Sitting in his house in sunny Chiang Mai, Thailand, Charles Floate wakes up around 10am, a privilege for most – but just another day of taking over online empires for the twenty-something millionaire that made his fortune as a prodigy of the SEO industry. An industry that has crossed $80 BILLION per year spend.
Charles got his start in 2008, at just 12 years old. He began by building sites specifically designed for Google’s AdSense program, and quickly built a network of mentors that helped propel his knowledge, understanding and portfolio in SEO rapidly.
Some of the mentors that he picked up at such a young age are now running some of the world’s biggest digital agencies.
Floate’s success has made him an icon in the SEO industry, and he has become an inspiration to many aspiring SEO entrepreneurs. His success has also made him a millionaire, and he now has a net worth of over $4 million.
How did he accrue this wealth at such a young age and live a life of comfort in Thailand that the vast majority of 40-somethings could only dream of?
Floate’s Success Story
Charles Floate’s success in SEO is largely attributed to his rigorous testing of unique theories, his network of some of the most talented people in the industry and his reinvestments back into assets that compound over time to yield incredible growth. He started out by helping his family business get online and get sales – but quickly realized that there was much more to it than just local businesses and queries.
Charles went to various forums, chats and communities where some of the earliest trailblazers in the industry were hanging out and quickly learned, made some friends, made some enemies and started making money.
At first, he was only making a few hundred dollars per month but that quickly scaled to thousands. He now claims that “a bad month is when we don’t hit a mil in revenue” which, in layman’s terms, means when his business doesn’t make a million dollars in a month.
One of the unique things about Charles is that he hasn’t just been successful in one specific area. He’s managed to not only grow his personal brand, portfolio of sites and family business but has also sold two digital marketing agencies, a variety of websites, an app, YouTube channels and found his way into as many pies in SEO as possible.
Whilst a lot of his ventures haven’t panned out the way he’d fully hoped, failure is a very common part of entrepreneurship and the fact that he’s doing better than ever to this day is a testament to his character.
Tips For Your Own SEO Success
Have a Plan: Develop, adapt and stick to it. Nothing is worst in SEO than creating inconsistencies and unnatural patterns. 2. Test and Experiment: SEO is always evolving, so test new techniques and theories to stay ahead of the competition.
Reinvest: Invest in yourself and your business to make sure you’re always growing.
Stay Focused: Stay focused on your goals and keep pushing forward.
Network: Having like-minded people around you, whom you can quickly bounce ideas off will be a massive growth hack for your decision making.
Whether you’re a beginner in SEO or a veteran, Charles Floate is a great example to follow.
Why Thailand?
Aside from the obvious luxuries, weather and tax savings, I had to ask Charles why he’d picked where he lives, as he could quite literally have chosen anywhere on earth to build his business from.
Charles answered by saying that he had first come to Thailand to speak at the Chiang Mai SEO Conference, an event organized by another SEO veteran, Matt Diggity. After organizing to go for only 2 weeks, Charles ended up staying for 6 and vowed that he’d one day make CM his base after experiencing the growing and vibrant SEO community out there.
5 years later, he’s now leaving the city to “live by the beach on one of the beautiful Thai islands” – and who could blame him?
In Conclusion
Whilst Charles has an amazing story, it’s definitely not concluded yet and even as I write this, I know it’s only the beginning for this incredible young man.
He is an inspiring success story, having made millionaire status by the age of 22. He is an inspiration to many in the SEO, affiliate and niche site spaces.
He’s now become an industry leader, and his journey is far from over. Charles Floate is a great example of the success that can be achieved in the SEO industry, and his story serves as a reminder that nothing is impossible if you have the drive and the ambition.