SPI 898: Business Tools I'm Using More than Anything Right Now

#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 haul in this creator economy, it can take a lot to remain consistent. It can be tough to be continually uploading and creating content, continually showing up for your community, and continually providing value. It takes a lot of energy. And having now created 510 episodes of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, nearly 1,200 episodes of AskPat, more than 1,000 videos on YouTube, and more than 1,000 blog posts, we've been pretty consistent. Now, I haven't been consistent the entire time. There've been moments where I've been derailed. But I got back on track, and it's thanks to the five lessons I'm going to share with you today. These are tips and strategies to help you show up and keep showing up for your business and your audience, so let's get into them. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session510.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

24 Sep 202115min

#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 have more time and money and freedom down the road. We're talking with one of my favorite people today: Dorie Clark, author of The Long Game: How to Be a Long-Term Thinker in a Short-Term World. Dorie and I chatted on here a long time ago, in session 161. She had just come out with a couple of books, Entrepreneurial You and Stand Out that have gotten really great reviews. We're going to discuss what it actually means to play the long game in today's world of short attention spans. What does it mean to sacrifice now so we can get more later? How do we play the long game, not just in business, but in life, so we're not sacrificing our health along the way? If you're not successful mentally and physically, then it doesn't matter how successful your business is. These are some of the most crucial topics we all need to think about as entrepreneurs, and we're discussing all of it and more, today with Dorie. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session509.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

22 Sep 202142min

#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 launching things today. Because the truth is, things are a little bit different than they were before. And that's the topic of today's conversation. Not when it comes PLF, specifically, but the fact that we as entrepreneurs, we do have to learn how to adapt and to change. We can't expect that things that we once used and succeeded with, are going to continue working just as well for us over time. Blogs used to be the cornerstone of online content and connection, but things have changed, and live streaming and online communities have quickly become the new standard. We have to learn how to adjust and adapt, and as Ross of Friends would say, to "Pivot!" to current reality. So let's talk about what that looks like for us entrepreneurs. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session508See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

17 Sep 202115min

#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 world of internet marketing and online business, and today, we're talking with the man himself, the legend, Jeff Walker. Jeff "launched" his book Launch in 2014, and it went on to become a New York Times bestseller. He recently came out with a new, revised version of the book that updates the PLF formula to cover how to launch products in today's world, with shorter attention spans and shorter sales cycles. This is Jeff's first time on the show, and he's going to share with us his framework for launching a product online today, using the updated and enhanced version of the PLF formula that's been helping entrepreneurs make sales since 1996. This is a highly valuable episode that I'm sure many folks will want to listen to more than once. Let's hear it all from the guy who created the system that's made over a billion dollars for entrepreneurs. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session507.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

15 Sep 202141min

#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 your business because it makes everything else so much easier: before you start trying to generate leads, you need to know exactly what your target audience is going through. Hopefully, this won't be a foreign concept. But it bears repeating: everything else comes more easily when you know who your audience is. so how do you learn about them? Well, it's one thing to say, “I'm going to do some research, have conversations with people. I'll see what the forums are saying, put myself in people's shoes, and try to figure out what I can do to best serve them." That's a great start, and it'll definitely help. But it's just the first step. The next step is what I want to talk about today: becoming your target audience. Stick around and let's talk about what that looks like. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session506.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

10 Sep 202114min

#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 long time on the show. His name is Anthony Sarandrea, and I'm so grateful he's joining us today because he is a master at lead generation. Anthony has a number of different businesses. One in particular, Pocket Your Dollars, helps people become the financial experts of their own lives, and generates a ton of leads doing it. He also helps other businesses generate their own leads, and he's got some systems and approaches that I very much resonate with—especially when it comes to immersing yourself into that space you're trying to get into. Speaking of immersing yourself, you'll hear about a really interesting way Anthony did his market research: he literally became his own target customer on purpose. When it comes to lead generation, Anthony is one of the most creative and dedicated people I've met in the space. He knows the importance of remembering that your leads are real people, and that you need to serve them if you want to succeed. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session505.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

8 Sep 202141min

#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 have incredible storytelling capabilities and who have the ability to create very professional videos. And you always wonder to yourself, “Man, why can't I do it like them?” And sometimes you'll try to do it like them—but that's almost never the right choice. You've got to check yourself before you wreck yourself, and that's what I want to talk about today. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session504.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

3 Sep 202115min

#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 I started paying attention to Ali, things have been really taking off him for him. His brand and community have grown tremendously, and he's even released his own online course. And we've become good friends! I knew I had to ask him to come onto the podcast to share his journey from med school student to creating a YouTube channel, and how he's grown it to nearly two million subscribers, with passive income now coming in from multiple sources. We'll unpack the strategy behind Ali's impressive rise, and if you're interested in YouTube or creating video yourself, we also dive into some tips to help you with the algorithm and taking advantage of what YouTube can offer in terms of driving traffic and finding new customers. Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIncome.com/session503.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

1 Sep 202146min