1. Please introduce your business and share your role.

My name is Brock McGoff. I’m a men’s lifestyle content creator. I’ve built and sold 6-figure blogs and currently run a YouTube channel with over 400k subscribers. 

2. What’s your backstory, what kind of challenges did you face, and how did you come up with your business idea?

After graduating from college with a degree in psychology, I had no idea what I actually wanted to do for work. so I got a job in Communications in Washington DC where I was from and I worked there for about 3 years even though it wasn’t really a good fit. I got interested in online business after reading the 4-Hour Work Week.

At the same time, I was becoming interested in Menswear. I looked very young, and I thought that dressing better might help me be taken more seriously at work and on the dating scene. These two interests, men’s style, and online marketing, converged with a Blog called The Modest Man. This was a side hustle for many years, but eventually, I started working on this Blog full-time.

3. How did you prepare for, and go about your launch? 

I didn’t really launch my business. I just kind of started working on it. This meant publishing mostly written content on my blog, and eventually video content on YouTube and Instagram. I got deep into SEO. I learned how to get organic traffic from Google for free. Getting this traffic is the hard part. monetizing the traffic is not hard. I monetized my traffic with a mix of affiliate programs and display ads.

4. Since launching, what types of marketing campaigns and designs have worked best to attract and retain customers?

I’ve always loved search engine optimization. it’s one of the only ways to get completely free traffic, readers, and customers. I’ve dabbled in Facebook ads and other paid traffic, but my bread and butter has always been SEO.

5. What have been the most influential brands for your business? Whose branding and marketing do you aspire to and why?

 I admire digital media brands that produce premium quality content and keep their readers top of mind. There’s a lot of garbage content on the internet. There are many affiliate websites that don’t care about their readers and are just trying to make money. I admire brands like The Wirecutter and Hodinkee that clearly care about editorial integrity, production quality, and user experience.

6. What are your favorite marketing platforms/tools?

Over the years I’ve used Canva quite a bit. I’ve used this tool for everything from social media graphics to featured images to simple infographics and media kits. I’ve also used Ahrefs for keyword research, competitor research, and other SEO tasks.

7. Who or what inspires and motivates you?

I appreciate any content creator who is not only making a living from their work but is also staying true to the roots by producing high-quality content that their core audience will benefit from. We live in a world of bite-sized fast food content and virality. Everyone is chasing views and chasing money. I admire anyone who sees their work as craft and not just business.

8. What are some lessons you’ve learned along the way that you would share with entrepreneurs hoping to launch or who have just launched? 

 Don’t look for easy money. Don’t look for Passive income. If you’re just getting started, don’t even think about money yet. think about what you actually want to do with your time. Think about the things you love doing that other people hate doing. Think about the things you would do if you didn’t need money. then go do those things over and over and over, and eventually, you will find success.

Most business ventures are a marathon, not a sprint. Behind every successful business or every successful solopreneur, there is a grind. There is a period of teeth cutting. you can’t skip this part. So for example, if you want to be a YouTuber, you need to go publish 50 videos. they might not be very good, and you might not get very many views or subscribers. 

But that is the most important first step. You don’t need more information. you don’t need to buy a course. you don’t need to do more research. You just have to go make these videos.

9. What do you believe are the qualities of a good entrepreneur? And what makes a team successful?

Everyone is different, but I’ll tell you what motivates me. I’m unemployable. I didn’t necessarily want to be an entrepreneur. I just didn’t want to have a corporate nine-to-five office job. I tried that a few times, and it didn’t work out.

I couldn’t stand commuting to work. I hated having to answer to somebody else and having to sit in the same chair at the same desk every day. I hated having to go to work even if I didn’t have much work to do. So for me, I had to start my own business. it was the only way to get the freedom and flexibility in my life that I craved.

It wasn’t really about money. It was about freedom. For other people, it might be about money or fame or competitiveness. That’s fine! figure out what fires you up and use it.

10. Let us know where we can go to learn more! 

• Website 
• YouTube:
  • Brock McGoff
• Instagram:
  • @brockmcgoff
• TikTok:
  • @brockmcgoff
• X:
  • @McGoff
• LinkedIn:
  • Brock McGoff