Going Broke and Listening to Podcasts to Recover

Back in 2012, I was in a really big financial slump for my online business. I had just moved to a new town, and all the thrift stores seemed to be dry.  I lost my confidence, and I wasn’t sure where I was going. I wasn’t making enough to pay the bills, and I was getting (multiple) $35 overdraft fees from the bank – going deeper into debt.

I was lost and depressed.

I eventually had to get a full-time job to get myself back on track. While the job was a good experience, it just reminded me how much love entrepreneurship. I was really motivated to get back to my online business lifestyle.

When I quit the job after 9 months, I promised myself that I was going to pursue this online business full force, and never look back. I was going to commit to selling books on FBA, blogging, and any other complementary income stream.

But I needed some serious inspiration…

So I started listening to business podcasts in my car while driving to thrift stores and library sales.

Here are my top 3 podcasts in no particular order.

Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn
Pat is an expert in blogging and multiple income streams in general. He is known for his transparency and he posts his income reports on his blog every month. He posts his expenses, income (to the penny), and lessons learned. This podcast inspired me to post my book sale and book-sourcer results on my blog.

 

Entrepreneur on Fire with John Lee Dumas
John does a Podcast 7 days a week, and he interviews successful entrepreneurs. I learned so many nuggets of wisdom from his guests, I feel like I should be sending him a check every week. Just seeing people (like me) who are trying to make it on their own was very comforting. You see, being an Amazon seller can be a lonely experience. No one quite understands what you’re doing. Friends and family are often confused, and think I’m weird cause I don’t have a real job. Hearing other entrepreneurs’ ups and downs gave me the confidence that I was on the right track.

 

Silent Sales Machine Radio with Jim Cockrum
This is a new one, and I’ve only listened to two episodes. But there have been golden nuggets of information in there already. I showed you my backstory with Jim Cockrum in a recent email broadcast, but I will share it again here.  ​​​​​I read one of Jim’s eBooks (Silent Sales Machine) in 2009 and it BLEW me away. All these creative business ideas started trickling in my brain. I realized that I could be an entrepreneur.  Not just an Amazon seller.

Conclusion

After listening to these podcasts and reading a few business books, it gave me the confidence to add these income streams:

1)     Blogging and how to monetize it
2)     Email Marketing
3)     Creating and selling software (you don’t need to know how to code)
4)     Affiliate marketing
5)     Writing a free (valuable) eBooks to create an email list
​​​​​​​6)     Creating YouTube videos on how to monetize it
7)     Hiring a Book-Sourcer
8)     Another creative way to obtain books (which I haven't mentioned yet)

I highly recommend listening to these Podcasts to expand your online business horizons.  Once again, FBA is a great place to start, but I think it’s just the beginning of creating a successful online business.