So I bought Smart Passive Income. Holy moly. I can finally say it. 

My palms are literally sweating. And my stomach feels like it’s in knots thinking about how to fill this blank document…not to mention thinking about you reading this right now. Woooo. This is a lot.

Even though I’ve been around, I’m not sure I’ve been properly introduced. 

Hi friend. My name is Liz Wilcox. I’m a single mom of two (one bio, one bonus) girls and I’ve been in the online business arena for 10 years. I started as an RV travel blogger back in August 2016. I sold my first digital product in July 2017, and I’ve been hooked ever since. 

You name a digital product, I’ve tried it. Plus, I’ve even dabbled in ecommerce with a site that sells merch around the state of Texas. No. I’m not from Texas. I’m just a lady who has loads of ideas and jumps on an opportunity when I see it. 

And since April 1st, 2026, I’ve been the sole owner of this website. 

Right now, I’m going back and forth on this page between waxing poetic and trying to get out “the most brilliant piece I’ve ever written” and remembering that brevity is our friend. 

Let’s go with the latter, shall we? (maybe there’s brilliance in that, anyway.)

Okay…so the facts first.

I’m not Pat Flynn.
I’m not from San Diego.
And Back to the Future is not even in my top ten favorite movies of all time. 

But the big thing Pat and I have in common is you. 

Yes…you!

We both love entrepreneurs. Especially the ones just trying to figure out this online thing so they can reap the benefits later. 

And we’re both incredibly transparent about how we’ve built online income.

Another difference between Pat and myself is that (and you may have noticed this if you already started to Google me) I’m just not as successful as him. 

My YouTube channel holds steady at around 2k subscribers. And my videos compared to his are laughable. Unedited. Crappy camera. No transitions. You get the picture. Or maybe not? Feel free to watch a few seconds here to see just how cruddy and cringe they really are.

As for my socials, I have an Instagram account that looks like I have a decent amount of followers, but let me tell you something. I was on a TV show a few years ago and that’s the only reason I have 15k. If you compared it to other people who did that show with me, my “follower count” is embarrassingly low. 

Now, my email list… that’s what I’m most proud of and where I feel like I really shine. With about 13k, I’ve managed to make around half a million dollars a year for the last three years. But even then! When I got SPI, the email list here sat at over 92k!! That’s literally seven times the size of mine. Plus a thousand more.

Wait…why the heck am I pointing out all my flaws to you in an intro post that is supposed to convince you that I’m the right fit to take over this brand?

Well, like I said…I’m transparent over everything else. 

Plus, I want you to know that you and me? 

We’re in this together, friend. 

Like you, I don’t feel like I’ve “made it” the way Pat Flynn has.

Like you, I am still on my learning journey when it comes to building an online business that takes advantage of systems that allow me to make money without being involved in every transaction. (<— aka: how we define smart passive income around here)

And like you (especially now that I bought SPI and have to pay it off), I really need to focus on my WINs.

If I focus on What’s Important Now each and every day, I know I will stack my wins and learn a whole heck of a lot. 

And everything I learn, I’m going to report back to you.

That is exactly what Pat did at the start of this site.  And it’s exactly what I’m going to do now.

In a kinda fun and weird way (with a nod to our founder’s favorite movie of all time), we’re gonna go back to the roots of the site…which is the only way I see us creating a future for SPI. 

I hope you’ll follow along. I’m sure we have a lot to teach one another.

Your new crash test dummy,
Liz Wilcox 

PS. There’s a “where we’re going, we don’t need roads” joke in here somewhere, but I can’t figure it out.

The post A note from the new owner of Smart Passive Income appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

SAN DIEGO, Calif., September 2, 2026 — Smart Passive Income (SPI), the online business education brand founded by entrepreneur and creator Pat Flynn, today announced that entrepreneur and email marketing expert Liz Wilcox has purchased 100% of SPI Media and SPI Labs from Flynn and his longtime business partner, Matt Gartland. The transaction was completed on April 1, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition marks a new chapter for one of the longest-running education brands in the creator and online business space. Flynn founded Smart Passive Income in 2008 after being laid off from his architecture job and building his first successful online business. What began as a blog documenting his experiences building income online grew into a global education platform encompassing podcasts, courses, a membership community, newsletters, and other resources for entrepreneurs.

Today, the Smart Passive Income Podcast has surpassed 80 million downloads, SPI's educational programs have served more than 50,000 students, and the brand reaches an audience of more than 100,000 subscribers.

“Smart Passive Income has been my baby for 18 years, so selling it was never something I took lightly,” said Flynn. “Over the years, Matt and I had opportunities to sell, but I always knew that if I ever handed SPI to someone else, it had to be about more than numbers. It had to be someone who understood what this brand stands for, who genuinely cares about the people we serve, and who could give SPI the attention it deserves. There is no one else I could imagine taking it from here besides Liz.”

A New Owner With Deep Roots in Online Business

Wilcox is an entrepreneur and email marketing expert who has spent a decade building online businesses. She began her entrepreneurial journey with an RV travel blog, which she later sold before focusing full-time on email marketing. Her Email Marketing Membership has grown to a community of more than 4,000 members, and Wilcox has generated more than 70,000 sales across her online businesses.

Her relationship with SPI began years before the acquisition. Wilcox appeared multiple times as a guest on the Smart Passive Income Podcast and developed a relationship with Flynn and the SPI team before eventually joining the company as Director of Community in 2026.

The idea of an acquisition first surfaced in 2025 while Flynn was balancing his responsibilities at SPI with the rapid growth of his Pokémon-focused media ventures. Initial conversations between Wilcox, Flynn, and Gartland centered not on the financial terms of a potential sale, but on whether Wilcox's values and vision aligned with SPI's mission and community.

Those conversations ultimately led to Wilcox purchasing SPI Media and SPI Labs in April 2026.

“SPI represents so much of what made me want to become an entrepreneur in the first place,” said Wilcox. “I've built my own businesses around the idea that you can work hard and with intention on the right things now to create more freedom for yourself later. That's what Smart Passive Income has always stood for. I'm incredibly excited to build on that foundation and help the next generation of entrepreneurs put the ‘income' in Smart Passive Income.”

Wilcox will serve as Owner and CEO of Smart Passive Income.

Building on SPI's Original Mission

Under Wilcox's leadership, Smart Passive Income will continue its focus on helping entrepreneurs build sustainable online businesses. The SPI name, community, educational programs, and core brand will remain in place, with no major changes planned as a result of the acquisition.

Wilcox plans to place particular emphasis on helping early-stage entrepreneurs move from ideas and audiences to businesses that generate meaningful income.

“One of the original ideas behind Smart Passive Income was simple: work hard now so you can reap the benefits later,” said Wilcox. “I love that idea because passive income was never supposed to mean doing nothing. It's about building something intentionally that can eventually give you more freedom, flexibility, and choice. I want to bring that message to a whole new generation of entrepreneurs.

This is why we are taking things from ‘Team Flynn’ to ‘Team WIN.’ WIN stands for What’s Important Now and I think it’s important for each person that comes to us to learn what they need to focus on. Too many new business owners and content creators try to do everything, all at once. Our main focus from here on out will be to help each individual realize what path will strengthen their vision and make them true and smart, passive income.”

Since the acquisition closed in April, Wilcox has been working inside SPI as Director of Community while Flynn and the team prepared for the public transition. During that period, SPI has seen significant increases in community participation and new member growth, giving Wilcox an opportunity to begin shaping the company's next chapter before formally stepping forward as its owner.

What's Next for Pat Flynn

Flynn will step away from the day-to-day operations of Smart Passive Income while remaining connected to the brand he founded. He will continue to make monthly appearances on the Smart Passive Income Podcast and will serve as an advisor to Wilcox during the transition.

His next chapter will focus primarily on the Pokémon and family-focused media ventures he began building in 2020, along with new projects centered on storytelling and filmmaking.

“Over the last few years, I've felt myself being pulled in two directions,” Flynn said. “SPI will always be part of who I am, but the work I'm doing now with Pokémon, storytelling, and families has become a new calling for me. I'm seeing firsthand how this work can bring parents and kids together, and I want to give myself the space to see where that can lead. Knowing SPI is in Liz's hands makes it possible for me to do that.”

Flynn has invested in a new physical production studio that will support his Pokémon-related content and future creative projects. His longer-term goal is to use storytelling and entertainment to positively impact children and families.

Gartland, who played a key role in SPI's growth and evolution for nearly a decade, will also fully exit the company to focus on other business ventures.

“Matt has played an enormous role in shaping SPI into the company it is today,” Flynn added. “Some of the biggest decisions we've made over the last decade happened with his counsel and leadership. I'm incredibly grateful for what we built together and excited for what's ahead for all of us.”

An 18-Year Legacy Enters Its Next Chapter

Flynn created Smart Passive Income in 2008 after his architecture career was unexpectedly disrupted by a layoff. He began publicly sharing what he was learning about building businesses online, including both his successes and failures, and became known for his transparency and “crash-test dummy of online business” approach.

That philosophy helped SPI grow alongside the creator economy itself. The Smart Passive Income Podcast launched in 2010 and has since surpassed 80 million downloads. SPI's online courses have served more than 50,000 students, while its newsletters, podcasts, community, and educational resources reach entrepreneurs around the world.

For Wilcox, preserving that trust while evolving SPI for today's entrepreneurs is at the center of what comes next.

“I don’t want to chance SPI at all” Wilcox said. “In fact, I want to bring it back to its roots. My vision is to take everything people already trust and love about SPI and ask, ‘How do we get back to what matters to early stage entrepreneurs? How do we make this even more useful for the entrepreneur who's sitting at home right now wondering how to turn their idea into real income?' I've been that person. I know what that feels like. And I can’t wait to dig in with our subscribers and listeners.”

Flynn added, “SPI is in good hands with Liz, and Liz is in good hands with SPI. This isn't the end of Smart Passive Income. It's the beginning of its next chapter.”

The transition will be discussed in a special episode of the Smart Passive Income Podcast featuring Flynn and Wilcox, along with a video interview and additional information here.

About Smart Passive Income

Founded by Pat Flynn in 2008, Smart Passive Income helps entrepreneurs build businesses that generate income, create freedom, and serve their audiences. Through podcasts, online courses, community, newsletters, workshops, and other educational resources, SPI provides practical strategies and support for entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.

The Smart Passive Income Podcast, launched in 2010, has surpassed 80 million downloads, and SPI's educational programs have served more than 50,000 students.

For more information, visit SmartPassiveIncome.com.

About Liz Wilcox

Liz Wilcox is an entrepreneur and email marketing expert known for helping business owners simplify email marketing and turn subscribers into customers. After beginning her online business journey as an RV travel blogger, Wilcox sold the business and built an email marketing company centered around her Email Marketing Membership.

Over a decade in online business, Wilcox has generated more than 70,000 sales, built a membership community of more than 4,000 entrepreneurs, and created a business generating more than half a million dollars annually from an email list of fewer than 15,000 subscribers. She has appeared multiple times on the Smart Passive Income Podcast and joined SPI as Director of Community before becoming Owner and CEO in 2026.

For more information, visit LizWilcox.com.

Media Contact

Sandra Mann
Director of Marketing
Smart Passive Income
[email protected]

The post Liz Wilcox Purchases Smart Passive Income from Founder Pat Flynn and Business Partner Matt Gartland appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

SAN DIEGO, Calif., April 21, 2026 — Smart Passive Income (SPI), the online business education company founded by entrepreneur and creator Pat Flynn, today announced the launch of the Superfans System, a new guided roadmap designed to help creators and online entrepreneurs know what to build, when to build it, and how to turn an audience into a sustainable business.

Built into the SPI Community and based on the framework Flynn introduced in his 2019 book Superfans, the Superfans System organizes the entrepreneurial journey into five distinct levels: Foundation, Casual, Active, Connected, and Superfans.

Rather than giving entrepreneurs another library of information to navigate on their own, the system identifies where someone is in their journey and directs them toward the courses, strategies, community support, and monetization opportunities most relevant to that stage.

“Entrepreneurs today don't have an information problem. They have an overwhelm problem,” said Flynn. “There are thousands of videos, podcasts, courses, and experts telling you what you should be doing. The harder question is, ‘What should I be doing right now?’ That's what we wanted the Superfans System to answer.”

From Information Library to Guided Roadmap

Since launching in 2008, Smart Passive Income has helped entrepreneurs learn how to start and grow online businesses through podcasts, courses, workshops, and community.

But as the creator economy has expanded, so has the number of strategies competing for entrepreneurs' attention.

Creators are now expected to navigate short-form video, YouTube, podcasting, email marketing, online courses, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, communities, memberships, live events, and more, often without a clear understanding of which strategies make sense for their current stage.

The Superfans System was created to simplify that journey.

Members begin by identifying their current stage within the system and are then guided toward the SPI resources most relevant to what they need to accomplish next. Instead of presenting every available course and tactic at once, the system provides a clearer pathway through SPI's existing education, community, workshops, office hours, and other resources.

“We're trying to lead the forefront of entrepreneurial education and not just overwhelm you,” Flynn said during the system's launch. “We want to guide you.”

The shift also reflects SPI's move toward what Flynn describes as “community-powered courses,” combining education with implementation, accountability, feedback, and support from other entrepreneurs working through similar challenges.

The Five Levels of the Superfans System

At the center of the system is Flynn's Pyramid of Fandom, which illustrates how someone can move from discovering a creator for the first time to becoming an active member of that creator's audience, community, and ultimately one of their most loyal supporters.

The Superfans System translates that concept into a five-level business roadmap:

Level 0: Foundation — Get Clear
Entrepreneurs define who they serve, what their audience needs, and the problem their business is positioned to solve.

Level 1: Casual — Get Found
Creators focus on discoverability and audience growth through channels such as short-form video and social media, while exploring early monetization opportunities including affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorships, and brand partnerships.

Level 2: Active — Grow the Relationship
Entrepreneurs turn casual followers into an audience that intentionally follows their work. Strategies include email marketing, podcasting, YouTube, products, services, courses, and other ways to build deeper relationships while generating revenue.

Level 3: Connected — Build Community
Creators deepen those relationships through communities, memberships, live streaming, virtual and in-person events, webinars, and other experiences that allow audience members to interact with both the brand and each other.

Level 4: Superfans — Create Deeper Experiences
At the highest level, entrepreneurs focus on their most engaged customers and supporters, creating deeper experiences, increasing loyalty, encouraging word-of-mouth growth, and building a business supported by people who actively want the brand to succeed.

Each level builds on the one before it, while allowing entrepreneurs to return to earlier stages as their business evolves.

“Most people are taught to think about their audience like a funnel,” Flynn said. “Traffic comes in, some become subscribers, and a smaller number become customers. Funnels are useful, but they don't automatically create connection. Superfans are created by the moments and experiences you give people over time.”

Building Businesses Around People, Not Just Algorithms

The launch comes at a time when artificial intelligence, changing algorithms, and an increasingly crowded content landscape are reshaping how creators build audiences online.

While social media can help creators reach large numbers of people, the Superfans System emphasizes moving beyond reach alone and developing relationships that creators can sustain regardless of platform changes.

“You don't need millions of followers to build a thriving business,” Flynn said. “You need the right people who care about what you're doing.”

Short-form content, for example, may introduce a creator to a casual audience. Email, podcasts, and long-form video can then deepen that relationship. Communities and live experiences can create stronger connections between audience members, while the most engaged supporters can ultimately become customers, advocates, and Superfans.

That progression also opens different monetization opportunities throughout the entrepreneurial journey rather than treating monetization as something that only becomes possible after building a massive following. During the launch, Flynn highlighted opportunities ranging from affiliate marketing, platform revenue, and brand partnerships at earlier stages to courses, consulting, memberships, events, and other offers as audience relationships deepen.

A New Direction for Entrepreneurial Education at SPI

The Superfans System represents a broader evolution in how Smart Passive Income approaches online business education.

Rather than asking members to choose from a large catalog of courses independently, SPI has organized its educational library around the five Superfans levels. Members can access resources including Smart From Scratch, Short-Form Formula, Email Marketing Magic, YouTube From Scratch, podcasting education, community-building programs, and other SPI courses according to where those resources fit within their business journey.

New courses and resources can also be added to the system without requiring every member to immediately pursue them. Instead, resources become available as options when they are relevant to a member's stage.

“Information is everywhere now,” Flynn said. “Technically, you can probably find out how to do almost anything we teach somewhere online. What's missing is having that information put into a system, knowing when you need it, and having other people taking that journey alongside you.”

That emphasis on implementation was central to the system's April launch, which followed SPI's 14-Day Video Challenge. Flynn used the challenge to demonstrate how a single tactic, short-form video, fits within the larger process of building an audience and business. Participants were encouraged to view publishing consistently not as an end goal, but as one step toward developing deeper audience relationships.

“Entrepreneurship can feel incredibly lonely, especially when the people around you don't understand what you're trying to build,” Flynn said. “Having a roadmap matters. Having people who can help you stay on that roadmap matters just as much.”

Flynn goes into more details of how someone can build a creator empire with their Superfans in episode 928 of the Smart Passive Income podcast.

From Followers to Superfans

Flynn first introduced the Pyramid of Fandom in Superfans in 2019, arguing that creators and entrepreneurs don't need massive audiences to build successful businesses. Instead, they can create meaningful growth by deliberately moving people from casual awareness toward deeper connection and advocacy.

Seven years later, SPI has turned that philosophy into a structured learning experience.

“Superfans aren't created the moment somebody sees one of your videos,” Flynn said. “They're created through the moments you create for them over time.”

The Superfans System is now available as part of the SPI Community.

For more information, visit The Superfans System.

About Smart Passive Income

Founded by Pat Flynn in 2008, Smart Passive Income helps creators and entrepreneurs build sustainable online businesses through education, community, and practical implementation. Through its podcasts, courses, workshops, challenges, and membership community, SPI provides entrepreneurs with proven strategies for growing an audience, generating income, and building businesses designed to create greater freedom and flexibility.

At the center of SPI's approach is the belief that successful online businesses are built by serving people first and developing trust over time.

Media Contact

Sandra Mann
Director of Marketing
Smart Passive Income
[email protected]

The post Smart Passive Income Launches the Superfans System, a New Roadmap for Turning Audiences Into Sustainable Online Businesses appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Brian Luebben had soared to the top of the corporate ladder, landing a prestigious position in a Fortune 500 Sales Organization in his mid-twenties and earning a substantial salary. 

But then, a startling truth hit him: he did not want this life.

He didn’t just want financial success, he wanted to quit his corporate job and travel the world full-time with the freedom to shape his life and career as his own boss. 

With the success of his podcast, which evolved into his growing media company, Brian turned his vision into reality. 

Today, he lives his dream, traveling the world, earning passive income, and pursuing projects close to his heart — like his Action Academy. Brian’s story epitomizes entrepreneurial success fused with personal fulfillment.
Brian recently sat down with Pat Flynn to share his story on The Smart Passive Income Podcast.

Determined to align his career with his ideal lifestyle, Brian transitioned from corporate life to full-time traveler by following this gameplan:

1. Determining his ideal vision for the future
2. Establishing a solid financial foundation
3. Creating content and collecting client data
4. Developing a product tailored to his audience’s needs
5. Pivoting his business strategy in response to customer feedback
6. Generating recurring revenue
7. Seeking out growth opportunities for the future

Planning your job exit

Establish your ideal vision for the future

So how do you determine your next steps after quitting your job to travel? How do you even start to replace a corporate salary? With so many unknowns, there was one thing that Brian was certain of: instead of running away from something, he wanted to run toward something. 

This meant crafting a three-year “vivid vision” for both his personal and professional aspirations. By committing his dreams to paper, he gained a clear roadmap.

Here's the picture he painted: 

“I wake up in the morning and I can feel the hot cobblestones of this balcony on my feet and I look out and I can see the ocean. I don’t have calls all morning, but in the afternoon I’ve got meetings with my team. I can make money anywhere in the world with a Mac and a mic.”

A financial foundation for full-time travel

Now that Brian had a clear destination in mind, he needed to map out the route to get there. His next step, which he calls “building a financial foundation,” involved investing in real estate. 

Brian developed a portfolio of single-family rentals, generating enough passive income to cover his living expenses and begin replacing his corporate salary.

Although Brian was able to essentially live for free, he aimed for something greater. Taking a bold leap, he decided to sell his properties, allowing him to “swing for the fences” and focus on his true passions: his podcast and online business.

“What is the worst possible case scenario that happens if you quit your job and you go all in on yourself, right? “You run out of money. Now what happens? You go and get another job. So your worst-case scenario is your present-day reality, right?”

Will my business idea work?

Enroll in our free course, Smart From Scratch®, and you'll get:

A clear understanding of your target audience

Ideas on how to serve your audience

Your roadmap forward

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today! Learn more about Smart From Scratch®.

Turning your side-hustle into a thriving online business

Start to create content

Now that you’ve established your vision for the future, built a financial foundation, and are willing to take risks to pursue your passions, it’s time to start building your online business. But where do you start? 

Brian explains that the first step is to simply start producing content in any format that showcases your skills and interests and see what resonates with your audience.

Brian accomplished this by hosting his podcast, The Action Academy, where he provides insights for people who share his desire — to build a business around their life, not the other way around.

Gather client data

To increase his revenue and better cater to his audience, Brian wanted to learn more about their needs. He offered 100 listeners a free 15-minute coaching session each. During these sessions, he asked them about the challenges and obstacles they were facing in achieving their business goals. This approach allowed him to collect a wealth of valuable customer data.

Why offer this free service? According to Brian, many entrepreneurs encounter a common pitfall: they create solutions for problems that don't truly exist. To avoid falling into this trap, Brian aimed to connect directly with his audience to determine exactly what the market demands.

Create a product that your audience really needs

Now equipped with this useful client data, Brian decided to create a course tailored directly to the needs of his audience. He developed a comprehensive 12-week, 52-hour program and reached out to the original 100 clients from the free coaching sessions, offering the course to them at $1,500 each.

Within just 48 hours, Brian made $100,000.

Pivot the business for growth

The business you envision for yourself might end up looking different in reality. This is because continued business growth relies on the ability to identify opportunities for expansion and to make adjustments when necessary.

Brian experienced this when he created a Facebook Group for his course participants to connect. Members began forming partnerships and making deals within the group. Eventually, discussions arose about the value of the group surpassing that of the course itself.

Brian recognized this as an opportunity and reassessed his strategy, embarking on a new phase for his business: community-building.

“The key is to just start step after step after step and iterate, change as you take customer feedback, and ask your customer, what do you want?”

Generate recurring revenue to fuel full-time travel

So, what came next for Brian after making this realization? He adjusted his business model to focus on building and monetizing the community. The course transformed into a 30-day onboarding process, now offered for free within the community.

This shift led to community members finding greater success by connecting with peers at similar stages as them or those who had overcome similar challenges. These connections provided valuable guidance and support, helping members navigate their journeys more effectively.

This business pivot also opened the door to recurring revenue for Brian, the key to unlocking full-time travel. Unlike the one-time transactions of individual course sales, the community's annual memberships promised ongoing financial stability and engagement.

Today, the community boasts around 200 active members and is overseen by Brian and a team of five. In its first year, Brian's business is projected to reach $1.2 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

“The reason I made that pivot was the course material wasn’t the answer. People were the answer. People have always been the answer.”

Ready to become your own boss like Brian?

Dive into SPI’s vibrant entrepreneurial communities where you can uncover courses on podcasting, online course creation, and community building — all skills that Brian used to achieve his freedom. Get the guidance and support you need to thrive on your business journey!

Explore SPI's communities of creators and entrepreneurs today.

Tell Me More

Join 20,000+ other creators.

200+ Reviews

Living life as a full-time digital nomad

Looking ahead

Brian's upcoming plans include preparing for membership growth by considering adjustments like expanding his team and distributing responsibilities among his employees to ensure sustainability.

He also plans to introduce a referral program within his community to encourage member engagement and stimulate organic growth. 

Additionally, Brian aims to increase his business's visibility and attract new members by creating short-form content. With an Instagram following of over 200,000 users, he demonstrates a strong ability to engage and retain a significant audience.

A vivid vision realized

Brian is now living his initial “vivid vision,” traveling the world as his own boss while continuing to expand his online business. He states that his aim was never to retire and simply relax on a beach somewhere. Instead, he advocates for building a business around something you love: quitting your job to travel full-time, not wander.

When your business is enjoyable to run, revenue and profit become natural byproducts. It’s what he calls “passionate income” as opposed to passive income.

Brian’s central message is clear: there’s no need to postpone happiness. Joy and fulfillment are available now, and anyone can realize and achieve it with the right guidance and resources.

The post How to Quit Your Corporate Job and Travel Full-time appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

If you’re of a certain age—let’s say 35 or older — you probably remember the awe and immersion you felt the first time you spun up Netscape Navigator and visited your favorite brand’s business “website.”

Now fast-forward to this age of AI, Uber, Roblox, Meta, Snapchat, and so much more… And guess what? A website is still the best way to share your brand with the world.

That’s true whether you’re a mega brand or a humble creator, solopreneur, or small business owner. Decades on, a website still provides unparalleled creative flexibility and control over your brand. It’s a place where visitors can learn more about you on your terms. A great website helps you tell your story, build trust, and even create community and fans for life.

Today we’re sharing a primer on branding and website design for online creators and entrepreneurs. We’ll walk you through how to design a website for your brand, whether you’re a creator, solopreneur, or small business owner with a team of employees.

This article won’t function as a step-by-step guide to launching a website or go into too much depth on the topic of branding itself. (For that, The SPI Beginner’s Guide to Branding can help you define your brand’s mission, vision, and more, and decide if it should be a personal brand or a company brand.)

Rather, this is a field guide to designing a website that puts your brand front and center and connects with your target audience.

Why you need a branded website

So why a branded business website? Along with your email list, a website is a must-have when you’re starting out building your brand. Like an email list, you have more creative and administrative control over a website than you do your presence on other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Etsy. And with the exception of rare service interruptions or security breaches, your site is much less likely to disappear the way a social media account can be banned or suspended.

Your branded website is like your home base, a focal place for shaping your brand image and narrative. At SPI, we recently revamped our website to focus on our core focus of community building and make it cleaner and easier to navigate.

Here’s what a well-crafted small business website can help you do:

• Control your brand: A website gives you full control over how you show your brand to the world, without the creative restrictions of third-party platforms. It also diversifies your online presence, reducing dependence on any single platform.

• Build trust: A well-designed website lends an air of professionalism and legitimacy to your brand, instilling trust.
• Own your content: You own and control the content on your website, reducing the risk that algorithm changes or platform shutdowns will hurt your content’s reach and visibility.
• Make money: You can use your website to promote and sell products and services or run ads.
• Build community: Websites offer a dedicated space for building a community and a following. You can capture newsletter and email-list sign-ups, and even link to your own membership community.
• Showcase your work: Use your website to share case studies, testimonials, and portfolios of your work with your audience.
• Understand your audience: Website analytics provide valuable data on user behavior, helping you better understand your audience and optimize your content to reach them.

Will my business idea work?

Enroll in our free course, Smart From Scratch®, and you'll get:

A clear understanding of your target audience

Ideas on how to serve your audience

Your roadmap forward

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today! Learn more about Smart From Scratch®.

Your website should express your brand personality

When a lot of people hear the word brand, they think logo. And true, a logo is a key part of your creator or online entrepreneur brand — but your brand is also a lot more than just a snazzy graphic. Since your website is your home base, it’s the best place to convey the essence of your brand through the following key elements:

• Clear purpose: Define your unique value and why you exist. At SPI, we’re upfront about our why — our mission, vision, and core values.

• Color scheme: Utilize a maximum of four brand-reflective colors. Align colors with professionalism; avoid mismatch. Explore color psychology—the study of how colors affect perceptions and behaviors—for guidance.

• Tone of voice: Beyond aesthetics, your branded business website needs a distinct voice — a tone that informs all your written content. Adapt your tone to your personality, niche, and audience, keeping it approachable and jargon-free.

• Tagline or motto: A concise, memorable tagline helps convey your brand identity and value in bite-size form. It’s a little detail that can matter a lot!

• Signature font: Choose one or two readable fonts that reflect your personality, for consistency across everything you write and to bridge your brand’s visual identity with its written one.

• Unforgettable logo: Last but not least, an eye-catching logo provides instant brand recognition. Consider enlisting a graphic designer for this one.

Optimizing the visual experience of your online business website

For the most part, visitors will experience your website visually, so there are a few more important considerations when it comes to your site’s visual assets. Make sure the images, background designs, and other visuals you use on your site are:

• Relevant to your brand and content: This may seem obvious, but your website visuals should make sense in the context of your brand and the surrounding content. Each visual asset should complement and enhance the content it accompanies and align with your brand's identity, reflecting its values, personality, and messaging. 
• Strategically placed: Place visuals purposefully to guide the user's journey and emphasize key messages. Consider the flow of the website and how visuals can enhance storytelling.

• Consistent in style: Maintaining a consistent visual style across all images creates a cohesive and harmonious look and helps with brand recognition. Use those brand colors!

• High quality: Use high-resolution, professional images; grainy or pixelated ones can detract from your brand's credibility.
• Accessible: Not all of your visitors will be experiencing your branded business website visually, so ensure that any visual assets are accessible by adding descriptive alt text to all of your images.
• Optimized and responsive: Visual assets should adapt well to various screen sizes, particularly on mobile devices. They should also be compressed to improve loading times (and search engine rankings).

• Legal: All images should be either original, properly licensed, or fall under fair use. Respect copyright laws, and get permission if you need to!
• Timeless: As much as possible, choose visuals that can evolve with your brand rather than trends that might become outdated.
• Human: Human faces and expressions can create a stronger emotional connection with the audience, so incorporate images that feature people.

By making sure the visual and written experience of your website is consistent, professional, and aligned with your brand identity and voice, you’ll foster a sense of familiarity and trust with your audience.

A great creator website needs a great user experience: Layout and navigation

Your website isn’t just a static display; it's an interactive experience for your audience. Once you’ve established the key brand elements your website needs, from your brand’s purpose to its voice, tone, and visual identity, it’s time to start designing the actual site layout.

As you’re choosing a layout, think about what will best convey your brand identity and message while making things as seamless and intuitive as possible for your visitors to navigate and find what they're looking for. Here are some popular layout options to consider:

• Single-Column: Clean and straightforward, with a single column for easy navigation.

• Grid: Organizes content into a visually appealing grid structure, suitable for showcasing multiple items efficiently, like portfolios or product displays.
• Magazine or Blog Layout: Mimics a magazine or blog with multiple columns — well-suited for content-heavy websites.

• Hero Image or Video: Features a striking image or video at the top, capturing immediate attention and often used for product showcases or setting the brand tone.
• Split Screen: Divides the webpage into two distinct sections, providing a modern and visually appealing design with room for creative elements.
• Parallax Scrolling: Creates a dynamic scrolling experience with background elements moving at different speeds, adding depth and interactivity.
• Card: Presents content in modular and flexible cards, promoting visual hierarchy and easy organization, suitable for various types of information.

• Full-Screen Background: Incorporates a full-screen image or video background for a visually immersive experience.

A quick note on navigation: Whatever layout you choose, your users’ ease in navigating your site will determine how long they stick around and whether they’ll find what they need—or if they’ll get frustrated and give up. You can also help people navigate your branded website through careful placement and organization of menus and footers.

The strategic content your website needs

You’ve figured out your brand’s visual identity and voice and chosen a layout for the site. Now you need to fill it with useful content that tells your visitors who you are, what you do, and how you can help them!

These are some of the key pages to consider for your branded business website—some are must-haves, while others will depend on your business and offerings:

• Home Page: The home page should offer a snapshot of your brand, enticing visitors to explore further, communicating your unique value proposition, and guiding users to key sections of your website.
• Blog: Beyond promoting your products or services, blogs are still a popular way to share valuable content that positions you as an authority in your niche.
• Podcast Page: If you have a podcast, you should definitely have a dedicated page for it on your site. Although your podcast can technically exist without a website, a podcast page can promote your show and help listeners learn more about your brand and offerings.
• Credibility Section: Testimonials, case studies, and press coverage showcase the positive experiences of others, establishing your brand's credibility and reliability and building trust. This content can live on its own page or be placed strategically at different places on your site.
• Product/Service Pages: Each product or service page should provide detailed information, benefits, and a compelling call to action (CTA). 
• Brand Story/About Page: Your audience connects with the people and the story behind your online business. Use this page to communicate your mission, values, and the journey that led to the creation of your brand.
• Shop Page: If you want to use your site to sell things, you’ll need a shop page with easy navigation, clear product categorization, and a streamlined checkout process.

Get superfans secrets in just 5 minutes, for free

Our weekly newsletter helps online entrepreneurs break through mental blocks, blind spots, and skill gaps. It’s the best 5-minute read you’ll find in your inbox.

Free newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.

Join 100k+

Subscribers

Examples of online creator and entrepreneur branded websites

For a little inspiration, here’s a selection of great branded business websites created by online creators and entrepreneurs just like you! These folks all happen to be members of our SPI Pro community, which you can learn more about at SmartPassiveIncome.com/community.

Gnome Angel

Ange Wilson’s quilting-based creator business website has a strong, vibrant visual identity based around a palette of pinks and blues and a playful header font. The Gnome Angel value proposition greets you as soon as you open the home page, and as you scroll you learn about Gnome Angel’s resources and products via a “patchwork” design style that evokes a quilt. The “sticky” navigation menu persists as you descend the home page, providing easy access to the rest of the site.

Piscari

The Piscari site is a company brand website with a simple, clean, functional home page that serves as an About page for the company and its founder, Mike Lander, with a link to join the Piscari email list at the bottom. A top nav menu that displays on every page makes it easy to learn more about the company, its services, and other resources. The “Contact Us” button, framed in bold green, highlights the main call to action visitors are encouraged to take.

Jette Stubbs

Career and business coach Jette Stubbs’ site introduces her offerings right off the bat, followed by a friendly photo of Jette that humanizes the brand. The simple single-column layout reduces distraction and guides you down the page as you encounter a happy client’s testimonial and learn more about Jette’s services. Graphic elements and images are interspersed throughout, along with subtle font color changes to spark attention. The parallax scroll effect with Jette’s face in the background adds more human dimension and a bit of novelty. A simple top navigation menu is duplicated at the bottom, with links to an About page, Jette’s podcast, and testimonials.

Still on the fence about building a website for your small business? 

We’ll end with a few reminders — and by debunking a few common misconceptions about creating a branded business website:

• Yes, you do need a website. Websites aren’t just for big companies, and social media isn’t enough.
• Your website doesn’t have to be complex or aesthetically stunning. Simple, user-friendly designs often perform better, so focus on clarity and functionality above all.
• A website needs attention. Your website isn’t just going to attract traffic on its own. You need to promote it and regularly populate it with fresh, SEO-rich content.
• You don’t have to go it alone. There are plenty of great designers out there who can help you craft a logo and build a professional-looking branded website. (We worked with the good people at Rockbase for our redesign.)

If you’re feeling daunted, don’t! We’ve got all the support you need to start building your brand and designing a killer website to show it off to the world. Check out our site’s Free Resources tab, where you’ll find content for entrepreneurs at any level. If you’re ready to take the next big step in your online business journey, head to SmartPassiveIncome.com/community to learn about our communities for online entrepreneurs. You can learn from others like you who have built their own branded websites, gain access to our full library of courses, participate in live events, and more.

The post How to Design Your First Branded Business Website appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

We clinked glasses. The event was finally over, and it was a massive success. 

At least on the surface.

Hours earlier, I delivered the closing keynote at a business conference and now, with a drink in hand, I was sitting at a bar with the founder who finally had time to take a breath after months of hard work.

We talked about the future: plans for a bigger and better event next year, revenue goals for our businesses, and the hiring spree he was on to grow his team 3x within 4 months.

He was meticulously detailed and knew exactly what was going to happen and when. Business goals on point. 

After about an hour, I was curious and changed the topic:

“What about outside of business? Any big goals with the family this year?”, I asked.

After a quick sip from his 3rd old-fashioned, he said, “Oh, you know. Just making sure we’re all happy and healthy.”

I nodded my head and raised my glass.

Clink.

We continued to chat about random things throughout the rest of the night, and close to midnight we said our goodbyes. He had a debrief with his team the next morning, and I had a flight to catch.

While getting ready for bed, I couldn’t help but think about his answer to my question from earlier and how ironic it actually was. 

Underneath the surface, I knew he wasn’t the healthiest of people. He slept poorly and ate worse. At home, things weren’t much better either. People close to his family knew that he and his wife were not doing well, and any relationship with his son was usually just what he could fit into his busy schedule. 

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon story in the world of entrepreneurship. We’re so focused on our businesses and their goals, that other parts of our lives take the backseat. 

We can become so specific with our business goals, yet when we’re asked about our personal life, it’s just a generically broad answer that’s more akin to “I’ll eventually get around to it, someday.”

That’s not how it should be.

Since 2011, ever since I caught myself falling into the same trap, I made sure to never let the business become the center of everything in my life again. 

Rather, the business is one important part of a much larger whole. Each part is equally important, and each part deserving of time and attention to real, specific, and measurable goals. 

[Full Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. As an affiliate, I receive compensation if you purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. You can read my complete disclosure statement here.]

Will my business idea work?

Enroll in our free course, Smart From Scratch®, and you'll get:

A clear understanding of your target audience

Ideas on how to serve your audience

Your roadmap forward

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today! Learn more about Smart From Scratch®.

The 6-part framework for holistic goal setting

Inspired heavily by Michael Hyatt and his Best Year Ever program, I’ve created my own 6-step process that I run through every year to continue to up-level all aspects of my life, not just the business. 

I’ve taken Michael’s program every year since it launched in 2012. Unfortunately, it’s no longer available as an online course. However, I do recommend Michael’s The Full Focus Journal, which coincides with the teachings of Best Year Ever. It’s wonderful.

My framework is a light adaptation of his program, and he deserves full credit for it. 

Here’s the breakdown:

Part 1: What Do You Want?

Part 2: Why Do You Want it?

Part 3: Create Your Top 3 Goals for 2024

Part 4: Next Steps

Part 5: What’s the Trigger

Part 6: Who Will Support You?

—

To help you through this process, download our 2024 Goal Design Workshop Workbook. Feel free to download the worksheet, and please consider joining our SPI Community to get access to all of our courses, workshops, and a community to help support your work.

Part 1: What do you want?

The first step is to break down your life into more than just business, but other aspects of life that are important to you.

Emotional, intellectual, physical, relational, business, hobbies, and financial are a few categories you can add to the list, and you can add even more if you’d like.

From there, within each category, what might you hope to one day achieve within that category? 

It doesn’t have to be a goal that has to be achieved within the next year, and it doesn’t have to be specific either. You can write down more than one, too. 

This exercise simply gets you thinking about what you really want. Think deeply about these things, because they will influence the decisions you make later. 

What’s interesting is that each year I do this exercise, much of what I want has changed or morphed in some way. This is why doing this exercise is important every year because we change, circumstances change, and goals should change accordingly, too. 

Part 2: Why do you want it?

“Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is a nightmare.” 
– Japanese Proverb

It’s important to know the WHY behind each of the aspirations you wrote for each category in Part 1. Without the WHY, there will be no drive.

Everything needs a purpose, or else why do anything?

This exercise helps you get to the root of what your actions will be, and can help motivate you when taking action is tough, or if you come across a hurdle. 

Part 3: Create your top 3 goals for 2024

Let’s start with creating 3 specific SMART goals for the year that support 3 of the aspirations from above (from 3 different categories).

Why 3? 

We want to narrow our focus for now and move forward through the rest of the exercises sooner. After you finish with 3, go back and run through the rest of the exercises with more. 

For each one that you choose, convert each aspiration into a clearly defined SMART goal or habit to work toward this year. 

What is a SMART goal?

A SMART goal is:

S: Specific.

Get clear and as specific as you can. 

Bad example: I will go to the gym as much as I can.

Great example: I will go to the gym 3 days a week and exercise for at least 45 minutes each time. 

Bad example: Stop wasting time in my company. 

Great example: Reduce the number of meetings to just twice per week for my employees by the end of Q2, 2024. 

M: Measurable.

You cannot track and improve what cannot be measured. Tracking is an important part of goal setting so you can see how far you’ve come toward your goal and it enables you to adjust if needed. 

If you have a goal and you’re not quite sure how you’d be able to tell whether or not you’re on your way, then it should be reworked or re-worded.

A: Attainable.

Your goals need to be realistic and attainable. This may be the trickiest because you might lean toward making your goal a little easier so that you can ensure you can achieve it. 

Set your goals too low, however, and you aren’t going to achieve or grow much. 

Use common sense here.

I love basketball and use it as a sport to stay active, however, if I set a goal to join an NBA team this year, that’s realistically not attainable at this age, my height, and of course, my skill level. (The gentlemen I play with can definitely attest to that, lol.)

R: Risky

The ‘R’ in SMART goals usually stands for Relevant, which is an important one – you want to make sure these goals matter to you, obviously. And I think this is here so that we don’t just place random goals that don’t matter on our list, but in general, especially if you follow this framework, all goals you write down will be inherently relevant, so I decided to use one of Michael’s R’s here in its place: risky.

By risky, I don’t mean dangerous or super consequential. Risky is a word used to ensure you don’t include goals that are “too easy”. There is a risk that you might not achieve it. 

Adding a bit of risk makes your goal a little more interesting and potentially more rewarding, too.

T: Time-Based

Having a set day or time included with your goal is what ultimately makes this entire system work, and it can help you create a deadline that drives actions today. 

All goals must include a time, whether a month and date to achieve said goal, or a time frame to integrate a habit within. 

Part 4: Next steps

This is simple but powerful.

For each of the goals or habits you’ve written down, write down what the next steps are. From where you’re at right now, what’s the one next thing you need to do to get on your way toward those goals?

For example, I have a hobby-related goal: to compete in four kayak bass fishing tournaments by the end of the year. My first step? Sign up for the SoCal Kayak Fishing Club so I can register my name and begin to add the tournament dates to my calendar. 

Once you do this, the momentum begins. 

Part 5: What’s the trigger?

For each/goal or habit, write down a trigger that will activate that goal. This is a strategy exercise to give yourself the best chance to keep up with your goals throughout the year. 

For example, in James Clear’s book, Atomic Habits, he says that if you want to get into the habit of running each morning, remove as much friction as possible to make that happen. Set your running clothes by your bedside the night before and make that a part of your bedtime routine. When you wake up in the morning, you’ll see the running shoes ready for you right there by your bedside. 

Steve Kamb from Nerd Fitness talked about something similar on his way to learning the guitar. Instead of just putting his guitar in the corner of his living room, he put a guitar on a stand at the end of his hallway between his bedroom and kitchen so that every day, for multiples times a day, he would be within arms reach of his guitar and be reminded to practice more. 

Perhaps it’s a sticky note next to your computer or an alarm on your phone. We all know life gets busy, so create a trigger to stack things in your favor and actually make them happen.

Part 6: Who will support you?

This one seems to hit home for many because we often don’t realize there are people in our lives that will champion us — people who will be there to root us on and hold us accountable. 

Write down someone who comes to mind who you can call on for support with each of the goals you’ve written. They don’t need to coach you through the process (although they could if they’re qualified), you just need to realize there are other people you can rely on when you might need help.

A business colleague, a member of a community you’re a part of, a friend, a co-worker, a spouse, or even one of your kids. Share the goal with them and ask them to just know that this is something you’re working toward. Tell them that you believe just them rooting for you will help. You’ll be surprised how well this will work. 

Sometimes they can provide direct help, but even the fact that they’re there to hold you accountable can get you to do the thing, whatever the thing may be.

—

I hope this has helped you start thinking about your goals differently, in a way that goes beyond your business and revenue goals — this is about you as a whole person. There are so many more aspects of your life that are important, and they deserve your time and attention, too.

If you’d like to connect with other entrepreneurs who are available to support you through your business journey, and if you’d like to get access to our library of business courses and training workshops, consider joining the SPI Community. Community-powered courses are where it’s at, and we’re taking the lead in this industry — we know this is the best way to offer service and help others.

Click here to check out the SPI Community and join hundreds of entrepreneurs who are in it just like you, and for all the right reasons, too. 

Cheers, and best of luck to you. Here’s to an amazing 2024!

The post Designing Holistic Goals (The Best Framework to Avoid Burnout) appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

The shift to a 4 day work week has been gaining momentum since 2022, and for good reason. As a solution for people struggling due to pandemic-related stress, workplace stress, overwork and burnout, and the pressures of daily lives, 4 day work weeks can be part of the answer.

And 4 day work week experiments are no longer occurring in a vacuum by progressive companies. CNN named it one of the nine most important new ideas in business. Globally, national governments have even sponsored trials of 4 day weeks.

And 4 day work weeks don’t just impact employees’ well-being, studies have shown there are social, economic, and climate benefits, in addition to a positive effect on the company’s bottom line.

In this post, we'll define the 4 day work week, detail the positives, and share our own experience adopting this model, including poignant advice from our CEO to companies hoping to emulate our example.

Compressed vs reduced 4 day work weeks

To be clear, we’re talking about a reduced 4 day work week.

A 4 day work week can be described in two ways: compressed and reduced. A compressed work week divides a 35+ hour workload over four days with the same salary and benefits as a traditional five-day work week. A reduced work week removes eight hours from the employee schedule, reducing total working hours to 32 per week over four days with the same salary and benefits as a traditional full-time position.

The 4 day work week is undeniably positive: for us and the planet

Research conducted by the non-profit organization 4 Day Week Global shows the clear benefit of a 4 day work week model. The organization studied 33 companies in 6 different countries that decreased their employee’s workload to four days (32 hours a week) during a six-month trial. The experiment questioned whether employees could be as productive in 20 percent less time at the same pay. The results were astonishingly positive. 

Companies revealed a revenue increase of 8.14 percent during the trial, and an incredible 37.55 percent increase compared to the same six-month period the previous year. New hires increased by 12.16 percent over the course of the trial. Perhaps even more incredible, these results came during the “Great Resignation,” a time in 2022 when workers were quitting their jobs at record rates due to burn-out, desire for a better work-life balance, and feeling that their jobs weren’t meeting their expectations.

Employee satisfaction was at an all-time high during the trial, with 96.9 percent saying they definitely wanted to continue having a 4 day work week. They reported a decline in stress and burn-out, increased productivity, and higher job satisfaction. Employees were able to spend more time with family and friends, sleep better, and increase time spent exercising.

A reduced work week has also proven significant environmental, economic, and social benefits. Carbon emissions decrease with less commuting and employees socialize more with a three-day weekend. In turn, this supports businesses and, in some countries, desired population growth. Japan, for example, has historically had an intense working culture: “karoshi,” a term meaning “death from overwork,” was coined in the 1970s. However, the country recently released new guidelines to encourage companies to make a shift to a 4 day work week in an effort to encourage a healthier work-life balance. Japan hopes that anticipating the extra day off will push citizens to boost the economy by spending more money, and even lead to increased marriage and birth rates. 

Why we jumped on board the 4 day trend

As a result of the pandemic, many companies are putting work-life balance front and center, and a 4 day work week can be a huge part of that effort. With happier, well-rested employees, companies see an increase in profits and productivity, and giving employees more flexibility — reduced hours and remote/hybrid work arrangements — helps retain the team members they’ve invested time and money into training. As evidenced by job sites like 4DayWeek.io, employee demand for the 4 day work week is high.

At SPI, a 4 day, reduced work week was implemented in the beginning of 2022 during a trial period. The results from the team aligned with the global study cited above. Employees reported they were more motivated and productive, completed tasks on deadline, supported each other more, and felt a stronger sense of connection within the team. Employees also took the extra time to pick up new hobbies, exercise more, complete housework ahead of time, and have more quality time with family and friends. Unsurprisingly, we’ve decided to keep the 4 day work week in place permanently.

Build your audience and monetize your work.

We transform beginners into pros by teaching proven methods we use ourselves. Join 100k+ creators and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Free newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.

200+ reviews

“Don’t rush it”

The 4 day work week has undeniably been a home run for Team SPI. So what would we recommend to other companies hoping to follow suit? Here’s what our CEO, Matt Gartland, had to say about it:

“As Uncle Ben famously said to young Peter Parker, ‘with great power comes great responsibility.’ 

“The 4 day work week is a great power for the modern workplace. It's a genuine competitive advantage as well as an embodiment of important cultural values. It's undeniably the future of work, especially for those of us who run remote-based companies with distributed teams. It can foster closer togetherness within the team. It can nurture more commitment to the mission of the company at large.

That's all really awesome. It's also really serious.

The opposite of those outcomes is possible with a hasty implementation. Details are necessary to define and align on expectations for how the 4 day work week is going to actually work as well as how its effectiveness is going to be evaluated. Here's the big one: Under what conditions could the 4 day work week be deemed to be ineffective and thus subject to rollback?

At SPI, we devoted a lot of time and energy to defining our take on a 4 day work week. The program details were the subject of active conversations with the team. Those same operating details were codified formally into our governing employee handbook. This process took months. This is how you treat this awesome opportunity with the respect it deserves.

So lean into it. It's worth it. Just don't rush it.”

Employees are happier to work for a company where they feel valued and appreciated. It’s unlikely that the world will make the shift to a 4 day work week overnight, but companies are realizing that to retain employees and attract new staff they need to embrace a healthier work-life balance. The momentum behind the 4 day work week continues, and we’re keen to see what positive, compounding effects it reveals.

The post The 4 Day Work Week Is Here to Stay (Don’t Get Left Behind) appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Getting that first paid sponsorship is one of the most rewarding moments you’ll ever experience as a creator.

It’s also the first step in your journey towards financial freedom and building a life that you’re excited to wake up for.

Just imagine … you get to work with brands you love, connect your audience with amazing products and services, and make a ton of money in the process!

If you’re a creator, an influencer, a podcast host, or a newsletter writer — sponsorships can and should be a critical pillar to help you build your business.

But the problem most creators face when arranging sponsorships is unpredictability.

Whether that’s getting lowball rates from brands or even just not knowing with certainty where the next partnership is coming from, figuring out your sponsorship strategy can be kind of hard.

Most creators assume the process looks something like this:

But what if I told you that the process of working with brands does not have 3 steps — it actually has 8?

If you’re not conscious of these 8 steps, you’re never going to lock in long-term partnerships (which should be the goal)!

You might have landed a few lucrative deals over your creator career, but you want to be hitting those every month, right?

But the good news is this:

The only thing between you and consistent, predictable sponsorships is the right system.

Introducing the Sponsorship Wheel.

The 8-Step Sponsorship Wheel

The Sponsorship Wheel is a proven 8-step, rinse-and-repeat system that if implemented with a long-term mindset, will help you land consistent, well-paying brand deals allowing you to finally go full-time with your creator business and build the life you want.

At its core, the sponsorship wheel is a system for tracking what stage your various partnerships are at. The number one mistake I see creators make is taking their foot off the gas too soon.

Just because you’ve signed the contract doesn’t mean you can rest on your laurels. Just because you’ve submitted the assets to the brand doesn’t mean it’s time to put your feet up.

It’s on you as a creator to keep the sponsorship wheel turning (especially after you hit publish).

But in order to do that, you first need to understand the 8 steps, so let’s break it down.

Step 1: Pitch

This is the phase where you're reaching out to a brand cold to propose a collaboration or a brand has reached out to you inquiring about a partnership.

When reaching out to them, your pitch needs to follow what I call the ROPE method:

• Relevant (to any current campaigns they’re running or have run in the past)
• Organic (can be tied back to work you’ve already published)
• Proof (shows how you’ve helped another brand achieve results)
• Easy to execute (when they say “yes”)

Keep this in mind during your pitch. Don’t write three paragraphs telling them how much you love their brand and have always dreamed of working with them. That won’t cut it because it’s exactly what everybody else is doing.

But what about when a brand reaches out to you?

It’s important to remember that just because they did doesn’t mean you can phone it in and expect that they’re 100 percent committed to working with you.

They probably reached out to a bunch of other creators in your niche too.

So it’s up to you to pitch them on why they made the right call in emailing you, and why you could actually go above and beyond for them, such that the brand should pay you 2-3x what they originally had in mind.

But what about when a brand ghosts you after your pitch?

If you want to see actual results, I recommend you do no less than four follow-ups.

• Follow-up 1 (If no response, 5 days after the initial cold pitch or initial response to their inbound inquiry)
• Follow-up 2 (If no response, 6 days after Follow-up 1)
• Follow-up 3 (If no response, 7 days after Follow-up 2)
• Follow-up 4 (If no response, 14 days after Follow-up 3)

Step 2: Negotiate

This is the phase where you've agreed in principle to collaborate with the brand but you are actively negotiating the deal terms.

The duration of this step should be five days, otherwise, follow up with the brand/agency.

Within the negotiation, there are a few important things to remember.

First, the person at the brand who you’re in contact with initially likely won’t be the only person who has input on the deal. Be prepared to negotiate with multiple people.

Second, you need to understand what the brand’s goal is. They could simply be looking to create awareness of their new product or service, or maybe they’re actively focused on converting new customers to their business. Or maybe they want to use the deliverables you create on their own social platforms.

Third, you need to pick a pricing strategy. This should primarily be based on the value you’re providing to the brand, rather than just asking your friend what they charge for, say, a newsletter integration, and copying that rate. Your pricing should change in relation to the brand’s goals.

Fourth, you need to learn to overcome brand objections. For example, if you reach an impasse where the brand just won’t go higher on their offer, you have to learn how to negotiate a compromise, or else be okay walking away from that deal.

Lastly, keep in mind you and the brand are on the same team. They’ve come to you because they think you can help get their campaign across the finish line — and they’re gonna pay you for it!

One problem creators face early on is brands offering them free products rather than actual payment. This might feel nice the first time it happens, but it quickly becomes incredibly frustrating. After all, a free packet of vegan beef jerky isn’t gonna pay your bills, right?

Step 3: Contract

This is the phase where you've agreed to the deal terms and now are either reviewing the contract the brand/agency has provided or drafting your own agreement to send to them.

The duration of this step should be seven days, otherwise follow up with the brand/agency.

Crucially, during this step you need to align on the timeline of events moving forward.

For example, when does the brand need the assets to go live? And before that, when would be ideal to send your draft content for review? Once you’ve sent that draft, how long should you expect to wait before receiving feedback and/or revision requests?

All of this matters. Without agreeing on these timelines you can’t figure out when you’ll be integrating the sponsorship within your content, or when to set aside time to complete their revisions.

You’ve also got to align on some key expectations so they don't come back to bite you later. For example, agreeing on how many rounds of revisions you’ll do and what constitutes a reasonable revision is paramount.

As a Sponsorship Coach who has made over $4,000,000 personally working with brands and has helped other creators land over $3,000,000 in sponsorships, I’ll say that this step (if done wrong) can cause the biggest headaches down the road.

Step 4: Concept

This is the phase where you review the creative brief and submit a concept to the brand/agency (even if they haven't asked you!) for review/approval prior to creating the content.

The duration of this step should be five days, otherwise, follow up with the brand/agency.

First up, if the brand hasn't provided you with a concept, ask them right away.

I’ve seen so many partnerships derail when the brand says they trust the creator to create the assets without a brief, but then ends up giving them a stack of revisions because it “wasn’t really what they had in mind.”

Make them tell you what they have in mind.

What are the main talking points? What’s the call-to-action? Any do’s or don’ts?

Then, on a more granular level, how do they prefer to be introduced in your content? (“This week I’m partnering with…”? “This podcast is sponsored by…”?)

If the brand gives you this information out the gate, you’ll save so much time later on.

And don’t worry, it can feel like there are so many questions you could ask the brand that it’s hard to know where to start (and if you’re missing anything important).

Step 5: Produce

This is the phase where you create the content and deliver it to the brand/agency.

The duration of this step should be relative to your draft delivery date.

When sending the deliverables to the brand, I suggest putting everything into a single document, like a Google Doc.

This makes it easier for the brand to see everything in one place and allows them to comment directly on, say, wording choice on the ad read or the segment of your newsletter where you talk about them.

Step 6: Feedback

This is the phase where the brand/agency reviews your content and requests revisions, edits, or reshoots.

The duration of this step should be seven days, otherwise, follow up with the brand/agency.

This is where the steps we took earlier save us some time. Because it’s now up to you to decide whether the revisions they’re asking for are reasonable and whether you’ll do them for free or charge them more.

Obviously, if you didn’t adhere to the approved brief and concept, you should be open to free revisions.

You should also be open to minor revisions if it will aid your relationship-building with that brand, so long as they’re not being totally unreasonable.

If it will take you five minutes to make the changes they requested, just do it.

But this equally means you’ve got to put your foot down if they are clearly not being reasonable.

Maybe they’ve gone way past the number of agreed-upon revision rounds, or now they’re asking you to create some entirely new content not previously outlined in the brief.

In cases like this, charging the brand extra might be warranted.

Step 7: Publish

This is the phase where you publish the content and deliver the live links to the brand/agency.

The duration of this step should be relative to the go-live date.

For this, I have a checklist that takes you all the way from the moment you sign the contract right through to the moment you hit publish on your sponsored content.

That’s available as a resource to all Brand Deal Wizard students.

Step 8: Analyze

This is the phase where you invoice the brand/agency and provide your tax and vendor paperwork. Within this phase, there are also some sub-steps.  For example, after you send the invoice and tax and vendor paperwork:

• Follow-up 1 (If no response, 5 days after submission)
• Follow-up 2 (If no response, call or email 3 days after Follow-up 1)
• Follow-up 3 (If no response is received, 7 days prior to invoice due date)

You also want to provide the brand with a post-campaign report summarizing the campaign objectives and key insights about its success.

This will look different depending on the campaign goals.

You might share the number of views/impressions your content got relative to the brand’s expectations.

If this was an awareness campaign, you could include screenshots of comments from people saying they’d never previously heard of the brand before.

The aim of this is to show the brand that this campaign was a success, right?

By the way, now that we’ve reached Step 8, hopefully, it’s clear why this system is not structured as a horizontal timeline, but rather as a wheel.

The moment you complete this partnership, you have to pitch them on your next idea!

The worst possible thing you can do is to collect that check and then never talk to the brand again.

Bizarrely, a huge amount of creators do this and end up back out there hustling for the next partnership with a new brand.

It’s so, so, so much easier to nurture the brand relationships you already have than it is to constantly win over new clients … trust me.

Next Steps for Creators

So now you know how the Sponsorship Wheel works, I’ve got something really exciting for you…

The Sponsorship Wheel Snapshot is designed to generate a personalized report that highlights your individual areas of strength in each of these 8 key areas and where you have the most room to improve.

By identifying these areas, you can figure out exactly how to make more lucrative deals consistently.

You can take the Sponsorship Wheel Snapshot for FREE here.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck with your next sponsorship!

— Justin

The post How Creators Make Consistent Income with PAID Sponsorships appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

Whether you work as a freelance consultant or a manager at a digital agency, people are at the heart of what you do. Helping clients solve problems, expand their business, and navigate new territory is all part of the service you provide. 

This requires clear, consistent, and collaborative communication. (After all, they’re paying you the big bucks to get access to you.)

Unfortunately, because your clients value your expertise and often want more face time, your business likely takes a backseat. When you’re busy with back-to-back Zoom calls and catching up on Slack it’s challenging to grow your business or scale your services. 

But it doesn’t have to be like that. 

Today I’m going to talk about a delightfully different approach to communicating with clients (that will save you both time!): asynchronous communication. I’ll elaborate on the problem it addresses, why it’s an effective solution, and how to shift your client workflow to take full advantage of it.

The Problem: Too Many Live Calls (It’s Draining!)

At first glance, having a calendar packed with client meetings seems like a good problem to have. More calls mean plenty of business, and more business means more money in the bank.But a large volume of live calls each week also comes with some significant downsides. Here are the big three: 

1. Your Mental Health Takes a Nosedive

Have you ever heard of meeting fatigue? Spending hour upon hour in meetings and calls isn't just tiring; it's exhausting.

Zoom fatigue can wreak havoc with your emotions and significantly impact your mood. As a result:

• Your concentration dips.
• Your critical-thinking and problem-solving skills take a hit. 
• Your stress levels soar.

And these adverse effects can ultimately impact your client communications, too; when you're feeling tired and groggy, clarity can suffer. 

• You might not have the patience to explore solutions and provide explanations properly. 
• You may overlook essential facts and miss out on vital details. 
• Your memory can suffer. 

This can be a great source of frustration for you and your clients.

2. Your Physical Health Deteriorates

As you know, spending too much time in front of your laptop (without proper breaks) is unhealthy. But the problem is, how do you make time to take meaningful breaks with so many call commitments? Sitting in one position for too long, like at your desk while discussing brand strategy with a client over Zoom — can cause a wide range of health problems: 

• Back pain 
• Muscle fatigue
• Achy joints 
• Dehydration
• Eye strain
• Headaches
• Weight gain 

(To name a few)

Plus, when your mental well-being suffers and your brain feels frazzled, it often shows up in your appearance. If you’re hoping to present a professional front to your clients and coworkers, the face of exhaustion staring back at them through a screen is less than ideal.

3. Your Business Goals Suffer

As well as adverse health effects, too many calls can harm your business long-term. It just isn’t sustainable. 

Consider what might happen if you drop the ball or start under-delivering. If your clients decide to go elsewhere, they’re not just taking their money with them but a piece of your professional reputation too.

Plus, when you’ve run out of hours in the day, it's impossible to focus on other areas of your business: 

• Research projects
• Attending professional events 
• Expanding on your area of expertise 
• Creating an online course 

All your big, bold business goals go unmet when you spend your energy working on other people's projects.  

This brings us to the crucial question: 

How can you offer consistent, high-quality, on-demand knowledge and advice to clients without neglecting your health and business?

The Solution: Scale Client Services with Asynchronous Communication

In short, asynchronous communication involves discussions and conversations that don't occur in real-time.

Sounds fancy, right?

Async communications have been around for a surprisingly long time. Our ancestors used cave paintings to communicate with each other and grab the attention of anyone passing. People then responded in a similar artistic fashion, almost like ancient graffiti, only with more purpose. 

Carrier pigeons, foot messengers, telegrams, and postal services followed, with the later addition of more modern messaging tools.

Today, everyday async communications include:

• Email
• SMS, MMS
• Messaging platforms such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. 
• Messaging Apps: WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, WeChat, Line, and Telegram 

You almost certainly use some form of async messaging tool already. 

But, which is the best for scaling client services?

Asynchronous Messaging with Video

The beauty of async messaging is that it removes the need for everyone to be present online simultaneously. 

You're probably all too familiar with trying to set up online meetings involving several people spread across different time zones. It’s a nightmare. 

Async video messaging provides the same benefits as in-person or virtual meetings; they’re just not live. And rather than simply using text-based or voice messages, video async messages offer excellent opportunities to communicate with your clients.

You can still: 

• See and hear each other 
• Share ideas effectively
• Ask detailed questions 
• Discuss ideas 
• Provide in-depth information and explanations

Complete with all the voice inflections, gestures, and visual aids of real-time communications.

Your clients are busy people, too. They, too, can benefit from the flexibility that async solutions provide. Instead of sitting in meetings all day, you are allowing them to focus on more pressing priorities (like implementing your suggestions and putting your knowledge to good use!).

At ZipMessage, we’ve built the perfect tool for this async-first communication approach.  

ZipMessage: An Async-First Messaging Tool for Consultants & Coaches

ZipMessage lets you give clients a dedicated conversation thread where they can send and receive messages with you asynchronously. 

And you have the option of using video (screen recording or camera), audio, or text.

The beauty of ZipMessage is in its simplicity. Sharing a ZipMessage thread is as simple as sending a client a link; that client can then record or type straight into that web page without installing special software. 

It’s easy to use and has a clean, professional layout.

Major Benefits: 

• It’s better than email — it's a quiet, dedicated space for just you and your client. No noise. 
• It’s better than chat apps like Voxer and Whatsapp — those offer too much access to you with no control over when (and how long) clients can keep sending you messages.
• It’s better than video recording tools like Loom, CloudApp, and others — those are one-off, one-way, easily lost, and forgotten messages.

ZipMessage is designed for back-and-forth threaded conversations that are easily stored and referred to in the future. 

Key Features:

• Message recording using video, microphone, and text for both you and your clients.
• Screen-sharing capabilities.
• Threaded conversations are displayed on one page, removing the chance of messages being lost in a non-stop chat app or a crowded inbox.
• Syncs with email, enabling you to keep important communications in one place, wherever they originate from.
• No need for clients to install special software.
• Incredibly easy to set up and use.

ZipMessage is user-friendly, effective, efficient, personable, and practical. With various options to suit communication styles and needs, what more could you want?

How to Shift Your Client Communication to Asynchronous Methods

Okay, we’ve covered the problem, the solution, and the tech. Now, you're perhaps wondering how to switch to more async communication methods with your clients. 

Well, whether you’re onboarding someone new or encouraging a long-term retainer to make the shift, these four tips can help make it a breeze:

1. Give Clients a Preview and Walkthrough in Real-Time

During a live consultation, send your client their first video message. 

This sets up the initial communication thread. While speaking in real time, explain how to use ZipMessage. Then, ask them to send a reply. 

Walking clients through a new process step-by-step, and performing a live demonstration will get them feeling confident and comfortable using async tools. Keep them informed to keep them engaged.  

2. Propose an Async Option for a Piece of the Process

At the end of a live meeting, propose using async messaging for feedback and follow-ups outside of longer consultancy meetings.

This gives your client a dedicated space to converse with you. Start the conversation, and provide your notes and feedback from the call. Urge them to reply if they need to. 

You don’t have to make all your meetings asynchronous; you can simply change one part of your process to free up that time. 

3. Show Your Work

Before replying to messages from clients, jot down key ideas and information to keep your messages on point, brief, ordered, and relevant. 

Record your screen as you write your notes so your clients can see them. This illustrates how they can create their replies and gives them an example to use. Plus, notes help to demonstrate to a client that you've given the issue prior thought and approach your consulting work with professionalism and dedication.

4. Scale Client Requests with Video Intakes

When clients want notes or feedback, videos can often clarify details more effectively than emails. 

Furthermore, it's human nature to pay more attention to a recorded message — the temptation to quickly skim through words on a screen is all too real for most!

ZipMessage makes it easy to direct clients to a video intake page. From there, they can easily record a message and send you a request.

Async Communication = Smarter Business

Asynchronous communication with video messaging can be a game changer when scaling your client services.

It gives you the power to: 

• Focus 
• Take back control of your day 
• Give clients their valuable time back 
• Communicate more effectively 
• Offer new services 
• Reach high-value clients

If you're looking for a simple way to get clients onboarded with an async messaging channel, give ZipMessage a try for free.

Don't forget to send me your feedback and shoot me a “ZM” at ZipMessage.com/brian. Are you excited about scaling client services (and reducing meetings) with asynchronous messages? Sign up for ZipMessage now!

The post How to Scale Client Services Using Asynchronous Communication appeared first on Smart Passive Income.

The SPI community has been asking about the world of freelancing a lot lately, so I thought I’d share some recent thoughts on freelancing to guide you in how to get started freelancing (and get your first client).

But first, I want to take you back to a post I shared in November 2017:

The 2 Quickest Ways to Generate an Online Income

In that post, I explain that freelancing is one of the two quickest ways to generate online income (the other is affiliate marketing). Freelancing allows you to quickly get paid for a task that can actually help solve problems for people.

And when you’re first starting out, freelancing is the number one way to get started online. It’s not passive income, which is an important thing to understand. Freelancing is definitely not passive; it’s super active. If you don’t do the work, you’re not going to get paid. But if you are dedicated and put in the effort, freelancing is a great way to get your foot in the door of an industry or niche you’re interested in. It’s, quite simply, a great way to get started in business.

After all, think about this: You just need one client. One client to make a little money. One client to get the ball rolling. One client to make a difference. And then, as you’ll hear me talk more about later in this post, you can take what you learn working with clients, and turn it into something more passive—with tools, or even a team! But first, let’s figure out how to get that first client.

Let’s get started!

What is freelancing, and why there’s huge opportunity in freelancing

I think it’s important first to define what freelancing is. Freelancing is, at its core, offering a skill you have in exchange for payment. If you have a skill a particular client or brand or business needs to help them solve their problems, they will want to hire you to solve it. And you do so with your specialized skill.

The cool part about freelancing is that there are so many different types of freelancers out there, offering up a huge range of skills. Even if you don’t have that skill right this moment, who says you can’t learn it and eventually offer up that skill too?

Here’s just a sampling of some of the types of freelance skills out there:

• Graphic design
• Photo editing
• UI design
• UX design
• Video editing
• Video production
• Voice acting
• Web design
• 2D animation
• 3D animation
• Ajax development
• Java development
• API development
• HTML development
• WordPress development
• Administrative support
• Email tech support
• Virtual assistance
• Transcription
• Data entry
• Academic writing
• Copywriting
• Copy editing
• Proofreading
• Editing
• Creative writing
• Ghostwriting
• Translation
• Accounting
• Bookkeeping
• Business analysis
• Quickbooks
• Excel
• Advertising consulting
• Google AdWords
• Marketing strategy
• SEO
• PPC
• Lead generation

And that’s just a small portion of the types of freelance skills available on the market. That’s a huge benefit when it comes to starting out in freelancing. You probably have a few of those skills already. And even if you don’t, you know that there’s a big opportunity for you to build your base of skills for your future clients.

Another benefit of freelancing is that it empowers you to enter a particular business space, get to know the people in there, and learn the ins and outs of that specific business type or industry. You may be hired for a specific skill, but you (or them or both) soon realize that there are other opportunities that you see, other areas where you can benefit the business.

In SPI Podcast session 460, Jay Clouse joins me to talk through an easy way anyone can get starting freelancing. Listen to it here:

Will my business idea work?

Enroll in our free course, Smart From Scratch®, and you'll get:

A clear understanding of your target audience

Ideas on how to serve your audience

Your roadmap forward

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today! Learn more about Smart From Scratch®.

How to get your first client (and why you just need one client!)

Once you have your own client, the road ahead gets a little easier. Don’t get caught up in thinking you need ten clients out of the gate. You just need an audience of one to start.

To help guide you through what that’s like, I had a chat with Charli Marie of CharliMarieTV.

In the video (embedded below), Charli, a successful freelance designer, shares essential tips for how to get your first freelance client, best practices for working with that client to make sure that it’s a great experience, and advice for making sure you get paid on time.

Once you have your first freelance client, how do you start making more money? In the second video in my freelance series, I continue my conversation with Charli Marie on the topic of:

5 ways to make more money (as a freelancer & entrepreneur)

So, you have your first freelance client. Now what? How do you start making your freelance life fruitful? There are many ways you can start making more money as a freelancer and entrepreneur, but we’re going to focus on just five ways for now.

1. Start building a reputation

As Charli says, building up your brand and getting your voice out there allows you to be “known for your craft.” A few great mediums to make yourself known is a blog, YouTube channel, and podcast—all platforms I use to build and grow my brand and reputation. The more you put out there, the more useful and relevant content and information you share with people online, the more you’re going to look like an expert in your particular craft or skill.

2. Have a good process in place

Know your process, and know it well. A good process means that you have an organized system and way to work with your clients from the start, the middle, and the end. If your process is non-existent, it’s just a disorganized mess, the less likely your clients are going to want to continue working with you, and probably won’t recommend you to their friends.

3. Serve the clients you already have

It can be tempting to want to always go after new clients, or to land the next great client. But when you’re too focused on new clients, you’re often forgetting about the clients you are already serving. Focus on your existing clients and the ways you can improve your service to them.

4. Upsell in an authentic way

Upselling can be tricky, and in some cases has a bad reputation. But here’s how Charli does it for her freelance clients: a tier-based approach:

• Tier 1: You do the basic work to meet the client’s stated need
• Tier 2: You meet the basic needs of the client, but also provide additional value
• Tier 3: You have a solution for the stated needs of the client, but then you also offer an additional service based on your review of the client’s situation and your experience

5. Increase your prices

Most freelancers undervalue or underprice themselves when they’re first starting out. It’s an easy thing to do because you’re just doing everything you can to get your foot in the door. But it doesn’t have to be that way—especially if you have your one client. Focus on what you do and your value.

For an extended look at more ways you can make money as a freelancer, check out my video with Charli Marie below!

Now that you’ve started freelancing, what’s next?

Freelancing, THEN WHAT? Career & biz options for freelancers

As a freelancer, you’ve probably felt the pull to do more in your career. It’s totally natural. And so in this final section of this post, I am going to share a few ways you can expand on your freelance career and business. (And don’t forget to watch the video below for the full deep dive into your many options—with Charli Marie and Caleb, my videographer!)

1. Freelancing can transform into a full-time job

In the video, Charli shares how she got her first full-time design job after doing some design work for a company. If you do good work for your clients, and you have a good relationship with them, that’s a potential opportunity if the client is looking for a more long-term, stable solution.

2. Your side hustle can transform into a full hustle

Caleb, my videographer, used to work at Fizzle doing video work. He loved that part of his full-time job so much that he set out doing videography as a side hustle. And that side hustle is now a full-time hustle! In the video below, Caleb shares how he prepared for that transition, and how he masterfully worked his way to a successful videography business owner.

3. If you want to scale, you have to hire people

I know this very well, as I tried to do everything myself for a while before realizing that I needed to bring in a team to free me up to do bigger and brighter things for Smart Passive Income. The same is true for Caleb’s business. He wanted to grow and push the limits, and he realized he couldn’t take that journey alone.

Read about how 20 different entrepreneurs made the exciting decision to finally hire someone—and how it changed their business for the better.

And if you want to hear the story of my very own first hire—and why I tried really hard to avoid it—then give SPI 474 a listen.

Make sure to check out the full video below for an extended conversation about career and business options for freelancers!

Before I go, make sure to also check out SPI Podcast Session 158 with my guest Brian Casel, who shares how to productize your service-based business—a great lesson for freelancers like yourself.

Brian returned in episode 314 to share how to turn your service-based business into a product, or into something that can be scaled and automated, so check that out, too. (Don't forget to subscribe to the SPI Podcast!)

And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for instant access to my weekly videos!

Again, you can check out the full Freelance Video Series below:

Happy freelancing!

Enroll now! access to the course is completely FREE

Smart From Scratch® is a part of the SPI Community. Access the free course and start your entrepreneurial journey today!

The post How to Start Freelancing (And Get Your FIRST Client!) appeared first on Smart Passive Income.