Streamlined Solopreneur: Easy Productivity & Tech Systems for Solopreneurs

Imagine running a high 7-figure business with over 300,000 followers on social media, then launching a podcast. How many downloads would you expect? 100,000? 150,000? What about…10? 

We’ve all been there: we spend a TON of time pouring blood, sweat, and tears into a project just to have it launch to crickets. That’s exactly what happened to Yong-Soo Chung with his podcast. Despite the social following, no one cared about his show. 

But instead of wallowing in self-pity or shutting the show down, Yong-Soo took action. He reactivated his 12-year dormant Twitter account, and started basically from scratch, growing to 20,000 followers in less than a year. 

Now he has a great process for getting people from Twitter to his newsletter, to his podcast.

We’ll cover his entire journey and more. Plus, in the PRO show, we exchange notes on our production processes!

Life Lessons

• Have a clearly defined niche, and know how to reach people in that niche. Yong-Soo’s initial problem was a mismatch between his businesses and his show. Once he started to find people in the right niche, he started to find listeners. 
• Share personal stories – these are the things that resonate with people, no matter what platform or niche. By being a little vulnerable, people will want to learn more about you and your story.
• Continuously hone your target avatar and make sure to grow your show to serve your audience and yourself. You need to be interested in the show – after all, that’s how you tell a good story. 

Show Notes

• Yong-Soo Chung
• Yong-Soo in Twitter
• Yong-Soo in Instagram
• Yong-Soo in Linkedin
• Using AI to Craft a Listener Avatar
• Want People to Find Your Podcast? Do More Than Just Tweet with Deirdre Tshien

Sponsored by:  Hostinger | Lulu | Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Hostinger: Get 10% off + 2 months free with code BUILD
• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

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Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

Cohort-based courses are on the decline if the tastemakers are to be believed. And it makes sense. Now that people aren’t stuck at home, they probably don’t want to spend time interacting online when they can interact IRL. But that doesn’t mean that CBCs have no utility. 

In fact, I think that there’s a great way we can make CBCs even better, by employing a tactic that has been explored in the K12 and higher education settings: the flipped classroom.

In the episode we’ll: 

• Check out the flipped classroom model, a way to get students more involved and boost their learning.
• See how engaging teaching methods move past old school methods and foster better student participation.
• Learn some of the pitfalls of the flipped classroom in a practice.
• Measure the effect of customizing course material to suit students, a way to make education more personalized.
• See how the topic matters when considering the use of the flipped classroom model.
• Address how we can incorporate the flipped classroom model in cohort-based courses.

Sponsored by:

• Hostinger: Get 10% off + 2 months free with code BUILD
• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

I love Hibachi. I love the food. I love the experience. That seems a lot like building in public, right? After all, the chef is literally cooking in front of us, building our meal. But according to Kevon Cheung – a guy who’s built his entire community by building in public – Hibachi is entertainment. 

In order to build in public, you need to take your audience on a journey with you. That’s why he believes building in public is more like Omakase. This is where the chef will choose the foods for you, involve you in the process, and tell you a story about the food you’re eating. 

That’s what Building in Public truly is, and today, we’re going to learn how to leverage it to build great communities and better products.

Top Takeaways

• You need to talk about something people care about, not just vanity metrics. No one cares what time you wake up to write. They want to know what you’re writing about, and why you chose to write about that topic. 
• Only your competitors care about how you do something – your secret sauce. Your audience is invested in you, and they want to know about the journey…both the ups and the downs. 
• You shouldn’t just announce something when you’re not sure it will do well. Instead, tell your audience you’re exploring an idea. Ask them about it, and involve them in the process. THEN, make a decision and share that with them, along with why you made the decision. 

Show Notes

• Kevon Cheung
• Kevon in Twitter 
• PublicLab
• Monica Lent
• What Happened to Wirecutter
• How To Build a $1000/year Membership with Jay Clouse
• Podcast Workflows book
• http://helpthisbook.com

Sponsored by:  Hostinger | Lulu | Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Hostinger: Get 10% off + 2 months free with code BUILD
• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

You need to tell a good story, no matter what kind of content you create. This is obvious in fiction, but it’s just as important in non-fiction. Don’t believe me? Take it from Emmy Award-winning producer, Cody Sheehy. He creates documentaries, and today he tells us why storytelling has been crucial to his work, and is crucial to yours too. In the PRO show, I couldn’t resist: I asked what it was like to win an Emmy. 

Top Takeaways

• Everything comes down to having a good character. Your audience needs to associate with the character for them to feel connected to your content (this is why long-form> short-form). 
• While Joseph Campbell’s formula is great in theory, it doesn’t fit perfectly in the real world. But you still need to take elements from it to craft something compelling. 
• Finishing strong should feel like you’re running through a house, closing all the doors. Your character needs to grow and you need to close most, if not all, of the open threads.

Show Notes

• Cody Sheehy

Sponsored by: Lulu | Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

If you think about social networks as people, LinkedIn is TikTok’s dorky older, more professional sister…that the younger, more hip sister needs to borrow money from. That’s how Kathleen Celmins sees it, and she’s very effective at selling on LinkedIn. In fact, she says that if you’re just trying to grow your follower count on LinkedIn, you’re doing it wrong. Instead, it’s all about the connections. How do you convert those connections into clients? That’s what we get into during this call. Plus, in the PRO show we talk about the danger of creating tools that rely on social media. 

Top Takeaways

• While every other social network is super content-heavy, LinkedIn is different. If you post more than once a day, you’re competing with yourself. 
• Followers on LinkedIn are a vanity metric. Your goal is to fill your calendar with calls…so create connections and see if those connections are a good fit. 
• Your LinkedIn Profile is your sales page. Optimize it for your offer, and start connecting with people in your niche.

Show Notes

• Kathleen Celmins
• How to NOT Burn Out While Using Social Media with Alex Marshall
• Waalaxy

Sponsored by: Lulu | Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

I used to think that promoting my podcast was a matter of tweeting it (Xeeting it?) and hoping for the best. And while I’ve learned a TON over the years about what to do, and what not to do, Deirdre Tshien still blew my mind as we talked about her traffic pyramid. As the co-founder and CEO of Capsho (an AI tool to help create promotional assets), she knows a thing or two about how to market and grow your podcast. We’ll get into that, plus podcast discoverability tips that change my approach to this very show, and my audits. Plus, in the PRO show, we talk about what it’s like building niche commercial AI tools. 

Top Takeaways

• Look for the 4 tiers of getting traffic to your content: passive, and active organic marketing, leveraging other audiences, and paid ads
• There are lots of ways to improve podcast discoverability, including optimizing titles, descriptions, and even artist names for the words your niche is searching for.
• The name of the repurposing game is dripping out clips from your show and giving the episode a long life. That’s why Deirdre started Capsho in the first place!  

Show Notes

• Deirdre Tshien
• MoPod
• Podpage
• Creative Studios
• Voxalyze
• Making Money on Marketplaces with Maddy Osman

Sponsored by: Lulu | Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

It's the summer and I just came off a ton of travel, so this episode is a mishmash of things and a little rambly. Strap in! We’ll talk about a contract position I have, plus some new partnerships I’m excited about. Then we’ll move to my summer of travel and how I’m managing the workload before moving onto the main event: 5 tools I’m trying out this summer. 

In the pro show, I talk about what I’m using Notion for, more about my new position, Luma, and seeing a therapist. 

Show Notes

• Arc Browser
• Voxalyze 
• AudioPen
• Quillbee
• Capsho
• Luma
• RSS.com
• My YouTube Channel

Sponsored by: Lulu | Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

“I don’t need to write it down because I’ll remember” is hopelessly naive. Sorry if that stung, but it’s true. You need to write things down, as Andy Ayim MBE learned when he started his digital journal.  He’s a father, husband, creator, thinker, investor, and founder of The Angel Investing School. He has invested in over 17 gap-closing startups. And he would be completely lost without what he calls his “Tracker” - a digital journal he keeps in Notion. In fact, he believes his Tracker is so crucial, that he considers it DIY coaching and counseling too. So let’s dive into why YOU need to keep a digital journal, and how to make it happen. Plus, in the PRO show, we talk about investing, single-vs-multi-focus, and how Andy invented Spotify, and I invented Facebook…

Top Takeaways

• “You’re never really failing if you learn from it.” Your digital journal is like the “Google Analytics of your life.” You can keep track of what you do, how do feel, and lots of other data points to help you learn.
• This can also be an eternal source of content. If you’re logging books, thoughts, and ideas, you can reference your digital journal when you’re feeling stuck to look for inspiration. 
• Get started the way that works best for you. Andy started with a Google Doc before moving to Notion when he understood what he needed.

Show Notes

• Andy Ayim
• Small World Books
• Cortex Podcast
• Atomic Habits 
• Building a Second Brain

Sponsored by: Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Lulu: Sign up for free today and sell your book.
• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

They say fortune favors the bold, and that’s definitely the case for Brooke Janousek. After decades in the marketing industry, she decided to strike out on her own and needed to take any opportunity she could get to help her business grow. So she took her shot by asking Sara Blakely’s (founder of SPANX) husband, during his talk, in front of 800 people, for a chance to meet her. 

According to Brooke, you need to be bold in your own business- “if you don’t have a seat at the table, you need to make one.” Those bold moves turned her into a successful fractional CMO. And if you’re wondering if this path is right for you, you need to listen! 

Top Takeaways

• Fractional leaders are becoming increasingly popular. They allow companies to bring on a high level of expertise without having to hire a 6-figure salary employee. 
• You build credibility as a fractional leader by showing results. If you can clearly articulate results to a potential client, you’ll get hired. 
• This all goes back to being bold. If there’s something you think you should do, and it makes you uncomfortable, it’s probably the right move. Brooke says, “ asking is overthinking” and I love that. 

Show Notes

• Brooke Janousek
• Brooke on Linkedin
• Brooke On The Grow

Sponsored by: Sensei

Sponsored by:

• Sensei: Save 20% FOR LIFE with code JOECASABONA

————
Streamlined Solopreneur is the podcast for solopreneurs who want to automate their business and take time off worry-free. Each week, Joe Casabona shares practical systems, tools, and strategies to help you reclaim your time and run your business without sacrificing your the rest of your life, or your health. 

Start with the free Solopreneur Sweep — a step-by-step method for finding where your business is losing time: https://streamlined.fm/sweep

If this episode helped you, leaving a review on Apple Podcasts helps other solopreneurs find the show — it only takes a minute and means a lot.

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/

If you’re a parent, you’re probably familiar with something that’s been recently reintroduced into my life. It’s 2 am, and my 7-month-old son wakes up and is in need of a new diaper and bottle. So I get up and head into his room. I’m half asleep, I need to undo his PJs, change the diaper, and redo the PJs. And there is one type of PJ's that are head and shoulders above the rest: the reverse zip PJs. So good in fact, that I’m certain they were designed by parents that had the same exact experience I’ve shared.

Link: What Baby Clothes Can Teach You About Understanding Your Customers

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Streamlined Solopreneur helps solopreneurs stop doing it all themselves, with simple systems that give them their time back.

Each week, Joe Casabona shares one practical idea — a system, tool, or strategy to help you get your time back without having to make another decision, hire employees, or sell your soul to AI.

Looking for a place to start? Take the Solo Systems Starter Quiz. 60 seconds, 8 questions, and I will tell you what system you should build first, and exactly how to build it (so YOU don't need to make another decision). https://streamlined.fm/quiz 

Connect with Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jcasabona/