Streamlined Solopreneur: Tips to Help Business Owners Grow Without Burnout

This year, I made a concerted effort to have a good Black Friday sale. I started thinking about it early, put in a good sequence of emails, and promoted it more than I've promoted anything. The result? My best sale ever. So how did I do it, what were the numbers, and what did I learn? Listen to find out. Plus, in Build Something More, I share the actual revenue, and my thoughts on affiliate programs.Top TakeawaysPreparation and messaging were instrumental. I started thinking about the sale in October - what the offer would be and the direction my business would go in for 2022. Right before the sale, I redesigned the home page to really push the benefits of the membership.Don't be afraid to send too many emails. I sent 9 emails over 5 days, with 4 coming on the last day. Each lead to at least one sale.I also paid attention to how things were going. When I found the membership to be a lot more popular than initially though, I changed the last few emails in the sequence to highlight the benefits of that instead of the fact that a la carte courses were going away.Show NotesCreator CoursesWhy Subscriptions are Crucial to Your Business with John WarrillowSite Wide SalesConvertKitWooCommerceLearnDashHow to Manage Your Email for a Sane Holiday SeasonJoin the Creator CrewSponsored by: Accessibility Checker by Equalize Digital | Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

Sometimes it feels like Facebook gets a bad wrap. Of course, sometimes it feels like Facebook gets exactly what it deserves…so where should we, as small business owners, fall on how to use Facebook? Today's guests should help. Jono Petrohilos is a personal trainer and online educator who has a $1 Million online course business. He also runs huge Facebook groups, including one specifically for online course creators. Jono is SUPER passionate about FB groups -so much so that he made me excited about them. He offers a ton of tips for how to start and grow a FB group, and how one can build your business. In Build Something More, we talk about the Facebook outage and how it affected him (and how he has a backup plan!)Top Takeaways:Spend time in similar Facebook groups and communities, participating and adding value. This will help build a network of 100 people you can invite to your group.The goal of the FB group is the community. It's not about "me" it's about "them." In that vein, encourage participation at every opportunity. Introductions, questions emailed to you, and anything else you think the group would benefit fromThe name is SUPER important. It should be clear and searchable.Show Notes:Jono PetrohilosJono on FacebookJono on InstagramJono on LinkedinDo we REALLY Need to Own Our Platform?Fitness Education Online | US SiteCreator CrewSponsored by: Accessibility Checker by Equalize Digital | Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

A few weeks ago, we heard from John Warrillow about why we need to make subscriptions a core part of our businesses. Someone who's done that really well is a marketer and fellow creator Corey Haines. As we recorded this, he was going through the biggest change his membership has seem: consolidation of offerings, niching down, and increasing the price. And it was the best month of the membership to date. Listen on to find why and how he did it. Plus, in what I think is the best Build Something More yet, we talk about pricing: how to price as a creator, offerings, and price to value ratios.Top Takeaways:On subscription fatigue: Don't conflate consumer subscriptions with business subscriptions. Consumers get fatigued more than businesses.Early on, as a creator you could basically just ask for money and people would support you. Now it's about the right value proposition. If you don't get it right, you won't survive.Niching down allows you to focus, get the right value prop, AND charge more.Show Notes:Corey HainesCorey on TwitterLi Jin article creator economyMorning BrewCreator CrewSponsored by: Accessibility Checker by Equalize Digital | Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

It's the 2021 Gift Guides episode! This year I revamped the guides to be clearer, including more tools for people who work from home and podcasters, and offering more options for people looking for the perfect pen. In Build Something More, I talk about the transition from Beaver Builder to Gutenberg - why I did it, and how it went.Show Notes:Gift GuidesWork From Home Video WalkthroughPodcast Guide Video WalkthroughCreator CrewSponsored by: Accessibility Checker by Equalize Digital | Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

Something I (and perhaps you) feel I do terribly is email marketing. I'm worried I'm not segmenting my list the right way, that I email them too much, and that what I send is not aligned with what they signed up for. But let me tell you, after this conversation with Samar Owais, I feel a lot better. Samar is an email expert, and we cover a lot of ground, from setting up a welcome sequence, to when you should sell to your list, to how to segment. This is a mini masterclass in email marketing and one of my favorite episodes to date. Plus, in Build Something More, how Apple is changing the way we measure email marketing success.Top Takeaways:When someone signs up for your mailing list, your welcome sequence needs to align with your offer and your promise...also, you should have a welcome sequence!When it is too soon to sell to your list? The very first welcome email. Everything else is fair game so soft sell, sew seeds, or even just mention.Segmentation is SO important. You're forming a relationship with your email subscribers, and you can't properly do that if you don't know anything about them.Show Notes:Samar OwaisSamar on TwitterSamar on LinkedinConvertKitCreator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

Discover the advantages of subscription services for businesses, making income more predictable and enhancing customer focus. Learn from John Warrillow about the importance of going all-in for a successful subscription model. Explore strategies for demonstrating value and avoiding subscription fatigue in business.

You've heard me say time and time again - build your list! If you want to grow your business, whether you sell products, services, or are a creator, you need to get people on your email list. And today's guest, Maciek Palmowski, has definitely done that. He and his wife started the only Polish-language WordPress-focused newsletter (quick a niche) and grew it into quite a popular English-language newsletter. The format and process for putting it together are interesting too - making this a fantastic episode for those struggling with (or struggling to start) their newsletter. In Build Something More, we talk about what it's like being an ESL programmer in an English-dominated market.Top TakeawaysThe Twitter community can be a great place for finding news and growing your list!The secret to growth: stay consistent and put in the work. People will come, and share it!Trial and error is super important. Try things out and see what works. See what doesn’t. Iterate quickly.Show Notes:Maciek PalmowskiMaciek on TwitterDelicious Brains blogwpcontent.ioMailchimpNewsletter GlueGutenberg TimesCreator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

As an elder millennial, TikTok as a platform scares and upsets me. I’m not really sure how to use it to grow my audience (if it even can) and I’m worried it’s just going to be a huge time suck. But according to Rebecca Simon, if your business isn’t on Tiktok, it’s a huge missed opportunity. SO naturally, I asked her how a small business owner can make the most of the platform; Rebecca offered some of the best advice I’ve heard for any social network! So if you’re wondering how you can grow your audience through TikTok, this episode is for you. Plus, in Build Something More, I ask Rebecca how some of my favorite Tiktoks were made.Top TakeawaysIt's important to have the right SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) in place with VAs, employees, or even just yourself.The direction all social media is moving in is video. Instagram rebranded as a "video" platform, and TikTok is leading the charge. That's why it's so important to be there.The biggest benefit is TikTok is pushing you to new people. Discovery is much better on that platform that on follower-centric platforms like Instagram.Show Notes:Rebecca SimonRebecca on TiktokRebecca on InstagramCreator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

It's another live coaching call! This time I have podcaster and WordPress site builder Nathan Wrigley. We chat about how I format this show, record the bumpers and the intros, and the benefits (and potential pitfalls) of batching. Then we roll into making money: how to find and land sponsors, and when to think about monetizing your podcast. Nathan has been a podcaster for a long time, so it was great to field his questions as well as get his perspective. Plus in Build Something More, we talk about what it's like to run a virtual summit.Top TakeawaysHave a good process for outreach to guests and sponsors. You can better track, schedule and batch!Should you think about monetization before you launch your podcast or after? It's a great question! You should think about why you're starting your podcast and how you can monitize. But you should wait to launch until you have a money making plan.One this is absolutely necessary though: Build your email list!Show Notes:Nathan WrigleyNathan on FacebookCan Solo Developers Exist in WordPress?The First Stuff You Should Know Episodes Were 6 Minutes LongConvertKitBuild Your List Using ConvertKit with Angel MarieNewsletter GlueCreator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

Sometimes you know you're destined to run your own business. You work for companies and realize that you can't really work within the confines of a corporate structure. It's something I realized pretty much in high school. And it's something today's guest, Lauren Kennedy, has known all her life. Realizing then, she took her drive and built a marketing automation company…with a twist. While both marketing and automation can be terms associated with the impersonal, she's set out to build a people-first company. And that's the main focus of our discussion today. Of-course, it didn't stop me from asking about marketing automation. And in Build Something More, we talk about being active and helping people on social media, including Reddit.Top TakeawaysSales is the authentic exchange of knowledge - you're showing people what you know, and what you can do. Put another way, your knowledge is not proprietary. Your ability to do it is.The goal of marketing automation is to get as much done with as few resources as possible. You can make sure you communicate personally and properly with the right automations.Be a sponge. Take every opportunity to learn and absorb - about your craft, about your clients, about your employees. Then squeeze it back out.Pre show release - how hard it is to come up with an elevator pitch for yourself, imposter syndromeShow Notes:Lauren KennedyLauren On TwitterLauren on LinkedinLauren on Facebook Building and Evolving Profitable Project Plan with Jennifer BournCreator CrewSponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★