Matt and Liz Raad are currently Australia’s leading online Digital Investment Educators.
They specialize in making passive incomes from Digital Assets, mostly Websites. But they certainly didn’t start out with that in mind.
When you first hear Matt and Liz telling their own story, you might be surprised.
Their studies were not in Business, but in Science, in Biology to be precise.
The two met while studying and specializing in Australia’s much loved big, Red Kangaroos in the Australian Outback.
As Matt freely points out, they could easily have stayed in that field. They could have become very successful, but they certainly would not have made very much Money.
An introduction to Business.
Like everything else about these two, the journey from where they were to where they are has been anything but predictable. After deciding that there was not much money in Red Kangaroos, they decided to try their hand in Business.
Now, for most people, a first business venture is something fairly simple, but not this one.
It might help to know that in the 1980’s, Australia, like many other Countries, lost almost it’s entire manufacturing base to Asia. Labor costs were just too high to compete basically.
Unperturbed, Matt & Liz found themselves in a Business which made components for Power equipment.
Finding a way to beat the declining manufacturing environment would have been enough to deal with. But in this case, with no Business background, they also had to learn to sell. And by sell, I mean negotiate substantial deals with large Japanese brands famous for these products.
As you might imagine, it was a tough learning curve. The battle to survive in Australian manufacturing was too much for Companies with much deeper pockets than Matt & Liz.
Looking back on that journey Liz will tell you that they learned a lot. They also made some decisions that still clearly influence the business decisions they make today.
The transition to Business Brokering.
On their journey they started to spend time with some very successful, and Wealthy individuals.
It was through these associations that Matt and Liz made the transition to Business Brokering.
By necessity that meant getting a grounding in evaluating a business, both as it is and as it could be.
They learned to put together Multi-Million dollar deals.
Assisting clients to move into or out of their businesses proved to be much more profitable than Biology or Manufacturing.
More valuable still was the learning.
Matt and Liz Raad discover Websites
With a keen eye for a deal, and an opportunity, Matt & Liz noticed the Websites and online activities of the Businesses they were Brokering. Business websites were starting to becoming a significant part of the Deals. They realized that the Websites themselves had an inherent value that was lost in the overall package.
They also noticed something else. Unlike the “often unsubstantiated” claims that Business owners made about their operations, data about website operations was not subject to manipulation. This meant that valuing Websites was a much more reliable, “scientific” process than valuing the overall business.
Buying and Selling Websites
With a skill for research, Matt and Liz discovered some fledgling online marketplaces dealing in Websites. They quickly found they could apply a similar “Due Diligence” approach to valuing Websites as they used valuing traditional Businesses.
What followed was a period spent learning what made Websites’ tick. The scientist’s interest in detail and patterns was a strength in understanding the analytics available on Website traffic and Earnings. Pretty quickly they developed a specialised “Due Diligence” process for evaluating Websites
With the website market being Auction based, knowing the present and potential value of a site was a real advantage. As were their hard-earned negotiation skills. The difference here was, claims made by the “sellers” could be validated. Win/Win deals could be struck, and beneficial, long-term online relationships could be formed.
Improving Websites for Profit
So, each deal started with a win/win, based on a fair price for a site.
Applying their marketing skills, Matt & Liz developed a three-pronged approach to improving site performance. Using this approach, they effectively taught themselves to renovate websites much as you would a property.
Each improvement led to higher earnings, a higher value for the Website, and a growing Digital Asset.
In many cases the improvement came from the site ranking more highly in Search results. The process of improving these Search Engine results, known as Search Engine Optimization became a passion, particularly for Matt.
For other sites, they simply offered better digital products, and a better customer experience
“ Rule #1 Never lose Money..Rule #2…Remember Rule #1”
Warren Buffet
Roll forward a decade or two, and Matt and Liz have a highly valuable Digital Asset base. This produces a strong, semi passive income which has allowed them to invest into property, shares, start-ups etc
They have also become Angel investors, helping to guide budding Entrepreneurs to take innovative ideas to Market. Harking back to that early business experience one thing they will not invest into is Businesses or Websites involved in selling their own physical products.
Nor will they join the flood to product based e-commerce Businesses. The complexity, inventory investment, import export challenges etc take the real start up cost way into 6 figures on average.
Matt & Liz prefer the less risky approach where you have Control.
Matt and Liz Raad form E-Business Institute
The transition from Biologists to Online Entrepreneurs has culminated in Matt & Liz being founders of the e-Business Institute. Guiding others to take fundamentally the same journey they have taken.
They currently offer 3 training opportunities:
From the WebDev Accelerator, an inexpensive online training in building and earning an income from Websites.
To the highly valuable Digital Investors course. A comprehensive online guide for buying, building, renovating and selling Digital Assets for Profit.
This course opens the door to the endless opportunities online.
For students who have Completed the Digital Investors program, and are committed to a Digital future, e-Business Institute also offers a Coaching and Mentoring Program Known as Champions.
The Champions program, currently driven by Matt and Liz personally, is offered only once each year. It is also on an ‘application only” Basis.
Prospective participants are interviewed to be sure that Matt & Liz can add real value to each. Only then are they invited onto the yearlong Program. This is a significant Investment with a big payoff for those who apply the training.
Of course, the student’s journey does not end when “Champions” ends, but the lifelong skills are in place, to profit from the numerous online opportunities you will find.
While based in Australia, these trainings are applicable globally, and a significant portion of students are now found in the United States, Europe, and throughout Asia.
What’s next for Matt and Liz Raad?
That’s a bit harder to say. Right now, they are enjoying raising two spectacular young adults. They also nurture a growing client community.
We are members of that community.
Unlike most who write about Matt & Liz, we are not gathering information from an interview. We are customers and Graduates of all of their Trainings. Champions program included, and have a diversified online income as a result.
I doubt we could have predicted that these two Kangaroo specialists would become world leaders in Digital Investing and Education. So, with the amazing developments we are seeing online it’s impossible to suggest where their journey might end.
For now, like thousands of other clients, we are just glad to have found them on the journey they are on.
To paraphrase an old proverb about fishing, “give someone a fish and you feed them for a day, teach them to fish and you will feed them for a lifetime”.
While we all see online Marketers offering to sell overly expensive Fish, Matt and Liz continue to teach clients to land and grow the big fish themselves.
To see what Matt and Liz Radd are about, just follow this link and enjoy a FREE 90 minute Master Class about the Digital marketplace. You can come and go from the training if you need to. It might just change your life as it did ours.
Leave a Reply