Welcome to the LIFESTYLE BUSINESS SWEET SPOT. 

Our new business brand, The Course Cartel, is hellbent on achieving it, in living in it, and in helping other like-minded, ambitious good humans live in it too.

It's our ethos.

Our unique approach to "doing" online business.

Our mission.

And now, the focus of our 2.0 Podcast, aptly ALSO named the "Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot".

Today heralds the beginning of our new era as we introduce our NEW podcast to you, and just as importantly, our NEW business brand. The mission across both is the same; to cultivate a collective of people all aligned towards a common goal:

The Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot -- An impactful digital course business earning $250k+/year profit, working 5-hours days, with a mostly clear calendar and a lean, remote team.

We're NOT one of those businesses that sugarcoat the work to get there:

From start to finish, it's a three to five year journey.

We're also not for everyone, and that's okay.

Maybe scaling to the moon is more your jam? And if so, all power to you!

Maybe you'd rather follow and work with someone that sugarcoats and glosses over the hard work required in the early days. And if so, there are plenty out there.

But if you're ambitious, capable and willing, and you value a business that will ultimately grant you freedom, impact and happiness over relentless scale at any cost, we're for you.

In today's episode, we share more about the ethos behind the new brand and how, no longer content with being "just another course business", we're boldly stepping into our UNIQUE place to make REAL waves and a big difference.

Welcome to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot. 

In this podcast episode, we share: 
✔️ The BIG Opportunities We Saw To Stand Apart
✔️ How We Intend To Serve You Through The Entire Journey
✔️ Our Clarity Around Our Values
✔️ The Podcast

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Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

Well, this is (really) it.
After today, Stevie Says Social as a brand is officially no more.
It's been five years, a million cheers... and if I'm honest, a few tears.
Anyone that has started a little business from a seed of an idea in their mind and a knowing feeling that they were made for more will resonate with me when I say that it's a mighty effort.
At the beginning, it's exciting and exhilarating.
You grow.
You learn.
You change.
In many ways, it's the biggest lesson in personal development that you will EVER undertake.
It becomes a piece of you.
A part of you.
(And sometimes, it engulfs you.)

Each year, on your business birthday, you look back and you reflect -
On how far you've come,
On where you're going,
And on whether your path is still aligned with the one you set out and forged for yourself all those years ago.

Sometimes, the answer is yes.
And sometimes, like me, it's not.
And so, on the eve of Stevie Says Social's fifth business birthday, it's time to finally sunset this little brand that has truly given me so much.

Tomorrow, we evolve.
But on today's podcast episode -
It's a time to reflect on the past five years.
To celebrate how far we've come.
To THANK this little brand.
And to say goodbye, to make room for the next iteration of this business that has truly become 'bigger than me'.

In this 'reflection' podcast episode, we talk about: 
✔️ The beginning of the Stevie Says Social brand, and how it came to be; 
✔️ Honest reflections on the evolution of the business over the past five years; 
✔️ What Stevie Says Social has given ME personally, and the ripple effects of impact it has had; and 
✔️ What's coming next (and an emotional farewell!) 

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Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

"You need to build an audience of people to sell to!" Says every marketer, ever.

"BUT HOW?!" I hear you cry.

Building your audience - especially when you are just starting out - can feel overwhelming, frustratingly slow and plain difficult to do.

Whether you're just starting out or you're looking to build a larger audience, it's useful to remember that EVERYONE starts from scratch.

You. Me. Gary Vee. Joe Rogan.

EVERYONE.

We all started with zero followers, zero email list, and zero customers and clients.

The most important thing is that you START.

In today's Throwback Thursday podcast episode, we are covering three ways to build your audience - whether you're starting from scratch, or you're ready to take your audience growth to the next level.

✔ Build an audience
✔ Borrow an audience
✔ Buy an audience


Full show notes for this episode can be found at:
https://thecoursecartel.com/99a 

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Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

Next up in our Throwback Thursday session, we revisit How I Swapped Clients For Courses!

"I don't have time...," says everyone, always. 

We're all busy. Ten busy. 

Throw a business and kids into the mix and you can dial that baby up to eleven and beyond. 

But there's one thing I know for damn sure: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result isn't going to change that for you. 

Let's dive in to today's throwback episode! 


Full show notes for this episode can be found at:
https://thecoursecartel.com/103a 

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Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

Growing an online course business is SIMPLE, but not EASY. If you want to supercharge the growth of your online business, there are FOUR core levers available for you to pull on.

The secret to BIG success? Taking FAST action, knowing which lever to pull based on the data you receive from the action you take, and continually optimising.

In today's podcast episode, we are breaking down the FOUR levers you can pull to supercharge the growth of your online course business.

✔️  Lever #1 - Lead Generation 
✔️  Lever #2 - Conversion Rate 
✔️  Lever #3 - Price 
✔️  Level #4 - Increasing Revenue Per Sale


Full show notes for this episode can be found at:
https://thecoursecartel.com/168 

----------

Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

Next up in our Throwback Thursday session, we revisit Why a $400k Sales Month Broke My Business, My Brain and My Bank Account!

We’re gonna kick this one off with the big, fat elephant in the room. I mean, title.

Namely, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU MADE $400K IN A SINGLE LAUNCH?!”

Well, dingbat, it means I made a $400k... ish... launch.

In December 2020, I made $400k-ish (actually, it landed at $370k or so, and it certainly wasn’t “cash collected”, but it sounds sexy, right?) in the “foundation” launch of my flagship group coaching program, Launchpad.

Was I pumped? YEAH.

For about two seconds.

…Until I realised that completely blasting my projected $100k goal out of the water by 4 X-ing meant that I would be spending the whole of my Christmas break and the two weeks in January before it opened MADLY working my tail off, hiring multiple staff members to help me manage the back end and preparing the program that I truly felt (and still feel) is my life’s work to the standard I expect (aka – very very very high).

That launch BROKE me.

My brain. My business. My bank account.

And only now am I starting to see the (very bright) light.

So, in this throwback episode, with a little distance between the biggest up-levelling I’ve ever moved through in my business and the (honest) burn out that ensued, I want to break down a few mistakes, lessons, epiphanies and changes I’ve made, learned, had and experienced over the past few months.

✔ Champagne problems AKA new levels, new devils
✔ Hitting my upper limit
✔ Finding my big girl pants


Full show notes for this episode can be found at:
https://thecoursecartel.com/110a 

----------

Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

It's one thing to create an online course; it's entirely another to build the "business" behind it. 

Processes, team, finances, SOPs... all things I like to call "operational elegance". 

Because, the truth is whilst the gurus will tell you that an online course will give you freedom and flexibility, the REAL truth is that TRUE freedom comes from the systems, routine and operations that you build BEHIND it. 

In today's podcast episode, we cover what you need in place to build out the operational structure behind your business. Routine, system and structure will set you free. 

Here are the key systems and operational focuses you need: 

✔️ Project Management and Planning 
✔️ SOPs and Back End Systems 
✔️ Financial Forecasting 
✔️ Team and Growth 


Full show notes for this episode can be found at 
https://thecoursecartel.com/167


----------

Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

First up in our walk down memory lane, we revisit for Throwback Thursday what FIVE things Successful Online Course Creators Have in Common!

❌ Unpopular opinion: Not EVERYONE is cut out to be a course creator (despite what the online gurus might tell you).

In my experience, there are a number of attributes that define a successful online course creator.

In this episode, we break down FIVE top attributes successful course creators share.

✔ Successful Online Course Creators do the work now, reap the rewards later
✔ Successful Online Course Creators enjoy marketing
✔ Successful Online Course Creators don’t have Shiny Object Syndrome
✔ Successful Online Course Creators live by the motto “Always Be Optimising”
✔ The actions of successful Online Course Creators are in alignment with their dreams


Full show notes for this episode can be found at:
https://thecoursecartel.com/123a

----------

Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

Ever wondered what it's like once you've "made it"? Well, let me tell you...

New levels, new devils, as they say 👹

And let me tell you, there are a few things that I wish people had been real about before I embarked on my digital course business. Champagne problems, if you will, which I have always defined as those very real problems that come about as a BY-PRODUCT of something for which you are, in fact, extremely fortunate to be experiencing.

And so, in today's podcast episode, I am sharing with you five "real talk" truths about building an online course business that successful digital course creators - and online coaches trying to SELL you the digital course lifestyle - aren't talking about.

✔️  Success can feel unsafe
✔️  You can't do it all yourself... but team ain't no walk in the park either
✔️  Growth is MORE than just more revenue
✔️  You can't outsource being the leader in your business
✔️  Your business won't make you financially free

Full show notes for this episode can be found at
https://thecoursecartel.com/166

----------

Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool

The secret to making $40k with our lazy course launch? Simply, this:

A content plan focused on avoiding the "sea of same" 🐟🐟🐟 by continuing to create "commodity content" ❌​​​​​​​​, and instead sharing our unique perspective.

The definition of "commoditised" is: "to render (a good or service) widely available and interchangeable with one provided by another company". Information is a commodity. Tips can be Googled. And if you're ONLY sharing content and tips, you're just another brand online. You're the DEFINITION of a commodity - and THAT means you are replaceable.

To stand out as an authority - it's true, you need to author content (literally, the "author" in authority). EVERYONE tells you this. But! The nuance is THIS: to stand out, you need to colour the content that you share with your unique perspective. True thought leadership means, quite literally, LEADING the thought in your industry.

And when you lead the thought rather than sharing the same "how to" content, you give people a reason to follow YOU specifically.

You're not interchangeable or replaceable because you're the only one sharing that perspective.

In today's podcast episode, we will share with you how we practically did this in the lead up to our podcast course launch to stand out and SELL out.

The process we followed:

👉🏻 Step #1: Choose 3-5 content pillars
👉🏻 Step #2: Share consistent content aligned with those content pillars
👉🏻 Step #3: Colour the content with your unique perspective

Here's how we did it in our launch:

✔ Our Offer: Launch Your Wildly Successful Podcast
✔ Aligned Content Pillar for this Offer: Content Creation
✔ Unique Perspective on Content Creation

Full show notes for this episode can be found at
https://thecoursecartel.com/165

----------

Want more? Here’s how we can help you:

→ Free Workshop — Create our knowledge-based lifestyle business in 2025

→ Subscribe to the Fully Free Newsletter — Come and join the party on Substack! Subscribe for weekly articles, essays and behind the scenes to help you build a lifestyle business.

→ Join Lifestyle Business School — Get the complete Operating System for starting or growing an expertise-based online business to the Lifestyle Business Sweet Spot.

Enjoy this content? Follow and subscribe for more:

→ Follow Stevie on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/steviedillon_/

→ Subscribe to Fully Free on Substack — https://lifestylebusinessschool.substack.com/

→ Subscribe to Lifestyle Business School on Youtube — https://www.youtube.com/@lifestylebusinessschool