The Get Paid Podcast: The Stark Reality of Entrepreneurship and Being Your Own Boss

Since everyone and their mother wants to make passive income selling courses, it’s no wonder Janet is rolling in clients with her course creation and design done-for-you services.   But it wasn’t always so easy. How do you figure out the right online business to create? What if you spend money on courses and coaches that aren’t any help at all? Janet’s story is one of trial and error and finally landing on a service that’s bringing in some serious cash. In this episode you’ll hear: -- What you MUST have before you can hire Janet to review your course. -- The one thing that’s been KILLING Janet’s profits recently. -- What it took for Janet to finally figure out where her “place” is in the online business world.   -- What to keep in mind when hiring a coach (unless you want to throw thousands of dollars away). -- Which of Janet’s Done-For-You packages has been the most attractive to her clients, and why. -- Janet’s surprising marketing strategy for landing higher level business owners as clients. -- What kept me from pitching my own services to big name entrepreneurs (and why I’m still kicking myself).

It’s considered one of the sleaziest corners of the online marketing world, and yet Nick and Gen are pulling in $20,000-$25,000 per month by promoting other people’s products to their list of 20,000 people. There’s a whole lot of money that they’re leaving on the table by not creating their own products, but it suits their lifestyle and other professional aspirations by creating their own startup capital for a new business. In this episode you’ll hear: -- The average open rates of their daily emails sent out to a list of 20,000 people. -- Why affiliate marketers are so often perceived as scammers, and what Gen and Nick do differently. -- How they grow their list without going the traditional free-optin-content list building route. -- Whether or not it’s actually easy to make money with affiliate marketing. -- What you can do to ensure people view your marketing as scammy and/or spammy. -- An example affiliate marketing funnel that uses Facebook ads to promote someone else’s product. -- How and why Nick and Gen are leaving $300K on the table every year. -- A breakdown of their monthly expenses. -- Details on the new business they’re starting. -- How they’re able to live a nomadic lifestyle despite their mortgage.

How do you (nearly) crack the 6-figure mark with one-one-one coaching WITHOUT burning yourself out?   Ellen Ercolini, money making expert, has done it by offering just one service and very little marketing. (Full disclosure: she also has an evergreen online course, but it makes up a really small percent of her revenue right now.) In this episode you’ll hear: -- That I’m hosting a meetup in NYC on August 1! It’s last minute, I know, but you can RSVP for free here: clairepells.com/meetup -- Why a poppin’ paypal account may not be enough to rent an apartment as an entrepreneur. -- Details about the one service Ellen has landed on that’s perfect for both her and her clients. -- What gives Ellen the “right” to charge $497 for her evergreen course. -- The unfortunate truth about the lifespan of a life coaching business. -- Ellen’s take on pricing your services high right off the bat. - Ideas for testing out products before you launch them, and my fears about losing potential revenue.

If you thought the travel writing industry was all resorts, fine dining and freebies galore, think again. Nell McShane Wulfhart is an established freelance travel writing with bylines in The New York Times, Travel and Leisure, The Wall Street Journal, and countless other big-name publications.   In this episode of the Get Paid Podcast, Nell shares her path to landing the “aspirational gigs,” why she’d love to accept free travel for reviews but doesn’t, and why she’s still not convinced that travel writing is a sustainable career. In this episode you’ll hear: -- The average “lead time” in the travel writing industry from pitching an article to getting paid. -- Why in-flight magazines so often play a role in a beginner travel writer’s career. -- How Nell manages the balancing act of thinking about her career in the long term and putting food on the table now (or soon). -- How much the prestigious gigs pay (if you’re really lucky) versus the low hanging fruit. -- 3 things you must, must, must have if you want to be a travel writer. -- The ins and outs of pitching articles and ideas to travel publications. -- Exactly what Nell did to land her first piece with The New York Times. -- Ann Friedman’s advice for anyone thinking about going full time with their freelance writing job. -- What happens if a publication decides not to run an article you’ve been commissioned for, and what you can expect to get paid.

Once I (stupidly) tried to convince a potential client NOT to launch a membership site. I was really out of line, especially since I didn’t know her business very well, but fortunately she forgave me after I worked hard to pull my foot out of my mouth.   Here’s what I was thinking at the time: membership sites where you have a monthly charge on your credit card are a really hard sell. And just because someone signs up for the first month doesn’t mean they’re going to stick around very long.   Before I completely crush your dreams, however, check out this interview with Barrett Brooks, the Director of Growth at Fizzle, possibly the best membership site I’ve seen so far. They’ve tried out different pricing strategies, free vs. paid trial offers, and have tweaked their onboarding sequence to help reduce churn, or the number of people who cancel their membership each month. A membership site can work as a business model, but make sure you know what you’re getting into and don’t expect it to be smooth sailing just because you’ve launched. In this episode you’ll hear: -- Why the pricing model that the Fizzle guys started out with didn’t last very long. -- The one thing that will keep a company from being profitable, even if you’ve built a strong brand and a significant audience. -- Seth Godin’s 2 lines of advice to Barrett on how much he should sell his pre-Fizzle startup for. -- The one thing that got me hooked on Fizzle, and why I expect to keep paying them for a long, long time. -- The change the Fizzle team is looking at making to the free trial they currently offer to new members. -- How much revenue Fizzle has brought in since launching (plus a little reverse-engineering to get to their annual gross revenue numbers). -- The #1 thing people report as the reason they cancel their Fizzle membership. -- Something that’s been missing from Fizzle for a long time that they’re just starting to roll out. -- Ballpark figures of how much the members of the Fizzle team get paid. -- Why Barrett was arrested (twice) despite his brainiac background.

Why would you change course from a personal brand that’s making $250,000 in annual revenue to build a software-as-a-service business in an incredibly competitive market? Nathan Barry shares the details of how he started selling apps, then ebooks and courses, and now has just broken even with his email marketing software. In this episode you’ll hear: -- What took Nathan from his blossoming career as an independent designer back to working as a full-time employee. -- His #1 tip for getting the attention of any influencer in any industry, and what my own experience has been with that tactic. -- Why Nathan sold off a piece of his company that was still bringing in money, and the one question he asked himself to help make that decision. -- Why negotiation is key to an outcome where the people on both sides of the table walk away happy. (This one completely surprised me, but it makes sense now that I think about it.) -- Nathan’s exact strategy for launching his first ebook that brought in $12,500 in just 24 hours when his list was less than 800-strong. -- One of the benefits of writing books that he says is as good or possibly better than the revenue. -- His frustrations with the publishing world that led him to write the book Authority (and my bad excuse for not having finished it yet). -- Why Nathan’s leaving behind the launch model and what he’s doing instead to “build the next Leadpages.”   -- An email marketing strategy that would make weekly broadcast emails a thing of the past.  

Suzi Istvan’s design business brought in big bucks in 2014, but her take-home pay was far from six-figures. A year of big growth means big investments, but the strategic way she spends her money has set her up with a business she always dreamed of running (and that’s bringing in some serious revenue). In this episode you’ll hear: -- How Suzi identifies and then deals with debilitating burn-out. -- One of the ways I “keep it interesting” in my marriage. -- The secret deal Suzi’s husband may or may not have made with the devil. -- A breakdown of the retainer services Splendidly Curious provides, and what may cause their prices to vary. -- How much the business made in 2014 and what Suzi’s own cut of that was by the end of the year. -- Why Suzi and her team aren’t actually working for the people who are paying them month-to-month. (Sounds like a scam but it’s not!) -- Why she felt it was important to hire a lawyer on retainer before bringing in any designers to actually make money for the business. -- The “backwards” way that Suzi went about preparing her business to hire its first designer. -- Why it took longer than it should have for that first designer to start “paying for herself.” -- The make-up of the Splendidly Curious team: who they are and what they do. -- Why charging for packages instead of for hours worked protects both her business and its clients.

Tena.cious is a social media and design agency with 10+ employees currently serving 5 and 6-figure accounts. But it started just like so many small businesses: with just one individual. Could you or I do that? It’s a question that’s constantly on my mind.   In today’s episode of The Get Paid Podcast, I’m interviewing Tena Pettis, the founder and CEO of Tena.cious, a company that’s on its way to a million dollars in annual revenue. In this episode you’ll hear: -- Why Tena spends money on advertising when the return-on-investment is completely impossible to track. -- Tena’s most-valued Twitter technique she employs for following up with potential clients. (She swears it helps her close more than any other social media trick.) -- How many revenue streams Tena.cious has - I don’t know how they keep them all straight! -- The exact prices of their social media management monthly retainer packages, and what clients get for each one. -- What Tena actually does in the business, and how her work directly impacts Tena.cious’ bottom line. -- Why she pays for office space when she could just as easily manage a remote team. -- The one piece of the business that keeps Tena up at night. (Mo’ money, mo’ problems, right?) -- Tena.cious’ very best money-making technique, and why Tena had no interest in trying it out in the beginning.

No more vague advice! The Get Paid Podcast is about the stark reality of running an online business. We're kickin' off this party with a quick intro episode to share with you: -- why being "frantic" about my business lead to the idea for this show -- how my sailor mouth is an important part of my brand -- the 2 ways being based in Argentina impacts these episodes (and my sanity) -- what to expect from Season One, all about business models You can find the show notes at clairepells.com/0 Also mentioned in this episode: your free guide to Facebook ads: clairepells.com/guide my favorite spot to connect, Twitter: twitter.com/clairepells, a.k.a. @clairepells (also my handle on the ol' Instagram) Hit the subscribe button and get all the episodes downloaded directly to your phone or tablet - it makes binge listening so much easier!