Streamlined Solopreneur: Build Systems so Your Business Supports Your Life

It’s the first-ever feedback episode! I read a couple of reviews — one good, one bad, and how I’m adjusting — and then answer listener questions. It’s a fun episode! We cover getting started in content creation, growing your audience, configuring a Stream Deck, and podcast interviews. Show Notes: My Live Stream Kit My Stream Deck blog post My Stream Deck video A specific use case for launching app...

Jason Coleman was the very first guest on How I Built It, and he started the show strong with a ton of fantastic advice. Here's my favorite: a bit about why charging monthly might not align with the value you deliver, as well as how to handle negative reviews. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/001 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe This clip is brought to you...

How good is creating niche content? How about understanding the purpose of your content and focusing on providing value? Alexis Grant, founder, and CEO of They Got Acquired, understand the importance of both of these things. She has launched not one, not two, but 3 content businesses — successfully selling her previous ones. Today she’s here to share her insight on why she started They Got Acquire...

Have you ever seen a great talk, video, or even podcast episode that dolled out some fantastic advice, only for you to forget it before you implement it? Maybe that feeling is amplified when you go to a conference. There are so many great takeaways...how can you remember it all?  It's almost like you need a TL;DR for when that happens.  And How I Built It has been going pretty much weekly for near...

What if I told you the answer to better organic traffic isn’t more content…it’s less content? That’s what today’s guest, Farzad Rashidi, argues. That when it comes to SEO, link building, and organic traffic, quality outperforms quantity every time. And he doesn’t stop there. He provides a process for figuring out what content to write, and how to get people to it. Top Takeaways: Quality is better...

5 years ago, email was dead. Now it’s not only growing, it’s the life’s blood of the creator economy. As a creator or small business owner, without a good, helpful, and nurtured email list, you’re leaving money on the table. And to tell you why Louis Nicholls from SparkLoop is here this week. We talk all about what makes a good newsletter, what mistakes to avoid, how to come up with good content,...

Jack Kitterhing has been in the WordPress space for a while; you can say he deeply subscribes to the ethos that owning your own platform is one of the most important things a creator can do. That a SaaS, like Teachable, won’t be there for you like an owned platform, like WordPress + LearnDash, will. We have a good discussion about the merits of both. Is it really easier to set up a course on Teach...

There are a few chains freelancers in the WordPress space carry if we’re being honest. Not charging what you’re worth is one. Not wanting to niche down is another. And thinking you need to grow to an agency to make “real” money is another. Tara Claeys bucks all of these trends, and we have a great discussion about it. How she decided to find a niche (and how her podcast helps her establish authori...

"We need to de-stigmatize lending money to friends and family." It's one of the first things Brian Bristol said to me in today’s episode. See, Brian is the co-founder of Pigeon Loans — a place where anyone can set up a private loan, backed with tracking, interest, and a legally binding agreement. And this ethos is as interesting as the approach they are taking to content: show people that everyone...

YouTube has been a regular topic on the show this year, and for good reason. More people need to build trust to make their business work, and as the second largest search engine, YouTube is a great place to do it. This week, marketing coach Nicole Osborne tells us why she started a YouTube channel, her process for publishing, and how it’s helped her business. In Build Something More, we talk about...

How often should you publish? Should you use affiliate links? DO those 30-day challenges really help? Alastair McDermott and I are both at the relative beginning of our YouTube journeys, and we’re each taking different approaches — hopefully, ones that suit our needs and goals appropriately. Listen in as we talk about what we're doing, how we’re doing it, and of course, why. We’ll also tell you wh...

Since leaving the classroom in 2016, I've missed one aspect of teaching more than any other: connecting with students in real-time, as I teach the material. And while I love creating evergreen courses, today's guest has a better way to teach online. Wes Kao, a co-founder of both altMBA and Maven, tells us about Cohort-based Courses (CBCs), and I am all in! She'll tell us how CBCs have better compl...

One of the core beliefs at Apple is telling a good story; it’s weaved into everything they do — every product, service, and publication. Something you’ll notice with their commercials is that they open by telling you it was shot on iPhone 13 Pro. And in-fact that story they told at the iPhone event in September, about iPhone 13 Pro, was that it’s for movie makers and cinematographers. But who is t...

Exactly how important is your marketing funnel? Ask R.T. Custer, who's built a funnel that allows his company, the Vortic Watch Company, to routinely sell out of watches that are priced between $2,500 and $10,000. In this conversation, R.T. tells us all about how he and his business partner came up with the idea to repurpose old pocket watches into all-American-made wristwatches, and how his 200-d...

Finding time as a busy creator or small business owner can be tough. But what about being a single mom, running a content business, in a competitive space, and making money doing? That's exactly what Christine Pittman does, running her hugely successfully cooking blogs and podcasts. Tune in to get tips about starting, staying consistent, making money, and the important role analytics plays in all...

More and more, we're hearing about why businesses should be on TikTok. As a creator, this can be a new place for you to gain an audience…if you do it right. And today's guest, Alex Rossman, knows a thing or two about TikTok. His agency, Rossman Media, is currently moving many of his B2B clients to the platform with great success. Today, Alex will tell you why you should be there, and how to make t...

Word of Mouth has long ruled the lead-generating roost for freelancers and small business owners. But that’s an untenable, unscalable business model. What does work, you wonder? Ask web designer Jess Freeman. 60% of Jess’ leads come from content creation alone; 40% from her blog and YouTube. While many view YouTube as a place for entertainment and influencers where only the most popular channels m...

They say one of the best ways to grow your audience is by getting in front of other people’s audiences, and today’s guest is an expert in helping you do that. Brittney Lynn understands how to pitch the media - both established media like publications and TV, and newer media, like podcasts. Today, she gives us some fantastic advice for finding and pitching podcasts, as well as what to think about i...

How do you become an authority in your field? What's the key to unlocking rewarding work and more sales with less selling? According to Rochelle Moulton, it's publishing. And Rochelle knows a thing or two. Not only has she been helping people become authorities in their fields since 2007, but her book, The Authority Code, will give you the blueprint — and the right prompts — to help you too. Roche...

In 2021, there was a lot of good, but there was also a lot of stress. In fact, there was a lot of everything. Seems like a year or less would do me good. But not really less of everything. I need to do less of something specific — over-commitment. So I’ve come up with The Year of Retreat. Show Notes: Cortex My 2022 Yearly Theme Creator Crew Sponsored by: Nexcess | Ahrefs | TextExpander ———— Stream...

I knew from a young age, I wanted to play the drums. I got my first small kit when I was five and when my friends and I started a band, heavy quotes, I played paint buckets. When I was 15 years old, I knew I needed a real kit.  It's the last episode of 2021, and it's a little different: I'm going to share with you my favorite Christmas story. I'll also tell you where the show is heading in 2022. ...

Back in October, I wrote a blog post called, "We Need to Talk About Speakers and Virtual Events." I outlined how I believe speakers should be treated when it comes to virtual events; See I feel like too many virtual event organizers treat speakers as their marketing arm too. Shortly after, my friend Nathan Wrigley reached out. See, he is a virtual event organizer. In fact, I've spoken at his event...

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 progra...

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 onli...

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...