How I Built It

Coming up with content can be a tough task, especially across multiple channels. But Nathan Ellering of CoSchedule gave us the perfect advice in episode 20: answer customer questions. Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/020Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribeThis clip is brought to you by TextExpander ★ Support this podcast ★

“All of the worlds is experienced through code.” This is a statement Marcus Merrell makes on today’s podcast...and it’s absolutely true. See, even if you sell the most niche handmade thing, you probably sell it online, which means someone’s code is powering your business. And your buyers are experiencing your business through code. So the worst thing for your business is bad code because that makes for a bad experience. And I know what you’re thinking: “What if I don’t write code?” Well, if you’re listening to this show, you probably create user experiences. And today, Marcus tells us how we can do it better; we should all listen. Our businesses depend on it.Top Takeaways:Even if you sell physical products it needs to interface with some code. The exciting thing about the no-code movement is that you as a creator or business owner can focus less on testing that code, and more on business-related activities...as well as honing the experience.Products are good and improving, but not as fast as people’s expectat

“Creator” is a word that has really come into focus in an industry in the last few years. But content creation is nearly as old as the internet itself. And building businesses from your content…that’s not new either. Just ask Chris Coyier, the founder who recently sold his hugely popular blog, CSS Tricks, to Digital Ocean. We talk about his journey, how he made money, and answer the question: are we seeing an uptick in content acquisitions as more companies realize it’s a great way to establish trust.Top Takeaways:Kickstarting the CSS Tricks redesign generated a lot of revenue, but ended up resulting in a loss. Still, it did its job: it gave Chris capital to build the business.CSS Tricks has always been about ads as a way to make money. It started off as handshake deals at conferences, but the process became more formalized.The best thing you can do for advertisers and offer packages. Get them in front of all of the eyeballs you have access to. You can charge more and deliver better results.Show Notes:Chris C

When you write content, who are you writing for? It’s an important question to consider— you need to have someone in mind when you write. But there’s another audience you should have the robots. Specifically, search engines. If you’re not writing for both, you could be missing out on traffic, signups, and sales. Luckily, Maddy Osman and her new book, Writing for Humans and Robots, is here to help.Top Takeaways:When writing for humans, you need to appeal to the people you’re writing for. This is where stories, empathy, and consistency come on.When you write for robots, you need to consider what your content is optimized for: keywords, good headlines, and spoiler alert: What humans what to know.The right headline can satisfy both humans and robots. Write something that gets people to click and search engines will recommend your content to more people.Show Notes:Order Writing for Humans and RobotsMaddy on LinkedinMaddy on TwitterMaddy on YouTubeNaNoWriMoAnywordKeywords EverywhereKeyword SurferahrefsCoScheduleJoi

Jeff Sheldon does what he does extremely well. But he's also expanded his business from clothes to coffee and paper products. How does he do it without burning out? Listen to today's bit to find out.Listen to the entire episode at https://howibuilt.it/013 Be sure to subscribe at https://howibuilt.it/subscribe This clip is brought to you by WP Wallet ★ Support this podcast ★

Over the last few weeks, I have been interviewing experts on communities, newsletters, referral programs, and more. As a result, I've taken some of my favorite advice and I've started implementing it. So today is going to be a solo episode where I'm going to tell you everything I've been doing to grow my audience. We'll take a look at some tools I've been using, some techniques I've been implementing, and perhaps the most important thing that I can do to grow my audience. In Build Something More, I tell you my next short-form podcast and what I liked from WWDC.Top Takeaways:Niching down to podcasting only has allowed me to focus my messaging and all of my energy and resources.I’ve been promoting my newsletter, which I’ve also focused on podcasting. All of my opt-ins now point to Podcast Tips, an evergreen newsletter that helps people grow and monetize.I’ve been using Tweet Hunter to plan and schedule useful tweets for folks. Using Dickie Bush’s advice, I put out helpful podcasting tweets designed to gain foll

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