative, but after a few months he branched out into affiliate marketing, which now brings him a steady income. As he told Repliqa recently, when they asked if he was making money from his blog:

Yes, quite a bit actually. I could definitely live off $500 a month until I turn 14, by which time I aim to be earning more, by experimenting in Internet Marketing.

To get hints and tips from David, you can now subscribe to his free five-lesson course - bearing in mind that at some point, this savvy kid is definitely going to try to sell you something!

David has clearly been doing some inspirational reading, referring to "burning desire" (a key phrase from Napoleon Hill's Think And Grow Rich) and Zig Ziglar's famous quote "You can have anything you want, if only you help enough people achieve what they want."He is also very positive about the role of mentors.

He told Retire@21:

I needed someone to push me in the right direction in my early days and I became so consumed by marketing hype that I occasionally lost focus. Surround yourself with the right people - people who you want to be like, and you'll get far more done in a shorter space of time. You'll also find yourself becoming more like these people who you look up to and admire and in turn become somebody who others seek to model.

When Darren Rowse at Problogger.com featured David in a recent post, he was inundated with comments. Predictably, some of the comments turned to skepticism that someone so young could write so intelligently, or think through business strategy effectively. As with Carl (The Kid Blogger) Ocab, people suggested that David's father might be using his son as a front, while actually writing the posts himself.

David's response?

For goodness sake... I'm 12 and I do write the stuff myself! I've been on BBC Radio twice because of it... Once national, once local. Just check this out:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/podsandblogs/2006/12/generation_next_a_12yearold_bl.shtml

and...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2006/12/14/child_blogger_feature.shtml

In the first interview I talked in-depth about the effects of Web 2.0 on air. How the hell do you not believe me? Argh! My Dad doesn't even know what Web 2.0 is. Suggesting he wrote it is... ridiculous!

It's a sad indication of how little we respect young people in our culture, when our young high achievers are forced to defend themselves in this way.

David is currently working on a couple of big projects, but he's not giving away the details just yet. Keep an eye on this young entrepreneur - he has a bright future ahead of him!

Play with your strengths. I wasted 3 months trying something I knew I wasn't good at before I finally switched focus, and my profitability hasn't just soared, it's... I can't put the difference into words, but let me tell you. Everybody has strengths, talents and skills.