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Today’s Deep Dive - How Teddy Baldassarre went from a camera-shy young YouTuber to a 7-figure global luxury watch retailer.

TEDDY BALDASSARRE ⌚️ 

Since launching his watch review YouTube channel in 2017, Teddy Baldassarre has turned his name into a luxury brand with a following of 1.3 million across multiple platforms.

What You’ll Get Today:

• ⚙️ Strategy - The big-picture mechanics of the business

• 🚀 Traffic - How he generates attention (clicks, reads, views)

• 💖 Trust - How he nurtures and builds loyalty with the audience

• 💰 Monetization - How he turns that traffic and loyalty into revenue

• 🧰 Toolbox - Content tools Teddy Baldassarre appears to be using right now.

Let’s dive in.

⚙️ The Strategy

Here’s Teddy Baldassarre’s business model in 3 steps:

1. Generate traffic with YouTube, Google, and Instagram

2. Build trust with content integrity and a deep understanding of what his audience wants.

3. Turn traffic into revenue by retailing luxury watches online.

Right now, he really only has one monetization method:

Retailing watches he procures through partnerships with luxury brands.

Let’s dig into this content funnel, step by step.

Traffic → Trust → Monetization

🚀 Traffic Breakdown

Here’s where it is as of October 2023:

• Blog - Approx 1.5m views/month (estimate from SimilarWeb/Ubersuggest)

• YouTube - 904K subs, 6.42m views/month (estimate from SocialBlade)

• TikTok - 68K followers

• Instagram - 322K followers

• Facebook - 12K followers

• Twitter - 29K followers

Teddy makes money when you visit the e-commerce part of his site - teddybaldassarre.com.

Any channel that doesn’t lead to traffic landing on that part of the site probably doesn’t generate meaningful revenue.

It’s clear that the most important channels for generating traffic to his e-commerce site are Google and YouTube.

Let’s dig into the main traffic sources:

Website/Blog: 

(link)

Teddy’s blog is part of his e-commerce site.

Main Roles:

• Generate SEO traffic from Google.

• Direct people from blog posts to watches they sell on the e-commerce part of the website.

• Grow the newsletter.

How The Website/Blog Gets Traffic (from SimilarWeb):

1. Organic Search: 44% (approx 660K views/month)

   • Predominantly from Google

2. Direct Traffic: 16%

3. Social Traffic: 40% (approx 600K views/month)

   • Breakdown: 96% YouTube, 2% Reddit, 0.21% Instagram 

The social traffic to the website from YouTube (approx 556K views/month) comes from links in video descriptions.

Blog Content:

• Blog posts targeting specific keywords in order to rank on Google.

• Roundup posts (eg. “21 best…”) or reviews of specific watches.

• Ubersuggest lists high-value keywords for which they rank in the top 3 on Google.

• Example high-ranking keywords:

  • “most expensive watches” - (blog post that ranks)

  • “best dive watches” - (blog post that ranks)

  • “best chronograph” - (blog post that ranks)

• Teddy often outranks publications like Men’s Health and British GQ. It’s a testament to the authority Teddy has built online.

• It’s wild how these high-ranking blog posts were created on a Shopify site. Who said you needed WordPress for SEO?

YouTube:

(link)

YouTube is still where he focuses most of his attention.

Main Roles:

• Drive traffic to his e-commerce site via links in video descriptions.

• Grow the newsletter.

• Grow his other social media profiles.

Content:

• Most blog posts have an associated YouTube video embedded.

• The type of content shared is similar to the blog - roundups (“best watches for…”) and reviews.

  • These generally target specific keywords Teddy would rank for on both YouTube and on the video section of Google’s search results. Eg. “15 Great Watches Under $100” (link)

• He also posts “social content” not targeting a keyword. These are more curiosity-driven and drive engagement. Examples:

  • “Watches Of World Leaders” (link)

  • “The Real Reason No One Can Buy A Rolex Or Patek Right Now" (link)

Instagram:

(link)

Main Roles:

• Increase brand awareness.

• Drive (a small amount of) traffic to the e-commerce site.

Content:

• Photographs of watches with captions encouraging engagement (eg. “which watch do you prefer”).

• YouTube shorts repurposed as Instagram reels (example).

💖 Building Trust

Given the high cost of the watches Teddy retails, the trust level required is much higher than average.

Here are a couple of ways he builds that trust like a pro:

Journalistic Integrity

Teddy understands the challenges of objectively reviewing watches he also sells (interview source).

He avoided paid media early in his career and this earned him a lot of audience trust.

…But promoting a watch he sells on YouTube can raise eyebrows now.

Is it genuine or a subtle sales tactic?

To maintain trust, Teddy launched a second YouTube channel for reviewing watches he also sells.

It's won’t be as lucrative as leveraging his main channel.

But for Teddy, maintaining trust is more valuable in the long run.

His Partnerships

Teddy is an authorized retailer of 40+ watch brands.

Here’s a list.

You’ll see some huge names there - Citizen, Tissot, Hamilton, Longines, and more.

Let’s face it:

Massive brands like these wouldn’t just partner with anyone.

They get access to his audience.

But he gets more than just their inventory.

He benefits from simply being associated with their giant names.

💰 Monetization

Just in case you missed it:

He uses content to retail watches online.

Retailing Watches Online

A quick recap of how he links his content to his e-commerce site:

• Blog posts (on the same site) linking to specific watches on the e-commerce section of the site.

• YouTube video descriptions.

• His newsletter.

• His Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok bio.

Teddy’s minimalist and elegant site is powered by Shopify.

Here’s what we like about it:

Teddy’s Name Is Everywhere

Teddy isn’t naïve.

He understands how and why people end up on the e-commerce site - his online following and trusted name.

He makes sure he’s front and center once you land on the site.

• “TEDDY” - a logo that doesn’t leave anything to the imagination.

• A video of himself near the footer with a brief description of his epic story.

Differentiation

Teddy stands out among online watch retailers.

Sure - his massive following sets him apart.

But his status as an authorized retailer does too.

Most competitors are “grey-market” dealers without brand authorization.

Teddy often highlights the dangers of buying from them in his content:

No warranties, potential fakes, etc.

He declares his authorized status on his site wherever possible.

For Teddy, trust is what sets him apart and he wants you to know it.

🧰 Toolbox

Some tools we found Teddy Baldassarre using at the time of writing:

• E-commerce Site: Shopify

• Email Marketing: Klaviyo

• User Behavior Insights: Hotjar

• Lead Generation: OptinMonster

• User Analytics: Crazy Egg

📝 Key Takeaways:

💡 Integrity Over Short-Term Gains: If there's a potential conflict of interest, be transparent. Audience trust is invaluable.

🤝 Partnerships Increase Credibility: Partnering with renowned brands or entities will boost your own credibility.

🛍️ E-commerce As A Monetization Path: Consider retailing products - higher margins and more control than with affiliate products.

🚀 Prioritize Main Traffic Sources: Focus on your primary, revenue-generating traffic sources. Diversify, but also recognize where the bulk of your audience comes from.

💼 Differentiation: Identify what sets you apart in your niche and remind your audience at every opportunity.

And that’s all for today!

Dilshan And Misya, The Pen Pivot