Business Casual

Procrastinate much? Matt and Andrew talk about the roadblocks they've hit in creating online products and what happened during the 30-Day Build and Launch a Course Challenge. They dissect why Matt hated the 30-day timeframe and Andrew's mental roadblocks to finishing his course. They also talk about the other distractions that got in the way, i.e. other projects that feel more in their wheel house. So what do you do when you start procrastinating on a project that needs to ship? Should you just suck it up and finish it? Or is procrastination a signal that you should be working on something else? Take a listen to find out how Andrew plans to hack through his mental block. Enjoy!

P.S. Matt's course DID launch. You can check it out here: Moneylab.co/Pagespeed

How do you create consistent content without overspending or burning yourself out? Matt and Andrew examine each of their online businesses and how their content machines are currently running. Andrew's going full speed with lots of folks on staff, Matt's running some aspects of content creation on his brands, and a few of their sites are chugging along without either Andrew or Matt having to lift a finger. So how do you strike the right balance between producing a ton of new content and letting it ride? And when is it worth bringing on help or doing it yourself? Enjoy!

P.S. If you're curious about running a well-oiled content machine, check out Matt's course Asana for Bloggers: Moneylab.co/Asana

How do you build products that meet your customers' needs, not just your own? Matt and Andrew talk about their "come-toJesus" moment with their SaaS product Lasso and how they've had to re-design their whole product. They discuss how they first built the product to selfishly meet their own needs and how conversations with customers forced them to pivot. From how to survey your existing audience to understanding UX/UI principles, designing directly for your audience can totally help you clarify your product design. Because in the end, the customer is always right... because they got the money. Enjoy!

P.S. If you haven't checked out Lasso, get on it! Visit GetLasso.co

P.P.S. Check out Google's design philosophy here: Material.io/design

What's your website worth? Carrie Smith Nicholson, the author of The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your Blog and a blog consultant at CarrieConsiders.com, joins the show to talk about her experience buying and selling websites. Carrie sold her old website for nearly six figures, and she and Matt talk about the entire sales process, from deciding to sell your brand to finding the right buyer. They also chat about Carrie's latest web property purchase and her plans of turning her newest website into a lucrative brand. If you'e ever been curious about what it takes to sell a website you own or buy and revamp a new web property, this episode is for you. Enjoy!

P.S. You can find Carrie online at CarrieConsiders.com

Here's a business hypothesis for ya... There are 3 major factors in a successful online business: Products (what you sell), Relationships (trust with your audience) and Traffic (size of your audience). Nail 2 out of 3 of these and you’ll make six figures. Simple, right? Matt and Andrew discuss this business philosophy (learned from the folks at Create and Go) and how it applies to each of their current brands. They also dissect case studies from around the online business world and what they should be doing with Lasso. So which combo are you? Or which combo do you aspire to be? Figuring this out might help you focus on your own growth trajectory. Enjoy!

P.S. Check out more of Create and Go's business philosophies here: Createandgo.com

Started from the bottom now we here. Matt and Andrew talk about their big business revenue jumps over the years. They dissect the moment when they hit $40,000 in annual revenue and how they finally hit six figures. From their original affiliate marketing efforts (and Matt's first $115 with Amazon Affiliates) and to their first legit SEO strategies, they break down what got them up and over the $100K mark. They reveal the secret ingredient of it all (spoiler: it's time) and whether or not they could make that kind of revenue jump again. Only TIME will tell (it's time... the secret ingredient is time). Enjoy!

P.S. You can check out Matt's timeline here: Moneylab.co/Timeline

Make more money in 2020! Specifically with digital products! Matt and Andrew don't want to rely 100% on the Affiliate Marketing Gods, which means beefing up their digital product game in the new year. They talk about their "come to Jesus moments" around digital products, how Matt made over $100K in digital product sales last year and what kind of products do and don't work with their audience (like membership platforms). Andrew unveils his new product for Listen Money Matters and they chat about what they need to do to consistently market their courses. Enjoy!

P.S. You can check out Matt's favorite digital product platform Podia (it's an affiliate link!): Moneylab.co/podia

Would your business fall apart without you? Matt and Andrew both had to take long breaks from their businesses a few months ago. They talk about how their businesses survived without them and how the wheels kept turning in their absence. From hiring the right people (and what that actually means) to setting up solid standard operating procedures, how do you make sure it all doesn't crumble to pieces when there's a real emergency? And how do you go about finding people you trust to take over? Enjoy!

P.S. You can check out Matt's last year in business (including how it did while he was gone) over on the website: Moneylab.co/Nineteen

Cue Julie Andrews, because these are a few of our favorite things. Matt and Andrew walk through every single tool they use to run their online businesses. They cover all their must-haves: SEO research, hosting, caching, product sales, accounting, business organization, file management, email marketing, podcasting and YouTube video production. Phew! They also share brutally honest reviews of tools they're not-so-thrilled with (cough, ConvertKit, cough). Consider this episode the MTV Cribs walkthrough of online businesses. Except less luxury cars and more plugins. Enjoy!

P.S. You can get the full list of Matt's favorite tools here: Moneylab.co/About

New Year, who dis? We're kicking off 2020 with our favorite kind of show: listener Q&A! Matt and Andrew answer a stack of listener questions, from dealing with a sudden drop in traffic (thanks, BERT update) to beating out a slimy competitor that's shot up the ranks in Google. And if you're worried about the next recession, Matt and Andrew discuss what they'd do to recession-proof their work. They cover it all, including how they'd turn an $1,300/month YouTube channel into a full-time business. Enjoy!

P.S. If you're looking for a website refresh in the new year, might we suggest checking out Matt's super fast, super sleek theme, Carbonate? You can grab it at the Money Lab store: products.moneylab.co/

P.P.S. Here's the YouTube experiment Matt talks about in this episode: Moneylab.co/youtube-optimization/