7-Figure Small with Brian Clark: Recent Episodes
Brian Clark
Brian Clark is a serial digital entrepreneur who's started several 7-figure businesses -- and one 8-figure business that was recently acquired. Drawing upon his own 20-year evolution from solo to CEO (and back again), Brian provides compelling stories and actionable strategies for ambitious freelancers and creative entrepreneurs looking to live the "7-Figure Small" lifestyle.
Notable guests include Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Jenny Blake, Tim Ferriss, Henry Rollins, Laura Roeder, Michael Stelzner, Chris Brogan, Emily Thompson, Darren Rowse, Andrew Warner, John Lee Dumas, Kathleen Shannon, and Gary Vaynerchuk.
Jim MacLeod has spent his career helping companies design effective and goal-oriented digital experiences. He did it as a freelancer, and he does it today as the VP of Marketing for Digital Experience and Design for EBSCO.
Now he is using that experience and wisdom to turn the traditional curated email newsletter on its head.
We don't often think about design as an area ripe with differentiation possibilities for the curated newsletter, and yet Jim is proving that it absolutely can be.
In this edition of 7-Figure Small, we dive into Jim's strategy with his Marketing Podcast Recap newsletter, and he shares some of the most important lessons about web design and digital experience that he's learned over the past two decades.
We also discuss why he's going to CEX this May and what he hopes to get out of the experience.
To connect with Jim, follow him on Twitter (@JimMacleod).
You can subscribe to Marketing Podcast Recap newsletter here: https://jimmacleod.substack.com/
To learn more about CEX and get your Early Bird tickets, go to cex.events.
This week Jerod is joined by Scott Ellis and Wendi McGowan-Ellis, the husband-and-wife team that built one of the most successful hyperlocal websites of all time: Lifestyle Frisco.
And they’re not just 7-Figure Small powerhouses together, they’ve both launched impressive projects on their own as well – Wendi with a productized podcast and strategy service for successful female entrepreneurs, and Scott with a software product for doctors and his own newsletter for online entrepreneurs.
In this conversation, we get the background and lessons learned from these projects. We also discuss the benefits and challenges of working together as a married couple, especially when working from home.
To connect with Scott, visit his website and subscribe to his newsletter: vsellis.com
To connect with Wendi, visit wendistry.com or follow her on Twitter @wendistry.
To learn more about CEX and get your Early Bird tickets, go to cex.events.
Kelly Berry is a serial entrepreneur whose list of credentials and accomplishments is impressive:
She is the founder of ResourceAbility and Learn Start Grow, a trained and licensed CEO peer group facilitator, and was named Western Wisconsin Businesswoman of the Year in 2018.
She’s also a mom of two kids — a role which turned out to be pivotal in convincing her to leave the corporate world to start her own online business for the freedom and flexibility she desired. (Sound familiar?)
Kelly is a member of the Unemployable Initiative, our private community for freelancers and entrepreneurs who are building 6- and 7-figure audience-based businesses, and she is consistently one of the most thoughtful and helpful members of the community.
In this edition of 7-Figure Small, Kelly shares insights and wisdom acquired along her journey from corporate employee to client-based freelancer to audience-building community leader and peer group facilitator.
We discuss:
• Why Kelly is looking forward to attending Creator Economy Expo in May.
• Kelly's path from the corporate world to successful freelancer.
• What made her realize that she needed to break out of the hourly revenue trap.
• How Kelly's background in data analysis and research has helped her.
• Why she launched Learn Start Grow and who it serves.
• The impact taking futurism courses had on her mindset.
• The challenges of trying to bring offline peer groups online.
• What she learned about hosting community events through her CEO peer group training.
• Her methodical approach to building Learn Start Grow.
• The impact that traditional networking strategies have had on her audience-building efforts.
• And much more.
To connect with Kelly, visit Learn Start Grow and subscribe: https://learnstartgrow.com/
To learn more about CEX and get your Early Bird tickets, go to cex.events.
Let's talk about CEX.
Last week, Brian Clark and Joe Pulizzi announced that they are joining forces to host a first-of-its-kind event for creators and content entrepreneurs. It's called Creator Economy Expo (CEX), and it will take place May 2-4 at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.
This week on 7-Figure Small, Joe is back. You may recall his last appearance on the show, which included a discussion about his creator coin $TILT that helped spur us in a similar direction, launching $MOVE a couple months later.
In this episode, Joe and Brian share the story of how CEX came to be, who it serves, and why they decide to partner up.
It's a moment more than a decade in the making for two entrepreneurs who have carved out successful 8-figure personal enterprises serving a similar audience. Now their "co-opetition" has morphed into a full-fledged partnership resulting in the first live, in-person conference dedicated to combining the fundamentals of audience building online business with the emerging trends and tools of web3.
You'll find out about the Super Early Bird pricing (which is live now) and also learn about the special NFTs -- called NETs, or Never-Ending Tickets -- that were created especially for the event.
We're excited to be hosting this event, and we hope to see you in Phoenix in May.
To learn more and get your Super Early Bird tickets, go to https://cex.events.
When we think about and discuss the concept of being “unemployable,” it’s easy to conflate that with being alone.
Consider the title of Paul Jarvis’ seminal book on the subject: Company of One.
Even the headline on the unemployable homepage right now – "No Investors, No Employees, Big Profits" – can be taken, at a quick glance, to suggest building on your own.
But the reality is that for the vast majority of unemployables, trying to navigate an increasingly complex web of tools, opportunities, and competition is more successfully done together than separately.
Whether it’s a content collective you join, an educational community you’re a part of, or even a partnership that you enter into, you can get the most important parts of being unemployable (freedom, flexibility, and financial independence) while mitigating the biggest downsides (lack of support, loneliness, risk).
And this week, we explore this idea with two individuals who have built successful unemployable careers while proving that being unemployable doesn’t mean being unattached.
Joining Jerod on 7-Figure Small this week is Danielle Hughes, the founder of More Than Words, where she helps businesses develop their genuine personality brand so they can attract the right clients and repel the wrong ones. She is also a longtime member of the Unemployable Initiative, our community for unemployables who want coaching and connection, so they don’t have to go it alone. You can learn more about it at https://unemployable.com/community.
And joining the conversation is Trudi Roth, Jerod and Brian's partner at Movement Ventures, and who you probably know well from her role as the beloved recurring essayist for Further.
We discuss their entrepreneurial journeys and what they've learned about the importance making connections, seeking support, and finding a sense of belonging. Then we discuss why the concept of attachment is even more important in the emerging web 3.0.
That leads to a candid conversation about women's perceptions of web 3.0 (and how they often differ from men's), why women are more likely to be patient and deliberate before rushing in, and what can be done to help onboard more women to the Internet's next frontier.
If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.
Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.
We’ve spent a lot of time on the podcast over the last few months discussing the emergence of web 3.0.
This includes analyzing the technologies that are enabling web 3.0 and analyzing what they mean for the future of audience building, community building, and the kind of content entrepreneurship and personal enterprise building that so many 7-Figure Small listeners are working toward.
This week, Jerod shares some advice that will be useful to anyone involved in web 3.0, whether you’re just dabbling in it for the first time or already down the rabbit hole.
In this episode, we present a series of "Do's and Don’ts" that will help you to seize the many opportunities that are present here in the still-early days of this transition while helping you avoid the many potholes and pitfalls in what is still fair to call the wild, wild, west of web3.
And here to help Jerod is yet another member of the Unemployable Initiative, Josh Risser. In addition to his growing experience in web 3.0, Josh has built a successful freelance career as a voiceover artist and coach. He shares his journey from fledgling musician to six-figure freelancer before we dive into the Do's and Don'ts that will help you have a successful experience in web 3.0.
If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.
Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.
To learn more about the Unemployable Initiative, go to https://unemployable.com/community
To learn more about $MOVE and The Coin Collective, go to https://rally.io/creator/MOVE/
We launched the 7-Figure Small podcast last year as a natural evolution of the unemployable concept. The big idea, as stated right there in the podcast description, was to share compelling stories and actionable strategies for creative freelancers and entrepreneurs looking to live the "7-Figure Small" lifestyle.
And we’ve done that.
But things in our world have changed quite a bit over the last 18-24 months, and that change has been reflected in the content here on the podcast.
Web 3.0 has come hurtling down the tracks like a freight train, seeming to pick up speed every day as the tools empowered by blockchain technology -- like creator coins, NFTs, and DAOs -- become more and more accessible. In turn, the stories and actionable strategies we’re sharing have changed, by necessity.
It even led to the creation of a new educational community, Future Freedom, which you can -- and should -- learn more about over at futurefreedom.com. In fact, when you go there, you can enter your email address to get a free email course from Brian that will help you create your ideal future, on your terms, by explaining the keys to succeeding in the new creator economy.
And Forest Linden, our guest this week on 7-Figure Small, is really the perfect guest to bridge the gap between the old 7-Figure Small podcast and the evolved 7-Figure Small podcast.
Because he is a case study in how to build an audience-first, one-or-two-person business that can scale to six figures and beyond. He is also a true native of the emerging web 3.0 landscape in just about the most fundamental way possible -- by being a former miner of Bitcoin and Ether.
Forest currently runs Clarity Lab, where he helps people and businesses find the best software for their online businesses and scale their revenue
He has also helped his wife grow her mid-six-figure business The Art of Money, founded a six-figure online business called Tech Husband, and earned more than $200,000 in one year by selling an online course teaching people how to build websites in Joomla.
In this conversation, we hit on a number of topics:
• The throughline that has driven his career choices.
• How Forest went from living in a tent and playing music for money to running six-figure technology businesses.
• The good and bad of being an unemployable.
• How he's thinking about opportunity in the metaverse.
• The fundamentals that continue to endure for audience builders and online entrepreneurs.
• Why it all ultimately boils down to relationships and being helpful, not matter what technology platform you're on.
• Plus, he runs through a few of his favorite tools for content entrepreneurs.
If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.
Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.
We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few months discussing web 3.0, the emerging and converging technologies that are creating it, and how these trends will impact the strategies and tactics we choose as audience-building entrepreneurs.
If you missed any of our recent podcasts episodes on web 3.0, make sure you to dip into the recent archive to get caught up.
And if you want to go deeper on the keys to succeeding in the creator economy and web 3.0, go to futurefreedom.com and sign up for Brian Clark’s free email course, where you’ll get his latest thinking on how to build an exceptional business and lifestyle by embracing change instead of dreading it.
This week, we resume talking about web 3.0 and the metaverse, and all that those terms encompass, but in a slightly different context.
Our guest this week is Mich Bondesio, an expert on business performance. She has spent years helping business leaders improve performance, enhance their creativity, boost their productivity and build a healthier work culture.
She is the founder of Growth Sessions, where she works with business owners, writes the bi-monthly Cadence newsletter, and hosts the Creating Cadence podcast, where she explores how to create momentum, work with purpose, and live with intention — to activate our better selves and support better business.
And she is also a leader within the Unemployable Initiative, our private membership community for unemployables who are working toward building a 7-Figure Small business.
Instead of analyzing how these rapidly evolving web 3.0 technologies will affect our strategy, we discuss how they will actually affect our ability to execute and, simply put, actually get work done.
• What does it do to our brains, and our ability to focus, when more and more of our experiences are mitigated through screens?
• What does it do to our ability to build meaningful relationships, which people and teams need to thrive?
• And while it’s easy to point out and dwell on the potential negatives, are there second order benefits that we may be overlooking too?
Plus much more.
If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.
Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.
What exactly is a “digital nomad?”
Here’s one potential definition:
Explorer, Traffic & Website Builder, Always Striving to Be & Do Better. Driven by continuous exploration. Personally, professionally, and as a full-time nomad. At home in Canada & the USA but consider myself a citizen of the world.
That’s the headline and description from one of our member profiles inside of the Unemployable Initiative — a member who certainly considers herself to be a digital nomad.
It’s a concept we’ve discussed here on the 7-Figure Small podcast. And we’ve certainly discussed it over at Future Freedom. In fact, if you go to futurefreedom.com and register for the free email course, one of the lessons you’ll receive is about how to “unretire” and travel the world.
But my hunch is that while many folks striving to build a personal enterprise are intrigued by the idea of being a digital nomad, it’s a concept that remains pretty abstract in most people’s minds.
It’s aspirational, and it makes for compelling social media posts, but it’s something “other” people do and that may actually feel unattainable … until you are actually out there being a citizen of the world yourself.
So this week, with Brian headed off for a retreat in Peru, I (Jerod) take the opportunity to dig into what it’s really like to be a digital nomad, while also shining a light on one of our most consistent and helpful contributors in the Unemployable Initiative — our private, paid education community for unemployables across the globe, whether firmly grounded in one location like me, or constantly on the go, like this week’s guest.
And yes, as you might have guessed, our guest is the person whose profile description is listed above: Pat Williams, the founder of CyberCletch, a boutique web design and digital marketing agency that she runs from, well, anywhere.
We discuss:
• Pat's life and career arc that led to her current digital nomad setup
• The source of her wanderlust
• The benefits of life on the road with a location-independent business
• The challenges of life on the road with a location-independent business
• The sources of support and connection that help Pat along the way
• Her advice for anyone considering making a similar career and life shift
• The stories that encapsulate what the digital nomad life is like
And much more.
To get links to all of the resources Pat mentioned, check out the show notes: https://unemployable.com/digital-nomad
If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.
Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.
Jack Butcher is proof that new voices can come along and quickly build a 7-figure small business with an online audience. And then also parlay that initial success into the next iteration of their own personal enterprise.
Of course, people only see the so-called “overnight success” and not the longer path that made it possible. Like so many others, Jack didn’t just jump into online courses.
He paid his dues developing industry expertise, worked one-on-one with clients to test his ideas, and only then did he launch scalable courses that brought him over a million in revenue.
And now, thanks to the unique visual aspects of the brand Jack built that was bigger than himself, he’s able to capitalize on the biggest digital trend of 2021 -- NFTs.
It all comes down to the audience he started with, and how his biggest fans constitute something more in the form of community. Listen in to hear how Jack’s journey played out.
If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discover the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.
Just head over to http://futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox.
http://futurefreedom.com
Technology is driving change and the evolution of the web.
That's what we discussed in recent episodes about blockchain, creator coins, NFTs, and smart contracts and DAOs. But what really matters, beyond the shiny newness and seemingly infinite possibilities of the tech, is the people.
Specifically, how the unchanging fundamentals of human nature operate in the context this new technology creates.
Because as Brian is fond of saying, “Technology doesn’t change human nature, it amplifies it.”
What will that mean in web 3.0? We explore in this week's episode.
• Why “community” is so much more than just a buzzword.
• Five fundamentals of human nature that matter in a web 3.0 context.
• Does audience still matter?
• Does audience size still matter?
• How the Personal Enterprise fits into this rapidly evolving context
• The 3 models for building a successful web 3.0 enterprise: Leader, Joiner, Collaboration.
• If 2021 was the Year of the NFT, 2022 will be the Year of the ___ ?
Links:
• http://movecoin.net/
• http://futurefreedom.com/
• https://unemployable.com/podcast/nft-case-study-cryptodads/
As we discussed on a recent episode of 7-Figure Small, the use cases and utility for NFTs go so far beyond just getting a cartoon image to use as a profile picture.
This is actually the biggest mistake that many people new to learning about NFTs make when they see the exorbitant amounts of money that projects like Crypto Punks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club sell for. They assume it’s about the artwork, when that’s merely the top layer.
What really matters is everything going on beneath the surface in these super-exclusive communities that provide real benefits to their members.
Because that’s really what someone is buying when they purchase such an NFT: yes, they’re getting a unique jpeg that can signal social capital and even convey valuable IP rights; but more importantly they are getting entry and access into an online space that can provide networking, camaraderie, purpose, opportunity, fun, giveaways, and even collective revenue streams.
And sometimes, it’s not the community that comes first; it’s the NFT project — with a spontaneous community spinning up around it. Do some of these spontaneous communities turn out to be short-term mirage communities filled with speculators hoping to flip a jpeg for a quick profit?
Absolutely.
But when done right, these spontaneous communities can quickly become genuine, connected communities that carry the initial mission — and financial goals — of the NFT project’s founders beyond their wildest expectations.
In this case study conversation, which was originally a piece of premium content for Future Freedom members, Jerod talks with the founders of one such NFT project — CryptoDads. (Full disclosure, Jerod is a member of the CryptoDads community by virtue of owning multiple CryptoDads NFTs.)
Jerod stumbled upon CryptoDads after spending some time searching for an NFT project to get into, so he could see this spontaneous community building from the inside. As he explains, he immediately bought into this project because of the utility roadmap the founders had laid out, and because the big idea spoke to him on a personal level. The best of these NFT projects connect with members in at least one key component of their identity. CryptoDads hit him in two: his emerging interest in crypto, and his enduring joy and responsibility of being a dad.
And because this project made a similar connection with so many other like-minded people, as well as the inevitable speculators who are always looking for promising projects, its public sale of 10,000 NFTs ended within minutes, driving quite a bit of revenue for the founders, devs, designer, and investors. They also get a cut of each NFT when it is resold as well. Pretty interesting business model, right?
Also an extremely challenging one to pull off, as we discuss. But even if launching the next 10,000-mint pfp NFT project isn’t in the cards for you, it’s useful to understand why they can be so powerful in building spontaneous communities.
And with NFTs set to serve as unifying digital tokens for existing and emerging communities alike moving forward, understanding this phenomenon through the prism of a project that is making all the right moves early on will help ground your understanding of NFTs moving forward.
Links:
http://futurefreedom.com
http://cryptodadsnft.com
http://twitter.com/cryptodadsnft
We began this series by talking about blockchain, then followed it up with two episodes on emerging applications built on top of blockchains — creator coins and NFTs.
This week, we discuss the intermediate layer between the blockchain and those applications, which make them possible: smart contracts.
• What a smart contract is and does
• The legalities of smart contracts
• Examples of smart contracts
• How smart contracts led to the rise of Ethereum
• How smart contracts can revolutionize the way freelancers work and get paid
Then we tackle another emerging application that smart contracts empower — DAOs.
• What is a DAO? What does it do?
• How access to a DAO is granted
• The legalities of DAOs
• Examples of DAOs — from the wild and esoteric to the remarkably practical
• The future of DAOs and how they will impact online communities
All that and more on this edition of 7-Figure Small.
Links:
• $MOVE coin: http://movecoin.net
• Future Freedom: http://futurefreedom.com
This is the second episode in our series on the applications that will be built on top of blockchains and change the way we live, work, and interact.
Last we discussed creator coins. This week, we're discussing the other kind of social token: NFTs.
By now you've probably heard of NFTs. You may even know that NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. But if you're like most people, you're still trying to figure out exactly what that means … and why on earth people would spend thousands (even millions!) of dollars on a jpeg.
The reality is that your current view of NFTs is likely colored by the content you're consuming about them. If all you've read are the crazy headlines or “old man yells at clouds” dismissals, then you probably have an overly simplistic understanding of what NFTs are and the many layers of utility they can provide to holders and creators.
In this episode, we dive deep to give you the 360-degree view of NFTs.
Yes, there is some silliness, maybe even a speculative bubble, in the current NFT market. But the technology behind NFTs is going to change everything from how musicians make money to how live event tickets are handled and even, perhaps, to how you sell and gate your next online course.
What people often overlook about NFTs is that they can provide utility in the form of entry, access, community, social capital, and even future revenue streams. Once you start digging in, it's fascinating. And you'll undoubtedly come away from this episode with at least one idea for how NFTs will impact your work.
You'll also learn what happened when Jerod went down the rabbit hole of an NFT project that he actually connected with, CryptoDads.
All that and more on this edition of 7-Figure Small.
Access the show notes and links here: http://unemployable.com/podcast/nfts
Last week, we returned with a discussion about blockchain and decentralization. That episode set the stage for the series of episodes we're beginning this week, which dive deep into what really matters: the useful applications that will be built on top of blockchains and change the way we live, work, and interact.
Let's start with creator coins -- of which we have our own, $MOVE (http://movecoin.net)
If you've been paying attention, you probably understand creator coins in broad strokes. They are branded digital currencies. Okay, but what does that really mean?
• How is a creator coin actually a real "currency"?
• How are they used?
• How do the holders of creator coins benefit?
• How do the creators benefit?
• Do creator coins replace $USD?
• Can they work together?
• How do you get one of your own?
• What makes the Rally ecosystem, where we host $MOVE coin, better than the other current options?
This week, we answer all of those questions and more ... before the episode really takes a wild turn at the end.
Plus, stick around for Brian making yet another superhero movie reference that sails right over Jerod's head and the awkward moment that ensues.
These days, blockchain and cryptocurrencies are most often referenced when the decentralized web is discussed. But blockchain is really only one aspect of Web 3.0 (although a really important foundational one).
Web 3.0 will involve the convergence of:
• Spatial technologies like augmented reality and virtual reality
• Physical access points via the internet of things, wearables, and robotics
• Cognitive aspects such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, and
• Distributed technologies like blockchain, distributed ledgers, and edge computing.
In this episode of 7-Figure Small, we touch on the impact that all of these elements will have on the development of Web 3.0 before settling in to focus on blockchain.
Our blockchain discussion explores the following topics:
• What is "decentralization"?
• How does blockchain technology facilitate decentralization?
• What does Bitcoin have to do with it?
• What industries are being most acutely impacted?
• And how is this affecting content entrepreneurs?
Then we end with an overview of what our next four episodes will cover. That's right, we're back!
Make sure you check out these important links that we mention during the episode:
http://movecoin.net/
https://copyblogger.com/creator-coins/
https://unemployable.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/CB-Insights_Industries-Disrupted-Blockchain.pdf
We’ve talked a lot about positioning on this show. In a crowded content ecosystem, you can’t just publish general content for a general audience and expect any response other than general indifference.
You have to position yourself and your content so that you matter in a particular way to a particular group of people.
And as the Internet landscape gets more advanced, with more content options available, even a single level of positioning isn’t enough. For example, you can’t just be “fitness” and expect to make a dent. Or you can’t just target nerd culture and expert to be heard above the noise.
But what if you combine two seemingly unrelated niches into one? Now, instead of struggling to be heard by the masses at the edges of the Venn Diagram, you can really matter to the people at the intersection in the middle.
And that’s exactly what Steve Kamb did when he created Nerd Fitness. It's also what Brian Clark did with Copyblogger. And today, we’re going to discuss how Steve and Brian have succeeded with intersectional positioning, and why it may be a path you want to go down in your quest to really matter to an audience.
We also discuss a few fun headlines -- on the Metaverse, keyword research, and the best jobs for freelancers -- and then answer a few questions.
Headlines:
• State of the Metaverse 2021 (https://medium.com/the-challenge/state-of-the-metaverse-2021-9f032fed655b)
• There Are Four Kinds of Keyword Research; Make Sure You’re Doing the Right One(s) (https://sparktoro.com/blog/there-are-four-kinds-of-keyword-research-make-sure-youre-doing-the-right-ones/)
• 5 Freelance Jobs That Are In Demand Now (https://www.forbes.com/sites/nextavenue/2021/05/07/5-freelance-jobs-that-are-in-demand-now/?sh=ae0a5c163180)
To access the full show notes: https://unemployable.com/podcast/intersectional-positioning/
With Joe Pulizzi in the house, could we be talking about anything other than content? Come on. This is the founder of Content Marketing Institute and author of the soon-to-be-rereleased Content, Inc. that we're talking about here. Content is Joe’s brand.
But not content for content’s sake. If you are still clinging to the idea that “content is king,” you need to disabuse yourself of that notion immediately.
Content is not king. The right content, in the right context, for the right people, and within the confines of the right business model — that’s your winning combo.
It’s how you go from a dime-a-dozen online content creator to a true content entrepreneur — someone who serves an audience on the way toward building a 7-Figure Small business, a personal enterprise, or whatever else gives you the lifestyle and freedom you desire.
This week, we learn from Joe’s experience and wisdom in this area, and the new frontier he's blazing by incorporating crypto and NFTs into his new project, The Tilt.
Oh, and Brian may know a thing or two about this also. 😉
We also discuss a few fun headlines — Twitter's push with Spaces and how creators can use NFTs to their advantage — and then answer a good listener question.
Headline URLs:
https://techcrunch.com/2021/05/03/twitter-expands-spaces-to-anyone-with-600-followers-details-plans-for-tickets-reminders-and-more/
https://unchainedpodcast.com/mark-cuban-on-why-he-thinks-eth-is-a-better-store-of-value-than-bitcoin/
https://www.thetilt.com/revenue/content-creators-non-fungible-tokens-coins-nfts
Access the full show notes at: https://unemployable.com/podcast/joe-pulizzi-nft/
This week, we continue with the themes from the past couple of weeks: building a personal enterprise and the growing trend of unretirement.
The question is: where does building a personal brand play into all of this?
Do you need to build a personal brand to build a personal enterprise? Are they the same thing? (No.)
Do you need it at the beginning in our social media-conscious world, but are you then able to ditch it later once the demands of a personal brand are no longer necessary to serve the ends of the enterprise?
There aren’t many people more qualified to discuss this topic than Brian Clark and Paul Jarvis. Both have built successful personal enterprises, each without leaning fully into the personal brand focus that so many online-based entrepreneurs focus on.
What can we learn from their examples and experiences? In this episode, we find out.
We also discuss two meaty headlines — the controversy at Basecamp and the trouble with entrepreneurship culture — and answer some listener questions.
• Breaking Camp by The Verge (https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/27/22406673/basecamp-political-speech-policy-controversy)
• Silicon Valley's Secret (https://money.cnn.com/mostly-human/silicon-valleys-secret/)
Access the complete show notes at http://unemployable.com/podcast/paul-jarvis
The "unretirement" trend started with bored retired people going back to work.
Then it became a planning mechanism for those nearing retirement to set up their next thing.
Now, it’s applied to anyone who thinks it's ridiculous to do something you hate just so you can retire by a predetermined age. Why not just start living the life you want now ... and then keep going with it?
That is the topic of this week's discussion on 7-Figure Small. Brian Clark delves into what unretirement is, the societal and technological trends that are converging to make it more necessity than option, and some surprising statistics about the future of the digital nomad lifestyle.
And, of course, how the personal enterprise plays into it all.
You are probably starting to notice a theme here on 7-Figure Small.
Two weeks ago, Brian introduced the concept of the personal enterprise here on this podcast, having written about it several times over at Further.
Then last week, Brian Gardner joined us to trace his history from side hustle design to sustainable, scalable enterprise.
And this week, our guest Laura Roeder gives us another opportunity to experience a personal enterprise case study straight from the trenches.
Her journey from social media consultant to founder of multiple SaaS success stories is an inspiring one, and she’s here to share it with us -- the good and the bad -- so we can learn from her example and put the lessons into action as we pursue our own personal enterprises.
We also discuss headlines about so-called "outrage marketing," Prince Harry's new job (and why it's relevant to an audience of unemployables), and ambassador marketing for email newsletters. Plus a few listener questions at the end.
To access the show notes for this episode, including all links mentioned, visit: http://unemployable.com/podcast/personal-enterprise-laura-roeder
Last week, Brian and I discussed the personal enterprise in theory. This week, it's time to discuss the personal enterprise in practice.
And who better to lead such a discussion than two people who have each built mature personal enterprises of their own?
Brian Clark and Brian Gardner. (Also known as BC an BG to anyone who worked at Copyblogger.)
They started out as competitors, eventually became successful partners at Copyblogger Media, and now have moved into that sweetest of entrepreneurial spots where they are letting their passion and enthusiasm guide their choices for what to work on next.
What’s it take to get there? Find out this week in the return of 7-Figure Small Live -- which means in addition to our main topic you always get headlines and some Q&A at the end.
Headlines:
• I’m Stepping Down as Copyblogger CEO (href="https://copyblogger.com/stepping-down/)
• Wix Takes On WordPress by Bringing to Life the Frustrations of Website Management (https://www.adweek.com/creativity/wix-takes-on-wordpress-with-ads-that-bring-the-frustrations-of-website-management-to-life/)
• Wix Ad: Conflicting Plugin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tffn1sW1VSg)
• Will Gen X Women Rule the World? (https://further.net/gen-x-women/")
To access the full show notes, visit: https://unemployable.com/podcast/brian-gardner/
When you start a business, you don't have to know exactly what it will end up looking like. You also don't need to try to hit a home run right away. It's far better to be patient and methodical.
In fact, many people who end up developing their own personal business empire start out as freelancers, or in some other client services role. This is includes Brian Clark.
This week on 7-Figure Small, we take a one-week break from the new 7-Figure Small Live format to dig deep on the idea of the personal enterprise. Brian reflects on his journey from starting small to developing his own successful personal enterprise.
He defines what a personal enterprise is, outlines the forces converging to make now the right time to get started, and describes what your revenue and audience building mindsets should be to get you started off in a way that can you support you now and scale later.
Brian also introduces and describes the Personal Enterprise Pyramid, and tells you what your next step(s) should be.
Step one: make sure you've taken the free Next Level 7 email training course! (https://unemployable.com/next-level-7/)
Access the show notes, including all links mentioned, here: https://unemployable.com/podcast/personal-enterprise/
This week, we talk about SEO. But it’s a bit of a different SEO conversation than you may be used to.
Because often when we talk about SEO within the context of building an audience, we focus on it from the beginning. What better way to get to your minimum viable audience than with organic search traffic ... right?
Well, maybe not.
As we’ve discussed in bits and pieces on previous episodes, you aren’t really ready to execute a smart SEO strategy until you have your minimum viable audience already built. At that point, you actually know something about your audience beyond the hypothesis that you start out with.
Once you’re there, then you can take what you know, craft an astute SEO plan, and drive the kind of targeted organic traffic that you can actually convert into subscribers -- the kinds of subscribers who may even be on the fast track to becoming customers.
And Jonny Nastor knows plenty about how to do this, because he’s been doing it successfully for clients for years. And he shares his expertise with us in this episode.
In addition to this week's main topic, we take another trip inside Brian's mind, answer some mailbag questions, and discuss headlines about a new way startups are raising money, the secret to business and artistic success, and why internal links really matter.
Headlines:
- The SEC and New Breed of Startups Fuel the Equity Crowdfunding Flame (https://www.inc.com/amrita-khalid/the-sec-new-breed-of-startups-fuel-equity-crowdfunding-flame.html)
- This Is the Secret to Business and Artistic Success (https://ryanholiday.net/secret-to-success)
- 10 Easy But Powerful SEO Tips to Boost Traffic to Your Website (https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/easy-but-powerful-seo-tips-to-boost-traffic-to-your-website)
Back in November of 2020, this week's guest tweeted, “It’s hard to overstate how monumental and empowering the digital revolution has been for independent creators.”
His name is Corbett Barr, he's one of the founders of Fizzle, and for the past decade-plus he's been at the forefront of this revolution, creating successful content and products while helping other creators do the same.
This week, Corbett and fellow digital pioneer Brian Clark discuss some of the lessons they’ve each learned that will help us all succeed as independent creators in 2021 and beyond.
In addition to this week's main topic, we take another trip inside Brian's mind, answer some mailbag questions, and discuss headlines about community becoming a competitive advantage, the latest trends in podcast listenership, and an update on the PRO Act.
Headlines:
• When Community Becomes Your Competitive Advantage (https://hbr.org/2020/01/when-community-becomes-your-competitive-advantage)
• Yes, Podcast Listenership is Still on the Rise (https://www.vulture.com/2021/03/podcast-listenership-download-data-on-the-rise.html)
• No, The PRO Act Wouldn't Kill Freelancing (https://brandonmagner.substack.com/p/no-the-pro-act-wouldnt-kill-freelancing)
This week, we discuss a topic that gets asked about nearly every time we do a Q&A for Unemployable Initiative members: how to build an audience. Specifically, how do you start from scratch, or close to scratch, and build a minimum viable audience?
As you know from the definition of minimum viable audience, once you have an MVA the audience starts to build itself. That doesn’t mean the work of filling the top of your funnel is done, but it does mean that you have some momentum and a head of steam to help keep you growing.
But how do you get that momentum going in the first place? Especially when there is so much content out there already, which can it feel like such an immense challenge just to get noticed?
To be clear: there are no silver bullet in this episode. There is no secret we reveal that will allow you to supersede a couple of fundamental truths of audience building: 1) you have to create high quality content for a specific audience, and 2) you’re going to have to invest time or money, or both, to get that content in front of the right people.
If either of those two truths scare you off, this conversation may not be of much use. But if they don’t, then join us and our special guest Sonia Simone to talk about what’s working for building a minimum viable audiences in 2021.
In addition to this week's main topic, we take another trip inside Brian's mind, answer a bevy of listener questions, and discuss headlines about how the pandemic is messing with our brains, whether the PRO Act should worry freelancers, and how marketing will (or won't) change after the pandemic.
This week's headlines:
- How the Pandemic is Messing with Our Brains (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2021/03/what-pandemic-doing-our-brains/618221/)
- Does the PRO Act Threaten Freelance Careers?
(https://www.jennifergregorywriter.com/2021/03/01/guest-post-deborah-abrams-kaplan-explains-why-the-pro-act-threatens-freelance-careers/) - 10 Truths About Marketing After the Pandemic (https://hbr.org/2021/03/10-truths-about-marketing-after-the-pandemic)
Todd Tresidder has built his successful two-stage career by walking the walk.
First, he became a self-made millionaire by learning how wealth is really created and spotting the contradictions in what is often taught. Then, he helped others do the same at Financial Mentor by creating frameworks and guides that help people ignore the noise and focus their financial decision making and what will actually help them build wealth.
And along the way, he’s proven to be a believer in a concept Brian discussed most recently in the first lesson of Community Commerce Essentials -- two of the seven questions Brian outlined for finding your winning difference: who does your audience want to become and who do you want your audience to become?
That latter part is what really sets Todd apart, because he wants his financial mentees to view their path to financial freedom as a path toward personal growth as well. In fact, he views them as one and the same.
We talk about all of this with Todd on this week's edition of 7-Figure Small.
In addition, we discuss a few headlines around NFTs, the future of work, and email. Then we end by answering some questions from Unemployable Initiative members and folks who were there for the live broadcast of this week's episode.
After two episodes of the new format of the show, fate intervened. First, the winter fiasco in Texas knocked Jerod’s power out, and then the next week his wife gave birth to their second child. So, congratulations to Jerod and Heather!
I decided to carry on with a return to the old interview format for one week only.
In this episode, I have a great chat with John Warrilow about some of the key concepts from his new book, The Art of Selling Your Business. I’ve interviewed John before about designing your business to be an attractive acquisition target with a recurring revenue model, and this time we’re exploring how to prepare for an actual exit.
We begin with a question that many don’t really spend time considering: Why do you want to sell? Getting a little philosophical about the reasons for selling your business can spare you a lot of second-guessing later.
After that, we discuss the danger of timing your exit, the “5-20” rule for potential businesses that will want to acquire your business, how to deal with earnouts and attempts to “retrade” the deal, how to nudge the purchase price up, and much more.
John shares a lot of value in this interview, and answers some common questions that everyone who sells a business needs to understand. Let’s jump right in.
With podcasting still going strong, newsletters having their moment, and blogging still right there in the thick of it all, it sure feels like the internet is returning to its roots in a good way.
As Justin Jackson put it in a tweet: "The classic internet is back in style: mindful, slow pace. Less frenzy. Feels good."
We sure agree.
So this week on 7-Figure Small, we rounded up Chris Brogan and Darren Rowse, a couple of pioneers of the early internet, to join Brian Clark for a chat about what’s new, what’s different, and what’s the same as it ever was.
As always, we begin by kicking around some headlines and end by answering listener questions.
In between, during our main topic, Brian, Chris, and Darren go deep on:
• Their experience launching Third Tribe
• The power of virtual communities
• Why email remains so important
• Where podcasts fit within an overall content marketing strategy
• How curation has evolved
And much more.
As all freelancers and solopreneurs know, or eventually learn, starting a successful small business is a challenge -- a challenge worth accepting because of the rewards that come with it.
But what about the steps beyond that first level of success? What if you decide that you want to take your six- or seven-figure small business and scale it up?
It's doable, and there are well-worn paths you can follow. But it's not the right path for everyone. Is it the right path for you?
That's the subject of this week's edition of 7-Figure Small with Brian Clark, who has made the decision to scale several times in the past and experienced the challenges and rewards that come with it.
Ryan Deiss has too. Like Brian, he's a serial entrepreneur. He founded Digital Marketer and is currently helping small businesses scale successfully at Scalabale.co.
This week, Ryan is our guest for an in-depth discussion about how to weigh the benefits and challenges of scaling your business so you can make the right decision for your situation.
This week's episode also marks the debut of our new format: 7-Figure Small Live.
So in addition to the discussion on scaling your business, we begin by kicking around a few headlines (about Robinhood, Clubhouse, and Substack) and then finish up by answering questions from our live Zoom audience of Unemployable Initiative community members.
There are, without doubt, a lot of podcasts other there. But that’s not the same as there being a lot of truly engaging podcasts.
People tend to think if they just land the right guest (you know, the one that’s been on every other show like yours), your downloads would double and sales would skyrocket. But think about it ... how can that be true?
Rather than just another podcast, you need a premise that does more than prompt a download. Something that speaks to your intended audience in a way that simultaneously delivers the value they’re looking for, in a way they weren’t expecting.
This week’s guest on 7-Figure Small has some thoughts on the subject. In fact, Jay Acunzo has lots of thoughts, and they are incredibly insightful.
If you’re trying to grow your business with a podcast, or you’re contemplating it, this episode is a must listen.
From his early work at companies like Google and ESPN, and spanning 15+ years of public performance and creative projects, Jay has inspired and pushed others to question the status quo, find and share their voices, and make a difference with the work they create.
He’s now building his own solo business helping people find their voice and build an audience -- all in a way that leads to real revenue, not just downloads on just another podcast.
Over the last 15 years or so, there have been a multitude of people who have started creating content for a specific audience, and bootstrapped their way to 7-figure success. Build the audience first, and the revenue follows.
Katie Wells of Wellness Mama is one of those people. As a mother of six, her interest in helping families become healthier stemmed from her own research in raising healthy children -- a familiar case of purpose preceding profit that powers so many bootstrapped digital media businesses.
Today, Wellness Mama is a thriving business that initially hit the 7-figure mark by recommending quality products and services to people who trust Katie to put their well-being first. And then she developed her own line of natural products under the Wellness brand, which is now a successful and growing ecommerce company that has weathered the pandemic and looks to have an exceedingly bright future.
It’s all too easy to look at Katie’s success today and think this is something that’s too monumental to achieve. But everything starts with one small step at the beginning. Just one person making a decision to provide meaningful value and solutions to others.
If you have a strong sense of purpose that you’d like to turn into a business, Katie’s story will help you get started. Her insights in this episode are incredibly valuable, and she shares more than a few nuggets of gold that can make your own journey less mysterious and more fruitful.
It’s never been more doable to start a digital business. The increased “virtualization” of business, education, communities and events was happening anyway -- and then 2020 kicked it up to a much higher level.
But most of us start off as freelancers and with other client service businesses (I know I did). It’s a rite of passage where you learn how to make it without a J.O.B., and often reveals the driving sense of purpose for the business you really want to start and run.
Like a lot of young people, Krista Stryker thought she knew what she wanted to do after school, and like a lot of people life presented other plans. She ended up as a freelance copywriter, while starting a blog to talk about her passion for fitness on the side.
That blog turned into 12-Minute Athlete, which is now an app, book, and website dedicated to high intensity interval training and body-weight exercises. And even with her success, Krista is looking to take her business to the next level thanks to her belief that physical fitness must be accompanied with mental fitness as well.
Our extended hiatus is over, and we're excited to be back for another season of the 7-Figure Small podcast.
In this brief teaser episode, Brian Clark lets you know what's on tap for Season 2 of the show. We have three interviews lined up to kick off the new season, and then we're introducing a new format for the show. Listen to learn more.
Then look for our first interview of Season 2 on Monday.
We originally planned for this season finale of the 7-Figure Small podcast to be published a few weeks ago. But our world here in the U.S. changed quite drastically in the interim, so we took a little more time to collect our thoughts before recording.
This episode still focuses on the same topic we were planning to discuss -- the importance of choosing your idea audience -- but the context is now much different and, ultimately, much more meaningful.
We open with a discussion about an intriguing new online marketplace for "A.I.-generated characters," and what it could mean for your business, before moving onto perhaps the single greatest example in advertising history of defining who your ideal audience is (and who it isn't).
Then we address the importance of having core values and being willing to stand up for them, what it means to provide values-based leadership to an audience, and how these ideas come to a head when important societal events happen -- like the recent murder of George Floyd and the ensuing protests and national discussion about Black Lives Matter and race in America.
How do you decide when it's time to take a public stand and make your thoughts and feeling clear to your audience, even when it's obvious there will be some negative reaction? And is it possible that we overrate how much negative reaction there will be? Brian and Jerod use their own recent experiences with other audiences to provide some insight.
All of that and more on this season finale episode of 7-Figure Small.
The global economy is in bad shape right now. That is perhaps the understatement of the century.
In the span of 8 weeks, it feels like there has been a tectonic shift, and no one knows with any certainty what the new “normal” is going to be whenever it mercifully arrives.
What we do know -- because we learned it during the financial crisis of 2008, and in many examples prior -- is that the businesses that will survive this economic turmoil, and possibly even thrive on the other side of it, are those that are able to adapt to the changing economic reality.
In other words: those with a defensible business model.
In this episode of 7-Figure Small, Brian Clark defines what a defensible model is, uses examples like AirBNB, Uber, and Amazon to illustrate it, and explains how it applies to building a 7-figure small business that is audience-first as opposed to product-first.
This episode of 7-Figure Small is brought to you by Next Level 7 -- Brian Clark’s free audio course that teaches you how to start stacking the building blocks of a defensible business. Most notably, you’ll learn what’s working for attracting an audience and discovering what they want to buy, which are the first steps toward building a business that truly has the ability to adapt to changing times. To get started for free, go to nextlevel7.com.
A smart and sustainable SEO strategy remains one of the best ways to drive targeted traffic and build an engaged audience.
There is no one better to discuss what really work in SEO that this week's guest, Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko. Brian shares with us some of the biggest takeaways from his epic article The Definitive Guide To SEO In 2020.
He begins by giving us a few of the most important high-level things that everyone needs to realize about SEO — including the enduring power of keyword optimization and some smart tips for how to discover search intent.
Then we cover a wide range of topics after that, including how AI will impact SEO moving forward, how to think about SEO when you're focusing on a curated email newsletter, tactical advice on how to structure content in WordPress, and much more.
Now there’s just one catch with this episode: we didn’t record it specifically for the podcast. What you’re about to hear is actually the audio from a webinar that we did inside of the Unemployable Initiative, our private, paid community for freelancers and solopreneurs. And as you’ll hear, the questions Brian answers are directly from community members.
With the doors to the community now open for ongoing registration, Brian Clark and I wanted to give you a little taste of the content you’ll find when you join. To find out everything that is included in your membership, go to unemployable.com/community.
Note: the original presentation was on video, and Brian does share his screen a few times. If you want to see the video replay, visit the lesson page: https://unemployable.com/podcast/seo
For years now, we’ve heard warnings of massive job losses due to the rise of artificial intelligence in business. A study from McKinsey suggests that by 2030, intelligent agents and robots could eliminate the jobs of 800 million people worldwide.
The flip side of this prediction is that, as with every other major technological transformation, more jobs will be created than lost. The idea is that the people who adapt and learn to work with machines will be the best off.
That remains to be seen for the employed, but for solo business owners, there’s no doubt that we’ll use artificial intelligence to enhance our businesses. No “boss” can replace us with software or a robot, but we will replace ourselves as much as possible.
So what will that leave us to do? Advanced technology will free us up to focus on the uniquely human aspects of our businesses, and that will center around enhanced creative thinking.
This week’s episode is all about creativity – a human quality so distinctive, differentiating, and valuable that it actually becomes more important the closer technology comes to mimicking it.
Joining us this week is Jason Miller, a digital marketing veteran who has worked at Marketo, LinkedIn, and Microsoft. Jason has been on the front lines of the automation and artificial intelligence business revolution for over a decade, and his message is music to the ears of creative entrepreneurs and freelancers who want to create outsized impacts with emerging technology.
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, cloud accounting software designed specifically for solo business owners. They’re offering a 30-day, no credit card required free trial to listeners of 7-Figure Small. To claim it, just visit FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
The early days of the tech startup craze would have you believe that Silicon Valley was not only the place to be, it was the only place to be. Or maybe Boston or New York City, but those were all the acceptable choices.
As time went on, Seattle, Austin, and Boulder became part of the conversation. But what about Indianapolis, Nashville, and Pittsburgh?
Truth is, there are vibrant startup communities all over the place. Not to mention the increasing numbers of seven figure small businesses that operate outside of the venture capital circus all together.
Matt Hunckler has been working tirelessly for years making the case that the middle of America amounts to an undervalued asset, rich in markets, new business ideas, and budding entrepreneurs. His company Powderkeg brings entrepreneurs between the coasts together to find the resources they need to grow and thrive.
Matt joins us this week to discuss Powerkeg’s mission. We also talk about how the pandemic is accelerating the idea of “everywhere is a startup hub,” and how Powderkeg quickly pivoted from live events to virtual value for its members out of obvious necessity.
If you’re about to start something up for yourself, or even pivot your existing business, you’ll want to take our free audio course Next Level 7. In six lessons, I’ll show you what's working right now for attracting an audience, discovering what they want to buy, and building your perfect business. Just head over to nextlevel7.com to sign up.
Once upon a time, when people wanted to start their own business, they went down to the bank. There was physical space to lease, equipment to buy, and people to hire.
Maybe it was a coffee shop, retail store, or professional services form. Or maybe light manufacturing or a car dealership. Sometimes the profits were substantial, other times meager. But there was always a lot on the line if things didn’t work out.
About 20 years ago, the idea of starting a business changed due to the tech startup craze. Now it was about raising a Series A, then B, then C … and then IPO or acquisition. Profit wasn’t part of the equation, only insane levels of growth that very few achieved, despite the relentless focus on the relatively few success stories.
During that same time period, however, a third way arose. A way to build a business using the reach of the Internet, the power of technology, and the creativity of entrepreneurs who very much focused on profit, all while mitigating risk with digital business models. Oh, and there was no need to deal with investors, because who wants that kind of meddling?
It’s the “third way” that Chris Guillebeau’s new book The Money Tree (https://amzn.to/2VknDaz) focuses on. And yes … it’s also the approach taken with the 7-Figure Small strategy for smart business building.
Chris joins us in this episode to discuss the third way and his new book. He also shares tips for generating extra income from his previous book Side Hustle (https://amzn.to/34O2UyI), which is a companion to his popular podcast Side Hustle School.
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, cloud accounting software designed specifically for freelancers and solo business owners. They’re offering a 30-day, no credit card required free trial to you … yes you! To claim it, just visit FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
The world is going through a difficult and traumatic time right now.
Unfortunately, many people's lives are being upended by severe health issues or job loss. Even those of us who have been fortunate enough to avoid sickness or unemployment are dealing with isolation, the upending of our daily routines, and the cascading impact of economic turmoil.
Which means that everyone is dealing with swift and sudden change, and the uncertainty and anxiety that can so easily accompany it.
In this episode, Brian Clark and Jerod Morris confront the current reality we're all facing by opening up about how they are dealing with the upheaval, as well as the lessons from the past they are choosing to draw on for strength about what the future can hold on the other side of trying times.
At the core of this conversation is a simple question: Is it time to start doing what you really want to do?
There is no "right" answer. That will depend on your current mindset and circumstances. But this episode does offer a few simple questions to help guide you toward a meaningful answer.
And by the way, we meant what we said about reaching out to us. If you feel like you don't have anyone to talk to who will understand what you're going through, and you want to email us and open up about anything your are thinking or feeling, do it: jerod@unemployable.com.
Freelancers, solopreneurs, and startup founders are used to operating in virtual environments. Zoom and countless other virtual communication tools are the way we do impactful work without offices or geographic proximity to others.
Now, a big chunk of the business world has gone remote and virtual. Real-life events -- both big and small -- have been canceled out of necessity, and there’s a good chance that the increasing digitalization of business that was already happening means many events will not go back to the “real” world.
That means it’s time to start thinking about how virtual events figure into your business model. Further, how can producing virtual events allow you to provide unique value that results in entirely new business models?
We’re talking to Tara McMullin this week, the founder of What Works -- a podcast and community platform for small business owners. Tara and her team have hosted 11 virtual conferences, at least 8 virtual retreats, and countless mastermind or coworking sessions.
You’ll discover what the most important aspects of creating virtual events involve, plus we get into the nuts and bolts of software and related technology. We also explore what the future may hold with emerging technologies that enhance interaction between virtual event organizers and participants, and collaboration between everyone involved.
To access the show notes and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/virtual-events
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people just like you. They’re offering a 30-day, unrestricted and no credit card required free trial to listeners of the show. To claim it, just click http://freshbooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
For as long as bits and packets have been buzzing across the Internet, people have been congregating in chat rooms, forums, comment sections, and groups to discuss shared interests, learn new things, and feel a sense of belonging.
And as the Internet has evolved, so too have the technologies for facilitating community. It’s easier, it’s more accessible, and now, it’s more profitable.
At least, it can be, for those who are bold and knowledgeable enough to stand up and lead the conversation that attracts people to an online community in the first place ... and who are also humble enough to devote the time, enthusiasm, and empathy necessary to give people the sense of belonging that keeps them coming back.
This is what Brian Clark and I are working to build inside of the Unemployable Initiative, our online community and educational library for freelancers and solopreneurs, and it’s what Chris Ducker has built for his audience of personal brand builders over at Youpreneur.
Chris is our guest this week on the 7-Figure Small podcast, and we talk about his journey to running a 7-figure small business around helping people become the go-to leader in their industry and, in the process, build a-future proofed business.
We also dive into the impact that community has had on Chris’ business. He shares:
Where his community fits into his overall business model
What it takes to host a community that people are excited to join ... and stick around
What he means by “vibe attracts tribe”
Why the power of online communities will only grow with the way work, technology, and society are currently trending
And much more.
Also, this was truly a podcast recording for the coronavirus everyone-is-at-home age. At one point, Chris had an urgent phone call come in that he had to take, and at another point my 3-year old daughter fell off of an obstacle course that she had built for herself in the living room. So if you hear any awkward cuts, that’s why.
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people like you. Right now they’re offering a 30-day, no credit card required free trial to listeners of the podcast. To claim it, just visit FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
It’s clear now that COVID-19 is having an enormous impact on us all. First and foremost, we’re worried about our health, the health of our loved ones, and for our local community and society in general.
And then we realize the potential impact on our businesses. Not just the direct impact today, but the ripple effect that’s running through the broader economy.
It might have been when the event cancellations started. It might have been when clients
started canceling work that had been promised. It might have been when the government had to shut down many local businesses.
Regardless of when you realized it, we are now in a state of massive change and uncertainty. Can we stop it from being a financial crisis for us?
Given all that’s going on, Spencer Sheinin is here to share some ideas with you. Spencer is an entrepreneur with an accounting background, and that powers his firm Shift Financial Insights and allows him to provide simple accounting and financial insights for businesses like yours and mine.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
• How to figure out your financial “new normal” and get re-stabilized. Or if that’s not possible, a sense of how much time you have to figure out a plan B.
• Some cost savings ideas you might not have already thought about.
• Creative ways to access additional funds to extend your runway.
• When to consider pivots or new strategic initiatives.
• How to shift your business model to further rely on outsourcing options.
• How to rethink your business and your life.
• How to think about the eventual rebound and prepare to thrive in the future.
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people like you. Right now they’re offering a 30-day, no credit card required free trial to listeners of the podcast. To claim it, just visit FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
At the beginning of 2020, members of the Unemployable Initiative told us that dealing with distractions was a major challenge for them entering the new year. So we identified one of the foremost experts on the subject and invited him to join us for a guest lecture.
Nir Eyal literally wrote the book on the subject, called Indistractable. He also wrote the book Hooked, about how to build habit-forming products.
In this hour-long session, which is a sample of the regular content that is available to members of the Unemployable Initiative, Nir discusses the intersection of those two books and then provides insight from each that we can all apply to our daily lives.
Among the many topics we cover:
• What does it take to build habit-forming digital products?
• How can we manage the internal triggers that cause us to become distracted?
• What does it mean to “make time for traction”?
• Why are to-do lists the wrong way to manage priorities?
• How can we “reimagine tasks” to help us stay engaged in tasks without the need for external rewards?
• What's the best way to handle email?
• How does the power of precommitments and pacts work? (And why is it essential that this come after the other steps in becoming Indistractable?)
• What are some tips for staying focused on big, long-term projects?
• What can parents to do to help their children become indistractable?
We hope you enjoy the special edition of the 7-Figure Small podcast. To learn more about the Unemployable Initiative, go to unemployable.com/community.
When it comes to 7-Figure Small businesses, it's all about the creative, empathetic human at the center of it all.
But it's the tools that truly allow us to augment ourselves to build powerful businesses without investors or employees. In the next few years, technology is going to change things for small business owners at an astonishing rate.
Yes, we've been hearing about tech such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and the internet of things (IoT) for a while now. But it's not really the individual fields that will sneak up on us -- it's the creative convergence of multiple new technologies that quickly change what "best practices" will look like.
In today's episode, Jerod and I discuss a few of these trends and how they'll interrelate to impact your business:
- The Privacy Trade-off
Outside of the human element, marketing for a 7-Figure Small business is powered by data, scaled by automation, and optimized by analytics. But at what point are we going too far when it comes to the privacy of our prospects?
A majority of consumers are willing to trade personal data in exchange for personalized and targeted content, products, and other offers. But the moment you go beyond offering more value and cross the line into creepy, you can lose the trust of your audience.
- The Impact of 5G
You've no doubt heard plenty about 5G -- the fifth generation wireless technology for digital cellular networks that began wide deployment in 2019 and will become mainstream this year.
5G brings three new aspects to the table: bigger channels (to speed up data), lower latency (to be more responsive), and the ability to connect a lot more devices at once (for sensors and smart devices). What that means to you as a marketer and business owner may be more than you think.
- Marketing Technology Meets AI
One thing we've discussed on several occasions is what will happen when various forms of artificial intelligence is baked into your marketing software, such as tools for email, automation, and landing pages.
We discuss the move to add AI into the landing page and testing platform from Unbounce. This solution is likely more expensive than we'd like, but the point is that soon this will be in all levels of marketing technology, just like automation was once expensive and is now a feature of every email marketing software.
We've talked a lot about curation here on the 7-Figure Small podcast. It's a smart, forward-thinking strategy for building an audience, and it is leading to success for many people who do it right.
But it's important to remember that we are not advocating curation for curation's sake. Curation is a means to an end, not the end in an of itself.
And in this week's episode, we lay out of the path for how a strategy of building an email audience through curation is the vessel through which you create the environment that can lead to success in building a 7-figure small business. We discuss what that environment consists of, the steps curation helps you take on your way there, and how to figure it all out by leveraging other people's content.
The end result is the 7-figure small business that fits your goals and lifestyle. This is the path.
Most importantly, we provide a call to action for anyone who is interested in taking the next step putting this strategy to work for themselves. The URL you need to know is nextlevel7.com, which will give you access to a free email course that goes into more detail than we have time for here.
So listen to this week's episode, then take the next steps at Next Level 7. This is how you move methodically toward building the 7-figure small business you've been dreaming about.
[Note: This conversation was originally broadcast in April of 2019.]
If you're paying attention to the world of work, the news is unavoidable. Everyone is bracing for a tech-induced transformation -- and it’s already started.
As a solo or small business person, technology allows you to do things that used to require scores of employees and tons of capital -- and that ability will accelerate with AI. But it’s the human being at the center of it all that will ultimately determine if you succeed or fail.
Today author, entrepreneur, and educator Seth Godin joins us to share his direct experiences with helping people put the “human” first, while still taking advantage of the ever-powerful tools. Get the ratio right, and the sky’s the limit for even the tiniest of ventures.
Here are just a few of the highlights from this episode:
• Is “permission marketing” still the core of what makes marketing work?
• The enduring power of being human and connecting with other humans.
• Why consistency is more powerful (and scalable) than authenticity.
• Why being a better marketer is more about making a conceptual shift than a tactical one.
• What “status roles” are and why understanding this concept is so important for understanding how humans make decisions.
• What Seth means when he says, “Most people prefer the blamelessness of ‘I’m for everyone’ than the responsibility of ‘I’m for someone.’”
• Why automation and AI will not create, but continue, the long-standing trend of technology replacing jobs that don’t require a human touch.
https://unemployable.com/podcast/future-of-marketing/
Freelancers are the epitome of a company of one. That means you must be the self-reliant core that performs your craft while also running a viable business.
And yet any truly vibrant core is surrounded by support. Having high quality people around you leads to a better business and lifestyle.
Some of these people are the ones you rely on to perform tasks that you can’t or shouldn’t. For example, unless you’re a web designer, you shouldn’t be hacking away trying to build your website. The same is true for functions like legal, accounting, and business coaching.
And then there’s the people who send you new clients. These are your advocates, and they can take many forms, ranging from affiliates to those who simply talk you up when you aren’t even aware of it.
The question becomes, how do you attract these people? Is it about hustle and hype, or is it more about playing the long game and developing true relationships?
In this episode, Jay Clouse of Freelance School joins us to talk through ways to attract the people you need to run your business, and the advocates that help you grow it.
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people like you. Right now they’re offering a 30-day, no credit card required free trial to listeners of the podcast. To claim it, just visit FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
You know, we like to say around here that running a solo business doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.
But even with all the technology and your network supporting you, at the center of it all is you. And you need a high degree of self-reliance to make it all work, day after day.
You may have read the classic essay “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson back in high school. It’s not exactly a modern text, despite the multitude of wisdom it contains — and it’s certainly not geared specifically toward the modern entrepreneur.
John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame decided to bring that wisdom forward, and put his own decades of entrepreneurial success into it. The result is The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, a highly useful book organized as a daily devotional with 366 entries, one for each day of the year (including the extra day in leap year 2020).
In this episode, John shares seven of the most important aspects of self-reliance for not only entrepreneurs, but also freelancers and other solo business owners. Join us to understand the fundamental wisdom that can ensure your business remains strong and stable.
Episode page (which includes the 7 pillars handout): https://unemployable.com/podcast/john-jantsch
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people like you. Right now they’re offering a 30-day, no credit card required free trial to listeners of the podcast. To claim it, just visit FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
The most common questions we get revolve around audience growth and development -- specifically the growth and development of a minimum viable audience (MVA).
• What is an MVA?
• What are the benefits of developing one?
• What does it take to build one?
• How can you accelerate the process?
• How do you know when you've reached this pivotal threshold? (And is there a certain audience number to target?)
In this edition of 7-Figure Small, Brian Clark and Jerod Morris answer these questions and more about what Brian once called your "unfair business advantage."
The discussion includes the three characteristics your audience needs to have to know you have an MVA, plus an analogy about Brian's gym that will help to illustrate the power of the MVA ... until the analogy falls apart due to the important differences between brick-and-mortar business and building a business online.
When you’re starting a new business, it’s tempting to aim too big. Reach millions, and serve hundreds of thousands of customers.
That’s a nice idea, but in reality, often your efforts to reach everyone lead to diluting your message, influence, and impact. Worse, without a clearly defined audience, you may end up reaching very few people at all.
Jeff Goins thought he had to go big, and he succeeded. A few years ago, he launched a bestselling book, generated a million dollars in revenue for the first time, and acquired 17,500 customers for his online courses and programs.
What did he end up with, other than the money? A ton of stress and dissatisfaction.
Part of the problem was that Jeff didn’t really know the people he was serving. Worse, many of them hadn’t arrived at the solution they wanted through the mass education programs that he was selling.
So Jeff made a radical decision -- he would work with only 100 people a year going forward. And he would still maintain his 7-figure revenue, except with higher profit margins due to lower overhead and a lot less stress.
Sound impossible? It’s not at all. In fact, serving a small well-defined group of people delivers more value to those people, and therefore can be more lucrative. And the non-monetary upside includes more influence and impact, and more professional satisfaction.
How many people do you need to work with to create the change (and the revenue) you want to make? Is it 10? 100? 1000? Listen in for guidance that may change the way you think about the people you choose to serve with your business.
Article: https://goinswriter.com/100-person-rule/
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people just like you. They’re offering a 30-day, unrestricted and no credit card required free trial to listeners of the show. To claim it, just click http://freshbooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
When Mike Brcic started his mountain-bike tour company, it was slow going at the beginning.
The first year, his company Sacred Rides had one client. In year two, the startup experienced 100% growth -- two clients.
Fast forward, however, and Sacred Rides became a complicated business doing 7-figures in annual revenue with investors and lots of employees -- operating in over 40 countries.
Fantastic right? From the outside it would seem so, but Mike was far from happy. Very far.
What he found is that pursuing scale for scale’s sake is ultimately deeply unfulfilling. Most of the time it’s an ego’s hungry quest for recognition and validation.
So Mike carefully planned to remove himself from the business, and eventually sold it. He had already started the business that would become Mastermind Adventures, a new but intentionally much smaller business that fulfills his sense of passion and purpose.
Now, Mike is inspired by asking bigger questions:
• If the purpose of an entrepreneur isn’t to scale, then what is it?
• What does it mean to live a good life?
• Can a company remain small (and profitable) forever?
These are the questions that essentially drive the creation of a 7-figure small business. Tune in to hear Mike and I discuss the answers in the context of Mike’s evolving entrepreneurial career.
I can remember the first time I used WordPress in 2005. It was such a joy to move from uploading individual HTML pages to a server via FTP, and simply hitting “publish” to see content go live.
As I entered the premium WordPress market in 2008 as an entrepreneur, the idea was always to empower non-technical writers and other content creators to do more with their websites without code. Eventually, our design framework Genesis became widely accepted as the way to build WordPress sites quicker and easier.
Now, the idea of “no code” software creation is gaining more and more traction. In other words, we now have software that allows us to make all sorts of other software without being a coder.
This empowers creative people to make things that were once impossible -- at least without knowing how to code or hiring a developer. And that means a new generation of entrepreneurs are able to create powerful 7-Figure Small businesses that sell software and software-based services without investors and even employees.
Ben Tossell is a vocal proponent of the “no code” and “without code” movement. His company Makerpad teaches non-technical founders and makers to use the powerful tools that open up an entire new avenue of product creation.
Listen in to hear more about what “no code” can mean for your business. If you’re able to solve an audience problem with a software solution, you could be on your way to creating a product you never imagined you could on your own.
This episode is brought to you by Freshbooks, easy-to-use cloud accounting software for people just like you. They’re offering a 30-day, unrestricted and no credit card required free trial to listeners of the show. To claim it, just go to FreshBooks.com/unemployable and make sure to enter UNEMPLOYABLE in the “How Did You Hear About Us?” section.
We're back!
After a short hiatus, we're excited to be in your speakers and headphones again with a new episode of the Unemployable podcast … except that it's no longer called Unemployable. You may have noticed that the podcast now has a new name: 7-Figure Small.
If you were listening last season, you'll be familiar with the concept of 7-Figure Small. The big idea is building a business with significant revenue potential that fits the lifestyle you desire — and doing it all without the stress and added complexity of investors and employees.
In this episode, we review that big idea and then go over the three fundamentals to actually building a 7-Figure Small business: the Who, the What, and the How.
We discuss:
• The reality that content isn't king, but this is
• Why creating huge amounts of content can actually be worse than a waste of time
• The level of patience needed to build a minimum viable audience (and how to speed the process up)
• The folly of mimicking someone else's “how”
Oh, and we have a little fun briefly reminiscing about one of the most inexplicably funny SNL skits of all time.
All of that and more on this week's edition of Unemp– err, 7-Figure Small. 😉
No matter what type of services you offer as a freelancer, having an arsenal of photo and video tools that can help you create high-quality graphics, images, and media is always a good idea.
Even if you might not need them for client work, you can use these tools for your own marketing and business needs.
Here are a few things you can do with photo and video tools:
• Create quality, visually engaging graphics, videos, and other media on a budget.
• Add value to your services without a ton of expense on your end (e.g., offering to create images for your client’s next social media campaign).
• Build a cohesive brand for yourself without breaking the bank.
Even if you’re not a designer or creatively inclined in that way at all, you can still make beautiful visuals to share with the world. Content creators, designers, and Jack and Janes of All Trades, this one is for you as Brian Clark provides our recommendations for the best photo and video tools for freelancers.
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is brought to you by FreshBooks — the leading invoicing and accounting software solution preferred by freelancers just like you.
Right now you can try it yourself for 30 days absolutely free, no obligation or credit card required. Simply go to freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section to get your free trial.
We’ve talked a lot about curation this season on Unemployable. And with good reason: a curation marketing strategy has proven to be an effective way to build a successful online audience and business in an age of content overload.
But we also know that many of you are wondering just how viable it is for someone who is just now getting started. Aren’t big companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Apple at a major advantage because of their audience and reach? And haven’t many of the best niches already been gobbled up by existing curators?
These are good questions. And as you’ll discover in this episode, the answers to these questions suggest that right now is still a great time to get start with curation marketing; in fact, it’s still early enough for you to experience a first-mover advantage, much like in the early days of blogging, podcasting, and other once-burgeoning strategies that have now reached stages of saturation.
As Brian Clark and Jerod Morris discuss in this episode, there are major benefits to establishing your curation positioning in the market now and building a human brand that will be able to grow and evolve as technology does.
“Don’t build on someone else’s land,” you’ve heard me say many times over the years. Especially with a company with a horrible track record like Facebook.
And for your own website, there’s really no need. With powerful platforms that allow you control as a customer like WordPress and Squarespace, you can build whatever you need.
Frankly, you can’t build a 7-Figure Small business without utilizing powerful technology platforms — it’s a big part of the reason for the growth of so many no-employee, 7-figure businesses. Just think of all the tiny companies that have build niche SaaS offering thanks to Amazon Web Services.
There’s a clear difference between these types of empowering platforms and Facebook. In the former, you’re a customer in a competitive space. With Facebook, you’re the product.
I’ve been building membership communities since 2008, always with custom WordPress solutions. In 2019, there’s no way to build a best-of-breed community-based business with all the bells and whistles from scratch — without it costing hundreds of thousands, that is.
But the answer is still not Facebook. I’ve invited Gina Bianchini, Founder and CEO of community-technology provider Mighty Networks to tell us why she’s creating powerful software for a fair price — and why it’s in the companies interest to play fairly with creators and community organizers.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/gina-bianchini-mighty-networks
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank. To save even more, simply use this exclusive link to save $50 off your first year.
Or read our full review to find out about several unique features that iThemes WordPress hosting includes at no charge — and click over to your $50 discount from there.
Having a conference call system not only makes you look professional, but they tend to make client calls run easier and more efficiently.
Not to mention, if you’re full-on digital-nomad-ing, it may make more sense to run a call through a conference call system if you don’t have the best reception or a limited international phone plan. In addition to that, there are so many added benefits to using a conference call system.
Whether you use them regularly or once in a Super Blood Wolf Moon, it’s never a bad idea to have a go-to conference call system for any situation. So put your phone away, and join Brian Clark in diving into our favorite conference call systems for freelancers.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-conference-call-tools-for-freelancers
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is brought to you by FreshBooks — the leading invoicing and accounting software solution preferred by freelancers just like you.
Right now you can try it yourself for 30 days absolutely free, no obligation or credit card required. Simply go to freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section to get your free trial.
The paradigm for how to build sustainable success online has shifted in some important ways, and a key to building a 7-Figure Small business is understanding these shifts and being prepared to capitalize on them.
One of the biggest shifts is what Brian Clark was alluding to when he stated on a previous episode of Unemployable that “people are still teaching content marketing like it’s 2010.” Listeners keyed in on that quote and have let us know that they want to know more about what Brian meant.
In this episode, Brian explains what he meant by that statement. He also explains that while the fundamentals of content marketing may not have changed, the context absolutely has. And this shift should have an impact on how you approach your strategy to build a 7-Figure Small business.
You’ll learn the important difference between curation and connection; what the “power trinity” is for a 7-Figure Small; and how adopting a mindset of connection will help you not just in building an audience but even in helping you figure out your business model.
This is a loaded episode that is filled with useful insight and context, and it teases where Unemployable is headed moving forward. We hope you’ll listen in. If you have questions or comments, tweet them using the #unemployable hashtag or send us an email. (We give out our email addresses in the episode.)
As a freelancer, you’re juggling a lot of things at once on a regular basis.
From managing client work to making sure you pay your quarterly taxes on time, you’ve got quite a bit to remember and get done.
It goes without saying that managing your workload, client relationships, and administrative tasks come with the freelancer territory. What’s more — being able to do all three efficiently while simultaneously producing your best work will be what sets you apart from others.
Project management software can help you keep track of everything you need to run your freelance business all in one place. Having a solid grasp on your business can help you run things more efficiently, which means you can allocate more time to creating your best work — whether it be for a client or your own business.
How do you know which project management tool is going to work best for you? In this edition of our Essential Tools for Freelancers series, Brian Clark discusses the benefits of using a project management tool, and then highlights three of our favorites.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-project-management-tools
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is brought to you by FreshBooks — the leading invoicing and accounting software solution preferred by freelancers just like you.
Right now you can try it yourself for 30 days absolutely free, no obligation or credit card required. Simply go to freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section to get your free trial.
At the heart of any successful small business is a creative human being.
And it’s important that we remember to put our very human voice out there to connect with our preferred clients and customers.
And yet, when it comes to writing copy or content, we often stiffen up. Being an authentic human being should be the most natural thing ever -- so why does it often feel so unnatural when we try?
Plus, authenticity is determined by the audience, not by whatever pops in your head to say. And that means that communicating in a relatable way takes a lot of listening, and then mirroring back to your audience the language that they prefer.
In this episode, we’re joined by copywriter Nick Usborne, who specializes in “conversational copy.” Tune in to hear some of Nick’s favorite methods for creating engaging messages that catch and hold attention, while inching people ever closer to doing business with you.
Here is the link Nick mentions during the episode: https://conversationalcopywriting.com/unemployable/
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/conversational-copywriting
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply use this exclusive link to save $50 off your first year: http://ithemes.com/bc50
No matter what your idea of freedom is — whether it’s maximizing earnings or maximizing lifestyle — you will have to find reliable ways to earn more money in less time to achieve it.
Otherwise, you just end up sacrificing the freedom that drew you to becoming a freelancer or entrepreneur in the first place.
Ed Gandia has spent the last decade living on the margins of his business and finding ways to scale it without adding the freedom-robbing complexity that we all want to avoid. And now he teaches writers how to do the same — how to earn more in less time, and how to think more like entrepreneurs than craftsmen.
Listen on to hear Ed and Brian Clark discuss a number of simple methods that Ed has learned for how to “scale light,” plus a few more advanced methods for how to “scale lean.” Each of these methods have helped Ed skip ahead of simple incremental growth and instead experience massive leaps in output and revenue, and, most importantly, having the space he’s needed to create breakthroughs in both his business and life.
Listen to Ed's previous appearance on Unemployable: https://unemployable.com/podcast/ed-gandia/
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/scale-your-business
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply use this exclusive link to save $50 off your first year: http://ithemes.com/bc50
This week’s episode of Unemployable is dedicated to you and your questions.
Brian Clark put out a call for questions in the most recent edition of the Unemployable newsletter, and you responded with a number of good ones. Brian, Jerod Morris, and Kat Ambrose answer them all in this week’s episode.
Note: if you want to submit questions in the future or have comments about the show, use the hashtag #unemployable on Twitter. We’ll be tracking it, and we look forward to interacting with you.
This week’s rundown:
• With all of the options for a content business, where do you start in choosing which one to pursue?
• What are good business models for a 7-Figure Small business?
• How do you pursue a real estate strategy for a hyperlocal website?
• How much content do you need on your blog to reach 10,000 visitors per month? (Is this even the right way to think about it?)
• Why is Brian promoting iThemes here on Unemployable instead of WP Engine, which bought StudioPress?
• What are the first steps to take when building a services business on a tight budget?
• How should someone in construction (or any other niche or industry) go about building an audience that could lead to solopreneur opportunities?
And, of course, there's some hijinks along the way ... including Jerod spilling the beans about a hilarious idea the Copyblogger editorial team came up with long ago, behind Brian's back, but never had the temerity to actually pursue.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/mailbag-what-replaced-know-like-trust
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply use this exclusive link to save $50 off your first year: http://ithemes.com/bc50
It’s a pretty common dream. Start a business, work hard, and someday you’ll get to travel the world.
But what if you started a business so you could travel the world right away? These days, it’s completely doable if you set things up intentionally to become a digital nomad.
That’s what Camille Holden and her husband did when they started their PowerPoint focused business. And it powered them for four years of world travel!
Now, the couple has settled in Bali and are focused on growing the business. Tune in for a great example of how to craft your business to give you the freedom to grow, or go, depending on what your objectives are at the time.
I’m Brian Clark and this is Unemployable — tips and tools for building your perfect business. Thanks for joining us.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/camille-holden
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply use this exclusive link to save $50 off your first year: http://ithemes.com/bc50
When you think of the entrepreneurial hustle, filmmakers are not the first to come to mind. But they are a really good example of the mindset and drive that are required of a 7-Figure Small startup.
The broader world of business is moving more toward the Hollywood model of work: forming teams of talent based on what needs to be done, not the illusion of permanent employment. Studios and indie filmmakers have been operating this way since … always.
Zeke Zelker is not only an entrepreneurial filmmaker, he’s also a creative pioneer at the forefront of transmedia. Not sure what that means? You’re definitely going to want to tune in, because it’s fascinating stuff.
Plus, Zeke has a 4-phase approach to the way he gets his projects done. Through our conversation, I relate how Zeke’s framework for film projects is applicable to just about anyone who utilizes audience, indie talent, and technology to create a big impact from a tiny business.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/zeke-zelker
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply use this exclusive link to save $50 off your first year: http://ithemes.com/bc50
Whether you’re managing social media for a client or need a better way to manage your channels, using a reliable social media marketing tool could save you tons of time.
With features like post scheduling, social listening, content composers, and more, these tools are crucial for anyone managing social media accounts.
Setting aside time each week or month to tend to your social channels will ensure it gets done and that you see a return. Social media management tools have excellent features that not only help you work smarter but can help you determine if your efforts are working or if you need to head back to the drawing board.
Plus, if there’s a way to save you hours each week, it’s worth a try.
A reliable management tool can act as your social media assistant. If you block out a chunk of time each week or month to create and schedule your content, you’ll not only save yourself tons of time, but you can invest your time in what is most impactful for your goals.
How do you know what tool is going to work best for you? In this edition of our Essential Tools for Freelancers series, Brian Clark discusses the benefits of using a social media management tool, and then highlights three of our favorites.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-social-media-marketing-tools-for-freelancers
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is sponsored by FreshBooks. To learn more and get a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), visit freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section.
What is it like going from the heights of running a company that is growing fast and attracting gobs of VC money ... to being on your own and running a "measly lifestyle business"? Not too many people can answer that question based on experience. Sahil Lavingia of Gumroad is one of them.
Sahil recently published an article titled Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company, and this week on Unemployable we extract some important lessons from this article, as well as a couple others that were recently featured in the Unemployable newsletter.
It’s time for another article roundup episode with Brian, Jerod, and Kat.
This week’s rundown:
• Was the Game of Thrones ending really that bad? And how does Brian feel about the Game of Thrones showrunners helming the next wave of Star Wars movies? (Does he even care?) [00:35]
• We reflect on the recent episode with Brian Cassel about productizing by addressing the #1 potential pitfall of trying to productize your business. [5:08]
• We reflect on the recent Stephanie Sammons episode by discussing how do you take the idea of “truly knowing what you want” from a general, nebulous idea to something specific and maybe even measurable. [9:13]
• Discussion of article “Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company” by Sahil Lavingia for Medium. [14:20]
• Discussion of article “Mark Cuban’s Advice for Recent Graduates: Your Soft Skills Are More Important Than Coding” by Cameron Albert-Deitch for Inc. [25:44]
• Discussion of article “The Value of Community: How and Why to Create (and Join) One” by Allie Decker for Authentik. [30:03]
• Finally, Brian closes by teasing the next interview episodes of Unemployable. [40:56]
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/discussion-episode-133
As freelancers, there is no accounting department to keep track of this side of the business for us. Here’s a little dose of healthy reality: YOU are your accounting department.
But you’re a freelancer — your craft is what you really do. Whatever that is, the world of accounting is not your specialty.
Plus, let’s face it. Accounting work can be tedious, and tedium was not what you were looking for when you went out on your own.
And yet, without properly handling the money that comes into the business (and getting it in the first place), you’ll soon be out of business. Thankfully, there are powerful solutions that can keep your business humming along.
In this episode, Brian Clark discusses the benefits of using accounting software to help you manage your business. Then he provides our recommendation for the best accounting software out there — FreshBooks — based on our own experience and conversations with freelancers like you. having an email strategy in place.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-accounting-software-for-freelancers
In the realm of starting and running your own business, “success” has often been defined by how much your business grows. More clients, more money, more employees.
Of course, that’s a fallacy.
At some point the returns of growth diminish, and you’re working harder, you’re less happy, and actually making less due to an increase in overhead and stress.
Wisdom in the realm of the 7-Figure Small approach is truly knowing what you want out of your business and your life. Plus, you need to understand where the line is between good growth, and growth for its own sake.
Today, Stephanie Sammons joins us to share how she’s building her solo financial advisor practice to become a sanely ambitious business. Tune in to hear ideas that will help you decide what your ideal business looks like.
Unemployable is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress. iThemes is our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply visit ithemes.com/bc50 to save $50 off your first year.
Or head over to unemployable.com/hosting to read our full review to find out about several unique features that iThemes WordPress hosting includes at no charge — and click over to your $50 discount from there.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/stephanie-sammons
When we talk about powerful yet tiny businesses making 7 figures in revenue without employees, freelancers may feel left out.
After all, you’re just one person serving clients, and unless you’re perhaps an attorney or financial advisor, it’s tough to get to that level alone. And starting an agency or larger firm doesn’t seem like a dream business for a lot of people.
But there is a way to turn a client service business into a high impact 7-figure small business. It’s called productizing, and Brian Cassel is with us today to explain what it is, and how to do it for yourself.
Brian walks us through the three main phases of creating a “productized service:
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Create: This is when you start working “on” our business, not “in” your business, and creating your value proposition that will lead to a scalable service.
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Automate: Here we talk about systematizing and scaling your operation. That could mean bringing on other freelancers and delegating to a team, but you’ll also learn about how to streamline your work even if you want to work solo.
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Market: Finally, we discuss how you can take a proactive approach to getting customers and growing your business, using tried and true marketing strategies.
Today’s episode is brought to you by iThemes Hosting for WordPress — that’s our host here at Unemployable.com, and it keeps the site fast and reliable — while not breaking the bank.
To save even more, simply visit ithemes.com/bc50 to save $50 off your first year.
Or head over to unemployable.com/hosting to read our full review to find out about several unique features that iThemes WordPress hosting includes at no charge — and click over to your $50 discount from there.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/productized-services
Email marketing is (still!) a powerful tool that can help you launch your next product or find your next big client.
Whatever your goals are, having a solid email strategy is a worthwhile investment and can make a positive impact on your business.
Why?
Because email provides you the most direct line of communication with prospective clients. That makes it crucial for converting prospects into clients, which is why savvy freelancers have no intention of giving it up any time soon.
In this episode, Brian Clark discusses the benefits of having an email strategy in place. Then he highlights three email marketing software providers that you should consider as you plan your email marketing strategy — and, importantly, how to choose between them.
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is sponsored by FreshBooks. To learn more and get a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), visit freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-email-marketing-providers-for-freelancers
Today we’re discussing the “Great Website Debate.” Do you need one as a freelancer? Is it worth the investment of time and money?
Actually, the reality is: there’s actually no debate at all for savvy freelancers.
A sustainable and lucrative freelance career involves intentionally attracting your perfect clients with your own targeted marketing efforts — and building an asset that keeps bringing you those clients, year after year. That’s why you want — and need — your own website.
In this episode, Brian Clark discusses the benefits of creating a centralized place where potential clients can come to know, like, and trust you thanks to your site content, dive into case studies, review your services, and ultimately contact you to become a client.
Then he offers his recommendations for website providers from nearly two decades of experience building thriving and lucrative audiences online. (Spoiler alert: WordPress gets mentioned … but it’s not the only one.)
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is sponsored by FreshBooks. To learn more and get a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), visit freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-website-providers-for-freelancers
Technology and the internet are changing at an exponential pace. You can either approach the future with eyes wide open and a plan for how to adapt, or you can stick your head in the stand and be passed by ... or run over.
This week, we discuss an article with a clear-eyed, sobering view of what work will be like in future -- and the ironic truth it lays bare about how to prepare for a career with this future hurtling toward us like a freight train.
We also discuss an article that reminds us not everything is changing. Preventing professional obsolescence may be changing drastically, but preventing health issues isn't -- because a few simple fundamentals of prevention remain constant.
Yes, it's time for another article roundup episode -- and this time, Brian and Jerod welcome in special guest Kat Ambrose
.This week's rundown:
• Who is Kat Ambrose ... and how did she end up freelancing for Brian Clark while living the life in Maui? [00:35]
• Brian, Jerod, and Kat describe the tools that are essential to their daily lives as freelancers and entrepreneurs. [8:25]
• Reflecting on last week's thought-provoking episode of Unemployable with Joanna Penn. [18:52]
• Discussion of article "Can anyone tame the next internet?" by Kara Swisher for Vox. [23:06]
• Discussion of article "Keep Things Simple For A Healthy, Long Life" by Jon Schuman for NPR. [36:46]
• Discussion of article "10 Tips to Transform an Elusive Goal into a Doable Project" by Claire Emerson for Copyblogger. [45:32]
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/prepare-for-future
From the outside, Joanna Penn is a successful author of both fiction and non-fiction. And she’s an entrepreneur in that she controls her “products” by self-publishing.
But as with her last interview on the show, there’s a lot more going on under the hood. Take an inside look with this episode — because there is lots of great information for you to consider for your own business.
Joanna and Brian discuss how she has built a successful business that fits her lifestyle, the surprising impact that affiliate marketing has had on her bottom line, and how the rise of audiobooks, podcasting, and voice tech is changing the online landscape for writers.
How full of knowledge and insight is this episode? Just know that toward the end of it, Brian is compelled to say the following: “Okay people, if you stopped listening at the halfway point, you screwed up and you don’t even know it.”
So make sure you listen all the way through.
This week’s rundown:
• The rise of audio — both audiobooks and podcasts — and how it is changing the future of both consumption and publishing. (They return to this at the end too.)
• How Joanna stays “sanely ambitious” with a successful 6-figure business that remains completely on her terms … and why she is not striving to hit seven figures.
• Why it’s important to regularly review your business and double down on what you love.
• Why Joanna and Brian struggle with Seth Godin’s definitions of freelancer and entrepreneur.
• Joanna goes into detail about her business model and the many ways she makes money.
• The specific strategies Joanna has used to leverage affiliate sales into half of her total revenue.
• The many different tools and services Joanna uses to manage her independent publishing empire.
• Joanna explains a few remarkable examples of what’s next in audio and voice — including A.I. voice synth and licensing a voice brand.
• Why even a writer like Joanna is thinking and planning for #voicefirst moving forward.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/writing-business
One of the biggest draws of being a freelancer is the ability to work from wherever you have a strong wifi connection.
And if you’re going to work remotely, you need software that’s going to help you succeed no matter where you are or what file type you work with the most.
Luckily, we live in a world where cloud-based technology seems to be the answer to all our file-sharing prayers.
Listen to this edition of our Essential Tools for Freelancers series to learn about our favorite file-sharing tools.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-file-sharing-tools-for-freelancers.
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is sponsored by FreshBooks. To learn more and get a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), visit freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section.
As a freelancer, it’s your job to protect yourself and your work from the perils of client management.
Without a contract or other legally-binding document in place, you run the risk of losing your work and not getting paid. There’s little you can do legally speaking without an existing agreement.
Contracts and other legal documents are an essential part of freelancing that can protect you and your work from worst case scenarios. So don’t do another thing until you have an active contract with each client.
Listen to this edition of our Essential Tools for Freelancers series to learn about our favorite legal tools.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-legal-tools-for-freelancers
This episode of Unemployable is sponsored by FreshBooks. To learn more and get a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), visit freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter "unemployable" in the "How did you hear about us?" section.
Freelancing can lead to a great lifestyle — but you need a unique combination of expertise, determination, and resilience to keep going. Plus, you need tools that will not only help you make more money but will also make your life easier, too.
This is why we’ve hand-picked some of the best software for freelancers — no matter your line of work — so you can build the systems you need to do and be your best. Whether you’re approaching the one-year mark as a freelancer or you’re a 10-year veteran, the right tools make a difference.
Tune in to the entire Unemployable Essential Tools for Freelancers series over the next few weeks, and change how you freelance for the better … and for good. In this brief episode, Brian Clark introduces the series and explains why picking the right tools is so important.
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-software-for-freelancers
This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is sponsored by FreshBooks. To learn more and get a 30-day free trial (no credit card required), visit freshbooks.com/unemployable and enter “unemployable” in the “How did you hear about us?” section.
Last week, we introduced the concept of “7-Figure Small.” This week, we react to your feedback and answer your questions about building this type of “sanely ambitious” business.
This week’s rundown:
• So … who the heck is this new co-host Jerod Morris anyway? [00:35]
• The evolution of Brian’s thinking and strategy from his pre-Copyblogger days through the Copyblogger/Rainmaker era, and how it’s shifting today and into the future. [9:24]
• The three biggest themes from the listener feedback we received to last week’s episode. [16:36]
• Listener question: What are some core concepts and principles for structuring a “small” online business that can stay agile as needs grow and change? [31:00]
• Listener question: What mindset does a “complete newbie” need to have to build a successful one-person business? [39:40]
• Listener question: What is the importance of community in helping solo entrepreneurs, freelancers, and other unemployable types connect with others who are doing related? [44:00]
• Brian explains the Essential Tools for Freelancers series that begins this Friday. [47:50]
To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/mailbag-7-figure-small-mindset
What do you want your life as an unemployable to be?
Do you want to patiently create a lifestyle business as a freelancer without the pressure for massive growth? Do you want to, instead, create the next new SaaS mega-hit that puts you on the fast track for hockey-stick growth?
Which drives you more: money or purpose? How can you set up your business so that the two are inextricably linked together?
Or, details be damned, do you just want to build a business and life that gives you the freedom to pull your kids out of school for a year, sell your cars, rent out your house, and travel the world because you’ve made a nice living and have location independence with your work?
You don’t need to answer right now. But you do need to realize that all of it (and so much more) is possible with a “7-Figure Small” business and lifestyle. The specifics just depend on which path you choose to go down.
Brian Clark and Jerod Morris explore that idea and so much more on this welcome-back-and-get-reacquainted episode of Unemployable.
This week’s rundown:
Brian recaps his yearlong trip around the globe, including the most important lessons he learned on his travels. [00:34]
What do we mean by this new idea of “7-Figure Small” and the big, bold new headline that now adorns unemployable.com? [13:30]
We share our roadmap for the future of the Unemployable podcast [37:32]
Then we end by discussing two articles that caught our eye this week: A growing crop of “supertemps” is changing the nature of work [43:24] and Why You’re the Perfect Age to Start a Successful Company [52:39]
See the show notes at unemployable.com/podcast/7-figure-small
If you're paying attention to the world of work, the news is unavoidable. Everyone is bracing for a tech-induced transformation -- and it’s already started.
As a solo or small business person, technology allows you to do things that used to require scores of employees and tons of capital -- and that ability will accelerate with AI. But it’s the human being at the center of it all that will ultimately determine if you succeed or fail.
Today author, entrepreneur, and educator Seth Godin joins us to share his direct experiences with helping people put the “human” first, while still taking advantage of the ever-powerful tools. Get the ratio right, and the sky’s the limit for even the tiniest of ventures.
Here are just a few of the highlights from this episode:
• Is “permission marketing” still the core of what makes marketing work?
• The enduring power of being human and connecting with other humans.
• Why consistency is more powerful (and scalable) than authenticity.
• Why being a better marketer is more about making a conceptual shift than a tactical one.
• What “status roles” are and why understanding this concept is so important for understanding how humans make decisions.
• What Seth means when he says, “Most people prefer the blamelessness of ‘I’m for everyone’ than the responsibility of ‘I’m for someone.’”
• Why automation and AI will not create, but continue, the long-standing trend of technology replacing jobs that don’t require a human touch.
View the complete show notes with links at unemployable.com.
The Unemployable life is all about being a digital nomad, maybe cruising around the country in a van, trusty laptop at your side, right? Well, for the last 20 years, I can t say that s been my experience at all. So, let s fix that. For the next year, the family and I will be living abroad.... Listen to episode
It can be easy to think that highly successful people have just ended up that way, fully formed. The reality is, almost every person deemed to have "made it" makes the same joke: "I m a ten-year overnight success." I ve been fortunate to know Lewis Howes for about ten years, and what a ten years it s... Listen to episode
Over the last 20 years, the way we work and collaborate has changed dramatically. The promises of a free agent nation from the early days of the internet have become a reality for freelancers and solo entrepreneurs around the planet. Effective teams still matter, though — maybe now more than ever. How those teams come... Listen to episode
Over the last 12 years or so since I started Copyblogger, I ve had an amazing journey. Along the way, I ve also been fortunate to watch the journeys of those who started about the same time, as well as those that broke out in the following years. One of those people is my friend Jonathan Fields,... Listen to episode
Late last month, I announced that StudioPress, our WordPress design and hosting division, was acquired by WP Engine. It was my first "liquidity event" ever, despite having started a string of companies over the last 20 years. With this episode, I'll take you behind the scenes a bit to discuss some of the things I... Listen to episode
Listeners to Unemployable are no strangers to the idea that one person, armed with the internet, affordable technology, and a network of fellow unemployable people can do big things. So you won t be surprised to hear that the number of one-person businesses earning a million dollars or more a year continues to rise. These are... Listen to episode
Everyone discovers the power of content marketing in their own way. And ultimately, those who do it well take their own unique path from there. As a film and television guy in Los Angeles, Peter Abraham focuses mainly on the visual and experiential side of content with Abraham content marketing studio. Which makes sense with... Listen to episode
On his 30th birthday, Steve Jobs sent the following Hindu saying to his friends: "For the first 30 years of your life, you make your habits. For the last 30 years of your life, your habits make you." James Clear understands the power of habits as well as anyone. And he uses that knowledge to... Listen to episode
It s no secret that I m a big fan of partnerships to effectively build businesses without investors. I ve done it successfully over a half-dozen times. It s also no secret that I had a very public falling out with a partner back in 2010. While it was no fun at the time, it led to my amazing... Listen to episode
We kicked off the year talking about leveling up your business in 2018. It sounds desirable (and ultimately, it is), but it can also be a struggle. It s not just the work you have to do to level up your business, or to start a new one. It s also the fact that the process itself... Listen to episode
Email was the original "killer app" — everyone uses it, and that s why it s been the absolute best channel for digital marketing and audience building. And yes, that s still true in 2018. The stats don t lie. Every $1 spent on email marketing produces $44 in return, probably because 58% of adults wake up and immediately... Listen to episode
When you're working with clients, the goal is to make great money doing great work for great clients. That s totally doable, if you take the right steps. And when we explore landing higher paying clients, finding your ideal client, value billing and tiered pricing, one crucial element keeps surfacing — the power of specialization to... Listen to episode
It s been almost two years to the day since Chris Ducker last joined us on the show to explain the concept of the Youpreneur. He s been busy since then, running the branded Youpreneur community, and managing to write a brand new book on the subject. It won t take long into this episode to realize that... Listen to episode
If you re out there making it on your own economically, the depiction of entrepreneurism in the media likely has you scratching your head. Everyone other than you seems to have their act completely together, right? Unemployable has been calling BS on that narrative for almost three years now. On this show, real entrepreneurs tell you... Listen to episode
It can be nerve-wracking to negotiate your prices with a new client. Even simply presenting your pricing for the project can cause an uncomfortable squirm. In the world of online product sales, this isn t an issue. The price will be displayed on the Plans and Pricing page, usually with several (often three) options to choose... Listen to episode
Perfect timing can mean the difference between success and failure. But how does it happen? Is it blind luck, or some sort of genius skill that s unavailable to the rest of us? Research from the fields of psychology, biology, and economics reveals the truth — that timing comes down to science. And that means anyone... Listen to episode
In January 2003, Mike McDerment was running a small design firm when he finally snapped. He was using Microsoft Word to bill a client when he accidently saved over the invoice. It was at that point that Mike decided to build his own accounting software solution. To keep the lights on, he moved into his... Listen to episode
Back when the Internet was young and dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was a new thing called pay-per-click advertising. And it wasn t Google that invented it, although AdWords would come to rule the space. I made a lot of money with PPC for my real estate business back then, especially while I waited for my... Listen to episode
What if you could work the same amount as now, but make more money? Or what if you could work less and still make more money? If it sounds fanciful, it s not. It s a simple matter of charging more for your services. But it s not something that just happens — you ve got to intentionally position... Listen to episode
Whether you identify as a freelancer, consultant, coach, or solo entrepreneur, there s never been a better time in history to accomplish so much as a single-person company. Just your skills, some key technology, and a network of virtual assistants and fellow solos can accomplish big things. You don t even have to leave the house, unless... Listen to episode
The online dating advice space can be fairly sleazy. Self-proclaimed gurus promise the dating-challenged that they ll quickly become pickup artists if they just follow the system and play the game. So imagine my surprise when I discovered a female coach in the online dating space. Sarah Jones originally wanted to coach women with their courtship... Listen to episode
When I look back over my almost 20 years as an entrepreneur, I can point to pivotal moments where advice from Seth Godin got me to the next level. So, when I decided to devote an episode to succeeding as a solo entrepreneur, he was the logical choice. For most of you, Mr. Godin needs... Listen to episode
The very first Internet buzzword, going way back to the 1990s, was community. As the online world moved forward, things became more tribal than communal, but the idea that the Internet allows like-minded people to come together is profoundly true (in good and bad ways). For those running businesses online, community is a dual concept.... Listen to episode
Webinars remain one of the best list-building and product promotion vehicles. The event nature of a live online meetup combined with compelling content is a winner, even if you don t call them webinars. That said, there aren t that many truly great webinars out there. That s because it takes a certain amount of practice and skill... Listen to episode
Since the beginning of the web, the promise of business websites has been that they are like 24/7 salespeople. Prospects can find you at anytime, get the information they need, and contact you. And while it s true that many significant fortunes have been made with content-rich sites that focus on the prospect s informational needs, the... Listen to episode
Nathan Chan took a familiar route when seeking to escape the corporate world. Like many, he worked his passion project on the side while he paid the bills with a job. His dream was Foundr Magazine, a paid digital publication that aims to get to the essence of entrepreneurship from people who have been there... Listen to episode
It s all about the data if the pundits are to be believed. The more you know about your customers and prospects, the better your business will do. That last statement is certainly true. But data doesn t equate to knowledge. And data certainly won t just lay out the exact decision you should make when it comes... Listen to episode
More and more people are operating solo, outside of the confines of traditional employment. And thanks to technology and a ton of talented independent contractors, the solopreneur can bring in outsized revenue with a company of one. Paul Jarvis exemplifies the power and potential of the individual creative entrepreneur. He self-publishes books, creates compelling courses,... Listen to episode
Back in 2009, Joe Pulizzi was one week away from giving up his entrepreneurial dreams and going back to a job. It was a dark time, both personally and in the broader economic environment following the financial crisis in the United States. Note: Due to a technical issue, my end of the interview sounds wonky.... Listen to episode
More than 55 million Americans are freelancers — a full 35 percent of our workforce, according to the 2016 Freelancing in America report. And contrary to enduring myths, it's not because "they can't find a job" — it's a conscious choice based on freedom and empowerment. 79 percent of freelancers believe freelancing is a better... Listen to episode
It's the bane of modern marketing. Any product can be replicated or reverse-engineered. Any service can be copied, leaving only execution as a true difference (which comes after the point of decision). In short, people see less difference between competing offers than ever, but that doesn't mean that they're not looking. Search engines and social... Listen to episode
Owning your own business can lead to the lifestyle of your dreams, but only if you're very intentional about it. Only you can decide what that dream looks like, and only you can implement it. That's exactly what Sean D'Souza has done for himself. Instead of constantly trying to grow ever-higher revenue from his courses... Listen to episode
Just recently, Medium announced the intention to start charging a $5 monthly fee for an enhanced experience at the popular site. Also, Twitter is considering a subscription version of TweetDeck geared toward marketers, brands, and other power users. Robert Bruce and I discuss whether these initiatives will succeed, and at what scale. What's not in... Listen to episode
As digital marketers, we have websites to attract leads, customers, and clients to our businesses. So it makes sense that the more leads, customers, and clients we attract, the more money we make. Conversion optimization is simply a strategic process for increasing the effectiveness of your site at doing just that. Too often, though, we... Listen to episode
There are plenty of self-proclaimed content marketing experts around these days. The only thing these experts have ever seemed to market, however, is themselves. That's why it's alway refreshing to chat with Marcus Sheridan. Like me, he cut his content marketing teeth in a traditional industry before beginning to teach it to others. This episode... Listen to episode
Everyone loves a good listicle right? The entrepreneurial space is littered with 3 tips for this, 7 tactics for that, and of course the rock steady top 10 tips for "what have you." An especially popular form of the genre is the expert round up. In this scenario, the article contains advice from a collection... Listen to episode
I was in Austin last week speaking at a conference, and I had an interesting conversation with one of the other speakers. It's a guy I've known for years on the web writing circuit. He started off saying how he had always felt as if he'd missed out for not starting a high-powered "disruptive" startup,... Listen to episode
As I've repeatedly admitted, the inability to delegate earlier in my entrepreneurial journey was my achilles heel. I worked too hard, paid too little attention to my family, and generally wasn't happy. The only saving grace I can muster is that it seems just about every independent business person goes through this. You either learn... Listen to episode
We ended last season with an Unemployable episode featuring Darren Rowse of Problogger, in which he and I lamented that the kind of human connection that fueled the early blogging movement seemed to be getting drowned out with tactics and technology. Then, I kicked off my return to Copyblogger with a call to go back... Listen to episode
Emily Thompson is no stranger to the independent business life. She started off with an Etsy shop, and soon began helping other indie business people build their own platforms with web design and coaching. Emily is the founder of Indie Shopography, a design and strategy web studio, where she and her team develop websites for... Listen to episode
Back in the early 2000s, social media was a very different thing. The term came out of the Web 2.0 movement, and the primary components were blogs. Around 2005-2006, blogging starting moving to a more commercial bent. And social media expanded to include social news sites like Digg and Delicious. Once Facebook and Twitter showed... Listen to episode
A few weeks back, we looked at a process that you can use to transform your business. The example I gave was for a freelancer to "productize" an aspect of their services into a neatly packaged product with a defined scope and pricing. I also pointed out a benefit that goes beyond escaping the trap... Listen to episode
This week, we're shaking things up a bit. I took to Facebook and Twitter and asked for questions related to running and growing your business — and got a bunch of really good ones. Joining me to answer those questions is Chris Brogan, a New York Times bestselling author, professional speaker, longtime blogger, and CEO... Listen to episode
What comes to mind when you think of an entrepreneur? Maybe it's the gregarious and frenetic hustler, as personified by my friend Gary Vaynerchuk. That's interesting, since the only thing Gary and I have in common is that we're both serial entrepreneurs. Clearly, the types of personalities that support entrepreneurship run along a wide spectrum.... Listen to episode
You might notice from the title of today's episode that I have a thing for alliteration. That's a copywriting technique, which is not what we're talking about today. I say that because I see people confuse the two terms all the time. Just a couple of weeks ago on Facebook, someone asked for copywriting advice,... Listen to episode
Attracting and working with clients can be challenging. Implement the right practices and processes, though, and you can design a stellar small business and lifestyle. That's what Jennifer and Brian Bourn have done with their agency, Bourn Creative. They purposefully keep the operation small, and yet have set things up for both maximum profitability and... Listen to episode
Last week we talked about the power of positioning when it comes to starting a podcast. We also touched on how sponsorships can become just one of the lucrative sources of revenue that comes from growing your audience. But you've still got to create content, right? We may be overrun with interview-based podcasts, but there's... Listen to episode
Work on your business, not in it. You ve heard this advice over and over. It originated with the book The E Myth: Why Most Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It, by Michael Gerber. Seems like smart advice. But it can be hard to execute, especially when you have a demanding client-based business.... Listen to episode
It's been a year-and-a-half since I started Unemployable. And it's just been recently that the show has started to take off. Many assume because the Copyblogger audience is so large that the show would be massively popular from day one. That's not the case though — a different format and a different topic does not... Listen to episode
You've seen Pulp Fiction, right? It's the classic 1994 black comedy crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film is highly stylized, presented out of chronological order, and filled with eclectic dialogue that reveals each character's perspectives on various random subjects. And yes, it's profane and violent. Pulp Fiction was nominated for seven... Listen to episode
In the beginning, there was blogging. And for businesses looking to build an audience that helped grow the bottom line, it was good. In fact, many of the leaders in the digital marketing space started as blogs and evolved into multi-million dollar businesses. I personally have immense gratitude for what Rainmaker Digital has been able... Listen to episode
Many freelancers dream of the day that they'll have sources of income other than from client work. Some hope to stop taking clients for good in favor of selling online training instead. Carrie Dils did just that. A long time web developer, Carrie adopted the WordPress platform to do client work as a freelancer. But... Listen to episode
It's been almost two years since I started Further, my curated email newsletter about personal growth. And there's no mistaking that the project was inspired by Dave Pell's NextDraft. Content curation is all about becoming a trusted editorial source that finds the best information within a certain topic from amongst the valueless clickbait and mediocre... Listen to episode
Tim Ferriss broke into popular consciousness nine years ago with the release of The 4-Hour Workweek. He s gone on to create a series of books based on the 4-Hour concept. That s in addition to a wildly popular blog, podcast, and even a TV show. But in economic terms, all of that pales in comparison to... Listen to episode
Back in 2006, Gary Vaynerchuk started a daily video show that turned wine criticism on its head. More importantly, it took his family wine business from $3 million-a-year to a $60 million-a-year ecommerce juggernaut. From there, Gary did something that surprised a lot of people, including me. He started a digital marketing agency called VaynerMedia.... Listen to episode
The other day I was listening to the classic alternative channel on SiriusXM. Message of Love by the Pretenders was on. In the song, Chrissie Hynde sings: We are all of us in the gutter. But some of us are looking at the stars. Wait a minute … didn t Oscar Wilde say that in the... Listen to episode
Many people go out on their own in pursuit of the perfect lifestyle. Of course, "perfect" is entirely subjective. Maybe it s to become a digital nomad and travel the world. For others, it s the freedom to work from home and be closer to family. And still others are chasing audacious goals and world domination. All... Listen to episode
Virtual conferences have been around for years. They provide the education of a live event, without the expense of travel, hotel, and other "real world" costs that live events bring. That's the benefit to attendees. Entrepreneurs can use virtual conferences as a way to build or expand an audience, while also developing a membership product.... Listen to episode
The ancient Greeks — notably Aristotle — used anecdotal observation to nail much of what we know about persuasion. The fundamentals of the art haven t changed much in 2300 years, because human nature hasn t changed, even as the context in which we operate has changed dramatically. In the 20th century, social psychology took the ancient... Listen to episode
In just over a decade, WordPress has become the most popular content management system on the web. And as with any hugely popular open source movement, there are plenty of for-profit companies providing premium themes, plugins, hosting, and support. Is it too late for you to get involved? Evidence suggests the contrary — that WordPress... Listen to episode
As you likely know, crowdfunding is a way to raise money for a project or venture by pulling contributions from a large number of people, usually online. In 2015 alone, crowdfunding generated an estimated over $34 billion (USD) worldwide. You may not know, however, that the first instance of online crowdfunding dates way back to... Listen to episode
Startup, raise money, cash out, repeat. That s the narrative that Silicon Valley feeds you. Problem is, that approach is not only statistically rare, it s rarely successful. Most venture-backed companies fail, plain and simple. On the other hand, we have the narrative of the typical small business owner. Long hours for long years in order to... Listen to episode
Of all the components of a holistic online marketing strategy, search engine optimization ("SEO") seems to mystify many the most. And it's true that years back, the key to ranking well in Google was a form of dark art. That's changed in recent years. Google's algorithm has gotten smarter, and is more distinctly tuned in... Listen to episode
As the leader of a virtual company of over 65 people located around the world, I wouldn t have it any other way. Of course, I had a lot of help from my partners getting to this point over the last 6 years. Nowadays, you have publications like the Harvard Business Review talking about virtual teams... Listen to episode
We re all familiar with the stereotyping of Millennials. Like my own once-denigrated Generation X, "these kids today" are lazy and entitled, right? From my experience with the young people I know and work with, I m not buying it. And even if there s some truth to the generalization, a guy like Ryan Holiday blows that perception... Listen to episode
Entrepreneurs and independent business people are always working on the next thing, often on the side while we maintain our current income. And as your mind begins to see the world in a more entrepreneurial way, you ll spot opportunity everywhere. A good problem to have, right? But we know that pure economic opportunity and even... Listen to episode
Henry Rollins is an actor, author, spoken-word artist, and musician. You likely know him as the iconic lead singer of seminal punk band Black Flag, which kicked off his enduring career. You might not think of Rollins as an entrepreneur, but that s how Henry thinks of himself. He s always gotten things done by personally making... Listen to episode
Whenever we get a heavy snow in Boulder and I share a photo of my buried patio, you ll see an ornate, flame-carved fire pit in the shot (filled with snow, naturally). It s a custom design crafted out of recycled propane tanks by artist John T. Unger. As someone else who took to blogging in the... Listen to episode
Jadah Sellner and her husband had a simple dream to own their own business while spending as much time as possible with their young daughter. The couple s child center on the Hawaiian island of Kauai seemed ideal … until it wasn t. From there, Jadah started a parenting blog. But it was the day that... Listen to episode
When it comes to creating digital products, software, ebooks, and online courses are what come to mind. But have you ever considered turning how you do what you do for clients into a product? That s what Annie Cushing did. And while she thought it might cannibalize her data consulting and training business, instead it saved... Listen to episode
There are a lot of artistically-inclined people in the world of freelancing and creative entrepreneurship. Writers and designers come immediately to mind. Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void is certainly an example of a literal entrepreneurial artist. He started out 20 years ago doodling cartoons on the back of business cards. Now he has a thriving... Listen to episode
A month or so ago, we discussed the idea that entrepreneurs may have to be a little crazy to succeed. That perhaps the ability to execute on innovative ideas might come from a mental illness or psychological baggage that is turned into a positive. And yes, emerging research suggests that many entrepreneurs leverage what would... Listen to episode
On Unemployable, we talk a lot about leveraging virtual teams and collaboration in order to achieve more. And we talk about building an audience that allows you build a bigger business than you could otherwise. After all, as my friend Hugh MacLeod of Gaping Void says, Meaning scales, people don t. In contrast, there s the macho... Listen to episode
Today we re talking to Rand Fishkin, founder and Wizard of Moz. Confident, successful, and the person you want to be like some day … right? Well, yes. But what you ll hear is not some tale of a superman that you couldn t possibly emulate. Instead, you ll hear about hard work, lucky breaks, even occasional cluelessness …... Listen to episode
The other day I was listening to the classic alternative channel on SiriusXM. Message of Love by the Pretenders was on. In the song, Chrissie Hynde sings: We are all of us in the gutter. But some of us are looking at the stars. Wait a minute … didn t Oscar Wilde say that in the... Listen to episode
Do you believe we were all born to do a certain type of work? More importantly, do you feel you re doing what you were born to do? I spent the first 27 years of my life with no feeling of purpose whatsoever. I went to law school after college because I had an aptitude for... Listen to episode
Have you seen the film The Big Short? It s about the investor bets made against the U.S. housing market due to negligence and fraud involving mortgage-backed securities, which ultimately led to the Great Recession that began in December of 2007. At the time, Jordan Harbinger was a young Wall Street attorney at a high-flying firm... Listen to episode
As we ve discussed before on the show, everyone at every level usually has a side hustle going on. It s the process by which we leverage what we re doing now to do the next, bigger, and more gratifying thing. Sometimes the signals are clear that the side project is ready to become the main thing (or... Listen to episode
It s an amazing time to be a solopreneur. Affordable technology plus the reach of the Internet allows for outsized profits by a company of one. And yet, the true power of the company of one is in the network that surrounds it. Avoiding collaboration and virtual team building is not only shortsighted, it can be... Listen to episode
Video is the most popular form of online content. And YouTube is the world s second largest search engine. That said, a lot of us are more comfortable with creating text and audio content. Producing great video is generally more intensive work, and let s face it … we can be a little self-conscious in front of... Listen to episode
There s no profession that I respect more than those who teach. And it s a shame that those who educate our children can barely make a living. In stark contrast, the opportunities for entrepreneurs in the online education space are incredibly lucrative. And it makes sense that we ll see people defect from traditional education to entrepreneurial... Listen to episode
I m a big fan of partnering with others to create successful products and services. It s what I ve done in the majority of my successful businesses. Of course, there s a right way to approach collaboration, and a potentially disastrous way. And it s almost maddening how much of a gut check it is when it comes down... Listen to episode
Online education is a $23 billion a year industry in the U.S. alone, and growing. And the demand is for people who have the expertise they teach, rather than for traditional institutions of higher learning. Today we re chatting with Sean McCabe, a great guy who helps people build their own businesses based on their interests.... Listen to episode
Successful people present a conundrum to those seeking to achieve something similar. We try to learn from and emulate those who we see as ideal, but that s not always effective. A recent study shows that students who learned that great scientists struggled, both personally and intellectually, outperformed those who learned only of the scientists great... Listen to episode
It sounds fantastic, doesn t it? All you need are your words and a laptop as your means of production when it comes to this digital business. There s no doubt that self-published ebooks can be lucrative. The thing you may not realize, however, is that as a digital intellectual property business, it can be quite sophisticated... Listen to episode
You constantly hear that listening and feedback are the keys to improving your marketing, your products, and your services. But are you listening selectively? I ve always found constructive criticism to be much more useful than praise. And even angry complaints can contain valuable feedback. Tuning out everything but the nice stuff is clearly a bad... Listen to episode
The saying goes that there s a thin line between genius and insanity. But do successful entrepreneurs actually parlay mental illness into innovation? They say that Steve Jobs was a narcissist, and that Bill Gates trends toward Aspergers on the autism spectrum. And yes, emerging research suggests that many entrepreneurs leverage what would otherwise be a... Listen to episode
It s no mystery why I tend to feature a lot of freelancer to wildly successful entrepreneur stories on Unemployable. It s simply the way most of us progress to the point where we get recognition. Aaron Epstein is known as the guy who led Creative Market to acquisition by Autodesk in only 14 months. It was... Listen to episode
Hopefully you know that email remains, by far, the engine for online sales and lead generation of all types. And that means you need to offer exceptional value based on trust to be invited into someone s primary inbox. Today, Joanna Wiebe of Copy Hackers and I geek out hard over email opt-in psychology. You ll be... Listen to episode
The look and feel of the traditional company is evolving along with technology and the workforce. An enterprise that combines onsite, remote, and freelance resources is becoming the new normal. Other companies are dispensing with onsite all together. Our friends at Buffer just announced that they re eliminating their office space (the company has been largely... Listen to episode
Freedom is a primary theme of Unemployable. Not everyone wants to disrupt and dominate. Rather, they want to do the things they want to do, and live the life they want to live. I ve enjoyed that type of freedom for the last 10 years. And so has today s guest, Natalie Sisson. The difference being, Natalie... Listen to episode
The world of online business (also known as digital commerce), has become a major facet of all business, especially among entrepreneurs. So why does it seem that everyone you come across is teaching online business? There s actually a really good reason for that. And on the flipside, there s an even better reason why other digital... Listen to episode
I ve been a consistent critic of both the term and concept of "personal branding." Provide value to people by creating something bigger than yourself, and your personal brand will work itself out just fine. A recent article in Fast Company, however, seems to go too far. The argument is that entrepreneurs shouldn t waste their time... Listen to episode
We re big on systems and processes at Unemployable. Naturally, that s the topic of the first lesson in the free Profit Pillars course that members gain access to when they join the tribe at no charge. Early in my career, I had great marketing systems, but bad management processes. Some people have it the other way... Listen to episode
The primary job of any CEO, startup entrepreneur, or solo freelancer is ultimately to make correct decisions. Some of those decisions happen because things are flying at us from left and right, and we need to respond with the right move. But for growth to happen, we have to make proactive decisions. It s all too... Listen to episode
Content syndication involves republishing content that you ve originally posted on your own site to other platforms. You re hoping to maximize the leverage of each piece of content you create to achieve the widest distribution possible. Is this a good idea? A few years ago, the answer would be no, mainly due to Google s dislike of... Listen to episode
Some get into creating products in order to build a digital empire. Others are just looking to add a little cash to the coffers to supplement existing income. In Brett Kelly s case, his first ebook was definitely a side hustle for some extra income. He had no idea at the time that his Evernote Essentials... Listen to episode
Freelancing is often the first step for many an entrepreneurial journey. It s usually the case when someone realizes they re the type who enjoys starting businesses more than anything else. Laura Roeder is one of those types of people. She leapt out of the world of employment without a net, managing to land on her feet... Listen to episode
The dream of plucking ideas out of your head and turning it into an information product is pretty compelling. And it s more doable now than ever. That said, you re still designing a product. Information alone can often be less-than-engaging, and even downright useless. In order to connect with customers, you ve got to connect with them... Listen to episode
You could be blogging, podcasting, working YouTube, or creating any other type of content. Or … you might just be looking to craft the perfect message to land more customers and clients. You may have heard of creating personas or avatars as a smart way to better understand how to communicate with your prospects, but... Listen to episode
In today s media climate of irrational entrepreneurial exuberance, it s all about raising that venture capital. Reality, however, is much different. Most businesses, especially of the freelance and solopreneur variety, will never raise money from investors, nor should they. Bootstrapping is even making a comeback that resembles a movement in reaction to the silliness of the... Listen to episode
Most people get started "on the side" before going solo or founding a startup. More and more people have a side hustle going on just to make ends meet. Fact is, once you're on your own, you're likely doing one thing in order to do the next bigger and better thing. Even larger companies leverage... Listen to episode
It s no secret that I m not a fan of Facebook when it comes to so-called "social media marketing." I'm even less of a fan of those who think of it as a "website substitute." That said, Facebook groups are popular for their apparent ease of use. But is it a good idea to build a... Listen to episode
Marketing is simply, and literally, "bringing your products to market." And sales is making the right offer to the right person. And yet, research shows that "selling" immediately brings to mind negative word associations. It s as if the world hadn t dramatically changed since the release of Glengarry, Glen Ross. But the world has changed, and... Listen to episode
Let s face it client work can be demanding and even frustrating. But the level of suck goes up exponentially when you aren t getting paid enough … or at all. Today we re chatting with Brennan Dunn about how to get paid faster, get paid more reliably, and never need to worry about whether or not... Listen to episode
Tara Gentile is a very smart entrepreneur who s just published a short, affordable book on one of my favorite topics listening. It's a critical skill for developing products and services. Once I got into the product and software game, I started with an audience, rather than the product or service. This gave me a... Listen to episode
If you're familiar with the term onboarding, it s likely in the context of software as a service ( SaaS ). It s all the rage in the growth hacker world. The term actually originates from the world of human resources. When large enterprises need to ramp a new employee into the processes, procedures, and culture of the organization,... Listen to episode
Your brand isn t what you say it is … it s what your customers and clients say it is. That doesn t mean you can t influence the space you occupy in the minds of your intended audience, as long as you understand the role you re playing. Beyond your logo, and your site design, and your copy, your... Listen to episode
You may know Michael Port as the author of the small business classic Book Yourself Solid. But did you know that he was once a professional actor, with roles on Third Watch, Law and Order, and Sex and The City? Given his unique mix of business savvy and acting skills, it makes sense that Michael... Listen to episode
When I started my first business in 1998, it turns out I did a lot of things right. It wasn t until May of 1999 when I read a book called Permission Marketing that I realized what I was missing, which led to my first successful business. Since that time, Seth Godin has written several other... Listen to episode
In 1997, a young man quit his job to become a writer. In January 1998, an article he wrote entitled Free Agent Nation appeared in a young magazine called Fast Company, and a career was launched. That article proved viable demand, and led to a book deal. The interesting intersection here is that another young... Listen to episode
Online courses are a great way to build a business. They re also a great way to get better-qualified clients, or build an additional revenue stream by providing an alternative to your services. But sometimes, things don t go as planned. Your course isn t selling as much as you d like, or worse, it s not selling at all.... Listen to episode
There are over 26 million companies in the United States with fewer than 20 employees. The vast majority of those businesses have fewer than five employees, and often only one. There are about to be a whole lot more of these very small businesses. Interestingly, it s because big businesses are also going to become radically... Listen to episode
Everyone s fixated on getting traffic, whether paid or organic. As if, somehow, this will unlock the door to a flood of new clients. Truth is, traffic should be the last thing on your mind. Sure, you need it, but if you don t have the right marketing system in place that attracts leads and properly nurtures... Listen to episode
Most professional marketers don t understand the FTC rules that apply to online marketing. So as a busy freelancer or small business owner, it s certainly understandable if this isn t on your radar. But this is a critically important thing, as new guidelines are being released that you need to understand. The FTC is about to make... Listen to episode
We're all in the intellectual property business now. But as business people, how much do we enforce our rights when others infringe on them? Creative freelancers are thought of as service providers, but what they re really selling is their copyright in the work product they create for clients. This has special implications on both sides... Listen to episode
When we think about personal development in terms of our business, we re thinking of continuing education, or professional development. Maybe it s a leadership seminar, or some kind of motivational training. Those things are great, and necessary. But some of the most important things we can do in terms of personal development might seem like they... Listen to episode
You create a successful product when you deliver something people want to buy, simple as that. Is there a way to figure out what people want before spending a ton of time and money? There is a way, and it s becoming more and more popular due to the lean startup movement. It s called the minimum... Listen to episode
Are you interested in developing and selling products? Seems almost silly to ask, right? Seems like everyone I talk to wants to make a product and leave the world of client work behind. Designers, writers, and other freelancers, but also lawyers, realtors, consultants … you name it. Even those who love working with clients wouldn t... Listen to episode
The average multi-millionaire has seven different sources of income. But that s not what you hear about, is it? That s not what gets the press. Instead, you hear about The Game. You know The Game … get funded, make no profit. Even better, make no revenue, cash out big, retire on an island. This is mostly... Listen to episode
Thanks to the internet, productivity software, virtual staffing solutions, and freelancers and consultants of all types at your disposal, a single person can cause a major economic ruckus. According to new statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau, an increasing number of single-person businesses are breaking into 7-figures of revenue. There s also an accompanying shift... Listen to episode
There s a joke that says an entrepreneur is a person who works 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week for someone else. It's more about freedom than anything else. According to a recent Fast Company article on the future of work, soon people will put in 80 hours a week just... Listen to episode
After 17 years and nine businesses, I ve run the gamut of roles and levels of sophistication outside the traditional world of employment. It s been quite a ride. When I look back, I can identify 4 distinct phases that I ve gone through, one of which may correspond with where you re at currently, or where you want... Listen to episode
I ve been referring to myself as unemployable for many years now, and it s a common joke among entrepreneurs and freelancers. For me, I m not sure I m joking at all. Of course, the literal meaning of the word "unemployable" is no laughing matter. There are way too many people in the world who have been left... Listen to episode