20 People Who Started As Bloggers, Who Are Now So Much More!

Hello Everyone,

Blogging has been great platform for so many people to become a huge success. Take me for example, because of my Retireat21 blog I was offered to host a hit new MTV show in LA just because they liked how I came across on my blog. Blogging isn’t just about making money online, for some people it could be because they want to be a best selling author but can’t get a foot in the door right now and for others it started just so they could pay there grocery bills. Today I have created a really cool list of 20 people who started blogging and now are so much more then just bloggers. Looking down at the list I have created today, I should really rename it the 20 best bloggers ever as these guys have set such high standards for all of us. Please note that the list isn’t really in any particular order, just the 20 best although I have to say Tucker Max’s story was one of the most entertaining.

If you would like to take the first steps to follow these bloggers and make it big then check out my FREE eCourse teaching you exactly how to build your first blog, drive traffic and make money!

20 Entrepreneurs Who Started With Blogging

#1 Tucker Max
		Tucker’s Blog TuckermaxWhy He Started Blogging: Tucker Max was blogging about his drunken, womanizing exploits before the phrase “blogging” even existed. Tuckers blog attracts 100,000s of visitors weekly who like to read about his ‘interesting’ exploits and enjoy his amazing writing style. Where He Is Now: Because of Tuckers blog, he was able to get a book published which The New York Times called “…highly entertaining and thoroughly reprehensible…” no wonder it was in The New York Times best sellers list for 100 weeks. He is filming a movie based on his book/stories/life by the title “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell” coming soon!

#2 Gary Vaynerchuk
		Garys’s Blog GaryvaynerchukWhy He Started Blogging: Gary Vaynerchuk’s story started as the co-owner of a wine store in New Jersey. He gained fame as the host of Wine Library TV, a video blog on the subject of wine, built his wine store into a multi-million dollar business and established his personal brand with TV appearances and speaking engagements around the world. Where He Is Now: He has now signed a seven-figure book deal about the things that made him as successful as he is in creating opportunities for himself via his video blog. He also is among one of the most sort after speakers for any marketing events.

#3 Collis Ta’eed
		Collis’s Blog Tutsplus.comWhy He Started Blogging: Began his first blog, FreelanceSwitch, in 2006 with his wife Cyan in her parents garage when their first site wasn’t earning as fast as they expected. Where He Is Now: Collis is now one of the top earning bloggers in the world with over a dozen high traffic blogs, collis has been able to quickly launch new blogs because of such a rapid and loyal readership. Collis is able to work from anywhere in the world while he travels with his wife on new and exciting web projects because of the success of his blogging career.

#4 Mario Lavandeira
		Mario’s Blog Perez HiltonWhy He Started Blogging: Mario has always loved intrigue and who better to showcase this than celebrities so his blogs started all about celebrity gossip. After graduation from New York University in 2000, Mario attempted to be an actor, but he end up working as a very well earned blogger because he thinks setting up a website like this “seems easy” unlike being an actor. He found his talent in riling up gossip and controversies about Hollywood figures and is one of the most infamous bloggers in the United States. There are actually two sides to it since he is hated by many Hollywood stars but is loved by millions of web patrons. Where He Is Now: Mario rides on both fame and infamy. In 2007, Mario announced that he would be starring in his own reality television show on VH1, titled “What Perez Sez”. He is also a regular on TRL, Much Music and Extra where he reports about Hollywood gossip from his own closet studio. In May 2008, he also launched his own radio show called “Radio Perez”.

#5 Michael Arrington
		Michael’s Blog TechcrunchWhy He Started Blogging: He is a corporate attorney who left law to become a Web entrepreneur. When he took a year off, and returned to the work world, he started blogging as a way to understand the new Web start-ups that had arisen in his absence. TechCrunch took off, and he soon found himself an accidental power broker. Where He Is Now: Michael now spends his time scouting the internet and investing in some promising internet start-ups.

#6 Pete Cashmore
		Peter’s Blog MashableWhy He Started Blogging: Due to his inquisitive mind and great interest with web-related matters, Pete Cashmore focused solely on writing about MySpace and other social networks. One of Cashmore’s first articles that became instantly popular was, “If You Don’t Have A MySpace, You’re a Lametard.“ It was a unique approach to blogging, but it worked. Where He Is Now: Peter still does writes about everything happening on the Internet although he has slightly deviated from his focus on just social network news. Given the fame of Mashable, Peter has weaned himself from writing and has begun to concentrate on the entrepreneurial side of his web-business. To further strengthen his enterprise, Peter moved to California and focuses on West Coast operations. His success has brought him to celebrity status and he has been featured on many shows in the US and the UK. Peter also travels between the two countries as a consultant and speaker.

#7 Josh Marshall
		Josh’s Blog TPMWhy He Started Blogging: Marshall started a blog called “Talking Points Memo” during the 2000 Florida election recount. He was inspired by political bloggers such as Mickey Kaus and Andrew Sullivan. Where He Is Now: Josh Marshall played an important part in exposing a scandal which involved the politically motivated dismissal of US Attorneys by the administration of George W. Bush. For that he was nominated by Arianna Huffington to the Time 100. After declining numerous offers to buy his company, Josh still operates it in Manhattan with a staff of seven reporters. Aside from managing, Josh also has established himself as a columnist for Washington DC newspaper, The Hill.

#8 Alborz Fallah
		Alborz’s Blog Car AdviceWhy He Started Blogging: Alborz has always had a great passion for cars. Curiously, he started out just like a few bloggers who wasn’t sure what topic to write about, so he created three blogs at once to see which one would stick. Sticking to his passion, he noticed that the car blog got the traffic so he dropped the other two and slowly built up his site off the back of his own content. Where He Is Now: Alborz sold some of his blog to investors and his blog became a real serious business that he finally left his job to focus 100% on his project. Capitalizing on his success, Alborz has shifted his focus from the web to other forms of media. He has now moved into DVD sales of his videos and doing podcasts. Of course, nothing will ever pull him away from his life’s greatest passion; cars!

#9 Robert Scoble
		Robert’s Blog ScobelizerWhy He Started Blogging: Robert Scoble started blogging four years ago, when he worked for NEC, a Japanese technology company. His blog is all about a place where he could converse with NEC’s customers, give tech support and listen to feedback. He was always honest about the products, and his readership grew. Where He Is Now: Scoble and Shel Israel are currently writing a business bloggers book, called The Red Couch.

#10 Darren Rowse
		Darren’s Blog ProbloggerWhy He Started Blogging: He started blogging just about 5 years ago, and it was just a hobby. After a year he began to experiment a little with advertising and affiliate programs on my blogs and discovered that they could actually make money! He began to record the things he was learning on the topic of making money from blogging on his personal blog. Where He Is Now: Darren’s success has earned him great fame and he was awarded the Best Web Development Weblog blog award in 2006 for ProBlogger. In 2007, he was also named in the Forbes Celebrity List. In the following year, Darren co-authored the book ‘ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six Figure Income (Wiley) and founded TwiTip – a blog dedicated to Twitter Tips. Preferring to live a simple life, Darren lives in Melbourne, Australia but does frequent traveling for numerous speaking engagements.

#11 Jeremy Schoemaker
		Jeremy’s Blog ShoemoneyWhy He Started Blogging: Starting with absolutely no capital, he educated himself and began building ecommerce sites to earn revenue. During this time, he started blogging his experiences at Shoemoney.com and then used the blog to springboard new companies like AuctionAds, which had one of the most impressive launches of any online advertising company ever. Through his blog, Jeremy provides advice on all areas of Internet Marketing, including SEO, affiliate management, blogging, and revenue strategies. Where He Is Now: Jeremy continues to launch new start-ups and also chronicles his adventures on his own blog site. Given his fame and expertise, Jeremy is a frequent speaker at search engine marketing and affiliate conferences, and co-founded the Elite Retreat conference.

#12 Tim Ferriss
		Tim’s Blog 4 Hour Work Week Why He Started Blogging: Tim being a productive guru had a message to convey and blogging was the means he deemed fit for his purposes. Being a neuroscience graduate, Tim has many innovative ways of looking at life and gives valuable advice on how to approach situations differently. His blogs are well-written and very thought provoking. It is a favorite among CEOs around the world. Where He Is Now: In 2007, Tim launched his book, The 4-Hour Workweek under Random House and marketed the book mostly among bloggers. The book launched him to stardom and he is now a guest lecturer at Princeton University and has spoken in hundreds of seminars and conventions.

#14 Timothy Sykes
		Timothy’s Blog Timothy SykesWhy He Started Blogging: After incurring great losses in his previous businesses, Timothy Sykes decided to write a book detailing his journey into managing the hedge fund and the lessons he learned from losing so much money. Capitalizing on the potential of the web, he then started a blog, with the goal of documenting the step by step process of turning another $12,000 into millions. Where He Is Now: Tim is now a writer for AOL Finance and has been featured on ABC, CNN, CBS, CNBC, FOX News, FOX Business Network, Reuters, Business Week to name a few. He also starred in the TV show, “Wall Street Warriors” on MOJO. His monthly blog income is in the 6 figures and this is definitely one young man who should be checked out!

#15 Steve Pavlina
		Steve’s Blog Steve PavlinaWhy He Started Blogging: Steve is someone who started blogging about his take on LIFE and other personal development stuff, and now has one of the leading sites in that niche. Where He Is Now: On twitter, he says he is a human alarm clock. He awakens people who are sleeping through life. Steve Pavlina has been doing some research into the art of video, and playing around with making and editing sample videos. Eventually there will be videos on the Steve Pavlina site, and we would love to see a Steve Pavlina personal growth DVD product in the future as well.

#16 Lisa Stone
		Lisa’s Blog BlogHerWhy she Started Blogging: Founded in February 2005 as a labor of love by three bloggers, BlogHer’s mission was to create opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. Where she Is Now: BlogHer reaches more than 14 million women monthly through its conferences, Internet site and publishing networks.

#17 Heather B. Armstrong
		Heather’s Blog DooceWhy She Started Blogging: She started her website in February 2001. A year later she was fired from her job for her website because she had written stories that included people in my workplace. When most people would fear the worse when hearing “your fired”, Heather just saw it as a challenge and took on blogging as a carerr. Where She Is Now: In October 2005 she began running enough ads on her website that her husband was able to quit his job and become a Stay at Home Father. Since running her blog she has found that she has a loyal readership and was able to publish two books so far.

#18 Jake and Amir
		Jake and Amir’s Blog CollegeHumorWhy They Started Blogging: CollegeHumor started to posts blogs and articles through ideas form its staff and users, including humorous essays, comics, interviews and weekly columns on sports, video games, college life, and dating. Where They Are Now: Jake and Amir are now both making a lot of money from advertising on their site. In December 2008, College Humor.com proudly announced the premiere of the MTV Show “The College Humor Show”. Jake and Amir along with everyone else in their team wrote on the show and play fictionalized versions of themselves.

#19 Michelle Malkin
		Michelle’s Blog Michelle MalkinWhy She Started Blogging: She started and still is focusing on creating blogs which are always form a conservative viewpoint. Where She Is Now: Malkin was a frequent commentator for FOX News Channel and a regular guest host of The O’Reilly Factor. She then quit, and concentrated on her writing, blogging and public speaking, although she still appears on television on occasion.

#20 Harvey Levin
		Harvey’s Blog TMZWhy He Started Blogging: He is an American television producer, lawyer, legal analyst and a celebrity reporter. His blogs started all about celebrity gossip since this is one of his passions. Where He Is Now: He still produces and hosts TMZ on TV. He is also a frequent guest of The Kevin and Bean Morning show, in addition to CNN’s Larry King Live, and recently the Fox News Channel and Local FOX Affiliates regarding Michael Jackson’s death.

#20 Yaro Starak
		Yaro’s Blog Entrepreneurs-JourneyWhy He Started Blogging: Started his first blog because he thought it would be good for SEO and a chance to talk about his business journey. Where He Is Now: Yaro found himself being one of the most respected bloggers and launched two blogging membership websites teaching people exactly how he has done it. Earlier in 2009 he launched a new membership site teaching how he makes money from membership websites. This guy is one entrepreneurial blogger you should all be following!