Editor:
Today’s guest is Jay Cruiz, a dynamic entrepreneur, educator, and digital growth strategist who serves as the face and marketing director of AmpiFire, a platform that helps businesses get major online exposure through content amplification. Jay is known for breaking down complex marketing ideas into clear, actionable strategies, and he’s helped thousands of entrepreneurs grow their visibility and influence online, all without relying on paid ads.
Jay, it’s great to have you on.
Jay Cruiz:
Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks. Good to be here. Ready to rock and roll.
Editor:
Can I start by asking, how did your journey into the world of online marketing begin?
Jay Cruiz:
I originally got into this world through a friend of mine. His name is Joey Xoto, and he built a very successful business called Viddyoze. With two other no-names, if you like, David Chamberlain and Jamie Garside. So they were from up north in the UK, fellow Brits. And so what happened was I met Joey. Well, I’ve known Joey all my life, actually. Sorry. Well, I met him in nursery, kindergarten. But we were always obsessed with trying to build businesses and set something up. And I remember meeting him after a long time where I was struggling in my sort of life, early 20s, early to mid 20s, and so was he. And we were working dead-end jobs, and we were just sick and tired of life. And it’s weird, we met in Starbucks after a long time, and I was like, “How are you?” And he was like, “Oh my, God. Jay.”
And then we both looked tired and haggard, and we started talking. It was like, man, there’s got to be more to life than this. If I have to jump on another train to commute another hour and hour back, I can’t do it.
It’s soul-destroying.
He was the same. And so we started talking, coming up with ideas, and we started making videos. This is back in… This is over 12 years ago now, but I started making videos. And he was really talented with the camera, and I love being on camera. So, he was super talented. Hence, why I built this multi-million-dollar business afterwards.
But he used to shoot me and we used to do just random videos and we thought, “Oh, this is going to make loads of money. We’re going to go viral.” We didn’t make anything.
Editor:
Right.
Jay Cruiz:
We didn’t make a single penny from those videos, but we had lots of fun. And I remember sitting there thinking, “Well, this isn’t doing anything. What do we do?” We started up a page when Facebook was in its not infancy, but it was evolving back then. I don’t know if you remember, you used to have these pages and you liked them and it’s like, “I love horses,” or I love this and that. We built a I Love Horses page with the idea of selling horse t-shirts. We ran paid ads on it, and I remember we had the last £10 each, so around $15 each. So it was a coffee or the ads, and we thought, “You know what? Screw it. Let’s just do it.” Right. The next day, we came back and we had hundreds of likes and we were just over the moon, I remember, with zero plan, but that’s where we started.
So anyway, this went on, lots of ideas, dead end, but lots of fun. And then one day Joey rings me and says, “Oh, Jay, I figured it out.” And I’m like, “Dude, I’m interviewing for this job, but what is it?” And we would get jobs just to keep us going and work there for six months and then stop. Try start a business, fail. Go into a job.
So, he was like, “Jay, I figured it out.” I was like, “Yeah, go on. Quickly tell me. I’m going into an interview.” Hey, brother, I haven’t got time. And he’s like, “Oh, okay. Okay, listen, I found the guy.” And I’m like, “Well, what guy?” And he goes, “The guy that’s going to teach us how to become super rich and successful.” And I was like, “Okay, carry on. I can be late for this interview.” Right? “No worries. Tell me more.” And he goes, “His name’s Alex Jeffries.” And I’m like, “Okay.” I had no idea, right? Because I… Joey would be online all the time. I didn’t know.
And I went, “Fine. What’s the deal?” And he is like, “Well, I’ve reached out to him and to see if he would mentor me for free.” And I’m like, “You trap. Brilliant. Love that.” And he goes, “But here’s the deal.” He said, “If you’d shoot a video for me telling me why I should work with you and take you under my wing, then I’ll consider it.” And we thought, “Great.” And now Joey doesn’t like being on camera at that time. He’s got a lot more comfortable over the years, but at that time, he wanted to focus on the technical side because he was great with the camera.
So, he said, “Jay, we’ve got to shoot this video. You’re going to be on the video. I’m going to record it, and we have to send this to Alex Jeffries.” And I’m like, “Yeah, I’m in. Let’s go.” Happy days. So anyway, we’re there. We shoot this video, it’s still up there. I think when Alex got it, he had I think Frank Kern and all these other guys in his inner circle group, and he pinned it to the top and everyone’s commenting and it’s gaining momentum. But the funny thing is, everybody thought that I was Joey because I’m on the video. Anyway, fast-forward a couple of weeks, Alex invites Joey to come and see him in Cardiff. Joey goes, they shoot a documentary, and that was it. In return, I think Alex let him into his inner circle, trained him, and Joey launched a product, made 20K in one go. Bam. And for us, that was unbelievable.
What happened after that is he shot the documentary and then Joey says, “Right, I’m in the inner circle. There’s an event Alex has got, why don’t you come down? Alex wants to meet you.” I was like, “Yeah, perfect. Sounds good.” So me, Joey, his wife at the time, drove down to Cardiff. And for me, it was a whole new world. And Joey was up on stage as one of the case studies, because he was just up and coming. And anyone who actually does the work and applies the stuff, they were always front and centre, whereas 90% of people don’t do anything. That’s just the internet marketing world for you.
So, he’s on stage, we’re at the event, and on my right, this booming American voice comes out. I hear it and I turn around and then I was like, “Oh, how are you? Where are you from?” And he is like, “Oh, I’m from the States, but I hate the States.” And I was like, “Okay, interesting.” Straight away, you know when you’ve got a character, and I love characters. So then I was like, “Cool.” Introduced myself. He introduced himself and he says, “Oh, my name’s Chris Winters.” I had no idea who he was, but he said it as if I should know. So I was like, “Yeah, yeah, sure. Great, I’ll see you later. Yeah.” Anyway, fast-forward that evening, Joey’s like, “Oh, I’ve got a great dinner lined up. I’ve got this affiliate superstar, one of the biggest affiliates in the space coming.” And I’m like, “Brilliant. Yeah, whatever.” At this stage, again, I have no idea what any of this means.
So, I turn up to dinner and there is this American gentleman called Chris Winters, and I’m thinking, “Oh, you’re a big affiliate. Sorry, mate. I didn’t realize.” So we got talking. We really got on with Chris Winters, and I think he saw me as maybe a younger version of himself a little bit.
He was saying things like that, because he also struggled when he was younger. And he goes, “You know what? There’s an event in Fuerteventura in about a few months’ time. You need to be there. I live in Barcelona, and you are more than welcome to stay in my house.” And I’m thinking, wow, this is it. This is how business deals happen and life changes…
To return to Making Web Money Click Here