See how this couple were already making serious money online in digital marketing. But after joining the Champions program, they increased their revenue by $70,000 just in their first year!
Imagine being a seasoned digital marketer, only to find yourself burnt out and questioning your next move. That was the reality for Robert and Gabrielle.
But instead of giving up, they decided to go back to basics—and the results were incredible. In just one year, they added $70K to their income, reignited their passion for business, and found a sustainable path to support their lifestyle goals.
Here’s what you’ll learn from their inspiring journey:
- How they transitioned from struggling to thriving by revisiting foundational strategies
- The secret behind securing high-value website builds, including a $10,000 cold-call project
- Why mindset shifts and networking were the key to their success
Ready to see how this dynamic duo revitalized their business and embraced freedom in early retirement? Keep reading to discover how going back to basics can lead to extraordinary results.
Matt Raad: At the eBusiness Institute, we usually teach beginners how to make money online. And on the Digital Investor podcast, we love sharing those kinds of interviews with you. We explore how people have replaced their incomes or built a significant side hustle business while working full-time jobs.
But today’s interview is a bit different because these two were not beginners when they joined our program. They were so advanced that I almost didn’t accept their application for our high-level coaching program, Champions. You’re about to hear why—they were already making money online with years of experience in digital marketing and business.
However, what’s interesting is that despite their expertise, they learned a new skill through our program, and in their first year, they made over $70,000. This has not only impressed everyone in our Champions community but also surprised them.
We’ll dive into their journey and the challenges they faced over the past 12 months, which I think many of you will relate to, whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced. There are some great lessons here, especially if you’re looking to replace your income or perhaps you’re nearing retirement age.
Thank you both for joining us today and sharing your incredible journey over the past year.
Robert: Thanks for having us, Matt. I’m glad you didn’t turn us down from the Champions program. And I appreciate the compliments on our technical marketing skills. We were at a point where we felt the need to strip everything back and follow the methods of people who were seeing real success.
I approach things with an NLP perspective, in that anything is possible. For me, it’s just a matter of figuring out how. When our online marketing efforts stopped working, I started looking for answers. To be honest, I was close to giving up.
Discovering Matt & Liz Raad’s approach to online marketing reignited our belief that success was still achievable.
Matt: This is essential because being online isn’t always easy, right? You both had been in the game for years, and you’d seen success with several online businesses, which we’ll discuss shortly.
Robert & Gabrielle’s had extensive online experience prior to joining Champions
How their first online business launched to success almost 20 years ago…
Matt: Robert, you were ready to throw in the towel at one point. That’s really interesting, especially considering your success now—$70,000 in your first year with this new online venture!
So, our readers might be wondering, “How can this couple be ready to give up after years of effort? What happened?” So, let’s dive into that.
Gabrielle wrote and sold a yoga book based on her professional experience…
Matt: What businesses have you been working on for ten years, and what led to that turning point?
Gabrielle: I had a yoga studio up in Noosa, and quickly realised there was a gap in the market. People didn’t know what they were doing when it came to yoga, especially Bikram yoga, which I was teaching.
So, I decided to write a book. It took me nearly two years from the time I started writing to the time it was published. Back then, there was no print-on-demand, so I had to do it the traditional way. Here’s my first book!
Matt: Look at that, Gabrielle! For those reading this, Gabrielle is now holding up a massive printed book—one of those old-fashioned things we used to read!
Gabrielle: Yes, one of those old-fashioned things! It was a comprehensive reference manual on how to practise Bikram yoga. We went all out with it.
Matt: And what year was this, Gabrielle? So that we have a clear timeline
Gabrielle: That was back in November 2008.
Matt: So, quite a long time ago.
…And Robert set up a website for the Yoga business which quickly outranked major players!
Robert: Yes, and then in 2002, I set up a website for our local yoga studio. Before we knew it, we were outranking Bikram himself globally and attracting significant traffic. The challenge then became figuring out how to monetise that.
I was already in the internet marketing mindset since I’m a direct marketer at heart. So, at the time, we thought, “Why not sell a $20 PDF?” That was the go-to approach back then.
They created multiple products to sell online
Robert: Fast forward a few years, and we had created this massive coffee table book, two DVDs, and a couple of CDs. After that, we went on to produce another 20 DVDs. But, as you’d expect, people don’t really buy DVDs anymore! The market changed, and so did we.
In the early days, we were doing direct sales, essentially shipping the products straight from Hong Kong to the US.
And learned a lot of lessons from running their first online business
Robert: I was handling all the fulfilment myself, using a .com setup. Back then, platforms like WordPress weren’t really viable options for building online stores. You had to manage a lot of the logistics manually, which made things more complicated.
Despite the challenges, this hands-on approach helped us learn the ins and outs of running an online business, from fulfilment to customer management. As technology evolved, so did the tools and strategies we used to streamline our operations.
Matt: So, were you using static HTML sites back then?
Robert: No, I actually used a PHP-based CMS called Expression Engine, which was proprietary.
Their first online business made over 7-figures!
…So why were they ready to give it up?
Matt: How did that business go for you, Gabrielle?
Gabrielle: It hit seven figures.
Matt: Wow, seven figures! So, you were ready to give up after reaching that? I know we’re jumping ahead a bit, but that’s impressive!
1./ Their existing online marketing efforts and products were no longer working…
Gabrielle: There’s a marketing lifespan for everything, and after some time, we got hit with a Google slap. The result was a massive loss in traffic, and recovering from that was incredibly tough.
Robert: We got hammered. And it wasn’t like we were doing anything wrong; the market was just changing.
I had to migrate our site from Expression Engine to WordPress because WordPress was responsive, and in 2015, having a responsive website became critical. But things kept getting worse. At one point, we were getting 100,000 unique visitors a month, but that dropped to as low as 1,000 over the years.
Matt: Wow.
Robert: We’re now back up to about 3,000 visitors a month, thanks to some recent changes. There’s user-generated content in the form of a forum, but the product itself is pretty much dead in the water. It had its time, and if we want to revive it, we’ll need to reinvent it.
2./ …And the trend for Bikram yoga was declining
Matt: To give some context for those reading this, Gabrielle mentioned they started this business back in 2008. It grew into a seven-figure membership and information product, which also included physical products like DVDs in the earlier days, all driven by Internet marketing. But what’s crucial to note is that if you check Google trends, this is a slowly declining marketplace. Sometimes that happens, especially with niche products like Bikram yoga.
Gabrielle: Yes, it’s Bikram yoga.
Matt: So, were you a guru at teaching it? Running a studio in Noosa, you can still claim that, right? That’s probably why you look so young, Gabrielle! And I guess that’s why Robert looks young, too. Has she got you doing yoga as well?
Robert: Yes, we both taught. We did a lot to stay fit and keep up with it.
They learned valuable lessons about sticking to the foundations
Matt: That’s really cool. While the business has declined over the years, I want to put things into perspective for those reading this. I don’t want to scare any beginners away—info products are still incredibly lucrative. It’s one of the best businesses you can run online, and as you both know, it can be very profitable. When you look back at the journey, your business had a lifespan, but you made healthy seven-figure earnings out of it.
Did you enjoy that time, even though the business eventually slowed down? I imagine it was your passion, especially for you, Gabrielle. Now, after nearly 16 years, how do you feel about running that business, even though you’ve moved on to other things?
Gabrielle: Yes, most of the time. One common trap is assuming that you already know a lot, forgetting that those who are just joining you are often starting from the basics. This means you’re always going back to those foundational principles. It’s like what we did with the Champions program—returning to first principles so you can build from the ground up and really take off.
Revisiting these basics not only helps newcomers but also reinforces the core strategies that can be easy to overlook. By consistently applying those first principles, you set yourself up to soar and succeed in the long run.
Robert and Gabrielle were burnt out but wanted to expand their entrepreneurial ventures
Matt: You’ve built a strong foundation. Think about it—earning seven figures, and living a great lifestyle in Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, all from your passion. That’s a fantastic business. But it didn’t stop there.
I want people to realise that you are both entrepreneurs at heart, and this wasn’t the only thing you’ve been involved in over the last 16 years.
It seems like when you came for the Champions interview, there was a bit of burnout. After some Google slaps and having been in the game for so long, you were probably thinking, “What else is there?” You’ve seen other Champions achieving amazing things, and I’d love for people to hear about what else you’ve been up to.
Gabrielle started a business in Print-On Demand on Amazon
Matt: What other ventures have you been involved in? This is fascinating, and I want people to understand the full scope of what you do.
Robert: Gabrielle ended up writing a couple more books, and I’ve got one here to show. She wrote a seller’s guide because we became so interested in direct selling on Amazon that we started pivoting towards that, as our original direct sales model was slowing down. I saw the success she was having on Amazon—this book I’m holding went to number one in all of nonfiction in the US.
This was back in 2013, and we were making great money from it. The shift to Amazon opened up new opportunities, allowing us to keep growing even as our earlier business model began to decline.
Gabrielle: That’s when print-on-demand started becoming popular. I even transferred my yoga book into a print-on-demand format.
Robert: It still sells steadily today.
Matt: Do you still sell it on Amazon?
Robert: Yes, Here it is. Hot Yoga MasterClass and 132+ Delicious Salads, Dressings And Dips under best selling author Gabrielle Raiz.
Robert joined Gabrielle in writing books, and learned some valuable lessons in defining your target market
Matt: So, you pivoted to selling books—clearly, you both enjoy it, and you’re good at it. Did you write all these books yourselves, or did you get help with that process?
Robert: Yes, so I was also intrigued by the idea of writing. As a long-time, huge reader and lover of science fiction, I thought, “Why not try my hand at some fiction?” However, I wasn’t very confident at first. I ended up writing a series of three books aimed at middle-grade kids, which is the 9 to 12 age group.
Matt: So, you really niched it?
Robert: Yes. Then I wrote science fiction fantasy and learned a lot from doing that. It was fantastic, but marketing was challenging, especially since reaching readers is hard when they don’t have credit cards. That was a key challenge—getting the books into the hands of younger readers.
Matt: Good point, fascinating.
Robert: Then I thought, maybe I should switch to non-fiction. I had been a corporate consultant for almost 20 years, teaching presentation skills and training trainers, so I wrote a book called I’d Rather Die Than Give a Speech. It got a great reception, but there were almost no sales because I made some marketing mistakes.
After that, I decided to return to fiction, but this time, I targeted an adult audience with credit cards! I wrote a science fiction trilogy for adults.
The first book in the trilogy, Orion, came out in August, and it reached number one in the “Space Opera” category on Amazon US and number three in overall science fiction.
It’s amazing to see what you can accomplish from a home office. The marketing principles are the same whether you sell a book or anything else. Amazon is its own SEO platform.
Why Robert and Gabrielle joined the Champions program
Matt: Out of your passions, you’ve spent the last 15 or 16 years creating books and info products, hitting seven figures, and having multiple Amazon bestsellers. That’s an incredible journey.
So, why did you decide to join Champions, where we teach strategies like buying websites and running digital agencies?
I actually remember asking you this question in our interview. You were already advanced, but we were teaching foundations—just like you mentioned about yoga and going back to basics. What were you looking for at that point a year ago that made you want to go back to the fundamentals? What pushed you to make that change and start learning again?
Even though they had extensive online experience, they wanted to return back to basics…
Gabrielle: What we were doing just wasn’t working anymore. It wasn’t generating enough, and I told Robert, “We either need to do something different or give up entirely. We have to follow a plan—completely.”
Robert: Book marketing, on its own, is tough. It’s possible to make six figures, but you have to constantly churn out content and treat it like a full-time job. We didn’t have the capacity for that anymore.
After getting hit with multiple Google slaps, I lost all confidence in my internet marketing abilities. It felt like nothing we did work, and I was just over it.
Then I started hearing about people succeeding—no content marketing, no portfolio, none of that stuff I thought was necessary. At first, I was sceptical, thinking it couldn’t work. But we were humble enough to look at each other and say, “We have technical skills, marketing skills, business skills, and writing skills. We’ve been successful online several times. Why aren’t we successful now?”
We needed to follow the people who were doing what works today. We found Matt & Liz Raad’s community, and decided to return to basics.
And we haven’t looked back since. We just realised, “Okay, Matt’s always right.”
Matt: Thank you, Robert!
Robert: Whatever I intended to do, I had no interest in starting a local agency. Not at all. I’d done my time with sales, walking the streets and knocking on doors.
Gabrielle: Says the new president of the BNI!
Matt: We’ll get to that quickly, but thank you, Robert! This is great.
…And they needed a fresh perspective for their online businesses
Matt: I want to highlight something for readers, especially those who are more advanced. While we teach beginners, if you’re advanced, like Robert & Gabrielle, sometimes returning to foundations can be key.
I remember our interview 12 months ago, when Liz asked, “Are you sure they know what they’re getting into?” because you were both so experienced.
But, like you said, sometimes you need a fresh perspective. You realised you needed to go back to basics, even after all your success. We teach content marketing, buying and selling websites, and digital agency strategies. Hats off to both of you for saying, “Okay, we’ll just follow the plan,” because it worked!
I want to congratulate you on that because when you’re advanced, your experience can sometimes get in the way. But you recognised the need to return to fundamentals. That’s an important lesson: foundations still work even if you’re experienced. If things aren’t clicking the way you want, sometimes all it takes is a breath of fresh air—and hopefully, that’s what we were for you both.
They regained their confidence and business momentum
Robert: Oh, for sure. The local digital agency space moves so fast, and you can learn quickly. Honestly, my confidence in what’s possible—for local businesses and all the other strategies we learn in Champions—is back. I feel like I can now use my more advanced business experience to scale up even faster.
Matt: I think that’s key. What makes Robert and Gabrielle’s story so compelling is that even though they’re both highly experienced, they face mindset challenges—like many entrepreneurs do.
Robert, you mentioned how successful you were in your previous corporate life, and Gabrielle is clearly a high achiever as well. But when things start going wrong, it can really shake your confidence. Sometimes, all you need is a reset to regain that confidence, and once you do, it’s like you’re back on track.
You both had the skills to adapt quickly, but I suggested you take a break from e-commerce and books and try the digital agency model. It could give you a fresh perspective.
Robert had to overcome a big personal setback in his first 6 months of Champions
Matt: I secretly knew you’d blitz it in Champions because you’ve got the skills, especially with Robert’s public speaking and sales background. But, as we saw, the journey wasn’t that simple.
The real breakthrough for you didn’t happen until the last four to six months of the Champions program. Robert faced a significant personal challenge that I think many people can relate to as they age.
Would you mind sharing what happened during the first six months of your Champions journey, Robert? I know it was a tough time for your family.
Robert: Yes, it’s been a rough couple of years. My mum had vascular dementia, and I had to go back to the UK several times to support my sister as Mum’s condition worsened. She was still living at home but needed a lot of care, and she was very anxious and depressed. Over the last few years, I spent about five months in the UK, including when you interviewed us for Champions.
We started the Champions program in September, but by December, Mum had a serious fall and developed an infection. I had to go back to the UK for another two months to help my sister move Mum into a nursing home. Sadly, Mum passed away a few weeks ago.
I’m grateful I had the freedom to spend that time with her, but my focus wasn’t there during those months.
It wasn’t until the February bootcamp that Gabrielle and I really looked at each other and said, “If we’re going to make this work, we need to get serious.” From mid-February onwards, we buckled down. I joined BNI in early March, and everything has taken off since then.
Matt: It’s incredible that, despite all those challenges, you were able to turn things around so quickly. You’ve shown that even when life throws huge obstacles at you, you can still succeed with the right mindset and commitment.
How these early retirees started their Digital Agency
And do it in a way that provides cash flow while supporting their health and lifestyle goals…
Matt: For you, Gabrielle, Robert was overseas for half the year, and you’re here trying to reinvent yourselves and learn all this online stuff. I would imagine the first six months of Champions were a bit of a challenging time?
1./ They built their agency site
Gabrielle: It was challenging. And so, to start with we just focused on building the website for our professional digital marketing in the Sunshine Coast because that was really where our attention expanded.
With everything going on, we couldn’t go any further than that at first. We spoke to a few people, but the drive just wasn’t there quite yet.
Matt: So, come February, after that famous bootcamp—a big turning point for a lot of Champions this year—you decided to dive into the digital agency strategy. What were your first steps?
I know you both are quite advanced, but how did you start? Did you follow the foundational steps of building websites?
Robert: Holy moly, that’s a tricky one. I think it goes back to something you presented at the bootcamp. It wasn’t really about building a website for us. Partly, that’s because of my age—I’m at a point where I want some freedom and feel like I should be “off the tools” by now. But I was ready to put in hard work for a 12-month sprint. A lot of people, including yourself, said from the stage that we would grow initially through networking, and that stuck with me.
2./ Robert decided to actively work in the business for 12 months
Robert: I’ve always been good at networking, so I decided that was my path. I reached out to a close friend who’s a fantastic networker and very well-connected along the coast. She gave us a lot of pointers. By then, I had already been inquiring about BNI.
What resonated most with me from what you said was, “The more conversations you have, the more sales you make.” That’s the key. Just this morning, my vice president in our chapter repeated that back to me during her report. She reminded me of what I said on a call the other night, “The more conversations you have, the more sales you make.”
So, the first step for me wasn’t really about building a website—it was about figuring out how to approach this without burning myself out. I don’t want to build an empire at this stage, but I’m happy to work hard in a focused way.
Matt: And keeping in mind your energy levels and where you’re at in life—your mum just passed away, and you’re approaching early retirement. You’re 65 now, right, Rob?
Robert: Yes. I’m 65.
Matt: Looking young! It’s all that yoga. Gabrielle’s keeping you young. But I imagine at 65, you’re hyper-aware of your body and mindset, especially after all the work you’ve done over the years. It must’ve been a challenging time.
3./ And he joined a local business networking group to build their client base
Matt: So, your first step was getting out there, networking, and joining BNI (Business Networking International). For those reading overseas, it’s a global business networking group. Was it a good one you joined on the Sunshine Coast?
Robert: Yes, it was fantastic. Actually, the lady who got me in there through Frederick’s link, the head of the Australian BNI, said, “Do you want to visit any other chapters?” I said, “Nope.”
Gabrielle: And they’re a lovely group of people.
Robert & Gabrielle made $70,000 in their Digital Agency within 6 months!
Matt: So, at that point, what was your first job? How did you go from February to March and make $70,000? Why did it take off so quickly for you guys?
They were inspired by previous Champions’ success in their agencies
Matt: All of us were seriously impressed with Jing’s results last year. In her first year of running her Digital Agency, she did $30,000. Jing is a super mum of three in an area she didn’t know. English is not her first language, but she had laser focus to achieve her online results.
I remember you guys were inspired by Jing’s story. I believe you wrote that down as a goal at that February boot camp. And now you’ve doubled what Jing has done. So what happened? Let’s unpack this. Where did it start, and what were the winning factors here?
Robert: To be fair, there are two of us, so it’s reasonable to think we could double what she did. We have more hours to spend and the support.
Matt: That’s a good point.
Robert: Even if you’re not a couple, it makes a huge difference if you’ve got someone to support you in it. And that’s where the Champions community is brilliant—you will get the support you need there.
They gained the confidence to back their digital skills with their first $3,000 website build
Robert: Where did we start, though? Our first website was a $750 build just for a brand.
Matt: How long did you do cheap, small builds like that?
Robert: We only did one at that price.
Matt: Okay, and what did you get on your next build?
Robert: Our next website build was for a not-for-profit for $3,000, and that was the Sunshine Coast Arts Foundation. That was an important client, and it was a rebuild from a very complex theme called Arvada, which I hate because we’ve used it before.
And so we rebuilt the whole site in Elementor. It was very challenging, but it was a great learning experience. Through that, we gained confidence, and people started understanding that we knew what we discussed. That rubbed off onto other things.
The unexpected opportunity from a charity door knocker
How Robert found a new client for his Digital Agency, simply by having a conversation with a door knocker in his local area…
Robert: The networking training you provided and the idea of having your 15-second pitch also helped with our agency. We recently had a lady who showed up on our doorstep. We ended up building a website and doing ongoing SEO for her partner, who’s a solar and air conditioner installer.
Matt: Well, I think this whole story is great! You shared it recently with the Champions community. How did you get that particular job? This is such a cute story.
Robert: I was sitting at home, working on the laptop on a Friday afternoon. Gabrielle was at Pilates. The doorbell rings, and I think, “Who’s going to come up our driveway?” It’s a long, steep, battleaxe block—so no one door knocks us. So, since they tried to come all the way, I decided to give them some time.
It turned out to be the Starlight Foundation and Make-A-Wish. These two nice young ladies talked me into donating some charity money. Then one of them asked, “What do you do?”
I said, “We help businesses be found online and make more sales, especially local businesses like trades. They’re often booked out for a few weeks, but if you ask them what they’ve got in October, it’s usually nothing. So, we help them fix that.“
By having this simple conversation, Robert generated $3,500 in revenue
Robert: She said, “You need to talk to my partner.” I asked, “What does he do?” She said, “Oh, he’s a sparky.” She mentioned he’d tried building his own website but didn’t really know what he was doing, and it turns out it was built on Wix. So, I gave her my card, and didn’t think any more of it.
About a week later, my phone rings, and it’s him. I said, “Oh yes, I spoke to your partner when she came door knocking.” And he said, “I’m interested in chatting more.”
So, he came around and we chatted. I gave him an idea of how much it would cost and how much ongoing SEO would be. He liked what we spoke about, so I said, “I’ll get a proposal for you and follow up Friday.”
He immediately emailed me and said, “I can’t wait to talk Friday!” And when I spoke to him that Friday. He said, “Where do I sign?”
Matt: Awesome. And what did you quote in the proposal?
Robert: I quoted $3,500 for the website, plus ongoing SEO.
Matt: That’s perfect!
Robert: One conversation, Matt. That’s all it is.
Matt: That’s unreal.
Gabrielle also turned a cold call into a $10,000 website build!
Matt: I take it you’ve found there’s plenty of work up there on the Sunshine Coast, which, if you’re reading this and you don’t know, the Sunshine Coast is one of the most iconic tourist destinations in Australia. And the main reason people don’t live there is because they can’t get work.
Now, you guys are generating significant income in this beautiful part of the world because you’re always making good money online. So, are you not finding any shortage of work for building sites?
Are most of these businesses small local businesses, or are they from interstate? Where are you getting your clients from?
Robert: My biggest client is one that Gabrielle found for us. We absolutely love working with them. They’re in Ipswich, a western suburb of Brisbane. It is a two-hour drive for us—and we visited them twice.
Matt: Was that through a referral, Gabrielle? Or did you cold call them?
Gabrielle: It was through a cold call. I found they were exhibiting at a show I went to. I looked at their website and thought, “Oh, that’s not very good.” So I rang up and said, “Look, your website’s not doing the heavy lifting it should be doing.”
She won the job over other agencies because she took the time to understand the client
Gabrielle: I had to keep ringing her back because she was always busy or out somewhere. But the frequency of interaction made it work. She’d also been approached by another company, which we found out a couple of months ago. That ended up being a $10,000 build.
Matt: That’s pretty cool!
Robert: I think to give Gabrielle huge credit here, she didn’t just follow up—she asked lots of questions. She put together a really informative email based on a web audit and SEO audit, just like what Matt & Liz Raad teach at eBusiness Institute.
Gabrielle’s approach is so good because these businesses get called day in, day out—”Oh, I can make you a website.” But when we come in as Champions, we have a very different mindset. It’s more like, “What do you want your website to do? At the moment, it’s slow, doesn’t have a reasonable hierarchy, and your content’s stale.” We speak about the usual stuff that engages them and leads them into a conversation. Plus, it proves she knows what she was talking about.
Matt: Yes, it’s consultative selling. We’re helping people with the basic principles we teach—the foundations.
Returning to the beginning of this interview, you wanted to come on the course because we teach foundations that work. They’re timeless online.
No matter what’s going on with AI and all the changes, AI just speeds up the process for us. The difference is using the foundations to help business owners.
Why it’s important to learn the foundations when creating an online business
1./ They’re now able to offer SEO services for ongoing revenue
Matt: Both of you are finding awesome business opportunities out there. Are you doing a lot of ongoing SEO, or are you just starting to get into that now?
Robert: No, we started that way, and my seat in BNI is SEO as well, which helps. I didn’t ask for it, but today, somebody mentioned me, saying, “Yes, I know Robert’s got a couple of number-one spots for people in the chapter here.” I was just doing an education session. I didn’t expect to be called out.
That kind of thing does happen. Someone from another chapter came up afterwards and said, “I need to talk to you.” There’s plenty of work out there, as long as you can show the value of SEO. That’s the tricky part.
2./ And build a quality team for leveraged business growth
Matt: You’re already quite advanced, so I’m presuming you’ve already got a team there. Are you building the sites yourself, particularly on your first ones for clients? Or did you outsource that to a team?
Robert: The first 70 odd were all us.
Matt: That’s good.
Robert: There was one exception, where we were stressed about delivering a project and were falling apart at the seams.
Matt: Because you had too much work!
Robert: Yes.
Matt: Not a bad problem to have.
Robert: Exactly. So, we worked with a young Champion who did a fantastic job in helping us out.
3./ They can build quality sites that perform well
Matt: As advanced as Robert & Gabrielle are, they’ve only been doing this strategy for six months, and have already made $70,000. So, they’re only really just getting started.
What we recommend to everyone in our community is to learn everything yourself in any business. I don’t care what it is—you want to be across it.
If you’re serious about business and want to make a lot of money, then obviously, you can outsource later. But learn everything yourself first so you understand how it works.
Hats off to you both. That was part of my coaching for you—to go back to the foundations so you’re not just outsourcing right away. It’s easy to outsource, but I wanted you both to learn how to hand-build these WordPress sites. Think about what you’ve learned from doing that—the SEO and everything. That will now flow into your info product sites as well. So well done!
And when you do outsource, you’re just using other Champions, hiring from within the community. It’s really good to hear that you’re both doing it yourselves and handling the SEO for these clients too.
Gabrielle: Yes
How Robert & Gabrielle divide their responsibilities in their online business
Matt: So Robert is doing a lot of the sales work. And Gabrielle is doing quite a bit as well. How do you divide that up between the two of you?
Robert: We have a different funnel between us:
- I have the BNI (networking) funnel
- Gabrielle takes care of the new leads
Actually, our Digital Agency website is now ranked number three for search engine optimisation in the Sunshine Coast. So, we’re getting website leads now, which is great.
By default, we agreed that I’ll handle all the BNI stuff because of my background. But when these leads come in, I’ll pass them to Gabrielle because she’s fantastic on the phone.
I also promote Gabrielle as our “User Experience; Content Queen” and “Hierarchy Mistress” because she’s really good at that stuff. She’s really good at glancing over things. So, we’ve divided up our skills a little bit. I’m the technical guy—I get really geeky on all that sort of stuff.
Matt: Okay, so you enjoy the tech?
Robert: I do.
They also make the most of their professional writing experience
Matt: And the two of you have a unique advantage, besides being a couple, in that you’re both writers. We have a lot of people who come into the program who are into writing, and if you’re reading this, it’s a huge advantage to be a good writer.
You two are obviously excellent at writing, and that’s how you’ve always made your money online. We need to point that out—it’s a huge advantage. But well done, seriously. What you have achieved is absolutely awesome.
How Gabrielle & Robert’s mindset has changed as early retirees
Matt: I’m sure you’ll agree—this is a “watch this space” moment. Gabrielle & Robert have achieved $70,000 in six months, which is fantastic, especially at this stage in their life as early retirees. So, we want to get them back in a year to see where they’re at.
Not that we want to dwell on the past, Robert, but considering what you’ve been through over the last couple of years, your mindset took a bit of a beating, as it does for many of us as we get older.
I noticed in your final Accountability email to us that mindset was a significant change here. How are you feeling now about life and early retirement? A lot of us are in that age group.
Robert: We’re feeling great!
Gabrielle’s mindset shift has been fantastic because she was probably more battered around (confidence-wise) than I was with what we were doing. We were plugging cash flow gaps, and it wasn’t pleasant. So, the confidence we have now with cash flow is fantastic.
Their goals for freedom has changed as they reach their retirement years
Robert: There are a lot of people who come into the Champions program, much younger than us, who want to escape their corporate job. But they’re all probably quite high earning income. So it’s quite hard.
We don’t need as much money because our child has now graduated from university, and we’re asset-rich. But our cash flow could be better. We don’t need much to live on—we’ve got everything we need. We don’t need to buy big houses or anything like that. We’re okay with all of that. What I want is freedom.
I feel for people, like those in the trades, who might reach their fifties and wonder, “When am I ever going to get off the tools? This is really tiring.” And I would say don’t listen to us being super technical.
You don’t need to be super technical. You just follow Matt and Liz’s program. It works, and I think it leads to potential freedom.
For me, I’ve gone all-in during that first 12 months. But the aim is to have a steady stream of income and have things we enjoy tinkering with. I don’t want to sit around with a pipe and a pair of flippers, or doing CrossFit—that’s just dumb. You’ll have a short life doing that!
I need a long and interesting life. So, I’m happy to still be managing things, even if it’s an SEO business.
And you’ve got role models like Calem, one of the Champion coaches, who travels the world, has minimal expenses, and runs a thriving, recurring income digital agency serving local businesses. So, it’s possible for me—it’s just a question of how.
Gabrielle’s overall mindset shift and positivity has permanently changed
Matt: And for you, Gabrielle, you mentioned in your Accountability that at the beginning your guidelines were to be optimistic, positive, and helpful.
“What I found is that my mindset and approach has improved. I feel overall more positive all the time. And I’ve found the environment really changed me.”
But here’s the bit that I love. “I’m more calm, less judgmental, more positive.” And you’re right, here you are with a big smiley face, and I bet you didn’t expect feedback like that. That is wonderful.
So, you had a big mindset change here in the last 12 months?
Gabrielle: Yes, and everything feeds into each other. The contentment contributes as well. Being drip-fed positivity through a webinar every week has an effect. You do something good in your week, and there’s always a bit of a lag, but if you keep up with it, you hop from one success to the next. It keeps the momentum going, getting better and better. So I’ve enjoyed it for that reason, and it feels like a permanent change now.
This couple now have the lifestyle and cash flow to help support their early retirement
Matt: I want to say a massive congratulations to you both. Mission accomplished with where you’re at. As you said, part of it was just getting your mojo back in business and going back to foundations. I love that lesson—whether you’re more advanced or have been knocked around a bit in life. Sometimes, it’s about getting back to basics.
For you guys, it was also about trying something completely new. Like you said, Robert, when you came to Champions, there was no way you would run a digital agency, but you thought, “All right, let’s do it and see what happens.” I believe there are some amazing lessons here.
So, a big congratulations on your financial success, but also your mindset success. You’re now getting your confidence back. And now, you’re sharing your amazing story and inspiring other members in our community.A big thank you for being so open about your journey!
