The Fizzle Show

“If you told me 6 months ago that this would be possible, I'd say no way.” Adam took his expertise, developed a few ideas for tiny products, used gumroad to pre-sell those tiny products, and made the stuff that worked out... ... and now he finds himself here... ... making $25,000 in just over 3 weeks and *totally* overwhelmed. In this episode we share the details of Adam’s story, why we think he’s been so successful, and our advice on what to do when you’re completely overwhelmed by your business! enjoy: http://fizzleshow.co/141

This is a big episode tackling what may be the most important work you ever do. We do a good job of setting it up in the conversation, so lets leave this intro at that. - follow along at home at FIZZLESHOW DOT CO / 140… I’ll be back after this conversation to fill in any gaps. ## Show Notes **Why Change The Definition of Success? | Strayer University** **I'm Fine, Thanks** **Money Isn't the Point** **Stanford Graduate School of Business View from the Top Series. - Inspiration from Jack Dorsey - Glose** **Finding Your Voice — The Fizzle Show 001** **Self-determination theory - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia** **Big Five personality traits - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia** **Birkman International** **The Highlands Ability Battery - The Highlands Company** **Strengths Finder Homepage** **Forget About Setting Goals. Focus on This Instead. | James Clear** **Stanford Graduate School of Business View from the Top Series. - Inspiration from Jack Dorsey - Glose** **Romance & Revenue: Big Relationship Tips for Entrepreneurs (FS055)**

I Lost my job. I have 60 days to launch and get ramen-profitable. What would you do? If you had to make ends meet in a short amount of time, what would you sell? How would you find clients? What would your pitch be? This is where a Fizzler named Josh really is. He brought his question to the Fizzle Forums and in this episode we share his story, breaking down some of the common mistakes and best places to start when you need to get to a minimum viable income fast. Read more: fizzleshow.co/139

A special short episode with some good news and some great vibes.

“No point in beating around the bush – I’m hoping for advice (and reassurance) here. I’ve recently experienced a pretty huge disaster in my freelancing career, and I’m absolutely kicking myself.” That’s how a Fizzler started a recent conversation in the Fizzle Forums, and on this episode we help her blueprint a freelance business from scratch. Here’s some of her story: - She started a successful-ish service-based business - She “fell out of love” with that business and accepted a job opportunity - 2 weeks later the company she took a job with fired everyone in her department - So now she’s back at “mother-effing square one” and wondering what to do. This episode is so raw and honest it might make you bristle a little. We talk about money, emotions and some back of the napkin math you need to do. Enjoy! SHOWNOTES: http://fizzleshow.co/137

If you sell a product, digital or not, you are going to experience what this Fizzler experienced. She sells a digital training course. The course has a 30 day money back guarantee. That kind of return policy is pretty common in the digital course world. But what do you do if someone needs a refund past that return policy? What if it involves a moving personal story? What if they try to publicly shame you about it? In this episode we share that Fizzler’s story and killer advice about how to handle customer service issues like these. Enjoy! MORE STUFF: http://fizzleshow.co/136

The whole idea of content marketing is predicated on one core belief. We’re all screwed if it’s a bogus belief. > “The model proposed in blogging seems to be that you show what you know, people sign up, and then you sell them what you know.” This is Steve Fossey writing in the Fizzle forums recently. > **“I almost NEVER pay for anything on the web when I have been attracted by free content. Why would my audience?”** Steve’s question is a good one, a question most of us ask at some point in the journey of building a blog or podcast with the hopes of eventually earning revenue from a product of some kind. So on the show today we dissect this issue. You may have an idea of what the results are, but how we get there will surprise you. Corbett’s ideas and experience here are especially insightful. Subscribe if you haven’t — and please, enjoy the show. Show Notes How to Decide Which Content to Sell and What to Give Away for Free - Copyblogger (http://www.copyblogger.com/sell-or-give/) The Technium: 1,000 True Fans (http://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/) The Passionate Podcaster's High Quality Microphone Shootout (https://fizzle.co/sparkline/podcast-high-quality-microphone-shootout) How Stress Makes You Sick - The Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/10/how-stress-makes-you-sick/412699/) Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (http://www.amazon.com/Elon-Musk-SpaceX-Fantastic-Future/dp/0062301233) Elon Musk: The World's Raddest Man - Wait But Why (http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/05/elon-musk-the-worlds-raddest-man.html) PrepDish.com — Shop once, prep once, enjoy healthy, stress-free meals all week! (http://www.prepdish.com/)

We all want to grow our thing and we all need to do a bunch of work to do it. (Note: by “thing” there I’m referring to your product sales or blog or podcast or something.) But most of us don’t realize there are 2 kinds of growth. **Understanding the difference between the two will help you figure out what you should work on to grow your thing.** We’ll walk you through the two kinds of growth and help you make decisions, answering questions like: - What kind of growth is "best"? - Do I *have* to use both? - Plus several examples of real life growth projects. How you think about growing your business can lead to burnout. Let’s nip that in the bud and help your business flourish. Enjoy! Read more: http://fizzleshow.co/134

Self doubt is a natural, inevitable and very real part of building a business. And in this episode we share how we think about it, how we process it and how we overcome it. If you compare yourself to other entrepreneurs, deal with self doubt, or feel the need for validation, you're going to love this episode. Enjoy! "Entrepreneurship is a balance of self confidence and self doubt." ~ Corbett Barr ## Contents - Cesspool: *an underground container for the temporary storage of liquid waste and sewage.* Do you smell something? It might be your self doubt. - "Validation" - "How bad can it get?" - "I really really hate this topic. {Indiscriminate yelling.}" \~ Barrett - Comparing yourself to others - Sometimes we lose faith, or, rather, forget the point. - Self awareness = knowing what you're working towards *beyond* the trophy that others may be playing for. This keeps you from comparison. - Refocus on your own metrics. Set a goal to improve something. [The metric you choose matters]. - Refocus on your core audience. Hear what they're struggling with and let it remind you of why you started this in the first place. - Play... have grace on yourself, backup, remind yourself why you like to be alive (if you do). - There's a lot more in the episode, these are just a few of the bits I wanted to pull out. > "Feeling confident — or pretending that you feel confident — is necessary to reach for opportunities. It’s a cliche, but opportunities are rarely offered; they are seized. Given how fast the world moves today, grabbing opportunities is more important than ever.” ~ Sheryl Sandberg Read more: http://fizzleshow.co/133

http://fizzleshow.co/132 Email marketing. Those two words pack a powerful punch in the world of independent entrepreneurs and small business. In this week's episode we tackle some of your most common questions about using email to grow your business. Corbett, Steph, and Barrett are your hosts for this week's show on email marketing tools, strategies, and terminology. But if that's all you get out of this episode, then you've missed the point. Email marketing should fuel your business strategy, not the other way around. Sure, email is as relevant as ever before in building a business, but only if you use it well. If you've been wondering when and how to get started with email marketing in your business (or perhaps you want to revamp your current email strategy), this is the perfect conversation for you. Tune in.