The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast

Gretchen's blog about baking was doing okay, but she questioned whether or not to keep going. Then, she connected with Jason who helped take her so-so blog, and turn it into an extremely profitable brand with a HUGE audience. Here's how it all happened...

#123: In this session of The SPI Podcast, I’m excited to welcome Gretchen and her partner Jason from Woodland Bakery Blog—a brand that Gretchen started out of a passion for baking. At first, things were fun and exciting but then after the “honeymoon period” ended, she kept it going but with less than stellar results. Some traffic, some income, but that’s it. That’s when she connected with Jason, who took her so-so brand and turned it into something extremely profitable. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session123

Some of the most popular and relatable episodes of The SPI Podcast involve success stories from those who have successfully built a business outside of the Internet Marketing, Online Business and Blogging niches. In other words, there are more ways to build a successful online business and make money online than just talking about how to build an online business and make money online. In fact, I bet there are more people crushing it online outside of that space - they just don't have a platform, or really the need to talk about their success. Today I'd like to share an incredible success story packed with valuable strategies and actionable tips from not just one, but two people - a husband and wife combo who each have their own respective successful online businesses in completely different niches. Shane and Jocelyn Sams were teachers (Shane a teacher and football coach and Jocelyn a librarian) before they discovered the Smart Passive Income Podcast and gave online business a shot. Just last month, they earned over six-figures from various digital product launches. In this podcast, you'll hear how it all started, what went right (and wrong) along the way, and all of the tips and strategies they're using now to build and grow their business. I had the pleasure of meeting Shane and Jocelyn at the most recent 1-Day Business Breakthrough event here in San Diego (an event my buddy Chris Ducker and I put together every time he's in town - our next one is in September and it's already sold out!), and they are two of the nicest, sweetest people I've ever met - and completely passionate about what they do and for helping others, as you'll hear. Here is a picture of us at the 1-Day Business Breakthrough event: More Specifically, In This Episode You'll Learn About: How listening to a podcast episode on a lawn mower changed Shane's and Jocelyn's life. The doubts going through their heads when starting a niche site, and some of their failed attempts. Jocelyn's business and exactly how it got started, and how she's grown it to become massively successful. How Shane's coaching knowledge became the birth of his online business and digital products. The most memorable $0.11 ever. Opt-in magnet strategies and LeadPages integration. Shane's crazy 100-page playbook that he gave away - and why that worked! How Shane created a community on his blog using BuddyPress, and how he uses it for marketing research. Jocelyn's exact Google Hangouts on Air / Webinar strategy. How to keep webinars less pitchy. Why Shane utilizes sponsored tweets on Twitter to promote his business. How Shane and Jocelyn generated over $142,000 in July of 2014! Mistakes they made during their journey and what they would do over if they could. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode: ElementaryLibrarian.com (Jocelyn's site) CoachXO.com (Shane's site) FlippedLifestyle.com (Shane and Jocelyn's blog!) Their Free Course & Giveaway for the SPI Community! Jquery Pin it Plugin for Pinterest Pinning BuddyPress GreenExamAcademy.com LeadPages Today's Sponsor: 99Designs.com- Get a $99 Power Pack of Services for FREE

#122: Today I’d like to share an incredible success story packed with valuable strategies and actionable tips from not just one, but two people—a husband and wife combo who each have their own respective successful online businesses in completely different niches. Shane and Jocelyn Sams were teachers (Shane a teacher and football coach and Jocelyn a librarian) before they discovered the Smart Passive Income Podcast and gave online business a shot. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session122

Networking and building real relationships is incredibly important for the success of your business. Many entrepreneurs consider it their number one priority! (I do!) But, it's not easy and there's a right way and wrong way to do it. Jordan from The Art of Charm gives us a crash course on charisma, teaching us all about first impressions and being memorable. A must-listen for everyone, especially if you'll be going to any conferences or events!

#121: There’s an art to being charismatic, which is why I’m super excited to welcome Jordan Harbinger from The Art of Charm and The Art of Charm Podcast to the show today. He’s got an incredibly successful business teaching people how to be confident and put their best self forward, and he shares a TON of tips and strategies for us to help us do the same. If you’re going to any conferences or meetings anytime soon, this is definitely a podcast episode you should listen to. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session121

Ramit Sethi is back with us for a second time to talk about the history of one of his most successful flagship products. There are a ton of takeaways from this episode, including research strategies so we know exactly what our audience wants, to exact launch sequences that we can use so we don't have to beg for customers, to how to keep a product evergreen and continue to sell it over time.

#120: The last time Ramit Sethi from IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com was on the SPI Podcast he dropped some huge knowledge bombs on us about the psychology of selling, and also gave us great, actionable advice on pricing our products. I invited Ramit to come back on the show for two specific reasons: A high demand from the audience; and to get into the deep details of one of his most successful products. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session120

Clay Collins, founder of LeadPages, was on the show before (in Session #78). That episode has over 760 comments, and this one could have even more. He brings back a ton of actionable content for growing your list, and further more launching your business with a very smart and innovative strategy that helped LeadPages go from zero to 25k paying customers in less than 2 years. Plus, don't miss the high-end GIVEAWAY in this episode - two enterprise editions of LeadPages worth over $1000...

#119: In this episode, we recap a couple of the strategies that were talked about the last time (namely the ones I’ve implemented myself and the results), and we also get into some launch strategies as well, which were very interesting because he talked about things I’ve never heard of before, including something called the minimum marketable event. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session119

Sometimes ideas take more than just execution to succeed - sometimes they need capital too. In this session, Bill Glaser, who has helped raise over $200 million for companies (including $25 million for companies he has founded himself), educates us about the different ways to fund a business, and the pros and cons of each.

#118: The world of raising capital and startup funds is completely unknown to me, which is why I’m extremely happy to welcome Bill Glaser to the show today to tell us all about it. You may have an amazing idea in your head for a product or business that could only come to life if you had the funds to make it happen. If that’s the case, then this episode is for you. There are a lot of lessons to be learned here, even if you’re already established and simply want to grow and expand. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session118

Down to his last $0.27 in the bank and sleeping on his friend's couch, Dwight Peters was determined to make things work and build a successful online business. Well - here he is sharing exactly how he made that happen.

#117: Today’s guest on the podcast, Dwight Peters, had started a number of different businesses that didn’t go according to plan, which eventually led him to going broke and having to stay on his friend’s couch while he figured out his next move. His perseverance paid off, however, because Dwight is now the founder of BackersHub, a successful online business that helps out those who utilize the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform. Podcast show notes available here: https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session117

Copywriting is incredibly important for our online businesses. Unfortunately for me, I'm not very good at it. Fortunately for all of us, we have Kevin Rogers, professional copywriter and former stand-up comedian to help us out on the show today. You'll enjoy the tips and formulas he shares with us for better sales pages, headlines, and anything else that we want to write and make a change with.