How do you build an untouchable online business so far ahead of the game the only way to beat it is to buy it? I broke it down into three core values.
Show Notes
Talk to me:
- Twitter: @MattGiovanisci
- Email: matt@moneylab.co
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What is Money Lab?
Matt Giovanisci and friends drop the gauntlet of truth about being self-employed, serial entrepreneurs. They're not "teaching" how to build a successful company. Instead, they run business challenges and experiments offering a transparent view of what it takes to make money online.
Matt: In this episode, we're talking
about the untouchable online business
model for future-proofing your brand.
And that's something that
I had to come up with.
That's my thing.
I
don't take it.
But I want to go over all of the
principles and how I came up with
this whole idea, which is, you know,
something I have to follow, but we're
going to get into it in this episode.
So let's go.
Yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
Yes.
Before we get into it, this episode
is sponsored by me and money lab.co.
Uh, I've been, I've been, I've
been giving away this free.
Cheat sheet called the perfect post
cheat sheet, which is a downloadable PDF.
And you can keep on your desktop or you
can print it out because I created a
printer friendly version If you have a
printer in your house Which I do not But
if you're a printer you want to print
it out and keep it by your computer So
when you're writing a blog post you can
optimize it or you can take it And you
know find your underperforming blog posts
that could be ranking and beef them up
with some of the tips that are in this
cheat sheet So you can get more traffic
So that you can earn more revenue Get your
click-through rate up with your affiliate
links Get your all that stuff It's all
in there Design tips everything So go
check that out at money lab.co/cheat sheet
Today we're going to talk about the
untouchable online business model
which is something that I came up with
uh earlier this year Because I kept
saying the word untouchable how do I
make myself and my business Untouchable
And I mean that in terms of how do I
outpace my competitors so badly that
they can never ever keep up with me
And that's essentially what
we're going to talk about
And this Sentence that I Came up with
was like how do I build an untouchable
online business so far ahead of the game
that the only way to beat it Is to buy it
And That's what I want to answer
at the end of this episode
Now I sat down with staff and sort
of I had this idea for a for an
article I had this idea that I was
Sort of my uh 20 21 mantra right
Of like how are we going to
How are we going to run our business
this year Like what's what's going to
be your thing So in the beginning of the
year Um You know obviously I've had a
couple of rough years The pandemic was
rough There was some family stuff before
that And I got it in this idea that It
was really the biggest thing And the
core the first core principle of the
untouchable business model is generosity
And an extreme Generosity And what does
that how does that what does that look
like So Extreme generosity is when you
give away everything you know Without
a paywall It's putting meticulous care
and attention into everything you make
So so how so How do you do that Well the
thing is We decided like at money lab and
at some university and at brew cabin you
can see the quality of the work that we're
putting into all of those things And we're
putting it out for free because It's just
Without content without the free engine
of of why somebody becomes a fan of you
Then you have nothing Right I think a lot
of people Maybe I'm generalizing here But
they want this Everyone wants the shortcut
right Everyone wants to shortcut to an
online business They're like okay I'm
going to write a few blog posts When do
I start making my money Is what they're
saying right This is like okay well listen
I I've even I've seen God I've been
doing all these website tear downs on on
YouTube And I just see a lot of people
who submitted their site to me and they
have three blog posts And it's like
okay well you know That's fine I I you
know you're you're just getting started
but like you got a long ways to go
How do you think about what does what
does generosity look like Is it just
writing blog posts Yeah that's part of it
But it's not We're just writing the blog
post It's what you put into them It's
the time You're being generous with your
time and you're being generous With your
expertise and the things that you study
behind the scenes that no one really knows
that you study or that you're a fan of
You're giving away all of that stuff And
you're translating it through your lens
through the way that you think about it
This happens I mean I spend so much time
in my day In my days All my off hours on
my on hours Either reading or watching
or consuming some type of educational
material You know when I when I'm at
home brewer it's my hobby I love it
When I'm not homebrewing I miss it And
then when I'm not doing it I if I'm on
the treadmill or I'm on a walk Which
doesn't happen as much as I want it to But
when I'm doing those things I'm probably
listening to a podcast about brewing beer
And getting an education I'm probably
at night before bed reading a book about
You know brewing sour beers
My free time My downtime It's sitting on
the couch and watching YouTube videos of
people brewing That's like that's what
I do It's like my it's my interest And
I also practice it and distilling that
information Uh for for no pun intended
even though there's no distilling
and beer Um The all of that work
Of educating myself and then trying
to put it to the test and then
regurgitating that is That's all
work That's all at the research
and stuff behind the content stuff
It's spent Years 13 15 20 years just
helping people take care of their pool
Without I didn't have a blog I didn't
have videos One Person at a time walking
into the pool store You know Uh an adult
Asking a 16 year old boy Why has pool
is green And you know When you after you
help You know probably a million adults
With their with their house problems Uh
they're not as they're not as they're
very I grew up uh with a very twisted
sense of you of who like an adult
is because I'm like oh well there I
know more than them About this one
topic Anyway that's a that's a tangent
The generosity piece is Taking
those You know 15 20 years
of knowledge knowledge And
And D and putting that on paper or the
internet or in video form or whatever
format you you you're comfortable with
But it's not just Putting it down It's
caring about how it's presented It's
caring about How crap like how it's
going to be consumed Is it are you
making this easy for somebody or are you
just regurgitating what somebody else
already said So you really didn't put
any work into it You just like you know
You just pooped it out And that's not
generosity That's You know it's like
going to a cocktail party and somebody
says to me Oh like could you tell me
something about brewing And I'm like
yeah yeah I was like you know he's put
the grains in the thing in the water
and then somehow you know beer comes out
They're like oh okay So clearly you don't
you don't have no interest in explaining
anything but that's not how I am I go into
detail If you ask me about homebrewing I
can talk to you I will talk to you till
you fall asleep Uh about homebrewing
And blogging to be honest I could do
the same exact I can talk about business
all day Every day I'm talking about
business by myself in an empty house
To a microphone and ultimately to you
cause I love it so much Like if I think
about it All the time that homebrewing
And I don't think about pools that much
But I used to I used to be very ended
to knowing everything I knew Like I
could recite part numbers Off the top
of my head I knew so much about it Um
But now you but now it's like you're
you you have like I I talk about this
idea called passion mashing where you
take two things that you know maybe it's
something that you're interested in and
something that you're passionate about
Uh and you mash them together And usually
something unique comes out And in my case
You know I'm very I'm very much a student
of film I am very much like a video nerd
Uh an audio file All of those you know
things like I have interests outside of
Of brewing and outside you know these like
other tangible tangent things that I do
And it's like okay well I'm a home
brewer but what else am I good at You
know I I know a lot about pools What
else am I good at And you know I you
mash them up and something interesting
comes out So like Hey you might be
interested and you might be a great
writer And your hobby is I don't know
Soundproofing a room I don't know maybe
you're or decorating like you know maybe
you're into decorating rooms You know
interior design And you're and you also
happen to be a great writer Like you'd
make a perfect blogger Right Maybe you're
into Video stuff or music like there's
there's all you know maybe you're in the
radio and broadcasting There's all kinds
of things you can do It's taking the time
Your time And and giving it to
someone else That's generosity and
what's great about the internet
is you can do that at scale
And people notice it The audience
appreciates it Let me tell you because
that is the kind of work that I'm doing
at brew cabin Per video like the amount
of time that I'm putting in per video
And then that and then I dropped the
video It's like the comment section is
insane because they're just like this
is the greatest thing I've ever seen
Right Now that's me taking a ton of work
and and like putting it into one like
compressing it into one thing You could
take a different approach like when
I'm doing what this podcast like what
I'm doing on YouTube where I'm taking
20 plus years of knowledge And and my
skillset of video and audio And doing it
In bite sized smaller increments And so
over time The collection of what I create
will be massive and insane As opposed
to compressing All of that information
Into one video or into one Blog posts
And it just works better for different
industries It would work better if I
did I think not if it worked better it's
a different animal If I were to make
a video every week about homebrewing
You know the video itself would be packed
full of information Sure But it might
not have the audio quality or video
quality because I need to get it out Like
there's there's going to be something
blocking me from doing that So you can
be generous Either by doing one video
every quarter Like I do at brew Gavin
Or Uh a video every day on YouTube
As long as you're willing to give away
The things that you know And it's much
easier if you like those things So
that's the first step and that's really
like the content step Right where it's
That's how you create the thing that
you end up distributing to the world
And that's number two Is distribution
Um I'm going to read this first part
of this section because It can get a
little confusing I think So I had to
figure out two things in my own business
which was who is my audience and what
does my business do Who was your father
and what does he do There it is Who
is your daddy And what does he do
Uh kindergarten cap then I
don't do impressions Sorry
It took me years to figure out who my
audience was I want my business to us and
I and I and that sounds strange because
you're like well you know I have some
university which has a pool care website
And it's like okay so your audience
is pool owners And your business Is
teaching pool care And That Sounds simple
But it took me a long time In fact
I had to read a book called traction
which I do recommend and I did an
exercise in it which I don't normally
do I don't like you know following the
rules about other people Uh And and
doing exercises In general So I did I
did it and it's super clarified things
because I found out that my audience
was full of pool and hot tub owners And
you're probably thinking well no shit
Matt that's you know hello But I was
so busy creating content All over the
place I did I wrote a piece of art I
wrote an article that I've probably
told the story before but I wrote an
article called like how to have sex
in a hot tub Right And Cause I cause I
did my keyword research and I saw hot
tub sex had a lot of searches Of course
For obvious reasons And I was like I
bet you I can rank for that And I and
I did I ranked number one for it And
it wasn't like just pervs looking for
pick pick pick pictorials or vids You
know hot vids They were really looking
about like is it safe I have sex And
that's what I wrote about It turns out
You don't have to own a hot tub to bang
in one You could be You could be anybody
in anyone's hot tub And I didn't realize
that You know I did this I did a similar
one about uh how to exercise and a pool
because I was trying to reach a huge
audience of people You know anybody
that would swim but that's the thing
it's like anybody can swim anywhere
And you don't even have to like you
can exercise in anyone's pool You
could be a ten-year-old exercising
in your parents pool And you found
that article on YouTube or video or
or Google and it's meaningless You're
not a customer you're not a pool owner
You're a pool user They're very different
And my business this was the big one
for me What does my business do Well
I had to be honest and it's like we
provide educational media In the form
of articles and videos That's it What
I did It's what I do You know I'm
trying to get and other things but
ultimately at the end of the day that's
what we do We don't make software
We make educational media
So that's it All of a sudden if that's
your mission statement Or if that's
what your business does you figure
that out I think it's It becomes a lot
Clearing It's a clarifying moment of
like where do you find those people Where
do I find pool and spa owners I have a
million platforms I could go on Right
You might be in the industry you know you
and I We're interested in online business
So we're on Twitter right You know we
might be younger So we're on Tik TOK
Uh maybe Snapchat and for you know A
little older I don't I don't know if
that's even a thing anymore Maybe we're on
clubhouse Again is that a thing anymore So
We're thinking oh I got to have a
Twitter account for my pool business
because that's where I live And Uh if
you really understand pool owners you
know that they're not on Twitter Because
they're adults and they have like four
kids And they're not an online business
They're probably in finance or tech
Or blue collar And they're not on Twitter
And I spent it wasted a lot of time
promoting So many diversity on Twitter
That's why I'm not on Instagram because
my audience is not on Instagram The
homebrewing audience is on Instagram
My audience is on Facebook for for
pools Um And I just you know that
you you immediately know that once
you understand who your audience is
It's that simple
And I do highly recommend that you Uh
you read that book traction I think it
was by a I think Gino Wickman is his
name It could be wrong about that But
it was really helpful in clarifying
my business Don't get too deep into
it But I thought it was helpful at
least that first exercise of finding
out exactly what it is that I do
And
There's also a great video on YouTube
by miles Beckler friend of mine
who talks about traffic diversity
Uh and just in distribution
And It's great because like you
It's just I don't know It's it's just like
It's so freaking awesome to have blog
these days There's so many place places to
promote your stuff and to distribute your
content you can distribute your content
On YouTube And reach Fucking billions
of people You can you can Have your own
blog and you get Google you're going
to have pins You could be on tick pack
I always say tick talk like that I always
say it like Like tic TAC Like um you know
north Jersey Even though it's not where
I'm from You're like well you're from
New Jersey I said not the same There's a
very different So they're very different
territories Very different accents Okay
The third and final thing And there's
some other considerations but the
third thing When it comes to having on
touchable business model is collection
Now when you look at You know being
extremely generous with your content
distributing your content To the
masses at scale on multiple platforms
Now you have all these eyeballs on
your content All of these people you're
helping You're B you're being generous
You're helping millions and millions
of people But who really owns that
con who really owns those people It's
the platforms It's YouTube It's Google
It's not even your website you know
Yes They're coming to your website and
yes you should own your own website and
not be on something like medium that
can just start throwing ads on your
shit And you have no control over that
Right
You own that but But really it's Google
you're at the mercy of Google When it
comes to YouTube and Google You're at
the mercy of Pinterest You're at the
mercy of Facebook So number three is I
think the most important thing which is
collection I call it collection because
It's a more of an idea than it is a tactic
And the idea is somebody is Looking all
you know somebody Got a green pool in
my case or they're trying to get started
with homebrewing Or they're looking to
optimize their blog posts It doesn't
matter whatever your content is Okay
They're looking for you They're actively
out there and they're searching for
content and your content is going to reach
them as long as you are super generous
You pump out the jams And you post it on
the platforms where your audience lives
It's going to happen The problem though
is Yes you can wait until somebody becomes
a fan of you and then does their homework
to find out more ways they can consume
from you The better thing to do is collect
them when you have them and say listen
You found me on YouTube You found me
on Google You found me on Facebook I'm
glad you found me I'm glad I helped you
How about you Give me your email address
I'll give you something in exchange for
that Don't worry It's not like you're
just going to give it to me And that way
you and I can communicate And I can give
you more information more of my content
the stuff that you haven't seen And the
best way for me to give that to you is
via email because it's really the only
Two way communication that we really
have That's not like right now
that's not controlled by an algorithm
And then once you start
collecting those people
Everything changes you actually now
have like you're going to actually have
a real business because God forbid Uh
Google updates some dumb Algorithm change
where they're changing titles and your
stuff's not clickable anymore or we're not
ranking anymore because they're too busy
testing on their end They own your shit
YouTube is shutting people down
cause they talked about Dina and
they mentioned uh something Not
great Or maybe not even it or it was
just wrong The robot got it wrong
Whatever it is You don't own it
You don't own those eyeballs yet
So own them And the only way that I can
think of owning them in some way is by
having their email address because then
you're taking them off the platform
You're saying listen Hey did you know I
just taught you about pool maintenance
for beginners But Maybe you have a
saltwater pool or maybe you have an
algae problem or maybe you know did you
know that there's a product exists and
I can really help you I can send you
all that directly You don't have to like
refined it You don't have to wait for
An ad to retarget you you don't have
to wait for the algorithm to serve
you up more of my content You don't
have to even subscribe because the
next piece of content I put out
might not even be relevant for you
Collected the email address And if
again if all the shit goes down You have
a list of people a list of potential
customers that you could Basically have
a business for the rest of your life
With the same group of people and you
could do it all through email And you
don't need any platform And that is
Crazy interesting because I believe that
that is the ultimate future-proofing
strategy Which is If you have any MLS
you have a business Think about it Just
think about Okay It's a couple of other
things to consider and I'll wrap this up
We're being extremely generous We're
publishing on the right platforms We're
collecting email addresses Processing
things out having standard operating
procedures or SOP is in our industry
Uh it's how I'm doing this podcast
I am literally recording this I am
hitting a couple of buttons and it is
published and scheduled to the world
or scheduled and published to the world
Super It's all written down my process
my YouTube processes written down my blog
pro post-process is written down and it
is included in a cheat sheet that you
can download At money lab.co/cheat sheet
All of those processes and they get
fine tuned over time and they just kind
of run and it just makes everything
easier You just got to grease the wheels
now And again But think about systems
think about every single piece of your
machine and how you can make it easier
on yourself How you can lube it up
To S to to get more out I'm
serious I mean I'm kind of like
I'm using Funny words like lube
Uh it's still funny But yeah I mean
think about it I love You know the last
episode we talked about the publishing
challenge It's a it's a greased machine
It just pumps All I have to do Show
up hit two or three buttons It's
written down for me Boom I'm recording
I got an assistant that takes care
of the rest It's not even that much
But every single piece of that Where's
the disc you know where's the description
located Do we just copy and paste it
Everything Every time you look at your
system anything that you have have
a repeatable task Look at trying to
figure out a way to make it simpler
Maybe you don't have to do that one
part but you don't know that until
you write it down It's like what gets
uh what gets measured gets managed
Right Is that the saying If you're
measuring every single thing that you
do from soup to nuts when you publish a
blog post or when you publish a YouTube
video Or when you create anything Think
about ways you could Grease the wheels
a little bit take out something make it
make it More streamlined make optimize it
It's the best thing you can do And then
everything just going to run better
Right MI I have I was a disorganized
kid And I was a lazy kid And as soon
as I started my own business all that
changed I was like I'm not going to
be this person anymore I am the most
organized person that I know And I and
that would she still shocks my father
Because I was a mess as a kid You know
as a as a adolescent As a 22 year old
complete mess I didn't get organized
until 25 26 years old Maybe that's
just when people get organized but holy
crap I take it like mine just like my
desk is clean My desktop is spotless
There's like One file on it At all
times it drives me nuts inbox zero
Every single file in my Google
drive It's color coded and labeled
properly With one or two words
And honestly There's other
pieces of this that you can read
If you go to money lab dot Co slash
untouchable If you want to read them
But you take everything I just said
Generosity Distribution collection You
take all those things Yeah Mix them
together You you you have a business
And then you give it Time Patients Is
a virtue and it is key in this business
this online internet Marketing blogging
business The shit just takes time
And I am Sitting here before you today
talking into a microphone to you And the
only reason I feel confident in doing
that It's because I have 17 years under
my belt Doing some kind of internet
work to get me to this place I feel
Genuinely qualified And I don't feel
like I'm top dog If that's even something
that someone feels I'm sure somebody
out there feels that way I'm sure D I
Definitely people felt that way I
don't feel that way I just feel like
I get it I understand it I'm patient
All I got to do Pump out the jams
get Jay be generous with my jams
Distribute my jams And make sure that
my jams are collecting My peeps what am
I doing Why am I doing this This thing
What's this My jams and my peeps
Um I feel like Um my father who's
trying to sound cool And I don't
mean like my actual father just
like a father Trying to sound cool
Anyway
That's a T set That's a T set for you
at the end of this episode Listen Um I
mentioned this in the last podcast episode
that I really want to hear from you
I really want you to email me Uh
there's uh my email address is in
the description in the show notes My
Twitter handle is also in the show notes
I want you to reach out to me and I want
you to just Tell me if you like these
episodes if you're if you're digging the
format of just like solo 30 minutes Me
talking about stuff that I like About
online business hopefully teaching you
something Hopefully making you think
different because I love thinking
different I love being challenged not just
in online business and like the actual
tech side of things but like mentally
No I don't want to say that I like
being challenged I like my brain being
challenged I like perspective Because
I think it's interesting I like hearing
other people's stories So shoot me an
email and just say hello and just say
Hey I heard the pocket podcast episode I
liked it or I didn't like it or I liked
this part but I didn't like this part
Uh You know offer some constructive
criticism and feedback And I will and
I will uh I will listen to it Because I
am an open book And I am also a sponge
for knowledge And perspective anyway
That's it Um Thanks for listening And
I think I'll see you guys in the next
episode Oh you'll hear me That's it
Goody mind We'll have.co/cheat
sheet Get the get get the download
All right I'll see you next time