Streamlined Solopreneur: Tips to Help Solopreneurs Automate Their Business

I remember the first time I got an affiliate payout. I didn’t even know it was coming. The money just showed up in my account.

“What is this from?” Then an email followed. A hosting company I had written a blog post about paid my affiliate commission for the last 2 months.

Since then, I’ve been stumbling through, clumsily trying to make affiliate income an appreciable part of my income – but it’s never worked as well as I hoped.

So I brought in an expert: my friend Justine. She’s been doing affiliate programs forever and currently leads ConvertKit, as well as consults through her own business, Brilliant Affiliate. She’s the perfect person to talk to.

Justine not only sets me straight, but she offers a TON of fantastic actionable advice for how to make the most of affiliate programs, how to find the right ones, and how they can live harmoniously (and even help) with sponsorships.

Top Takeaways

• Affiliate programs provide a way to earn passive income by referring customers to products/services you recommend. Look for ones that pay well.
• Target your affiliate content to the right people – people who are low in the funnel, and are weighing their options between your recommended product and competitors.
• Balance affiliate income with sponsorships - affiliates are more passive/long-term while sponsorships are good for timely campaigns. But being a good affiliate can also help you land sponsored campaigns from the same company!

Show Notes

• Justine Galea
• Justine on Twitter
• ConvertKit
• Podcasting Tools

Sponsors:

• Check out Liquid Web
• Get started with Clariti for just $1 your first month with code SOLO2024
• Ready to get Unstuck? Visit https://streamlined.fm/unstuck for 33% off.

It would be a dream of mine to grow a newsletter from 0 to 8,000+ in less than 6 months. But that’s exactly what Chenell Basilio did. The way she did it? Deeply researched, super-helpful content. See, she teaches people how successful creators grew their newsletters to 50,000+ subscribers. And today, she’s going to tell us all about her process. And in How I Built It PRO, we talk about money and goals for the next 6 months.

Top Takeaways

• Creating unique, long-form content can be a boon to your website or newsletter; people want something good and helpful!
• Quick capture is important. Chenell uses Apple Notes because that allows her to quickly open and dictate notes while she’s listening to podcasts.
• Chenell will only do deep dives on creators who’ve built an audience since 2018. That way she can cover techniques that still work today, making the content relatable.

Show Notes

• Growth in Reverse
• Chenell on Twitter
• Chenell on Linkedin
• How the best newsletter operators grow to 50K+ subscribers
• Podchaser
• Listen Notes
• TweenMax
• Readwise
• Github: Video Speed Controller
• Chrome Video Speed Controller

Sponsored by:

• Brevo: Get 50% off your first 3 months with code JOE
• Gapscout: ChatGPT insights, but for market research

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A few weeks ago we talked to Louis Nicolls about the importance of having a good newsletter that helps people — some targeted, educational resource. Brennan Dunn knows a thing or two about that and has built an empire around segmentation and personalization. The last time he was on the show, we talked about Right Message. Today, we talk to him about email templates and newsletter strategies that we can implement with his new tool, Palladio.

Top Takeaways

• Brennan equates emails to sales pages multiple times. Yes, they are a great way to establish trust and be a resource for subscribers...but we also want them to stand out and make them memorable for when we need to sell.
• Instead of doing educational emails, pausing them and doing a sales sequence, Brennan recommends mixing in targeted sales messages through your emails. This allows you to show helpful resources at a time the subscriber is ready to buy...making it a win/win for both of you.
• Evergreen, or “Shadow” newsletters as Brennan calls them, are a great way to build a resource, be consistent with your newsletter, and focus on other tasks around marketing or building your list.

Show Notes

• Brennan Dunn | Brennan on Twitter
• Palladio
• Create and Sell Newsletter
• CaboPress
• How to Actually Sell to Your Email List with Samar Owais
• Building a Newsletter People Will Actually Read (and Recommend) with Louis Nicholls
• Join Creator Crew for ad-free, extended episodes.

Sponsored by: WP Wallet | LearnDash

What’s the difference between making money on the side, and running a business? There are probably dozens of ways to answer that, but if I had to answer, I’d say that it has to do with how you manage your money. Early in the WordPress space, people were learning they could make money with their work, but we’re managing it properly. I think we’re seeing something similar in the creator space, so I’ve brought in Profit Expert Nev Harris to tell us the 4 ways to find hidden profit in your business and get your finances in order.

Top Takeaways:

• People say, “you have to spend money to make money,” but Nev says, “spend smart money to make money.” Buying the latest and greatest CRM, microphone, or computer will actually make you money. But hiring a VA might.
• You need to find profit in your business by getting out of the dark. Nev says you need to focus on 4 areas: Revenue, Profit, Expenses, and Efficient. Start slow and pick one per quarter.
• When it comes to efficiency, If you’re spending too much time doing the work, you’re chasing pennies and leaving dollars on the floor. Get to a place where you only do what you need to do.

Show Notes:

• Nev Harris
• Nev on Linkedin
• Nev on Twitter
• Stroop Effect
• Profit First
• Agile Development
• Free Expense Killer
• Join the Creator Crew

Sponsored by: Nexcess | TextExpander | LearnDash

Perhaps it’s fitting that today’s interview is a play in 3 acts. After all, I’m talking to Melanie Deziel, speaker, author, and founder of Story Fuel. It makes sense that we talk about creating good content in 3 acts: idea generation, brand deals, and coming up with headlines. This discussion is completely packed with fantastic advice to help up your content creation game.

Top Takeaways:

• When it comes to content, we often focus too much on the format, and not the actual message. instead, determine what you’re saying first. Then figure out how to best say it. The “how” drives the format and where you’ll publish.
• Brand-sponsored content is being created in collaboration with or on behalf of a brand that wouldn’t be created otherwise. They are leveraging your trust, so find overlap between what the brand wants to say and what your audience wants to hear.
• When writing headlines, remember they are a formula. Ask “What’s the purpose of this headline,” or put differently: what is this content doing? That should help you determine the type of headline to write.

Show Notes:

• Melanie Deziel
• Melanie on Linkedin
• Melanie on Twitter
• Melanie on YouTube
• Melanie on Instagram
• Say it Again: Your Business NEEDS to be on TikTok with Alex Rossman
• Join the Creator Crew

Sponsored by: Nexcess | LearnDash