Webmaster Interview: BotGuru 11/11/2013

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Mr. Gaushas has a tremendous amount of experience that has translated into dozens of businesses, programs and earns 10′s of thousands of dollars per month through his various sites & programs. He is a model Webmaster and Programmer. His interview is filled with both raw emotion and detailed information. He’s also a new member of WJunction under the username of “LowRiderTj”. This is his story!

Can you give us a brief background/bio on yourself?

My Names Theodore Gaushas, better known as Lowridertj (BotGuru). I started out my online business
back 16 years ago building online RPG turn based games with php/mysql. I’ve since expanded my knowledge and skill into building bots and software for the IM market, local businesses, and the everyday joe website owners.

Have you ever been interviewed before?

I have by gaming magazines for game builders, and owners. Never the IM market

What is your handle?

DGN, Lowridertj, Lowridertj ( BotGuru ) are my most common online handles

How did you come up with your name?

Well I had a huge passion for lowrider cars and trucks when i was younger, and still secretly do. But started using the name lowridertj back 16 years ago and just never changed it. Good history and transparent history when dealing with larger company’s it helps.

BotGuru is a unique name, how’d you come up with that?

Well so many individuals i have helped with bot or software building have referred to me as a guru with what I do, and have helped them with I sort of took to it, and owned the name BotGuru as part of my online persona

Where are you from?

Born and raised in Michigan (USA)

What are some of your online skills?

Html, css php, mysql, mssql, sql, ubot studio, visual studio (vb, .net, c#)

How long have you been programming for?

software.bot programmer now for a bit over 3 years

Would you say your more of a webmaster or a programmer?

Now a days more of a programmer, then a webmaster, but I have a good deal of online ventures going at all times so it would be equally shared i suppose.

What was the first website you ever visited? Yes ever.

Good lord, umm. Think it might have been google.

What is your most frequented site in 2013?

My own to be honest, Then webmaster forums, blogs, trends tracking

How many websites do you own?

Currently operational 30, pending domains to be developed 160+ (never enough time in the day)

Are you currently staff on any sites that are not yours?

No I’m not.

Tell us about your sites, why you made them, what they are for and what makes each one unique?

I built online gaming sites which some are still operational today, and some I sold, because i played other sites where i hated how they were ran by the owners. Other sites are to serve the purpose as a sales ground for affiliates to my products and the products I’m selling on them, or services

It seems like the field your in, is a fairly channeled one. Would you say that you have a lot of competition or little competition?

Honestly i try not to look at the competition to much as just concentrate on giving the best service i can, best price, and lead time to complete the project. 95% of my business now a days is referral from current clients i do work for. So I don’t have to market myself very much anymore. However if i had to talk about competition i would say that there is competition normally with lesser quality work in some cases, or with someone from another country that is usually hard to understand, or work with on projects, resulting in a project not up to the standard it should be at times (not all the time)

What’s the money look like for someone in the business your in?

Starting out can be hard. You should be willing to dedicated time, and effort in the beginning to grow your clientel. The money can start out at least 50-100.00/month, and I’ve had it as higher as 15,000.00/month. What I’m doing now, ill just say I’m doing very well. If i wanted to take the next 5 years off work comfortably i likely could.

If someone was interested in embarking on what you do, how would you advise them to start out?

Learn, Learn, Learn. Master what your doing before placing a product out on the market, and make sure you have tested it yourself, and with a control group of people for mass testing. This ensures no issues when you launch the project. As always 1st impressions are everything. Learn from open source code in the forums, or other sites, purchase source code available, watch as many videos as possible, and for the love of god. ASK QUESTIONS. You would be surprised how often i hear people quitting before they’ve really gotten started, and never asked a single question to get help from some very helpful individuals myself included.

How did you start out? Are you a self-taught reverse engineering genius? Or did you attend college/classes?

I’m 100% self taught, I started some college and was taking to long to obtain a paper telling me i know what i already knew. So stopped that and pursued the 1 aspect that has always plagued me which is graphics. I always came up short and usually (to this day) out source for graphics to be created.

What do you do for a living?

Work full time from home

Michigan State Wolverines or Ohio State Buckeyes?

Wolverines

What is your ‘average’ day like?

Get up, grab some caffein usually a coke, a smoke, and check my emails and sites. remove all the spam emails and what not, take my daughter to school, come home get dressed, and start my day on the PC. Answering all emails, Skype messages, and forum replies. Writing what needs quoted, and then beginning work for the day.

Would you say your a risk taker or a calm, cool & collected entrepreneur?

A bit of both. I couldn’t be a calm, cool, collected entrepreneur without having been a risk taker to take the leap.

Do you have any new programs/websites that are in the works?

I do, but will need to keep those under wraps for now

What are your most notable programs to date?

Software for local marketing in the auto, real estate market for posting new lists. As well as a large tool set for marketing on Facebook, youtube, tumblr

What kind of improvements can we expect to see from some of your programs?

better quality, aesthetically look better in the UIs. Always pushing to learn more and make better products.

Do you take requests for personal programs?

I do every day i answer back at least 30 request quotes for custom work.

Where do you see yourself in one year?

On the grind still making programs, and websites. I love my job a bit of a work-a-holic if you will.

What do you think of the current President of the United States?

I plead the 5th LOL

For those who are reading this and thinking of following in your footsteps, what kind of advice would you give them?

-Make sure you have the time to invest in learning your craft, and the want, and urge to be successful. If your not in it 100% it will take you ages to get to where yo want to be, and might give up far before you can start to reap the benefits.

What do you think of ScrollDog.com?

Think its a great site, some good reads, and worth the time to take a look around.

What do you think of WJunction.com?

Nice webmaster forum that I’ve had in my bookmarks for a while.

What were some of your gaming sites that you built?
www.extrememobwars.com, www.worldmafiamadness.com, www.topmorpg.com

Any final words, remarks you would like to leave?

I appreciate giving me the opportunity to take this interview with you. Its been fun and really enjoyed sharing part of my life with everyone.

Taken on 11/11/2013​