The Fizzle Show

We see a lot of entrepreneurs who have great ideas but they keep getting stuck in the ‘how’ of their business and losing sight of the most important elements. (Show Note: Fizzleshow.co/252) Here’s what I mean: Let’s say you wanted to make a book (for podcast or blog) on “mindfulness and parenting.” The common big mistake is to rush into thinking about your HOW. How you’re going to be different than others out there. How you’re going to teach people your truths. How you’re going to setup your website. Like I mentioned above, we see this happen very often AND IT’S A BIG MISTAKE. Why is it a big mistake? Because you can spend weeks/months/years thinking about the HOW of your business only to have that business fail… because you didn’t set the right foundation. You have to set the right foundation! If you want your blog or podcast or book or instagram account or youtube channel to be successful, you have to focus yourself in the beginning on what matters most… … And if you want to learn about that, then get yourself a cup of coffee and strap in, because you’re about to learn one of the most important lessons in modern business. This lesson is more important now than ever before because you have more opportunity to succeed than ever before. So, if you want your business dream to actually become a reality, you’ll want to get a notepad ready to take some notes… … because this lesson may change how you think about business forever. Maybe you weren’t planning on listening to a podcast here. Maybe you wish you could just skim through the content… … well, maybe your business idea needs more than just a skim at this point. We hope you’ll dive in and give it a listen because the results are likely to make it WELL worth your while. Enjoy!

All businesses have to start from an idea. But just how important is the original idea behind a business? How much of a business’ success can be attributed to the idea versus the follow up work? We know there is no real point in putting in all the work if that initial idea is not something special. (Show Notes: http://fizzleshow.com/251) But on the other hand an idea, even a great one, is not worth much without the follow through and the means to execute it. That being said, what is it that differentiates the so-so ideas from the great ones? If you’re interested in these questions we’ve got an awesome treat for you: a 60min in depth audio discussion with the answers as well as 6 examples of great business and product ideas. In this podcast episode, we look at what can define a brilliant business idea by cycling through some examples and examining the appeal of certain products. The Fizzle Show is here to unpack what makes some business ideas successful and what makes others flop! Listen to this episode and you will learn the crucial customer mindset and product presentation necessary to make your products and business at large succeed. Two of the concepts you really need to understand are the importance of simplicity as well as the concept of ‘niching down’ on a simple idea to really target your market. Tune in to hear all about it and add your comments below!

How do we get to work with partners? What are the things we need to think about when we are putting together our sales pages? And how do we talk to customers about new projects, so that we can fill in the gaps in our model? In this episode, we discuss the tips and tricks to working with partners, managing partner blowouts, getting customer feedback on projects and how to create great copy. Today on the show we are joined by Matt Giovanisci. Matt is an entrepreneur, website wizard and podcast producer who recently created a new plugin for Wordpress called Earnist. Earnist is an affiliate management tool designed to make monetizing your Wordpress site easy with beautiful affiliate links. Matt has a very interesting story as an entrepreneur. He has started numerous companies, been involved in numerous projects and even developed a social network for dogs back in 2007. The man is a mogul, but how did he put his app together as a non-programmer? This is the essence of what we’ll be getting into today. Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/250

Why is it that we set goals that fail? Why do we allow our dreams to fizzle out? Could the problem be with the way we are approaching our goals from the get-go? 2018 is here and you have things to do, right? You have dreams to achieve, goals to set and things to accomplish! But do you know what the difference is between a goal and a New Year’s resolution? Do you know the difference between “mountain top goals” and “foundational goals”? Do you know why your goals are so prone to fizzle out? THAT’S what I want to talk to you about today: how to set goals that will actually work because most of us think about goals in the WRONG way. In this episode, we are essentially talking about how you get your sh*t done! It’s the beginning of the year and everyone is talking about New Year resolutions. New Year’s resolutions are usually things you just fizzle out of, so today we are talking about why we let them fizzle out and how to set achievable business and personal goals (rather than resolutions) moving forward into the new year. Listen to this conversation because you are going to get some remarkable insights from it! It’s a deep dive into why we think so poorly about goal setting, and how to fix it. Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/249

Are you feeling down about the low numbers on your email list? Have you ever wondered how you could really accelerate its growth? (Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/248) Perhaps all it takes is a mindset shift. That’s what we did recently on a separate website we run and it had HUGE results. First of all, you already know how important your email list is to your business, right? If you don’t know about how important email is to modern business, you can check out any of these educational posts. The gist is this: for many of us successful indie entrepreneurs, our email list is the core of our business because through email we have a powerful form of “digital relationship” with our customers. So, if you aren’t getting a very good “conversion rate” on your website — from casual visitor to email subscriber — then it can feel kinda terrible. Like, there’s all these people coming to your website, but so few of them are taking you up on your offer. For many of us the is a PRIME LOCATION for investing some time to improve things. There’s a lot of places in your business you could waste time making updates — like revamping your logo, for example. You could spend hours and hours on that but your changes will almost certainly make zero impact. Spending time on your email conversion on your website, however, is something that can make a HUGE difference. It has for us. Because in today I want to show you an audio training where we discuss how Steph Crowder — Director of Member Success here at Fizzle — was able to DOUBLE her email list in just one week. If you are starting your email list from scratch, or just looking for some tips, tricks and strategies on how to grow your list — and in turn your business — you will really take something away from this episode. We also talk about the two free guides Steph created to accelerate her list and how listening, empathizing and responding to your listener community is the best thing you can do to grow your business. There’s some notes below, but the meat of this training is really in the conversation. Enjoy!

Here's a little love note from Fizzle for you and yours wherever you are during the holidays. There won't be a regular episode of the Fizzle Show this week.

What if there was something you could do right now to bring more energy into your life every day as an entrepreneur? You know the whole game — on a fundamental level — is about energy, right? Energy enough to think, energy enough to strategize, energy enough to take action effectively. (Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/246) And yet many of us entrepreneurs struggle with having enough energy. For entrepreneurs, the work never stops. Entrepreneurs never really “clock-out” or leave work at the office. They are the business and this makes it difficult to take a break and keep energy levels up in their busy day-to-day lives. And yet, all your strategy and action rely on having enough energy. So what can we do to get more energy!? Well, before I tell you, can I just say: you’re not going to like it? And some of you are going to ditch out right here. But others of you, if you really want to have more energy, if you really want to setup a REGULAR HABIT of more energy, you’re ready to hear this. And our podcast today is going to help you go so much deeper into this tactic… teaching you how to get more and more and more energy to do what you need to in your business. Ok, here’s the thing… If you want to have more energy you have to rest. If I told you that allocating time to recharge could save you time, energy and improve your performance… would you take it seriously? Would you want to know HOW to recharge? Would you want to know what kinds of things you can do to recharge? In this episode, we’re going to be sharing some tips, tactics and wisdom about how you can have more energy as entrepreneurs. Today on the show we are joined by Scott Dolly, Founding Director of Evolution Human Performance & Rehabilitation. We all know how much energy it takes to wake up every morning and apply ourselves, not only to our day jobs, but to our evening and weekend job as well. So inside this episode, we talk with Scott about some of the amazing ways you can cultivate, circulate and conserve more energy throughout your day. We also talk about the interesting philosophy he has toward treatment, recovery and energy, a philosophy that’s led to his massive success treating all kinds of illnesses. Nobody is going to build your own business for us, so it is up to each one of us to keep up the stamina, the enthusiasm and energy that comes with the 24/7 life of an entrepreneur… This episode will help you immensely!

Is it actually possible to support your family over the long-haul with an independent online small business? Like, is it actually possible? (Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/245) Or are we all just kind of hoping that our blog or podcast or freelancing business will last? Well this episode right here is your answer. In it we learn exactly how possible it truly is… AND we get to hear from a real buddha of online biz; a mentor to many of us because he’s been doing it for so much longer than most of us. Creating your own business is not about making it easy; there is still going to be work that needs to be done. That said, it is POSSIBLE to create a life that is less stressful, more prosperous, and purposefully designed to support your dreams and your family all at once. Steve Maxwell is the founder of Bailey Line Road Chronicles, and he’s been supporting himself and his family through his writing and web work for almost 25 years now. Steve shares his journey with us, and how he has transitioned over the years, from typewriter, to fax, to building an email list that is truly your own. We also dive into the conversation of what it means to understand what the market wants and learning how to build your own dream in the big, open ocean instead of splashing around in someone else’s fishbowl, unfulfilled and unsatisfied. (Note: this fishbowl thing will literally stay with you forever once you hear it.) It IS possible to sustain yourself and your family over the long-haul with your indie business. Learn exactly what that’s like in this episode. Enjoy!

Want to hear from some giants in the online business space about what’s changed in business the past 10 years? You should. Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/244 Why? Ever wonder what is actually important to learn when it comes to building your own business? Are you getting left behind by the ever-changing entrepreneurial landscape? Then you better get into this episode. Everyone knows there’s so much we need to learn when starting a business. We simply don’t know everything we need to before starting our businesses. But that begs the question; what’s worth learning and what isn’t? If you waste your time learning unnecessary things, you are the only one who pays for it. Bottom line: you are just hurting yourself and your business. In today’s episode, we are talking about exactly what has changed in online business for indie entrepreneurs over the last 10 years. Because if we can figure out and be smart about what has been changing, maybe that can help us better prepare for what will change in the future. Today we welcome a very special guest, Pat Flynn, to discuss the way online business has changed over the past 10 years with Fizzle’s CEO, Corbett Barr. Both Corbett and Pat are seasoned entrepreneurs who have supported themselves and their families through indie online business for 10+ years. Pat is the founder of Smart Passive Income where he teaches others, through his own experiments, exactly how to stop trading time for money and start building a business that works. And Corbett is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fizzle.co, which provides community feedback and friendship alongside high quality training for people earning a living doing something they care about. Both these guys get into amazing insights that teach and inspire in this informal, conversational and entertaining episode! Enjoy :)

What would happen if you realized that you aren’t actually doing what you love? How would you transition into a truly meaningful life? Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/243 While we’re at it, what does it really mean to use your gifts to change the world? And how can you earn your living along the way? If you’re working for yourself already you know how easy it can be to get caught up in the busy-ness and lose track of what matters most. Well, this episode is going to SORT YOU OUT! Today on the show we are joined by Charles Eisenstein, author, scholar and speaker. And Charles is going to help us all think DEEPER about how we earn our money. Charles is known for his thoughtful and challenging articles on civilization, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. He has a degree in mathematics and philosophy from Yale and is the author of several books, including Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible, just to name a few. Inside this episode, we get into some really deep and really important mindset shift changes. We get the chance to discuss what it looks like when you realize that you aren’t actually doing what you love, how to transition into a life that is truly meaningful, and how to turn it into a career that pays. On top of that, we dig into what it really means to find your calling and use the gifts that you were given to answer a need in the world, and find the opportunities along the way. This podcast is free for your enjoyment, so dive right in! Key points from this episode: The turning point that led Charles to seek out what he truly wanted to do in his life [0:07:23.0] How Charles transitioned out of his full-time job, eventually discovering his purpose. [0:09:24.0] Why Charles ended up filling bankruptcy after publishing his first book. [0:12:40.0] What it really means to find your “why” and learning to confront your personal conviction. [0:15:38.0] How Charles responded to his call by using his gifts to meet a need in the world. [0:18:12.0] Navigating the crossroads, and how Charles clawed his way back to his truth. [0:23:17.0] The importance of always being honest about your intention with your business. [0:28:37.0] Adopting an attitude of trust and learning to detach from the result of your work. [0:32:37.0] What it means to question the concept of creating an impact and platform size. [0:35:26.0] Understanding the essence of social enterprise; meeting a need in the market. [0:42:36.0] Finding a way to use feedback in order adjust your business model to the market. [0:46:00.0] How to recognize that what you are creating is no longer making a valuable impact. [0:49:31.0] And much more! Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: A Toolkit for Indie Entrepreneurs — https://fizzle.co/toolkit Fizzle on Twitter — https://twitter.com/fizzle FreshBooks — https://freshbooks.com/fizzle Storyblocks — https://www.storyblocks.com/fizzle The Tuneup Your Website Desperately Needs — https://fizzle.co/tuneup Charles Eisenstein— https://charleseisenstein.net/ Charles on Twitter — https://twitter.com/ceisenstein

If you’ve ever had high hopes about how good your sales were going to be… and then had those hopes destroyed by little to no results? **Get the shownotes: Fizzleshow.co/242** So often we see business owners who get super excited about launching a new product or service, and they have high hopes about making those sales. They then proceed to put it out there, push it to social media, email their list, and give something away for free thinking that this is going to be “the thing” that lands them a ton of sales. But instead, they are met with disappointment and little to no sales at all. So why does that happen? It happens all the time — we think our sales efforts are going to have bigger results than they actually get. Why? Because we haven’t yet learned how to make the sale happen NOW. It’s simple stuff, but many fresh entrepreneurs still haven’t learned how to do it. Today on the show we talk about: making the sale, how to avoid the post-launch disappointment, and the three essential elements for getting someone to take action and purchase what you have to offer, today! Inside this episode, we dive into the common scenarios that business owners face when launching a new product or service and why things go so terribly wrong despite having the greatest of intentions for their success. We also discuss the three ingredients that are necessary for getting someone to buy right now — the essential things that you might be missing your sales efforts. There are things you have to do to get someone to actually make the sale. It is not enough to simply put in the effort and commit to the hustle. It is absolutely key to nurture your audience, warm up your leads, and give them a reason to buy and a reason to buy right now. Enjoy! Key Points From This Episode: Most common examples of failed launches that most business owners face. [0:03:32.0] The deflating mental state that is experienced after an unsuccessful launch . [0:07:38.0] Common misconceptions of having a big email list; will they buy? [0:11:10.0] Understanding if your email list subscribers are qualified to buy your offer. [0:16:06.0] Allowing your email list to get to know you better before asking them to buy. [0:18:42.0] Why you should not “catfish” your customers; avoiding the bait and switch. [0:21:16.0] The process of qualifying a lead and identifying those who are interested. [0:23:31.0] Identifying your buyers who are either warm or cold. [0:26:59.0] Channels to use got warming up a lead and nurturing a lead. [0:32:31.0] Understand the concept of selling vitamins versus painkillers. [0:37:00.0] Creating an urgency to purchase by using a launch model instead of an ever-green model. [0:39:01.0] Why their reason to buy is based on how well you have nurtured your audience. [0:49:11.0] Provide enough details about your offer to debunk the myths and objections. [0:54:50.0] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: A Toolkit for Indie Entrepreneurs — https://fizzle.co/toolkit Fizzle on Twitter — https://twitter.com/fizzle FreshBooks — https://freshbooks.com/fizzle Storyblocks — https://www.storyblocks.com/fizzle Henry Rollins on The Iron — https://chasereeves.net/2013/henry-rollins-on-the-iron/ Think Traffic — http://thinktraffic.net Defining Your Audience Course — https://fizzle.co/library/defining-your-audience 5-Week Free Trial — https://fizzle.co/try5 Daily Direction Journaling Course — https://fizzle.co/courses/journal Start A Blog That Matters — https://fizzle.co/sabtm

If you are stuck in the romantic notion of what it looks like to create a business and you need some motivation to stop running away from the hard work, you’re going to love this episode. On today’s show we are joined by none other than Justin Jackson, who went from having a day job to being a successful author and creating 100 projects in one year, all to show that it is possible for you to become an indie entrepreneur (even in Canada!). Justin is the founder of MegaMaker, where he advises software, SaaS, and digital product companies. His books, Marketing for Developers and Jolt have sold thousands of copies, and truly saved him from bankruptcy. On his blog and in his podcast he focuses mainly on topics like product marketing, helping entrepreneurs and software companies around the world. Inside this episode Justin shares his experience of pursing his indie entrepreneur dream and how he got caught up in the romantic fantasy of what it’s really like to start a business. Justin gets vulnerable, revealing that his initial motivation for creating 100 projects in a year was to impress others and get approval from celebrity entrepreneurs, instead of doubling down on what was already working for him. Plus, he gets super real with us about how you absolutely cannot avoid the hard work that entrepreneurship requires. Show Notes & Conversation: FizzleShow.co/241 Key Points From This Episode: Why Justin could not have been an indie entrepreneur without a strong network. [0:03:32.1] The turning point that opened up the possibility for Justin to quit his day job. [0:06:30.1] An overview of Justin’s books, and whether or not they are right for you. [0:09:36.1] A single blog post that put Justin on the map; This is a webpage. [0:10:124.1] Justin’s journey of creating 100 projects in a year. [0:14:50.1] Learning not to get caught up in the romantic fantasy of being a business owner. [0:25:44.1] Identifying your motivations behind starting a business; do they align with your values? [0:29:29.1] Biggest lessons Justin learned from his challenge of creating 100 projects in a year. [0:36:39.1] Why we get caught up in the idea that “the grass is greener on the other side”. [0:46:39.1] Recognizing that you have to lean in to your discomfort, fully owning your story. [0:49:02.1 Understanding that the beginning stage of every business is difficult. [0:55:19.1] Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: A Toolkit for Indie Entrepreneurs — https://fizzle.co/toolkit FreshBooks — https://freshbooks.com/fizzle Justin Jackson — https://justinjackson.ca/ Justin on Twitter — https://twitter.com/mijustin Mega Profitable — https://megamaker.co/profit/ MegaMaker — https://megamaker.co/ Marketing for Developers — https://devmarketing.xyz/ Jolt — https://justinjackson.ca/jolt/ Product People Podcast — http://www.productpeople.tv/ Build and Launch Podcast — https://buildandlaunch.net/podcast/ MegaMaker Podcast — http://podcast.megamaker.co/ This is a Webpage article — https://justinjackson.ca/words.html Jason Zook — https://jasondoesstuff.com/ Heroku — https://www.heroku.com/ Peter Levels — https://levels.io/ Jeff Sheldon — https://shop.ugmonk.com/ Tobias van Schneider — http://www.vanschneider.com/

If you’re working through all the hope and doubt and strategies it takes to become a full-time blogger, then you’re going to enjoy the bejeezus out of this episode. Today on the show we are joined by Beth Hornback, who has an incredible story about how she carefully worked the steps and stages necessary to quit her job and work on her blog full-time. Beth is the creator of the blog, Eat Within Your Means, where she shares plant-based recipes and cooking tips to fatten your wallet and skinny your jeans. Whether that’s by cooking chickpeas from scratch or sharing ways to limit or eliminate oil, it’s easier than you think. Along the way Beth also shares her personal successes and struggles on the path to finding her means. In today’s episode Beth shares her journey of the wins and struggles she faced while transitioning out of her corporate job and into becoming a full-time blogger. So if your dream is to be a blogger full-time and you need a bit of guidance and motivation to get there, then this podcast is for you! Note: Beth has been a part of the Fizzle Community for a long time and we’re so glad to get to feature her story here! Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/240

You likely will face some kind of adversity or negativity as you build your business. This article is all about how you respond. How we deal with negativity and adversity is an essential ingredient in our success, so let’s think a little bit critically about this. Because it really is true: we all encounter negativity on the journey to success. In this article you’ll learn a few successful ways to respond. Show Notes FizzleShow.co/239

I’ve always had this assumption that real artists, real creatives, live lives without much commercial success. But today’s show directly confronts that idea… hell, it blows it up. We brought in Jeff Goins who’s just written a book called Real Artists Don’t Starve to break down 3 myths about starving artists. (Note: the Michelangelo story was well worth the cost of admission.) (Note: there is no cost of admission, this episode, like all our episodes on The Fizzle Show, is free!) Jeff breaks down 3 myths of the starving artist and helps us all get a much clearer perspective on how we can pursue our own success with creativity. Enjoy! Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/238