The Life-First Solopreneur (formerly The Aspiring Solopreneur)

How nice would it be to increase your audience engagement, response rates, and the ROI of your marketing initiatives?  Pretty great, right? Harnessing hardwired consumer behavior and instinctive responses is one of the best ways to do that, and it isn’t even that hard if you know what you’re doing. That’s where Nancy Harhut comes in. Author of Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, g etting people...

We speak with a lot of solopreneurs every week, and have started to see a pattern with some of the most successful ones: they have accountability partners or accountability groups. Because this has come up so much recently, we want to pull an episode from the vault that we recorded over a year ago, fittingly called: Expert Advice For Holding Yourself Accountable On Your Solo Journey. In this episo...

Can you have your cake and eat it too? So many solopreneurs want a successful business that also allows them to live the life they want to live, but finding that work/life balance can be hard. Well, today we’re joined by Tanya Alvarez who is on a mission to help people crush it at work and still win at home. Tanya started her first New York Ad Agency when she was just 25. Without a trust fund or r...

"I’m a consultant." We've said that sentence before and so have countless others. In theory, many solopreneurs can call themselves consultants, but that doesn’t mean they’re successful ones. Finding that success can be a challenge…unless you have the right tools, strategies, and systems in place. And that’s where Amy Rasdal comes in. Amy traded her corporate job for consulting 15 years ago and mak...

This was likely the longest interview we’ve had to date, and we asked our guest if we could record a part 2 multiple times because we still didn’t think it was enough time. We could listen to him talk for hours, and we don’t say that often. We invited Johnathan (or JP) Price on the show to share his journey, and discuss his background, mindset and growth tactics. Listeners, let us tell you, you ar...

We usually don't start the episodes by listing off all of the accomplishments of our guests, but when you have somebody on who is this impressive and accomplished, it’s hard not to brag a little bit, especially when he has so much advice for solopreneurs. Mind you, this is us bragging on his behalf, he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would do that. If you aren’t familiar with Rob Walling , i...

Ever feel like taxes are the ultimate entrepreneurial riddle you're never quite sure you've solved? Every form you have to complete and every deduction you have to consider can leave you wondering if you're doing everything correctly.  Taxes and bookkeeping are hard to understand, especially when you’re busy running the rest of your business. That’s why we invited on Melissa and Eric Broughton of...

Do you ever find yourself in analysis paralysis? There are constant challenges we all face in our businesses, but the issue is that we rarely have the time to properly address them.  Or do we? Today we are joined by Teresa Cain, author of the incredible book, Solving Problems in 2 Hours: How to Brainstorm and Create Solutions with Two-Hour Design Sprints. We invited her on to discuss things like:...

Ever have one of those days that seems so insignificant at the time, but ends up being a major turning point in your life? For Carly, the day was in 2016. She and her husband were both working remotely and traveling the country in an RV. Sounds pretty great right? Well, it would have been had she not been working 12-hour days consistently and missing out on everything the road life had to offer. S...

Marketing and lead generation continues to be obstacles for solopreneurs. So many people are focused on traditional marketing and advertising tactics and neglect a very interesting approach...public relations. More specifically, the use of press releases for your solopreneurship. It's usually because press releases are such a foreign concept for many people that they tend to avoid them. But it's n...

Joe and Carly are slowly warming up to social media, but it certainly isn’t their comfort zone. Figuring out where your audience is and how to effectively communicate with them is a challenge. Growth can seem to take forever. And just when you think you’ve cracked the code, an algorithm changes. So what are you supposed to do? Today we are joined by Lauren Litt, of Lil Shameless Plug, who runs a b...

Do you feel like technology is advancing at warp speed, while human connection struggles to keep pace? For our solo businesses, there’s such a fine line between technological progress, like AI, and the timeless need for genuine human connection, which is so important to reach your audience! So, how do we bridge the gap? Well, today we’re joined by Marisa Shadrick who coaches people on finding thei...

Have you ever created a website for your business and thought, “oh my gosh, now I actually have to show it to the world?” We sometimes spend months putting this thing together and when it’s time to release it into the wild, a sudden fear creeps in. You feel so exposed and vulnerable! Well, today we are joined by Ezekiel Rochet, who helps solopreneurs get websites up and running that they are proud...

Well, you guys, we did it. We made it to 100 episodes.  Annnnd, we seriously can't believe it! We have learned so much and are so excited to see where this journey takes us. This episode covers some behind the scenes as well as takeaways from our favorite and most-popular episodes which include: Episode 61: Why Affiliate Marketing Needs to Be Top of Mind For Solopreneurs with Matt McWilliams Episo...

Folks, our 100th episode is next week. Can you believe it? As we lead up to this big celebration, we wanted to re-post an old show that we think is very important. Our company, LifeStarr, supports solopreneurs in all phases of their solo businesses and as much as we are cheerleaders for running a company of one, that doesn't mean everybody is cut out for it...and that's OK. But that begs the quest...

Soloprenuership sounds great and all, but does that mean you're actually ready for it? We asked Alison Hall, who coaches people on big life changes, what her thoughts were, and what she thinks people taking the leap need to think through before flying solo in business. We discuss: How to know if solopreneurship is right for you What you should be thinking about before taking the leap into running...

Aspiring solopreneurs.  Stop whatever it is you're doing and listen to this episode right now! OK, so maybe that's a little dramatic, but seriously, after recording nearly 100 episodes, trust me when I say this is absolutely one of the most important episodes you need to listen to. We all have questions about email, whether it be for mass marketing campaigns or just one-on-one communication with c...

Flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. We say this all the time, but truer words have never been said. And while the idea of building a community is important, it can be easier said than done if you've never done it from scratch before. So, in today's episode, we stepped away from our standard interview format and brought in two guests, Andy Guttormsen from Circle and Stacy Blette, Lif...

This week at Lifestarr we're talking all things money. A taboo topic, maybe, but something we all need to understand as solopreneurs. So, we've re-published an excellent episode from the archives that deserves a second listen. To say our guest, Gabe Nelson, knows his stuff is an understatement! What You'll Learn In This Episode How to take the leap from employee to solopreneur with confidence Whet...

While all solopreneurs will benefit from listenting to this episode, this is absolutely a must-listen for people who are just getting started. We asked all the questions that we wish we would have known when we started our own businesses and our guest, Nolan Bradbury, answered all of them thoroughly. Take 30 minutes to listen to this, you'll be SO glad you did. Questions we asked include: What rol...

Allow us to give some background, because this is a show unlike any we've done before. Joe has been a fan of Toon on Netflix for awhile which is a Dutch comedy about a reclusive, socially awkward jingle composer who must navigate the nightmarish world of show biz after a viral video skyrockets him to fame. Fame aside, the main character is relatable to many solopreneurs, so Joe wanted to have the...

Joe and I (Carly) have not historically been fans of social media. I haven't posted on my personal accounts in years (aside from LinkedIn). However, knowing it's a necessary evil for our business, we decided to embark on a mission to not only enjoy it, but do it right. A few months back we interviewed Shelley Goldstein, who actually convinced us that social media could be something to look forward...

In this episode, we have an in-depth and unique discussion about email marketing with a true master in the field, Chris Orzechowski. As the title suggests, Chris has amassed a staggering $100 million+ in sales for various products through email marketing, and he unveils the secrets behind why focusing on growing your email list is the real game-changer for solopreneurs. In a world obsessed with so...

Since it's the first episode of the new year, we thought it'd only be fitting that we re-publish our first episode of season two. It also just happened to be one of the most popular. So, on today's episode, you'll learn about: Advantages and disadvantages of automation Examples of how to use automation to improve efficiency in your business Recommended tools for automation Pros and cons of outsour...

We are taking the week off here at The One-Person Business due to the holidays but didn't want to leave you high and dry, which is why we are re-publishing one of our most popular episodes from season 1. Affiliate marketing continues to generate buzz and get a lot of attention...but it's for good reason. It can truly be such a game-changer for solopreneurs, which is why we had The Affiliate Guy hi...