How I Built It

Chris Lema knows a lot about a lot. But did you know he was doing no-code well before it became the movement it is today? In this bit, he tells us a little about how to successfully build a web app without code.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/012Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe  This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

Can you build a business off of a Twitter challenge? Perhaps it’s not as simple as that, the core concept is there: create something for people to rally around, and you have a community. Participate with them and you have engagement. Jay Clouse knows a thing or two about building communities and successfully launched his own membership called Creative Companion…by basically starting with a Twitter challenge called #Tweet100. After comparing notes on how we manage our podcasts, we get into the crux of the matter: using Twitter in a helpful way, then building your business. We talk about mission, pricing, engagement, and tools in this absolutely packed episode. In Build Something More, we talk about workshops vs. course creation.Top Takeaways:Twitter is the ultimate experiment ground. You can get an idea out fast, it garners quick feedback from people, and it can be statically significant, given your audience.When it comes to positioning your membership, you need to have alignment with what you’re offering and

Chris Coyier is a man of many hats and has successfully started and sold websites, wrote books, and has a great tech startup. In today's bit, he offers some advice that is the key to his success.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/006Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe  This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

What is stopping you from creating content? That’s the question that Alban Brooke and I set out to answer. But it didn’t start that way. I thought we’d talk about podcast stats and what creators can do to make money. But there is no making money if there is no content. So we get back to basics. And if you’re stuck, this is a conversation you need to hear.Top Takeaways:it’s really easy to see the end result you want: a book, a hugely popular YouTube channel, or a podcast with millions of downloads. But it’s not easy to get there.Instead, you need to find your niche. Fly a flag you’re deeply interested in and people will come. 80% of your addressable audience is better than 1% of the unengaged general population.The best path to making money is niching down, showing your expertise, and selling your product or service. Your podcast is a marketing tool.Show Notes:Alban BrookeAlban on TwitterBuzzsprout Global StatsApple Podcast Creators Will Soon Be Able to Access Follower MetricsWhy Gear is Least ImportantJoin th

 Carrie Dils was building communities before it was cool. And was actually doing the building! In today's bit, Carrie tells us about how she built her podcast community and the pros and cons of doing your own dev work.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/005Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe  This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

LinkedIn Learning is a force in the online course space, with hundreds of courses, millions of learners, and a well-oiled machine for putting out great content. I, along with today’s guest, Carrie Dils, are fortunate to be long-time instructors for the platform. I invited Carrie on to catch up, and I thought it would be fun for us to exchange notes on how we come up with ideas for, and then record, our LinkedIn Learning courses. In Build Something More, it gets even more fun as we talk about the courses we thought would do SUPER well but turned out to…well…not.Top Takeaways:Carrie and I both followed in the footsteps of people we learned from; if you have an appreciation for learning, teaching is a great next step!Carrie likes to pitch ideas for courses on topics she wants to know more about. In order to teach something well, you need to know it well!We both shared our love of recording in LinkedIn Learning’s campus booths. Having a stellar process, and the right environment for instructors is a big win. If y

Cory Miller dolled out so much great advice in Episode 4 that we're getting a twofer. He tells us about how one of iThemes' most popular products came out of solving a big problem they had. Then he tells us the importance of maintaining an email list.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/004Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe  This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

A few weeks ago we talked to Louis Nicolls about the importance of having a good newsletter that helps people — some targeted, educational resource. Brennan Dunn knows a thing or two about that and has built an empire around segmentation and personalization. The last time he was on the show, we talked about Right Message. Today, we talk to him about email templates and newsletter strategies that we can implement with his new tool, Palladio.Top TakeawaysBrennan equates emails to sales pages multiple times. Yes, they are a great way to establish trust and be a resource for subscribers...but we also want them to stand out and make them memorable for when we need to sell.Instead of doing educational emails, pausing them and doing a sales sequence, Brennan recommends mixing in targeted sales messages through your emails. This allows you to show helpful resources at a time the subscriber is ready to buy...making it a win/win for both of you.Evergreen, or “Shadow” newsletters as Brennan calls them, are a great way t

When you have a membership or subscription, your goal is to prevent churn, or people leaving. The best way to do that is to deliver value. But it's also a matter of how often you ask your subscribers to evaluate the value they get. Here's what Brian Krogsgard recommended.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/003Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribeThis clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

Most people who start a business hate it when they get away from the actual work and move towards managing — the business and the people. But not James Laws. James has started several successful businesses and his favorite part is building the culture, ensuring employees are happy, and ultimately making sure everyone feels fulfilled…so much so that he wants to help more founders do just that. And he plans to, with tools, software, coaching, and more. But that’s a long game. It all starts with his podcast. Tune in to learn how James is using his podcast and blog to establish authority, build an audience, and learn about this new field.Top Takeaways:Building an audience in a brand new space is hard! You need to essentially learn the “rules” of the field and play by them to gain a following and trust.If you’re trying to establish expertise, but do interviews, think of them as exchanging notes to help establish authority while also getting perspective.The first step to making money with your content is to build a

Too many people decided they want to make an online course, spend 6 months making it, and launch to crickets. Rebecca Gill knew better, and her advice from Episode 2 can save you a ton of time (and heartache).Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/002Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribeThis clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

It’s the first-ever feedback episode! I read a couple of reviews — one good, one bad, and how I’m adjusting — and then answer listener questions. It’s a fun episode! We cover getting started in content creation, growing your audience, configuring a Stream Deck, and podcast interviews.Show Notes:My Live Stream KitMy Stream Deck blog postMy Stream Deck videoA specific use case for launching appsMasters of DoomFeedbackJoin Creator CrewSponsored by: WP Wallet | Nexcess | LearnDash ★ Support this podcast ★

Jason Coleman was the very first guest on How I Built It, and he started the show strong with a ton of fantastic advice. Here's my favorite: a bit about why charging monthly might not align with the value you deliver, as well as how to handle negative reviews.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/001Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribeThis clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

How good is creating niche content? How about understanding the purpose of your content and focusing on providing value? Alexis Grant, founder, and CEO of They Got Acquired, understand the importance of both of these things. She has launched not one, not two, but 3 content businesses — successfully selling her previous ones. Today she’s here to share her insight on why she started They Got Acquired, doing research to produce good content, and how sponsorship is playing a bigger role than she expected.Top Takeaways:They Got Acquired has a very specific niche in mind: businesses that have sold for between $100,000 and $50M. All of their content is focused on telling those stories and helping similarly positioned businesses.They are using their podcast of the same name to build trust and grow their audience. Allowing people to hear them forges a better connection and gives the business more identitySponsorship has played a bigger than expected role! They are increasing the output of their newsletter and will mon

Have you ever seen a great talk, video, or even podcast episode that dolled out some fantastic advice, only for you to forget it before you implement it? Maybe that feeling is amplified when you go to a conference. There are so many great takeaways...how can you remember it all? It's almost like you need a TL;DR for when that happens. And How I Built It has been going pretty much weekly for nearly 7 years! As we approach 300 episodes, I wanted to surface some of the best advice from asking "how did you build that" over all that time. So I'd like to introduce How I Built Bits, a weekly clip show that aims to be around 15 mins, replaying some of the best clips from How I Built It. New episodes come out on Saturday mornings. If you'd like to learn more, head over to https://howibuilt.it/clips. And of course, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts.  ★ Support this podcast ★

What if I told you the answer to better organic traffic isn’t more content…it’s less content? That’s what today’s guest, Farzad Rashidi, argues. That when it comes to SEO, link building, and organic traffic, quality outperforms quantity every time. And he doesn’t stop there. He provides a process for figuring out what content to write, and how to get people to it.Top Takeaways:Quality is better than quantity. Instead of spending 5 hours on 5 blog posts, spend 5 hours on one blog post and make sure it answers a question people are asking.The 80/20 Rule for content marketing, according to Farzad, is 20% on writing the content, 80% on marketing it.The name of the game for backlinks is relationships. Form relationships with people who have similar-sized sites and work with them to present valuable resources to their...and your...audience.Show Notes:Farzad RashidiFarzad on LinkedinMarketing Strategy EbookThe Google Story (Google's PageRank)Creator CrewSponsored by: Tailor Brands | NitroPack | Nexcess ★ Support

5 years ago, email was dead. Now it’s not only growing, it’s the life’s blood of the creator economy. As a creator or small business owner, without a good, helpful, and nurtured email list, you’re leaving money on the table. And to tell you why Louis Nicholls from SparkLoop is here this week. We talk all about what makes a good newsletter, what mistakes to avoid, how to come up with good content, and how to make money. It’s a packed episode, and totally worth your time — especially if you’re an independent creator.Top Takeaways:Your email growth goals are way smaller than they should be. You can double or triple your subscriber list if you approach it professionally — with a plan in place for growth. The people who fail to grow their list treat it like a hobby.When it comes to content, start with who you’re writing for. Talk to people in your target audience and answer their questions. By the time you’re ready to launch the newsletter, you should know of at least 50 people who would sign up for it.When it com

Jack Kitterhing has been in the WordPress space for a while; you can say he deeply subscribes to the ethos that owning your own platform is one of the most important things a creator can do. That a SaaS, like Teachable, won’t be there for you like an owned platform, like WordPress + LearnDash, will. We have a good discussion about the merits of both. Is it really easier to set up a course on Teachable? What are the benefits of your own platform? We’ll get into all of that and more.Top Takeaways:Finding the right tool comes down to skill and comfort level. WordPress (and other open platforms) are cheaper. A SaaS will save you time.You also need to think about your users. What best serves their needs? Make a list of must have features and seek the best tool for that...but be a little forward thinking. Teachable, for example, doesn’t do memberships well. If you never want memberships, that’s great. If you do, Teachable might not be best.Spinning up your own WordPress site is a lot easier than it once was. The pr

There are a few chains freelancers in the WordPress space carry if we’re being honest. Not charging what you’re worth is one. Not wanting to niche down is another. And thinking you need to grow to an agency to make “real” money is another. Tara Claeys bucks all of these trends, and we have a great discussion about it. How she decided to find a niche (and how her podcast helps her establish authority!), and why she doesn’t want to become an agent. In Build Something More, we talk about the new Macs.Top Takeaways:Niching downs forces you to learn an industry — which allows you to better serve them completely. That allows you to charge moreNiching also means having a higher close rate. By the time potential clients come to you, they are likely already sold on you.It’s OK to not want to grow from freelancer to full agency. And you don’t have to be an agency to make good money. People are willing to pay for your expertise.Show Notes:Tara ClaeysTara on LinkedinDesign TLCThe Incredible Journey from Agency to Solo Bu

"We need to de-stigmatize lending money to friends and family." It's one of the first things Brian Bristol said to me in today’s episode. See, Brian is the co-founder of Pigeon Loans — a place where anyone can set up a private loan, backed with tracking, interest, and a legally binding agreement. And this ethos is as interesting as the approach they are taking to content: show people that everyone has a story about lending or borrowing money. So today, we talk about the Pigeon Loans content strategy and the important role their podcast, The Chrip, plays in de-stigmatizing money lending. In Build Something More, we talk about the incredible importance of talking to customers.Top Takeaways:There's a weird stigma that it's bad to lend money to friends and family. The Chirp aims to tell stories that show people there shouldn't be.The number of loans between friends, family, and loved ones in the US alone is $200 Billion. There needs to be an easier, more accountable way to track the loan. This makes more people l