The Success Story of Ian Del Carmen
Who would have thought that the person who had no idea on how to use the computer succeeded in the same line of venture? Doesn’t it show how surprising life truly becomes?
Amazing but true, you may not imagine that this man who’s making millions and counting through the Internet had been one of the crews in a famous fast chain. And who knows, you might be one of the satisfied customers he served years back.
Not only that, he has done more and endeavored on a lot of jobs before landing into the green pastures of Internet marketing. And perhaps, one of the sweetest savors of victory is finding your self climbing the verge of success located on a mountain people are in doubt to climb. But truly, succeeding takes a lot of courage and determination – and that’s how the Internet marketing fireball Ian del Carmen made it to the Internet marketing mainstream in just a nick of time.
Struggled with life at an early age, this man has gained wisdom armed with creativity in order for him to pursue a dream that only a handful of people have envisioned and dreamed about.
Ian del Carmen was born poor and his parents got separated before he turned three. Such incident made his mother strive so hard just to sustain their needs. They lived with their grandparents while his mother worked as a street vendor in order to buy him milk. When his mother got a job as a cashier in a government-owned grocery story, they started moving from one apartment to another. Until now, he can still vividly recall the night when they had to relocate to his mother’s friend’s house after struggling through a heavy typhoon resulting to a huge flood where they lived.
Ian Del Carmen and Success Blogger Lloyd Luna
Unable to afford a tuition fee in a private school, his mother sent young Ian in a public school. At an early age, he realized the value of education so he studied hard and did well in school in order to make it to the honors list. His public school education left him naïve about computers and seeing succeed with it seems to be unimaginable.
Having his uncle finance his high school education, Ian, in return did favors through washing the car, helping in the household chores, and doing anything to serve the family.
His first year in high school introduced him to the computer technology. He saw a PC for the first time and it made him ask how texts get printed. He wondered on how the words get absorbed on the bond paper as it is held close to the screen. This moment of his life is still greatly remembered as it is entangled with embarrassment whenever he remembers the question.
At the age of fifteen, Ian had thought of supporting himself despite the financial support given by his uncle to his studies. It was then that he got hired to as a service crew at McDonald’s. He cleaned the dining area, manned the counter, and resigned after two months. As early as that time, he realized that he is not the kind of guy being watched under a boss’ nose.
His journey through his academic life was spiced up when he decided to build a network marketing during his free time. Equipped with product catalogs, he sold products that people have most interest on – pagers, Avon cosmetics, shirts, bags, and even shoes. His spirit made him dream big and persisted to sell his own line of shirts which he personally designed, sent to the embroidery shop, packaged, and sold to his immediate customers, like his relative and friends.
His dream of making it to the clothing industry, he approached a local department store hoping that they could “consign” his merchandise. However, the business did not follow through because of the lack of capital.
So, he went back to network marketing and had his girlfriend at that time to be his business partner. In order to have the means to invest for his Internet business, he hunted for a job. It was then when he got in a theater group as an actor where he was paid $4 per show. Alongside with him being an actor, he studied how stage plays were written. His love for writing made him win his first award-winning play and tried his luck to make it to the film industry.
On his junior year in college, his uncle had to withdraw his college education support for his uncle’s children are already bound to enter college. So, he found ways on how to raise funds in order to make it to the semester he lacks and bow on stage. But as when he already got the needed funds, the college registrar have told him that his AB course has already been abolished and he better shift into another course. He didn’t pursue, for he didn’t get motivated after all.
At the age of twenty-three, he married his lovely wife Iza. Later on, their baby boy was born whom they named Ruiz Christian.
As he became a family man, he realized about his bigger responsibilities. It made him realize that the earnings he gets from his irregular writing job for TV isn’t enough. So, he shifted to another job and it made him land on a trainee position in a direct advertising agency.
But still, his love for writing moved him back to TV production work. His biggest break was when he was asked to write, direct, and produce segments for the local version of “Big Brother” which is produced by one of the largest TV networks in the Philippines. He earned $600 a month making it possible for him to purchase a big can of milk to his son.
Despite his emerging career in writing, his passion for Internet marketing still pulled him to sit in front of the computer and browsed through the sites. His “a-ha!” moment came when he happen to stumble upon ebooks which are “digital versions” of the traditional printed books. He then thought of selling his own writings in PDF format.
When he already had some cash to invest, he bought a second-hand computer from his cousin in which an Acrobat is already installed. So, having his works published on PDF, he got excited to launch it to the market in a form of a CD book.
He studied how business in done in the local ebay and there, he posted copies for bidding. Since PayPAl wasn’t available in the Philippines yet during that time, he did cash on delivery. In a local bookstore in Manila, he consigned his CD books and later on, it was being sold in ten outlets in Metro Manila. But the business turned into a disaster.
So, he continued studying about selling stuffs online done the American way. But since his computer had no internet connection during that time, he had to rent in Internet cafes. And soon when internet connection became affordable for him, he felt that multitude of chances are yet to come through this connection.
He learned digital delivery through downloads and payments done through the credit card. Also, he created his very first website through a free hosting account with a free sub-domain name. He also encountered the “Resell Rights” where you can customize the product and sell it for 100% profits gain without royalties to pay to the product creator.
Also, he learned how branding can totally make a recall of your name. Marketing, affiliates, PLRs, and membership sites were some of the things that pumped up his Internet business career. His less than a year endeavor in Internet business industry made him gain friends and affiliates. Later on, he found himself earning $20,000 – and that’s one million in Philippine pesos! At the age of 28 and in less than a year after starting his Internet business, he managed to be a millionaire.
As he continued with his virtual empire, he had though of formalizing the business. With his cousin Ads, his sister Jenny, his uncle who sent him to school, and his wife Iza, they established Fireball Planet Corporation in the year 2007.
The main site became FireballPlanet.com with some of major sites on the side which include FireballBooks.com, FireballSoftware.com, FireballMultimedia.com, and his membership sites FireballInternetMarketing.com and MembershipWholesaler.com.
Having 20 employees, outsourced services from talented Filipinos, and more than 50,000 regular clients worldwide, Fireball Planet continues in making an Internet legacy in the Philippines, Singapore, China, US, UK, and several countries with immediate plans to operate in India, Canada, Australia, and Indonesia.
Up to the recent times, Fireball Internet Corporation continuously innovates and gets more into the heart of its international niche. Lauded as “one of the most creative entrepreneurs in the internet”, Ian del Carmen, President and CEO, will surely throw in more burning and larger fireball to the Internet business.
How these were made possible? Three things: continuous learning, research, and passion for what you do.
