The Fizzle Show

We make courses for a living. We have 40 something courses in the Fizzle library and we made each one of them. Right now there’s a lot of interest in making online courses… … packaging up knowledge you’ve learned on a topic and selling it. And there are some people earning their living doing just that. The online learning industry was projected to reach $107 billion in 2015. BUT success stories and stats about a big market mean nothing much to your success… because it’s easy to fail here. So in this episode we thought we’d bring you the top 10 fears of online course makers. These are *real* fears… straight from the mouths of real people making courses (or getting ready to). This is a really helpful episode — enjoy and thanks for listening! Show Note: FizzleShow.co/168

Are you wondering if if you’ve picked the right business topic? Thinking about changing to a new topic, but maybe you’ve already built something? This is common. You come up with an idea, get to work on it and at some point down the line you get a sense that a different topic (or *part* of your topic) would be better to focus on. In this episode we talk you through what you need to know to do a *great* job on a transition like this. - What do you need to know about the new topic before switching? - What questions should you ask yourself? - How do you know when to trust your intuition or not? - How can you switch without pissing off your existing audience? - Have you planned enough about the new topic so it’s more likely to be successful? - **Plus some smooth jazz flute stuff… seriously, I’m way into it. ** All of that in a totally unedited podcast episode (well, we do bleep the swear words) so you get *everything*; you won’t miss out on a thing. This topic is just a great recalibration of business ideas in ge

It’s no secret that the way we structure our days can foster our creativity and discipline. This is how you and I get our work done, the times and places we do the work, the activities we do so we’re in the right headspace to plan and strategize the work. So in this episode I wanted to learn more about how Corbett Barr (founder of Think Traffic and Fizzle) structures his days. This is a zero BS look at the real life of an online entrepreneur and in it you’ll find some hard-earned insights about motivation, productivity and time management. Enjoy! Shownotes: fizzleshow.co/166

This episode is a whirlwind, we really hit a nerve. What we talk about are the things that we feel are actually easy and actually difficult about building a successful business. After listening to this episode you might realize that something you’re spending a lot of time and energy on right now should actually be a lot easier… … and it’s not because you’re missing a critical piece. I hope that this episode can help you find that critical piece. Show notes: fizzleshow.co/165

I heard some advice from an entrepreneur about how hopeful entrepreneurs should pursue their first business idea. (That advice is explained in the podcast below.) It made me think about how long it can take before your business starts earning revenue. How long is too long? Should you be fighting for revenue right out of the gate? Should you keep a job so you have some financial stability while you get your own business off the ground? In this episode we share our advice about these question. We’ve been, done and seen a lot in the world of small business, and this episode brings some excellent perspective. Enjoy! Shownotes: fizzleshow.co/164

There’s ALL this work we want to do… but it’s not getting done. This is the work that’s going to lead to our success — the ideas and projects and tasks that our careers are built on. … and I’m getting distracted… … and I’m resisting the work… … and you probably are too. It’s ok, you can be honest; this is a safe place. So here’s three reasons why we’re NOT getting our projects and tasks done. Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/163

Real talk: are you working hard on your business, finding it very difficult and not remembering clearly why you set off to build your own thing in the first place? Bonus points if you’re either a). angry that someone would ask you that, or b). crying right now. On this episode of the show (this is a podcast episode, all the goodies are inside it) the two founders of Fizzle share some hard-won perspective about why this guy — who just quit his business — is NOT a failure… he’s a hero. It’s a great episode for all of us to remember WHY THE HELL WE DO THIS STUFF. Enjoy. Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/162

There’s an insane amount of hype around hustle these days, from Gary V. telling you not to sleep to shaming instagram posts about how easy it is for some of us to “just be productive.” On the show today we break down this trend, talk about why it’s happening and how your drive to hustle is actually hurting you. Show notes: fizzleshow.co/161

burn more candles at more ends (or pour more cups of coffee to get through the day) you’ll find yourself and your family paying a price too high. On the show today, some wisdom and advice for entrepreneurs in young families. Steph’s about to have a baby, Barrett’s about to get married and Chase and Corbett have lived through enough of these experiences to have a valuable vantage point. Regardless of how far down the road of family or business you are, if you want to live well, you’re going to love this episode. Enjoy! Shownotes: fizzleshow.co/160

When we compare ourselves to other people our work gets *worse* not better. And yet it’s a totally human experience: * “they have people buying, listening, reading, clicking their stuff, why don’t I have that?”* On the show today we share how to look at this issue from a vantage point that will lead you to *better* work and a more honest way to frame your own path. Enjoy! Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/159

“I don’t really have deep expertise in anything. I’m more of a jack of all trades. Do I have any business starting a business?” Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/158 We’ve heard this question a number of times at Fizzle, so let’s set the record straight and give you some insights about starting a business *without* expertise. Today on the show we’ll cover these two questions: 1. Do I need expertise before I build my business? 2. If I have some expertise, how do i know if it’s enough to warrant a legit business? 3. BONUS: Can Barrett do a Yoda impression?

Can you try two business ideas out at the same time or will it just waste your time on both to not focus on either? On the show today we share our thoughts on that question as well as 3 others brought up recently on the Fizzle Forums: - How do you respond to annoying request emails *without* sounding like a jerk? - How can I convert "Feels" to Sales? - What's your experience starting a Podcast? - Is it possible to Work on 2 topics on the same time? Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/157

“I just want to make my site and my products and not reach out or communicate as a marketer except minimally…” [Show Notes: http://fizzleshow.com/156] This was in a note we received recently. It was from a Fizzler who was considering giving up. She felt like she had realized that “active marketing” was required in order to succeed… and she wasn’t willing to do that. I loved this question. It felt so human, so natural. So on the show today we talk about how active you really need to be in marketing your product, service, content or website. 
We also talk about how to get into a new mindset about marketing so you don’t build a wall between you and your customers. Your product might be good, your podcast or blog or service may be *literally* the best available, *but people may not know WHY it’s good*. So, click play and let’s learn about the difference between PUSHY marketing and PERSUASIVE story telling and give people a truly compelling reason to buy. Enjoy!

You probably already know that there are different learning styles. These are the ways people learn best. There’s verbal, visual, auditory, kinesthetic and many more depending on where you learn about these different styles. What’s important is that you understand this: **not everyone learns and retains information in the same way**. On the show today we talk about these different learning styles and discuss how you, as a content maker, can think about and use different styles to reach *and stick be memorable to* a wider audience. It’s a great episode for anyone out there who makes courses, books, podcasts, videos, articles and other forms of content. Enjoy! Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/155

Show Notes: fizzleshow.co/154 On the show today we share one Fizzler’s story about the fear that comes when you’re choosing between two business ideas. It can feel impossible to choose sometimes. And for good reason — the decision matters. There are consequences no matter what you pick, so what do you need to do to not only make a good decision, but also to feel *confident* about your decision so you won’t second guess yourself later on. We’ll tell you how and walk you through an amazing resource (free to download below) in this episode. Enjoy!

Show notes ==> fizzleshow.co/153 How do you deal with the emotional ups and downs of entrepreneurship? Sometimes I’m manic, over-motivated, putting my head down and working everyday until some major milestone is reached. But this, in my experience, is far too often followed by burnout, down in the dumps, [depression]. It’s natural to go through this entrepreneurial rollercoaster, feeling on top of the world — “if I just get this thing done everything will fall into place!” — followed immediately by burnout, depression, looking for any excuse to watch Netflix in bed. On the show today we ask: is there a way to balance that out so we don’t go into despair every 3 to 6 weeks or so? Can we even it out so we don’t experience the highs and lows in the same magnitude? It’s an important conversation for anyone working on their own thing. Enjoy!

One of the liveliest conversations this week in the Fizzle forums was about how to successfully market when your business topic is a hobby like knitting, book binding, scrap booking. Marketers often talk about finding the “pain point,” but this *pain* language can be misleading when your business addresses desires instead of pain alleviation. For example, I want to know how to knit. It would give me something to do with my hands, I could make gifts for people, I could make some things to use around the house. I don’t NEED to knit; my life doesn’t depend on it. But I WANT to. How can you market effectively when your business focuses on a WANT not a NEED? That’s what we get into today. Enjoy! fizzleshow.co/152

On the show today we do something a little different: we each brought some links that have meant something to us in the past few weeks and on this show we share them with you. You’ll find links to all the articles, videos, books and more below. And the stories in podcast will walk you through why we think these links are important enough to share. Enjoy! http://fizzleshow.co/151

If you’re like the rest of us, you’ve probably found yourself daydreaming about the life of an entrepreneur: set your own hours, live where you want, make money from passive income while you sleep and wake up to the “cha-ching!” of a cash register as you check your bank account. As much as you might feel giddy about leaving your day job behind, the truth is that employment provides at least one very attractive feature: a steady income. You have a lot to figure out before you can tell your boss to take a hike, and most importantly you need to know exactly how you’re going to put food on the table. Okay, so you probably already knew that part. But where is the money going to come from, and how are you going to make it happen? These are the tougher questions, and ones we consistently hear inside the Fizzle forums. Today on the show, we get into one Fizzler’s story and break down an extremely important concept: Minimum viable income. Fizzleshow.co/150

Show Notes: FizzleShow.co/149 With all the existing platforms out there to sell your product through — Amazon, Etsy, Creative Market, Minted, iTunes, etc — is it really a good idea to spend time making free content? Angelene is a Fizzler who makes beautifully designed illustrations, cards and photo packages and this question is top of mind for her right now. Tons of experts advise building up an audience at your own website so you can create an ongoing relationship. But is this too “old school” to work these days? Subscribe to the show and listen along to hear more about Angelene’s question and our conversation about selling products in the modern internet economy.