The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast

#166: Let’s take a break from strategy to check in with ourselves. We’re halfway through 2015. What progress have you made on your goals for this year? What have you learned? What else does 2015 have in store for you? In this episode, you’ll hear my own, personal answers to those questions. I’ll walk you through my year so far, the goals I’ve reached, and the lessons I’ve learned. I’ve got a few announcements, too, that I’m eager to share with you. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session166

#165: I can’t wait for you to meet today’s guest, who’s an incredible success story from the online retail world: Susan Petersen of Freshly Picked. Since starting out as an early Etsy entrepreneur, Susan’s had an amazing journey, including an appearance on Shark Tank, a partnership with Nordstrom, and now, a million-dollar online business selling baby moccasins. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session165

#164: Michael is the host of Solopreneur Hour, a podcast with a totally unique style—a style I’m borrowing from today. Michael has mastered the art of interviewing. His approach as an interviewer allows his guests to reveal surprising sides of themselves they might not usually get to share on industry podcasts. He’s an expert at establishing a rapport, asking questions, entertaining his audience, and simply allowing his guests to have a great time. If you’d like to hear a great example of top-notch interviewing, listen in. You’ll hear Michael’s podcasting tips, his journey to creating Solopreneur Hour, and the amazing stories he’s collected along the way. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session164

#163: It’s such a pleasure to have Michael Hyatt as my guest this week. Michael is a truly inspirational leader, and he brings an amazing wealth of wisdom and experience with him. He’s talking with me today about something close to home for every entrepreneur: being a leader and building your team. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session163

Nick Stephenson heard SPI Session #136 with David Siteman Garland about creating online courses. Nick took action, creating an online course for fiction writers, Your First 10K Readers. His first product launch brought in $130,208. In today's episode, he'll tell us how he did it.

#162: My guest today, Nick Stephenson, heard David Siteman Garland talk with me about creating online courses back in Session 136. Nick took action, and by the time his product launch rolled around, he was crushing it. Just how much was he crushing it? The answer’s right there in this episode’s title—his online course for fiction writers, YourFirst10kReaders.com, launched at over $130,000. Nick’s here today to reveal just how he did that. He’ll share the tools he used and steps he took to conceptualize, develop, and launch his online course. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session162

#161: My guest today is a woman who knows what she’s talking about when it comes to finding great ideas. Dorie Clark is a phenomenal writer, speaker, and business professor—but she didn’t get there overnight. Starting out as a marketing consultant, she spent years writing book proposals and facing rejection. It wasn’t until her blog post “How to Re-Invent Your Personal Brand” appeared in the Harvard Business Review that she knew she’d found something special—her breakthrough idea. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session161

#160: My mantra for the next few years is “Think bigger.” How can I think beyond business and profit toward bigger causes and social good? I find it so exciting that I’ve met so many amazing people who help me think bigger every day—people like Lewis Howes, Adam Braun, and today’s guest, Dale Partridge. Dale is the author of a brand-new book called People Over Profit, as well as the founder of a host of incredible online businesses. In the midst of a successful career as an entrepreneur, Dale started to ask himself how he could do something bigger with his business. He found that the answer didn’t have to do with bigger profits—it was all about helping other people. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session160

#159: This week, we’re talking about a simple thing that can have a huge positive impact on your business: email marketing and the power of an autoresponder series. Dan runs CLVBoost.com, a consultancy he started after building his martial arts training business from the ground up. Dan’s become a master of building a subscriber base, sequencing emails, and sending the right messages to the right audience. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session159

#158: This episode is all about productizing your service-based business. With me this week is productization all-star Brian Casel, founder of Casjam.com. If you’re curious how to go about productizing your service, what service you should choose, or what’s worked for others, Brian has answers for you. He’s drawing on his own experience as a web developer to bring you advice for delegating, streamlining, and standardizing your service. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session158

#157: I first saw today’s guest on a TED Talk. His name is Jia Jiang, and his talk was titled, “Surprising Lessons from 100 Days of Rejection.” It’s one of those TED Talks you start watching and find you can’t stop—it’s that good. I bet a lot of us can relate to Jia’s struggle with rejection. It’s the kind of fear that keeps us from taking risks and seeking out life-changing opportunities, because we’re so afraid of hearing the word “no.” That’s why I had to bring him on to share his story with you. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session157

There are a lot of scammy fitness and nutrition businesses out there. That's what makes today's featured guest, Abel James so amazing—he's used transparency, honesty, and personality to earn the trust of his fans. Abel has monetized his business with integrity, and he's built an amazing community in the process. Here's how it all happened...

#156: This week’s guest comes to us from the fitness world. He’s Abel James, who I got to know last year when he won an award for his incredible podcast, Fat Burning Man. Abel didn’t just stop at podcasting—his Fat Burning Man brand also includes a wildly successful book and mobile app. He’s built a multimedia franchise in an extremely saturated field, and he’s done it all without any of the sleaze that plagues so much of the fitness industry. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session156

#155: Joey Korneman runs SchoolofMotion.com, an online resource for motion designers, and he’s been working hard to grow his business. Joey brought his questions and challenges to the mastermind group, and we offered our insight and advice. A few months later, I reconnected with Joey to see how things were going. What I heard was amazing—Joey had taken what he learned from that mastermind group and used it to create incredible results, all in a few months. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session155

#154: This week’s guest is the amazing Caleb Wojcik, the video mastermind behind DIYVideoGuy.com and the videographer for my latest project, Smart Passive Income TV. Caleb’s sharing his expert knowledge on the gear and techniques you need to make killer video content. He’ll give his advice for launching a video podcast of your own, creating an efficient workflow, and producing high-quality video week after week. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session154