Two Decades on BHW, Never Sold Anything — Retiring Soon: Ask Me ANYTHING (Nothing Off Limits)

[XrumerGeek]

Okay, so first up. I owe you an apology. My time on BHW only extends back to 2011, but that clickbait got you here (it's a Blackhat forum after all).

The two decades actually refers to my first ever commercial online venture - aged 14 (more on that shortly).

Due to declining health I'll soon be winding down my online operations in full. Don't worry - I'm not dying... yet. You won't be seeing a memorial thread in the Blackhat Lounge for @XrumerGeek anytime soon (or at least not to my knowledge).

Courtesy of Wayback Archive, I can share my first masterpiece with you (heavy dose of sarcasm intended). But first, a couple of disclaimers.

1. I've never once posted a Marketplace thread on BHW, or sold anything - and never will. Search me bro.
2. I'm entirely self taught. Left school at 15, and this all just...happened. It's worked for me, but I have no idea if anything I've done would be considered best practice.
3. My motivation to create this thread is partly self indulgent, I'd like to look back on this and use it as a reminder of what I've done, or did.

So, now that's covered, without further a-do, I give wepay-youpost.com. The website I sold in 2006/7 whilst still in high school. And yes, I quit the paper round.

https://web.archive.org/web/20060614175246/http://www.wepay-youpost.com/

The idea was simple, forums were booming in 2006, we provided forum posting services to artificially create activity on new/struggling forums to inject a bit of life into them, Now - before you type that reply asking why I named it wepay-youpost as opposed to youpay-wepost; I explained this on-site, in the very first paragraph.



I know what you're thinking, that's SO CLEVER, what an angle! And it definitely was an angle, it wasn't an inadvertent mistake by 14 year old me who couldn't afford to register another domain after learning the mistake, I promise.

A few other key takeaways from this first venture are also documented on the homepage. Example one being me actively encouraging visitors to review our prices and then fuck off to Google and try and find a better deal before committing. What can I say, I was a maverick back then.



Example two is me reassuring visitors and potential customers that all our writers are above the age of 16. Like I was selling fucking scratch cards,


Final point on the homepage, I included the the 100% satisfaction guarantee Rosette. Remember when these were cool? (I have no idea what unique wear means BTW - I imagine I hotlinked it from a clothing site or something).


So, now I've proved to you I'm a absolute GURU, I'll explain the purpose of this thread. Afterall I'm here to answer, not posture.

Blackhatworld has taught me alot, that's a huge understatement. I used to metaphorically inhale (and still do as a hobby) any threads that provided true value, or more commonly, got the cogs in my mind turning. Repurposing ideas, methods, and sometimes just to increase my motivation from reading other people's successes; or even better; members discussing genuine barriers to their success and documenting how they overcome them.

So, TLR - I was 20yrs old when I joined BHW in 2011, but I'd been working exclusively online since 2006. I've worked in many areas, but they were always driven by 3 factors. Those were, and still are; Service industries, Marketing, and Sales. The niches I have worked in were always secondary - or rather; not important. I just liked the process of generating income without the need for a physical product. This has taken me through many sectors, but the significant ones would be, FTA, IPTV, Forums/Fansites, Football (or Soccer as most of you know it to be), Sports Betting, Xrumer/Scrapebox services, SMM panels.

In terms of skillset, these come to mind, all of which I find fascinating;

Parasite SEO (My true love)
Search Intent - Getting into the customers mind
Closing (Sales) - Turning a maybe into a YES in the same conversation (Online and in person)
Upselling - Turning a $100 sale into a $150 sale via human interaction
Client Acquisition through optimised landers (And no, your beautifully designed wordpress site doesn't convert better than my static HTML)
Reselling / Franchising - Networking to an extent where I can identify people suitable and bring them on board.
Creating/Buying Sites for future selling on marketplaces like Flippa.com,
Not relying on consumer "Demand" and instead creating it through urgency/need to act
Antidetect / Multiaccounting
SMM Panels
Stealth PayPal (NOT VIOLATING OR ENGAGING IN KYC)

Purpose of this thread?

Literally, ask me anything. If I know the answer, or consider myself capable of forming some form of reply, I'll do it. No holds barred. Just don't ask me about Linux, loading balancing, javascript, or HTML... (unless you want to know how to make text appear bold - that's about my limit) I've always outsourced that kind of stuff, my brain just doesn't comprehend it ... thank god for AI in recent years.

Aside from the above topics which I know sweet FA about, nothing is off limits. Ask me about my regrets, mistakes, lessons learned, how I network, adapt, my biggest losses, biggest wins, what I wish I knew when I was a kid starting out. Literally, ask me anything. Or don't. It doesn't really matter either way.

 

[Panther28]

ok, i'll go first. If you banking, or have, why you got a bad IPV ad for a profile pic on BHW?

 

[XrumerGeek]

ok, i'll go first. If you banking, or have, why you got a bad IPV ad for a profile pic on BHW?

It's a throwback from when I was successful enough to be a JNR VIP and accompanied the signature. Oh, the memories.

Good catch though, removed.

 

[NirvanaWolf]

You're fairly young. What do you plan to do after retiring early?

 

[XrumerGeek]

You're fairly young. What do you plan to do after retiring early?

Travel, spend time with family, the usual cliche stuff. I've spent maybe 90% of my time (outside sleep) behind a desk.

 

[nucleic]

Respect for the run man.
What was the single biggest mindset shift that took you from grinding small stuff to actually scaling?

 

[XrumerGeek]

Respect for the run man.
What was the single biggest mindset shift that took you from grinding small stuff to actually scaling?

Scaling and mindset correlate, at least for me.

Imagine a small business, you end up with a small business.

Imagine a big business....

wepay-youpost.com would be a good example of this. I was 14/15, selling packages as low as $4. I'm not going to be too hard on myself for that, but that model had an income ceiling - and a very small one.

I'm a big fan of being impulsive in the sense of having an idea and running with it - planning for months is (usually) a complete waste of time. If you launch your product/service/website when it's perfect - you launched WAY too late. However, one thing I learnt early is before starting a project, I wouldn't brainstorm plans - I quickly realised how important it was to assess realistic earnings potential. You can be the greatest in your niche, but if that only generates you $1k a month and reaches its market limit - is that really success?

 

[XrumerGeek]

why is loading balancing off limits ?

Because I know nothing about it, nor how it's implemented. I pay people to do things I either don't understand or I'm weak at.

 

[nucleic]

Scaling and mindset correlate, at least for me.

Imagine a small business, you end up with a small business.

Imagine a big business....

wepay-youpost.com would be a good example of this. I was 14/15, selling packages as low as $4. I'm not going to be too hard on myself for that, but that model had an income ceiling - and a very small one.

I'm a big fan of being impulsive in the sense of having an idea and running with it - planning for months is (usually) a complete waste of time. If you launch your product/service/website when it's perfect - you launched WAY too late. However, one thing I learnt early is before starting a project, I wouldn't brainstorm plans - I quickly realised how important it was to assess realistic earnings potential. You can be the greatest in your niche, but if that only generates you $1k a month and reaches its market limit - is that really success?

Solid point. The earnings ceiling thing is something most people figure out way too late.

 

[notNewB]

How old were you when you made your first million? And what exactly made you that million?

Whatever is going on with your health, wish you quick recovery and may you have as much time as you need to do whatever you choose to do after retiring from IM.

 

[Fluctand]

Do you ever want to get into crypto??

 

[Shmitty500]

Any parasite seo tips or resources you recommend that work in 2026?

 

[XrumerGeek]

How old were you when you made your first million? And what exactly made you that million?

Best guess, circa 2015. So 9 years of work made me that million (not that impressive when you break it down!)

Do you ever want to get into crypto??

I hold BTC. I don't short trade, I don't withdraw. That's my savings (a percentage of) - as barring an apocalypse; it will have earnt me a damn sight more than interest rates at the bank in a decade. That's almost as sure as death and taxes. In terms of short term investing, I wouldn't personally put anything into crypto that I wasn't 100% sure about not needing to cash in on in 5+ years. My strat is 10yr, and risk of failure of a return is close to zero.

Any parasite seo tips or resources you recommend that work in 2026?

The only change in the Parasite landscape in recent years is Google devaluing platform X - at which point you pivot to platform Y or Z. Parasite SEO will always exist for as long as Google does. All they can do to mitigate is devalue a platform when it becomes overly abused - but another always takes it place. The age old saying of "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" applies - Don't rely on Reddit, Quora etc singularly. Otherwise you could wake up tomorrow and have a broken method. For as long as huge social platforms and authority blogs allow user submissions without strict moderation, Parasite SEO will continue to exist.

You're question is quite broad, if you want to ask specifics feel free.

 

[playpen]

Your name is XrumerGeek. You still using or recently used Xrumer, if so what are you using it for and is it still good software?

 

[Shmitty500]

Best guess, circa 2015. So 9 years of work made me that million (not that impressive when you break it down!)



I hold BTC. I don't short trade, I don't withdraw. That's my savings (a percentage of) - as barring an apocalypse; it will have earnt me a damn sight more than interest rates at the bank in a decade. That's almost as sure as death and taxes. In terms of short term investing, I wouldn't personally put anything into crypto that I wasn't 100% sure about not needing to cash in on in 5+ years. My strat is 10yr, and risk of failure of a return is close to zero.



The only change in the Parasite landscape in recent years is Google devaluing platform X - at which point you pivot to platform Y or Z. Parasite SEO will always exist for as long as Google does. All they can do to mitigate is devalue a platform when it becomes overly abused - but another always takes it place. The age old saying of "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" applies - Don't rely on Reddit, Quora etc singularly. Otherwise you could wake up tomorrow and have a broken method. For as long as huge social platforms and authority blogs allow user submissions without strict moderation, Parasite SEO will continue to exist.

You're question is quite broad, if you want to ask specifics feel free.

I appreciate the detailed response. I am relatively new to parasite / blackhat seo. Im looking for a starting point, we manage alot of local companies in tough niches, roofing, electricians etc. Tons of competition. Ive been considering googlesites with top 10 lists built out etc but really have so much crossing information dont know what exactly is bullshit and whats real lol.

 

[XrumerGeek]

Your name is XrumerGeek. You still using or recently used Xrumer, if so what are you using it for and is it still good software?

My username relates to Xrumergeek.com which I launched in 2011 -( a few months before I reg'd here on BHW). Here: https://web.archive.org/web/20110926075551/http://xrumergeek.com/ I haven't checked, but I imagine I initially joined this community to find "lists" for Xrumer campaigns.

Back then, 10k forum profile links could rank a new site for moderate competition high volume keywords pretty much overnight. Google then devalued these a year or two later as they became overly abused. For a short period after that, people bought the same packages but for negative SEO purposes, i.e linking to competitors with anchors like viagra, escorts, fake docs etc. That lasted about a year if my memory serves me right. Nowadays, 10k profile links from Xrumer to a money site would have a neutral affect - as Google will just ignore them. Exception would be if it was a brand new domain - in that instance it would kill the domain in terms of SERPS.

I haven't fired Xrumer up for years, but if I were too; I'd use it for tiered linking to index PBN's etc. Nobody uses Xrumer for direct links anymore - it simply wouldn't work, even in isolation. I might be wrong but I think the creators may have introduced additional functionality to the software - but I haven't looked into it.

I appreciate the detailed response. I am relatively new to parasite / blackhat seo. Im looking for a starting point, we manage alot of local companies in tough niches, roofing, electricians etc. Tons of competition. Ive been considering googlesites with top 10 lists built out etc but really have so much crossing information dont know what exactly is bullshit and whats real lol.

Local SEO means brick and mortar physical location businesses. If you take a look at page one for these kind of searches, you won't find any parasite opportunities there. There are still excellent ways to drive traffic from parasites, though. But this wouldn't be Parasite SEO, it would fall under Parasite spam. Let's say you're a locksmith in London, UK. You can target subreddits on Reddit.com related to "services in London", "local tradesman in London", "best locksmith in London". Then use multiaccounting, coupled with upvote panels to spam these subreddits and upvote for prominent visibility. Yes, really. Don't listen to the "Use one account and make real contributions in relevant subreddits and do it naturally" crowd. It's nonsense. Anyone pushing that idea is small time, period. They might make a living, but they'll never scale. Multiaccounters earn 10x more, simple fact. Word of caution though; if you're a doing freelance work for a company which you don't own - in this case for a Locksmith - do not use this strategy without clearly explaining the method and the blackhat nature of it. A family run business is not going to be cool with you generating them business if it also damages their reputation.

If I were a freelancer and had clients like yours, I'd never deploy the above strat unless I had made it crystal clear that it was essentially spam and they gave me the green light. Personally, I see parasite SEO / parasite spam as suited to websites only. Online businesses can switch to a new domain overnight. Physical businesses can't.

 

[Xen0v]

My username relates to Xrumergeek.com which I launched in 2011 -( a few months before I reg'd here on BHW). Here: https://web.archive.org/web/20110926075551/http://xrumergeek.com/ I haven't checked, but I imagine I initially joined this community to find "lists" for Xrumer campaigns.

Back then, 10k forum profile links could rank a new site for moderate competition high volume keywords pretty much overnight. Google then devalued these a year or two later as they became overly abused. For a short period after that, people bought the same packages but for negative SEO purposes, i.e linking to competitors with anchors like viagra, escorts, fake docs etc. That lasted about a year if my memory serves me right. Nowadays, 10k profile links from Xrumer to a money site would have a neutral affect - as Google will just ignore them. Exception would be if it was a brand new domain - in that instance it would kill the domain in terms of SERPS.

I haven't fired Xrumer up for years, but if I were too; I'd use it for tiered linking to index PBN's etc. Nobody uses Xrumer for direct links anymore - it simply wouldn't work, even in isolation. I might be wrong but I think the creators may have introduced additional functionality to the software - but I haven't looked into it.



Local SEO means brick and mortar physical location businesses. If you take a look at page one for these kind of searches, you won't find any parasite opportunities there. There are still excellent ways to drive traffic from parasites, though. But this wouldn't be Parasite SEO, it would fall under Parasite spam. Let's say you're a locksmith in London, UK. You can target subreddits on Reddit.com related to "services in London", "local tradesman in London", "best locksmith in London". Then use multiaccounting, coupled with upvote panels to spam these subreddits and upvote for prominent visibility. Yes, really. Don't listen to the "Use one account and make real contributions in relevant subreddits and do it naturally" crowd. It's nonsense. Anyone pushing that idea is small time, period. They might make a living, but they'll never scale. Multiaccounters earn 10x more, simple fact. Word of caution though; if you're a doing freelance work for a company which you don't own - in this case for a Locksmith - do not use this strategy without clearly explaining the method and the blackhat nature of it. A family run business is not going to be cool with you generating them business if it also damages their reputation.

If I were a freelancer and had clients like yours, I'd never deploy the above strat unless I had made it crystal clear that it was essentially spam and they gave me the green light. Personally, I see parasite SEO / parasite spam as suited to websites only. Online businesses can switch to a new domain overnight. Physical businesses can't.

The Reddit multiaccounting take is real. "Contribute naturally with one account" is advice from people making $500/month and calling it passive income

 

[CyberShaman]

Do you plan to avoid the hedonistic pleasures of life or just indulge? Like buying an island and having lots of cheese pizza with your friends

 

[XrumerGeek]

Do you plan to avoid the hedonistic pleasures of life or just indulge? Like buying an island and having lots of cheese pizza with your friends

The only Island I've ever bought is the one in our kitchen, and I did that begrudgingly to keep her happy.

As for the pizza. I'm lactose intolerant and on the handful of occasions I've ignored this fact and consumed dairy I can't recall a single time where I've managed to finish the meal before legging it to the toilet. So no, I don't see this as a regular feature in my future,

 

[Elon Snup]

Two decades is serious history. One question: what is the one method or niche you watched blow up and then collapse completely that surprised you the most? And looking back, is there anything you wish you had doubled down on instead of moving on from it?