Are you using the free contracts provided by platforms like Thinkific or Kajabi to protect your online business? If so, you might be wondering if they’re really enough to keep you legally covered. Today, I'm breaking down why these default terms of use might not be as protective as you think and what steps you can take to ensure your business is truly safeguarded. We'll explore the inadequacies of these free contracts and discuss how to create customized terms that reflect your unique business needs.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. Why free contracts from platforms like Thinkific and Kajabi might not be enough.
2. The importance of having customized terms of use for your business.
3. Common inadequacies in free contracts and how they can affect your business.
4. How to protect your intellectual property with tailored contracts.
5. The role of customized financial terms and payment policies in your legal protection.

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
3. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
4. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

This episode comes to you from the M trail in San Luis Obispo, California. I realized I was falling back into a bad habit of mine so I pulled out my phone to make a voice recording to share with my future self and with all of you!

While I was hiking, I was spending the whole time being worried about snakes, tarantulas, weird bugs, and being very, very high up. This is a bad habit of mine that I fall into with my business journey too. I focus so much on my fears. I fight and resist and struggle my way through it, and then I wonder why I’m feeling tired and unhappy.

Sometimes you can re-hike a trail, but there are a lot of things you don’t get to redo in life. Here’s a reminder to myself and all of us to enjoy the journey, not fixate on fears, and be proud of the heights we’ve achieved.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. How hiking is like building a business
2. The power of stopping yourself mid-habit
3. Being a peace with the process

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Where I was hiking
3. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
4. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
5. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

One of the core startup costs for an online business is business insurance. In today’s episode, I teach you about business insurance and the general cost you can expect.

Business insurance is critical for financially protecting your business. Even if you just receive a nasty lawyer letter threatening to sue you for liability, your business insurance will step in with their own lawyer to act on your behalf.

I go over the key terms you need to know: Premiums, deductible, liability limits, exposure, policy limits, and exclusions. Then I explain how they all interact to create how much you pay and how much you are protected.

If you’re an online coaching business, you can expect liability insurance to cost somewhere between $400-$1,000. Trust me, it’s worth it.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. Why business insurance is important
2. Key business insurance terms explained
3. How much you can expect to pay for liability insurance as an online coach

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. My affiliate link for Alternative Balance
3. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
4. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
5. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

Starting an online business is much cheaper than starting a brick-and-mortar shop, but it still has costs. So how do you navigate those costs before your business starts bringing in any money? That’s what we cover in today’s episode.

I walk through the three-step process of how to start a business on a budget: Save, Research, Budget. I breakdown each one in detail, giving examples from my own experience.

Being realistic in your projections and plans leads to the empowered, quality decision-making necessary to build a sustainable business. I hope this episode helps you do that.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. The three components of the saving phase: Save, Cut, Make
2. What costs you need to research when starting a business
3. How to factor a long runway into your starting budget

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
3. Try Siteground for hosting - free domain & professional site transfer with every plan (affiliate link) https://samvanderwielen.com/siteground
4. Betterment - Join Betterment and get up to 5.50% variable APY for 3 months with a qualifying deposit (affiliate link) https://samvanderwielen.com/betterment
5. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
6. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

Writing a book isn’t just about writing a book. It brings up all kinds of business and personal dynamics, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Today fellow debut author, Jannese Torres, joins me to talk about why she chose to write a book as part of her personal finance business, and how she has made it work.

Jannese is an award-winning Latina Money Expert. She helps her clients and listeners build successful online businesses that allow them to pursue financial independence and freedom. Her podcast, Yo Quiero Dinero® is a platform to de-stigmatize money as a taboo topic in the Latinx & BIPOC communities and make personal finance fun, relevant and relatable. She decided to write a book in order to reach more people, and to cement herself as a thought leader in the field. Jannese talks about making time for writing (and everything else that goes along with creating a book), she had to implement some automated processes in her business and rely on her circle of support.

In today’s episode Jannese gives us great advice about investing in your business when it has hit a plateau, where to find free resources, and how to deal with online trolls.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. What goes into the business decision to write a book
2. Tips on investing in your business
3. How to manage being the face of your brand

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Read Jannese’s book “Financially Lit!: The Modern Latina’s Guide to Level Up Your Dinero & Become Financially Poderosa”
3. Listen to Jannese’s personal finance podcast “Yo Quiero Dinero”
4. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
5. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
6. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

This podcast episode is about podcasts. Our team’s podcast aficionado, Michelle Rubinstein, interviews me about how I utilize On Your Terms® to nurture my audience and aid in growing my business.

We have a great conversation about how this podcast has been my most productive nurturing channel– helping people get to a place where they’re ready to purchase my product. We talk about voice of customer research, meeting listeners where they’re at, and providing in-depth, nuanced information. We also talk about why it’s important to pick a medium that you actually enjoy using.

Then we get to the hard hitting questions: What kind of pasta would I be and why? What’s the secret sauce behind Michelle’s One Tree Hill rewatch podcast production? And, which of us listened to Serial when it first came out?

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. What “nurturing” is and where it fits in your business
2. Keeping your content based on what your audience needs
3. How to pick the right marketing channel for you

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

RESOURCES:

1. Check out Michelle's podcasts: Total Betty Podcast Network and Movie Friends Podcast
2. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
3. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
4. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
5. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

Right after launches, it’s normal to feel big feelings: Relief it’s over, excitement about success, sadness about failure. Feel your feelings, whichever ones they are, but don’t create unhelpful stories about them. Instead, channel your energy into getting the true story. Send out surveys to gather data.

In this episode, I dive into everything you need to know about post-sale surveys and how to execute them. I teach you how to measure sale success and figure out which marketing channels produced a good ROI for your business. Plus, I touch on how to encourage post purchase behavior like referrals.

Finally, since this is the last episode of our Launch Series, I review the top takeaways of running a launch, from beginning to end. I’ve really enjoyed making this series and I hope it has helped you and your business!

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. What questions to ask in post-launch surveys
2. How to weigh different pieces of survey data
3. Why surveys are important in continuing to list build

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Join the waitlist for my book “When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy: A Practical, No BS Guide to to Successful Online Entrepreneurship”
3. Sign up for my free weekly email “Sam’s Sidebar”
4. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

What happens when the hype period is over, the webinar ends, the free thing is done– how do you actually sell more of your product or service? That’s what we cover today in Part 3 of 4 of our Launch series.

I break it down into three segments.

First, gather the ingredients that are required for a successful sales sequence. I explain each one in detail: No-brainer deal, incentive, scarcity, nudging, compassion, connection, and energy.

Next, set up a clear timeline and structure. This typically includes four components: Fast Action, Mid Cart, Close Cart, Down Sell. I go into each one in depth, showing how discounts affect consumer behavior.

Then, develop your social media strategy core elements: Transformation A to B, behind the scenes looks, celebrate new customers, testimonials, list of features, and what makes you unique. I share tips I’ve learned over the years about how to strengthen this part of your digital marketing sales funnel.

Be ready to take some notes! We cover a lot in this episode, including how to measure sales performance.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. What ingredients you need for a successful sale
2. The four components of a sale timeline
3. Social media elements to keep your metrics up during a launch

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Watch Louise Henry’s “11 Instagram Story Ideas for More Sales” YouTube video.
3. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

This episode is Part 2 of our series on how to put on a great launch. Today I cover the teaser, invite, and event period of the launch timeline. These periods are critical to the success of your sales, so I dig into each one to tell you about my lessons learned.

First, the teaser: This is all about building hype. I give you tips on building your audience’s awareness and intrigue, especially via digital marketing.

Second, the invite: How you move people through the sales funnel– from being interested about your event, to actually signing up and attending it.

Finally, the launch event: This is where you move your audience across the finish line of the sales sequence. You resolve any of their lingering hesitations, helping them take action to buy your product and join your community.

Plus, I answer questions from listeners about how to manage the stress of a launch, buying social media ads, and how to grow organic reach.

I really hope this Part 2 episode helps you build up to, and execute, your own launch.

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. How to create a teaser
2. What to do during your invite period
3. How to put on a successful launch event

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Listen to Episode 207: The Mindset it Takes to Make $300k in a Week (ft. Mindset Coach Jen Diaz)
3. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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

Welcome to the first episode of our series on how to run a launch! Lindsey Deatsch, my Director of Operations, is my special guest today. She’s a pro at launches– before she came to work with me, she was a launch manager at an agency, doing launches day in and day out.

We cover how to make a product launch timeline and create a pre-launch marketing strategy: Schedule the anchor point, then the invite period, then the teaser period and learning phase, the “open cart” period, and the post-launch survey.

We also spend a lot of time talking about the importance of list-building, and give you some email marketing tips to help you with it. After all, the first step in a promo planning process is to have a big list to promote to.

I’m so glad Lindsey was able to join us on the show today- she has seen it all when it comes to launches and is a fountain of knowledge!

In this episode, you’ll hear…

1. How to schedule a product launch timeline
2. The importance of list-building
3. What conversion rate you should expect for a launch

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

RESOURCES:

1. Grab The Ultimate Bundle® on Sale
2. Sign up for Sam’s Sidebar, my weekly email
3. Let me know what you think! Email me ([email protected]) or DM me on Instagram (@SamVanderWielen)
4. Get notifiied when each episode of On Your Terms® comes 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