Unemployable: Advice For Freelancers And Entrepreneurs

The world is going through a difficult and traumatic time right now. Unfortunately, many people's lives are being upended by severe health issues or job loss. Even those of us who have been fortunate enough to avoid sickness or unemployment are dealing with isolation, the upending of our daily routines, and the cascading impact of economic turmoil.Which means that everyone is dealing with swift and sudden change, and the uncertainty and anxiety that can so easily accompany it.In this episode, Brian Clark and Jerod Morris confront the current reality we're all facing by opening up about how they are dealing with the upheaval, as well as the lessons from the past they are choosing to draw on for strength about what the future can hold on the other side of trying times.At the core of this conversation is a simple question: Is it time to start doing what you really want to do? There is no "right" answer. That will depend on your current mindset and circumstances. But this episode does offer a few simple questions

Freelancers, solopreneurs, and startup founders are used to operating in virtual environments. Zoom and countless other virtual communication tools are the way we do impactful work without offices or geographic proximity to others.Now, a big chunk of the business world has gone remote and virtual. Real-life events -- both big and small -- have been canceled out of necessity, and there’s a good chance that the increasing digitalization of business that was already happening means many events will not go back to the “real” world.That means it’s time to start thinking about how virtual events figure into your business model. Further, how can producing virtual events allow you to provide unique value that results in entirely new business models?We’re talking to Tara McMullin this week, the founder of What Works -- a podcast and community platform for small business owners. Tara and her team have hosted 11 virtual conferences, at least 8 virtual retreats, and countless mastermind or coworking sessions.You’ll disco

For as long as bits and packets have been buzzing across the Internet, people have been congregating in chat rooms, forums, comment sections, and groups to discuss shared interests, learn new things, and feel a sense of belonging.And as the Internet has evolved, so too have the technologies for facilitating community. It’s easier, it’s more accessible, and now, it’s more profitable. At least, it can be, for those who are bold and knowledgeable enough to stand up and lead the conversation that attracts people to an online community in the first place ... and who are also humble enough to devote the time, enthusiasm, and empathy necessary to give people the sense of belonging that keeps them coming back.This is what Brian Clark and I are working to build inside of the Unemployable Initiative, our online community and educational library for freelancers and solopreneurs, and it’s what Chris Ducker has built for his audience of personal brand builders over at Youpreneur.Chris is our guest this week on the 7-Figur

It’s clear now that COVID-19 is having an enormous impact on us all. First and foremost, we’re worried about our health, the health of our loved ones, and for our local community and society in general.And then we realize the potential impact on our businesses. Not just the direct impact today, but the ripple effect that’s running through the broader economy.It might have been when the event cancellations started. It might have been when clientsstarted canceling work that had been promised. It might have been when the government had to shut down many local businesses.Regardless of when you realized it, we are now in a state of massive change and uncertainty. Can we stop it from being a financial crisis for us?Given all that’s going on, Spencer Sheinin is here to share some ideas with you. Spencer is an entrepreneur with an accounting background, and that powers his firm Shift Financial Insights and allows him to provide simple accounting and financial insights for businesses like yours and mine.In this episod

At the beginning of 2020, members of the Unemployable Initiative told us that dealing with distractions was a major challenge for them entering the new year. So we identified one of the foremost experts on the subject and invited him to join us for a guest lecture.Nir Eyal literally wrote the book on the subject, called Indistractable. He also wrote the book Hooked, about how to build habit-forming products.In this hour-long session, which is a sample of the regular content that is available to members of the Unemployable Initiative, Nir discusses the intersection of those two books and then provides insight from each that we can all apply to our daily lives.Among the many topics we cover:• What does it take to build habit-forming digital products?• How can we manage the internal triggers that cause us to become distracted?• What does it mean to “make time for traction”?• Why are to-do lists the wrong way to manage priorities?• How can we “reimagine tasks” to help us stay engaged in tasks without the need for

When it comes to 7-Figure Small businesses, it's all about the creative, empathetic human at the center of it all.But it's the tools that truly allow us to augment ourselves to build powerful businesses without investors or employees. In the next few years, technology is going to change things for small business owners at an astonishing rate.Yes, we've been hearing about tech such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and the internet of things (IoT) for a while now. But it's not really the individual fields that will sneak up on us -- it's the creative convergence of multiple new technologies that quickly change what "best practices" will look like.In today's episode, Jerod and I discuss a few of these trends and how they'll interrelate to impact your business:1. The Privacy Trade-offOutside of the human element, marketing for a 7-Figure Small business is powered by data, scaled by automation, and optimized by analytics. But at what point are we going too far when it comes to the privacy o

We've talked a lot about curation here on the 7-Figure Small podcast. It's a smart, forward-thinking strategy for building an audience, and it is leading to success for many people who do it right.But it's important to remember that we are not advocating curation for curation's sake. Curation is a means to an end, not the end in an of itself.And in this week's episode, we lay out of the path for how a strategy of building an email audience through curation is the vessel through which you create the environment that can lead to success in building a 7-figure small business. We discuss what that environment consists of, the steps curation helps you take on your way there, and how to figure it all out by leveraging other people's content.The end result is the 7-figure small business that fits your goals and lifestyle. This is the path.Most importantly, we provide a call to action for anyone who is interested in taking the next step putting this strategy to work for themselves. The URL you need to know is nextlev

[Note: This conversation was originally broadcast in April of 2019.]If you're paying attention to the world of work, the news is unavoidable. Everyone is bracing for a tech-induced transformation -- and it’s already started.As a solo or small business person, technology allows you to do things that used to require scores of employees and tons of capital -- and that ability will accelerate with AI. But it’s the human being at the center of it all that will ultimately determine if you succeed or fail.Today author, entrepreneur, and educator Seth Godin joins us to share his direct experiences with helping people put the “human” first, while still taking advantage of the ever-powerful tools. Get the ratio right, and the sky’s the limit for even the tiniest of ventures.Here are just a few of the highlights from this episode:• Is “permission marketing” still the core of what makes marketing work?• The enduring power of being human and connecting with other humans.• Why consistency is more powerful (and scalable) th

Freelancers are the epitome of a company of one. That means you must be the self-reliant core that performs your craft while also running a viable business.And yet any truly vibrant core is surrounded by support. Having high quality people around you leads to a better business and lifestyle.Some of these people are the ones you rely on to perform tasks that you can’t or shouldn’t. For example, unless you’re a web designer, you shouldn’t be hacking away trying to build your website. The same is true for functions like legal, accounting, and business coaching.And then there’s the people who send you new clients. These are your advocates, and they can take many forms, ranging from affiliates to those who simply talk you up when you aren’t even aware of it.The question becomes, how do you attract these people? Is it about hustle and hype, or is it more about playing the long game and developing true relationships?In this episode, Jay Clouse of Freelance School joins us to talk through ways to attract the people y

You know, we like to say around here that running a solo business doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.But even with all the technology and your network supporting you, at the center of it all is you. And you need a high degree of self-reliance to make it all work, day after day.You may have read the classic essay “Self-Reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson back in high school. It’s not exactly a modern text, despite the multitude of wisdom it contains — and it’s certainly not geared specifically toward the modern entrepreneur.John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing fame decided to bring that wisdom forward, and put his own decades of entrepreneurial success into it. The result is The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur, a highly useful book organized as a daily devotional with 366 entries, one for each day of the year (including the extra day in leap year 2020).In this episode, John shares seven of the most important aspects of self-reliance for not only entrepreneurs, but also freelancers and other solo business owners. Join

The most common questions we get revolve around audience growth and development -- specifically the growth and development of a minimum viable audience (MVA).• What is an MVA?• What are the benefits of developing one?• What does it take to build one? • How can you accelerate the process?• How do you know when you've reached this pivotal threshold? (And is there a certain audience number to target?)In this edition of 7-Figure Small, Brian Clark and Jerod Morris answer these questions and more about what Brian once called your "unfair business advantage."The discussion includes the three characteristics your audience needs to have to know you have an MVA, plus an analogy about Brian's gym that will help to illustrate the power of the MVA ... until the analogy falls apart due to the important differences between brick-and-mortar business and building a business online.

When you’re starting a new business, it’s tempting to aim too big. Reach millions, and serve hundreds of thousands of customers.That’s a nice idea, but in reality, often your efforts to reach everyone lead to diluting your message, influence, and impact. Worse, without a clearly defined audience, you may end up reaching very few people at all.Jeff Goins thought he had to go big, and he succeeded. A few years ago, he launched a bestselling book, generated a million dollars in revenue for the first time, and acquired 17,500 customers for his online courses and programs.What did he end up with, other than the money? A ton of stress and dissatisfaction.Part of the problem was that Jeff didn’t really know the people he was serving. Worse, many of them hadn’t arrived at the solution they wanted through the mass education programs that he was selling.So Jeff made a radical decision -- he would work with only 100 people a year going forward. And he would still maintain his 7-figure revenue, except with higher profit

When Mike Brcic started his mountain-bike tour company, it was slow going at the beginning. The first year, his company Sacred Rides had one client. In year two, the startup experienced 100% growth -- two clients.Fast forward, however, and Sacred Rides became a complicated business doing 7-figures in annual revenue with investors and lots of employees -- operating in over 40 countries.Fantastic right? From the outside it would seem so, but Mike was far from happy. Very far.What he found is that pursuing scale for scale’s sake is ultimately deeply unfulfilling. Most of the time it’s an ego’s hungry quest for recognition and validation.So Mike carefully planned to remove himself from the business, and eventually sold it. He had already started the business that would become Mastermind Adventures, a new but intentionally much smaller business that fulfills his sense of passion and purpose.Now, Mike is inspired by asking bigger questions:• If the purpose of an entrepreneur isn’t to scale, then what is it?• What d

I can remember the first time I used WordPress in 2005. It was such a joy to move from uploading individual HTML pages to a server via FTP, and simply hitting “publish” to see content go live.As I entered the premium WordPress market in 2008 as an entrepreneur, the idea was always to empower non-technical writers and other content creators to do more with their websites without code. Eventually, our design framework Genesis became widely accepted as the way to build WordPress sites quicker and easier.Now, the idea of “no code” software creation is gaining more and more traction. In other words, we now have software that allows us to make all sorts of other software without being a coder.This empowers creative people to make things that were once impossible -- at least without knowing how to code or hiring a developer. And that means a new generation of entrepreneurs are able to create powerful 7-Figure Small businesses that sell software and software-based services without investors and even employees.Ben Tos

We're back!After a short hiatus, we're excited to be in your speakers and headphones again with a new episode of the Unemployable podcast … except that it's no longer called Unemployable. You may have noticed that the podcast now has a new name: 7-Figure Small.If you were listening last season, you'll be familiar with the concept of 7-Figure Small. The big idea is building a business with significant revenue potential that fits the lifestyle you desire — and doing it all without the stress and added complexity of investors and employees.In this episode, we review that big idea and then go over the three fundamentals to actually building a 7-Figure Small business: the Who, the What, and the How.We discuss:• The reality that content isn't king, but this is• Why creating huge amounts of content can actually be worse than a waste of time• The level of patience needed to build a minimum viable audience (and how to speed the process up)• The folly of mimicking someone else's “how”Oh, and we have a little fun briefl

No matter what type of services you offer as a freelancer, having an arsenal of photo and video tools that can help you create high-quality graphics, images, and media is always a good idea.Even if you might not need them for client work, you can use these tools for your own marketing and business needs.Here are a few things you can do with photo and video tools:• Create quality, visually engaging graphics, videos, and other media on a budget.• Add value to your services without a ton of expense on your end (e.g., offering to create images for your client’s next social media campaign).• Build a cohesive brand for yourself without breaking the bank.Even if you’re not a designer or creatively inclined in that way at all, you can still make beautiful visuals to share with the world. Content creators, designers, and Jack and Janes of All Trades, this one is for you as Brian Clark provides our recommendations for the best photo and video tools for freelancers.***This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essenti

We’ve talked a lot about curation this season on Unemployable. And with good reason: a curation marketing strategy has proven to be an effective way to build a successful online audience and business in an age of content overload.But we also know that many of you are wondering just how viable it is for someone who is just now getting started. Aren’t big companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Apple at a major advantage because of their audience and reach? And haven’t many of the best niches already been gobbled up by existing curators?These are good questions. And as you’ll discover in this episode, the answers to these questions suggest that right now is still a great time to get start with curation marketing; in fact, it’s still early enough for you to experience a first-mover advantage, much like in the early days of blogging, podcasting, and other once-burgeoning strategies that have now reached stages of saturation.As Brian Clark and Jerod Morris discuss in this episode, there are major benefits to establis

“Don’t build on someone else’s land,” you’ve heard me say many times over the years. Especially with a company with a horrible track record like Facebook.And for your own website, there’s really no need. With powerful platforms that allow you control as a customer like WordPress and Squarespace, you can build whatever you need.Frankly, you can’t build a 7-Figure Small business without utilizing powerful technology platforms — it’s a big part of the reason for the growth of so many no-employee, 7-figure businesses. Just think of all the tiny companies that have build niche SaaS offering thanks to Amazon Web Services.There’s a clear difference between these types of empowering platforms and Facebook. In the former, you’re a customer in a competitive space. With Facebook, you’re the product.I’ve been building membership communities since 2008, always with custom WordPress solutions. In 2019, there’s no way to build a best-of-breed community-based business with all the bells and whistles from scratch — without it

Having a conference call system not only makes you look professional, but they tend to make client calls run easier and more efficiently.Not to mention, if you’re full-on digital-nomad-ing, it may make more sense to run a call through a conference call system if you don’t have the best reception or a limited international phone plan. In addition to that, there are so many added benefits to using a conference call system.Whether you use them regularly or once in a Super Blood Wolf Moon, it’s never a bad idea to have a go-to conference call system for any situation. So put your phone away, and join Brian Clark in diving into our favorite conference call systems for freelancers.To access the show notes, transcript, and links mentioned in this episode, view the episode page at: http://unemployable.com/podcast/essential-conference-call-tools-for-freelancers***This episode of Unemployable, and the entire Essential Tools for Freelancers series, is brought to you by FreshBooks — the leading invoicing and accounting s

The paradigm for how to build sustainable success online has shifted in some important ways, and a key to building a 7-Figure Small business is understanding these shifts and being prepared to capitalize on them.One of the biggest shifts is what Brian Clark was alluding to when he stated on a previous episode of Unemployable that “people are still teaching content marketing like it’s 2010.” Listeners keyed in on that quote and have let us know that they want to know more about what Brian meant.In this episode, Brian explains what he meant by that statement. He also explains that while the fundamentals of content marketing may not have changed, the context absolutely has. And this shift should have an impact on how you approach your strategy to build a 7-Figure Small business.You’ll learn the important difference between curation and connection; what the “power trinity” is for a 7-Figure Small; and how adopting a mindset of connection will help you not just in building an audience but even in helping you figur