Business Casual

Why is it so dang hard to ask for help? Matt and Andrew debate why they have so much trouble reaching out to their network and asking for favors -- even though they both have entrepreneur friends who would gladly help. How can they start leveraging their networks without coming across as fake or needy? They discuss everything from how to craft emails and how to stop procrastinating with pitching t...

Earning thousands more a month with just a flip of the switch? It's possible. Small changes can pay off in big ways in the online business world. Matt and Andrew talk about the tiny tweaks they've made that have lead to more money. And we're talking really tiny tweaks, like moving around existing links, adding new featured images and making minor updates to existing products. It can take lots of t...

How do you hack the YouTube algorithm? Tom Martin joins the show to teach us everything he knows about YouTube SEO and do a live teardown of Matt's Swim University YouTube channel. Tom is the YouTube mastermind behind several multi-million subscriber YouTube channels, including BBC's Mr. Bean. He shares strategies for getting viewers to binge watch your videos, designing thumbnails with great clic...

There's money to be made in the advertising world. But is it the right business model for everyone? Both Matt and Andrew have made a living selling sponsorships and advertising through their online businesses. But over the years, they've both realized that it's not the right fit for their businesses or the way they like to work. Why did they abandon that business model? And what is the right busin...

Ooh, piece of candy! As entrepreneurs, we're constantly being sold on new ideas. And some of us end up "impulse buying" those new ideas. It's classic Shiny Object Syndrome. Like an excited little puppy running after a bouncing tennis ball, it's super tempting to chase after new and exciting business ideas, tools and projects. Matt and Andrew talk about how they've fallen victim to Shiny Object Syn...

YouTube is soooo hot right now. Matt's noticing an uptick in sales, traffic and ad revenue from the new YouTube videos he's produced and published for SwimU. So he's running an experiment to see if he can make more money through the 'Tube on both of his affiliate websites. Will producing YouTube videos again pay off in the long run? How the heck does YouTube SEO work? And how can you measure if it...

FOCUS, PEOPLE! Both Matt and Andrew have historically sucked at setting boundaries with their businesses and focusing on what they actually need to do. But all that's about to change! And Andrew's about to start a family, so he's got extra incentive to figure how to manage his time. They both love working on their businesses, but it means it's easy to get lost in their work or go down a rabbit hol...

You've got business questions, we've got business answers! Matt and Andrew bring all the A's to your Q's, including a deep dive into measuring click-through rates and why goals might be more distracting than helpful. How do you improve affiliate marketing conversions on your website? How do you protect yourself from getting your ideas stolen on the internet? And how do you deal with running a nich...

Matt needs money! He's already trimmed his costs down to the bone in his business and now he wants to focus on efficient ways to ratchet up his revenue. So how can he increase the flow of his existing income streams on his websites? Should he focus on micro changes, like optimizing click through rates? Or is it something bigger, like monetizing his video content on his YouTube channel? In this con...

Getting to $15,000 monthly recurring revenue in 6 months... piece of cake, right? Matt and Andrew have challenged themselves to get their product Lasso into the hands of 300 customers by the end of November. It's a time crunch, which means not relying on long-term SEO and focusing on strategies that'll get more customers in the first few months. What tactics will get them the quickest and most imp...

You know you should have processes in place for your business. So why does every entrepreneur avoid this? At what point is it time to create better processes versus always fixing things as you go? Matt and Andrew break down the process of creating processes, including how to trick yourself into doing the really un-sexy work of building a business operating system. Matt has a literal gasping ah-ha...

Spoiler: classic email marketing tactics don't work for every online business. Can complex marketing funnels, slow drip campaigns and content upgrades actually hurt sales? Matt and Andrew dive into the details of Matt's multi-month experiment trying to optimize his sales funnel at Swim University. They pick through Matt's sales stats, walk through his elaborate email set up for converting readers...

WWMD (What Would Matt Do)? Travis Sherry of Extra Pack of Peanuts joins the show as Matt plays business consultant and dives into what's working and what's not on Travis' website. Travis shares all the juicy details (revenue, traffic, subscribers) and Matt unloads his advice on how he thinks Travis can start to rank for some meaty keywords and pull in more revenue. Buckle up: this episode is like...

It's listener question time again! Matt and Andrew unpack all of your burning questions. How do you save an article that flopped in the SEO rankings? What should you focus on if you're only one person trying to build an affiliate site? And how much does Matt LOVE banner ads? (Hint: 0%). Thank you everyone for sending in your questions. Enjoy! P.S. The Affiliate Marketing Video Course is on sale fo...

Move, please! Get out the way! Like any good entrepreneur that cares too much, Matt and Andrew are prone to self-sabotaging the very same business that they love so dearly. So how do you stop yourself from derailing the growth and success of your online business? In this episode, Matt and Andrew discuss how to stop micromanaging and create business processes that last. Their little business babies...

It's the one year anniversary of the Money Lab Podcast! Steph Halligan joins the show today to celebrate with Matt and take a behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into an episode of Money Lab. From the work flow that makes podcasting easier to Matt's crazy tech setup in his new office-turned-podcast-studio, we explore each piece that make for an entertaining podcast. Enjoy! P.S. You can...

Time to wrap it up? Matt and Andrew debate how to know when it's stop growing a revenue-generating website. Is there a moment when an online business is “done” and it’s time to move on to other projects? Or should they always double down on the work if a website is making money? I don't think there was ever an episode where Matt and Andrew disagreed more ;-) Enjoy! P.S. The Affiliate Marketing Vid...

A subscription-based online community sounds good in theory, but what does it actually take to run a monthly membership site? Jason Moore stops by to explore the payoffs and challenges of managing a paid community. How do you keep adding value so customers stick around? And can a skeptic like Matt be convinced to start his own Money Lab community? Jason helps Matt debate whether or not it's a fit...

It's a battle royale between affiliate sites as Matt and Andrew debate the pros and cons of their different affiliate business models. From only using the Amazon affiliate program to managing tons of affiliate partners, how do they structure their affiliate revenue streams? And what are the challenges of running a site that makes 100% of its money from affiliate marketing? Matt and Andrew dive int...

"Internet stuntman" and long-time friend of the show Justin Jackson stops by to dive into what it takes to build a successful SaaS company. Justin's own company Transistor.fm (a podcast hosting platform) has reached over $8,000 in MRR in 8 months. How do you figure out how to price your product? How do you do stand out at a crowded market? And how the heck do you actually get your product to sprea...

It's listener question time! Matt and Andrew bring the A's to your Q's about everything from starting a site from scratch to the ethics of affiliate marketing. And what would it take to get Matt and Andrew to sell Swim University or Listen Money Matters? Thanks for submitting your questions and keep 'em coming. Enjoy! P.S. Naturally, Matt talks a lot about his SEO course in this episode. Check it...

It only took 15+ combined years for Matt and Andrew to "make it" as "entrepreneurs." And you can, too! Listen in on Matt and Andrew's beer-fueled trip down memory lane recapping the slumps, the wins and the eff-it-all moments on the loooooooong road to "success." Enjoy! P.S. Andrew casually recommends checking out WP Engine: www. Moneylab.co/wpengine P.P.S. This episode may or may not be brought t...

Gotta spend money to make money, right? RIGHT? Matt and Andrew go over their business expenses from the past year and debate whether or not this old entrepreneur adage lives up to the hype. They talk real dollars and debate whether spending all that money in their business actually makes cents. Enjoy! P.S. One thing that Matt's happy to spend money on? Email. Check out his Converkit experiment her...

Oh snap, it's here! Matt and Andrew have finally launched their SaaS product, Lasso (an affiliate link manager and monetizer for Wordpress sites). In this episode, they talk about the crazy-making process of bringing a SaaS product to market and how excited they are to start using this beautiful piece of software. Enjoy! P.S. Read all about Lasso and the entire challenge at MoneyLab.co

It's 10 PM. Do you know where your income streams are? Running an online business means you're exposed to a lot of external forces, like algorithm updates, affiliate commission changes and even economic recessions. Matt and Andrew debate how to future-proof their businesses to protect against the unpredictable. Enjoy! P.S. Sorry about the audio crackles in this one. Maybe Matt shouldn't eat pop ro...