Streamlined Solopreneur: Tips to Help Business Owners Grow Without Burnout

When I was in college, building a community felt pretty easy. Have some event, get free food, people come, people talk. Maybe they will bring some of their friends. This happened all the time – campus events, weekends at the bar, over the summer. So I thought building a community online would be similar. Easier even! There are no geographic boundaries. I would just invite people to come to my community, and they'd go and hang out.But that didn't happen. In fact, my community was a baron wasteland. And in July, I decided to shut down that aspect of my membership. So what went wrong? Well, I think there were a few reasons...and that's what we'll talk about in today's episode.Top Takeaways:Think about community as you start a new endeavor. I thought about mine too late and most of my students were already done with my content and had no reason to come back.You need to help your members with the habit of going to your community every day. You can do that by doing more events, or even having content exclusive to your community platform.It’s up to you to drive the community. People won’t just go to an online community and start conversations at the beginning.Show Notes:SPI 603: The Secret to Building the Best Community Online with Drew DillonCircleJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Moft | Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

Today’s episode is a little different. Sara Loretta and I met through Jay Clouse’s Creative Companion Club. I mentioned I was offering free podcast coaching for episodes of this show, and she pitched coming on to talk about podcast guesting. While I thought we were going to talk about her advice for being a good guest, what we ended up doing was having a great conversation about our experiences. But don’t worry: it gets tied together at the end. Because we’re constantly told that online business owners need to be on brand. But the truth is being open, and showing the personal side, establishes the like and trust factors. And ultimately, that is how you be a good podcast guest.Top TakeawaysIt’s up to the podcast host to reach out to you with a topic in mind. They need to come up with the topic and questions based on what best serves their audience.As a potential guest that’s pitching yourself, you should have a few topics ready to send out to people. Podcasts are, after all, a great way to establish authority and expertise.Have a few stories to tell that reinforce your points and add background to your topic. Personal stories help people connect with you. And while you won’t win over everyone, you shouldn’t try to.Show NotesSara LorettaSara on InstagramSara on TwitterSara Loretta at NotionWhy We Succeed Podcast Join the Creator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

It’s another live coaching call. Scott Cowan runs a podcast called Explore Washington State. It’s part of a greater site all about Washington. The podcast publishes 3-4 times per week, and he’s looking to grow his audience and potentially increase his output to 5 times a week. Listen in as I give Scott advice about SEO, website improvements, and pointing his enormous Instagram following to the show.Top Takeaways:Having a good website with easy-to-speak URLs is the best way to send people to your podcast. Easy to share on social media, and easy for listeners to share too.Optimize titles and descriptions. Use them to tell people what the episode is about, and use keywords that will help the episodes show up in searches.Instead of trying to grow your podcast directly, grow your newsletter and social media followings. Then share your show with those audiences — your newsletter especially can be ripe for growth and promotion.Show Notes:Scott CowanScott on FacebookScott on InstagramScott on TwitterJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Moft | Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

Interested in starting or growing a podcast that actually generates revenue? Check out my new show, Make Money Podcasting! Listen to all of the episodes and subscribe at https://makemoneypod.com/ ★ Support this podcast ★

We all deal with grief. It could be the loss of a loved one. Maybe the loss of a job. Or the feeling that you’ve lost control of your life or your business. Throughout the pandemic, many of us experience grief in one way, shape, or form — and Dr. Sherry Walling is no different. But she decided to write about her grief. First, it was just for her. Then she shared it. Then she decided that her writings could help countless people and turned them into a book. I’m grateful she took the time to talk to us today. We get into how grief affects us, what creators can do, and the book writing process.Top Takeaways:When you experience grief, writing is a helpful exercise. It helps you process your feelings, but it also allows you to write a new reality for yourself.Life doesn’t necessarily stop, but you have more space and time than you think. It’s OK to slow down for a while.Reconnecting to hope happens in tiny moments, like getting up, hugging a loved one, and even making a meal. Listen to your body and do what is best for you.Show Notes:Get Touching Two Worlds: A Guide for Finding Hope in the Landscape of LossSherry WallingSherry on TwitterSherry on InstagramHow the Great Grief Led to the Great Resignation | FortuneJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Moft | Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

Grow your audience. Get leads. Sell your thing. Make money. This seems to be the formula for creators…but these are just nebulous ideas. How do we actually implement them? That’s what today’s guest, Anna Tutckaia, is here to talk about. She’s the Head of Marketing at ManyChat, and she’ll tell us all about how we can find leads by learning about our audience, how their virtual event garnered thousands of potential customers and helpful tools for personalization. In Build Something More, we answer the question, “Should you really move from Facebook to Circle?”Top TakeawaysTo find leads, you need to understand the product you’re selling and the audience you’re trying to sell to. You learn that by going where they hang out online and learning about their pain points, as well as their interests outside of your product.Talking regularly to current and potential customers is a must. Conversations make them feel heard, and you can understand your messaging and improve your content.Using automated tools to connect and serve customers can allow you to free up your time, answer common questions quickly, and even ask them pointed questions for better personalization, which in turn helps you get better leads and create impactful content.Show NotesAnna on LinkedInManyChat | Twitter | InstagramChartableTweetHunterBuilding and Evolving Profitable Project Plan with Jennifer BournJoin Creator Crew for Ad-Free, Extended EpisodesSponsored by: Moft | Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

What’s the difference between making money on the side, and running a business? There are probably dozens of ways to answer that, but if I had to answer, I’d say that it has to do with how you manage your money. Early in the WordPress space, people were learning they could make money with their work, but we’re managing it properly. I think we’re seeing something similar in the creator space, so I’ve brought in Profit Expert Nev Harris to tell us the 4 ways to find hidden profit in your business and get your finances in order.Top Takeaways:People say, “you have to spend money to make money,” but Nev says, “spend smart money to make money.” Buying the latest and greatest CRM, microphone, or computer will actually make you money. But hiring a VA might.You need to find profit in your business by getting out of the dark. Nev says you need to focus on 4 areas: Revenue, Profit, Expenses, and Efficient. Start slow and pick one per quarter.When it comes to efficiency, If you’re spending too much time doing the work, you’re chasing pennies and leaving dollars on the floor. Get to a place where you only do what you need to do.Show Notes: Nev HarrisNev on LinkedinNev on TwitterStroop EffectProfit FirstAgile DevelopmentFree Expense KillerJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

A drum I’ve been beating for a while is you don’t need sponsors to make money podcasting. In fact, it might not even be the best way to make money. What if you had a product so perfectly aligned with the audience of your podcast, that you could get your listeners to buy it? That’s exactly what Sam Munoz does, and her approach to free content is admirable. If you have ANY business where you’re creating content, you need to hear this conversation. Plus, in Build Something More, Sam and I exchange stories about the time we wrote code for robots.Top Takeaways:It’s OK to get paid for your thoughts. Whenever Sam thinks about free content, she tries to connect it back to her paid offerings. After all, if you’re doing something for your business, what you’re doing should be in the service of making your business succeed.You need to spend your time wisely. When you don’t have the margin to think about how your content, which is a lot of work, serves your business or your paid offerings. This hurts you, and your audience, who should benefit from your services.Sam’s podcast serves as the top of the funnel for her mentorship. The audiences align perfectly, and her consistent call to action provides enough repetition for people to turn into students. This works perfectly for her because everything aligns so well!Show Notes:Sam MunozSam on TwitterMighty NetworksHow Making Helpful Content is the Right Way to Sell Products with James LawsThe Intentional BookshelfJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Flexispot | Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

Creating a course isn't just about making a series of videos. It's about doing it in a way that gives the students skills or knowledge they can use at the end of the course. Troy Dean calls that taking a student from "zero to win."Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/027Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribeThis clip is brought to you by Sensei ★ Support this podcast ★

I’m going, to be honest with you: I’m squarely anti-hustle culture. I think it’s unnecessary and puts too much pressure on people to make “Gary Vee money.” So when I saw Dickie Bush’s Ship 30 project, I thought we had more of that narrative. Well let me tell you, I could not have been more wrong. Dickie’s approach to writing and his frameworks can help anyone become a better writer, and Ship 30 helps brand new creators go through the roller coaster that is content creation faster, and with a better support system. There are TONS of gems in this episode, so you won’t want to miss it. Plus, in Build Something More, Dickie and I talk about competitive gaming.Top Takeaways:Twitter is a “home run-based” platform that allows you to go viral with the right stuff. Generally, that’s content Dickie called “Reach” content; these are tweets or threads that everyone can relate to.Dickie says creating content isn’t coming up with 1000 different ideas. It’s coming up with 1000 different ways to use the same idea across different platforms, so it resonates with different people.If you’re struggling to come up with content, do the 2-year review: look at everything you learned over the last 2 years, and then write content for you, two years ago.Show Notes:Dickie Bush 1Dickie Bush 2Dickie on TwitterDickie on LinkedinOtter.aiTypeshareJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★