ALEXANDRIA, Ind. — Aaron Whitfield is only 15 years old, but he’s already done what many have not, or will not, ever do: He started his own business.

Whitfield, a sophomore at Lapel High School who lives in Alexandria, created and manages pocketfull-ofapps.com.

The website covers the Apple universe by providing news, features, previews and reviews of apps, games and new devices seven days a week.

On top of school and sports, he works on the site about four hours a day.

“I want to get as big as I can, but I look at it as more of a hobby, especially for my age,” Whitfield said. “I like doing what I do. I view it as getting paid is just a bonus. I like writing and the Web aspect, just being in touch with the news and stuff like that.”

Whitfield does research and writes two to four articles a day. He also manages the site, responds to emails and answers questions on Twitter and Facebook.

He said he enjoys interacting with the readers. There is a weekly poll so readers can interact by voting, and can leave comments on stories.

“I like interacting with readers to see how they’re doing, what they’re up to and, you know, if they’re going to buy the newest gadget or what they think,” he said. “I just like staying in contact.”

Whitfield said he also does a few podcasts and may sometimes Skype with a developer.

His mom, Barb, said she’s watched him put his all into it.

“I’m amazed,” she said. “I don’t think I could do what he does.”

While Whitfield said he does the majority of the writing, he also has contributors from all over the world, including locations like Florida, Canada, the United Kingdom and Saudia Arabia.

To find these writers, he posted job listings on his website and then reviewed submitted articles.

He said he was looking for applicants who were well-written with few mistakes in their work.

A contributor’s pay, whether he or she is a writer or artist, varies on the work done, he said.

Whitfield said he has contracts with contributors, and some even just write for the fun of it.

While developers contact him about 90 percent of the time, he said he sometimes contacts them to ask if he can review a product, if they want to buy an ad or if they want to do a promotion giveaway.

A couple of months ago, he held an Electronic Arts giveaway. Whitfield’s love of Apple products fueled his interest in writing articles about them.

He first started a blog after he got an iPod touch in 2009. It had about 10 views a day, he said.

Shortly after, he started pocketfullofapps that had about 100 views per day in the beginning, growing to about 6,000 to 10,000 views a day now, he said.

While viewers started out as family and friends, Whitfield said he got the website’s name out there via social media, email listings and posting on other sites.

“Facebook and Twitter are a very powerful way to get your name out,” he said.

And he learned the basic layout and article structure from reading other websites even before he started his own.

Barb said he basically taught himself how to do everything.

“What he does impresses me because, well, his dad will work with him, but he mostly does it all by himself,” she said. “I’d say like 99.9 percent of it. But he just impresses me because he’s so knowledgeable with it.”

Whitfield said many people ask him if his parents helped get the website started, but for the most part, he did it on his own.

“I just sort of decided one day to do it. They encourage me, though,” he said. “My dad helped pay some of the expenses when I first got pocketfullofapps launched, but now I sustain it myself.”

The money he receives, mostly from ads, is divided up between maintenance, writers and other costs, he said.

Whitfield said it takes a basic knowledge of computers and websites to get started. First, he had to buy the domain (the website name), and then he had to buy space on the server to host files and get everything installed.

With the recent death of Apple founder Steve Jobs, Whitfield said things will be a little different without him making announcements for new products.

He said Jobs meant a lot to the site and on the day of his death, Whitfield said he stayed up late to update his site with news, which got a little hectic.

Still, despite Jobs’ death and his busy schedule, Whitfield said he wants to keep the site going for as long as he can.

Contact Dani Palmer: 640-4847, dani.palmer@heraldbulletin.com