The Soloist Life
Rochelle Moulton
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Top 10 The Soloist Life Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best The Soloist Life episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to The Soloist Life for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite The Soloist Life episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Making More and Working Less with Jonathan Stark
The Soloist Life
06/27/24 • 48 min
How can you work less and make more than you are right now? There is a glide path if you’re willing to experiment insists Jonathan Stark, author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts. Yes, the dynamic Business of Authority duo is baaaaaaaaack for an episode:
Two experiments to try if you’re currently billing by the hour and want to explore alternatives.
How to start thinking about value vs. time, especially when you hit the maximum number of hours you are able—or want—to work.
What options to consider to ratchet up your revenue past the low 6 figures—and how to think about the audience or transformations you’ll need to deliver to get there.
Why being a “ruthless” minimalist can keep your business easy to run and avoid time sucks.
Exploring—and testing—ways to use AI right now in your expertise business.
LINKS
Jonathan Stark Website | LinkedIn
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
BIO
Jonathan Stark is a former software developer who is on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly, and writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals.
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
Join the Soloist email list: helping thousands of Soloist Consultants smash through their revenue plateau.
Soloist Events: in-person events for Soloists to gather and learn.
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:29
Jonathan Stark: As you're growing your audience and you've got just more people aware of what you're doing, you can deliver smaller bits of value at a lower price, but a way lower cost. If you've got enough of an audience, then that completely support you. The classic example is like if you have a bestselling book. So if somebody goes to Amazon, they buy the book, they read the book, you're not involved. The author doesn't even know about you. And if you sell enough of them, if the audience is big enough, you can live like a king off of that.
00:29 - 00:37
Jonathan Stark: It's a great example of the kind of thing where you're delivering a little bit of value for 20 bucks to 10 million people and it's like, oh, that's pretty cool
00:42 - 00:55
Rochelle Moulton: Hello hello Welcome to this soloist life podcast where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton, and today we have a special surprise guest, my buddy Jonathan Stark.
00:56 - 00:58
Jonathan Stark: Hello. It's great to be back.
00:59 - 01:02
Rochelle Moulton: Awesome. And I'm in charge of the controls, which is like super fun.
01:02 - 01:02
Jonathan Stark: No
01:02 - 01:28
Rochelle Moulton: pressure. So, let me do an intro so people who don't know who you are will know. And Jonathan is a former software developer who's on a mission to rid the world of hourly billing. He is the author of Hourly Billing is Nuts, the host of Ditching Hourly, and writes a daily newsletter on pricing for independent professionals. He is also a former co-host with moi of the Business of Authority. So, Jonathan, welcome.
01:28 - 01:31
Jonathan Stark: Great to be here. Thanks for having me.
01:31 - 01:44
Rochelle Moulton: I just had somebody tell me yesterd...
1 Listener
Doubling Revenue In A Single Year with Mike Ryan
The Soloist Life
03/28/24 • 34 min
Moving from a job in big corporate to building a soloist expertise business is a bit of an adjustment. Consultant Mike Ryan turned his sweet spot into a thriving business and last year doubled his already significant revenue—he shares his story:
The transition from being a buyer to becoming the seller—and how he built his referral “machine” (hint: cold calling didn’t work).
Why he ignored advice to grow by hiring employees—and what he did instead.
The two things that first accelerated and then doubled his revenue.
Why understanding the relationship between fees and value for his clients was a major turning point in his business.
How to resist the temptation to dial back after a 230% growth year and keep thinking bigger.
LINKS
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
BIO
Mike Ryan is an expert in solving supply chain and inventory challenges for middle-market manufacturers. He quickly analyzes complex issues, generates cash, and improves EBITDA to deliver repeatable results.
With over 20 years of experience working for companies like GE and Goodyear, he tailors blue-chip best practices to help manufacturers achieve their goals.
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
Join the Soloist email list: helping thousands of Soloist Consultants smash through their revenue plateau.
Soloist Events: in-person events for Soloists to gather and learn.
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 – 00:29
Mike Ryan: There were 2 things at play. 1 was figuring out how to work in parallel, work with multiple clients at the same time, which was definitely a mindset shift. And the second 1 was being confident and having the confidence to be able to look at a client and say, hey, here’s the value we are going to unlock in your business. The beautiful thing about the work that I do is it’s all measurable. Here’s the value we expect to unlock.
00:34 – 01:17
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to the Soloist Life podcast, formerly known as Soloist Women, where we’re all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I’m Rochelle Moulton, and today I’m here with Mike Ryan, who is an expert in solving supply chain and inventory challenges for middle market manufacturers. He quickly analyzes complex issues, generates cash, and improves EBITDA to deliver repeatable results. With over 20 years of experience working for companies like GE and Goodyear, he tailors blue chip best practices to help manufacturers achieve their goals. He is also a super smart and generous guy, so I’m delighted to
01:17 – 01:18
Rochelle Moulton: have him on the show. Mike, welcome.
01:19 – 01:21
Mike Ryan: Thank you, Rachelle. Thank you for having me.
01:21 – 01:31
Rochelle Moulton: Oh, I’m delighted. I’m delighted. So you and I have been in each other’s orbit for a few years through my other podcast, The Business of Authority, and we’ve had some rather eye-opening discussions over the
01:31 – 01:33
Mike Ryan: years. We
01:33 – 01:56
Rochelle Moulton: have. But our last chat made me realize that I had to have you on this show because you broke a significant revenue barrier that many ex-corporados struggle with when they go solo. So I thought we could start there. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So how did you come to create your business? Was it always intended to be solo, or did you flirt with hiring employees? What was your plan?
01:57 – 02:42
Mike Ryan: So the plan for my business and really kind of the g...
Downsizing A 7-Person Agency To Go Solo with Laurel Scherer
The Soloist Life
09/28/23 • 34 min
Over nine years, Laurel Scherer built her digital marketing agency to a highly engaged and talented team of seven employees. In 2023, she decided to go solo—she shares her experiences with shedding employees for the freedom and flexibility of a solo business.
We dive into:
The day-to-day realities of running a firm with employees.
How having employees impacted revenue and profit growth plus the owner’s personal bottom line.
The emotional, cognitive and time commitment of being responsible for employees, their career growth and the underlying business.
The pleasant surprises from shifting daily responsibilities for an agency of employees to a solo model.
LINKS
Laurel Scherer | Website | LinkedIn
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
GUEST BIO
Laurel started her professional life as an Air Force public affairs officer, working in internal communications and media relations, then managing the consolidation of several hundred base websites into a single news and information site for the AF. Ultimately, she decided to depart from her original career path, and moved to the Blue Ridge Mountains, where she began a far less predictable endeavor, starting a web development business.
Over the next several years, she grew her small operation into a 7-person digital marketing agency. Then, in 2022, she shifted gears again, and slowly scaled the agency back down. Now she's a soloist, focusing on why she started this journey in the first place.
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:16
Rochelle Moulton: My new definition of wealth is money, revenue, money, time, and flexibility. So what you just picked up is a form of wealth that you didn't have before, which is the flexibility to make decisions you might not have been able to make before.
00:17 - 00:33
Laurel Scherer: Right, and that's the irony is you go into business to have that flexibility, and then you grow an agency and realize that you really don't have nearly as much of it as you do if you're working more independently and collaboratively without the responsibility of the employees.
00:38 - 01:03
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to Soloist Women, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton, and today I'm here with Laurel Shearer who built a seven-person digital marketing agency but decided to convert to a soloist model, a process that she literally just finished a few days before we're doing this recording. Laurel, welcome.
01:04 - 01:06
Laurel Scherer: Hi, thanks for shell. Thanks for having me.
01:06 - 01:39
Rochelle Moulton: Well, 1 of the many reasons I wanted to have you on the show, Laurel, is your experience of shedding employees to go solo. So, you know, I really appreciate your willing willingness to come talk about it as it's kind of almost unfolding in front of us. And plus, I'd really love for our listeners to hear how you've gotten to this place. Because I suspect that you're not alone amongst expertise business owners who built an employee model. I've heard this more than once, and I felt it myself when I d...
What’s The Point? A Value Conversation with Katie Burkhart
The Soloist Life
10/26/23 • 41 min
How can we do more of what we and our clients and buyers value—and less (or better yet, none) of what we don’t? That’s the focal point of essentialist thinker Katie Burkhart’s mission to evolve the way we work.
We explore:
The question to ask yourself before saying yes (and the freedom you give yourself when saying no).
Why work life balance is a myth when what we really want is to integrate the two.
How we have changed our collective view of what work really means (even if not everyone has caught up yet).
Why making an impact is “the caboose” behind providing value to your clients and buyers.
How to think about relationships without converting them to currency.
LINKS
Katie Burkhart | Website | Substack | LinkedIn | Entrepreneur
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
GUEST BIO
Katie Burkhart is the mastermind behind MatterLogicW, the only system for running a business in the value economy. An essentialist thinker, Entrepreneur contributor, thoughtful speaker, and jargon slayer, she shifts your focus by asking “What’s the point?” For more of her thinking, connect with her on LinkedIn and subscribe to WTP.
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:33
Katie Burkhart: I'm a big believer that you need your core, which has 5 pieces, purpose, vision, outcomes, mission, and values, because we need to know what that core is so that we can make choices based upon it. That's what constitutes a strategy. And when you think about impact, right, Impact is the caboose that comes at the end. We need to deliver value and have value delivered successfully in order to hopefully make an impact. Impact is difficult to measure. It's difficult to put our hands around, but most of us, and it sounds like soloist women, are really looking to
00:33 - 00:36
Katie Burkhart: make that impact and I know a lot of the people I work with do too.
00:41 - 01:07
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to Soloist Women where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton, and today I'm here with Katie Burkhardt, who is an essentialist thinker, entrepreneur contributor, thoughtful speaker, and my favorite, jargon slayer. She is also the mastermind behind MatterLogic, which is a system for running a business in the value economy. Katie, welcome.
01:07 - 01:11
Katie Burkhart: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.
01:11 - 01:40
Rochelle Moulton: Well, I'm excited to have you. So 1 of the reasons that I just had to have you on the show, is your focus on turning what's the point into this key question that we ask with our work, this idea that you can make saying no the...
B2B Storytelling With Heart with Camille DePutter
The Soloist Life
10/19/23 • 44 min
It’s a conundrum: we know stories help make us better communicators, but we’ve also been told that too much personality “just isn’t appropriate” in a B2B context. Communication specialist Camille DePutter tells us exactly how to use storytelling to make an impact as a soloist.
We talk about:
Why storytelling is leaning into your thoughts, ideas, opinions, unique perspective and experiences.
The questions that will help you uncover your best stories (and the role shame may have played in keeping a challenging story untold).
Being both authentic and effective as a storyteller (hint: there is no one else exactly like you isn’t just a cheesy line).
How to not only excavate your best stories, but refine and polish them.
Why you might want to develop a story vault—and how to get started.
LINKS
Camille DePutter | Website | LinkedIn | Instagram
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
GUEST BIO
Camille DePutter is a storytelling specialist who helps high-performing individuals communicate better.
Through her work as a communications coach, consultant, and writer/editor, Camille helps her clients express themselves effectively and authentically, so they can level-up their leadership, build their reputation, and make the impact they were born to make.
Her client portfolio includes internationally-recognized brands, Olympic Gold medalists, world champion athletes, and highly respected founders, industry disruptors, and thought leaders.
Camille hosts the Storytelling with Heart podcast, is the author of two books, including Share Your Story: A Storytelling Workbook, and publishes regularly at camilledeputter.com
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:31
Camille DePutter: It can be very easy to feel like, oh well, no, I need to speak professionally, or I need to follow this template that other people are saying, or I need to say it this way because that's what other people are saying, or they're telling me that's how I have to talk to my audience, or even I need to care so much about my audience that I forget about myself and I want you to be able to bring yourself into this whole process because a I care about you and it's more fun this way but b also
00:31 - 00:35
Camille DePutter: it's actually more effective. So it all works together.
00:40 - 00:59
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to Soloist Women, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rachelle Moulton, and today I'm here with Camille de Putter who helps high-performing individuals level up their storytelling so they can make the difference they want to make. Camille, welcome.
01:00 - 01:07
Camille DePutter: Hello Rochelle, thank you so much for being here. Or I guess that was my own podcast. See what
01:07 - 01:12
Rochelle Moulton: happens when we podcast is like, we forget which side of the mic we're on. It's so funny.
01...
Stepping Fully Into Your Genius Zone with Rachel Huff
The Soloist Life
11/02/23 • 35 min
You're an expert at one thing that you know the market needs, but you’re feeling tugged to do something else—something that just might be in your genius zone. Do you go for it? Communication maven turned agency matchmaker Rachel Huff did—and she shares her experience.
We discuss:
The challenges of starting a new business on the cusp of a global pandemic (with two tiny children and no day care).
Generating the courage to pivot from what you’re very good at to your genius zone.
The importance of building a new pipeline after a pivot—and allowing enough time for it to jell.
Giving yourself permission to lean into your genius—even when other “experts” try to change your mind.
Why creating and sharing your point of view is so critical for soloists.
LINKS
Rachel Huff | Website | LinkedIn | Rosie’s Place
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
GUEST BIO
Rachel Huff, President and Founder of Victoire & Co, sits at the intersection of great companies and great agencies. Her passion lies in building brand-agency partnerships that drive long-term success.
With a keen understanding of clients’ communications and business needs and a network of trusted agency connections, she specializes in guiding companies toward their best agency fit.
Rachel previously led business development and agency marketing at Weber Shandwick and 360PR+ and has consulted for agencies of all sizes, drawing from a decade on the account side developing integrated communications campaigns for brands including John Hancock, Verizon, Ocean Spray, DraftKings, CVS and Life is Good.
Rachel extends her professional expertise through her nonprofit involvement. She serves on both the Board of Directors and the Marketing & Development Committee for Rosie’s Place, the nation’s first women’s shelter and a sanctuary for poor and homeless women.
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:28
Rachel Huff: When I started off on my own, I actually always did have this idea in mind of being an agency search consultant and that that was somewhere that I wanted to get 1 day in like 5 years or so. But I was so used to doing certain work and I was, I just sort of had, I don't want to say pigeon-holed myself, but maybe. And I think, I just think it's really important. It's something that I learned. And I think this was part of my making that pivot was just because somebody didn't listen to your expertise in
00:28 - 00:34
Rachel Huff: the past, or just because somebody didn't necessarily empower you to be an expert on something, it doesn't make it true.
00:39 - 01:07
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to Soloist Women, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton, and today I'm here with Rachel Huff, who serves as a matchmaker for brands and agencies through her firm Victoire & Company. And her background includes over a decade inside an agency developing integrated communication campaigns for brands like John Hancock, Verizon, Ocean Spray, and C...
Hosting A Purposeful Podcast with Lauren Popish
The Soloist Life
01/11/24 • 52 min
Podcasting is a proven way to increase your authority, impact and revenue—but how can you produce a podcast that consistently achieves your goals?
Lauren Popish, founder of The Wave (podcast editing for women, by women), shows how to clear the obstacles keeping you from starting—or continuing to grow—a purposeful podcast.
Lauren shares her story and some frank advice:
The two questions that you want to answer before recording a single episode (and use as a touchstone as you grow your ‘cast).
How to think about hard costs vs. the value of your time when outsourcing elements of your podcast production.
What to look for when outsourcing your podcast production—and when to choose a solo or an agency.
What to tell yourself if the sound of your own voice is keeping you from podcasting (start at timestamp 43:56 for the best advice I've ever heard on this).
Why purposeful podcasting means playing the long game.
LINKS
Lauren Popish Website | Launch Checklist | LinkedIn | Instagram
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
BIO
Lauren Popish is the founder of The Wave Podcasting. She started podcasting in 2017 after a public speaking blunder that sparked a speaking fear and almost ended her career. She found podcasting to be a safe place to practice speaking and wanted to share it with other women struggling to tell their stories.
The Wave launched The Wave Editing, the first podcast editing service for women by women in 2021. The Wave Editing pairs female audio engineers with female podcasters so they can grow their shows by outsourcing the tedious tasks that prevent many podcast hosts from building their audience. Since then, The Wave has served hundreds of women through affordable editing services, educational resources, and digital community.
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
The Soloist Women Mastermind (Apply January 2024) A structured eight-month mastermind with an intentionally small group of hand-picked women soloists grappling with—and solving—the same kinds of challenges.
10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:34
Lauren Popish: How much is your time worth, truly from like a dollar standpoint? What would it cost you to sacrifice 1 hour of your day doing something like editing your podcast? If you think you can get more value from editing it yourself, then you would if you were to go use your time to do something else like do an hour of coaching services or even spend your time marketing your podcast, increasing your audience. If you think that your time is better spent editing, then it'll be a better value for you than hiring someone.
00:38 - 01:13
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to Soloist Women, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton, and today I'm here with Lauren Popp...
What's A Soloist?
The Soloist Life
09/07/23 • 10 min
Before I start introducing you to some amazing guests in the soloist space, it makes sense to start with an important question: what exactly is a soloist anyway? And why would you want to be one?
I talk about:
- Finding delight the soloist way, despite having built—and sold to the big boys—a successful firm with employees.
- Why a soloist business allows you to earn more money, more reliably with none of the employee hassles that can eat up your energy and keep you awake at night.
- The importance of niching, discovering the revolution you were meant to lead and going deeper into your genius zone.
- The mindset of successful soloists (hint: think simplicity and ease) as we build an upward spiral of ideas, products and services.
LINKS
- Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
- The Soloist Women Mastermind (September 2023) A structured eight-month mastermind with a small group of no more than 12 hand-picked women soloists grappling with—and solving—the same challenges.
- 10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
- The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
- The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:44
Rochelle Moulton: Your mindset is a bit like a muscle. You need to regularly exercise its limits so you can keep building an upward spiral, an upward spiral of ideas of products and services of ways to create the impact you crave with your people. Hello, hello, and welcome to the Soloist Women podcast where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton. And since we're launching this brand spanking new podcast on soloist women today, I thought we should start with an important question. What exactly is a soloist and why would you want to be 1?
00:45 - 01:24
Rochelle Moulton: For those of you who don't know my story, I spent 10 years of my early career in a big global consulting firm, learning the craft of consulting, building practices and businesses. And I loved it until I didn't. And basically the partnership I worked so hard for and wanted a really young age just wasn't enough to compensate for how I felt about the work I was doing and the difference I was making. So I started my first expertise business And we built it around this idea of staffing it with MBA women, usually mothers, from the big firms
01:24 - 01:59
Rochelle Moulton: who'd had enough of working 60 plus hour weeks, living on airplanes, and still being made to feel they weren't contributing enough to make partner. The beauty of the idea was that we had our pick of highly qualified potential consultants who were desperate for a better way to run their career and their life. And the Fortune 500 firms that were our bread and butter loved our flexible model and they sent business our way, even solo sourcing us a lot of the time. So my point is that I've built businesses with employees, quite a few of them actually.
01:59 - 02:39
Rochelle Moulton: And if that's what's calling to you, by all means go out and build 1. It's an experience I wouldn't trade for anything. But if today you asked me to do the same thing I'd say no freaking way because I found true delight in the soloist way. No employees to feel responsible for and worry about. No big overhead that might make me say yes to work or clients I don't want. And a hundred percent complete freedom to do whatever I decide floats my boat. I earn more money more reliably with none of the ha...
How Much Money Can I Make As A Soloist?
The Soloist Life
11/09/23 • 12 min
When speaking about positioning at a conference for creative business owners, a soloist approached me. After pivoting from a multi-employee business during the pandemic, she was pleasantly surprised at how much more she was earning solo.
Our conversation inspired me to record this episode to share what is possible for soloists—and we’re not talking unicorns:
The journey from something that looks suspiciously like freelancing to employing leverage in your business.
The three types of leverage most soloists use to evolve their business.
The pros and cons of using different types of leverage in a soloist business model.
Why you want to be delivering high value transformations to maximize your earnings without working more hours.
LINKS
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL WITH ROCHELLE
RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
10 Ways To Grow Revenue As A Soloist (Without Working More Hours): most of us have been conditioned to work more when we want to grow revenue—but what if we just worked differently?
The Soloist Women community: a place to connect with like-minded women (and join a channel dedicated to your revenue level).
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:44
Rochelle Moulton: If you are setting, say, a 2 times rate on your contractor, so they charge you $25, 000, you bill them out to the client at $50, 000, then you're making 100% gross markup. Now I know that sounds like a lot, but remember, you're typically paying them some upfront before your client pays, so you have cash flow risk. You also have to spend coordination time and you're still doing all the usual client-facing activities including billing and collections And you're on the hook in every way, including legally, for the satisfactory performance of the work. Hello, hello. Welcome to
00:44 - 01:21
Rochelle Moulton: Soloist Women, where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton, and today I'm sharing a short solo episode on a topic near and dear to many of us. How much money can you actually make as a soloist? Now, I recently spoke about positioning at David C. Baker's MYOB conference for creative business owners, where a soloist approached me when I finished. And it turns out she'd had a multi-employee business for many years, but the pandemic brought their client work to a halt. So she pivoted to a soloist model and now brings in
01:21 - 01:59
Rochelle Moulton: contract help only when she needs it. And she said something like, I've never had more money in my bank account or felt freer in my life. And I was thinking, amen sister, the soloist way. She seemed pleasantly surprised that such a simple pivot could bring more money, more free time, and more joy, which is why I wanted to record this episode on a related question I get asked a lot. How much money should I be making and how much money can I make with my expertise? Let's agree to just tossed should off the table. I don't
01:59 - 02:38
Rochelle Moulton: believe in shoulds, But I would like you to know what's possible. Not unicorns, but the kind of business models that actually exist out in the real world. Most of us start with something that looks suspiciously like freelancing, right? You start out charging an hourly, daily, weekly, or even fractional rate. And if you do well, you eventually hit against a revenue ceiling, often somewhere between about $100, 000 up to roughly $250, 000, depending on how expensive a problem you're solving. And you suddenly realize that the only way to make more money under your current business model is
02:38 - 03:19
Moving Countries With Your Business with Casey Kelly-Barton
The Soloist Life
09/19/24 • 32 min
Have you ever considered moving yourself and your business to a new country? Content marketer Casey Kelly-Barton did just that and shares her challenges and opportunities as an ex-pat:
Her journey to niching into the intersection of three related niches— including how niching bumped up her revenue and reduced her hours worked.
Meeting the challenges to building a business while single-parenting after a divorce (and the most freeing thing she let go of).
Why she decided to move countries with her business—and how long she let the idea simmer first.
How she identified and evaluated target locations including the resources she tapped to explore the expat experience in advance.
The dividends from intensely focusing on that critical first year of transition.
LINKS
Casey Kelly-Barton Website | LinkedIn
Rochelle Moulton Email List | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
BIO
Casey Kelly-Barton provides content marketing and brand development for B2B companies in cybersecurity, fintech, and fraud prevention.
When she started her business, she was a newly single parent looking for ways to make the most of her writing and strategy skills.
Now, her business is well established with a roster of clients she enjoys working with, her kids are grown and she works from Portugal, where she moved in late 2023.
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RESOURCES FOR SOLOISTS
Join the Soloist email list: helping thousands of Soloist Consultants smash through their revenue plateau.
Soloist Events: in-person events for Soloists to gather, connect and learn.
The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise: equal parts bible, blueprint and bushido. How to think like, become—and remain—an authority.
TRANSCRIPT
00:00 - 00:28
Casey Kelly-Barton: So I started researching and I was very methodical. I made a list of countries that met my criteria for like weather, time zones, languages, blah, blah, blah. And so I was looking at Latin America and Central America pretty carefully because I speak Spanish. My parents are still in Texas. It would be time zone friendly for my American clients. And then both my kids ended up in the EU.
00:32 - 01:11
Rochelle Moulton: Hello, hello. Welcome to the Soloist Life podcast where we're all about turning your expertise into wealth and impact. I'm Rochelle Moulton and today I'm joined by Soloist and new expat, Casey Kelly Barton. She provides content marketing and brand development for B2B companies in cybersecurity, fintech, and fraud prevention. When she started her business, she was a newly single parent looking for ways to make the most of her writing and strategy skills. Now her business is well established with a roster of clients she enjoys working with. Her kids are grown and she works from Portugal where she moved
01:11 - 01:32
Rochelle Moulton: from the US in late 2023. Casey, welcome. Hi, thank you for having me, Rochelle. I'm so glad to be here. I'm excited to talk to you today. Yeah, me too. So when we met and I heard that you were moving countries, I just knew you had to come on the show to talk about your experiences because for some people, that's living the dream.
01:33 - 01:39
Casey Kelly-Barton: Yeah, it's been a lot of fun. I do get a lot of questions about it. And so I'm happy to talk about that in detail.
01:39 - 01:47
Rochelle Moulton: Well, first off, let's go back to when you started your business. So what made you start the business? And when did you start?
01:48 - 02:27
Casey Kelly-Barton: I started the business, I was newly divorced and I had been doing some freelancing and some ...
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FAQ
How many episodes does The Soloist Life have?
The Soloist Life currently has 48 episodes available.
What topics does The Soloist Life cover?
The podcast is about Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Podcasts and Business.
What is the most popular episode on The Soloist Life?
The episode title 'Making More and Working Less with Jonathan Stark' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on The Soloist Life?
The average episode length on The Soloist Life is 33 minutes.
How often are episodes of The Soloist Life released?
Episodes of The Soloist Life are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of The Soloist Life?
The first episode of The Soloist Life was released on Aug 18, 2023.
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