About Jim Harmer

Jim Harmer is an internet entrepreneur, co-founder of Income School, and author of Work Energy. His sites and Youtube videos have been viewed tens of millions of times.

My Work Story

 I had a bachelor’s degree but couldn’t find work.  I hated my job, but I wanted to provide what I could for my wife and baby.  While I worked the night shift, I listened to podcasts about internet marketing, and it wasn’t long before I started my own site.

  • I worked stocking the shelves at a dollar store in Naples, Florida
  • I made it into law school and worked all day in the law books
  •  I started more websites about my many hobbies and interests
  • I built PontoonGuide.com and later sold it to an investor, KnifeUp.com, and others
  • In 2015 I started IncomeSchool.com with my life-long friend Ricky Kesler

 

In 2009, I worked stocking the shelves at a dollar store in Naples, Florida.  I had a bachelor’s degree but couldn’t find work.  I hated my job, but I wanted to provide what I could for my wife and baby.  While I worked the night shift, I listened to podcasts about internet marketing, and it wasn’t long before I started my own site.

I made it into law school and worked all day in the law books, and at night I’d write on my little blog, ImprovePhotography.com.  Eventually, I built that site into a thriving business and ran it full-time for many years.  I finished law school and became an attorney, but my blog was earning more than I could have as a lawyer.  On Improve Photography, I built a social media following of more than one million people around the world.

 

I absolutely loved internet marketing, so I started more websites about my many hobbies and interests.  I built PontoonGuide.com and later sold it to an investor, KnifeUp.com, and others.

In 2015 I started IncomeSchool.com with my life-long friend Ricky Kesler.  We shared the process we had developed for consistently bringing massive traffic to new sites, and continued to prove out the process by creating more sites like EmboraPets.com, CamperReport.com, OutdoorTroop.com, DirtBikePlanet.com, and more.  Every few months we start over from complete scratch and build a new web business up from scratch so we can always know exactly how to build traffic quickly.

On Income School, we share our proprietary process for internet marketing in a popular online course called Project 24, and we share many of our tips on the popular Income School Youtube Channel.

Every single day, enough people watch our videos on the Income School Youtube channel to fill a sports stadium, and we’ve grown our company to multiple employees.  My goal when I wake up each morning is to help other people who are desperate for success and a better work environment–like me at the dollar store years ago–to start their own internet business.

Work Energy: Finish what you start and fearlessly take on any goal

My Book

My book, Work Energy, was released in January 2020 to great reviews and has been on many best seller lists.  It’s available as an audiobook on Audible (I like the audiobook best!) as well as a physical or kindle book on Amazon.

I meet people on a daily basis who have goal issues–people who feel they can’t finish what they start, people who feel they can’t get ahead, people who have goals that have haunted them for years, and people who are desperate to achieve the goal of providing a better income for their families.  This book is for you.  Get work energy on Audible.com (I like the audiobook!) or get the paperback, hardback, or digital book on Amazon.

Jim’S TROPHY WALL

Recognition and Awards

I’ve been recognized for some awesome and some really silly things over the years.  But here are some of the certifications and awards I’m pretty proud of!

Juris Doctorate, Cum Laude

– Ave Maria School of Law

Bachelor of Arts - Communications

– Brigham Young University – Idaho

Speaker
-FinCon Financial Bloggers Conference

Speaker
-Wordcamp

One of the top 40 most popular photographers online

– 2017 XXL Pics Awards

A really nice guy, but he needs to eat all his veggies at dinner if he wants to grow big and strong

– My mom

 

Speaker

– Out of Chicago Conference

 

Speaker

– Create Photography Retreat

 

MY PERSONAL STORY

 

A couple times a month now someone will stop me because they recognize me from Youtube.  They always start with “Hey, you’re Jim Harmer” as if I didn’t already know that 🙂 I love meeting the people who follow the things I do on Youtube, but in real life I’m the most average person you’ll ever meet.

I live in small town Star, Idaho with my awesome wife, Emily, and my three kids Ruger, Cole, and Faith.  I’m only about ten minutes away from Income School’s offices, so it makes for a short commute, although I do miss the years of working from home.

When I’m not creating content for Youtube, I’m traveling with my family.  We’ve been to many far-flung countries and been fortunate enough to be able to see much of the world.  People always ask me what country I liked best, and the answer is unquestionably EGYPT!  I went with my two boys and it was the coolest experience of my life.  I love seeing my kids learn from each culture they experience.  When we’re in Idaho, we love spending time outdoors.  We fish, hunt, shoot, camp, ride side-by-sides, and live the typical country life.

When I was 15 years old, I made a bucket list of 50 things to do in life.  It was originally just a fun project, but has turned into a life-long obsession.  I’m now closing in on the last few goals on the list.  Below you’ll see the entire list, including which ones I’ve finished, and which I have yet to complete.

I met my wife at Brigham Young University-Idaho when I was 21.  We only dated for two weeks before getting engaged, and then were only engaged for two months.  She was the one and that’s all there was to it.  Best decision I ever made, and 13 years later I’m still in love with her.

Together, we have three kids who we spend all our time with.  When we moved out to the country, it helped us to focus more on just our family.  My wife started home schooling our kiddos (which we’re still new to, but enjoying so far), and we spend a lot of time riding side-by-sides and shooting bb guns in the public land by our house.  Being a dad is the most exhausting thing in the world, but I sure do love those kids.

I love learning new things.  I’ve listened to over 300 books on my Audible account, and I love listening to podcasts as well.  That’s really helped me in my work as I always have new topics for sites and Youtube channels.

That’s me!

My Bucket List

  • Hold a World Record (COMPLETE!  In college I broke the world record for the longest distance ever traveled while shooting tiddlywinks, and then later I broke the world record for the most light orbs in a single photograph)
  • Be a student body officer in college (COMPLETE! I was the student body vice-president at BYU-Idaho)
  • See the northern lights (COMPLETE! It was one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever photographed.  Right at the moment that the northern lights appeared, the moon was rising, I was at a neat mountain with a waterfall and river… wow.  Unforgettable.)
  • Read a dictionary from cover to cover (COMPLETE!  I read an entire Portuguese dictionary.  Took me a few months, but I learned a lot.)
  • Have a story done about me in the news (COMPLETE! This happened a few times.)
  • Catch a salmon in Alaska (COMPLETE!  I went with my father-in-law and we fished for salmon in the rivers and halibut out in the bay.  Great trip.)
  • Read the entire Bible more than once (COMPLETE!  I’ve done this a few times)
  • Sing a solo in front of two thousand people (COMPLETE! I sang a solo at high school graduation and it’s a good thing because I doubt I’ll ever have another chance to accomplish that goal.)
  • Earn a doctorate degree (COMPLETE!  I have a juris doctorate)
  • Ski on a black diamond run (COMPLETE! Did it at Bogus Basin)
  • Fall in love and get married (COMPLETE!  I got engaged to my wife after just two weeks of dating, and then we got married 2 months later.  It was only 10 weeks between our first kiss and our marriage.  She’s been a wonderful companion for almost 13 years of marrige now.
  • Act in a musical (COMPLETE!  Guys and Dolls)
  • Buy a house with cash (COMPLETE! We bought our first home with cash and then kept saving up cash to add to it for our other homes.  We’re blessed to have never had a mortgage.)              
  • Sing in a college choir (COMPLETE!  From the Heart)
  • Speak a foreign language fluently (COMPLETE! Eu falo Portugues)
  • Ethically hunt deer with a bow and arrow and eat the meat (COMPLETE! Ricky and I knocked this one off our lists when we were in high school)
  • Save someone’s life (COMPLETE! I’ve actually had to do CPR twice in my life.  Once when a lady washed up to shore while Emily and I were sitting on the beach at night in Florida, and then a year later on a little neighbor girl)
  • Have children (COMPLETE! I have three kids who I love very much)
  • Serve a full-time, two-year religious mission (COMPLETE!  I spent two years in Brazil as a full-time, unpaid missionary when I was 19 years old)
  • Climb the Eiffel Tower (COMPLETE!  Took a trip to Germany, Austria, and France to do this)
  • Have my photo on the cover of a magazine (Complete!  Shutterbug magazine.)
  • Be a millionaire (COMPLETE! And now I can add “multi” to that)
  • Eat at Fogo de Chao with Emily (COMPLETE! Went to a location in Phoenix Arizona, but honestly I was TOTALLY underwhelmed)
  • Own a boat (COMPLETE!  I bought a boat and made a site about it)
  • Run a full 26.2 mile marathon (COMPLETE!  I ran the Top of Utah Marathon with Emily.  One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.)
  • Write a book that sells two thousand copies (COMPLETE! My first eBook was called “Improve Your Photography: How budding photographers can get pro results”.  It don’t know the exact count, but I’d estimate it sold 40,000 copies.
  • Be a little league football coach (COMPLETE! Although now I’m not so sure about having my kids in football with all the CTE stuff.  My son now does basketball and the other does soccer.)
  • Swim in a shark cage (COMPLETE! But then I got a little braver and I’ve done several swims with sharks with no cage now)
  • Have someone ask me for an autograph (COMPLETE!  Haha.  Someone saw me at a conference and had printed off a photo of me they found online and wanted me to sign my picture.  It was pretty awesome.  My 15 seconds of fame, LOL).
  • Get one million followers on social media (COMPLETE!  The Improve Photography Facebook page alone had 600,000 followers, and adding up all the other platforms, I made it).
  • See a 49ers game in the stadium (COMPLETE! I saw the 49ers play the Seahawks.  My wife surprised me with tickets).
  • Use a fire extinguisher on a fire (COMPLETE! The saw caught on fire when we did the Cybertruck video on YouTube and I got to use a fire extinguisher!).
  • Go on safari in Africa  (COMPLETE! I took my 9 and 11 year-old boys for a grand adventure to South Africa.  We’ll never forget it.).
  • Compete in a barbecue competition (COMPLETE! My son and I did the Star, Idaho barbecue competition in September, 2020 just for the sake of completing this goal, and get this!  I won a hand towel!!!)
  • Own a hot air balloon (Complete!  I bought one in 2021 and am learning to fly)
  • Spend a night on a private tropical island
  • Walk the streets of Jerusalem
  • Serve a mission with Emily
  • Watch every sunrise and every sunset for a month
  • Have six pack abs
  • Play “Time of Your Life” on the guitar
  • Own a cabin
  • Have a Wikipedia page made about me
  • Learn to sail a sailboat on the open ocean
  • Hold an elected government position
  • Chase a tornado
  • Win a shooting sports competition
  • Go to the Amazon Jungle
  • Climb the tallest freestanding mountain in the world–Mount Kilimanjaro

SITES I’VE BUILT TO SUCCESS…

Income School

This is my primary focus.  It has grown into a giant with a large Youtube following and multiple employees.  I love helping others learn how to create internet businesses to provide for their families.

Improve Photography

I founded and ran Improve Photography for almost a decade.  I built it from nothing into a site that was eventually viewed over 72 million times.  I sold Improve Photography to an investor in 2019.

Camper Report

I started Camper Report soon after I bought an RV for my family.  Ricky and I grew the site after writing the first 100 articles ourselves by hiring writers until it earned almost $10,000 per month in passive income. We sold it in early 2020 for a nice profit!

Dirt Bike Planet

Ricky and I bought Dirt Bike Planet as an abandoned site earning next to nothing, and we quickly flipped it into a site that has been consistently earning almost $2,000 per month ever since. 

Embora Pets

Ricky and I built this site from the ground up by outsourcing all of the writing.  The site has grown to almost 100,000 pageviews in less than a year.

Outdoor Troop

Ricky and I built this site from the ground up by outsourcing all of the writing.  The site has grown to almost 100,000 pageviews in less than a year.

Pontoon Guide

After buying a boat for my family, I made a website about everything I’d learned about the boat.  It quickly built up to over $4,000 per month and I sold the site to an investor.

Knife Up

I bought this site and quickly flipped it to more than double the income in just a few months.  I kept the site for several years for passive income, but eventually sold it to an investor.

Soundproof Expert

This was a fun project. I made this site and only wrote 7 articles on it.  With just 7 articles, I got it earning $400 in a month!  We gave the site away for contest prize on our Youtube channel.

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