The most famous 14 year old blogger.
Why do people like reading stuff written by young people? Think about it - there are a bunch of blogs and books with the main selling point being the fact that they are written by kids. There are so many writing contests for elementary, middle, and high school students that let you submit your very own horrendous amazing pieces of literature. All of these contests accept every single piece of writing because they want parents to buy the book compilations. It’s a brilliant selling point, really - apparently, because a 12 year old did it, it makes a short lyric about his dog and a bone that much better.
YOUNG BLOGGER CARL OCAB
Carl Ocab was recently named the top under-21 blogger by RetireAt21. I’m not going to argue that - he’s got a big following - but why do people read his blog? His tag line is “Make Money Online With A 13-year-old.” His age is right there in the title and he enjoys riding that as if it makes his content better. Lets analyze his latest posts:
3 sponsored posts
5 posts he didn’t even write
2 posts full of other peoples content
1 vague post about groceries
1 post with a bunch of pictures of his schoolmates and him
1 post about a contest he won
0 beneficial, money-making posts out of 13.
Yet he still has a crapload of readers. I can only assume it’s because people think it’s amazing a 14 year old can blog. Cool.
Can you explain these phenomena? Do you read any blogs just because a young person writes them? Is it a valid selling point? If I tell you that I’m 14 (I am), will you be more inclined to subscribe to my RSS and read my blog? Please do tell me, because I’m baffled.
LIST OF SELLOUTS
- Carl Ocab of CarlOcab.com
- Ganesh Srinivas of TeenBlogger.net
By fenix on Mar 29, 2008 | Reply
This is true, I’ve noticed so many blogs that provide no usefull information but are making money.
*I speak from experience as I’ve read some of these ;P
By Link Building Bible on Mar 29, 2008 | Reply
HAHA, that’s hilarious! Thanks for a fantastic breakdown of the kinds of posts he writes… I haven’t even been to his site cuz he’s a young kid…. The fact that his last 13 posts aren’t about making money, that’s pathetic.
If my Link Building Bible ever gets to 13 posts in a row not about link building, please shoot me.
By Jonathon on Mar 29, 2008 | Reply
haha…That is pretty funny. First time I have heard of this kid though.
I hate it when I go to a blog and all of their posts are out of the niche they advertise. For example, I went to a tech blog that posted nothing but money making information (of course they all had affiliate links in them). Go figure.
By Max Miroff on Mar 29, 2008 | Reply
@fenix: John Chow, anyone?
@Link: My gun is ready and loaded.
@Jonathon: Hey, hey, that man has to do what he has to do to feed his family. If that means selling out his blog and losing all respect for 50 cents a day, then by all means you need to HONOR HIS DECISION.
I’m kidding, of course - that’s just horrible.
By Jonathon on Mar 29, 2008 | Reply
You are right, what was I thinking.
I have a question though. How can he get paid if he is only 14? Don’t you have to be at least 18 to sign up for most of these places, or am I wrong? Parents?
By Max Miroff on Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
@Jonathon: It’s the Internet, buddy. For all they care he’s some old dude living in Italy or something.
By jimsvarkey on Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
One thing seperates kids blogs from otherts-they are full of vitality and energy.
By Shelia on Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
LOL! Well, okay *cough* I’m 14 too!
This is an interesting and valid point of conversation. I don’t completely understand it either.
Perhaps those of us with children are taking a bit of a parental role and actually checking in to see what the young ones are writing about. Not to downplay their content.
In my case, if a kid touts his age, and I’ve seen a couple that do, I never visit. I’m sure that I’m making an erroneous assumption, but I generally figure that I won’t be interested in whatever they’re writing.
By Max Miroff on Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
@Shelia: Ya know, I actually am 14. Seriously.
By teenmoney on Apr 1, 2008 | Reply
Yeah i mean he used to have some quality posts but… if you look at the upper right hand corner he basically has his quality posts listed.
I am 15 and trying to get known as a blogger and so to get started you need to have quality posts. I guess he assumes because he is well knownhe no longer needs to provide good information.
By slaven on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
I agree with teenmoney.
But he is no.1 for make money online keyword. He is good at SEO.
By B Carter on Apr 3, 2008 | Reply
I think people tend to subscribe to the feeds of kids because these kids are doing something they only dream of doing.
Just a thought.
By Germz on Apr 12, 2008 | Reply
Haha lmao I’m 14 as well… hopefully I won’t get readers because of my age but rather from my content.
By tonex on Apr 19, 2008 | Reply
@Max
The kid’s actually from the Philippines (I’m a Filipino) and there have been suspicions among top local bloggers here that his Dad is doing most of the blog work.
The kid has been interviewed and both father and son claim that the son does most of the blogging (with the father helping with the grammar here and there).
I haven’t found any interesting content from his blog though. It’s a typical money making blog where it really doesn’t talk about how to make money online.
By Nightdreamer on May 6, 2008 | Reply
How could you be 14? Does 14-year-olds care about earning for their blog all that much? And are 14-year-olds as skeptical as you are?
But seriously, I think Carl Ocab’s blog is awful. Like, it’s written by some cynical corporate zombie who only cares about money and knows about nothing else.
By Patrick on May 13, 2008 | Reply
Hey Max,
I agree with you very much. Using your age as a marketing tool can really put down your blog. I really don’t know why Carl is so popular. I’ve actually just started a new site about youth bloggers. You can find it at http://youthbloggers.net
I hope you’ll check it out and maybe even sign up, since you happen to be a youth blogger yourself.
P.S.
I’m fourteen too.
By Corey Freeman on Jun 24, 2008 | Reply
I have to agree, most young bloggers are pretty bad, and they make a bad name for those of us youngins actually trying by spending time on our posts.
By Step-by-Step Internet Marketing Strategies on Jun 29, 2008 | Reply
This is like trying to answer the question why more people watch Britney stumble loaded to her car than watching presidential election debates, people are LAME!!
His blog offers very little, and I would guess that his followers are not making ANY money online.
And for that matter IS HE?
By Ganesh on Jul 13, 2008 | Reply
I don’t find Carl’s blog very informative, but it was the only one I knew when I was new to the blogosphere. You’ve got to admit that he has some nice posts. By the way, my blog’s tagline is “Make Money Online with a 14-Year Old”. What do you think of it? Does it make my blog look cheap?
By Levitra on Aug 20, 2008 | Reply
there is something marketable about younger people. that is why there are so many reality shows involving them. they also differ from the way kids were in the 60’s and 70’s and it is interesting to see the disparity.
By mastersofseo on Oct 7, 2008 | Reply
I know exactly what you mean. I always wondered about his site, and was like wow this site really stinks, why does everybody visit, but I assumed I was just missing something. His posts are zero help to anyone. If this keeps up, soon we’ll have a bunch of people saying there 11-13 just because it sells.
Jonathan Muller
By Affiliate Forum on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply
Too bad Carl Ocab is getting older by the minute and the novelty will wear off once he’s a ripe old 18yo.
As if anybody really believes that the kid is really writing the blog and all his pitch pages. Gimme a break..