Tiny Course Empire Podcast

It’s true that the economy right now is a bit topsy-turvy. Inflation continues to rise, making the cost of everything from a loaf of bread to a new car more costly than it was a year ago.

Small business owners—even those who aren’t selling bread or cars—are feeling the pinch. Every week I hear from clients, customers, and friends who say their sales are down, their expenses are up, and they’re beginning to wonder if they’ll still be in business in a year.

Now is not the time to panic. Instead, there are some smart, practical strategies you can follow to smooth out that income roller coaster we so often face as small business owners—and not only when the economy is on shaky ground, either.

Listen in for tips you can use at any point in your business to take control of your finances, lessen the stress of unpredictible income, and recover quickly when things start to trend in the wrong direction.

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I remember the first webinar I ever watched about starting an online business. It was about niche blogs, and how to find an SEO-friendly domain, research a few keywords, write a few blog posts, and insert Google Adsense ads and Amazon affiliate links.

I was fascinated, and the whole process made perfect sense to me. Until I actually sat down to create the first blog, and I realized it’s just not as easy as it looks on a webinar.

That was just one of the harsh realities I’ve learned about running an online business. In the past 12 years I’ve learned many lessons that I’m sharing with you in this episode of the Tiny Course Empire podcast.

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Every good email marketer knows you have to nurture your new subscribers, right?

But what if it turns out the whole “nurturing” thing has morphed into something it was never meant to be? What if instead of building stronger relationships, you’re actually hurting them by trying so hard to “add value” that you forget to sell to them at all?

That’s what I’m asking in this episode of the Tiny Course Empire Podcast, and I have to warn you, I may have been a little fired up in this one. Tell me in the comments below if you think I’m way off base or if you agree. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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One of the best skills any small business owner can develop is to pay attention to what others do. There are valuable lessons to be learned, both on and offline, if you just know where to look.

This week as I walked my dog, considered selling putting our house up for sale, and unsuccessfully tried to make a purchase online, I saw several things that could be improved in my own business—and maybe yours as well.

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Everywhere you turn today, people are talking about AI and how it’s making business so much easier. And it is, to a point.

Unfortunately, there’s a subset of people who are taking it a step further, and claiming that tools such as ChatGPT can replace you. They can write your content, create your lead magnets and products, handle your customer service, build your website… everything. Just click a button, and head to the beach.

Sounds ideal, doesn’t it? If only it were true.

Join me for a short, ranty episode where I’ll tell you why I’ve avoided talking about AI, some ways I’ve been using ChatGPT to help me create content, and how I think you should approach this new breed of tools for your business.

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Looking for a content marketing boost for your business? Podcasting is more popular than ever, and more and more listeners are discovering new favorite shows.

I love podcasting because it gives you all the SEO benefits of a blog, without requiring stellar writing skills (perfect for the grammatically challenged, in other words). Plus, podcasts offer a level of “know, like, and trust” that you just can’t get with written content alone.

After all, a podcast feels more like a conversation and less like reading a news article. Even email marketing (which you know I love) doesn’t offer the same level of connection a podcast can.

But podcasts require a bit more intention and planning than a blog does. For one thing, there’s additional technology to consider, distribution channels to navigate, file hosting to worry about, and that’s before you ever record your first episode.

Today I’m sharing how I started my podcast, some mistakes I made along the way (and what I think I got right), plus I have a plan you can follow if you’re interested in starting your own show.

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If there’s one question I hear over and over again, it’s “How do I build a mailing list?”

There are a few tried-and-true strategies I’ve used, such as participating in bundles and giveaways or starting an affiliate program. But there is one method that consistently brings in high-quality subscribers to my email list, and that’s content upgrades.

In this episode, I’m chatting with content creator Jeff Herring about four ways I use content upgrades. I love these methods because they’re fast and easy, and they offer loads of value for my subscribers, too.

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One of the biggest appeals of digital course business—aside from showing up for work in your sweat pants—is that it takes very little cash to get started. You don’t need to save for years, or wine and dine angel investors, or wait for an inheritance to land in your bank account.

You can get started right now, today, with nothing more than a few dollars shaved off your household budget.

That’s what bootstrapping is all about, and in this week’s episode of the Tiny Course Empire podcast, I’ll share how I bootstrapped my own startup, and the steps you can take to do the same.

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Studies have shown that students learn more effectively when they take notes with a pen instead of a keyboard. I find similar results in my own life.

I’m much more likely to remember things I wrote by hand. It’s also easier for me to solve complex problems on paper than it is with a keyboard. And sometimes, I just need to dump out all my thoughts into a notebook so I can see them. It makes whatever I’m working on easier to manage.

Turns out that even when you run an online business, sometimes the best tool for the job isn’t digital, it’s analog.

In this episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes at Cindy Bidar HQ to explore the analog tools that fuel my creativity, and that keep me organized and productive.

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Let’s be honest. Creating a Tiny Course Empire is not for the tech-averse. There are just so many platforms to master, it can all feel overwhelming.

You have to build and manage a website, design sales pages, master your email platform, figure out a shopping cart and payment processors, and make sure your students have easy access to their purchases, too.

And you have to connect all of those systems together for better branding and a good user experience.

All of that can make the ever-increasing number of all-in-one platforms sound pretty appealing. After all, they promise to do it all with a single login and no troublesome tech to hold you back.

But are these all-in-one systems the right choice for you? I’ll help you decide.

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