What if you could buy a money-making website for under $1,000, fix it up with AI, and watch it generate cash while you sleep?

Matt Raad and his wife Liz started as zoology students studying red kangaroos in Australia. They thought being zoologists would give them freedom. They were wrong. Government jobs, constant money scrambling, zero freedom.

So they quit completely and bought their first business—a small manufacturing company. They made every mistake possible. Got the wrong advice. Nearly went broke. But they learned something crucial: how to do proper due diligence on businesses.

For 15 years, they bought and sold brick-and-mortar businesses—import/wholesale operations, multiple companies at once. Their entire net worth was tied up in warehouses. They were always in debt to the bank. It was brutal.

Then Liz had an epiphany: "This internet thing means we don't have to ship physical products on containers anymore. Why don't we just buy ONLINE businesses instead?"

They became the first people in Australia to buy and sell websites as a business strategy. And everything changed.

In this conversation, Matt reveals:

The Portfolio Strategy:

1. How students like Ashline bought 4 websites (crochet, fishing, sewing, recliner chairs) making $500-$1K/month each—topics she knows NOTHING about
2. The Thai massage teaching site she bought for $40K that generates $3-5K/month (original owner lives in Bali and agreed to stay on and help)
3. Why she's earning $8,000/month semi-passively with ZERO expertise in any of these niches

The Renovation Model:

1. Buy neglected passion niche sites on Flippa.com for under $5K
2. Use AI to "renovate" them (update content, optimize, monetize better)
3. Double the income from $500 to $1,000/month
4. Get your money back within a year

Monetization Methods That Work:

1. AdSense & affiliate commissions (the "old school" semi-passive way)
2. Email lists (the new goldmine—direct sponsorship deals worth thousands/month)
3. Direct sponsorship from manufacturers (way more lucrative than Amazon affiliates)
4. Travel influencers getting paid $20K for sponsored trips

The Niches That Print Money:

1. Health, wealth, happiness (the big three)
2. Passion niches: gardening, crafting, fishing, homesteading, RV travel
3. DIY topics where people research before buying
4. "Gray nomads" (retirees traveling Australia in caravans—100K+ Facebook followers)

Real Examples:

1. Pigeon racing site: $1K/month for 10 years, zero pigeon knowledge required
2. Recipe sites selling for $5 MILLION (yes, seven figures)
3. Nuclear power plant worker buying sites part-time, now covering his rent with AI + websites

The AI Advantage:

1. Team sizes shrinking from 6 people to 2 (Matt + AI)
2. Content production automated
3. Due diligence research done by AI
4. No coding required (those days are over)

Why NOW Is Different:

AI changed everything. Google traffic shifted. But here's what most people miss: Personal branding and niche communities are MORE valuable than ever. People follow people. They want real experiences, not AI-generated garbage.

Matt's prediction: Within 12 months, AI will enable things we can't even imagine yet. The people who learn NOW—who start small, buy under $5K sites, learn due diligence, build their skills—will dominate.

The Hard Truth: You need a side hustle. Job security is gone. Even high-paying jobs don't cover what they used to. Whether it's websites or something else, you cannot afford to have just ONE income stream in 2025.

Where to Start:

1. Flippa.com (websites under $5K for beginners)
2. Money Nomad (under $50K sites)
3. Empire Flippers (bigger sites, $100K+)

Warning: Don't buy a big site first. Learn on small ones. Make mistakes with $1-5K, not $100K.

The SBA Loan Scam Alert: Matt and Lindsay discuss the prepayment penalty trap hitting business loan borrowers. Read the fine print. Understand what you're signing.

Bottom Line: This isn't real estate where you need six figures. This isn't brick-and-mortar where your net worth sits in a warehouse. This is buying cash-flowing digital assets for $1-10K, renovating them with AI, and building a portfolio that pays you monthly.

Matt's been doing this for 30+ years. His students are doing it part-time while working full-time jobs. And with AI, it's easier than ever.

Connect with Matt:

🌐 ebusinessinstitute.com.au (free masterclass)

🎙️ The Digital Investor Podcast

Fair warning: This episode will make you rethink everything about "passive income."

Join the free Facebook Community! Connect, Learn, Grow, Build https://www.facebook.com/groups/freedomentrepreneurcommunity

Have a burning question? Leave a message for Lindsay and she will turn it into an episode with an answer. Use the link below to record.

https://www.speakpipe.com/FreedomEntrepreneur

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