Real talk from a serial founder

There are some classes you solely study when life hits you laborious. This week’s grasp stared down the lack of his enterprise —

“All of This autumn was the largest punch within the face for me that yr. It was essentially the most careworn I’ve ever been in my life.”

— and got here out the opposite facet with a six-figure company. Right this moment, he shares the sort of vulnerability and actual speak you hardly ever get from entrepreneurs.

And his recommendation simply would possibly provide help to duck a punch.

Ryan Atkinson

Founder and CEO at Spacebar Visuals; Host of The UpFlip Podcast

• Enjoyable reality: In enterprise college, Ryan acquired the bottom grade in a category known as Founders Membership. He went on to develop his personal six-figure enterprise.

• Declare to fame: Named to Austin’s 25 Underneath 25 and the Tippie Younger Alumni Board. His podcast about entrepreneurship has hit over 2 million downloads.

Lesson 1: Don’t simply develop to develop.

In case you imagine the hustle-culture hype that thrives on LinkedIn, the one method to get forward is to eat and breathe the grind, proper? I’d say “eat, sleep, and breathe,” however the grind by no means sleeps.

“I assumed once I [created] Spacebar, I wished to develop as a lot as doable, rent as a lot as doable,” Ryan Atkinson says. And his enterprise did develop — second solely to his stress ranges.

“That is in all probability TMI, however I had canker sores from stress. I couldn’t even take heed to music, as a result of music would make me anxious,” he confesses.

Atkinson reached a degree the place he needed to reevaluate each his enterprise and life objectives and think about what he was rising towards. (One thing that many entrepreneurs received’t admit.) His recommendation to you solopreneurs, startup founders, and small enterprise house owners?

“The aim remains to be development, however it’s not development in any respect prices. Develop to rent accurately. Develop profitably. Develop mindfully.”

Lesson 2: It’s okay to start out low-cost.

Video is now not a nice-to-have for entrepreneurs, however that doesn’t imply you must drop half your internet value making the following Marvel film.

“As an instance you are a startup firm, the place you will have a restricted funds. You may’t spend 20 grand on a video. Actually, Upwork is a superb place to get began.”

I took a sip of my tea simply so I might do a spit-take. The answer isn’t to put in writing a examine to his video company?

“It doesn’t need to be Spacebar,” Atkinson laughs. “However you’ll be able to’t do an iPhone sort of video if you wish to make first impression on prospects.”

“In case you’re a startup marketer, you will have 1,000 issues it’s worthwhile to be doing. You may have reporting. You may have campaigns. You may have e mail advertising. And video just isn’t simple to get proper. So, go to Upwork, discover somebody that may do it for $500, $900.”

To be clear, he’s not speaking about dropping that money on run-of-the-mill TikTok posts. That is about investing in movies that meet your viewers at key steps on their purchaser’s journey.

“You wish to have a top-of-funnel explainer video as a result of individuals must know who you’re. You desire a model overview video. And also you desire a product demo that brings your product to life. In case you might solely do three belongings with video, do these.”

Atkinson went on to interrupt down precise suggestions for every of these movies, however since I couldn’t squeeze ’em into one e-newsletter, I’ve linked an extended information down beneath.

Lesson 3: Podcast for a distinct objective.

As a fractional podcast host, Atkinson has helped launch extra podcasts than most individuals have consumed. So I requested him the important thing to getting a profitable present up and operating.

“Rising a podcast is extremely laborious. It’s nearly unimaginable to do it independently now,” he admits. “I like podcasting a lot, however the extra I get into it, the extra I’m realizing it actually is pay-to-play.”

Atkinson explains that except you’ll be able to pay for broad distribution, or except you’ve acquired a ready-made viewers — say on LinkedIn or in a e-newsletter — it’s unlikely you’ll develop to a degree the place monetizing your podcast is well worth the time you place in it.

However even in the event you’re by no means a prime 100 podcast in your area of interest, there are different causes to do it.

“Podcasts may be reused as a weblog put up, e mail, [or] for website positioning.” To not point out repurposed for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn. So even when the podcast itself is sluggish to realize traction, the trouble pays out in cross-functional content material.

And your present may even be an icebreaker for these hard-to-reach shoppers:

“We use it generally to allow us to speak with prospects and get launched to them. Attain out to your [ideal customer profile] like, ‘Hey, you wish to be a visitor on our podcast?’”

When you interview them, it opens the door to additional collaboration and dialog.

Simply “don’t assume you’ll be a prime 50, even prime 100 podcast in two weeks.”

Lingering Questions

This Week’s Query

“What sparks pleasure for you?” — Jayde Powell, Founder and head of artistic, The Em Sprint Co.

This Week’s Reply

Atkinson says: “Professionally, whenever you take a guess on one thing and it really works.

Personally, being with household, pals, understanding, and studying books.”

Subsequent Week’s Query

Atkinson asks: “In case you might solely spend money on one device to assist your organization develop for the following three years, what device would it not be?”