Interview with Andrej Ilisin | Founder of Alpha Investors

Written by True Tamplin, BSc, CEPF®

Reviewed by Subject Matter Experts

Updated on March 21, 2023

Andrej Ilisin | Founder of Alpha Investors

Introduction

Success leaves clues.

Finance Strategists sat down with Andrej Ilisin, founder of Alpha Investors. He shared his thoughts on the past, present, and future of the company, as well as the insight he gained from running the business.

Who is Andrej Ilisin?

Q: Who are you and what’s your background?

I'm Andrej Ilisin and I'm the CEO and founder of Alpha Investors, Buzz Logic, and Investors Club. I've been operating in the SEO and website development space since 2008, where, after getting married at the age of 20, and having a baby boy before I turned 21, I needed to find some job security to support my new family. So, I decided to educate myself on how to tie my weird affinity for sports betting and entrepreneurship together, and I learned that you could make websites AND sell something on them! I instantly started researching how to make money online, how to create a website, etc. I was hooked immediately. Over the course of the next 15 years, I've gone on to develop various businesses with a mix of wins and losses that have led me to where I am today.

Q: Who has been your biggest influence, and why did they have such a significant effect on you?

Back in 2009, I was working with my father, who is a contractor and was working with hardwood. He’s an excellent craftsman. This was just before the economic crash in ’08 when the construction business was booming. Then the world economic crash happened, and construction businesses around the world got their a**es kicked! I was jobless, my wife couldn’t find a job, there was still rent to pay, and I had to figure something out. And I had to figure it out QUICKLY.

Enter Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

My father was having trouble finding work since traditional advertising seemed to stop working altogether. Everyone I asked had told me to look into advertising on Google. So, how can we get him on that weird thingy called THE INTERNET so that both he and I can start making some moolah? (This was my first experience with lead generation without even knowing it.)

I did some research and learned that all I really had to do was learn SEO. And I did just that. I read, and read, and read, and then I finally decided that I was ready. I created a basic WordPress site targeting local terms such as ‘hardwood flooring city’ and ‘flooring contractor city,’ etc. The next step was to spam those inner pages to death with my keywords and get some directory backlinks (can anyone say DMOZ?). Don’t forget, this was back in 2010. Two months later my dad was getting 5-10 calls per day and managed to close 50% of them. I had to start a new company to look more professional and to establish trust, but that was easy, and the rest they say is history.

Q: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you have given your younger self?

Learn from your mistakes and not let them define you. At times, I’d followed what the gurus preached, and that got me in trouble.

Business

Q: What is Alpha Investors?

Alpha Investors gives builders the best chance to succeed by providing them with exceptional quality content sites (custom or aged) and growth services such as content and link building that surpass their expectations and are delivered with excellent customer service.

Q: What makes Alpha Investors different from its competitors?

What we do is pretty simple, but effective. We help people skip all the boring and draining work of having to learn how to create, run, and grow a profitable website. It sounds simple, I know. But there’s a LOT that goes into it. I hired a lot of talented people who are way smarter than me. That means that I’m challenged on a daily basis and forced to evolve both as a person and as a business owner. We’re building our own projects, buying, improving, and selling sites regularly. All while working together with our clients on their own projects. We have a heavy focus on product and content quality and we're challenged by our clients daily to ensure we provide exceptional services that meet their expectations. I can't go into too much detail into the strategy we take that separates us from our competitors, but what I can say is, you won't find any website development service that provides the kind of content strategy that we do.

Q: What led you to start Alpha Investors?

The reason I started Alpha Investors is to help people transition from a regular 9-5 to being able to do things on their own terms. Without me being obnoxious or even remotely salesy while doing so.

Q: What has the experience of building the business taught you?

Opportunity is everywhere, but you have to work for it and love what you do. I was, and still am, shocked by the opportunity we all have in this day and age to make money from anywhere we want. And it doesn’t have to feel like a J-O-B. I never, ever, feel like I’m working. It’s like I’m playing a video game. Building a business, putting all the pieces together, tweaking, moving, shaking, baking… It feels like a strategy game, so what’s there not to love?

Q: Where do you see things headed for you and the company in the next 5 years?

We believe that Alpha Investors can become the leading brand in authority website development. This year is all about partnerships for us, forging collaborations with businesses that help us provide more services at a higher level for our clients. Our vision is to be the best one-stop-shop for all builders, creators, and visionaries who want to realize their dream of developing a profitable online business, and we're fully focused on achieving that. As for me, I'll keep doing what I love, building businesses that help people achieve their dreams of shaking free of the 9-5 and pursuing what they love to do. My business partner and I have a lot of goals in mind for the next five years, and even though I'm sure, much like the last 15 years, there will be plenty of ups and downs, one thing is for certain...they'll be a smile on my face the whole time I'm doing it.

For more information, visit alphainvestors.com

About the Author

True Tamplin, BSc, CEPF®

True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.

True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.

To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.