I recently sat down with Shawn Blanc, a creator I've known for years, to talk about what it takes to keep reinventing yourself and your business over a long career.

Shawn has spent the last 15 years building and evolving his business, from an ebook and sponsorships to his flagship Focus Course, masterminds, retreats, and eventually a completely new direction.

In this episode we discuss what Shawn calls “the burden of opportunity”, how to decide which opportunities are worth pursuing, and what happens when you realize the thing holding your business back might actually be you. Shawn also shares how he knew it was time to move on from the business that had built his career, and how that decision ultimately led to one of the biggest breakthroughs his business has ever had.

If you're building a creator business and thinking about what the next version of it should look like, you'll get a lot out of this conversation.

Timestamps:
01:13 Early Days: From Apple Blogger to Product Creator
04:35 First Product Launch
13:00 The "Bling Ding": $100K in a Week
20:37 The Burden of Opportunity: How to Say No
30:00 Business Stagnation
35:45 The Power of Community
45:40 The Pivot
51:00 The Big Breakthrough
55:10 Biggest Lessons

If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave a review. I read every single one.

Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show

Follow Nathan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow
Website: https://nathanbarry.com

Follow Shawn:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnblanc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnblanc
X: https://twitter.com/shawnblanc
Website: https://shawnblanc.net

Featured in this episode:
The Focus Course: https://special.thefocuscourse.com

Highlights:
20:37 The Burden of Opportunity: How to Say No
45:40 The Pivot
51:00 The Big Breakthrough

Are online courses really dead? I recently sat down with attorney-turned-entrepreneur Sam Vander Wielen to discuss her latest course launch that generated over half a million dollars in just four days.

In this episode, Sam shares the exact strategies she uses to consistently achieve massive success with her webinars and online courses, proving that these methods are far from "dead" in today's creator economy.

We also discuss the power of personalized customer interactions, Sam’s genius email list strategy that keeps her audience engaged and growing, and how she tackles the challenges of AI while maintaining an authentic and profitable brand.

If you have a course or are thinking of building one, you need to watch this entire episode.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction: Courses, Launches, & AI
01:20 Breaking Down a $500k Launch
02:49 Consistent Revenue Beyond Launches
04:48 Refilming with Kit Studios
06:17 Webinar Sign-ups & Email List Growth
14:00 The Weekly Lead Magnet Newsletter Strategy
20:30 The Unscalable Strategy: Personalized Videos
25:00 Unreasonable Hospitality & Handwritten Notes
31:00 The Impact of Podcasting on Business Growth
35:00 Order Bumps: Adding $100k to a Launch
36:00 AI and the Legal Industry
41:00 Financial Splurges: Cars & Property
44:00 Investing in Your Team

If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave a review. I read every single one.

Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show

Follow Nathan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow
Website: https://nathanbarry.com
Kit: https://kit.com

Follow Sam:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samvanderwielen
Website: https://www.samvanderwielen.com
Podcast: https://www.samvanderwielen.com/podcast
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samvanderwielen

Featured in this episode:
Kit: https://www.kit.com
Typeform: https://www.typeform.com
Sam's book: https://www.samvanderwielen.com/book

Highlights:
01:20 Breaking Down a $500k Launch
14:00 Newsletter Strategy
20:30 The Power of Personalized Videos

What does it take to build a $1.5M business with only a 20,000-person email list and a YouTube channel? I sat down with Layla Pomper, the founder of ProcessDriven, who has done exactly that. Layla built her business to 150,000 YouTube subscribers teaching small business owners how to systemize their operations. What I found particularly insightful was her journey from services to courses, and back to a hybrid model that's now allowed her to triple her income. She shares what she's seeing many creators miss, her unique approach to sales calls, and the "one weird trick" that made all the difference in her business. If you have a course or are thinking of building one, you need to watch this entire episode.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Layla's revenue ceiling with courses
02:47 Layla's original course model
04:32 How Layla added services to break through the ceiling
06:45 Pricing model of Layla's services
08:15 Explanation of Layla's pricing structure
11:00 Layla's counterintuitive sales strategy
14:08 Key metrics Layla tracks in her business
17:13 Finding and fixing bottlenecks
20:44 The power of a small, engaged email list
23:19 Revenue per subscriber analysis
25:26 Simplifying complex business models
32:46 The best of products and services combined
40:15 Turning client questions into YouTube content
49:00 The value of customer conversations in services
57:24 The tailored productized service structure
1:01:36 Mistakes when adding services
1:03:07 The critical mistake of undercharging
1:04:09 Layla's lead generation strategy
1:07:08 YouTube content strategy and calls to action

If you enjoyed this episode, please like and subscribe, share it with your friends, and leave a review. I read every single one.

Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show

Follow Nathan:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbarry
X: https://twitter.com/nathanbarry
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thenathanbarryshow
Website: https://nathanbarry.com
Kit: https://kit.com

Follow Layla:
Website: https://www.processdriven.co
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LaylaPomper
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laylapomper

Featured in this episode:
Kit: https://www.kit.com
The Goal: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11128.The_Goal
Built to Sell: https://builtosell.com
SCORE: https://www.score.org

Highlights:
01:29 – Breaking through the infamous revenue ceiling
12:07 – The powerful impact of listening in sales
30:30 – The circularity of business growth
43:10 – Creating content by answering real questions
55:18 – Giving customers what they actually want