Hi, I’m Matt. It’s great to meet you!

When I get interested in something, I get really interested. For example…

• Specialty coffee. When I first got into coffee, I kept a 20-column spreadsheet to scientifically track every possible variable so I could learn how everything works together and make the most delicious cup of coffee. I even remineralize my own water because it makes the coffee taste better.
• Memory training. I once spent weeks going through a highly detailed memory improvement course so I could learn to remember just about anything. By the end I could memorize a random 52-digit number in five minutes and recite it forwards and backwards, among other feats of memory.
• Business & marketing. I spent years in deep-dive mode learning everything I could from the smartest people I could find. It’s the reason I could do things in months that would otherwise have taken years. I actually never left this deep dive — I’m still in it today.

This slightly obsessive aspect of my personality is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it helps me learn new things incredibly fast. On the other hand, going into a months-long deep dive is not always great for my marriage! But since realizing years ago that this is how I’m programmed, I’ve been able to be more present with my family, and things have gone much more smoothly.

When it comes to learning, I don’t just want to know how something works, I want to know why it works. I want to understand the underlying, foundational principles. When to apply them. When not to apply them. How to use them to get maximum output from minimum input.

And because I’ve spent my whole life operating this way, I’m able to see connections most people don’t see — which, in business, is incredibly valuable.

Also, fun fact: I went to school to be a pilot (Western Michigan University) and have a commercial pilot license.

Fourteen years in direct response.

My work spans a wide variety of industries — financial publishing, supplements and natural health, beauty and fragrance, food and beverage, business education, and consumer ecommerce, among others. What I do in all of them is the same: increase revenue and profit. I do it by improving business strategy, marketing strategy, and messaging. Tactics change from one industry to the next but the foundations of good strategy don’t — which is why I can work cross-industry so effectively.

Again and again, I’ve turned advertising that businesses were already paying for into more revenue and better margin: conversion rate up 54%, revenue per visitor up 58%, average order value up 293%, cost per acquisition down by 50% — none of it requiring a dollar more in spend. I also tripled a company’s email revenue in just 30 days and built another’s first direct-mail customer newsletter into a recurring revenue driver.

The reason I’ve been able to do all this is because I’ve had the good fortune to study and be mentored by truly world-class businesspeople. And I’ve never stopped being a student. Over the past 14 years I’ve invested many tens of thousands of dollars in my business education, and I continue to learn to this day. After all, a person’s education is never finished.

Business isn’t just about the numbers.

It’s also an opportunity to connect deeply with others. Whether it’s your clients or customers, your employees, or your vendors, every interaction is an opportunity to show love by truly listening to the person’s needs, fears, and desires, and doing your best to understand them and see them for who they are as a human being.

With that in mind, here are the eight principles I do my best to live by (tap to expand):

• Lead with love

  Treat myself and others with respect and compassion, especially when they least deserve it.

• Do hard things

  Push limits. Don’t quit. Discover potential.

• Cultivate curiosity

  Learn. Grow. Be continually curious.

• Choose courage

  Choose action over fear. Take chances. Live without regret.

• Seek truth

  See clearly. Understand reality. Seek inner peace.

• Be here now

  Presence in all moments. Gratitude for all things.

• Find the lesson

  Recognize challenges as opportunities for growth.

• See the magic

  Embrace childlike wonder. Find joy and delight in mundane, everyday moments.

You don’t have to double revenue to double profit.

Your overhead is already covered. Rent, payroll, insurance, software — the cost of doing business is being paid for by the revenue you already have. That’s why the next dollars that come into the business can be many times more profitable than the current ones.

The exciting truth is, almost every business is already carrying the growth it’s hunting for — in its customer list, in the traffic it’s already getting, in its relationships, and other places. But almost nobody is getting the full value out of these assets. Not because they’re bad at business, but because they either haven’t looked for hidden profit in the right places or don’t know how to take full advantage of it.