WEBVTT 00:00:00.140 --> 00:00:05.260 Hey, everybody, and welcome to the Friday wrap-up on Streamline Solopreneur, a short episode where I talk 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:10.380 about three things, what's on my mind this week, recommended reading, and recommended media. 00:00:11.020 --> 00:00:15.060 This is the show that helps you automate your business so you can take time off worry-free, 00:00:15.620 --> 00:00:19.660 and hopefully this curation will help you think more about your systems. 00:00:20.200 --> 00:00:25.640 I'm your host, Joe Casabona, and here's what's on my mind for June 19, 2026. 00:00:26.820 --> 00:00:29.980 Okay, so number one, I'm doing it. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.860 a lot of speaking this year. I updated my slash now page that's over at casabona.org 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:42.200 slash now. And I decided to add all of my speaking appearances. It is my heaviest speaking 00:00:42.690 --> 00:00:48.800 year since before the pandemic when I was fully in the WordPress space and speaking at half a 00:00:49.040 --> 00:00:53.900 dozen WordPress specific events per year plus meetups and other events that I was speaking at. 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:59.960 Each talk takes me a significant amount of time to craft, rehearse and deliver 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:06.800 in an impactful way. And while I do try to give the same talk multiple times, I always practice it 00:01:06.810 --> 00:01:15.180 three to five times before giving it. And I will also often update the talks based on feedback as well. 00:01:15.300 --> 00:01:21.920 So I will update analogies to make them land a little better. I'll change examples based on what I had 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.520 been working on in between those talks. I will tighten up descriptions and things like that. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:34.240 there was actually somebody in the WordPress space at a WordPress conference I spoke at over 10 00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:39.080 years ago now, but I had given the same talk about three times that I was about to give at this 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:44.180 conference. And he got on my case about it, telling me like that it's wrong that I'm giving the same 00:01:44.340 --> 00:01:51.020 talk multiple times as he was working on his slides. So I said, hey, my talk is done and I know it's 00:01:51.100 --> 00:01:55.819 going to be good because I've given it before. You are working on your slides right now and you 00:01:55.940 --> 00:02:01.720 don't know what it's going to sound like until you get on stage. So one of us cares about the craft. 00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:07.820 But that is, that's really not the point, right? Yes, you should absolutely rehearse your talks and I 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:14.800 rehearse my talks a bunch. But this actually got me thinking about three questions, because now I'm 00:02:15.020 --> 00:02:19.660 giving five, six talks, something like that in the next few months and they're going to take a 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:25.800 significant amount of time. So here are the three questions I'm thinking about. Why do I 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:34.340 speak, is it a waste of time? And whether it is or isn't, how will I make it worth my time? 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:42.540 For professional speakers, authors, and other specific professions, the three questions are obvious, 00:02:42.780 --> 00:02:48.100 right? Professional speakers get paid to speak. It's their whole thing. Authors are going on book 00:02:48.200 --> 00:02:53.120 tours and speaking in order to sell books or get more of their books in the hands of more people. 00:02:54.420 --> 00:03:01.560 But what about events where you're paying for travel and lodging, where you might not be getting paid? 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:04.140 I have been a paid speaker before. 00:03:04.780 --> 00:03:07.160 Most of the time, I am not a paid speaker. 00:03:08.220 --> 00:03:09.960 So why am I doing it then? 00:03:10.040 --> 00:03:13.340 And how can I make it worth my time? 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:18.100 The truth is I really, really like teaching. 00:03:18.980 --> 00:03:22.500 And speaking gives me the ability to do that. 00:03:23.260 --> 00:03:28.700 I was a drama club kid, and I've always thrived on being on stage in front of people. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:36.600 It was my favorite part of my time as the parent-teacher organization president at my kid's school, too. 00:03:36.600 --> 00:03:40.980 I just loved giving talks and networking with meeting people. 00:03:41.140 --> 00:03:45.020 I'm not really networking at my kid's school, I guess, but building those relationships. 00:03:45.500 --> 00:03:50.640 But publicly speaking is one of my favorite things to do. 00:03:52.420 --> 00:04:00.700 But there is still a tangible cost in both time and actual money when I go to a conference that I'm not being compensated for. 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:07.060 So the reason I'm doing this needs to be more than just for the love of the game. 00:04:08.220 --> 00:04:11.560 And for me, it's really about exposure and business development. 00:04:12.380 --> 00:04:18.780 I do my best selling in person when people meet me and see that I'm a genuinely helpful guy. 00:04:18.940 --> 00:04:25.620 and I will say that this is based on feedback. I've gotten not me foisting platitudes upon myself. 00:04:26.220 --> 00:04:30.620 I had a discovery call with someone earlier this week where they said they felt like they 00:04:30.700 --> 00:04:38.420 know me. Another person said they feel like they can ask a question without thinking I'm going to 00:04:38.500 --> 00:04:44.140 make them feel stupid. And that's like the whole thing I'm trying to go for. Right. Like that is me. 00:04:44.280 --> 00:04:48.740 You get me. And I, and it's hard for me to communicate that with. 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:53.880 website copy or sales copy because I don't do the things that you're supposed to do to write 00:04:54.240 --> 00:05:02.080 compelling sales copy. So when I speak, it gives me a better opportunity to get in front of and 00:05:02.280 --> 00:05:09.000 help more of the people I want to help while also growing my business. So in that regard, 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:16.560 I do not feel like it's a waste of time. But it doesn't mean that it's de facto worth my time. 00:05:17.560 --> 00:05:28.960 In order for it to be worth my time, I need to have a clear plan to get clients or at least build relationships from those talks. 00:05:29.720 --> 00:05:33.940 When I was speaking in the WordPress space, it was a pretty clear path. 00:05:33.940 --> 00:05:37.840 You are not allowed to sell from the stage at Word camps. These are community events. 00:05:38.520 --> 00:05:45.320 And, but I would always have a QR code for people to join my mailing list. 00:05:46.080 --> 00:05:52.280 Or I would casually mention my book and people would want to buy the book. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:59.820 So as I do more of these in-person events, this is what I'm working on over the next week. 00:06:00.820 --> 00:06:04.360 Especially since in-person events are different from virtual events, where usually some 00:06:04.460 --> 00:06:07.060 lead magnet or link is super easy to take action on. 00:06:07.100 --> 00:06:15.120 I spoke at my friend Alex Sam Filippo's podcasting made simple live event a couple years ago, 00:06:15.320 --> 00:06:16.340 or maybe it was a year ago. 00:06:17.260 --> 00:06:20.600 And 70 people signed up for my mailing list from that talk. 00:06:20.900 --> 00:06:23.060 So that's really easy. 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:26.660 What am I going to do as I give more of these talks, 00:06:26.780 --> 00:06:29.100 both virtually and in person, but mostly in person, 00:06:29.700 --> 00:06:32.880 to start more conversations and get in front of 00:06:33.540 --> 00:06:38.300 or get connected with more people who I can help. 00:06:38.380 --> 00:06:41.140 And I want to give a shout out to my friend Austin Church here 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.760 because I was having like a crisis of conscience earlier this week. 00:06:46.060 --> 00:06:53.400 and he basically told me that, you know, I have a strong conviction, 00:06:53.600 --> 00:06:56.700 but I really need to feel it stronger, if that makes sense. 00:06:56.780 --> 00:06:59.980 So he gave me a really good pep talk, big fan of Austin Church. 00:07:00.840 --> 00:07:03.440 My question for you is, do you speak at conferences? 00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:05.140 When is it worth it for you? 00:07:05.740 --> 00:07:10.200 You can let me know over at streamlinedfidback.com. 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:13.060 So that's what's on my mind for this week. 00:07:13.640 --> 00:07:17.440 Let's move on to recommended reading. 00:07:17.760 --> 00:07:20.000 The story I am sharing this week, 00:07:20.580 --> 00:07:23.720 Mark Zuckerberg orders his employees to start having fun again 00:07:23.960 --> 00:07:28.100 after brutal layoffs called their colleagues. 00:07:29.620 --> 00:07:32.160 In a turn of events that will shock no one, 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:36.160 the guy who apparently had to hire a PR firm 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:38.380 to make himself seem less like a robot 00:07:39.340 --> 00:07:42.920 is failing to read the room at his own company. 00:07:43.080 --> 00:07:50.340 My favorite quote from this article is Zuckerberg offered employees access to permanent desks, 00:07:50.840 --> 00:07:57.120 a symbolic gesture that unintentionally illustrated how expendable many of them had become. 00:07:57.880 --> 00:08:02.100 Many employees at Meta have been working from hot desks, 00:08:02.940 --> 00:08:10.440 a controversial scheme involving multiple workers sharing the same desk. 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:16.720 What an incredible benefit this is, knowing you can work from the same desk every day. 00:08:17.180 --> 00:08:22.620 That's only something that you can get from a co-working space for 300 bucks per month. 00:08:23.060 --> 00:08:30.020 And I'm sharing this mostly because when things get hard for solopreneurs, 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:36.320 there's a little bit of like a grass is always greener effect, right? 00:08:36.520 --> 00:08:42.180 where it's like maybe I should stop doing this and get a full-time job. 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:46.080 Full-time jobs have traditionally been more stable, right? 00:08:46.680 --> 00:08:53.200 But the truth is, I mean, I've been out of the game for nearly 10 years. 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:57.020 This podcast turns 10 years old next month. 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:04.180 And my full-time self-employment as an adult, I guess, is nine, right? 00:09:04.280 --> 00:09:05.940 It's nine today, actually. 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:11.180 Nine years ago today is when I started working for myself full time as this episode comes out, June 19. 00:09:13.300 --> 00:09:26.000 So when I read stories like this, it's really indicative of just how disconnected some company leadership is. 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:28.360 And I'm not saying this is all companies. 00:09:28.540 --> 00:09:29.760 I've worked for some great people. 00:09:29.900 --> 00:09:31.380 I've worked for some terrible people. 00:09:31.980 --> 00:09:36.260 I've worked for people who, when I told them that a family member passed away, 00:09:36.300 --> 00:09:38.880 their first words were there's no bereavement for ants. 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:40.520 Okay. 00:09:41.640 --> 00:09:43.720 I'm sorry would have been a better statement. 00:09:43.920 --> 00:09:45.300 I wasn't asking for bereavement. 00:09:45.300 --> 00:09:49.580 I was just informing you that there's going to be a day next week where I'm going to be 00:09:49.580 --> 00:09:50.020 at a funeral. 00:09:51.740 --> 00:09:54.280 So I'm not saying everything is bad. 00:09:55.220 --> 00:10:01.880 But Meta, one of the biggest companies in the United States, at least, is firing 00:10:01.920 --> 00:10:08.540 a ton of people over, like, they have the resources, right? They're firing a ton of people. 00:10:08.760 --> 00:10:16.840 They're overworking their employees. And they're making it seem like a benefit is having your 00:10:17.270 --> 00:10:23.380 own desk. Like, so if you're, if you're working for yourself and you're thinking, 00:10:25.540 --> 00:10:31.840 this is bad. I need to find a full-time job. I would encourage you to take a step. 00:10:31.880 --> 00:10:38.080 step back. I need to do this every so often. Take a step back. Look at what you're doing, 00:10:38.660 --> 00:10:43.420 where you're spending your time, and optimize for spending time on the right things. 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:48.880 Not the things you necessarily feel like doing, but the thing that's going to move the 00:10:49.040 --> 00:10:54.540 needle. That's the kind of work that I do with solopreneurs all the time. Where are you wasting 00:10:54.700 --> 00:11:01.840 your time? How can we make it better? So I'll end this segment by saying, I'm largely 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:08.620 dubious of most tech companies. I understand most of us need to reconcile with our own tolerances. 00:11:09.580 --> 00:11:16.980 I happily use Apple. I use Google. I begrudgingly use Claude since no AI company is the good guy. 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:22.920 And there are going to be people who are like, no, chat GPT, OpenAI is the bad guy. Anthropic 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:31.820 is the good guy. They are not. If you have learned anything over the past couple of months since they 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:40.320 had that very self-serving press release about Claude Mythos, you should know that everything 00:11:40.430 --> 00:11:46.760 that they are doing is to increase the valuation of their IPO. Because if they were really 00:11:46.980 --> 00:11:53.580 scared of Claude Mythos, they would have never even remotely released it. And the government 00:11:53.940 --> 00:12:01.800 telling them that they can't release it is good for them too. So I begrudgingly use Claude because 00:12:01.820 --> 00:12:06.020 I think it's the best, but I don't like any of the AI companies. 00:12:07.720 --> 00:12:14.260 If meta, and all of this is to say, that if meta goes away tomorrow, I will not shed a single 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:21.340 tier. I will feel bad for the people who lose their jobs, but I will not shed a single tier 00:12:22.060 --> 00:12:29.160 if meta just falls off the planet. And I'll finally be rid of WhatsApp, which is an app I hate 00:12:29.540 --> 00:12:34.260 but I use because that's what a lot of people I talk to prefer to use. 00:12:35.620 --> 00:12:37.820 So that's recommended reading, plus a little rant, 00:12:37.820 --> 00:12:40.660 a little nice Friday morning rant for you. 00:12:41.540 --> 00:12:44.200 All right, let's move on to recommended media, 00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:46.660 which is House of the Dragon Season 3. 00:12:47.800 --> 00:12:52.140 House of the Dragon Season 3 drops on Sunday, June 21st, 00:12:52.140 --> 00:12:53.900 and I cannot wait. 00:12:54.800 --> 00:12:56.940 I don't watch a lot of new shows. 00:12:57.160 --> 00:12:58.880 I still haven't finished indoor. 00:12:59.400 --> 00:13:00.780 and I tend to 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:03.360 I tend towards lighter stuff 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:05.800 comedies I've seen a hundred times 00:13:05.920 --> 00:13:06.800 like friends scrubs 00:13:06.880 --> 00:13:08.880 How I Met Your Mother, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Parks and Rec 00:13:10.020 --> 00:13:11.800 those comedies that add in 00:13:12.400 --> 00:13:13.760 some heartfelt moments 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:16.480 those are right in my wheelhouse 00:13:16.640 --> 00:13:18.720 I don't like the heavy stuff most of the time 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:20.740 I just want to unwind at the end of the day 00:13:21.660 --> 00:13:24.720 but man am I excited for season three 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.740 of this show the two-year release cycle 00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:36.720 kills me right so season one dropped in 2022 i was like a different person back then and uh season 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:46.640 two was a really slow burn so it's it's felt like a very long four years of this show but i am so 00:13:47.100 --> 00:13:55.500 excited for big battles betrayals and probably the soul-crushing death of my favorite character 00:13:55.520 --> 00:14:06.340 I'm going to assume that. I've not read the source material. I've avoided spoilers, but given that it's Game of Thrones, I'm just going to assume whoever I like best is going to die. 00:14:07.400 --> 00:14:20.640 So that is my recommendation for the week. As far as media goes, I will link to all the stories I mentioned, but also the trailer for season three in the description for this episode. 00:14:21.820 --> 00:14:29.160 Now, before I go, I do want to once again mention this is now next week as I record this. 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:31.480 So June 25th is the first day. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.460 I'm giving a free workshop in partnership with eCAM. 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:40.120 Ecam is the software I used to record this. 00:14:40.620 --> 00:14:48.920 And I am going to, I am going to give you a full breakdown of how I produce this exact show, 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:51.500 the Friday wrap up, in an hour or. 00:14:51.540 --> 00:14:58.280 or less using e-cam and some other tools. And so, like, this is a newsletter. I do write the 00:14:58.580 --> 00:15:06.300 newsletter. That takes me some time. Once I have the newsletter written, I go from recorded to published 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:15.700 in less than an hour without using AI for any pre-production stuff or actual production stuff. 00:15:17.020 --> 00:15:25.160 e-cam live, or e-cam, I should say, helps me do that. So if you want to sign up for this free 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:31.300 workshop, head over to e-cam.com slash joe. That is my affiliate link, but there will be a link to my 00:15:31.640 --> 00:15:36.220 workshop there, which is totally free for anybody, not just people who use e-cams. So 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:45.560 check it out. This is how I get ahead with my content. People say, how do you produce so much? 00:15:45.660 --> 00:15:50.240 how do you put out so many videos and podcast episodes and articles every week? 00:15:51.020 --> 00:15:55.200 ECAM is a very crucial part of that. 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:57.800 But I'm going to give you a behind the scenes look at everything I do, 00:15:58.260 --> 00:16:00.060 the system I have for creating this content. 00:16:00.940 --> 00:16:02.920 And because it's a speaking event, 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:08.460 how you can work with me to get a similar system set up. 00:16:08.540 --> 00:16:13.260 So again, that's over at eCAM.com slash Joe. 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:15.420 But that is it. 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:19.840 for this edition of the Friday wrap-up. 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:25.780 If you enjoyed this, consider joining my mailing list over at streamlines.fm slash wrap, 00:16:26.540 --> 00:16:37.640 you will get an additional automation of the week, as well as regular emails on how to approach building systems that help you take time off worry-free. 00:16:38.880 --> 00:16:44.520 Thanks so much for listening, and until next time, I hope you find some space in your weekend.