The Modest Man

How We Focused On Content Creation And Doubled Traffic And Revenue This Year

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Brock McGoff

Founder, The Modest Man

$4K

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

The Modest Man

themodestman.com

from Tucson, Arizona, USA

started May 2012

$4,000

revenue/mo

Founders

Employees

Discover what tools recommends to grow your business!

Discover what books Brock recommends to grow your business!

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Want more updates on The Modest Man? Check out these stories:

1. Starting A Men's Style Publication Reaching A Million People Per Month (2018) ➜

2. My Blog & YouTube Channel Now Generate Nearly $50K Per Month (2022) ➜

3. Lessons Learned From A Blogger Trying To Build A YouTube Channel (2019) ➜

This is a follow up story for The Modest Man. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published about 6 years ago, check it out here.

Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.

I’m Brock McGoff, founder of The Modest Man, a digital publication that helps men improve their image and ultimately feel more confident.

I also own a site called Manored that’s all about interior design from a male perspective.

how-we-doubled-our-traffic-and-revenue-this-year

I document my business learnings and income reports over at Full Time Blog (meta, I know!).

Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?

I’ve sort of gone back to the basics: publishing great blog content that has lots of organic potentials.

In my last Starter Story update, I talked about the pros and cons of blogging vs. YouTube. The conclusion at the time was that a YouTube view was worth less than a blog view, and that’s still the case today.

If you’re still spinning your wheels trying to decide what to do, just start whatever idea you’re most excited about. It probably won’t work, but better to start and fail than to sit and think about it for another year!

I also mentioned a renewed focus/investment in website content, which meant a new content plan and new writers to help execute that plan.

Well, I’m happy to say that this strategy has been paying off. Website traffic nearly doubled this year, which means ad and affiliate revenue doubled too. Sweet!

I’ve been spending $2-3k per month on content to supplement what I’m able to create myself, and this has proved to be money well spent (although it took time to find the right writers).

What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?

It’s cliche, but it’s so important to reserve time to work ON the business instead of IN the business.

For me, an “on” task is posting a job application for a new writer, sifting through 100+ applications, assigning a trial project, reviewing it, etc.

It’s pretty tedious and not the sort of creative work that I tend to find fulfilling, but it’s so important. Spending time on stuff like that frees up my future time.

Putting together a solid process, which includes SOPs and templates, for content creation, and hiring the write contractors - writers, formaters, VAs, graphic designers - has moved the needle more than anything else this year.

What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?

The Modest Man is a pretty well-oiled machine right now. We’re publishing 2-3 posts a week, and traffic is increasing steadily.

I’d like to ramp up Manored.com so it starts earning 3 and 4 figure revenue (it’s very new, so it’s only earning a few dollars per month right now).

This site is much more hands-off, at least from my perspective. It’s sort of an experiment to see if I can grow a totally separate site and maybe even sell it once it’s established.

Have you read any good books in the last year?

I’ve really been enjoying the My First Million podcast. It always inspires me to think bigger and get out of the weeds.

I also listen to Niche Pursuits, which is full of actionable, specific tips for digital entrepreneurs.

There’s a new-ish podcast that I was actually on called Rhodes to Wealth that’s also a great listen for anyone interested in online business.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?

It really depends where you’re at. If you’re at the point where your business is no longer a side hustle, there’s probably 1-2 sticking points that are prohibiting growth.

For me, it was the content bottleneck. One person can only create so much content before getting burnt out. I had to hire help to grow, and I waited way too long to do it.

If you’re still spinning your wheels trying to decide what to do, just start whatever idea you’re most excited about. It probably won’t work, but better to start and fail than to sit and think about it for another year!