Sitting on the floor of his son’s bedroom, Jono Armstrong doesn’t look like a guy who’s made millions of dollars, but that is exactly what he’s done, and mostly through his down-to-earth Youtube videos.
He could easily afford a slick studio, a team of producers, and all the glamorous perks of a top-earning Youtube guru, but part of his appeal is that he’s learned the art of keeping it simple and still does most of the work himself with the help of his partner and wife, Cice.
Growing up as the son of a parish priest in a village in England, Jono’s greatest ambition was to have the time and freedom to spend with his family, just as his father did. Little did he know that he would find fame and fortune on the other side of the world, in a country so different than the one he grew up in, only to see it all fall apart in the most public way.
Know My Name
There was once a time when hundreds of thousands of Indonesian people knew his name, his face, and the songs he created with this funk and blues band. A former English teacher who transited Indonesia during his gap year and never left, he married a local girl and converted to Islam and lived in one of the strictest Muslim provinces in the Asian country, Aceh in North Sumatra.
After the tsunami hit Aceh and their humanitarian efforts attracted the attention of the wrong people, they left. Setting up again in Jakarta with their young family, Jono scored a gig on television, and his name, his face, and his band, shot to fame. For a while, he was the country’s favorite Englishman – until the toxic lifestyle led to divorce and the country turned on him.
“It was a disaster. I was all over the media, maligned and hated. I was in pretty bad shape, staying out all night, overindulging in everything and I saw the dark side of fame,” he recounts.
His wife took custody of their youngest son and Jono struggled to overcome his addiction and take care of his two older boys. His family helped and then he met Cice, his current partner and wife. “I’ve been famous and I don’t recommend it,” he laughs.
These days he’s very content with being ordinary, or at least down-to-earth. Slowly Jono and Cice started to build their lives after a period where both families looked after them and helped with the boys until they got on their feet again.
“I had a battered old laptop and I taught myself basic coding, then we ventured into e-commerce and sold everything from Chinese sneakers to Amazon products. We made a living but not a very good one and there were so many problems associated with shipping and buying,” he explains.
He then decided to figure out affiliate marketing with all the struggle and frustration. He went through a program and made his first Youtube video: a review of the highlights of the course and made his first $13 after a few months of trial and error. Since then, things started to snowballing and he’s making $50-$1000/day. His Youtube channel grew as he reviewed more products and sold them through his affiliate link.
“I found some had troublesome features so I instructed people on how to get around those. I gave a lot of free tutorials in my videos, people started watching, following, and buying the products, based on my reviews. I added value by offering training courses in how to use the products I was selling,” says Jono.
With the help of his partner Cice, who created the graphics, sales videos, scripts, and support, before long the money started flowing. At first, he spent a lot of time reviewing each product but after a while, it got easier to spot the winners and he learned from watching other reviews. Once he grew his income, he began to design his own digital products. His commissions grew along with his reputation and creators of digital products were sending him free merchandise to review, giving him the tools to promote their products. Things got a lot easier.
The Ministry Of Freedom Was Born
“Then I created the Ministry of Freedom, in response to all the requests I was getting from people wanting to do what I did. They wanted to know how I got started, how I created a sustainable income, how to get access to the top-selling digital products, and how to spot the new ones that would sell,” he says.
Part of his current success is his accessibility. People see themselves in him, a stay-at-home Dad who’s a bit of a geek. He doesn’t dress up or do his hair, or live in a mansion, and he’s not shy about sharing his secrets. Follow his social media sites and you can learn a lot without signing up to his course. Yet those who have are seeing huge benefits.
“I always try to add value, that’s why I give away so much information for free. My course is really good value and most people, if they are serious about creating wealth, can afford the course. Once they do I lay it all out for them, the exact steps I took, I get them access to digital products to review themselves, I talk them through making their own videos, which is something that doesn’t come naturally to many people. I tell them it doesn’t matter if your first videos are crap, you will get better,’ he laughs.
Two of his students met online during the course and have built a company together making over a million dollars in their first year. He has people as young as 17 signing up and making money by selling his products and the many others he recommends. In the world of affiliate marketing, Jono Armstrong is not only one of the most successful, he’s also the most generous.
“We have a Facebook community that gives everyone access to each other. We support each other, when someone has a problem, there is always someone out there who can help. It’s not an exclusive, or inclusive community, we all make money by helping each other,” he continues.
Jono knows what it feels like to start from nothing, he’s done it more than once, and he genuinely believes there is enough to go around.
Community’s Count
They sell each other’s products, they sell Jono’s products, they share news of new items that are selling well and they share their secrets.
“I have enough money now and a steady income that is sustainable but I don’t want to trade up, I don’t need that flashy lifestyle, it doesn’t make you happy.”
Jono and his wife Cice are about to make the move to Bali, into a nice house with a garden in a seaside village, but that’s about as flash as it gets. You won’t see a Ferrari parked outside, you won’t see Jono and Cice attending flashy parties and telling all on Instagram. They much prefer to stay grounded and invest their money in the future they can now call their own.
This is freedom, says Jono, and he now has exactly what he wanted – time to spend with his family and enough money that he doesn’t need to go without ever again.
