S5E86
· 28:55
Hey. It's Matt. Welcome to Money Lab. I am in the brewery. I'm currently brewing a beer.
Matt Giovanisci:It is mashing us. So if you hear like a light in the background, that is what that sound is. You can hear it right right there. So, I'm just doing a quick episode, get some steps in. I was on Twitter, which normally I hate going on.
Matt Giovanisci:There's a lot of chatter about SEO and about how backlinks don't matter, and it's like, give me a fucking break anymore with the SEO shit. Like, I kinda feel like game's changed. You know, it's wild west right now. Who knows? That's not what I wanna talk about.
Matt Giovanisci:I saw a back and forth, between 2 of my favorite people online. 1 is Thomas Frank, and one is Justin Jackson. Justin Jackson asked or I guess posed this idea of, like I don't even know if it was an idea or a question or, you know, it was the idea of consistency in content production versus quality in content production. And so Justin was like, this idea of consistency is a bit flawed because if you are if you adhere to a schedule of publishing, right, like, you are, you know, publishing, let's say, once a week. I don't know.
Matt Giovanisci:And and maybe that's and I think he was specifically citing, like, newsletters or blogs, long form content. And he was saying, like, like, publishing every week is, like, not the best thing because it's like you're gonna run out of content and then oh, that actually works now, the beeping. Thank you. That's my brewing timer. I'm actually gonna get let it go a little bit long, because I didn't hit my numbers, but, just gonna go for a little bit as I do this episode.
Matt Giovanisci:Another 15 minutes or so. This is gonna be a quick one. So so the idea being that, like, okay, long form content consistently where you're publishing a new video every single week or a new newsletter every single week, like, it's gonna get stale because how can somebody possibly create bangers every week? Right? And wouldn't it be better if you weren't on a schedule, but all but every time you produce something, it was a banger.
Matt Giovanisci:Right? You know, aren't you more likely to always watch that person's videos? Thomas chimed in and was like,
Matt Giovanisci:I think it
Matt Giovanisci:depends on a few factors. The first factor being that, like, if you're new to this content game, the consistency, the reps are important to get better at your craft and to build an audience. And perhaps since you're new, you're gonna come out of the gate either if you come out of the gate with bangers because you're doing something important each time, because you've you know, maybe you've been doing something for 10, 15 years, and now all of a sudden, it's like, I wanna create content around this, and I have, like, a backlog of things that I could make that would be fucking awesome. Right? Versus just somebody who's you know?
Matt Giovanisci:And then maybe that person, like, just skyrockets. The second idea, if you're new, is that you just are not strong. You don't have the reps, and therefore, like, having that consistency, even though they're terrible, is helping you as a creator grow. And then maybe over time, yeah, you you can scale back and only produce bangers. So that's one factor.
Matt Giovanisci:2nd factor is niche. So he specifically cited a creator called Coffeezilla, who I've watched in the past, and it's he just uncovers and does deep dives on, like, scammers on the Internet. And the he Thomas's point was, like, there's always something to talk about, like news or, you know, in his case, like scammer news. I'm thinking of MKA, MKBHD of, like or Marquez. There's always new tech to review.
Matt Giovanisci:So, yes, not every video is going to be a banger, but there's always something to talk about. Right? There's always something new and interesting. And so I think in those cases, it makes sense. Now I kinda looked at 2 examples of what I do, and I thought, okay.
Matt Giovanisci:Let me dissect this because, again, I could say the same thing. And I I you know, another creator that I love is is, Kevin from Epic Gardening. And so or Eric, as he's also known as. So he there I feel like with gardening too, there's just always something to cover. There's always something new.
Matt Giovanisci:He can't have bangers every time. But if he only had bangers, I think people would lose interest, because it's like, well, not not that they would lose interest, but he wouldn't be top of mind. He he's he's running a business. Like, he has to be out there. He has to be constantly advertising.
Matt Giovanisci:Even Coca Cola constantly advertises, constantly puts their brand in front of your face. Okay? And so that's kind of what content is now. It's it's a form of advertising. And with gardening, it's such a massive topic.
Matt Giovanisci:And there's and there's, like, an almost an endless amount of plants and and, you know, vegetation or whatever the categorizations is that, like, he could do a deep dive on every single one of those things, and he would always have something new to talk about. So I think where it starts to get stale is this is this shit. Right? The shit that, you know, I'm talking about on this podcast. I'm saying a lot of the same shit over and over and over again.
Matt Giovanisci:There's really not much to this. And this particular niche, we're all we're all talking about the same shit. I have different nuances because I'm I'm, you know, I'm specifically talking about my business. But ultimately, how many times have I done the same episode? Like, it's it's happened, or just a different spin on an old idea, Or, you know, how many fucking times have I done a podcast on just, Matt, you gotta focus.
Matt Giovanisci:You gotta keep just keep your eye on the ball. It's like, okay. You know, how many episodes have I done about SEOs? I'm saying the same bullshit. This episode, I've probably done before.
Matt Giovanisci:So, yeah, I'd say in in make money online or business, it's kinda the same shit over and over again. There's not there's not a lot of new shit to talk about besides, like, oh, there's a new tool, but, like, okay. How long have we been talking about Notion? You know what I mean? Come on.
Matt Giovanisci:Give me a break. So I feel like in the make money online niche topic, whatever, yeah, if you only fucking put out bangers, you're gonna get noticed. I think that's what's happening to, like, people like Alex Hermozzi, where he's putting out he's not putting out bangers every time, but it's it's thought through a little bit more than the average person than what I'm doing for sure. Okay? Now I look at this and I think, okay.
Matt Giovanisci:Where does you know, and and taking Justin's point, because Justin, I'm sure, is following a lot of the same kind of creators where they're talking about business. He specifically talks about podcasting. Honestly, how like, podcasting is such a small niche, and there's not a lot of new shit happening all the time. How are you gonna make a like, if you were gonna start a podcasting, like, how to podcast YouTube channel, and you wanted to grow, like, what could you possibly do? Maybe you could do microphone reviews, but let's be honest.
Matt Giovanisci:Like, it's been the same fucking microphones. Like, the s m 7 b is still the industry standard. Right? Okay. So they came out with the m 47 or the m v 7 or whatever it was.
Matt Giovanisci:Okay. There's a video, but, like, it really hasn't gotten that crazy. Like, nothing has really happened. You can make the bangers, and then that's it. But then it's like, okay.
Matt Giovanisci:Well, you know, consistency is gonna be really tough in that niche, I think. Because what are you gonna talk about? Like, eventually, it's gonna get stale. I think this podcast is gonna have the same problem because, again, I'm talking about the same business over and over and over again. And, yes, new challenges arise, but they're not they're not all gonna be hits.
Matt Giovanisci:They're not all gonna be worth your attention, worth your time to listen to. But the consistency, it just, you know, keeps me going, I guess, top of mind. I think that with a so I've always had the idea with a brand like Money Lab, and I'm not doing this obviously, but it would have been so much better to put out to drop a podcast, like a season, on a specific topic. Like, let's just say, I created a a podcast about podcasting, and I recorded a tight 10 episode run, and it was like taking a fucking podcasting masterclass. I think that that would be better than doing a podcasting podcast about podcast that dropped every week.
Matt Giovanisci:Because, yeah, what are you talking about this week? That's that's not you know, at least with a short form, like, season, everything can be a banger, and then you go, okay. Now let's drop one about SEO, and that's 10 episodes or 15 maybe. Let's drop one about, you know, YouTubing or who knows? Or video creation.
Matt Giovanisci:Like, you could just drop that and I think that would do really well for you because you're basically putting out free class free courses. But then that's it. Once you're done, it's like, okay. Yeah. Maybe you have to update some some episodes, but that's about it.
Matt Giovanisci:I don't think it requires consistency. Now things that do are like, you know, that's why interview shows are so popular because it's like, well, there's always somebody new to interview. Right? There's always a new angle. There's always a new story to tell.
Matt Giovanisci:And so, yeah, interviews, they're gonna do well. There's a consistency there. It's why I think Joe Rogan's, like, 3 times a week. Because it's how easy is it to just sit down and talk to somebody for 4 hours? I think that that's I personally think that's super easy.
Matt Giovanisci:But I know for a lot of people, it probably is the opposite. Now thinking on my own businesses or my own pieces of content like Money Lab, yes. I think still if I had a business, a like a Money Lab type business, I would I always had the idea to drop those types of shows and call them a day. I tried doing the interview route. I personally just wasn't interested in other entrepreneur stories enough to book the interview and talk to people.
Matt Giovanisci:Like, I just didn't really care. And I thought there's enough of that. What I have nothing to add personally. In fact, I'd probably be a worse interviewer because I wouldn't prepare. So that's not gonna be in my wheelhouse.
Matt Giovanisci:This particular format works for me because it's super easy to create. In fact, it's so easy. I'm I've I've episodes booked out. Like, I'm recording this in, like, almost the end of April, and I'm booked I have episodes 3 times a week booked all the way until July just because of how easy this is for me to create. But they're not bangers.
Matt Giovanisci:They're not bangers. In fact, they're quite the opposite. Okay? So now let's take a look at Swim University. The way that I look at Swim University is we've basically said, we're we're not we there is no such thing as a banger.
Matt Giovanisci:There is no such thing, okay, in in pools. Okay? So succumb to that idea. And so if there's if like, the best idea that I can come up with, the best idea is not gonna go viral, is not gonna is not gonna get me tons of followers or tons of subscribers or tons of leads. Like, it's not gonna happen.
Matt Giovanisci:Okay. So if it's not gonna happen, then it's not worth me putting that type of energy behind something like that. It just doesn't make sense to do that. Okay? Now you can make the argument, but what are we talking about?
Matt Giovanisci:Like, you could do, you know, a a video about urinating in a pool like Mark Rober did, and his was huge. I'm like, yeah. But he was trying to reach a different audience. The audience I'm trying to reach, it's not gonna go it never does. Never goes viral.
Matt Giovanisci:Now I have videos that have millions of views. So I think I have there might be, like, 3 to 5 videos in our catalog that have over a 1000000 views, But that's time. That's not that has nothing to do with virality. Now we've had what you would call hits. In fact, the one hit that I remember we had was a video about saltwater pool care mistakes.
Matt Giovanisci:I believe that's what it was. Steph knew before she put it out, she was like, this is gonna be a hit for us. And the reason was because she read all the comments from all of our other videos, and the consensus was people wanted wanted to know about saltwater pools because it's such a you know, it was a it's like a thing. So she was like, alright. I'm gonna finally do it.
Matt Giovanisci:And then when she did, it's what everybody wanted. But when I say viral or when I say hit, we're talking it's our it's our top performing video, but it's not bringing in like, it's not crushing it for us by any means. So again, it's like it's not and and Steph put the same amount of effort into that video. She's done all of our other videos. It's just the topic was a hit.
Matt Giovanisci:Right? So that's Swim University. Same with our shorts. Some sometimes she writes a short script that she's like, I don't know. And sometimes she's like, yeah.
Matt Giovanisci:It's gonna hit. Like, I got a good hook, and it does. And, again, when I say hit, not gangbusters. The most we've ever gotten in terms of views was a 100000 views on TikTok for a video that went out. I think we've even gone maybe as high as 500,000 views on a video.
Matt Giovanisci:One, I don't think those 500,000 people are pool owners. I think it's a small majority. But and I and it just went viral by accident for whatever reason. But did it result in us getting a ton of traffic or a ton of new follow? No.
Matt Giovanisci:No. Because it doesn't matter. And, again, do we put more effort into that video than we did our other videos? No. We just got lucky because we put a lot of lottery tickets out there.
Matt Giovanisci:You know? So that's another reason to be consistent is sometimes the topic just is some is something that people wanna hear. Whether you put you know, you didn't put any extra effort into it. Now I am I have to succumb to that because I am the type of creator who wants to put effort behind what he publishes. And that particular niche industry, whatever topic does not require it, does not require my effort.
Matt Giovanisci:It requires my dedication to consistency. That's it. K? Now what about Brew Cab, which is about beer? That one, I have taken the approach to only put out what I would consider bangers.
Matt Giovanisci:Whether they actually perform that way or not is not does not matter to me. But every single video that someone sees on my channel, I want it to be unbelievably good whether the topic warrants it or not. And that's a choice that I've made, which means I haven't published a video in 2 years because I just have not had the time to dedicate myself to that particular, declaration. I would love to, but it doesn't warrant it right now. Just gonna bump up the temp a bit.
Matt Giovanisci:Mash this bitch out. Yeah. Give me 10 more minutes. So that is a choice. But the other thing too is that with BrewCabin, I have nothing to offer.
Matt Giovanisci:It is not a business. It is simply a means of creativity and creation. K? It's an art piece. It's an art platform for me.
Matt Giovanisci:It is not a you know, I'm not trying to sell a course or I mean, I I have one, but I'm not trying to do that anymore. So I think there is a balance. If you run a business and you are trying to sell something and content is your way of marketing, is a is a is one form of marketing for you, well, then here's then I think that you have to think of it in terms of advertising, not in terms of quality. Every single GEICO commercial is not high quality. It is just always there, and it has a vibe.
Matt Giovanisci:Alright? Some of those commercials have been hits, have been memorable. Can we talk about the cavemen here? They made a fucking TV show. Nick Kroll was in that thing.
Matt Giovanisci:I didn't think it was that bad, but I get why it got was canceled. But that's the thing is, like, they hit sometimes, but that's not the point of doing it. The point of doing it is to get is to basically make sure that GEICO is front and center when it comes to thinking about car insurance. That's it. Coca Cola has tons of commercials.
Matt Giovanisci:All these major brands, it's just pumping out commercials. Yes. The the higher the quality or the funnier it is, like, the more attention it's it's gonna get. But it doesn't like, sometimes they're just not they're duds. I think about the Budweiser commercials.
Matt Giovanisci:Back in the day, they were fucking hits, but not every one of them. Just the ones we remember. You know, what's up? And the fucking bullfrogs or whatever. I think that's the same company.
Matt Giovanisci:I think it was Budweiser. You know? Clydesdales. It's a totally different vibe. But, yeah, like, that's branding and marketing and advertising.
Matt Giovanisci:If you stop advertising, you're done. So, yes, in in Justin's, point of view of of, like, oh, I'm subscribed to this newsletter. It's same old same old. Yes. I agree.
Matt Giovanisci:That's how I feel too. It's like and you know where I mostly feel that? I mostly feel that in the make money online space because because I'm like, we're just doing the same shit. I would also say that people probably feel that way about Sun University. It's like, okay.
Matt Giovanisci:How many fucking emails are you gonna send to send to us about clearing up a cloudy pool? Right? Or in home brewing, I I wish there was a good newsletter for home brewing, but there is one that I subscribe to. And what they send is basically like a new recipe. And I'm like, I don't need this bombardment of recipes, which to me is low quality content.
Matt Giovanisci:It's just not it's not interesting to me. Now if a home brewing newsletter was was hit after hit, like, every single piece had something of extreme value and and perspective, I would make the argument that, yes, you know, they would they would they do much better, but they wouldn't make as much sales just because they're not they're not as they're not as frequent. I think for me, that's the way I tried, you know, and same with, like so the idea with with Brew Cabin was, okay. Let's only make let's only make bangers on YouTube. And then I thought, well, if I have that like, I was trying to put out content on Instagram every week, and it was really difficult because I'm like, well, I'm just doing the same shit over and over again.
Matt Giovanisci:I'm just brewing a beer and editing it really fast. You know? There's, like, a lot of cooking creators where it's, like, I don't watch every video from them because it's, like, I don't wanna make that particular dish. You know? But the consistency, when I need them, they're there, and I know that they're there.
Matt Giovanisci:I may not subscribe to them, but because of their consistency, because of their reliability, I'm one to you know what? I wanna make Carnitas. I'm gonna see if Kenji has a YouTube video because I subscribed to him. Do I subscribe to him now? No.
Matt Giovanisci:Because he's just putting out so much that I can't keep up, and also I don't want to. But then again, quality is so so. It's not not gonna be banger every time, and that's completely I think that's completely fine. I think it's completely fine. Brew cabin is an interesting beast because I could I could.
Matt Giovanisci:If I was selling a course right now, trying to get people to, you know, advance their home brewing techniques. If that was my goal, I I I would I would
M:have to be
Matt Giovanisci:consistent. Doing the the, you know, only banger thing, I my business would fail. I or it would be it would be so sporadic. I wouldn't be able to rely on it anymore. And I think that's where I get, like I think it's really, like, do you have a business or or not?
Matt Giovanisci:Because if you have a business, then you need to make videos or you need to make content if that is your form of advertising. Otherwise, you know, you gotta run ads or something. You gotta stay on top of stay on top of mind. And then what is consistent? Is consistent monthly?
Matt Giovanisci:Quarterly? I don't know. Here's the thing. Here's what I do know, and I'll I'll wrap up with this. I don't know if, you know, I just this is really interesting to me, but, again, doesn't it it fits my needs, and that's it.
Matt Giovanisci:So I published a photo on Brew Cabins Instagram yesterday. And the photo was I had been building this fermentation area in my brewery. It's pretty epic looking. Okay? And then what I did was I went on I I created a bunch of stories where I explained how I built everything.
Matt Giovanisci:Is it crazy impressive? No. It's not like, I didn't go above and beyond. But it's just like a nice clean setup. Right?
Matt Giovanisci:Now I did that and whatever I got a lot of comments that were like, dude, when are you gonna start making videos again? And that's what all my comments on my YouTube channel say. Like, when are you gonna start making videos again? I miss your videos. And so that kind of shit to me, I feel like in in Justin's point, like, yeah.
Matt Giovanisci:The people who are putting out few and far between content, but they're bangers, you are gonna jump at the chance to watch it. Right? But but all those motherfuckers who commented on my Instagram, they haven't commented in months, if not years. It wasn't until I created mediocre content that they were like, hey. When's your better content coming out?
Matt Giovanisci:Which is not a I don't think that's a bad thing. I think that's like, hey. We're waiting. We're still here for it. But they were they weren't there.
Matt Giovanisci:They're there, but they weren't in my you know, they I wasn't in their circle of influence. I wasn't top of mind. And I truly believe that if you are going to run any any business that does not rely on direct, you know, sales, like cold calling, which I can make the argument that that is consistency, but you have to be consistent in something. So, anyway, I hope that's something. Consistency versus, I wanna say consistency.
Matt Giovanisci:Like, what's another word for, like, banger? I don't know. I'll just say consistency versus bangers. Call it that. Alright.
Matt Giovanisci:If you got any, insights, shoot me an email, madamoneylab.co. Bye.
Listen to Money Lab using one of many popular podcasting apps or directories.
