Episodes

Imagine that you’re going to give a talk on a topic you know really well. You spend time on the presentation, rehearse it 100 times, dial in the slides, and you’re feeling great. You get the conference, deliver the talk, and you think you nailed it. But when you ask for questions, one person raises her hand and says, “Nous ne parlons pas anglais.”

That’s right. You just delivered your talk in English, and the entire audience speaks French. You made an assumption that you knew that audience. And the conference host made that same assumption. 

Now the effects, or embarrassment, may not be as strong if you guest on a podcast, but they can cut against your credibility, and potentially waste your time…and the audience’s time. That’s why you need to be prepared. 

And that’s exactly what public speaking coach (and fantastic guest) Adriana Baer is going to talk to us about today. We chat about everything from research to storytelling, and she even has a few bonus tips. Be sure to stick around until the end for a special bundled deal we’re offering.

Recently, I sat down to dinner with my family when the doorbell rang. It was a door-to-door HelloFresh salesman, who wanted to make dinner easier for us (while ironically preventing me from eating dinner). I immediately got frustrated for two reasons: 

It was dinner time and the interruption was unwelcomed

I had already told this guy’s partner “no” several hours earlier. 

It was a conversation that not only was unwelcome but was already flat-out rejected once before. 

This sort of tactic is what gives sales a bad name, and why folks like us hate sales. But today’s guest, Nikki Rausch, is here to tell us that’s not at all how sales should work – and what we should do instead.

Social media advice these days reminds me a bit of the parable of the Emperor with no Clothes. See, it’s easy for anyone to display how smart and successful they are. They say things like, “Here’s your content strategy for 2024: Post three times on X daily, post one thread on X daily. Create three LinkedIn posts per day and one LinkedIn carousel per week.” 

People read that and think, “That’s easy to understand,” without realizing that just posting content is not a strategy at all. 

I often think about how people perceive me and my show because I consider myself a successful podcaster. But I also feel conflicted – I don’t feel I’ve done a good job of leveraging this show to grow my audience. So, I’ve decided to have my friend, Zach Swinehart, come on to talk about how I can improve my conversions for this show.

However, it almost feels a bit like the emperor has no clothes. Am I putting myself out there? Am I letting myself be too vulnerable? I guess you’re about to find out.

Imagine making $70,000…from your bedroom…in one night. 

That’s exactly what Matt “Dappz” McGuckin did with his online trading cards shop. He got his start “breaking” – that is, buying and opening boxes of cards live online, and selling the contents…all on TikTok. 

Sounds risky? It is! But today, Dappz Sports is the Live Shopping Company on TikTok in the U.S., making over $20 Million in gross sales. So the risks have paid off. 

Now maybe it seems like too far-fetched to say you’ll make $70K in one night, but it’s not too far-fetched to say that making calculated risks will elevate your business. 

It’s a proven strategy and Dappz, and today, he’s going to tell you how you can do it too.

Over the years, I’ve published a great many gift guides on my blog. From freelancers, to podcasters, to working from home, and even my hobbies — like pens and cigars. And this year is no different. But given my relatively new focus on helping solopreneurs (and the fact that the “Work from Home” guide is…

Do you remember the most awkward moments of your life? One for me was definitely the day I was defending my master’s thesis. I was explaining a complex algorithm, when my advisor interrupted me and said, “Well…that’s not really how it works.”  In front of my classmates, other faculty, and a number of friends who showed up out of support.

As you can imagine, I was mortified – until recovered, finished the presentation, and said, If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them. Unless it’s about that one algorithm. They you can ask Dr. Bishop.” 

That got laughs, and I finished strong. I learned an important lesson that day: awkwardness will happen. It’s how you handle it that has a lasting effect. And that’s exactly what Dr. Henna Pryor is going to talk about with us today. She’s a keynote speaker, and her best-selling book, Good Awkward, came out in September with endorsements from people like NFL Quarterback Russell Wilson.

A family walks into a talent agency, and says, “Have we got the act for you…” If you’re familiar with this opening to a joke, you may have had a visceral reaction to it — either you think it’s hysterically funny, shamefully disgusting, or both. It’s the opening to the joke, The Aristocrats, and if…

In a way, the chaotic start to our interview, followed by the calm, cool conversation that followed, is a metaphor for Jordan’s business journey this year. 

See, this isn’t just a story about how to hire good people for your business. It’s a cautionary tale, and proof that running a business is about always learning and adjusting. See, Jordan runs an agency of high-level remote assistants. 

Today, she’s telling us her own trials and tribulations with making what seemed to be the right hiring call but ended up plunging her business into a few chaotic months 

Don’t worry though, through patience and vigilance, she came out on the other side in a much better position. Plus, in the PRO show, we talk about what she’s doing for me…and why she’s contributed to me potentially leaving Airtable for Notion.

If I wanted to cater to the current algorithm gods, I’d probably talk about how this interview is all about what AI can and cannot do for us. But it’s so much more than that. 

Much like the problem with leveraging AI to do all of the heavy lifting, me positioning this episode as “about AI,” would be inauthentic. And authenticity…well that’s really what this episode is about. 

Tom Schwab is someone who believes at his core that you’re just One Conversation Away from a profitable…and perhaps quite successful…business. So that’s what he helps people do. He helps them have conversations. 

And today, you’re going to learn how to get better at having the right conversations, as well as how to leverage those conversations to build your authority…authentically. 

Plus in the PRO show, Tom and I exchange podcast interview horror stories!