The Fizzle Show — Heart & Hustle, Self Employment & Creative Business

http://fizzleshow.co/91 - Most of the people we meet who want to start a blog or podcast or business either have *no* idea how they're going to make money *or* they're too confident in some vague, doubtful scheme for revenue. This is fine. It's how I got started — vague, hopeful schemes. And, to be honest, it's where I expected most people to start because you learn so much along the way. But I've changed my mind. In the past year I've seen how valuable it can be to learn from someone else's path (even from afar). When you have a little clarity and vision about how you could get started making money your path is more directed, there's more clarity and focus. So we created an email series to help people move from "I want to be an entrepreneur" to "I have a real business idea." (You'll get that email series free when you [signup here](http://fizzle.co/sparkline/subscribe).) A major part of that series became understanding 10 business archetypes, knowing how they work, what the differences are between them and who you can watch and learn from. In this episode of the podcast we share those 10 business archetypes with some colorful commentary. For many, forcing themselves to choose from this list (even though it is *not* comprehensive or mandatory) leads to clarity and some new ideas about how to grow into the next stage of their business. I hope you have a similar experience. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/90 - "I'm struggling to settle on a domain name! What I want is taken already. What should I do? Add hyphens? Use a .biz or .net? Help!" We get this question all the time. It's time we shared our honest advice and stories on it. In this episode we get into all the important domain name issues like choosing a TLD (.com, .co, .net, etc.), dealing with trademarks, choosing registrars, hosting, competitive research, etc. On the blog we list off a bunch of topics (and the time in the podcast we mention them) as well as a boat load of tools to help you. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/89 - Adam is a podcaster. He's good at it. He enjoys it. He also follows all the blogs and gurus you're supposed to, and they all tell him: you've got to blog, got to tweet, got to facebook, got to be everywhere! He's tired. He's trying to do it all, and it's time to hear our answer to his question: ***do I have to do everything?*** This question and 2 others from listeners on the show today. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/88 - You may not feel like it, but you are absolutely skillful enough to create high performing and impactful stuff. (We're talking about blog posts, podcasts, infographics, products, etc.) You're capable of it, but if you're like many of us indie entrepreneurs, you haven't yet. The ideas are in your head, you want them to come out, you want to click "publish" and watch them spread, but they won't come out on their own. They also won't come out by staring within your own brain. **You've got to knock them loose.** In this episode you hear 27 ways to knock those ideas loose, get them down and evaluate which one's to get started on. We've all got the questions like these: - What will be good? - What can you write? - What will your audience truly resonate with? - What will they share and promote for you? In this conversation you'll learn how to discover fresh and unbeatable content ideas for your blog, podcast, social channels and website. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/87 - Every one of us entrepreneurs wants our businesses to be more popular. We want more eyes on our website and more love for our products. And yet, we also want to do good work. Businesses used to be able to make, package and sell crap and still be profitable. Today, however, the relationship with the audience is far too important... you sell one piece of shit and betray the confidence of your audience and you might find yourself up the creek without a paddle. When we're bootstrapping and making our own articles, podcasts, ebooks, products, etc., it's a constant struggle to balance good work with work that gets popular, and on this episode we share exactly how we walk that path. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/86 - You want to make blog posts, podcasts, products that are going to get found, hit a nerve, be seen and shared and loved. In this episode we share my favorite new research trick to come up with killer ideas for what content to make. - What should you write? - What topics is your audience interested in? - What are people searching for in your niche? - How could you get noticed above the noise out there? We share the simple process we use so you can discover the answers for your own audience and make your best stuff ever. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/85 - Questions from 4 listeners today take us into the realm of the USP (Unique Selling Proposition). We share some of our insights about getting to *clarity* in your offers to increase conversion and engagement. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/84 - It was a successful business making good money, a few thousand a month. And then, suddenly, poof — the whole business is gone. This is the allure and the danger of a business ideas that’s “not the most legit thing,” and this is the situation one of our podcast guests today has to deal with. Our answers to his question and 3 other Fizzle Show listeners on today’s show. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/83 - Here at Fizzle, we've spent the last couple weeks in full-on year review mode. We have some new ideas to share (and some time-proven designs as well). We talked in an episode a long time ago about how we do these reviews and, more specifically, how we find the plan for *next year* in *last year's* review. In this episode we rebroadcast that conversation with a few edits, some new stories and an updated process from Chase at the end. The Fizzle team spent the last week executing this exact review process and there's some good insights here for your own review + plan. I, personally, am very interested in this topic. I've researched a bunch and I'm wondering: what do you do for a yearly review? What articles or ideas have been helpful for you? Let me know in the comments. Enjoy the show!

http://fizzleshow.co/82 - On the show today, something completely new to us: a collection of current events that, remarkably, wove themselves around a common theme. One of the biggest regrets of those close to dying is this: **that they didn't speak their mind more throughout their lives.** If you're careful, you'll hear that thread throughout the stories we bring to you this week. Enjoy! What Happens When ----------------- - *5m:* Corbett explains the [blog challenge](http://fizzle.co/blogchallenge). (Discounted hosting, Fizzle freebie, 7 day email series from Corbett.) - *10:* Why Corbett is starting a personal blog again. - *12:* How Chase uses his [personal blog](http://icetothebrim.com). - *18:* Barrett's tweetstorm diatribe. (e.g., [1](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535173960053563392), [2](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535174359326142464), [3](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535174619750469633), [4](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535174779549278210), [5](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535174993609764866), [6](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535175354579951617), [7](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535175527460786176), [8](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535175630292541441), [9](https://twitter.com/BarrettABrooks/status/535175724664389634).) - *28:* How the Uber news impacts your mindset as a self employed blogger/podcaster/knitter/jam-maker/hustler. - *35:* Coca Cola's problem... it's not marketing, folks. - *38:* Slack as the email killer... and the ultimate pivot. - *42:* Mailchimp releases a new [UX book](http://theuxreader.com/), gives away profits. - *46:* Corbett's new favorite [nerd belt](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/xoo-belt-by-nifty-a-phone-charging-belt/). *"Looks pretty slick too!"* - *49:* A tip on charging your phone (hint: it flies) and Barrett's experience with Apple pay. - *53:* Yik Yak. We have to continue to embrace what we don't understand. - *58:* One of the biggest regrets of the dying: not speaking your mind. Sharing secrets, personal blogging, etc... a rant from Chase. ("Solidarity," btw, is the word I was looking for.) - *"Everything falls apart... do it anyways."*

http://fizzleshow.co/81 - Several listeners asked questions about choosing between multiple business ideas. What can you do to tell which ones are viable and which aren't? We get into that, a youtube video editing hack, Barrett's "LPC" strategy and a couple other bits on the show today. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/80 - We've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs over the past 3 years and in this episode we showcase the top 10 mistakes we see self employed people make. This episode corresponds with a brand new guide we made on the subject. It's free, it's got tons of great quotes and images and some next steps to take for each of these mistakes. [Get the 10 mistakes guide](http://fizzle.co/top-10-mistakes-starting-online-business) and follow along through this conversation as we add more stories and commentary to each of these mistakes. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.com/79 - We devote the whole show today to answering a great question from a listener. Of course, there's a *little* banter in there too. The question is: **how do you find the balance between creating content and promoting that content?** You made a post. (Or podcast or article or book or app or jelly or cooler or whatever.) *How much time should you spend getting the word out about it?* If you've ever wondered this, you're not alone. We've struggled with it. Just about everyone online has too. In this conversation we share the "System Approach" to promotion and our current system for promoting our content. Enjoy! **And let us know if you have any questions in the comments.**

http://fizzleshow.co/78 - When you’re working on a big project by yourself, you’ve got to have a system to keep your sanity. Most of the big projects we work on — starting a blog, creating a product, publishing a series of podcast episodes, etc — have tons of moving pieces and there’s no one but ourselves to manage things. And it’s so easy to start leaking sanity as things start slipping through your fingers. So what we need is a system to help us manage these projects, and that’s exactly what today’s episode is about. So click play and let’s get into the things we’ve learned (and we all need to understand) about mini projects, sprints, course management, measuring success and the best way to set goals. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/77 - How do you go about building new skills when you need them but you don't yet have them? Maybe you need to learn how to create a blog or podcast. Or maybe you want to get better at design. Maybe you need to do some customer research but you don't know how. Or maybe you're trying to write killer articles that get shared and make some serious impact. I've been stuck in that mire before. Too much to learn. Don't know where to start. Don't know what to expect. What I didn't know then is that there are some stages to learning new skills, and, with a little zooming out and structured question asking, the mire turns to solid ground, next steps and progress. Whatever you're trying to get better at, click play on this episode. We'll help you dissect and discover the next steps by sharing specific stories (Barrett's coaching story is worth the price of admission) and then a process for learning a new skill starting from ground zero.