The Soloist Life

Conventional advice from pundits says never serve "whales" in your consulting business. But what if they're wrong? (Hint: they are.) A whale model CAN work in the right circumstances, provided it’s a fit with how you like to work and you design and price them correctly. Here’s my advice on whether (and how) to add whale clients to your service mix: What exactly makes a client a whale? A few exampl...

Have you noticed that expertise podcasts—even from “celebrities”—tend to have an arc? They grow, they evolve, they might even shrink or pause for awhile and at some point they end. When Sales for Nerds host Reuben Swartz put his highly rated 100-episode podcast on hiatus with an intriguing announcement, I invited him to the show to talk about: Why he hit the pause button on Sales for Nerds. Where...

When you’re building a Soloist expertise business, it’s pretty common to plateau around $200K or so in revenue. Typically at that point, you’ve found your groove and can reliably hit that number—but if you want to scale beyond that, conventional wisdom screams that it’s time to hire employees. Uh, no. You’ve got plenty of faster, easier and safer choices when you want to scale: Why hiring employee...

Maybe you’ve toyed with building a paid community as part of your business model. Or you gave it a shot and later shelved it because you just couldn’t make it work. Start-up Parent Founder Sarah K. Peck goes deep on how she built three paid communities: How she chose the initial idea that morphed into her company and multiple highly engaged (paid) communities. Why what looks like overnight success...

Are you feeling whipsawed or demoralized by the U.S. headlines lately? You’re not the only one 😉. And yet after you take a moment to confirm your values, you'll realize that now is exactly the time to flex your power: Why building our businesses is precisely what we need to grow our wealth, impact and power. Yes, power. How to think about your economic and leadership power in this current environ...

As we close out 2024 (and Season 3 of The Soloist Life), it feels like the right time to revisit how we can best bring our light to the people we most want to serve: Why now is the time to lean into your personal genius. What I’m committing to for 2025 😉. What exactly is a re*shift (and why might you be ready for one)? The eight areas of life and work that you can custom blend to create your uniq...

When you’ve run your Soloist business long enough, you’ll see cycles: changes in the market, changes in you/your interests and situation and your bank account. Business coach Ed Gandia shares how his business, his financials and his mindset have changed over 18 years as a Soloist: Growing his first freelance business entirely by word of mouth—and the markers he used to decide when to invest more o...

Categories: Growing Revnue + Wealth, Niching Link: https://rochellemoulton.com/soloist_podcast/pulling-out-of-a-revenue-nosedive-with-chris-ferdinandi /? utm_source=subscriber   What do you do when your consistently growing revenue suddenly takes a nosedive—and your peers are feeling it too? Soloist Chris Ferdinandi walks us through the experience and the experiments he conducted to start lif...

When you started your business, you probably imagined steady revenue growth under your original business model—only to discover that the only way to grow the way you want is by experimenting! Business Coach Jessica Lackey (a McKinsey and Nike alum) shares her year-by-year experience in crafting her ideal business model: How she contracted for “bridge jobs” in Year 1 to ensure cash flow—and why she...

If this last year was NOT smooth sailing for your Soloist business finances, now is an ideal time to pave the way to better. There’s still time to avoid unpleasant surprises (think giant tax bills) and start streamlining your financial life before year-end: The five strategic pieces of information you want in your hands before year-end. How to think about your financial team (and why it’s worth in...

When you’re in the midst of an overwhelming business challenge—your revenue plummets, your audience dries up, you can’t seem to make a sale—what do you do? Award-winning author and podcaster Jenny Blake takes us through the messy middle, sharing her story of challenge, resilience and percolating without yet knowing the answer: Why her first reaction to a pandemic-induced 80% revenue drop was “I wr...

Being a podcast guest pays some excellent dividends: introducing you to new audiences, practice delivering your point of view and honing your message for starters. But how do you get yourself booked? The qualities that will make you a solid, bookable podcast guest. The 5-step system to get consistent results to your podcast guesting requests. The one thing you must have before pitching yourself to...

You’ve heard the hype about AI, but how can you tactically and strategically use it to manage and grow your Soloist business? Global AI consultant Heidi Araya—who says “experts should be experts, not task-jugglers”—gets highly specific on how we can best use AI right now: Why your most productive use of AI starts with where friction currently lies in your business. Saving time: buying or building...

This episode is inspired by a listener question that I’ve been hearing a lot lately: how can you pull yourself out of a slump? And does a prolonged slump mean you’re not cut out to be a Soloist? The gift (and the hidden cost) of a great first year as a Soloist. Why hitting the wall—where your revenue tanks or plateaus—happens, especially with new-ish Soloists. When it’s time to invest in positioni...

Does your brain seem to work differently than those around you—maybe you even went solo so you could operate at your best? Coach (and former psychotherapist) Diann Wingert shares her experience advising the neurodiverse: Neurodiversity—what it is, why it’s a spectrum and how experts look at it today (hint: don’t think of it as a disorder). Why so many neurodiverse people become entrepreneurs—and s...

If you’ve ever hesitated to put your voice “out there” because you’re not the “right” size, shape, age, race, gender, orientation, know that you’re not alone. But it’s time to step up and be heard: Why it’s harder to sashay on stage with your megaphone when you’re different from the norm in your community (and yet you’ll be more memorable when you do). How creating a routine—a schedule—can keep th...

Have you ever considered moving yourself and your business to a new country? Content marketer Casey Kelly-Barton did just that and shares her challenges and opportunities as an ex-pat: Her journey to niching into the intersection of three related niches— including how niching bumped up her revenue and reduced her hours worked. Meeting the challenges to building a business while single-parenting af...

Demand is feeling lighter—you’re getting fewer inquiries or buyers seem to be more price-sensitive and you’re starting to worry about the economy. What do you do next? Why it doesn’t matter what the economy is doing when you play your own game. How “Mariah” added a new revenue stream when her primary one started losing steam (and a low-risk way to experiment with pricing). A tiny niching down test...

Thinking about hosting a live event, but not sure how to make it well-attended, profitable and worth your time? Renowned author, speaker and creative firm advisor David C. Baker lifts the curtain on his wildly successful MYOB conference and live events: The role of in-person live events in David’s expertise business model (plus a peek at the numbers for his four revenue streams). How his pandemic...

How can you work less and make more than you are right now? There is a glide path if you’re willing to experiment insists Jonathan Stark, author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts. Yes, the dynamic Business of Authority duo is baaaaaaaaack for an episode: Two experiments to try if you’re currently billing by the hour and want to explore alternatives. How to start thinking about value vs. time, especially w...

Is it possible to build a profitable expertise business that is 100% values-aligned and mission driven? Lucy Flores—who has built a design studio dedicated to co-creating a more just, joyful and sustainable U.S. food system—says yes, with the results to prove it: Why she niched her business into food equity right from the beginning—and how it played out. How she thinks about and builds alliances,...

Everyone has difficulties in life—and sometimes our unique genius arises from how we deal with them. Take Psychotherapist Jeff Eamer who turned a challenging mental health diagnosis into a life of purpose: How he moved from being an award-winning ad agency wonderkind to nabbing a 3-picture Hollywood deal. Why crashing—hard—led him to get help with his mental health. When saying yes to a $100K inve...

What if the standard productivity advice gets it wrong? What if your performance, health and happiness are grounded in how well you manage your energy, not your time? Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz’s The Power of Full Engagement makes an excellent case for the role of energy in performance: The four types of energy—physical, emotional, mental and spiritual—and how they interrelate. How harnessing all...

When you’ve been on staff at an organization—especially in the lead role— transitioning to consulting can be a bit disorienting. Consultant to credit unions Mark Triechel talks about the lessons learned in his switch from regulating an industry to advising them: How to quickly morph from “retirement” into a Soloist expertise business serving your former constituents. Dealing with non-competes and...

Can you build a six to seven figure Soloist business doing the opposite of what “the experts” recommend? Consultant Kris Jennings has created exactly that by forging her own path: How her “tiny, tiny” email list delivered over $1 million in revenue (and provides a vehicle to nurture key referral relationships). How she thinks about and serves her list (hint: it’s exactly the opposite of what most...