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With Matt Diamante of HeyTony
Matt Diamante isn’t your typical digital marketing guru. In fact, if he hears the word “guru,” he’s probably already rolling his eyes. What he is, though, is a straight-talking, no-fluff marketer who’s helping small business owners make sense of SEO, social media, and that big scary phrase we all love to hate: omnichannel marketing.
In this episode of From Startup to Wunderbrand, we had a laugh and a deep dive into how Matt’s built a following of nearly 280,000 on Instagram (and climbing), how he’s helping folks get found on Google without spending a fortune, and why you don’t need fancy software or a film crew to make brilliant content — just a Zoom account and a bit of patience.
We kicked things off with the question on everyone’s lips: how do small businesses keep up with all these platforms without burning out? Between SEO, ads, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs… honestly, who’s got the time? Matt reckons you have to be doing omnichannel if you want to survive the next decade. But — and it’s a big but — it doesn’t have to break your brain (or your bank).
His approach is pure gold: hit “record” on Zoom, answer a real question your customer asked you today (like “how much is it to install a gas pipe?”), and go deep. Personal stories, proper detail, don’t hold back. Then upload that video to YouTube as unlisted, grab the transcript, and pop it into ChatGPT with a simple prompt: turn this into a blog post.
That’s your SEO content sorted — and it’s free. No tools. No subscriptions. No excuses.
But it doesn’t stop there. Once you’ve got that post, you can ask ChatGPT (or Perplexity) to generate a few ideas for short-form video content based on it. Then it’s time to pull out your phone, get over yourself, and film. Line by line. You don’t need to be Spielberg — just consistent. And when in doubt? Repeat yourself. As Matt puts it, he’s made 50 videos on the same Facebook Ads Library tip before one finally popped off and hit 1.5 million views.
It’s not about going viral; it’s about showing up again and again until the right person sees the right message at the right time.
Now, when you hear someone say “I don’t use LinkedIn,” you might assume they’re behind the times. Not Matt. He hates LinkedIn — or at least, hated it — thanks to all the spammy “do you need a video editor?” DMs. But even he admits it’s a channel worth using, especially with LinkedIn now jumping on the Shorts bandwagon. That said, he’s still being roasted by Nicholas for having fewer followers there.
One thing that really stuck with me was Matt’s stance on SEO: he’s out to bust the myths, blow up the BS, and make it accessible. That’s why he made his Understanding SEO course completely free. Not as a gimmick — because he believes people should actually know what they’re buying into before they go and hire someone (like him). And the impact? He read out a message from a student called Mark who was so inspired, he built a full checklist to give back.
It’s that kind of value-first mindset that makes Matt stand out.
We also chatted about some underrated tools. He prefers SEMrush over Ahrefs — just personal preference — but he’s also built his own stripped-down tools for business owners who can’t afford the bloated platforms. One of them, Watchdog, lets you track your competitors’ website changes each week — think price updates, new landing pages, SEO tweaks — all in a tidy email. Cheeky and effective.
On the social front, Matt’s experimenting with Pinterest (finally!) and reckons it’s criminally underused. Threads, X, BlueSky — sure, if you’ve got time, post the same thing everywhere. Just don’t forget about email — it’s the king of conversion.
Here’s the kicker: Matt’s email list is only 30,000 people, but it generates 10x the revenue of his nearly 280,000 social followers.
Let that sink in.
It all boils down to this: don’t try to be everywhere, all at once. Start by being useful. Answer a real question. Repurpose that gold. Rinse and repeat. Don’t wait for perfection — it’ll never come. Just hit record, post the thing, and be consistent. And don’t be afraid to show people how you do what you do. The more transparent you are, the more trust you build.
Matt’s not trying to be everyone’s agency — but by helping small businesses stand on their own two feet, he’s building something even more powerful: a brand that people believe in.
Want more Matt?
Free SEO course + DIY tools → heytony.ca
Follow @MattDiamante on Insta, TikTok, YouTube & Threads
Watch out for imposters — Matt’s legit profile always has the most followers (and never asks for Bitcoin!)
Fancy some bonus links?
🎙️ Book a guest spot or start your own pod:https://www.joinpodmatch.com/nickkuhne
🎧 Edit your podcast like a legend with Descript:https://get.descript.com/mrzy10nwivuq
Let me know if you’d like this as a LinkedIn carousel, newsletter snippet, or TikTok script next — happy to spin it any way you like!
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