Cameron Johnson hated getting junk e-mail, so he created MyEZmail, an e-mail forwarding service that promises it won't sell your address. It also protects users from spam and serves as a mail clearinghouse to protect
young Internet users.

Johnson, a Roanoke-based Internet entrepreneur, is no stranger to the Web. In addition to MyEZmail, he has also established MyEZshop, which collects monthly advertising fees and commission on sales from 170 international online merchants.

Not bad for a guy who got his start selling Beanie Babies a couple of years ago. But Internet entrepreneurs are everywhere, so what's the big deal? Well, Cameron Johnson is 14 years old.

Johnson got his start at age 7, selling off old toys and fresh vegetables from his grandparents' Bedford farm, and he started his first Web business when he was 11.

"I've just always been interested in business," Johnson says with a shrug. "My dad's a car dealer, and I can remember driving with him and ... talking about what's working at his business. I guess I just built from that."

Dad — Bill Johnson, chairman of Magic City Ford in Roanoke — appreciates the mention and the free advertising, but he doesn't take any of the credit. "He's done it all on his own. ... I'm proud, but more than anything, it makes me feel old."

While Johnson's buddies are delivering newspapers and mowing yards to pick up cash, he's selling off site domains.

At its height two years ago, Beaniewholesale.com was doing $15,000 in sales each month and Johnson was shipping about 40 packages a day. "They got tired of seeing me at the post office," he recalls.

Johnson is skeptical about revealing the amount of money he's made on the Web, and who can blame him? He still runs in social circles where it's possible to get beat up for your lunch money.

— MA