Imagine making $70,000…from your bedroom…in one night. That’s exactly what Matt “Dappz” McGuckin did with his online trading cards shop. He got his start “breaking” – that is, buying and opening boxes of cards live online, and selling the contents…all on TikTok. Sounds risky? It is! But today, Dappz Sports is the Live Shopping Company on TikTok in the U.S., making over $20 Million in gross sales. So the risks have paid off. Now maybe it seems like too far-fetched to say you’ll make $70K in one n...
Nov 13, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 340
Over the years, I’ve published a great many gift guides on my blog. From freelancers, to podcasters, to working from home, and even my hobbies — like pens and cigars. And this year is no different. But given my relatively new focus on helping solopreneurs (and the fact that the “Work from Home” guide is starting to feel a little stale), I’ve decided to change things up in 2023. That's why this year, I'm introducing the Solopreneur's Gift Guide. Enjoy! Links The 2023 Solopreneur's Gift Guide View...
Nov 06, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 339
Do you remember the most awkward moments of your life? One for me was definitely the day I was defending my master’s thesis. I was explaining a complex algorithm, when my advisor interrupted me and said, “Well…that’s not really how it works.” In front of my classmates, other faculty, and a number of friends who showed up out of support. As you can imagine, I was mortified – until recovered, finished the presentation, and said, If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. Unless it’s a...
Oct 30, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 338
A family walks into a talent agency, and says, “Have we got the act for you…” If you’re familiar with this opening to a joke, you may have had a visceral reaction to it — either you think it’s hysterically funny, shamefully disgusting, or both. It’s the opening to the joke, The Aristocrats , and if you have a weak stomach, I don’t suggest you look it up. See, the point of this joke isn’t actually the punchline, which is right in the title. The point is to see how long you can improv a shocking, ...
Oct 23, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 337
In a way, the chaotic start to our interview, followed by a calm, cool conversation, is a metaphor for Jordan’s business journey this year. See, this isn’t just a story about how to hire good people for your business. It’s a cautionary tale, and proof that running a business is about always learning and adjusting. Jordan runs an agency of high-level remote assistants. Today, she’s telling us her own trials and tribulations with making what seemed to be the right hiring call but ended up plunging...
Oct 16, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 336
Register for my free workshop with Ecamm: https://ecamm.com/joe It's podcast swap time! Except I'm telling you about another podcast of mine: Podcast Workflows. It's a daily podcast that focuses on how to help podcasters improve their processes. Every Wednesday, I do a deep dive into someone's process, and that's what I'm bringing you today. Learn more at https://show.podcastworkflows.com/ Arielle Nissenblatt eats, sleeps, and breathes podcasts. Her main job is with a podcast company. Her newsle...
Oct 12, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 337
If I wanted to cater to the current algorithm gods, I’d probably talk about how this interview is all about what AI can and cannot do for us. But it’s so much more than that. Much like the problem with leveraging AI to do all of the heavy lifting, me positioning this episode as “about AI,” would be inauthentic. And authenticity…well that’s really what this episode is about. Tom Schwab is someone who believes at his core that you’re just One Conversation Away from a profitable…and perhaps quite s...
Oct 09, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 335
Did you know that Netflix is also a gaming platform now? That Apple make TV shows? That Disney own a number of YouTube channels without the Disney branding? It’s because they know what Steve Woodruff knows. If you’re a podcaster, you might think the competition is other podcasters. If you make movies, you might think the competition is another movie. You’d be wrong. See, what Netflix, Apple, Disney, and Steve know, is that the competition is everything. People are assaulted every day by stimuli,...
Oct 02, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 334
Imagine running a high 7-figure business with over 300,000 followers on social media, then launching a podcast. How many downloads would you expect? 100,000? 150,000? What about…10? We’ve all been there: we spend a TON of time pouring blood, sweat, and tears into a project just to have it launch to crickets. That’s exactly what happened to Yong-Soo Chung with his podcast. Despite the social following, no one cared about his show. But instead of wallowing in self-pity or shutting the show down, Y...
Sep 25, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 333
Cohort-based courses are on the decline if the tastemakers are to be believed. And it makes sense. Now that people aren’t stuck at home, they probably don’t want to spend time interacting online when they can interact IRL. But that doesn’t mean that CBCs have no utility. In fact, I think that there’s a great way we can make CBCs even better, by employing a tactic that has been explored in the K12 and higher education settings: the flipped classroom. In the episode we’ll: Check out the flipped cl...
Sep 18, 2023•22 min•Season 1Ep. 332
I love Hibachi. I love the food. I love the experience. That seems a lot like building in public, right? After all, the chef is literally cooking in front of us, building our meal. But according to Kevon Cheung – a guy who’s built his entire community by building in public – Hibachi is entertainment. In order to build in public, you need to take your audience on a journey with you. That’s why he believes building in public is more like Omakase. This is where the chef will choose the foods for yo...
Sep 11, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 331
You need to tell a good story, no matter what kind of content you create. This is obvious in fiction, but it’s just as important in non-fiction. Don’t believe me? Take it from Emmy Award-winning producer, Cody Sheehy. He creates documentaries, and today he tells us why storytelling has been crucial to his work, and is crucial to yours too. In the PRO show, I couldn’t resist: I asked what it was like to win an Emmy. Top Takeaways Everything comes down to having a good character. Your audience nee...
Sep 04, 2023•49 min•Season 1Ep. 330
If you think about social networks as people, LinkedIn is TikTok’s dorky older, more professional sister…that the younger, more hip sister needs to borrow money from. That’s how Kathleen Celmins sees it, and she’s very effective at selling on LinkedIn. In fact, she says that if you’re just trying to grow your follower count on LinkedIn, you’re doing it wrong. Instead, it’s all about the connections. How do you convert those connections into clients? That’s what we get into during this call. Plus...
Aug 28, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 329
I used to think that promoting my podcast was a matter of tweeting it (Xeeting it?) and hoping for the best. And while I’ve learned a TON over the years about what to do, and what not to do, Deirdre Tshien still blew my mind as we talked about her traffic pyramid. As the co-founder and CEO of Capsho (an AI tool to help create promotional assets), she knows a thing or two about how to market and grow your podcast. We’ll get into that, plus podcast discoverability tips that change my approach to t...
Aug 21, 2023•51 min•Season 1Ep. 328
It's the summer and I just came off a ton of travel, so this episode is a mishmash of things and a little rambly. Strap in! We’ll talk about a contract position I have, plus some new partnerships I’m excited about. Then we’ll move to my summer of travel and how I’m managing the workload before moving onto the main event: 5 tools I’m trying out this summer. In the pro show, I talk about what I’m using Notion for, more about my new position, Luma, and seeing a therapist. Show Notes Arc Browser Vox...
Aug 14, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 327
“I don’t need to write it down because I’ll remember” is hopelessly naive. Sorry if that stung, but it’s true. You need to write things down, as Andy Ayim MBE learned when he started his digital journal. He’s a father, husband, creator, thinker, investor, and founder of The Angel Investing School. He has invested in over 17 gap-closing startups. And he would be completely lost without what he calls his “Tracker” - a digital journal he keeps in Notion. In fact, he believes his Tracker is so cruci...
Aug 07, 2023•52 min•Season 1Ep. 326
They say fortune favors the bold, and that’s definitely the case for Brooke Janousek. After decades in the marketing industry, she decided to strike out on her own and needed to take any opportunity she could get to help her business grow. So she took her shot by asking Sara Blakely’s (founder of SPANX) husband, during his talk, in front of 800 people, for a chance to meet her. According to Brooke, you need to be bold in your own business- “if you don’t have a seat at the table, you need to make...
Jul 31, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 325
Register for my free workshop with Ecamm: https://ecamm.com/joe If you’re a parent, you’re probably familiar with something that’s been recently reintroduced into my life. It’s 2 am, and my 7-month-old son wakes up and is in need of a new diaper and bottle. So I get up and head into his room. I’m half asleep, I need to undo his PJs, change the diaper, and redo the PJs. And there is one type of PJ's that are head and shoulders above the rest: the reverse zip PJs. So good in fact, that I’m certain...
Jul 28, 2023•6 min
Are you missing the boat on user-generated content? User-Generated Content (UGC) isn’t just for getting testimonials on social media. In fact, today’s guest, Tory Gray, says we can use it for almost anything: SEO, user research, social proof, FAQs, and so much more. And she should know! Tory is a highly experienced digital marketing consultant and the Founder of The Gray Dot Company. With more than 15 years of experience in SEO and growth strategy, Tory has helped numerous businesses achieve the...
Jul 24, 2023•48 min•Season 1Ep. 324
A few weeks ago Jay Clouse wrote about Experimentality on his blog. This is a concept I love because experimenting is the only way to know if what you're doing works as best as it can. I've been experimenting a lot with my podcast , content, and automation. I like writing about what I'm trying for my members...I think it's a big benefit of the membership. I thought I'd give you a little peek into two experiments I'm running now. ———— Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who wa...
Jul 21, 2023•4 min
“I despise social media.” This was my first impression of Tim Stoddart, and I was hooked. If you're feeling frustrated and discouraged by the lack of engagement relying solely on social media posts, you are not alone! But you, like me, might be taking the wrong approach. Tim says long-form content is king, and he should know. He’s the CEO of Copyblogger and writes prolifically. If you’ve been struggling to make an impact through short-form content, this interview is a must-listen. Get the top ta...
Jul 17, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 323
Earlier this month I made two decisions about the newsletter that you may have noticed: I got rid of the “Quick Hits” section (which was mostly my own content) in favor of a 300-500 word section on some top-of-mind topic. I added a monthly digest of all the content I put out during the month, sent on the last weekday of the month. The two are related. I still want a way to let my newsletter subscribers know about the content I’ve put out, in case they missed it. But it also serves 2 other purpos...
Jul 14, 2023•6 min
What do you get when you follow the pack instead of doing what’s best for you? A bad content strategy. A year ago, I decided to focus on short-form content because I saw all the “thread Bois” doing it and thought it would help my business. It didn’t. But luckily, you can course-correct your strategies. And thanks to some key talks and inspiration from CEX and Craft+Commerce, I’ve decided that long form is the best strategy for my business (and probably yours, too). Get the top takeaways, show no...
Jul 10, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 322
Picture this: it's 2020. Your spouse is a nurse. You have one small kid with another on the way. You know child care will fall full to you for at least half the week. Oh, and you're trying to run a business. What would you do if your work week was effectively cut in half? I knew I needed to get help in my business, so I found a VA. Over a few episodes, I'll talk about working with my VA, starting with how I decided I needed one and where I found her. ———— Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast f...
Jul 07, 2023•10 min
We live in an age where everything needs to be fast, easy, and in high volume. I’ve seen people say, “I’m going to write 8 books this year.” Josh Bernoff thinks that’s a load of crap. See, if you want to write a good book, just like anything of quality, you need to spend time on it. Josh’s new book, Build a Better Business Book , is a master class on how to do that. And today, he’s giving us the best parts of that book. In the PRO show, things get real as we talk more about the charlatans of wri...
Jul 03, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 321
Apple is rarely the first to market with a product, and for good reason. Here are 4 lessons you can learn from Apple introducing the Vision Pro at the beginning of the month. Link: Thoughts and Lesson from the Apple Vision Pro Presentation at the WWDC ———— Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your busine...
Jun 30, 2023•7 min
Are you a “Field of Dreams” marketer? Someone who thinks, “If I build it, they will come.” I was for a long time. Sometimes it feels like I still am. That’s why I was excited to talk to Julian Garsdean. He blends psychology and business in a way I haven’t seen before to help business owners stand out and sell more. As creators, we can learn a ton from addressing the 6 basic needs in our own content and products. Listen for these top takeaways: Top Takeaways Businesses aren’t just transactions. T...
Jun 26, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 320
Register for my free workshop with Ecamm: https://ecamm.com/joe About a month ago I went on a quest to find the perfect webinar software. I create a spreadsheet and everything. But at CEX, I had a great conversation with Luria Petrucci of Live Stream Pros and I asked her, “What do you think is the best way to run a webinar?” Here's what she said, and why. ———— Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe ...
Jun 23, 2023•7 min
It would be a dream of mine to grow a newsletter from 0 to 8,000+ in less than 6 months. But that’s exactly what Chenell Basilio did. The way she did it? Deeply researched, super-helpful content. See, she teaches people how successful creators grew their newsletters to 50,000+ subscribers. And today, she’s going to tell us all about her process. And in How I Built It PRO, we talk about money and goals for the next 6 months. Top Takeaways Creating unique, long-form content can be a boon to your w...
Jun 19, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 319
Register for my free workshop with Ecamm: https://ecamm.com/joe There are LOTS of great tips on LinkedIn these days, especially in the carousels. But the problem: you can’t easily get data out of the carousels. That means you can’t put them in your notes app, or even click on the links for more details. Here are 2 ways you can do it: one using macOS’s native image-to-text feature, and one using a great shortcut by David Sparks. Links YouTube Video Blog post on MacSparky ———— Streamlined Solopren...
Jun 16, 2023•5 min
