Jim MacLeod has spent his career helping companies design effective and goal-oriented digital experiences. He did it as a freelancer, and he does it today as the VP of Marketing for Digital Experience and Design for EBSCO. Now he is using that experience and wisdom to turn the traditional curated email newsletter on its head.We don't often think about design as an area ripe with differentiation possibilities for the curated newsletter, and yet Jim is proving that it absolutely can be.In this edition of 7-Figure Small, we dive into Jim's strategy with his Marketing Podcast Recap newsletter, and he shares some of the most important lessons about web design and digital experience that he's learned over the past two decades.We also discuss why he's going to CEX this May and what he hopes to get out of the experience.To connect with Jim, follow him on Twitter (@JimMacleod).You can subscribe to Marketing Podcast Recap newsletter here: https://jimmacleod.substack.com/To learn more about CEX and get your Early Bird tickets, go to cex.events.

This week Jerod is joined by Scott Ellis and Wendi McGowan-Ellis, the husband-and-wife team that built one of the most successful hyperlocal websites of all time: Lifestyle Frisco. And they’re not just 7-Figure Small powerhouses together, they’ve both launched impressive projects on their own as well – Wendi with a productized podcast and strategy service for successful female entrepreneurs, and Scott with a software product for doctors and his own newsletter for online entrepreneurs. In this conversation, we get the background and lessons learned from these projects. We also discuss the benefits and challenges of working together as a married couple, especially when working from home. To connect with Scott, visit his website and subscribe to his newsletter: vsellis.comTo connect with Wendi, visit wendistry.com or follow her on Twitter @wendistry.To learn more about CEX and get your Early Bird tickets, go to cex.events.

Kelly Berry is a serial entrepreneur whose list of credentials and accomplishments is impressive:She is the founder of ResourceAbility and Learn Start Grow, a trained and licensed CEO peer group facilitator, and was named Western Wisconsin Businesswoman of the Year in 2018. She’s also a mom of two kids — a role which turned out to be pivotal in convincing her to leave the corporate world to start her own online business for the freedom and flexibility she desired. (Sound familiar?)Kelly is a member of the Unemployable Initiative, our private community for freelancers and entrepreneurs who are building 6- and 7-figure audience-based businesses, and she is consistently one of the most thoughtful and helpful members of the community. In this edition of 7-Figure Small, Kelly shares insights and wisdom acquired along her journey from corporate employee to client-based freelancer to audience-building community leader and peer group facilitator.We discuss:• Why Kelly is looking forward to attending Creator Economy Expo in May.• Kelly's path from the corporate world to successful freelancer.• What made her realize that she needed to break out of the hourly revenue trap.• How Kelly's background in data analysis and research has helped her.• Why she launched Learn Start Grow and who it serves.• The impact taking futurism courses had on her mindset.• The challenges of trying to bring offline peer groups online.• What she learned about hosting community events through her CEO peer group training.• Her methodical approach to building Learn Start Grow.• The impact that traditional networking strategies have had on her audience-building efforts.• And much more.To connect with Kelly, visit Learn Start Grow and subscribe: https://learnstartgrow.com/ To learn more about CEX and get your Early Bird tickets, go to cex.events.

Let's talk about CEX.Last week, Brian Clark and Joe Pulizzi announced that they are joining forces to host a first-of-its-kind event for creators and content entrepreneurs. It's called Creator Economy Expo (CEX), and it will take place May 2-4 at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix, Arizona.This week on 7-Figure Small, Joe is back. You may recall his last appearance on the show, which included a discussion about his creator coin $TILT that helped spur us in a similar direction, launching $MOVE a couple months later. In this episode, Joe and Brian share the story of how CEX came to be, who it serves, and why they decide to partner up.It's a moment more than a decade in the making for two entrepreneurs who have carved out successful 8-figure personal enterprises serving a similar audience. Now their "co-opetition" has morphed into a full-fledged partnership resulting in the first live, in-person conference dedicated to combining the fundamentals of audience building online business with the emerging trends and tools of web3.You'll find out about the Super Early Bird pricing (which is live now) and also learn about the special NFTs -- called NETs, or Never-Ending Tickets -- that were created especially for the event.We're excited to be hosting this event, and we hope to see you in Phoenix in May. To learn more and get your Super Early Bird tickets, go to https://cex.events.

When we think about and discuss the concept of being “unemployable,” it’s easy to conflate that with being alone. Consider the title of Paul Jarvis’ seminal book on the subject: Company of One.Even the headline on the unemployable homepage right now – "No Investors, No Employees, Big Profits" – can be taken, at a quick glance, to suggest building on your own. But the reality is that for the vast majority of unemployables, trying to navigate an increasingly complex web of tools, opportunities, and competition is more successfully done together than separately. Whether it’s a content collective you join, an educational community you’re a part of, or even a partnership that you enter into, you can get the most important parts of being unemployable (freedom, flexibility, and financial independence) while mitigating the biggest downsides (lack of support, loneliness, risk).And this week, we explore this idea with two individuals who have built successful unemployable careers while proving that being unemployable doesn’t mean being unattached.Joining Jerod on 7-Figure Small this week is Danielle Hughes, the founder of More Than Words, where she helps businesses develop their genuine personality brand so they can attract the right clients and repel the wrong ones. She is also a longtime member of the Unemployable Initiative, our community for unemployables who want coaching and connection, so they don’t have to go it alone. You can learn more about it at https://unemployable.com/community.And joining the conversation is Trudi Roth, Jerod and Brian's partner at Movement Ventures, and who you probably know well from her role as the beloved recurring essayist for Further.We discuss their entrepreneurial journeys and what they've learned about the importance making connections, seeking support, and finding a sense of belonging. Then we discuss why the concept of attachment is even more important in the emerging web 3.0.That leads to a candid conversation about women's perceptions of web 3.0 (and how they often differ from men's), why women are more likely to be patient and deliberate before rushing in, and what can be done to help onboard more women to the Internet's next frontier.***If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.

We’ve spent a lot of time on the podcast over the last few months discussing the emergence of web 3.0.This includes analyzing the technologies that are enabling web 3.0 and analyzing what they mean for the future of audience building, community building, and the kind of content entrepreneurship and personal enterprise building that so many 7-Figure Small listeners are working toward.This week, Jerod shares some advice that will be useful to anyone involved in web 3.0, whether you’re just dabbling in it for the first time or already down the rabbit hole.In this episode, we present a series of "Do's and Don’ts" that will help you to seize the many opportunities that are present here in the still-early days of this transition while helping you avoid the many potholes and pitfalls in what is still fair to call the wild, wild, west of web3.And here to help Jerod is yet another member of the Unemployable Initiative, Josh Risser. In addition to his growing experience in web 3.0, Josh has built a successful freelance career as a voiceover artist and coach. He shares his journey from fledgling musician to six-figure freelancer before we dive into the Do's and Don'ts that will help you have a successful experience in web 3.0.***If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.To learn more about the Unemployable Initiative, go to https://unemployable.com/communityTo learn more about $MOVE and The Coin Collective, go to https://rally.io/creator/MOVE/

We launched the 7-Figure Small podcast last year as a natural evolution of the unemployable concept. The big idea, as stated right there in the podcast description, was to share compelling stories and actionable strategies for creative freelancers and entrepreneurs looking to live the "7-Figure Small" lifestyle.And we’ve done that. But things in our world have changed quite a bit over the last 18-24 months, and that change has been reflected in the content here on the podcast.Web 3.0 has come hurtling down the tracks like a freight train, seeming to pick up speed every day as the tools empowered by blockchain technology -- like creator coins, NFTs, and DAOs -- become more and more accessible. In turn, the stories and actionable strategies we’re sharing have changed, by necessity. It even led to the creation of a new educational community, Future Freedom, which you can -- and should -- learn more about over at futurefreedom.com. In fact, when you go there, you can enter your email address to get a free email course from Brian that will help you create your ideal future, on your terms, by explaining the keys to succeeding in the new creator economy.And Forest Linden, our guest this week on 7-Figure Small, is really the perfect guest to bridge the gap between the old 7-Figure Small podcast and the evolved 7-Figure Small podcast.Because he is a case study in how to build an audience-first, one-or-two-person business that can scale to six figures and beyond. He is also a true native of the emerging web 3.0 landscape in just about the most fundamental way possible -- by being a former miner of Bitcoin and Ether.Forest currently runs Clarity Lab, where he helps people and businesses find the best software for their online businesses and scale their revenueHe has also helped his wife grow her mid-six-figure business The Art of Money, founded a six-figure online business called Tech Husband, and earned more than $200,000 in one year by selling an online course teaching people how to build websites in Joomla.In this conversation, we hit on a number of topics:• The throughline that has driven his career choices.• How Forest went from living in a tent and playing music for money to running six-figure technology businesses.• The good and bad of being an unemployable.• How he's thinking about opportunity in the metaverse.• The fundamentals that continue to endure for audience builders and online entrepreneurs.• Why it all ultimately boils down to relationships and being helpful, not matter what technology platform you're on.• Plus, he runs through a few of his favorite tools for content entrepreneurs.***If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.

We’ve spent a lot of time over the last few months discussing web 3.0, the emerging and converging technologies that are creating it, and how these trends will impact the strategies and tactics we choose as audience-building entrepreneurs.If you missed any of our recent podcasts episodes on web 3.0, make sure you to dip into the recent archive to get caught up.And if you want to go deeper on the keys to succeeding in the creator economy and web 3.0, go to futurefreedom.com and sign up for Brian Clark’s free email course, where you’ll get his latest thinking on how to build an exceptional business and lifestyle by embracing change instead of dreading it.This week, we resume talking about web 3.0 and the metaverse, and all that those terms encompass, but in a slightly different context.Our guest this week is Mich Bondesio, an expert on business performance. She has spent years helping business leaders improve performance, enhance their creativity, boost their productivity and build a healthier work culture.She is the founder of Growth Sessions, where she works with business owners, writes the bi-monthly Cadence newsletter, and hosts the Creating Cadence podcast, where she explores how to create momentum, work with purpose, and live with intention — to activate our better selves and support better business.And she is also a leader within the Unemployable Initiative, our private membership community for unemployables who are working toward building a 7-Figure Small business. Instead of analyzing how these rapidly evolving web 3.0 technologies will affect our strategy, we discuss how they will actually affect our ability to execute and, simply put, actually get work done. • What does it do to our brains, and our ability to focus, when more and more of our experiences are mitigated through screens?• What does it do to our ability to build meaningful relationships, which people and teams need to thrive?• And while it’s easy to point out and dwell on the potential negatives, are there second order benefits that we may be overlooking too?Plus much more.***If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.

What exactly is a “digital nomad?”Here’s one potential definition:Explorer, Traffic & Website Builder, Always Striving to Be & Do Better. Driven by continuous exploration. Personally, professionally, and as a full-time nomad. At home in Canada & the USA but consider myself a citizen of the world.That’s the headline and description from one of our member profiles inside of the Unemployable Initiative — a member who certainly considers herself to be a digital nomad.It’s a concept we’ve discussed here on the 7-Figure Small podcast. And we’ve certainly discussed it over at Future Freedom. In fact, if you go to futurefreedom.com and register for the free email course, one of the lessons you’ll receive is about how to “unretire” and travel the world.But my hunch is that while many folks striving to build a personal enterprise are intrigued by the idea of being a digital nomad, it’s a concept that remains pretty abstract in most people’s minds.It’s aspirational, and it makes for compelling social media posts, but it’s something “other” people do and that may actually feel unattainable … until you are actually out there being a citizen of the world yourself.So this week, with Brian headed off for a retreat in Peru, I (Jerod) take the opportunity to dig into what it’s really like to be a digital nomad, while also shining a light on one of our most consistent and helpful contributors in the Unemployable Initiative — our private, paid education community for unemployables across the globe, whether firmly grounded in one location like me, or constantly on the go, like this week’s guest.And yes, as you might have guessed, our guest is the person whose profile description is listed above: Pat Williams, the founder of CyberCletch, a boutique web design and digital marketing agency that she runs from, well, anywhere.We discuss:• Pat's life and career arc that led to her current digital nomad setup• The source of her wanderlust• The benefits of life on the road with a location-independent business• The challenges of life on the road with a location-independent business• The sources of support and connection that help Pat along the way• Her advice for anyone considering making a similar career and life shift• The stories that encapsulate what the digital nomad life is likeAnd much more.To get links to all of the resources Pat mentioned, check out the show notes: https://unemployable.com/digital-nomad***If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discovering the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.Just head over to futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox, and more.

Jack Butcher is proof that new voices can come along and quickly build a 7-figure small business with an online audience. And then also parlay that initial success into the next iteration of their own personal enterprise.Of course, people only see the so-called “overnight success” and not the longer path that made it possible. Like so many others, Jack didn’t just jump into online courses. He paid his dues developing industry expertise, worked one-on-one with clients to test his ideas, and only then did he launch scalable courses that brought him over a million in revenue.And now, thanks to the unique visual aspects of the brand Jack built that was bigger than himself, he’s able to capitalize on the biggest digital trend of 2021 -- NFTs. It all comes down to the audience he started with, and how his biggest fans constitute something more in the form of community. Listen in to hear how Jack’s journey played out.***If you’re interested in gaining more guidance on building your own personal enterprise in the creator economy and discover the opportunities in the emerging Web 3.0, take our free Future Freedom course.Just head over to http://futurefreedom.com and enter your best email address. You’ll get five value-packed lessons (plus a few bonus lessons) delivered direct to your inbox. http://futurefreedom.com