The DollarSprout Podcast

I officially took my business full-time 10 months ago! In today's update, I share where we've been over the last year, what my business looks like today (revenue, revenue projections, and hours I'm working), and my goals and plans for the rest of 2023. Click here for the episode transcript.

Today’s guest is Adrienne Johnston. Adrienne is a freelance presentation designer who works with companies like Microsoft, Samsung, and Meta. Adrienne left her job in finance in 2018. After working consistent 70-hour weeks, she was determined to build a business that gave her the freedom and flexibility she yearned for, but without the networking or sleazy sales calls. Today, Adrienne’s business brings in over $300k per year working less than half the hours as her previous corporate job. In this episode, Adrienne shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesHow Adrienne Built a Six-Figure Design BusinessAdrienne’s courseAdrienne’s freelance websiteAdrienne’s Instagram

Today’s guest is Jenny Weg. Jenny is a full-time mom and social media manager who started her business out of a desire to stay at home with her first child after maternity leave. Like many business owners, Jenny’s journey has been a nonlinear one. After building her business as a full-time freelancer and course creator, Jenny decided to go back to a full-time job and keep her business for supplemental income. She’s learned to adapt her business model to support her family throughout the changing seasons of life. And that, as you’ll hear in Jenny’s story, is the beauty of having an online business. In this episode, Jenny shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesJenny’s InstagramJenny’s Social Media Manager in a Month Course

Today’s guest is Julie Berninger. Julie is a blogger, podcaster, Etsy seller, and co-founder of Gold City Ventures, where she teaches others how to start a successful Etsy business selling printables. In 2017, Julie started her own Etsy shop, The Swag Elephant, selling temporary tattoos for bachelorette parties. After realizing she didn’t want to deal with the hassle of shipping orders, Julie switched to selling bachelorette scavenger hunt printables. Over the course of two years, she was able to build her Etsy shop to $10,000 a year working just 4 hours a week. Even after taking 6 months off for a cross-country move, her shop still brought in over $10,000. Through her E-Printables Course, Julie teaches others how to create and sell printables on Etsy in nearly any niche. In this episode, Julie shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesJulie’s Free Workshop on How to Sell Printables on EtsyJulie’s E-Printables Side Hustle CourseJulie’s Instagram

Today’s guest is Whitney Hansen. Whitney is a financial coach and business mentor who I’m a financial coach who helps ambitious people manage their cash flow, pay off debt, work towards their goals, and live life on their own terms. Whitney started her business in 2010. After working two jobs to pay off her $30,000 of student loan debt in just 10 months, friends and family started asking Whitney for help with their own finances. From that grew a financial coaching and education business that’s helped thousands of clients and students pay off debt and achieve their financial goals. In this episode, Whitney shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesThe Money Nerds podcastWhitney’s 1-on-1 Financial Coaching ServicesWhitney’s Become a Financial Coach CourseCompany of One

Today’s guest is Gillian Perkins from GillianPerkins.com. Gillian is a best-selling author, founder of the Startup Society, and host of the Earn More, Work Less podcast. Her mission is to teach regular people how to build online businesses that make passive income and provide them flexibility, fulfillment, and success on their own terms. In this episode, Gillian shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesThe 8 Ways to Make Money Online ExplainedGillian’s YouTube ChannelWork Less, Earn More PodcastGillian’s Website

Today’s guest is Keldie Jamieson, founder of the OBM Leadership Academy. Keldie’s career as an online business manager began in 2010 when she realized she could leverage her experience in project management and operations to build a location-independent business. After struggling to find ideal clients for a year, she took the Certified Online Business Manager® training and soon after landed her first 7-figure client. For more than 10 years, Keldie ran a successful OBM business with no online presence whatsoever – not even a website. Today, Keldie focuses on her work through the OBM Leadership Academy, where she teaches professionals how to leverage their operations, project management, and administrative expertise to build an OBM business of their own. In this episode, Keldie shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesOBM Essentials KitCertified OBM® Training Course SyllabusOBM Leadership Academy Website

Today’s guests are Rob and Melissa Stephenson, co-founders of Flea Market Flipper. Rob comes from a family of flippers, and he started his own reselling side hustle when he was just 16 years old. When he and Melissa realized they were about to have three kids under three with no health insurance, they decided to go all-in on reselling and take the business full time. That first year, they made over $130,000, more than $100,000 of which was profit. Today, Rob and Melissa have two sides of their business: flipping and coaching other flippers. On the reselling side, they bring in about $100,000 per year flipping 75 to 100 items. On the coaching side, they’ve helped over 1,000 people build profitable reselling businesses through their online course and community. In this episode, Rob and Melissa share: Resources: Episode Show NotesHow to Create A Recession-Proof Side Hustle with a Profitable Reselling Business in as Little as 14 DaysFlea Market Flipper WebsiteFlea Market Flipper YouTube

Today’s guest is Emma Sloan. Emma is a full-time content creator in her business, The Wee Writer, where she and her team provide customized copywriting and editing services to small and medium-sized businesses. Emma started her business in 2015 when she was still in university. She was in need of part-time income with flexible hours when she came across the idea to offer copywriting services. Since then, she’s taken her business full-time and grown it to over $70,000 a year. Throughout her journey, Emma has learned that business growth isn’t always linear, and growth for growth’s sake is meaningless (and often stressful). Sometimes you need to take a step back and regroup in order to see the bigger picture. She’s on a journey to continue building The Wee Writer into a business that feels aligned and supports her needs. In this episode, Emma shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesThe Wee Writer Websitethe blogThe Wee Writer on LinkedIn

Today’s guest is Kelan Kline. Kelan is one-half of The Savvy Couple, a family finance blog that makes learning how to manage your money approachable, fun, and easy to understand. Kelan founded The Savvy Couple in 2016, and the personal finance blog that started as a side hustle has now grown to a $500k/year business, putting them on track to reach financial freedom by age 35. Now Kelan and his wife Brittany spend a combined 35 to 40 hours a week working in the business, which allows them to spend more time with their two young daughters. In this episode, Kelan shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesFree Simple Budget TemplateThe Savvy Couple websiteThe Millionaire Fastlane

Today’s guest is Kaci Ackerman. Kaci is a Certified Online Business Manager® (OBM®) and Verified ClickUp Consultant who helps her clients optimize and automate their work in ClickUp, saving them upwards of 10 hours/week. Kaci started her business in 2020 after the dental office she managed was closed due to the pandemic. In the last 2.5 years, she’s grown her business from $0 to $150k, with half of her revenue coming from her ClickUp course and templates. This focus on creating passive income streams has allowed Kaci to scale back her time and work just 20 hours/week in her business. In this episode, Kaci shares: Resources: Episode Show NotesKaci’s WebsiteKaci’s InstagramKaci’s Free ClickUp RoadmapWays to Work with Kaci

At the end of Season 1, Megan gave an update on her business and listed 7 things she had decided to differently from the first (failed) business that she started. In this episode, Megan revisits that list and shares which items she followed through on, which she didn't, and what's changed in her business over the last 10 months. Click here for the episode transcript.

My first business was... not entirely successful. But it taught me a lot about myself, what I enjoy doing, and what I want my life to look like. After 4 years working part-time in my business, I decided to close shop for a while so I could figure out my next steps. Now I'm back on the horse charging head-first into my brand new business. Today, I'm sharing with you 7 things that I'm doing differently in my business the second time around. Some of them are mistakes that I made and am avoiding in my new business. Some of them aren’t so much mistakes as they are just lessons and wisdom that I’ve picked up along the way. And some are advice from our guests from this season and how I’m implementing their wisdom into my business going forward.

Today’s guest is Instructional Designer Melody Johnson. Melody helps course creators develop customer success strategies that get them more and better customer success stories (AKA testimonials). And you know what they say – testimonials are the best marketing material. Online courses and memberships can be a great way to build a flexible lifestyle business. We’ve talked about how to launch an online course in a previous episode with Lexi Merritt. But what if you’ve never created a course before? How do you organize and structure your course content to make sure that the course you create gets your students their desired result? The last thing you want to do is waste time creating a crappy course that no one finishes, that doesn’t get results for your students, or worst of all, your students complain about and ask for refunds for. As an Instructional Designer and a Certified Virtual Customer Success Manager, Melody’s specialty is helping you get your customers better results. And as I said before, better results equal better testimonials. And better testimonials equals more revenue in your business. A little about Melody before we jump into the show… Melody has a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts with a concentration in performance and directing. She has a passion for musicals and makes it a point to learn every new Disney princess song. (Me too, Melody. Me, too.) She brings the same sassy theatrical excitement to every client and every project. Melody also studied early childhood education and taught young children before going on to get her Master’s Degree in Instructional Design. She then moved on to corporate training for several years before starting her own business, The Course Consultant, where she helps small business owners create, grow, and scale their online course curriculum. When it comes to course design, Melody is the real deal, and I’m so excited and grateful to have her on the show today. Links and resources: Episode Show Notes and Key TakeawaysThe Digital Product ToolkitMelody’s Inspired Courses Facebook GroupMelody's TikTok AccountMelody on LinkedInThe Course Consultant PodcastThe Course Consultant YouTube ChannelMelody's Retention CalculatorMelody's 1-on-1 Customer Success IntensiveWhy Customer Success Matters for Small BusinessesTawk.to

Ever wondered what’s the fastest way to make money in an online business (without selling a service? Affiliate marketing might be the answer. Ben Huber and Jeff Proctor have made multiple 7-figures in revenue from affiliate marketing alone in the last five years of their business. In this episode, they talk about what you need to start making money with affiliate marketing, how to connect with thousands of your favorite brands at once, and their best tips to increase your conversions and build a loyal, trusting audience. Links and resources: Episode shownotesFree DollarSprout Facebook Group3 Top Affiliate Marketing Networks We Use to Make $20,000+/Month8 Affiliate Marketing Strategies to Drive Massive SalesIs Blogging Dead? Here’s How Blogging Has Changed in the Last 7 Years

Today’s guest is Content Strategist Marisa Jo, also known as MJ. You might have read her story on HuffPost or Good Morning America of how she left her full-time corporate career in 2020 to become an entrepreneur and full-time content creator. Today, Marisa helps creatives and coaches create a TikTok strategy to get seen, heard, and paid. She’s also the co-founder of Spacetime Monotasking, which offers virtual coworking focus sessions. If you’re someone like me who gets distracted easily and sometimes just needs the accountability of other people, then Spacetime Monotasking was created with you in mind. And if you’re a coach, a content creator, or any service-based business owner, I highly recommend you go follow MJ. She posts super helpful tips on content creation, mindset, and business. And she’s just really relatable and a genuine person. She’s not afraid to talk about the not-so-pretty parts of entrepreneurship, like burnout and unlearning hustle and productivity culture, which I always love and appreciate. Her TikTok is @itsmarisajo. Links and resources: Episode Shownotes and Key Takeaways@itsmarisajoBottomless ContentSpacetime MonotaskingDeep Work by Cal Newport

Today’s guest is Launch Strategist Lexi Merritt. I first found Lexi on TikTok, and I’m just gonna say this upfront: if you’re a creative business owner, or interested in launching an online course, or you just appreciate fun and relatable content from REAL people, then you’re gonna want to go to TikTok and follow Lexi. Her TikTok is @leximmerritt. Lexi has worked in marketing for over 8 years. She was the Director of Marketing and Online Course Development for Rachel Simmons, best-selling author of books Odd Girl Out and Enough As She Is. Lexi founded the Pretty Decent Internet Café, where she teaches creative thinkers how to turn their dreams and ideas into businesses. Her two main offerings right now are a VIP Day, where she helps creatives outline a sustainable product or service offering and design a strategy to sell it. And her second offer is The Study, a private membership space for creative business owners, freelancers, and people who like to make things. I really admire the way that Lexi has structured her business. She gives herself a 4-day workweek, taking Thursdays off to have what she calls an “intuition day.” And she built her offers around things that she loves, which are teaching and working with other creative business owners. Lexi’s content speaks to my soul, and I’m so excited to have her on the show. I hope you enjoy. Links and resources: Episode Show Notes and Key TakeawaysPrettyDecent.org@leximmerrittApple PodcastsSpotifyThe Artist’s Way

Is blogging dead? Should you start a blog today? How long does it take to make money with a blog? DollarSprout's Co-Founders, Ben Huber and Jeff Proctor, discuss how blogging has changed in the last 7 years, what it takes to make money blogging today, and who should consider starting a blog. Links and resources: Episode Show NotesFree DollarSprout Facebook GroupThese 5 Millennials Started Blogging 12 Months Ago. Now They’re All Making $1,000+/MonthHow to Start a BlogHow to Make Money Blogging for Beginners: A Complete Guide to Your First $1,000

Today’s guest is High Performance and Mindset Coach Carrie Veatch. Carrie helps ambitious entrepreneurs bust through their self-doubt so they can create wildly profitable online businesses. She has a Master’s degree in counseling psychology, which led to her working as a therapist before starting her coaching practice at Set Yourself Free. Carrie now runs two online businesses, including her coaching practice, both built around her core value of freedom – including time freedom, financial freedom, and location freedom. Because of the way she’s built her businesses, she’s able to enjoy the digital nomad lifestyle she loves. She spent the last 4 years traveling around Asia and I believe is now in Mexico. In this conversation, Carrie talks all about the mental blocks that hold so many would-be entrepreneurs back and how to bust through them so you can create the freedom-based business of your dreams. Episode shownotesSet Yourself FreeWhy Perfectionism is Fear in Disguise and What to Do About itNavigate Your Visibility Fears While Still Making MoreFeel Like a Fraud? Listen to Why It's a Good Thing!Why Going ALL In is the Difference Make if You Want to Make More Money in Your BusinessHow to Overcome Imposter Syndrome NowThe Big LeapPrevalence, Predictors, and Treatment of Impostor Syndrome: a Systematic ReviewThinking your way out of imposter syndrome

Today’s guest is Jen Smith. Jen is co-host of the Frugal Friends podcast, which I highly suggest you check out if you haven’t already. Jen and her co-host Jill are so funny, you’ll literally just feel like you’re having a conversation with two of your best friends. They’re amazing. And on top of having a very successful podcast, Jen has done a lot of other things in her business. She’s been a freelance writer and blogger, she’s sold online courses, written and sold eBooks, she and Jill host an online summit called The Future of Frugal Summit. We’ll include links for all of those resources and more in the show notes for this episode so you can go and check them out. There was just so much that I wanted to talk to Jen about on our call because she just has so much experience and wisdom in all of these areas. Some of the things we touch on are: And of course just so much more that I’ll let you find out yourself without rehashing our entire conversation. Don’t forget to stick around to the end of the episode to hear my key takeaways, thoughts, and action items you can take away from this conversation. Links and resources: Episode show notes and transcriptThe Frugal Friends PodcastFinancial Freedom Mentorship WaitlistThe Future of Frugal SummitFrugal Friends YouTube ChannelModern FrugalityThe One ThingEssentialism