The Fizzle Show

http://fizzleshow.co/88 - You may not feel like it, but you are absolutely skillful enough to create high performing and impactful stuff. (We're talking about blog posts, podcasts, infographics, products, etc.) You're capable of it, but if you're like many of us indie entrepreneurs, you haven't yet. The ideas are in your head, you want them to come out, you want to click "publish" and watch them spread, but they won't come out on their own. They also won't come out by staring within your own brain. **You've got to knock them loose.** In this episode you hear 27 ways to knock those ideas loose, get them down and evaluate which one's to get started on. We've all got the questions like these: - What will be good? - What can you write? - What will your audience truly resonate with? - What will they share and promote for you? In this conversation you'll learn how to discover fresh and unbeatable content ideas for your blog, podcast, social channels and website. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/87 - Every one of us entrepreneurs wants our businesses to be more popular. We want more eyes on our website and more love for our products. And yet, we also want to do good work. Businesses used to be able to make, package and sell crap and still be profitable. Today, however, the relationship with the audience is far too important... you sell one piece of shit and betray the confidence of your audience and you might find yourself up the creek without a paddle. When we're bootstrapping and making our own articles, podcasts, ebooks, products, etc., it's a constant struggle to balance good work with work that gets popular, and on this episode we share exactly how we walk that path. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/86 - You want to make blog posts, podcasts, products that are going to get found, hit a nerve, be seen and shared and loved. In this episode we share my favorite new research trick to come up with killer ideas for what content to make. - What should you write? - What topics is your audience interested in? - What are people searching for in your niche? - How could you get noticed above the noise out there? We share the simple process we use so you can discover the answers for your own audience and make your best stuff ever. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/85 - Questions from 4 listeners today take us into the realm of the USP (Unique Selling Proposition). We share some of our insights about getting to *clarity* in your offers to increase conversion and engagement. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/84 - It was a successful business making good money, a few thousand a month. And then, suddenly, poof — the whole business is gone. This is the allure and the danger of a business ideas that’s “not the most legit thing,” and this is the situation one of our podcast guests today has to deal with. Our answers to his question and 3 other Fizzle Show listeners on today’s show. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/83 - Here at Fizzle, we've spent the last couple weeks in full-on year review mode. We have some new ideas to share (and some time-proven designs as well). We talked in an episode a long time ago about how we do these reviews and, more specifically, how we find the plan for *next year* in *last year's* review. In this episode we rebroadcast that conversation with a few edits, some new stories and an updated process from Chase at the end. The Fizzle team spent the last week executing this exact review process and there's some good insights here for your own review + plan. I, personally, am very interested in this topic. I've researched a bunch and I'm wondering: what do you do for a yearly review? What articles or ideas have been helpful for you? Let me know in the comments. Enjoy the show!

http://fizzleshow.co/82 - On the show today, something completely new to us: a collection of current events that, remarkably, wove themselves around a common theme. One of the biggest regrets of those close to dying is this: **that they didn't speak their mind more throughout their lives.** If you're careful, you'll hear that thread throughout the stories we bring to you this week. Enjoy! What Happens When ----------------- - *5m:* Corbett explains the blog challenge. (Discounted hosting, Fizzle freebie, 7 day email series from Corbett.) - *10:* Why Corbett is starting a personal blog again. - *12:* How Chase uses his personal blog. - *18:* Barrett's tweetstorm diatribe. (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.) - *28:* How the Uber news impacts your mindset as a self employed blogger/podcaster/knitter/jam-maker/hustler. - *35:* Coca Cola's problem... it's not marketing, folks. - *38:* Slack as the email killer... and the ultimate pivot. - *42:* Mailchimp releases a new UX book, gives away profits. - *46:* Corbett's

http://fizzleshow.co/81 - Several listeners asked questions about choosing between multiple business ideas. What can you do to tell which ones are viable and which aren't? We get into that, a youtube video editing hack, Barrett's "LPC" strategy and a couple other bits on the show today. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/80 - We've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs over the past 3 years and in this episode we showcase the top 10 mistakes we see self employed people make. This episode corresponds with a brand new guide we made on the subject. It's free, it's got tons of great quotes and images and some next steps to take for each of these mistakes. Get the 10 mistakes guide and follow along through this conversation as we add more stories and commentary to each of these mistakes. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.com/79 - We devote the whole show today to answering a great question from a listener. Of course, there's a *little* banter in there too. The question is: **how do you find the balance between creating content and promoting that content?** You made a post. (Or podcast or article or book or app or jelly or cooler or whatever.) *How much time should you spend getting the word out about it?* If you've ever wondered this, you're not alone. We've struggled with it. Just about everyone online has too. In this conversation we share the "System Approach" to promotion and our current system for promoting our content. Enjoy! **And let us know if you have any questions in the comments.**

http://fizzleshow.co/78 - When you’re working on a big project by yourself, you’ve got to have a system to keep your sanity. Most of the big projects we work on — starting a blog, creating a product, publishing a series of podcast episodes, etc — have tons of moving pieces and there’s no one but ourselves to manage things. And it’s so easy to start leaking sanity as things start slipping through your fingers. So what we need is a system to help us manage these projects, and that’s exactly what today’s episode is about. So click play and let’s get into the things we’ve learned (and we all need to understand) about mini projects, sprints, course management, measuring success and the best way to set goals. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/77 - How do you go about building new skills when you need them but you don't yet have them? Maybe you need to learn how to create a blog or podcast. Or maybe you want to get better at design. Maybe you need to do some customer research but you don't know how. Or maybe you're trying to write killer articles that get shared and make some serious impact. I've been stuck in that mire before. Too much to learn. Don't know where to start. Don't know what to expect. What I didn't know then is that there are some stages to learning new skills, and, with a little zooming out and structured question asking, the mire turns to solid ground, next steps and progress. Whatever you're trying to get better at, click play on this episode. We'll help you dissect and discover the next steps by sharing specific stories (Barrett's coaching story is worth the price of admission) and then a process for learning a new skill starting from ground zero.

http://fizzleshow.co/76 - Everybody talks about personal brand. Some people have made their whole business about it. Others have made their whole business through it. I find that a lot of the time, when people ask about personal brand, they're really asking about an "easy button." *"Can you help me look better than I actually am?"* There's a lot of bullshit in the world of "personal branding." There's also a lot of honest-to-god intentionality, forethought, hard work and perseverance. Dive into this conversation with us to get some of the nitty gritty about how to do this right, including the backdrop of this little nugget from Barrett: > "Going back to the skills relationships experiences thing: if your job is to seek those out and adjust as you go, then your brand online should simply reflect that process." Ohhhhh, good stuff from Barrett in this one (he leads a workshop on this topic), complete with drama when Corbett disagrees with him. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/75 - A Fizzler recently launched their product and achieved significantly lesser results than she expected. If you've been there you remember the heaviness of that realization. *"That was my launch. These are my results. Now what? Does this product suck? DO I SUCK?"* No. You don't suck. Welcome to the *"I'm an entrepreneur"* party... bring your own booze crippling sense of worry. The good news is this: there are things you can do to grow your sales, revenue, audience, etc. We call these growth tactics. In this episode we discuss common growth tactics, what you should know about them and our recommendations on the things you should do right away.

http://fizzleshow.co/74 -- The final part in this 2 part series where we share our top 40 blogging tips. Check out the previous episode for the first part of this conversation (http://fizzleshow.co/73)

http://fizzleshow.co/73 -- Blogging is where we came from. We've built our careers and a substantial audience by blogging alone. So let's uncork the stopper and let our best advice pour out. In this episode and the next we *each* share our top 10 biggest pieces of advice for bloggers. Corbett, Caleb, Barrett and myself bring the pain, hard lessons learned and a few new inside jokes to the table.

http://fizzleshow.co/72 -- No matter who you are you've been stuck. In fact, we've noticed there are a few stages where lots of people building websites and businesses get stuck. In this episode we address each of those stages with some advice on next steps for each. Enjoy!

http://fizzleshow.co/71 - How do you keep an eye on the business stuff while in the throes of a new creative endeavor? That’s one of 4 listener questions we get into in this episode. Our thanks to Myke, Greg, Nick and Tom for sending in your questions. Enjoy! (What are you struggling with right now? Ask us and we’ll help you get through it. http://fizzleshow.co/ask)

http://fizzleshow.co/70 - There's a fine line between preparing too little and preparing too much. The former leads to failure. The latter, to nowhere.    Listener of the show, Adam, has an idea he really believes in. He's worried about walking that line. What's the right amount of prep before he launches?    After an unusually large portion of ballyhoo we dive right into Adam's question and share what we've learned about the balance. Enjoy!  Sep 05, 2014

http://fizzleshow.co/69 - In certain circles there's a stigma about working for others. These people believe everyone should be independent and work for themselves.  In this conversation we explore whether or not you should work for yourself or for others (some of us don't think what you may think we think... savvy?). Enjoy!Aug 29, 2014