These 10 Internet Whiz Kids Made Millions From Comfort Of Their Home


#9 Cameron Johnson

Back in 1994, when Cameron Johnson was at tender age of 9, he launched his first business out of his home in Virginia--making invitations for his parents' holiday party. His work was much appreciated and spread long and wide. By the seasoned age of 11, Johnson had saved up several thousand dollars selling greeting cards. He called his company Cheers and Tears, reports Forbes.

Smitten by success, at age 12, Johnson offered his younger sister $100 for her collection of 30 Ty Beanie Babies, all the rage at the time. He sold them on ebay and quickly earned 10 times that amount. Then he went on and ordered dolls at wholesale from Ty company, with the aim of selling them on eBay and on his Cheers and Tears Web site.

In less than a year, Johnson banked $50,000 seed funding for his next venture, My EZ Mail, a service that forwards e-mails to a particular account without revealing the recipient's personal information and within two years My EZ Mail was generating up to $3,000 per month in advertising revenue.

Johnson still wasn't done. In 1997, he joined forces with two other teen entrepreneurs to create an online advertising company called Surfingprizes.com, which provided scrolling advertisements across the top of users' Web browsers. Those who downloaded the software received 20 cents per hour which was a tiny fraction of the value to the advertiser. They then employed a classic pyramid strategy to spread the service: Users who managed to refer Surfingprizes.com to a new customer would nab 10 percent of that new person's hourly revenue.

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