I would like to thank Earl Braxton for giving this interview. Mr. Braxton has an amazing history and after talking with him I know his future plans are just as big and just as amazing. Mr. Braxton owns the Porta John® portable toilet company. Notice I said ‘The’ and not ‘a’ Porta John® company. The next time you hear someone going to the Porta John you will know that is a brand that Earl Braxton built and owns. Mr. Braxton owns and runs the website Toilets.com.

Earl Braxton is also the president of the Michigan-based Pharmaceuticals.org where he, with no formal research training, developed a system to recover medicines from waste and preventing them from entering our water systems, a patented process that can easily isolate many over-the-counter and prescription drugs from urine. Mr. Braxton seen the need and a business opportunity for such a process back in 1991 simply by watching a doctor dispose of a needle.

Interview with Earl Braxton, Porta John’s founder and president of Porta John Systems.

(EE): You own the brand ‘Porta John®‘ which, according to Google, is searched for 1300 times a month. Your site, Toilets.com is at the number one position in the search results. How were you able build such a strong brand that the name in itself became the industry standard?

(Earl Braxton): “We average 21,000 page views per day.”

(EE): It looks as if you have owned the domain Toilets.com since 1997. Were you the first to register that remarkable domain or did you purchase it.

(Earl Braxton): “We were the first to register this and many other related domains.”

(EE): I understand you own well over a thousand domains acquired as far back as the nineties. How did you have the insight to build your domain portfolio?

(Earl Braxton): “Yes, we do own many domain names. We will use these Internet Addresses in the preparation to franchise and license our business model.”

(EE): There is a rumor that you had a little run in with the late Johnny Carson, TV talk show host. Would you care to elaborate?

(Earl Braxton): “We were sued by John W. Carson regarding our trademark “Here’s Johnny” and lost on the right to publicity claim by the late Mr. Carson.”

“Mr. Carson subsequently abandoned all “Here’s Johnny” trademarks for use on portable sanitation units and we applied and received the trademark, “Here’s Johnny” from the United States patent office. The Estate of John W. Carson has opposed the issuance of the Trademark to me. I am currently awaiting the decision of the Trademark Office.”

(EE): What forms of online advertising do you use, if any, to drive traffic to your site and what do you find is most effective?

(Earl Braxton): “We have been receiving E-mails and phone calls from all over the world for more than ten years at a rate that is very gratifying.  We are now preparing to expand our manufacturing plant to meet the demand for our new proprietary Comfort Station products.”

(EE): You have run roadside billboards with the single word ‘Toilets.com’ as the entire ad. This has been coined a “marketing masterpiece”. What gave you the idea to use such a simplistic approach for that campaign and what were the results?

(Earl Braxton): “My good fortune was to have been alive and in business during the onset of the Internet Era.  This is a marketing gift of titanic proportions.  If any business can take advantage of this phenomenon and fails to do so “Shame on Them”.”

(EE): Most men of your generation have never been online or have used a computer. You are using up to four computers at a time in any given moment. Have you always been open to changes and new trends.

(Earl Braxton): “My good fortune was to be blessed with a wife, friends, co-workers and  family members who let me do my own thing from the very beginning.”

(EE): Your portable toilet company ships worldwide. I understand you have shipped hundreds of portable toilets to Iraq. How difficult was it to break into the global market?

(Earl Braxton): “Until the advent of the Internet it was very difficult.  Now it is much easier if you make products that meet the customers’ requirements.”

“Since 12/01/06 we have sold products in all 50 States, 3 Commonwealth Territories and 33 countries.”

(EE): You have many registered trademarks and patents. What advice would you give up and coming entrepreneurs in regard to obtaining their first patent or registering a trademark?

(Earl Braxton): “Make sure your concept satisfies a need.  The best person to get your money from is your customer because you don’t have to pay it back.”

(EE): One last question. You have had the foresight to recognize new trends and the confidence to act on them. What do you see coming next? What’s the next big trend we should watch for?

(Earl Braxton): “There is a trend toward eliminating portable toilets for safer and cleaner sanitation stalls.  Thus we have received patent #6721697 for our Comfort Station that has no waste storage in the lavatory stall, no chemicals and no steps for greater handicapped accessibility.”

“Time may be running out for the ubiquitous portable toilet. Our latest E-mail exchange with the Center For Disease Control can be seen here.“

It is an honor to interview Blogger turned Internet Marketer Yan Susanto. Yan is very well known and liked by many and his main blog, ThouShallBlog.com – a Blog for Beginners, reflects that success. Thou Shall Blog is only 9 months old yet Yan has well over a hundred posts, around 5000 comments and over 750 subscribers.

Brian: A little over a month ago you announced you were branching into Internet Marketing. What influenced the timing and how is it working out?

Yan: To be very frank, most bloggers make nothing from their blogs so naturally passion is the driving force behind them. Otherwise, they will fade away pretty fast. Since monetary gain doesn’t come first, passion is the hook that keeps me longer in the game and I attribute my little success to it.

Didn’t they say, “If you love what you are doing, you will never work a day in your life“?

Fortunately, I came into the world of blogging, albeit unplanned,  knowing for a fact that to be truly making money online, it takes more than just writing quality contents, selling private ads and adsense.

Then somehow it dawned on me that it was no longer about blogging, It’s about business. And It’s time to go beyond my blog and dive into the business of internet marketing. So it’s all about changing my mindset as part of my 2009 resolution.

How is it working out? I’m satisfied with the progress. Though it’s still under the radar, most importantly I’ve found a new passion and that matters most to me right now.

Just to spill the beans a little, among other things, I’m now focusing on niche marketing.

Brian: Your gracious and respectful personality make you a very likable person and I suspect that has a lot to do with your online success. What tips can you offer other marketers and bloggers that find those traits a little harder to demonstrate?

Yan: The jury is still out as to whether I’ve achieved online success. I guess each of us looks at success from a different angle.

There isn’t any secret formula.

Let me just quote what Yaro Starak once said,
“If you have a passion for a topic that you can translate into benefit for other people, then you should be blogging.”
In business, the rule remains the same.
“If you have a passion for [.......] that you can translate into benefit for other people, then you should be [......].”
A simple yet powerful tip and that’s exactly what I’ve learned – and what I strongly advocate – as a graduate of the “University of Life”. (Mind ya, I dropped out of high school so that was the only U that accepted me…)

Brian: A lot of people may be surprised at how wide spread your online activities are beyond that of blogging. You must have a good grip on time management. Can give us a method or two you have mastered that allows so many projects while still keeping your sanity?

Yan: Who says I don’t lose my sanity?  Some days I lose it when everything goes past the deadline but most of the time, the other half who loses it…..;).

OK! Behind every successful man, there should a woman who fully supports him in everything he does in times of ups and downs and the opposite is true.

So having the support of a significant other is the key. Does it make sense to you?

Brian: It makes all the sense in the World Yan, I’m lucky enough to have the support of my lovely wife of twenty five years. I couldn’t and wouldn’t do it without her.

Where do you see Internet Marketing five from now? Blogging? Are there any trends you think we should be looking for?

Yan: I foresee the emergence of young bloggers dominating the internet in the next 5 years. Being more techno-savvy than we adults combined with an attitude of “what have I got to lose“, the kids are quick to embrace the internet and succeeding in what seems to be far-fetched for most adults who tend to “over-complicate simple things in life“. Speaking of which I’m guilty of it too.

Do we adults have a place on the internet? Yes, if only we could rediscover “the child in us” and find those traits we left behind when we became adults. Go figure out.

Brian: One last question. Is there one person that you consider a mentor and do you think mentors are important? Ok, I guess that was two questions but I combined them to look like one

Yan: I guess I have a strange perspective of what mentor is. Everyone that I meet, be it online or offline, is my mentor. Thing is I grew up as an orphan (no shame about it) so naturally I learned every single thing from the people I came across in my life journey and it’s only later in life I discovered the fine art of filtering the good from the bad.

So today I’m only picking what’s good and ignore what’s not. Just like I learn how to combine the two to look like one, so to speak

I would like to personally thank Yan for taking the time from a very busy schedule to do this interview. You can see more of Yan’s expert views and advice on ThouShallBlog.com. You can also find Yan writing for Sponsoreview.com, CommentLuv.com and in the comments of quality blogs throughout the Blogosphere.