Earlier this week, Alex and I were stuck. Hard. I was crazy unhappy with the lessons I'd been trying to design. What I was doing… wasn't working. Why was I stuck? What did we do to get unstuck? What on earth is the "voicemail effect" and why is it the source of so much writer's block? If you find yourself stuck in a project — and therefore avoiding it — then this episode might give you the inspiration you need to figure out why. That kind of thinking can save your project. More insider peeks at https://unicornfree.com/2015/watch-us-build-our-next-product Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP5 - The evil voicemail effect

No fluff. No bullshit. Just relatable straight-talk from creators and entrepreneurs you can relate to, and learn from. One lesson at a time, and one brick at a time!Each episode of this show explores the intersections of business, psychology, audience building, and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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We're going on a quick break, but this episode includes a sneak peek at what's coming up next.  Thanks for a great season, and for all of the positive comments. If you love the show, consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts: https://lovethepodcast.com/stackingbricks   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP44 - What's Coming Next

I recently joined friend Jonathan Stark on his podcast "Ditching Hourly" where he typically talks about business strategies and best practices for helping freelancers and consultants escape hourly billing. And we talked about that world of business quite a bit, including how people often copy the wrong parts of the successes they've seen. But as a self-published digital author himself, Jonathan also wanted to grill me on exactly how we launched The Tiny MBA and sold thousands of copies without a publishing deal...and without boxes of books sitting in my basement. So I indulged him! In this episode, you're going to hear my answers to Jonathan's questions about:Why we decided to make The Tiny MBA a physical, printed book in the first placeHow and why we picked our printing and distribution partner (and why it's not Amazon)And Jonathan and I riff on my new "secret weapon" for building pre-launch momentum, and why it created a 90% conversion rate and some of the fastest sales I've ever seen.I also learned that Jonathan went to music school, and the comparison he draws in the first few moments between learning both business and music through style practices still has me thinking about it weeks later! I'm excited to see Jonathan ship his first paperback book in the future, and if you're inspired to consider self-publishing a print book, I hope the stories and suggestions in this episode help you too. WIth that, let's get into my conversation with Jonathan Stark from the Ditching Hourly podcast.   Ready? Here we go.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP43 - Jonathan Stark has Questions About Self Publishing

This week I'm talking customer research with Eteinne Garbugli. Eteinne is the author of a book called Lean B2B, and after learning that his book included our Sales Safari customer research framework, I offered to talk with him and answer some of his remaining questions about the methodology. In the next 30 minutes, you'll hear Eteinne and I talk about:- the surprising origin of Sales Safari itself- what we really mean when we say "customer pain" and the many forms it can take- why strategically choosing an audience is actually a lot more straightforward than most entrepreneurs make it  ...and a whole lot more. In the full interview, we also talked about a bunch of other topics related to entrepreneurship and some of Eteinne's favorite lessons in The Tiny MBA, but you're here for the Sales Safari so I'm jumping straight into that here on the podcast feed! This is some of the most in-depth information we've ever published about Sales Safari outside of our paid courses, so I'm excited to share it and hope it helps you understand and reach your audiences. Ready? Here we go.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP42 - What is Sales Safari? with Eteinne Garbugli

This week I'm stopping by The Cognitive Bias Podcast with David Dylan Thomas to riff on a topic we're both very passionate about: the intersection of ethics and capitalism. Dave is one of the best people I can think of to talk to about this because as a designer and a strategist, He spent a lot of his career thinking about the implications of bias on our work as creators. And one of the things I've heard Dave talk about over and over and over is how so many of the ethical problems we face in business today might actually be designed problems that we can better solve. And in some cases only solve. If we first understand to the cognitive biases that those problems are rooted in. Dave has spent so much time thinking about bias that he literally wrote a book about it called Design for Cognitive Bias, about how to understand the impact of biases on our customers, our teams, even ourselves.  The book is amazing. Everyone who makes things should absolutely read it. Back to ethics and capitalism. Seemingly opposing forces. Right?  Well, in this episode, we're going to be talking about: the impact of survivorship bias on the kinds of businesses that people start and growthe relationships that exist between money and power and a very unexpected segue into an episode of the nineties TV show dinosaurs that I promise is more relevant than you could possibly imagine.If you enjoy this conversation, I highly recommend going and checking out. Dave's aptly named Cognitive Bias Podcast for other similar in-depth discussions with industry experts, and then go back and check out these super bingeable back catalog of his 5 to 10 minute episodes where he explores one bias in each one. It's truly a treasure trove of how our we're human brains work.  But now, and here, I hope you enjoy this wide ranging discussion about the get rich quick scheme that we call America with David Dylan Thomas. Here we go.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP41 - Questioning Our Assumptions with David Dylan Thomas

This week I've got a quick brick for you today, on the topic of bosses. One of the things I don't think we talk about enough is how the bosses we've had inform the bosses we become, and that includes becoming our own bosses too. A few weeks back I had the chance to sit down with Lauren Williams from Workplace Harmony and the host of a very fun show called "Caffeinated Convos and Horrible Bosses" where she asks her guests to share their best stories about the worst bosses they've had, and try to learn lessons that can make us better bosses today. Lauren and I talked more about my backstory and The Tiny MBA on her show, which you can go listen to at anchor.fm/horriblebosses, and dig into her archive for more horrible boss catharsis. But in today's mini-episode, I share: - My horrible boss story, and how it informed my approach to business- As well as the impact one amazing boss has had on my life in ways that still impacts me, more than 15 years later. All that and more inside this caffeinated conversation with my new friend, Lauren Williams. Here we go. Find Lauren on Social MediaTwitter: @LaurenShazzamInstagram: @workplaceharmonyHRFB: Workplace Harmony Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP5 - The evil voicemail effect

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