Business Casual

"Publishing should be about the benefit it provides for the consumer (not the benefit it provides for you). If you have that mindset, you're much more likely to create something that succeeds because you're creating from a place of service." - Jay Clouse

My thoughts on courses teaching you how to Build Your Own Software with AI. Is this a scam specifically? And, are these types of products a scam in general?

I talk about 4 things I do every weekday to promote my products to make sales.

I decided to stop discounting all my products as a marketing tactic. Here's what I'm doing instead...

I dive into my strategies for turning my newsletter into a revenue stream, sharing hard-earned insights on creating value without compromising the trust of my audience.

Here is a list of ideas from my notes app to improve parts of my business.

I built a system that lets me create a designed email fast. Let me walk you through it...

The importance of building systems for scaling your business.

Stop overthinking. Start making MORE content. Here's my strategy...

I know I can come up with some good ideas on how to reach my audience without looking like a bunch of ads.

Let's brainstorm a schedule for creating more unique posts on Facebook to increase brand awareness.

One of my favorite local businesses closed down abruptly and I want to discuss why and how to avoid this in my own business.

Discussing the strategic approach to building a lasting brand in a niche market, using Swim University's 18-year journey as a case study.

Here are my key rules/principles in web design...Color ChoicesColor HierarchyFont Choices (Family and Size)Mobile-FirstNavigation SimplicityMake It About THEM— Not you.

I turned an empty room in my home into a shipping bay for my book business.

Pre-production is more important than post production.Write a script (even if you don’t say it verbatim).Make it shorter.Make it so a 4th grader can understand.Test for resonance.Listen to the repeatable asks from your audience (or your competitors).Editing and post-production can give you a slight edge. But you can make a crappy visual go viral if the content is gold.

What would I do if I were starting from zero as a YouTuber in 2025? No equipment experience, making thumbnails, camera experience, knowledge of editing videos, and so on. What software and pieces of equipment would I stick to so the production quality isn’t poor, and how would I eventually monetize things?

A deep dive into my proven email sequence for sales campaigns and why each message serves a specific purpose.Teaser email (optional): Sent in advance of the sale, a teaser email can generate excitement and anticipation with a sneak peek into upcoming discounts, products, or exclusive offers. Announcement email: Sent on the day the sale begins. The goal is to get people to start buying ASAP.Testimonial/FAQ email: This email is meant to answer any customer objections and provide social proof.Reminder email: A reminder email letting people know that the sale is almost over. Remember to include details such as the sale duration, highlighted products, and unique value. Include a prominent call to action with a direct link to the sale landing page. Closing email: Toward the end of the sale, a closing email serves as a final opportunity to drive urgency. Messaging should emphasize that it’s the last chance to take advantage of the sale. Include a strong call-to-action and a link to the sale page.

Given what you know now that you didn't when you started, do you think you could have grown Swim University's revenue faster? If not, why? If so, how?

A candid look at a major marketing initiative that failed and the expensive lessons learned.Facebook advertising with zero trackingPaying for backlink serviceHiring too many writers and it not paying off

Have you thought about that for your own company? Do you just consider a percentage for every person who’s trained? or one price to train 100 people for instance?

I took a massive break at the end of 2024. And here's what I learned from that mental recharge.

I don't think you ever talk about actually what's in your course, and how do you decide what's good about it and what's not, or what needs to be updated. Why a course and not a membership or community (or why not that in addition)? What software do you use? Do you feel it's important for people to finish the course - meaning are there incentives and gamification to finish? Can participants get something like an amazon/starbucks gift certificate or something for referring friends to purchase the course? Have you also tried youtube ads to promote the course? What metrics do you use to decide whether course sales are good or not, or the course meets your standards or not?

An episode introducing new people to the podcast.

Raise pricesDo less, but more on the things that workFocus on improving existing structures- do not invent new onesNiche down

Exploring when to deliberately keep your business small versus when to expand, based on Matt's experience growing Swim University with just a 3-person team.

New B-roll: a steady stream of new b-roll will keep our content looking fresh and provide us more opportunities for visual hooks.Running Ads: running low budget ads to our lead magnets and products will help our reach to new people.Train The Algorithm: like and save pool content every day to train the accounts and find new visual inspiration.Trending audio.Add longer captions.Use 3 hashtags. Improve BioPlay around with adding the title in the first 5 seconds on screen. But make sure it's clear to read.

Being prepared is underrated. I want to practice preparation in all my work.ResearchPlanExecute

How to Make SEO Articles BetterAnswer the question in the first paragraph, even if it’s just a quick summary.Be direct with the headlinesThe Smart Way to Kill Algae In Your Pool Quickly -> The Fastest Way to Kill Pool AlgaeVideo should be near the top after the intro. I believe most people rather watch than read. Under the video we can include a Lasso box to one of our products.Edit so it reads at a 3rd grade reading levelCreate custom graphics for each post and make it feel like it’s part of the flow. Text should be limited so it can be read on a mobile device.Create new featured imageFAQs are good if they do not make sense to include within the content.Do not include complex charts. They cannot be read on a mobile device. Instead, replace these with a custom lead generation box to download the cheat sheet which will include charts.Add built-in calculators where it’s appropriate Before making any improvements, collect questions using crazy egg for about a month or so. This will probably only work on popular articles or if we pay for traffic just to learn.

I took a prioritized article to improve and came up with a bunch of ways it could be done to gain SEO traction.

I came up with a way to prioritize what articles need SEO the most.

How to build business systems that allow for steady growth without requiring constant personal involvement or oversight.

The One-Hour Content System - Breaking down my streamlined process for creating high-quality content in just 60 minutes.Train an AI to generate content ideasTell the AI to flesh out my favorite ideasAdd those ideas to Asana and schedule them to be recordedHire someone to edit and publish your filmed content

I think this one is obvious, don't you?

I read this blog post and give my take: https://www.justinwelsh.me/newsletter/you-are-what-you-tolerate

I thought this episode might be a fun, off-topic idea to tackle. Let's see...

Could you tell us the story of how you launched your swimming pool course for the first time? How long did it take? Was it difficult or easy? How did you decide to promote the course at the very beginning? And what were the results? Any insights to share for someone launching a course for the first time?

What metrics do you track on your website? How do you set up your tracking? How has your tracking software changed over the years?

Breaking down my latest approach to designing and optimizing pages that sell digital products and books.

Bridging the gap between designing a brand and a home. Like, literally a home.

How I evaluate whether my business decisions are actually supporting the lifestyle I want to maintain.

I gutted every email automation I had set up for something totally new...and simpler.

A question about creating content around keywords or titles that want to be clicked.

This question is all about the difference between creating a list of CTAs and creating ONE CTA per email. Let's discuss...

I wrote down a list of things based on my own experience using social media that I think would be good for my brand to start posting.

Here's a breakdown of all my skills and how they've helped me build a sustainable lifestyle business since 2012.

The title speaks for itself, right?

The end...for now.

The title says it all.

Breaking down the essential email automations that drive 80% of my revenue and how I've optimized them over time.Welcome SeriesPost PurchaseAbandoned Cart