What seems like just yesterday, was actually decades in the making — but what a journey it has been!
I was 15 when I discovered you could make money on the internet. It was 1997, I was designing 468×60 banner ads for strangers in AOL chat rooms, and that was it — I was ruined forever. In the best way.
Even funnier… each of those banner ads that I made, I sold them for only $1 each — and people would send me $1 in the mail! (Obviously, this was way before anything like paypal, venmo and crypto were live)
Through all of the ups and downs along the way, I’ve always been building things online ever since.
The Highlight Reel
1997: Made my first dollar online. Couldn’t stop thinking about how to make the second one.
Early 2000s: Built websites, ran campaigns, collected email addresses like they were Pokémon cards. Grew a list to over 2 million subscribers because apparently I had no chill.
2006: Launched a MySpace customization site right when MySpace was everything. Timing is a beautiful thing. Rode that wave until Facebook showed up and ruined the party.
2007: Started ZacJohnson.com because I wanted to share what I was learning, while creating fun and useful tutorials to help my site visitors do the same.
Along the way: Spoke at 25+ conferences worldwide. Got featured in a documentary that premiered in Hollywood (flew my wife and dad out to the red carpet event — peak “I can’t believe this is my life” moment). Wrote a book. Started a podcast. Interviewed and met lots of super smart and famous people. Built a lot of things. Broke a lot of things. Learned from all of it.
2024: Google decided to wipe out one of my biggest sites overnight. 100,000+ daily visitors — gone. Cool, cool, cool. So now I’m rebuilding. Again. Because that’s apparently what I do.
2025-2026: Having way too much fun with AI and seeing first-hand how it will quickly change the world…
What This Blog Is
This is where I write about the stuff I’m working on, the strategies I’m testing, and the lessons I keep learning (sometimes the hard way). No fluff. No guru nonsense. Just real experiences from someone who’s been doing this since before Google existed.
I’ve been online for almost 30 years. I’ve watched platforms rise and fall. I’ve had massive wins and embarrassing losses. I’m still here, still building, and still genuinely obsessed with this internet thing.
Say Hi
Find me on Twitter/X or LinkedIn, or use the contact page if you want to chat.
Thanks for stopping by.
— Zac