The 2023 Solopreneur's Gift Guide

Over the years I've published a great many gift guides on my blog from the freelancers gift guide to the podcasters gift guide, to working from home. And even for hobbies like pens and cigars, this year is no different. Given my new focus on helping solo preneurs, and the fact that they'll work from home gift guide started to feel a little stale. I've decided to change things up for 2023. There are a few ways. I've changed things up.

Number one is this is now the solo preneur and creator's gift guide and not the work from home gift guide, but I've also decided to move this guide to medium. Now, if you would like to learn more about why, if you'd like to hear my thinking for my whole content strategy, moving into 2024, you can do that as a. Podcast Foundry member. You can sign up over at how I built diet slash pro, or you can get ad free, extended, and early access episodes.

If you're listening in apple podcast by subscribing directly. In apple podcasts, but that's what we're going to talk about today. The 2023 solo preneurs gift guide, where to find all these great things and what to buy, whether it is for you, the solar prenuer creator. Uh, or for the solo preneur or creator in your life, but that's it let's get into the intro. And then the gift guide.

Hey everybody, and welcome to How I Built It, the podcast that helps busy solopreneurs and creators grow their business without spending too much time on it. I'm your host, Joe Casabona, and each week I bring you interviews and case studies on how to build a better business through smarter processes, time management. And effective content creation. It's like getting free coaching calls from successful solopreneurs.

By the end of each episode, you'll have one to three takeaways you can implement today to stop spending time in your business and more time on your business or with your friends, your family reading, or however you choose to spend your free time. Okay, so let's dive into the gift guide. I have broken this down into several sections. Uh, and I should say that everything will be available in the show notes, which you can find in the description of your podcast player. Or over at how I built.

It slash three, three and nine. That's going to include links to both the gift guide on medium. Any more visual gift guide over@casabona.org. You can learn the difference between those two things. Uh, if you become a member. Again, that's over it. How I built it it's last join, or if you sign up directly in apple podcasts. So I'll also say that the gift guide. And the description. Does include affiliate links. This gift guide is affiliate link supported.

I will also say that I don't recommend anything that I don't think is good. So. Rest assured that this is not just some affiliate link farm. There are a lot of things I recommend here that don't have affiliate links. So. Anyway, let's get into the guide. First, let's talk about recording and video conferencing as a solo preneur, your likely meeting with lots of people via zoom, creating content attending, or even presenting webinars. And so you need good. Recording gear.

I personally think the El Gato face cam. Is one of the best web cams that you can buy. It's got a great price. It's got great picture. And it comes with software to really help you dial in that picture. Uh, that is a 10. EDP camera. And so if you do want to go for the upgrade. You know, maybe you're doing more streaming or the good, the gifty, the loved one in your life is doing more streaming.

And you want 4k quality check out the El Gato face cam pro my friend, Brian picked that up this year and he sent me a side by side of the El Gato face cam pro 4k and his 10 80 DSLR. And I couldn't tell the difference. So a really good quality in that tiny little camera. Um, so that is, those are the cameras that I recommend. I've tried a bunch of different ones and I'll Gado just really makes good stuff. Uh, if you want to see my actual live stream set up, right?

This is like a thousand dollar camera. So I'm not going to recommend that in a gift guide. Um, but I do link to my own live stream kit, and that has the camera, the lens, and any, anything else that I needed to make this whole setup work? You'll also need a good microphone. You don't want to use the built-in microphone. Uh, and so the microphone that I recommend is the Sam sun Q2 you that Sam son. Not Samsung. So S a M S O N. Q2. You. Solid quality.

Great price comes highly recommended by me and a lot of other podcasters. Uh, so really good microphone. Uh, if you prefer a headset, if you just like don't want the microphone. Um, in your face, right? The whole time. Uh, and you prefer a headset. The Sennheiser PC eight USB headset is really good. I think that's the one that we use for. Uh, LinkedIn learning. And so I have one just off to the side here. And works really well. So again, just something better than the built-in microphone.

Uh, and again, if you want to see more recording gear, I do have a podcasters gift guide that I'll link to in the show notes. Now camera is, is a lot of the battle. I'm maybe half the battle, but one surefire way to make yourself look better on camera is having good lighting. I've made adjustments to my lighting. Uh, with the same camera and I've managed to like, look a lot better. So with good lighting, your camera doesn't have to do. The hard work.

Uh, or doesn't have to work as hard, I should say to capture you. Uh, and you won't look like you're recording in a cave. So there are lots of different lighting setups. I list a few of my favorite here on the gifts on the gift guide. Uh, Phillips hue lights. I like these because they're smart lights. They connect to. Uh, apple home kit. And they're automateable so, uh, as I'm recording this gift guide, you know, my Phillips hue lights are all like Christmas-y colors.

Um, you'll know if you watch my YouTube channel that they're usually purple. If I'm recording for rss.com, they are orange. And I can change all of that. I also have a Phillips hue, light bulb upstairs. That turns red when I'm recording. So my family knows. So Phillips hue lights. There's just a lot of fun, really easy to automate. And are very versatile. I've got strip lights, I've got the light bulbs and it looks, it really does a lot too. Improve the quality of your recording.

Uh, I also have El Gato key lights and these are, you know, flat panel lights. Uh, that will let you evenly. I have one behind me. That's the key light air. Uh, that is a backlight, so that. You know, my silhouette, I guess like, there's like a clear differentiation between the foreground and the background. So. If you're going to be doing any kind of appreciable recording you or your loved one. The legato key. The lights are really good. I usually offer a warning. Don't get price gouged.

The key light should be around 1 99. Well, the key light air should be around 1 29. So they are pricey, but they are also smart lights. They are controllable via your computer and they're automateable as well. Um, if you don't want to spend that much on lights, Uh, newer, N E w E R has a two-pack of lights that just sit on stands. You can set them up while you're recording. Uh, or loom makes something called the LUME cube for video conferencing.

And so, uh, that's just something that sits right next to your webcam that lights your face evenly. But I am a huge fan of the hue lights and the El Gato key lights. I think that. Uh, yes, they are pricey, but they do a really good job of. Improving the lighting. So especially. If, you know, someone is going to be doing a lot of video work. This might be a nice gift to get them that they. Might not want to spend the money on themselves. So. Uh, that's strongly recommend those.

Okay, so that's, that's recording. And, uh, recording and lighting and all that fun stuff. Let's move on to the home office set up because. Uh, when you're a solo preneur, um, you are probably working from home. Uh, and I know I said earlier that my work from home guide was getting stale, but that doesn't mean that some of that stuff can't help. Solopreneurs. And, uh, again, that's a core feature. For many solopreneurs, their ability to work from home.

It also means that you want to have A good office to work from Uh, The kitchen table or the couch was okay is a temporary setup, but longer-term you need a more economic solution So here are some items that i recommend as somebody who's worked from home for most of his life. Okay, so let's start with desk chair. Good desk chair is important for someone who works from home. You're going to be spending, I don't know, six, seven, maybe 10 hours a day in that chair. Or at least around that chair.

So you want a good one Steelcase while expensive makes the best. Uh, I'm a big fan of my Steelcase chair. It, uh, it does. Everything I needed to do so. Uh, it's really adjustable. Uh, it's comfortable. And it again, it has a lot of settings to support. Whoever is sitting in it. Uh, if you're looking for something more affordable. Hon H O N chairs seem pretty popular. So if you're not trying to spend like a thousand dollars on a chair, Han chairs are like 300.

I would say spend at least 300 bucks on a desk chair. Right. Uh, you're again, you're sending in it. Most of the day. So. And again, this could be a great gift, right? If you, if you have like a sibling or a child, Um, who not a child. Your child, your kids. Uh, offspring. Uh, who worked from home and they're not willing to spend 300 bucks on a chair. This might be a good gift for them. Right. Either way. I want to tell you about. Another thing that was like a game changer for me.

Rollerblade wheels for office chairs. I didn't think of these until I saw them on Twitter. West boss tweeted about them. But these wheels make the chair sturdier. And much easier to roll on carpets. I have a carpet in my office. So these, these rollerblade wheels for office chairs are a game changer. I am a huge fan. Highly recommend for anybody. Who has. Uh, who has. The. An office chair right there. They're from owl office owl set of five replacement chair. Castor wheels.

They're less than 20 bucks. And it just a game, super easy to install. Game changer. Big, big fan. Of these wheels. Game changer. Okay. So that's the, that's the chair. Let's talk about the desk. Uh, I have a standing desk. It's the Jarvis. It's the fully Jarvis or the Jarvis by fully. Uh, fully is now owned by Herman Miller, who also happened to make really good chairs. But I have, and I love it. I have the option to stand. During portions of my day. And that's really good.

I also have the by flexi spot. It's fantastic. Full disclosure. They sponsored this podcast previously. They provided the desk to me. For free. But it's, I would say just as good as my fully desk. Uh, the main difference between them is that the. by flexi spot. The one I have. Has a child lock on the controller, which is great because my kids like to play with the controller and I would prefer that they didn't. So. They're both programmable. They're both really sturdy.

I would say, look at both and see what options you're looking for. In a standing desk. If you're looking for something more affordable, there are converters. That will turn your desk into a standing desk, fully used to make one, but it looks like they don't anymore. Uh, so there are like there's one from the New York times has a, I guess this is why our cutter. Has a three basket standing desks converters. I have another former sponsor Moft has something like this.

It's this kind of origami laptop stand thing that one of the. Folding options turns your desk into a standing desk. And I've used that before and it was really good. So. Moft dot U S if you're looking for. Maybe just something to convert your current desk into a standing desk. Other economic stuff, something to, again, we just talked about this. Something to elevate your laptop or monitor is great because then you're not hunched over or very close to your screen.

12 south makes a lot of really great stuff in this department. So you would just find something. I think that works for you or your loved one. I like the park slope. That again from 12 south. Really nice stand. Uh, good mouse goes a long way in economics and productivity. I think the logic tech MX master three combined ergonomics and productivity really well. It's got multi-device support, ergonomic design for comfort. And lots of programmable buttons to make your computer easier to use.

So. I love the logic tech MX master three. It's a really great mouse. It goes for around a hundred bucks. Uh, now I don't use an ergonomic keyboard. I have the key Cron K2 pro mechanical keyboard, which you've probably heard me typing on. Uh, but I'm an ideas, man. And I've heard great things about the economic keyboard from Microsoft. I think it's just called air economic keyboard. Uh, this is a, an affordable option, right? There's the Kinesis ergonomic keyboard as well.

But the Microsoft one is, is less than half the price. So if you're looking to test the waters. On an ergonomic keyboard, I would recommend Microsoft's. Now, if you really want to go the extra mile, you could get a monitor arm. The ones by fully are really pretty. I I've always wanted one, but. Uh, that they don't fit the monitor. I have. I got the mic, the studio, the apple studio display. So I didn't get the visa option or whatever.

So. If you have a monitor that supports this, definitely check it out. I did have one by Amazon that served me really well for a long time. So that is home and economics. Uh, and why don't we take a quick break? And, uh, hear a word from our sponsors. Okay. And we are back, let's get into the, at home technology, having the right tech. Can make a world of difference. And I have a bunch of recommendations for you to help you work. Uh, even if you have kids at home, So. Before we get to that bit.

Let's talk about backups and storage. Everything we do is on our computers these days. And so you need a good backup and storage solution. External hard drive is number one on this list. I've used the Western digital, my book for as long as I could remember. Um, I've, I've had the eight terabyte model for a long time. I upgraded to the 12 terabyte model. I think the convention is two to four times your hard drive space. Uh, so I'm kind of just under the four, the four times.

But having an external drive to do onsite backups. Is really important. Uh, equally as important is having cloud or offsite backups. This is, you know, having something off site, especially if you work from home, if something happens with your computer or your equipment at home. In offsite, backup can save you. So, uh, there's only one service I recommend for this and it's Backblaze full disclosure. Backblaze is a former sponsor of this show. I was using them before they sponsored the show.

Easily the best offsite backup solution for solo, preneurs, and creators. So again, if this is something for a loved one, Get them a gift card and they can set up their own Backblaze account. The last bit, the last two bits here, I don't, I don't know that they're necessary, but if you want to go the extra mile, one is network area storage or Nass. This is something that allows you to store data over a home network from multiple devices. I currently have the Synology to, uh, bay storage, Nass.

Uh, and so what I'll do here is. Move older files into cold storage on the Nass. So any like big files that I really don't need immediate access to anymore, we'll go to the Nass. Uh, just a heads up that if, if you do buy this, it's the bay only. So you'll have to get. Some hard drives. Right. And for the total cost, I know some people who have also gone the route of a Mac mini as their home server. Um, I, I think like if you're looking just for like dedicated storage and assets, still better.

I haven't had both at this point, but I got the base level Mac mini. So I'm not really using that for deep storage. And then the other thing I would mention here is a portable hard drive, right? And with the cloud, there's a lot less need for a portable storage, but I still like to have some on me. I like the Western digital portable hard drive. That's really nice. And a good price. Uh, and. Even though it is pricey. I'm a huge fan of Samsung's T seven. Portable SSD. It's so small.

And has so much storage. I actually love it so much that my full photos library is exclusively on that. It's backed up to iCloud as well, but. When I tell my computer where my iCloud or where my photos library is, I pointed to this external storage, so that can take my photos library with me wherever I go. Uh, it's. It's great. So big fan of that. Okay, let's move on to headphones and other tech. So let's talk about headphones. I'm an audio file. I love my headphones, my AirPods pro two.

Are my favorite headphones. They're always in my pocket and they're actually the only noise canceling headphones. I keep with me. I recently flew and only took my AirPods pro two with me, and they worked great like gangbusters. So. Big fan of those. Definitely a much better solution than my AirPods max, because you can't fold them. They're big. They're heavy. Uh, and they're just not, they're not very delightful to travel with. So. Big fan of the AirPods pro two.

Uh, if you, or who you're shopping for is more of an ear buds person. I've always been a fan of skull candy headphones. And if you're looking for over the ear, uh, I can't really recommend the AirPods max anymore. I'm hoping in 2024, we get a version two that's way better than version one. The sound quality is pretty good. Like if you're willing to plug them in, but if you're looking for great over the ear noise, canceling headphones, the Bose quiet comfort, 45 noise canceling headphones.

Our fantastic. Whether you work from home or an officer, a coworking space, or you have kids at home. These will help you focus. Uh, and because they fold up, they're better for traveling as well. If you're looking for good sub $200 over the ear headphones, I recommend the audio Technica ath M 15. They're lightweight. They block out most noise. And they sound incredible. Uh, I've had these going on a decade almost, and they are now a permanent fixture with my electric drum set there.

The headphones I use for that. So I still use them every day. Okay. Let's get into other miscellaneous tech really quick. Before we move on to like the comforts of home and productivity tools. Um, Other tech and accessories. I'm going to recommend the stream hat. The stream deck. I've got two. Powerhouse of automation. And just like quick access stuff, I'm able to switch scenes. In e-com live so quickly because of my stream deck.

I can launch apps and shortcuts and change my lighting quickly because of my stream deck. I'm a huge fan of it. Uh, everything from, um, setting up podcast recordings to livestream, overlays, lighting, launching apps, and so much more. I can't recommend the stream deck enough. I think it's the perfect gift for anybody. Who spends a lot of time at their desk. And then some portable accessories, right? So anchor, chargers, and hubs.

If you need a good portable charging solution, there's no one better than anchor. A few that I have that I really love is the GaN prime hybrid power bank and wall charger. This is a power bank that plugs directly into the wall with pass through charging so you can charge your devices and then unplug it from the wall and continue charging your devices. I also have the mag save three in one charging cube. It's perfect for travel. You can charge your, your iPhone. Air pods. And apple watch.

All from this one cube. It's perfect. And then they have the nano USB-C power bank. Plug this directly into your phone. For a little extra juice. For iPhone and iPad stands. I love the ones by lab 22. I have the iPhone stand and the iPad stand on my desk. They are beautiful. They're sturdy. And they work really well. I can't recommend them enough. Love those things. Okay. So those are the accessories. Let's move on to productivity tools.

Working by yourself can be tough, especially if there's a lot of distractions. But with the right tools, you can better stay on task. Or at least easily pick up where you left off. I'm a big fan of analog tools. I know they're super personal. I will list the, again, you can find the links to all of this in the show notes. But these are the ones that I like. The sidekick notebook. It's a really nice notebook. Premium field. Great paper works with fountain pens and it lays flat.

So I'm always looking for that in an old book. And then the sidekick note pad. Is a horizontal pad. That sits directly under your keyboard. It has a notes section and a task section. So. Really easy for me. I've been writing down on it. I've been writing down timestamps. For a chapter markers for this episode. I love it. I know it's like $37 at the time of this recording. That feels like a lot for a notebook, but I've had mine for four or five months. And it's been serving me really well.

So big fan of that. Both of those are made by cortex brand, which also makes the theme system journal. And then I've talked about this before, but the William Hannah Classic notebook. This is my planner. Uh, it's leather bound. It's really nice. And it's got a lot of different refills. So I will break down my refills and the pro show. But I'm a big fan of it. Uh, it works really well for me.

And then I also mentioned this last year, but the analog to do system from Ugmonk, I'm an analog guy through and through. I haven't been using the analog system as much. Because of the other tools I use, but if, if you're looking for a really nice gift, That works well on a home desk setup. Uh, and it also is a nice system for capturing to dues. The analog system by Ugmonk. Monk is really nice. As far as digital communication.

You know, I have my own apps that I like to do us for task management, mind node for mind mapping. Bear and notion for note-taking and Ulysses for writing. I would recommend you pick up an app store gift card here for the person in your life. Uh, and then they can buy the apps that they want.

Uh setup is also a really great subscription service that gives you access to a ton of mac and ios apps Uh i have set up and i save a ton of money every year Paying 15 bucks a month to get access to apps i'd be paying much more than that for So those are the productivity tools Let's move into comforts of home Starting with coffee I need good coffee. I love good coffee. My favorite coffee these days is coma tier. They flash freeze already brewed coffee into pods, and then send them to you.

Uh, it's perfect for hot or iced coffee. Super easy to make and to travel with. It it, I think it's like three days. It can last three days. Without being refrigerated. So if you know you're going on a trip. That has crappy in-room coffee, which is everybody. Bring these pods with you. Add hot water. You have great coffee. It's darn good. Other great beans that I recommend. My current favorite is. Jazzy Java by. Reading coffee company right here in Pennsylvania, Rook coffee out in Jersey.

They make a Nicaraguan blend. That's really good. And crew coffee makes something called doom cup, super dark and delicious. They're from upstate New York. A really great coffee lens here. I will say, like, I don't really like, like fruity. Uh, tasting coffee. So. Um, you know, mine are more on the like richer C uh, Savory richer flavors. Uh, not really like this sweet fruity stuff. Uh, coffee gear. Everyone has their own way of making coffee. I have a bunch, but I have an espresso.

I got that for Christmas last year. And I love it. It's a perfect office companion. When I need a little afternoon boost find the right pods and you're good to go. Uh, now, if you are buying whole beans, then you need a good coffee grinder. And, oh man, I didn't know. I could love a device so much, but my wife got me. The Oxo brew, conical, Burr coffee grinder. It's beautiful. It holds three quarters, uh, pounds of beans.

Has several steps for the perfect grind and an auto grinder for up to 30 seconds. It's absolutely perfect. I love it. Uh, now throughout the rest of this guide, you know, I linked to clothes and things to wear around the house. I'm going to skip over those for the most part. Except for something that I don't have, but I really want. Which is these Mojave's slippers. They look super comfortable. I've heard great things about them. Uh, and they have a little like nice color flare to them.

So I want the orange and gray ones, but they look really nice. I haven't really seen them recommended anywhere else except for upgrade. Uh, which is one of my favorite podcasts. And I want to just call them out here. So let's close out with travel and getting out of the house. I'm going to recommend a couple of bags. I have the mezzo backpack from Waterfield design. Sadly, they don't make that anymore. Uh, but they do have several comparable ones.

And I also just picked up the, uh, our L 10 leader sling bag from nomadic. That's a great bag. It fits perfectly. You can put a laptop in it. And nomadic in general just makes great backpacks, huge fan. And then of course, if you're looking for a good messenger bag, you can't go wrong with Timbuk two, I've been recommending them for over a decade. Uh, as far as travel accessories. I have a Kindle scribe. I love my Kindle scribe. It's easy to highlight. It's got the pen.

You can take handwritten notes. It's a really compact device with a lot of different purposes. I also put air tags in everything. So if you're traveling, air tags are the perfect companion to keep track of all your stuff. And if you want to use your headphones that you just bought from the headphone section. Uh, to tap in to the inflight entertainment system on a plane. Get the air fly by 12 south. It's perfect. It's compact works really well. And you can use your own headphones to listen.

Or a watch in flight entertainment. Let's round out the travel section with books and ways to get out of the house, right? No, I mean, I feel like no solo preneurs guide would be. Complete without books. Uh, but I'm not going to recommend the books that everybody recommends. Here are four of my favorite books that I don't think are recommended enough. Uh, at your best by Kerry new Hoff. That's a book about how to recognize your energy levels and do your best work when you're at your best.

That was really a game changer for me. I loved that book. Uh, forget the funnel by Georgie, uh, Georgiana Laudi and Claire Soland trope. Uh, JIA and Claire, talk about the importance of learning from your customers. And that really resonated with me. Uh, you don't really need a complex sales funnel. As much as you need to speak your customer's language. This is personal by Brendan Dunn. My friend, Brendan is super smart and his approach to personalizing your emails is fantastic.

If you've ever gotten an email about a product that you've already bought from a company. Uh, Brennan. Gives you a method to fight against this in your own business. Uh, so highly recommend that book. And then made to stick by chip and Dan Heath. Uh, this talks about how some ideas catch fire and others don't has a lot to do with telling good stories, which I've been on a bit of a kick of lately. Um, and so let's round out with ways to socialize. Solopreneurship can be really lonely.

So here are some ideas to help your loved one or yourself socialize. Uh, you can find a coworking space in your area. You can do dinner and a movie. You can find escape rooms, uh, or you can. Do a bunch of other recreational things. Uh, find a bed and breakfast, cigar lounge, my personal favorite. Wine tasting museum tour a night out in the closest city or a gym or club membership. All of these things. Uh, could help with kind of the mental health of your solo preneur.

Another thing that I'll recommend here, that I didn't include in the gift guide. Better help, better help.com. Uh, I've been seeing a therapist. And she's great. She just kind of helps me. Um, bounce ideas and, and, you know, kind of. Give me advice and help me recognize when I'm overstimulated and stressed and things like that. So that's it for the 2023 solo preneurs gift guide. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what your favorite.

Uh, recommendation is, or if you're picking up anything for yourself or your loved one. You can find all of the shownotes. That's all of the links that I talked about here, as well as links to the gift guide. Over at how I built it slash 3, 3, 9.

In the pro show i'm going to talk about how i put this guide together why i moved it to medium and my content strategy moving forward but that's it for today thanks to our sponsors thank you for listening And until next time get out there and build something