On Your Terms®

I just got back from three days in Atlanta with some of the most impressive people in the online business space, and I am still processing all of it.

We're talking New York Times bestselling authors, YouTubers with millions of subscribers, book agents and editors, SaaS founders, and high-level consultants serving Fortune 100 companies. All 40 of us crammed into rooms, hot seats, and late-night fire pit hangs for what turned into one of the most valuable professional (and personal) experiences I've had in years.

I walked away with pages of notes on pricing psychology, LinkedIn strategy, storytelling, community building, and what it really takes to write and sell a book. But honestly? The biggest thing I took away wasn't a tactic at all. It was the realization that even after building a multi-seven-figure business, giving keynotes, and writing a book, I still don't fully believe in myself or what's possible for me.

And it turns out? Neither does pretty much everyone else in that room. So I figured I'd bring all of it back to you.

In this episode, you'll hear…

• The pricing psychology tip from a master business consultant that will make you rethink every number on your sales page
• Why the words "fee" and "costs" are quietly working against your sales (and what to say instead)
• The LinkedIn profile mistakes almost everyone makes and the simple fixes that actually drive traffic to your business
• What spending three days with NYT bestselling authors taught me about the realities of publishing, book deals, and where authors actually make their money
• Why the most successful people in the room still felt like they didn't belong there, and what that means for you
• The honest truth about AI that nobody in the online space seems willing to say out loud
• Why going deep in one community beats trying to be everywhere at once

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Grab Sam's book When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy and join the Live Book Club Call (purchase book by April 29th to get your invite)
• Jo Franco's travel show
• Craft + Commerce Conference
• Sam's episode on The Nathan Barry Show
• If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
• Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

• Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
• Follow Sam on Instagram
• Follow Sam on YouTube
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
• Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

You've watched other people's launches from the sidelines. The big revenue numbers, the sold-out offers, the "We Hit Our Goal in 24 Hours" Instagram stories. You want that too. And so you try. You do all the launch things. But something's off. The sales trickle in slower than you hoped, or it's just... crickets. And you start wondering if it's your emails, your offer, your timing, or honestly, if it's just you.

Here's the truth: it's probably none of those things.

The real issue is happening way before launch week ever starts. In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly what that is and what to build instead, so that your next launch has actual chompers waiting for it. (And yes, I'll explain what chompers means. Stick with me.)

In this episode, you'll hear…

• Why copying someone else's launch strategy, webinar slides, or email subject lines will not get you the results you're looking for
• What "chompers" are, why you need them, and how to build a community full of people who are ready to buy
• How to identify where your ideal customer sits on the problem and solution awareness scale, and why it changes everything about your marketing
• The three things you need to have in place to actually build an audience full of buyers, not just followers
• Why realistic conversion rates matter, and how to set expectations so you can grow your business without burning yourself out

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
• Grab Sam's book When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy and join the Live Book Club Call (purchase book by April 29th to get your invite)
• If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
• Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

• Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
• Follow Sam on Instagram
• Follow Sam on YouTube
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
• Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

Automation is great — until it makes people forget there's a real human behind your business. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on the tool I've been quietly using to generate content ideas, boost webinar show-up rates, and collect testimonials, all while making my audience feel personally connected to me. It contributed to a $500K launch, and I'm walking you through exactly how I use it for content, sales, and social proof.

In this episode, you'll hear…

• What VideoAsk actually is and why it's more like FaceTiming your audience than filling out a form
• How I'm using it to generate content ideas directly from my audience (in their own words)
• The exact funnel I built to improve webinar show-up rates and make my workshop better in real time
• How I'm collecting video testimonials that I can use in ads, social content, and more
• Why building in "surprise and delight" moments is one of the highest-return investments you can make in your marketing

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
• Grab Sam's book When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy and join the Live Book Club Call (purchase book by April 29th to get your invite)
• If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
• Check out VideoAsk (affiliate link)
• Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

• Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
• Follow Sam on Instagram
• Follow Sam on YouTube
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
• Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

If you've ever opened a blank document to write your newsletter and immediately closed it again, this one's for you.

I've been sending my weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar, consistently for years, and in this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on exactly how I decide what to write every single week. Including the time I scrapped a completely finished email the morning it was supposed to go out, wrote something raw and real in about five minutes, and watched my inbox light up with replies all day long.

This is the behind-the-scenes process I use to make email feel less like a chore and more like one of the most powerful, reliable tools in my business.

In this episode, you'll hear…

1. Why I always start by zooming out on my business before I write a single word
2. How to reverse engineer your email from your call to action so everything you write actually has a point
3. Why your call to action doesn't always have to be a sale (and what to do between launches)
4. The one habit that makes finding topics infinitely easier, even when your brain is totally blank
5. How I turned a frustrated, throw-it-all-out moment into one of my most-responded-to emails ever

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

1. Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
2. Get your copy of Sam's book When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy
3. If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
4. Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

1. Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
2. Follow Sam on Instagram
3. Follow Sam on YouTube
4. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
5. Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

Q1 is officially in the books — so before you barrel headfirst into Q2, let's actually stop and take stock of how it went.

In this episode, I'm walking you through the end-of-quarter check-in I use in my own business — one that covers both your stats and your vibes — so you can go into the next quarter with one clear focus, a simple plan, and a lot less "why does running this business feel so chaotic?" energy.

We'll talk about how to look at your numbers without spiraling into a shame spiral, how to figure out whether you have a leads problem or a sales problem (because the answer totally changes your Q2 plan), and why the things that are draining you in your business are probably directly connected to what's not working in your data.

I'm also sharing my personal Q1 gap year update — what's working, what's not, the mastermind I very painfully said no to, and the morning routine that finally helped me get my writing practice off the ground.

In this episode, you'll hear…

1. How to review your Q1 stats without spiraling into a shame spiral (the "curious scientist" approach is a game-changer)
2. Why picking one single focus for Q2 will get you further than 16 half-finished goals ever will
3. The "vibes check" — how to honestly assess how this quarter felt and what that means for Q2
4. Why what's draining you in your business might be directly connected to what's not working in your stats
5. My personal Q1 gap year update, including the mastermind I painfully said no to, the morning writing routine that finally clicked, and why "gap year" does NOT mean I'm sitting on a beach doing nothing

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

1. Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
2. Sam's Substack post: Taking a Gap Year as an Entrepreneur: My Year of Letting Go in 2026
3. Sam's Substack post: I called it a gap year—and everyone heard “year off.”
4. Check out The Brick (affiliate link)
5. Kit what I use to build my email list, send emails to my list, and create opt-in forms & pages (affiliate link)
6. If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
7. Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

1. Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
2. Follow Sam on Instagram
3. Follow Sam on YouTube
4. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
5. Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

Sam pulls back the curtain on her biggest launch ever — $500K in revenue in just four days. She's sharing the real numbers: 11,000 webinar registrants, a 5% conversion rate, and exactly what she spent on ads to get there. But this isn't just a brag fest — Sam gets honest about what's actually behind a launch like this, why you can't just copy someone else's formula, and what entrepreneurs at every stage can take away and apply to their own business.

Whether you're planning your first launch or looking to scale, this episode is packed with practical strategy on webinars, email list marketing, buyer objections, and building an online business that actually converts.

In this episode, you'll hear…

1. The actual stats from my $500K launch — including webinar registrations, show-up rates, conversion percentages, and ad spend (yes, I'm sharing the numbers)
2. Why I switched from three live webinars down to one — and how it actually increased my results
3. The "show up" email strategy I use to get more people to attend the webinar live (and why it works way better than a basic reminder)
4. How I think about Meta ads as their own social channel — and when you should (and absolutely should not) start running ads
5. The three main buyer objections I prepare for in every launch — and how I use testimonials to overcome each one

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

1. Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
2. Grab a copy of Sam's Book When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy
3. Read Sam's Substack post: I called it a gap year—and everyone heard “year off.”
4. If you have a question you’d like Sam to answer on a future podcast episode, you can submit it here.
5. Learn more about VideoAsk (affiliate link)
6. Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

1. Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
2. Follow Sam on Instagram
3. Follow Sam on YouTube
4. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
5. Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

Everyone's talking about Substack — and maybe you're curious, a little skeptical, and 100% wondering if you actually need to add another platform to your already-full plate. (Spoiler: you don't need to. But you might want to after this.)

In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on exactly how I grew my Substack, Beyond Business, to 1,000 subscribers using only organic strategies — no importing my 60,000+ person email list, no fancy custom design, no team of people building it out for me. Just consistent writing, a growth mindset, and a few simple (but powerful) tactics I wish I'd known earlier.

You’ll hear…

• Why I started a Substack when I already have an email list of 60,000+ people (and why it's absolutely not an either/or decision)
• The #1 mindset shift you need before you ever publish your first post Why becoming a fan of the platform first is one of the most underrated growth strategies out there
• How I built a consistent writing habit — and what happened to my creativity when I actually stuck with it
• The "idea bank" strategy that keeps me showing up even when inspiration goes on vacation
• Why you need to bank essays before you let the world respond to your writing
• How to use Substack Notes to grow your audience without burning out
• The referrals and recommendations strategy I used to accelerate growth (and exactly how to ask for them without being weird about it)

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
• 👩🏻‍💻 REGISTER FOR MY FREE LIVE LEGAL CLASS --> https://www.samvanderwielen.com/live-legal-workshop
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
• Episode 271. Why I Started a Substack When I Already Have an Email List
• Episode 279. What to Focus on First If You Want to Build an Audience
• Sam's episode of Amelia Hruby's podcast, Off the Grid
• AI All Stars by Gemma Bonham-Carter (custom GPTs for your business) (affiliate link)
• Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

• Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
• Follow Sam on Instagram
• Follow Sam on YouTube
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
• Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

If you’re trying to grow your audience for your online business, you’ve probably heard advice like “build the audience first” or “you need followers before you can launch.” But what if that’s backwards?

In this episode of On Your Terms®, Sam shares the real foundation of sustainable audience growth—and why focusing on followers, email list size, or social media metrics too early can actually slow you down. Instead, she breaks down how mastering your craft (whether that’s writing, podcasting, video, or your core service) is what truly builds an audience that sticks.

You’ll hear…

1. Why obsessing over audience size can distract you from building actual skill
2. The “wedding vs. marriage” analogy that changed how I think about growth
3. What I realized after being in a mastermind with serious writers
4. How to practice your craft in public without spiraling over metrics
5. How to consume content in a way that fuels your output (instead of becoming a content junk drawer)
6. A simple way to audit whether your time matches what you say you want

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

1. Get Sam’s free weekly newsletter, Sam’s Sidebar
2. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
3. Get Sam's Book "When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy"
4. Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

1. Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
2. Follow Sam on Instagram
3. Follow Sam on YouTube
4. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
5. Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

Have you ever heard a quote at exactly the moment you needed it? Like it practically reached out and grabbed you by the shoulders?

That happened to me recently when I heard this line from The Artist’s Way: "perfectionism isn’t a quest for the best… it’s a pursuit of the worst in ourselves.

Oof. Holy cannoli. That one knocked me flat.

In this episode, I’m sharing the simple exercise that helped me see my burnout in black and white—and how you can use it to finally exhale.

You’ll hear…

1. The quote about perfectionism that stopped me in my tracks
2. The unexpected way I realized I am a perfectionist (even though I swore I wasn’t)
3. What I wrote on my “trying to do this perfectly” list—and why it shocked me
4. How this one list immediately softened my burnout and anxiety
5. Why doing “everything right” might actually be the thing holding you back

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

1. Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

1. Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
2. Follow Sam on Instagram
3. Follow Sam on YouTube
4. Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
5. Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER

If you’re building a business, doing “all the right things,” and still feel exhausted even after a full night of sleep… this episode is for you.

So many entrepreneurs think rest is something you earn later — after the launch, after the revenue goal, after things finally feel “stable.” And that belief keeps you stuck in a cycle of pushing, white-knuckling, and wondering why you’re burned out even though you technically love your work.

I’m breaking down the 6 different types of rest, why sleep alone won’t fix burnout, and how I’ve been intentionally weaving more play, creativity, and relief into my life and business — without stepping away from work entirely.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

• Why sleep isn’t the kind of rest most business owners actually need
• The 6 types of rest and how burnout can show up even when you “love what you do”
• How pressure, grief, and mental load quietly drain your energy
• What it looks like to rest while building — not after
• Simple ways to add more joy, play, and creativity into your everyday life

Click here to find the full show notes and transcript for this episode.

RESOURCES:

• Get Sam's Book "When I Start My Business, I'll Be Happy"
• Taking a Gap Year as an Entrepreneur: My Year of Letting Go in 2026
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack Beyond Business
• Leslie Stephens' Substack
• American Psychological Association - Types of rest
• Click here to be notified when new episodes of On Your Terms® come out

CONNECT:

• Get Sam's weekly newsletter, Sam's Sidebar
• Follow Sam on Instagram
• Follow Sam on YouTube
• Subscribe to Sam's Substack, Beyond Business
• Take Sam's free legal workshop "5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business"

DISCLAIMER