Unemployable: Advice For Freelancers And Entrepreneurs

You are probably starting to notice a theme here on 7-Figure Small. Two weeks ago, Brian introduced the concept of the personal enterprise here on this podcast, having written about it several times over at Further. Then last week, Brian Gardner joined us to trace his history from side hustle design to sustainable, scalable enterprise.And this week, our guest Laura Roeder gives us another opportunity to experience a personal enterprise case study straight from the trenches.Her journey from social media consultant to founder of multiple SaaS success stories is an inspiring one, and she’s here to share it with us -- the good and the bad -- so we can learn from her example and put the lessons into action as we pursue our own personal enterprises. We also discuss headlines about so-called "outrage marketing," Prince Harry's new job (and why it's relevant to an audience of unemployables), and ambassador marketing for email newsletters. Plus a few listener questions at the end.---To access the show notes for this e

Last week, Brian and I discussed the personal enterprise in theory. This week, it's time to discuss the personal enterprise in practice.And who better to lead such a discussion than two people who have each built mature personal enterprises of their own?Brian Clark and Brian Gardner. (Also known as BC an BG to anyone who worked at Copyblogger.)They started out as competitors, eventually became successful partners at Copyblogger Media, and now have moved into that sweetest of entrepreneurial spots where they are letting their passion and enthusiasm guide their choices for what to work on next.What’s it take to get there? Find out this week in the return of 7-Figure Small Live -- which means in addition to our main topic you always get headlines and some Q&A at the end.Headlines:• I’m Stepping Down as Copyblogger CEO (href="https://copyblogger.com/stepping-down/)• Wix Takes On WordPress by Bringing to Life the Frustrations of Website Management (https://www.adweek.com/creativity/wix-takes-on-wordpress-with-

When you start a business, you don't have to know exactly what it will end up looking like. You also don't need to try to hit a home run right away. It's far better to be patient and methodical. In fact, many people who end up developing their own personal business empire start out as freelancers, or in some other client services role. This is includes Brian Clark.This week on 7-Figure Small, we take a one-week break from the new 7-Figure Small Live format to dig deep on the idea of the personal enterprise. Brian reflects on his journey from starting small to developing his own successful personal enterprise. He defines what a personal enterprise is, outlines the forces converging to make now the right time to get started, and describes what your revenue and audience building mindsets should be to get you started off in a way that can you support you now and scale later. Brian also introduces and describes the Personal Enterprise Pyramid, and tells you what your next step(s) should be.Step one: make sure you'

This week, we talk about SEO. But it’s a bit of a different SEO conversation than you may be used to.Because often when we talk about SEO within the context of building an audience, we focus on it from the beginning. What better way to get to your minimum viable audience than with organic search traffic ... right?Well, maybe not.As we’ve discussed in bits and pieces on previous episodes, you aren’t really ready to execute a smart SEO strategy until you have your minimum viable audience already built. At that point, you actually know something about your audience beyond the hypothesis that you start out with. Once you’re there, then you can take what you know, craft an astute SEO plan, and drive the kind of targeted organic traffic that you can actually convert into subscribers -- the kinds of subscribers who may even be on the fast track to becoming customers.And Jonny Nastor knows plenty about how to do this, because he’s been doing it successfully for clients for years. And he shares his expertise with us i

Back in November of 2020, this week's guest tweeted, “It’s hard to overstate how monumental and empowering the digital revolution has been for independent creators.” His name is Corbett Barr, he's one of the founders of Fizzle, and for the past decade-plus he's been at the forefront of this revolution, creating successful content and products while helping other creators do the same.This week, Corbett and fellow digital pioneer Brian Clark discuss some of the lessons they’ve each learned that will help us all succeed as independent creators in 2021 and beyond. In addition to this week's main topic, we take another trip inside Brian's mind, answer some mailbag questions, and discuss headlines about community becoming a competitive advantage, the latest trends in podcast listenership, and an update on the PRO Act.Headlines: • When Community Becomes Your Competitive Advantage (https://hbr.org/2020/01/when-community-becomes-your-competitive-advantage)• Yes, Podcast Listenership is Still on the Rise (https://www.v

This week, we discuss a topic that gets asked about nearly every time we do a Q&A for Unemployable Initiative members: how to build an audience. Specifically, how do you start from scratch, or close to scratch, and build a minimum viable audience?As you know from the definition of minimum viable audience, once you have an MVA the audience starts to build itself. That doesn’t mean the work of filling the top of your funnel is done, but it does mean that you have some momentum and a head of steam to help keep you growing.But how do you get that momentum going in the first place? Especially when there is so much content out there already, which can it feel like such an immense challenge just to get noticed?To be clear: there are no silver bullet in this episode. There is no secret we reveal that will allow you to supersede a couple of fundamental truths of audience building: 1) you have to create high quality content for a specific audience, and 2) you’re going to have to invest time or money, or both, to ge

Todd Tresidder has built his successful two-stage career by walking the walk. First, he became a self-made millionaire by learning how wealth is really created and spotting the contradictions in what is often taught. Then, he helped others do the same at Financial Mentor by creating frameworks and guides that help people ignore the noise and focus their financial decision making and what will actually help them build wealth.And along the way, he’s proven to be a believer in a concept Brian discussed most recently in the first lesson of Community Commerce Essentials -- two of the seven questions Brian outlined for finding your winning difference: who does your audience want to become and who do you want your audience to become?That latter part is what really sets Todd apart, because he wants his financial mentees to view their path to financial freedom as a path toward personal growth as well. In fact, he views them as one and the same.We talk about all of this with Todd on this week's edition of 7-Figure Smal

After two episodes of the new format of the show, fate intervened. First, the winter fiasco in Texas knocked Jerod’s power out, and then the next week his wife gave birth to their second child. So, congratulations to Jerod and Heather!I decided to carry on with a return to the old interview format for one week only. In this episode, I have a great chat with John Warrilow about some of the key concepts from his new book, The Art of Selling Your Business. I’ve interviewed John before about designing your business to be an attractive acquisition target with a recurring revenue model, and this time we’re exploring how to prepare for an actual exit.We begin with a question that many don’t really spend time considering: Why do you want to sell? Getting a little philosophical about the reasons for selling your business can spare you a lot of second-guessing later.After that, we discuss the danger of timing your exit, the “5-20” rule for potential businesses that will want to acquire your business, how to deal with e

With podcasting still going strong, newsletters having their moment, and blogging still right there in the thick of it all, it sure feels like the internet is returning to its roots in a good way.As Justin Jackson put it in a tweet: "The classic internet is back in style: mindful, slow pace. Less frenzy. Feels good."We sure agree.So this week on 7-Figure Small, we rounded up Chris Brogan and Darren Rowse, a couple of pioneers of the early internet, to join Brian Clark for a chat about what’s new, what’s different, and what’s the same as it ever was.As always, we begin by kicking around some headlines and end by answering listener questions. In between, during our main topic, Brian, Chris, and Darren go deep on: • Their experience launching Third Tribe• The power of virtual communities• Why email remains so important• Where podcasts fit within an overall content marketing strategy• How curation has evolved And much more.

As all freelancers and solopreneurs know, or eventually learn, starting a successful small business is a challenge -- a challenge worth accepting because of the rewards that come with it.But what about the steps beyond that first level of success? What if you decide that you want to take your six- or seven-figure small business and scale it up? It's doable, and there are well-worn paths you can follow. But it's not the right path for everyone. Is it the right path for you?That's the subject of this week's edition of 7-Figure Small with Brian Clark, who has made the decision to scale several times in the past and experienced the challenges and rewards that come with it.Ryan Deiss has too. Like Brian, he's a serial entrepreneur. He founded Digital Marketer and is currently helping small businesses scale successfully at Scalabale.co. This week, Ryan is our guest for an in-depth discussion about how to weigh the benefits and challenges of scaling your business so you can make the right decision for your situation

There are, without doubt, a lot of podcasts other there. But that’s not the same as there being a lot of truly engaging podcasts.People tend to think if they just land the right guest (you know, the one that’s been on every other show like yours), your downloads would double and sales would skyrocket. But think about it ... how can that be true?Rather than just another podcast, you need a premise that does more than prompt a download. Something that speaks to your intended audience in a way that simultaneously delivers the value they’re looking for, in a way they weren’t expecting.This week’s guest on 7-Figure Small has some thoughts on the subject. In fact, Jay Acunzo has lots of thoughts, and they are incredibly insightful.If you’re trying to grow your business with a podcast, or you’re contemplating it, this episode is a must listen.From his early work at companies like Google and ESPN, and spanning 15+ years of public performance and creative projects, Jay has inspired and pushed others to question the st

Over the last 15 years or so, there have been a multitude of people who have started creating content for a specific audience, and bootstrapped their way to 7-figure success. Build the audience first, and the revenue follows.Katie Wells of Wellness Mama is one of those people. As a mother of six, her interest in helping families become healthier stemmed from her own research in raising healthy children -- a familiar case of purpose preceding profit that powers so many bootstrapped digital media businesses.Today, Wellness Mama is a thriving business that initially hit the 7-figure mark by recommending quality products and services to people who trust Katie to put their well-being first. And then she developed her own line of natural products under the Wellness brand, which is now a successful and growing ecommerce company that has weathered the pandemic and looks to have an exceedingly bright future.It’s all too easy to look at Katie’s success today and think this is something that’s too monumental to achieve.

It’s never been more doable to start a digital business. The increased “virtualization” of business, education, communities and events was happening anyway -- and then 2020 kicked it up to a much higher level.But most of us start off as freelancers and with other client service businesses (I know I did). It’s a rite of passage where you learn how to make it without a J.O.B., and often reveals the driving sense of purpose for the business you really want to start and run.Like a lot of young people, Krista Stryker thought she knew what she wanted to do after school, and like a lot of people life presented other plans. She ended up as a freelance copywriter, while starting a blog to talk about her passion for fitness on the side.That blog turned into 12-Minute Athlete, which is now an app, book, and website dedicated to high intensity interval training and body-weight exercises. And even with her success, Krista is looking to take her business to the next level thanks to her belief that physical fitness must be

Our extended hiatus is over, and we're excited to be back for another season of the 7-Figure Small podcast.In this brief teaser episode, Brian Clark lets you know what's on tap for Season 2 of the show. We have three interviews lined up to kick off the new season, and then we're introducing a new format for the show. Listen to learn more.Then look for our first interview of Season 2 on Monday.

We originally planned for this season finale of the 7-Figure Small podcast to be published a few weeks ago. But our world here in the U.S. changed quite drastically in the interim, so we took a little more time to collect our thoughts before recording.This episode still focuses on the same topic we were planning to discuss -- the importance of choosing your idea audience -- but the context is now much different and, ultimately, much more meaningful.We open with a discussion about an intriguing new online marketplace for "A.I.-generated characters," and what it could mean for your business, before moving onto perhaps the single greatest example in advertising history of defining who your ideal audience is (and who it isn't).Then we address the importance of having core values and being willing to stand up for them, what it means to provide values-based leadership to an audience, and how these ideas come to a head when important societal events happen -- like the recent murder of George Floyd and the ensuing pr

The global economy is in bad shape right now. That is perhaps the understatement of the century.In the span of 8 weeks, it feels like there has been a tectonic shift, and no one knows with any certainty what the new “normal” is going to be whenever it mercifully arrives.What we do know -- because we learned it during the financial crisis of 2008, and in many examples prior -- is that the businesses that will survive this economic turmoil, and possibly even thrive on the other side of it, are those that are able to adapt to the changing economic reality. In other words: those with a defensible business model. In this episode of 7-Figure Small, Brian Clark defines what a defensible model is, uses examples like AirBNB, Uber, and Amazon to illustrate it, and explains how it applies to building a 7-figure small business that is audience-first as opposed to product-first.***This episode of 7-Figure Small is brought to you by Next Level 7 -- Brian Clark’s free audio course that teaches you how to start stacking the

A smart and sustainable SEO strategy remains one of the best ways to drive targeted traffic and build an engaged audience.There is no one better to discuss what really work in SEO that this week's guest, Brian Dean, the founder of Backlinko. Brian shares with us some of the biggest takeaways from his epic article The Definitive Guide To SEO In 2020.He begins by giving us a few of the most important high-level things that everyone needs to realize about SEO — including the enduring power of keyword optimization and some smart tips for how to discover search intent.Then we cover a wide range of topics after that, including how AI will impact SEO moving forward, how to think about SEO when you're focusing on a curated email newsletter, tactical advice on how to structure content in WordPress, and much more.Now there’s just one catch with this episode: we didn’t record it specifically for the podcast. What you’re about to hear is actually the audio from a webinar that we did inside of the Unemployable Initiative,

For years now, we’ve heard warnings of massive job losses due to the rise of artificial intelligence in business. A study from McKinsey suggests that by 2030, intelligent agents and robots could eliminate the jobs of 800 million people worldwide.The flip side of this prediction is that, as with every other major technological transformation, more jobs will be created than lost. The idea is that the people who adapt and learn to work with machines will be the best off.That remains to be seen for the employed, but for solo business owners, there’s no doubt that we’ll use artificial intelligence to enhance our businesses. No “boss” can replace us with software or a robot, but we will replace ourselves as much as possible.So what will that leave us to do? Advanced technology will free us up to focus on the uniquely human aspects of our businesses, and that will center around enhanced creative thinking.This week’s episode is all about creativity – a human quality so distinctive, differentiating, and valuable that

The early days of the tech startup craze would have you believe that Silicon Valley was not only the place to be, it was the only place to be. Or maybe Boston or New York City, but those were all the acceptable choices.As time went on, Seattle, Austin, and Boulder became part of the conversation. But what about Indianapolis, Nashville, and Pittsburgh?Truth is, there are vibrant startup communities all over the place. Not to mention the increasing numbers of seven figure small businesses that operate outside of the venture capital circus all together.Matt Hunckler has been working tirelessly for years making the case that the middle of America amounts to an undervalued asset, rich in markets, new business ideas, and budding entrepreneurs. His company Powderkeg brings entrepreneurs between the coasts together to find the resources they need to grow and thrive.Matt joins us this week to discuss Powerkeg’s mission. We also talk about how the pandemic is accelerating the idea of “everywhere is a startup hub,” and

Once upon a time, when people wanted to start their own business, they went down to the bank. There was physical space to lease, equipment to buy, and people to hire.Maybe it was a coffee shop, retail store, or professional services form. Or maybe light manufacturing or a car dealership. Sometimes the profits were substantial, other times meager. But there was always a lot on the line if things didn’t work out.About 20 years ago, the idea of starting a business changed due to the tech startup craze. Now it was about raising a Series A, then B, then C … and then IPO or acquisition. Profit wasn’t part of the equation, only insane levels of growth that very few achieved, despite the relentless focus on the relatively few success stories.During that same time period, however, a third way arose. A way to build a business using the reach of the Internet, the power of technology, and the creativity of entrepreneurs who very much focused on profit, all while mitigating risk with digital business models. Oh, and there