About Michael Wong Academy
Hi! I'm Michael Wong and welcome to my website. I'm a web marketer, author, developer, and producer.
I live in Sydney, Australia, with my wife and two young boys.
This About page has grown into a monster, so use these quick links to navigate the page.
What's this about?
Like I said on the homepage, I wanna teach you how to make money online. I've been in this business a long time. I've been making a healthy living online since 1998.
The internet has given me the freedom to live and work where I want and when I want. I have lived and worked in 4 continents: London, North Hollywood, Hong Kong, and Sydney, Australia.
Friends and family often ask me to teach them how to make money online. I wish I could. But it's not that easy - there's so much to learn.
Khan Academy
I was finally inspired by Salman Khan's incredible KhanAcademy.org to take action. He apparently created most of the 2,800+ lessons on his site. And they're all available for free.
He's helping millions of kids with their education. I thought I could do that and help thousands of adults make a better life for themselves and their family.
Pass it on
I'd also do something I've wanted to do for a long time - pass on my knowledge and experience to help others before I die, like people used to do in the old days.
My dad was a talented chef and chinese chess player. After he died, all his knowledge and wisdom died with him. That is such a waste. But that would happen to me unless I put what I know into writing.
I also came from a dirt-poor background. Our family of three (mum left when I was young) lived in a small room for years. After high school I struggled on a waiter's pay for years. I thought I'd always be poor.
10 times my old income
Luckily, I discovered the internet in '98 and worked out how to make money online. During the best years I've made more than ten times what I earned as a waiter.
That has meant I could give my wife and two young boys the lifestyle I always wanted to give my family. It's lucky I could otherwise the missus would probably leave me. Just kidding babe! Hahaha! :-)
You may wonder why I don't tell you exactly how much I earn. You see it everywhere, right? People throwing around huge income figures to impress people.
Frankly I don't like that. I also don't want to give you the idea that it's easy. It's not.
I work hard. I wake up early to help my wife get the kids ready for school. I then work until 5 in the afternoon. I used to work until 8 or 9, but now stop at 5 to spend time with the wife and kids in the evenings - like all good fathers/husbands should. ;-).
The opportunity to make a very good living online is there if you want it. But it takes a lot of work and a bit of luck. I want you to know that.
I really want to help you
This site is open to everyone, no matter your age, gender, nationality, ethnicity, color or where you live. But I really want to help those who really need help.
The unemployed
I really want to help the long-term unemployed who have given up on finding a job. I want to give them hope because I know what it's like not to have hope. It's awful.
I want to help the millions of young people who can't find a job in this awful economy. In the United States 18.4% of workers aged 16 to 24 are unemployed. In the UK 21% of 18 to 24 year olds are not in education, work or training. In countries like Spain and Greece almost one in two 16-24 year-olds are jobless. Those numbers are terrible.
Struggling with debt/mortgage
I really want to help the millions of people who struggle to pay their mortgage or debt. The fear of picking up the phone or opening the mail because banks or creditors are chasing you for money is a terrible experience. I know - I've experienced it.
Stay at home moms
I want to help moms who prefer to stay at home to bring up their kids rather than go out to work. The family shouldn't have to suffer financially because of it. But we all know they do.
That's the decision my wife made when we had our first kid and it was fine for years. But my business went through a bad patch at the beginning of 2011. I told my wife she'd have to go out and work if things didn't pick up.
She said she'd prefer to stay at home to look after our new born and make money online. But I didn't know what to teach her because there's so much to learn. So I'm doing this for her and stay-at-home moms like her.
Luckily business has picked up since then and she doesn't have to work now. But I know other moms either have to or want to work, and would prefer to make money online working from home.
Penniless students
I also want to help students struggling with college tuition expenses, because school shouldn't mean you have to survive on instant noodles. You know what I mean if you've been to college.
Physically challenged
I want to help the millions of people who have a "go-outside-the-home" disability which prevents them from pursuing traditional employment.
Not being able to go out to work shouldn't mean you can't work. People with disabilities can do all kinds of worthwhile jobs from home: writers, graphic designers, project managers, programmers, bloggers, etc.
Where's the good honest information?
The internet is full of useful information. But there's also a lot of rubbish that will waste your time, or worse, scam you out of your hard earned money.
It's difficult to know what to believe. I know - I've been scammed once or twice. Luckily I didn't lose my shirt. But I've learnt from those experiences.
I can now tell pretty quickly what's good, what's a waste of time, and what's probably a scam.
When my friends and family asked me to teach them how to make money online, I realized that there aren't any trusted websites offering information on really how to make money online. At least none I'd recommend to my friends and family.
There are websites that may list a bunch of opportunities. But you can't tell who wrote the articles. They were probably outsourced to freelancers for five bucks an article in India or the Philippines who have no expertise or experience on the subject. Do you really want to rely on information like that?
And they don't tell you which opportunities you should pursue. Or which ones you should stay away from. And they don't show you how to really make money from them. Or provide any support.
These websites also usually bombard you with ads for business opportunities and affiliate programs, which only confuses you even more. You could waste a lot of time and money trying to work out which opportunities to pursue.
A trusted resource
This is why I am creating the Michael Wong Academy for anyone who wants a trusted resource that will show them how to make money online.
I want to build a resource that offers good honest information on genuine job and business opportunities online. That shows you what's worth pursuing, and what to stay away from. I put my name on this website because I stand by every word I write in it.
Helping each other succeed
The information I share is just part of it. I want to build a community where we help each other succeed. I don't know it all. The internet's far too big. There's too much going on.
Listen: I need your help to share your findings and opinions on what's good and what's bad. The more information we all share with the community, the more we all benefit.
What can you expect?
You can expect:
- Good honest information and advice on genuine job and business opportunities online. I promise to show you as best I can how to make money online.
- That you can interact with me and I'll respond to you personally via Facebook messages at the bottom of every page, Twitter, etc.
- Free unlimited access (for now) to the bulk of the information on the website.
- Lessons covering everything from how to make money online and ecommerce, to internet marketing and success.
- To view the lessons on a desktop, laptop, tablet computer. Learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.
- Ongoing friendly support and answers to your questions on the website. I'm afraid I can't offer one-on-one personalized support without charging for my time. I'm sure you understand.
- To have a voice for your opinions and concerns.
- That I'll listen and act upon on the best suggestions in the best interest of the community.
What do I expect from you?
I expect:
- Your undivided attention.
- You take action. Don't just read the information. Try the online job and business opportunities. You won't make money sitting on your butt.
- You put in the time and effort. I'm not preaching get-rich-quick schemes or ways to make quick and easy money. Making money takes time and effort. You get out what you put in.
- You contribute to the community by sharing your findings and opinions on online job and business opportunities you've tried.
- You share this website with your friends and family. Because sharing is caring. Haha! :-)
- You pay it forward. Because I know you want to help make a better world, right? :-)
House rules
You must follow these house-rules. This ensures we provide a safe and friendly environment for all community members. Repeat offenders will be banned.
- Use family-friendly language (G-rated) - don't use foul, offensive or disrespectful language. No bleeped out offensive words such as "sh*t" or "f@#k". Remember G-rated. Be kind. Be nice. :-)
- Treat other community members with respect and honesty. Because that's how you like to be treated, right?
- Don't post off-topic, inappropriate, inflammatory or pointless comments.
- Don't get upset. Everyone is entitled to their opinions.
- Don't promote commercial products, services and websites that you work for, own or get compensated for. i.e. no self-interest advertising. Because you wouldn't like people to impose advertising on you, right?
- Don't post affiliate/reseller links, website URLs, or links to websites where you receive compensation or work for. No spam!
- For your protection, don't post any personal or business information such as a phone/fax number, address, email address, etc.
- Don't post requests for site reviews or anything purely of self-interest.
- DO post comments, advice, opinions and questions or engage in dialog that would be of value to other members of the community.
- Only use English because I don't understand any other language. If I don't understand what you post then I don't know whether you're following the house rules. And I'll delete anything I don't understand.
Comprendez?Haha! ;-) - I reserve the right to edit, hide, or remove comments that break any of the house rules.
Disclosure - what's the catch?
So what's the catch? Well I can't afford to teach you for free without getting something back in return. I'm not rich. And I'm not running a charity.
I do have to work to pay the bills. I have a family with two young boys to support. You won't begrudge me trying to make an honest living helping you, will you?
Here's how I intend to earn an income from this website:
- I plan to one day charge for the information on the site. But for now you can access it all for free.
- I receive compensation in the form of commissions for referring new customers to great products and services offered by reputable companies that I trust.
- I plan to one day offer my own outstanding value-for-money products and services.
- Sponsorship by reputable companies that I trust.
How's that for openness and honesty? :-)
Why listen to me?
Because I'm a nice guy. Haha! :-) Okay consider these ten facts about me:
- I've been in this business a long time, since 1998. I know how to make money online. I've been making a comfortable 6-figure income online for many years. That's not to brag. It's just to show you I DO know a thing or two about making money online.
- In 2000, eighteen months after starting my second website eBoz.com, I sold it to iBoost Technology Inc. for half a million dollars (press release).
- In 2002 I wrote and self-published one of the first books on search engine optimization. The 296-page, 66,000-word ebook generated over $100,000 in sales - most of it profit. It's no longer on sale.
- I've spent about a million dollars advertising on Google, Bing and Yahoo! since 2002. I've delivered over three million potential customers to clients, and millions of dollars in revenue.
- Since 1998 I've generated thousands of top ten rankings in search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. Those rankings delivered millions of visitors to my and my clients' websites. Those visitors have resulted in countless thousands of dollars in revenue.
- I've developed and produced over twenty websites. The best known is Mike's Marketing Tools. Developed in 2002 the website is still going strong.
Mike's Marketing Tools attracted 56,222 visitors, generating 209,290 page views in May 2011. Search for 'mikes marketing tools' and 'mike's marketing tools' in Google and you'll find over 55,000 results.
- I always conduct myself and my business with the utmost integrity.
I treat others how I like to be treated - with respect. That's why you won't find a bad word said against me if you search around the internet.
Well, there may be one or two. It's hard to do business for fourteen years and not upset one or two nincompoops. Haha! :-)
- I've written many internet marketing articles over the years. Here are a few which have been republished hundreds of times on websites around the internet.
- The 80-20 Rule Increased my Income by 207% in 18 Months.
- Six Figure Income Tools.
- 10 Business Decisions That Changed My Life.
- Breaking the Glass Ceiling.
- 7 Business Success Stories.
- Internet Piracy: Embrace Or Die.
- 27 Quick Tips To Top Search Engine Rankings.
- Affiliate Managers: Your Top Five Biggest Affiliate Program Mistakes.
- I believe in keeping one's word. Before my wife and I had our first baby I told my wife I would give up smoking when she got pregnant (I know I should've quit before).
I smoked my last cigarette in December 2004, the day she flew back from Hong Kong where she worked as a United Airlines flight attendant. I haven't smoked since then.
If you promise to give me your undivided attention, I'll promise to show you how to make money online.
- My greatest achievement is giving my two young boys a comfortable home, healthy meals, warm clothes, and a quality education. That's what every kid deserves.
But I know not all kids are so lucky. That's why I want to help you. Allow me to help you make a better life for yourself and your family, starting today.
IBoost was a start-up funded by SoftBank, a forty billion dollar Japanese telecom and internet company, which also funded Yahoo! and E*Trade.
Unfortunately iBoost shut down in 2001 during the dotcom crash. It wasn't my fault - honest! Haha! :-)
I hope you see I have what it takes to show you how to make money online.