Flauntrepreneur Magazine >> Portrait of a successful flauntrepreneur – Tony Monaco

The light bulb went off when he saw a large enough group of people respond in a cult-like way to the music he loved and played in nightclubs

Tony Monaco is a Toronto radio personality who has truly mastered the art of branding himself. Although not #1 in terms of over-all audience share, he certainly ranks one of the highest in my eyes.

Tony has been entertaining listeners over the airwaves for almost two decades and truly loves going to work everyday. Personal branding rule #1, love what you do. He is of course a brand of the radio station he works for but beyond that, his audience identifies with him as “the king of euro music” although he wasn’t always aware of this perception. Tony concedes the light bulb went off when he saw a large enough group of people respond in a cult-like way to the music he loved and played in nightclubs. He saw an opportunity to capitalize on this and admits this realization was the driving force that influenced him to co-create 45 CD compilations over the last decade. He receives royalties on all CD’s sold which are consequently branded with his name on the cover. In addition, Tony generates supplemental revenue using his name as a “celebrity” to host events around the city and even endorses products that are synonymous to his personality like tanning salons and food. (he’s always tanned and everyone knows him for his appetite for good food).

Tony had the foresight to secure his own website www.tonymonacoradio.com and directed loyal fans there from the radio long before the web became a household tool. He believes the web has done wonders helping him build and stay in touch with his network. Tony is also a regular contributor to entertainment and music related magazines which help him build a broader network and with over 10 000 loyal subscribers to his personal site, he’s doing something right.

Tony was happy to share the characteristics he attributes to building his personal brand and qualifies being personable and friendly to everyone he meets as a key element. “If you’re having a bad day, never let the people know it, on air or in person. I never stop working or building my brand, I am always “on”, always thinking, getting myself out there and schmoozing with the people”. He coins networking as one of the most important factors to being successful and personally responds to close to 500 daily email messages. He advises his fan base of new club venues he'll be hosting, new CD’s being released and even sells his royalty-generating CD’s online. He also made a point of stressing the importance of portraying a consistent image in an effort to become trusted by his network.

Aside from making a very good living doing what he loves every day, Tony’s claim to fame is having the ability to impact people and make them feel good through music. Tony also shared with me the flauntrepreneur he most admires; Vince McMann CEO of WWE (Word Wresting Entertainment). Vince branded himself as a pro wresting commentator, leveraged that association and went on to build a professional wrestling federation worth millions.

Every flauntrepreneur stands for something. Martha Stewart is the queen of domestic perfection, J-Lo is a fashion diva, Trump is all about real estate, luxury and wealth and Tony Monaco is about euro-music. He had a passion and stayed true to it. He may not be the top-rated radio personality in the city but he’s making top-rated revenues as a result of his resourcefulness to capitalize on his brand and that makes Tony Monaco our flauntrepreneur of the month.