185 - You don’t need to be an expert — with Graham Cochrane

04/20/22 • 76 min

Graham Cochrane is an entrepreneur, YouTuber, and business coach whose mission is to help other people start their own businesses.

You might be thinking, “Great. Another online business guru telling me to sign up for their seminar while they pose in front of a rented Lamborghini.”

But you would be wrong.

In 2009, right after the financial collapse, Graham was laid off. He and his wife had recently purchased a house and just had their first baby. Not a great place to be.

After struggling to find work and being unable to make enough through freelance work, Graham saw an opportunity, and a side project was born.

Graham had unintentionally founded The Recording Revolution, the world’s largest online audio recording and music production resource.

Years later, that little side project evolved into a seven-figure business with over twenty-thousand customers.

The magic formula? Serve others.

In this episode, Graham shares how spending his time and effort serving others has served him well. He and Chris talk about non-traditional ways to earn a living being creative, how to build a community, and why you don’t need to be an expert to teach.

Graham was also generous enough to share the nuts and bolts of his business model and its financials. His first year in business, he earned $5,000, but by the end of his second, he was at $65,000, all from selling courses based on his experience.

Sponsored by

BetterHelp - https://betterhelp.com/futur

Athletic Greens - https://athleticgreens.com/futur

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Graham Cochrane is an entrepreneur, YouTuber, and business coach whose mission is to help other people start their own businesses.

You might be thinking, “Great. Another online business guru telling me to sign up for their seminar while they pose in front of a rented Lamborghini.”

But you would be wrong.

In 2009, right after the financial collapse, Graham was laid off. He and his wife had recently purchased a house and just had their first baby. Not a great place to be.

After struggling to find work and being unable to make enough through freelance work, Graham saw an opportunity, and a side project was born.

Graham had unintentionally founded The Recording Revolution, the world’s largest online audio recording and music production resource.

Years later, that little side project evolved into a seven-figure business with over twenty-thousand customers.

The magic formula? Serve others.

Sponsored by

BetterHelp - https://betterhelp.com/futur

Athletic Greens - https://athleticgreens.com/futur

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Previous Episode

184 - Taking Risks — with Jason Fried

Jason Fried is the founder and CEO of Basecamp. Once a web design firm (and operating under the name 37Signals), Basecamp unintentionally pivoted into building software with their namesake product. They also created the email app HEY, a fresh take on an old idea.

As you can imagine, Jason is no stranger to change. In this episode, he shares how Basecamp accidentally came to be and the struggles they’ve encountered along the way. Like working remotely, building new products, and taking calculated risks that from the outside might look crazy.

Change is inevitable, but it’s rarely easy, especially for a company where people are the driving force. Shifts in direction profoundly affect company culture, and how you manage that change can make or break your business.

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Next Episode

186 - How Brand Strategy Works — with Mika Saulitis

Mika Saulitis is the Director of Creative Strategy at branding and design studio, Trollbäck+Company. But what does a Director of Brand Strategy do exactly?

As Mika puts it, there are two core components: strategy and creativity.

Strategy involves strategic thinking, writing positioning statements, and determining the brand’s voice—the invisible traits of a brand. Creativity arrives in more tangible forms, like campaigns, videos, concepts, and copywriting.

In this episode, Mika shares how he navigated the design industry and transitioned from fetching lunch orders to facilitating high-profile strategy sessions.

Mika and Chris delve into how brand strategy works. The process, the pitfalls, and why the last thing a client wants is a “yes” person.

If you work in or are curious about brand strategy, what it is, or how it works, then give this episode a listen. Mika is generous with what he’s learned and how he learned it. Maybe his story can help you.

Sponsored by:

Athletic Greens - https://athleticgreens.com/futur

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices