#518 “Audience driven.” It's a term that has become a part of our vocabulary here at Team SPI, and it's why we put on the Audience Driven Summit earlier this month. An audience-driven approach is the way we've always believed a business should be built, and it's the stance we're doubling down on today. It's how we believe all businesses should be created. And if you joined us in this Wednesday's episode, you heard how Arvid Kahl built his own business in the exact same way, where you spent some ...
Oct 22, 2021•11 min•Ep. 518
#517 Many of the guests on this show are people I know personally. Today's guest, however, comes to me by way of crowdsourcing . Arvid Kahl is someone who was recommended by several of the members of Team SPI, and I couldn't be happier that they did. Arvid is one of the most fascinating people I've met in a long time. He's a software engineer and entrepreneur who's been building businesses the right way. What do I mean by that? Well, everything that I've talked about in terms of finding an audie...
Oct 20, 2021•58 min•Ep. 517
#516 We're going to talk some numbers today—and we're also going to go beyond the numbers. Here's one number: This podcast has gotten 65 million downloads and counting, which is awesome. And it's important to share numbers like that, because they represent social proof that the podcast is worth paying attention to. But there's something much more important than a number like 65 million: the people at the other end of it. On Wednesday, I spoke with Dustin Bakkie about accessibility and universal ...
Oct 15, 2021•14 min•Ep. 516
#515 One of my favorite things that happens as a result of this podcast is when a listener or fan says, "You know what, Pat? I noticed that you haven't really talked about [ topic ] much, but it's so, so important. Is there anything you can do about it?" We get a lot of feedback like that, and we appreciate it. We're always trying to improve, and how would we know how to improve if it weren't for the people in our community who speak up? Today, I wanted to highlight one of those community member...
Oct 13, 2021•37 min•Ep. 515
#514 I started my speaking career in 2011 at FinCon, the financial blogger conference. I got called onto the main stage at the last minute because the keynote speaker was unable to make it. I was kind of thrown into the deep end, and although I was nervous and scared, it was a life-changing moment. Flash-forward to 2018, when I decided to host my own conference. I pitched the idea to Team SPI, and we decided that in the summer of 2019 we'd put on an event in San Diego for 500 people who wanted t...
Oct 08, 2021•13 min•Ep. 514
#513 A lot has changed recently when it comes to online courses. For a while, it was all about having as much content as possible. Sixty hours of video and five hundred worksheets? Great! Ship it! We might have thought that way once, but we know now that's just the wrong way to build a course. We want our course experiences to be more efficient—for both the course creator and the students taking it. But online courses have continued to evolve beyond just more efficiency. It's about the experienc...
Oct 06, 2021•48 min•Ep. 513
#512 This past week I interviewed Joe Sanok from Practice of the Practice, who is the author of a new book called Thursday is the New Friday . My chat with Joe really got me thinking, "Who created the five-day week anyway, and why is it like that?" I think we've all been burnt out by working five days a week, and feeling like the weekend isn't quite long enough. What if we had an extra day? How cool would that be? Now, today's episode is actually going to take a bit of a different angle! But it'...
Oct 01, 2021•16 min•Ep. 512
#511 Perhaps you've heard about the four-hour workweek. Well, a lot of us have come to realize that it's kind of hard to come by. Even Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week , has said that maybe wasn't the best title for his book. Because even with passive income coming in, you still have to do work to maintain things. Four hours is probably out of the question for most of us—but what about a four- day workweek? That's three days for a weekend, four days of work, then rinse and repeat. In ...
Sep 29, 2021•34 min•Ep. 511
#510 Earlier this week, we spoke with Dorie Clark, author of the brand new book The Long Game , about being in it for the long haul and doing the things now that will ensure long-term success in your business and your life. And we talked about a lot of strategies to ensure that you're always staying on top of your business, your community, and your physical and mental health. Today I want to talk a little about a related question: how do we remain consistent? Because if you're in it for the long...
Sep 24, 2021•15 min•Ep. 510
#509 Are you in this for the long game, or the quick buck? The problem with short-term thinking is that it's so vulnerable. When you go for the long game, you're building something that will last—and perhaps even outlast you. Thankfully, most of the entrepreneurs I speak to are thinking about how to succeed in the long term. Now, you may not make a lot of money upfront by playing the long game. And you may have to dedicate more time than you'd like initially. But the end result is that you'll ha...
Sep 22, 2021•42 min•Ep. 509
#508 Today we're following up on the episode we did in 507 with Jeff Walker, the creator of the PLF or Product Launch Formula . If you missed the episode, PLF is essentially a way to warm up an audience, to give them value, and to bring them on a journey that all leads to a product launch. And this could be the launch of any kind of product or service or course. In our conversation, we discussed how Jeff has updated and revised PLF over the years since he created it in 1996, and how to go about ...
Sep 17, 2021•16 min•Ep. 508
#507 Maybe you've heard the name Jeff Walker. Even if you haven't, you've probably heard of something called the Product Launch Formula (PLF). If you've been in business online for any number of years, PLF has become the staple way that people launch their products online. It's also referred to as the “three-video series formula” for pre-launching a product of any kind: a service, a physical product, digital product, online course, training—you get the picture. PLF has become ingrained in the wo...
Sep 15, 2021•41 min•Ep. 507
#506 This week we spoke with Anthony Sarandrea , who gave us a lot of gold nuggets about generating leads online. But I know what some of you may be thinking: “I'm not even close to being able to do some of the things you talk about in that episode.” I still recommend listening to it , because we discuss an amazing approach to generating leads for your business. However, if you're just starting out, I want to point out one thing Anthony mentioned that's so important when you're starting to build...
Sep 10, 2021•15 min•Ep. 506
#505 They often say that this world is very small, especially the world of online business. When I go to conferences (or at least when I did before COVID), I'd often get introduced to somebody, and we'll find that we've already connected before, or we have a second- or third-degree connection. Today's guest is someone I'd never connected with, or even heard of long before we talked, but I'm so glad that we met because we had one of the best conversations I've had about lead generation in a very ...
Sep 08, 2021•41 min•Ep. 505
#504 That's right—follow-up Friday episodes are back! I wanted to talk about something that crossed my mind after this week's conversation with Ali Abdaal. And this is a result of “competition.” When you start to build a business and do competitive research, you come across people who are already doing amazing things in the space. You come across people who are amazing writers. You come across people who write just the most beautiful emails in the world. You come across people, like Ali, who hav...
Sep 03, 2021•16 min•Ep. 504
#503 Has this ever happened to you? About a year and a half ago, I discovered a six-minute YouTube video about note-taking, by someone named Ali Abdaal. After I finished watching it, I thought, "Whoa, I really like this guy." So I watched the next video, which was about iPads. (I had just recently bought an iPad Pro and I wanted to learn how to make the most out of it.) Thanks to the way Ali taught, and his easy-to-listen-to accent, I started binge-watching everything on his channel. Ever since ...
Sep 01, 2021•47 min•Ep. 503
Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Community Experience , a brand-new podcast from SPI! In this feed drop (episode 001), hosts Tony Bacigalupo and Jillian Benbow are hanging out with a different Jillian, Jillian Richardson, a woman on a quest to cure the world of its loneliness epidemic. Through her popular newsletter, the Joy List, and her book, Unlonely Planet , Jillian is doing remarkable work. We invited her onto the show to try to understand why community is such a hot topic right now....
Aug 31, 2021•49 min•Ep. 721
#502 Have you tried live video yet? If you haven't, this episode is for you. And even if you've already been using live video in your business (no matter what platform), this episode is also for you! Wherever you land on that spectrum, I want you to consider using live video more because it's the best way to engage with an audience. I've experienced this firsthand in the past year and a half with my live video show, the Income Stream. It's been fascinating to see what going live on YouTube every...
Aug 25, 2021•40 min•Ep. 502
#501 Do you ever wonder what your life or career would be like if you'd made a different decision at a fork in the road? I definitely don't use my architecture degree anymore. But at the same time, I think about the skills I've learned and the things that happened early in my career that helped get me to where I'm at today. If I'd taken a different path, I wouldn't be where I am today. And I'm grateful for the experiences. In fact, some of my favorite stories and conversations are about starting...
Aug 18, 2021•41 min•Ep. 501
#500 Significant number alert ! This is episode 500 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, and to celebrate the milestone, we're doing something a little different. We're flipping the script . Today we have a guest host running the show, and although we won't say who it is (you'll have to listen to find out!), you may remember this person and his wife from two hugely popular episodes of the show ( 122 and 265 ). Anyway, our mystery host is taking over the mic today and interviewing his "guest," Pa...
Aug 11, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 500
#499 If you're a business owner, this might be one of the most important podcast episodes you listen to. That's because as an entrepreneur, whether you're just starting out or you have been doing this for a while, you're probably constantly coming up with ideas. Some of those ideas are probably great. Some of them, not so great! But when it comes to great ideas, you need to know how to actually get them out into the world. And I'm not talking about specific strategies, like email or advertising....
Aug 04, 2021•45 min•Ep. 499
#498 If you're running a business, you need an email list. But you also need to send the right emails. And you also need to make sure those emails are actually getting into your subscribers' inboxes. I often talk about the fact that email is the way to go. And it is! I only wish I'd started my email list sooner. And email does offer advantages over platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, with their algorithms that can block our messages from the audiences that want to hear from ...
Jul 28, 2021•40 min•Ep. 498
#497 Today, you're going to hear an incredible level of detail on how to build a brand, write a bestselling book (or two), and make business and family life work together in a powerful way—plus why health and sleep are so crucial, and much more. Our guest is an SPI fan favorite: Shawn Stevenson of the Model Health Show, and he's going to take us behind the scenes of how he runs his business and gets things done, from his podcast to his books and everything else that's gone into building his incr...
Jul 21, 2021•50 min•Ep. 497
#496 How do you position yourself as an expert? How do you talk about yourself online so that other people become interested, not just in following you, but potentially buying from you? How do you sell yourself in a way that's not sleazy? It starts by remembering that you are the only you that exists . Today we're talking with Mike Kim from youarethebrandbook.com about how to turn your you ness into a personal brand that gets people's attention and makes you money. Mike is one of the most genuin...
Jul 14, 2021•45 min•Ep. 496
#495 The future of business is about community and connection. And, it's more than just creating Facebook or LinkedIn groups—now your entire business can be run like a membership site. That's exactly what we're going to be talking about today with Jillian Benbow, the manager of our membership community, SPI Pro. Jillian and I cover what it takes to create a thriving community where members feel welcomed and excited to engage and grow together. She's a pro at fostering connection and managing all...
Jul 07, 2021•38 min•Ep. 495
#494: A long, long time ago—before Zoom was even a thing—we were talking about summits here on SPI. And guess what? Summits are back, and they're hotter and better than ever, especially because now we have even more tools to create and run amazing summits. One of those tools is HeySummit. It's a platform Rob Geld cofounded to help make online summits more flexible, more customizable, and easier to run. I'm really excited to welcome Rob to the show to share all the ins and outs, plus the practica...
Jun 30, 2021•34 min•Ep. 494
#493 So by now you've probably heard about Clubhouse Let me tell you, Clubhouse is here, social audio is definitely here to stay, and it's not going anywhere. Having spent some time on Clubhouse (80,000 followers and counting), I can tell you that some of the connections and experiences I've had there have been amazing. Clubhouse can be a fantastic way to spark genuine conversations, create powerful connections, and take your business to the next level. It can be an absolute game changer! But yo...
Jun 23, 2021•46 min•Ep. 493
#492 We've got a fun one for you guys today. Connie Neal is on the show and boy, is she a character. And I mean that literally . . . Connie creates amazing content for kids as a character she created called Grandma Goodie, and she does a phenomenal job. First, we're going to be going back in time a little bit because Connie wasn't always a for-kids YouTube content creator. A while back she had an idea for something else that she actually mailed to me, but it didn't pan out. Still, Connie pushed ...
Jun 16, 2021•46 min•Ep. 492
Did you know that there's a Museum of Failure? For the final installment in season 1 of Flops — the brand-new podcast my team launched this year — hosts Karen Beattie and Ray Sylvester sat down with the museum's director, Dr. Samuel West. What followed was a fascinating conversation around normalizing failure, how different cultures approach it, Dr. West's criteria for deciding what gets displayed in the museum, and more. Plus, stick around until the end for a special "mini failure" story from y...
Jun 11, 2021•50 min
#491 As entrepreneurs a lot of us develop this idea that we need to hustle now , grind out the hours, and our families will understand. But this is the opposite of what I would advise. Nothing can replace lost time that you could have used to develop a strong relationship with your children, your partner . . . I've seen the other side of the "hustle now" mentality. Trust me, it isn't pretty. Today I've got Jim Sheils on the show with a life-changing conversation about how to schedule time to con...
Jun 09, 2021•35 min•Ep. 491
