Streamlined Solopreneur: Build Systems so Your Business Supports Your Life

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 sho...

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/ ———— Streamlined Solopreneur helps  solopreneurs automate their business so they can take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim...

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 writi...

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 thousa...

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’...

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 crea...

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/027 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe This clip is brought to you by Sensei ———— Streamlined S...

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 he...

Coming up with content can be a tough task, especially across multiple channels. But Nathan Ellering of CoSchedule gave us the perfect advice in episode 20: answer customer questions.  Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/020 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe This clip is brought to you by TextExpander ———— Streamlined Solopreneur helps  solopreneurs automate t...

“All of the worlds is experienced through code.” This is a statement Marcus Merrell makes on today’s podcast...and it’s absolutely true. See, even if you sell the most niche handmade thing, you probably sell it online, which means someone’s code is powering your business. And your buyers are experiencing your business through code. So the worst thing for your business is bad code because that make...

“Creator” is a word that has really come into focus in an industry in the last few years. But content creation is nearly as old as the internet itself. And building businesses from your content…that’s not new either. Just ask Chris Coyier, the founder who recently sold his hugely popular blog, CSS Tricks, to Digital Ocean. We talk about his journey, how he made money, and answer the question: are...

When you write content, who are you writing for? It’s an important question to consider— you need to have someone in mind when you write. But there’s another audience you should have the robots. Specifically, search engines. If you’re not writing for both, you could be missing out on traffic, signups, and sales. Luckily, Maddy Osman and her new book, Writing for Humans and Robots, is here to help....

Jeff Sheldon does what he does extremely well. But he's also expanded his business from clothes to coffee and paper products. How does he do it without burning out? Listen to today's bit to find out. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/013  Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe  This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ———— Streamlined Solopreneur helps  soloprene...

Over the last few weeks, I have been interviewing experts on communities, newsletters, referral programs, and more. As a result, I've taken some of my favorite advice and I've started implementing it. So today is going to be a solo episode where I'm going to tell you everything I've been doing to grow my audience. We'll take a look at some tools I've been using, some techniques I've been implement...

Chris Lema knows a lot about a lot. But did you know he was doing no-code well before it became the movement it is today? In this bit, he tells us a little about how to successfully build a web app without code. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/012 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe   This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ———— Streamlined Solopreneur help...

Can you build a business off of a Twitter challenge? Perhaps it’s not as simple as that, the core concept is there: create something for people to rally around, and you have a community. Participate with them and you have engagement. Jay Clouse knows a thing or two about building communities and successfully launched his own membership called Creative Companion…by basically starting with a Twitter...

Chris Coyier is a man of many hats and has successfully started and sold websites, wrote books, and has a great tech startup. In today's bit, he offers some advice that is the key to his success. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/006 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe   This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ———— Streamlined Solopreneur helps  solopreneurs...

What is stopping you from creating content? That’s the question that Alban Brooke and I set out to answer. But it didn’t start that way. I thought we’d talk about podcast stats and what creators can do to make money. But there is no making money if there is no content. So we get back to basics. And if you’re stuck, this is a conversation you need to hear. Top Takeaways: it’s really easy to see the...

 Carrie Dils was building communities before it was cool. And was actually doing the building! In today's bit, Carrie tells us about how she built her podcast community and the pros and cons of doing your own dev work. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/005 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe   This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ———— Streamlined Soloprene...

LinkedIn Learning is a force in the online course space, with hundreds of courses, millions of learners, and a well-oiled machine for putting out great content. I, along with today’s guest, Carrie Dils, are fortunate to be long-time instructors for the platform. I invited Carrie on to catch up, and I thought it would be fun for us to exchange notes on how we come up with ideas for, and then record...

Cory Miller dolled out so much great advice in Episode 4 that we're getting a twofer. He tells us about how one of iThemes' most popular products came out of solving a big problem they had. Then he tells us the importance of maintaining an email list. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/004 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe   This clip is brought to you by WP...

A few weeks ago we talked to Louis Nicolls about the importance of having a good newsletter that helps people — some targeted, educational resource. Brennan Dunn knows a thing or two about that and has built an empire around segmentation and personalization. The last time he was on the show, we talked about Right Message. Today, we talk to him about email templates and newsletter strategies that w...

When you have a membership or subscription, your goal is to prevent churn, or people leaving. The best way to do that is to deliver value. But it's also a matter of how often you ask your subscribers to evaluate the value they get. Here's what Brian Krogsgard recommended. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/003 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe This clip is br...

Most people who start a business hate it when they get away from the actual work and move towards managing — the business and the people. But not James Laws. James has started several successful businesses and his favorite part is building the culture, ensuring employees are happy, and ultimately making sure everyone feels fulfilled…so much so that he wants to help more founders do just that. And...

Too many people decided they want to make an online course, spend 6 months making it, and launch to crickets. Rebecca Gill knew better, and her advice from Episode 2 can save you a ton of time (and heartache). Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/002 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ———— Streamlined Solopreneur helps  s...