January was chaotic for me, with family time over the holidays, snow days, travel for Podfest, and a house full of sick people. Despite all that, my business kept running smoothly thanks to the systems and processes I’ve built over the years. Instead of stressing over a “lost” month, I decided to start 2025 in February, reframing my timeline and giving myself permission to adapt. This experience reinforced the importance of creating margin—not just in your weekly schedule but as a core part of your business—to handle unexpected disruptions while still moving forward.

Top Takeaways

• My systems and processes provided me was more margin than I thought. Despite not working for half of December and a lot of January, I was still able to continue producing my podcast, posting here, generating leads, and sending out proposals.
• The calendar year is arbitrary. The things I wanted to do that I didn't do in January can easily move into February. And I already know my systems can support those changes.
• Building margin into your business isn’t just about avoiding burnout—it’s about ensuring you have the space to adapt and thrive, even during busy or unpredictable times.

Show Notes

• Read the LinkedIn post
• Leave feedback at StreamlinedFeedback.com

“How do I know if investing in automation is worth it?” This was a question someone asked me after my talk at Podfest. And it’s a fair question. We don’t want to waste time and money on something that won’t pay off.

So in today’s episode, I tell you exactly how to know if automation and delegation are worth the investment.

Top Takeaways

• Understand Opportunity Cost: Opportunity cost is the value of what you give up when choosing one activity over another. For solopreneurs, this often means the lost income or time that could be spent on billable work.
• Automation Rule of Thumb: Automate repetitive tasks you’ve done at least three times and that require consistent inputs and outputs. But do the task manually first to ensure automation makes sense.
• Take Small Risks for Big Gains: Test delegation by hiring a VA or outsourcing small tasks. Even $50/week can help you reclaim time to avoid burnout or spend with family.

Show Notes

• Why You’re Losing Money when You Mow the Lawn

Send feedback to StreamlinedFeedback.com

This one might ruffle some feathers, but I’m OK with that. I think we NEED to disclose the usage of AI in creative work more. It’s less about signaling that you cheated in some way — on the contrary, I don’t think using AI is de-facto cheating. It’s about honesty, integrity, and transparency.

So my policy is simple: if you use AI to write, record, or produce something, it should be disclosed in the same way affiliate links or paid promotion has to be disclosed.

And today, I explore why I feel so strongly about that.

Top Takeaways

• Establish Clear Guidelines for AI Disclosure: I tell my readers how and when I use AI. If it contributes more than 5% of an article’s total word count, I write it at the bottom of the piece.
• AI Produces Mediocrity: As Jason Snell said**,** AI tends to average out content, making most of it mediocre at best. If you want to stand out, you can’t just rely on AI.
• Human Connection is Irreplaceable: In a world where AI threatens to erode personal connection, it’s up to us to keep our content human.

Show Notes

• My AI Manifesto: We Must Disclose the Use of AI
• My AI Disclosures Page
• Send Feedback

Halfway through writing nearly 24 articles for my Podcast Advent project, I started to wonder if I was wasting my time. Is this worth it? Am I writing what people actually want to read?

You’ve probably fallen into the same trap: spending hours creating content, unsure if it’s resonating with anyone. It’s frustrating, exhausting, and can feel like shouting into the void. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Today, we’re exploring a few things you can try to come up with content that resonates with your audience — plus I’ll tell you about my GAPS framework for content in 2025.

Top Takeaways

1. Let data lead the way: Your analytics are a treasure trove of insights. Tools like Google Analytics and Search Console can show you what content performs well so you can double down on those topics.
2. Ask your audience: Your audience is your best resource. Invite questions through email, social media, or a dedicated feedback link, and turn their questions into valuable content.
3. Experiment, but evaluate: Testing new ideas is important, but don’t forget to review the results. If something doesn’t work after a few tries, let it go.

Disclosure: ChatGPT has contributed more than 10% to the description and takeaways for this text, fully using the episode’s transcript.

Links

• Leave Feedback at https://streamlinedfeedback.com

It's time for 2025's yearly theme. While The Year of Control didn't go as planned, I'm excited to have a much better plan in place for this year's theme, The Year of Being Present.

Want even more podcast content, giving you a behind the scenes look at being a busy, solopreneur parent? Sign up for my free, private podcast at casabona.org/notes

Show Notes

• My 2025 Yearly Theme
• Joe's Audio Notes 
• Why We Need to Disclose AI Usage
• The Brick
• Focus App

Send your feedback at streamlinedfeedback.com 

• (00:00) - Intro

I knew from a young age, I wanted to play the drums. I got my first small kit when I was five and when my friends and I started a "band," heavy quotes, I played paint buckets. When I was 15 years old, I knew I needed a real kit.

This is the story of how I got it, and how one man's incredible kindness had a profound effect on me.

Show Notes

• Read the Story at Casabona.org
• Rate: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser
• Get Unstuck in 2025

2024 has been a transformative year for me. I learned a ton about myself and my business, and for the first time in a while I feel like I’m not flailing. I’ll have the clearest plan I’ve had in a long time in 2025 — one that’s reinforced by conversations I’ve had, not just hunches. So for the last episode of the year, I wanted to do a quick year in review where I talk about my biggest success, my biggest failure, and the lessons I learn.

Plus, some feedback from last week’s episode on using AI.

My Biggest Success

This was definitely ranking #1 in Google for “Podcast Coach”. It shows that my work to grow this area of my business is working out!

Biggest Failure

My Be everywhere strategy. I made a big deal about it and abandoned after 4 months, since it was very clearly not working. It was basically all downsides. It also resulted in two other outcomes:

• Going to stop publishing on Medium in 2025
• Shutting down my membership

Lessons

• Know your niche. I thought I knew mine but it got a lot clearer the back half of the year, and I saw a positive impact because of it.
• Don’t discount SEO/Google, and even ChatGPT, which is being used for search more. As social media is fracturing further,
• Focus on one thing at a time. My Be Everywhere strategy left me trying to do too many things at once, and none of the succeeded.

Links

• PodMatch
• Maker and Moxie
• Podcast Advent
• My Experiment with Substack and Being “Everywhere”
• My Be Everywhere Strategy was an Incredible Failure
• How to be a Scrappy Researcher (to Actually Sell Products) with Becky Pierson Davidson
• I’m Shutting Down my Podcast Membership
• We Need AI Disclosures
• Matt Medeiros
• The Podcast Setup
• Mike (Bagel) Barugel

• (00:00) - Intro

It’s been two years since ChatGPT went mainstream, and AI has completely transformed how we work. While I maintain some hesitancy and skepticism in using AI, it has made it’s way into my daily life for certain tasks. While I’ll tell you all about that, I also talk about why the human touch will always matter, no matter how advanced these tools get.

So strap in (yes, I wrote these words without any intervention from AI) for a look into how I’ve been using AI as a solopreneur. And don’t worry — I’ve mostly edited out the rambling rants.

Top Takeaways

• AI tools like ChatGPT have improved significantly, especially with features like custom GPTs and web-connected capabilities, but there’s room for growth in personalization.
• AI has become an essential tool in my workflows, particularly for providing fresh perspectives during ideation and research, and “rubber ducking.”
• As we move forward, it’s important to balance efficiency with authenticity, using AI for support while ensuring it doesn’t replace meaningful human interactions and creativity.

Links

• Apple's Definition of a Photo
• The Coming Wave
• I'm on Bluesky
• Send your feedback 

• (00:00) - Intro

“Build your authority” feels like advice that’s often given without a solution attached. And it’s SO important to solopreneurs, especially since social media is no longer the best place to build a proper audience. 

That’s why I sat down with Jessica Lackey, a business and operations strategist who’s all about helping solopreneurs like us build real authority.  We talked all about what you actually need to do to build authority – from understanding who you’re talking to, to the medium you use to get your message out. 

Top Takeaways

• Develop a Clear Premise, Process, and Body of Work: Building authority begins with a well-defined message and positioning (your premise), a unique approach to your work (your process), and a public body of work that showcases your thinking and differentiates you from others.
• Focus on Patterns and Behaviors Over Demographics: When identifying your niche or audience, prioritize the patterns, behaviors, and values of those you serve best, rather than just their demographic details. This leads to more meaningful connections and effective authority building.
• Create a Cohesive Body of Work Outside of Feed-Based Platforms: Relying solely on social media can be limiting due to its ephemeral nature. Building authority is more effective on platforms you own—like blogs, newsletters, or podcasts—where your content forms a cohesive and accessible body of work.

Finally, pick the medium you’re most comfortable with – or as Jessica puts it – pick the method for authority building that you’ll actually use.

Show Notes

• Jessica Lackey

In this bonus episode, I share a gratitude-inspired look at the tools and habits that have shaped my year, including my favorite apps, services, and hardware. From time-saving actions to game-changing tech, this episode offers a sneak peek into my “favorites of the year” and how they’ve helped me reclaim time and focus.

Links

• Obsidian
• Blank Spaces App
• The Brick
• I'm on Bluesky
• Audible
• ChatGPT
• Kindle Colorsoft
• My iPhone Home Screen