Today, I’m talking to Jay Clouse, a creative entrepreneur, and all-around amazing human being. We’re talking about keeping it all together as a solo creator, what makes a personal brand work, and how important authenticity is in building an audience. 00:00:00 What to do about all the attention-grabbing out there00:05:00 A trust-based paradigm for your work00:12:15 The importance of being a human being and not a brand00:18:11 Challenges of aligning all of your projects under one umbrella.00:23:02 Can you even find good names at the start?00:28:57 The importance of having a backlog of ideas.00:32:37 Will I ever get to this level of quality?00:37:05 Choosing priorities00:43:11 The mechanics of building community & building relationships with people00:46:15 Teaching sentient beings to do things that are good for them (and good for you)00:50:42 An audience is like an insurance policy- Creative Commitments with Jay Clouse- Find your Following, my Twitter course — now with Find your Following Essentials, the 7-day Twitter crash course- Zero to Sold & The Embedded Entrepreneur, my books on entrepreneurshipThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

Sharing your work and process in public can be difficult for introverted entrepreneurs and creators, but it can help build credibility and trust with your audience, gather valuable feedback and insights, and even lead to new opportunities. Tips for sharing in public include reframing why you do it, taking it slow and steady, breaking it into small chunks, scheduling posts, and engaging in conversations. Setting specific goals for the amount of sharing you want to do each week or month can help you stay on track.- Realistic Building in Public for Introverted Founders- Find your Following, my Twitter course — now with Find your Following Essentials, the 7-day Twitter crash course- Zero to Sold & The Embedded Entrepreneur, my books on entrepreneurshipThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

Today, I’m talking to Ana Bibikova, a defender and cheerleader for introverts in entrepreneurship. Ana knows what it means to be skeptical of loud and salesy marketing tactics. They might work great for extroverts, but not so much for the quiet types. Today, we’ll talk about how you can build a public-facing brand without resorting to all the obnoxious and much-too in-your-face tactics. We’ll talk about being introverted, working with introverts, and serving introverts. Here’s Ana.00:00:00 Entrepreneurship and Introversion00:10:13 Growing up being introverted without knowing what it is00:16:57 A History of Introversion00:22:49 The loud and shouty approach to social media00:27:33 How do you stay quiet when you’re selling?00:34:07 You’re the magnet for signals from the people around you00:42:45 How to do self-promotion as an introvert vs. an extrovert00:49:03 You attract what you put out, not what you sayThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. Here's the blog post for this episode.You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

Yesterday, the creator economy learned that Gumroad, a platform where creators have been building their businesses by selling their services and products, increased their prices significantly. That caused a lot of backlash in the community, with people threatening to switch to other platforms and criticizing how the price hike was communicated. It’s been an intense topic of community discussion.Today, I am talking to Sahil, the CEO of Gumroad, about what prompted this change, what happened to cause such a stir, and where Gumroad is heading in the future. Here’s Sahil.You can find this conversation on YouTube.

When it comes to selling a small indie business, defensibility is a key factor that potential buyers will consider. A unique moat, or competitive advantage, lets your business stands out from the competition and is seen as a valuable acquisition. Many small founders sell their businesses because they want to get rid of them, and that attracts bargain hunters. It’s easy to negotiate a founder down when they feel pressure to sell a business that’s not very stable or profitable in the first place.Being able to show that potential competitors have to climb a rather sizeable barrier to entry into your market will net you a significant premium when it’s valuation time. The absence of such a moat around your entrepreneurial castle will push down the price you can ask for. While buyers will still acquire profitable businesses without an oversized advantage, it’s a good idea to consider how you can set up a moat around your business. It will make things much easier.- Build a Defensible Indie Business- Find your Following, my Twitter course — now with Find your Following Essentials, the 7-day Twitter crash course- Zero to Sold & The Embedded Entrepreneur, my books on entrepreneurshipThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

Today, I am talking to Andrew Gazdecki, a pillar of the founder community and himself founder of the acquisition platform formerly known as MicroAcquire — but we’ll learn more about that on the show. Besides organizing millions of dollars worth of acquisitions every month, Andrew is a true teacher. His content on building software businesses is spectacularly useful. And fortunately, he will share a lot of it with us today.00:00:00 Introduction00:00:54 Founder and personality00:04:19 MicroAcquire: the first venture00:09:51 On being relatable00:13:42 From B2B to Human2Humman00:20:10 What was missing in the market?00:27:07 What makes a business more sellable?00:32:14 Tips for selling your business00:39:07 Working in the business vs. working on the business00:46:47 You can’t succeed without failure00:52:59 Any exit, no matter how small, is a good stepThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. Here's the blog post for this episode.You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

We've been taught to believe that creators are only truly successful when they reach the top echelon of their platform, with millions of followers and likes. But this is a false notion that doesn't accurately reflect what success looks like for creators — or what “success” is about in the first place.The truth is that success for creators comes in many different forms, and it usually doesn’t depend on reaching the top of the platform. There are many creators who have found success by building a loyal and engaged audience in a very specific niche, even if they “only” have a few thousand followers. These creators have found ways to meaningfully connect with their audience and provide value to them, which is what ultimately leads to success.- Avoid Vanity Metrics- Find your Following, my Twitter course — now with Find your Following Essentials, the 7-day Twitter crash course- Zero to Sold & The Embedded Entrepreneur, my books on entrepreneurshipThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

I am talking to Rosie Sherry, proprietor of Rosieland and community empowerment expert. She runs her own communities, monetizing a few of them, and has been managing the IndieHackers community in the past. Rosie is an expert all things community and education. And that's precisely what we'll talk about today.This episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. Here's the blog post for this episode.You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

There is a huge difference between building a product, a business, and a company. It's a progression from one to the other, usually involving making significant changes in your life. Requirements change, and so does our lifestyle to make our dreams possible.Ideally, we have a master plan on how to get there.But in reality, we have to pay bills, take care of our family, and deal with the often unexpected hardships of life.And while everyone's situation is unique, many entrepreneurs have found ways to finance their business-building journeys and make ends meet. That's what we'll be talking about today.- Paying the Bills With Your First Indie Business- Find your Following, my Twitter course — now with Find your Following Essentials, the 7-day Twitter crash course- Zero to Sold & The Embedded Entrepreneur, my books on entrepreneurshipThis episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.

Today, I am talking to Jakob Greenfeld. I’ve been reading Jakobs blog posts for years now, and they’re as spicy as they’re thoughtful. There’s not a single post on there that feels unfinished. That’s quite impressive. Well, I think we’ll figure out why that is during our conversation. We’ll also chat about how to unlock critical thinking by writing and what it means to give yourself permission to do things your way.Here’s Jakob Greenfeld.This episode is sponsored by MicroAcquire. Here's the blog post for this episode.You can also watch this episode as a video on YouTube.