Brilliant Ideas

#40: Reflecting on Season 1 and What's Coming For Season 2

• Alyssa Bellisario • Season 1 • Episode 40

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Season one of Brilliant Ideas concludes with a heartfelt reflection on the journey from podcast creation to the valuable lessons learned from diverse solopreneur guests. This episode shares behind-the-scenes insights about the messy reality of entrepreneurship and the common threads that connect successful digital product creators across different industries.

• Highlighting the real, imperfect nature of entrepreneurship versus the filtered Instagram reality
• Revealing the season's top five most popular episodes featuring Matt Diamante, Reid Holmes, Brooke Greening, Greg Halpen, and Ruheene Jaura
• Key lessons from favorite guests, including how failure becomes building material for future success
• Preview of season two focusing specifically on nutritionists, fitness instructors, and women's health coaches
• Upcoming topics include the "yes ladder" technique, color psychology, and understanding client hesitations
• Season two launches in January with strategies to help health professionals fill their programs

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Alyssa:

Today's episode is a little different because it's actually the final episode of season one. Welcome to Brilliant Ideas, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of some of the most inspiring digital products created by solopreneurs just like you. I'm your host, alyssa, a digital product strategist who helps subject matter experts grow their business with online courses, memberships, coaching programs and eBooks. If you're a solopreneur with dreams of packaging your expertise into a profitable digital product, then this is the podcast for you. Expect honest conversations of how they started, the obstacles they overcame, lessons learned the hard way, and who face the same fears, doubts and challenges you're experiencing, from unexpected surprises to breakthrough moments and everything in between. Tune in, get inspired and let's spark your next big, brilliant idea. Hello and welcome back. Today's episode is a little different because it's actually the final episode of season one. I can't believe that we've already made it to the end of the first season. Now, before we dive in, I just want to take a moment to thank you. Whether you've listened to one episode or every single one, shared it with a friend or messaged me about something that resonated with you, you've been such a big part of this journey. This podcast would not exist without you tuning in and I'm so grateful to have had the chance to sit with you week after week, alongside with my guests. Season one has been such a learning experience for me, not just in creating and producing a podcast, but in learning from my guests and sharing it with you, and today I want to reflect a bit about what I've learned along the way, share some of my favorite themes from this season and give you a glimpse of what's coming next in season two.

Alyssa:

Now, when I first started Brilliant Ideas, I knew that it would be my experiment to test to see if this is something that my listeners would want, and I wasn't sure how it would all come together. Like I knew, I wanted to create a space that went against the guru messaging out there and those whole like picture perfect feeds on Instagram that show a very filtered perspective of entrepreneurship and bring on guests that actually have lived experiences of real hardships, the pivots, the messiness, to where they eventually found success. Now, looking back, season one has been such a journey. I've had the chance to sit down with incredible guests who opened up about their business, their challenges and their wins, and it's been such a privilege to learn from them, right alongside you Now, one of my favorite parts of this season has been realizing that, no matter what industry someone is in, we're all kind of grappling with the same core things we want to stay consistent, we want to reach the right people, we want to build a business that feels good to run and, behind the scenes, I've learned so much about the process of podcasting itself.

Alyssa:

It is a full-time job, by the way, but I love it and I understand why so many podcasts fail or just stop after a season. Like there were some weeks where I wondered how I was going to get an episode out. But Mike he is my amazing editor from Cardinal Studio. He helped me so much bring this podcast to life, like I could not have done this without him and even just showing up, even when it wasn't perfect. Like there were some conversations where I was like stuttering or I did not know, like the words were just not coming out really nice, and so I made a lot of mistakes, but I wasn't perfect, and it reminded me of why I started this in the first place. But I wasn't perfect and it reminded me of why I started this in the first place.

Alyssa:

I wanted to share ideas, I wanted to spark clarity. I wanted to also remind you that you're not alone in this journey and that it's not always glamorous. It's, a lot of the time, the grind and the messiness that show you that entrepreneurship is not this picture perfect feed that we see on Instagram. Now, one of the things I've loved about season one is just how different each guest story has been. There are these really clear threads that tie them all together, and I want to highlight a few of my favorite conversations and the lessons that stuck with me, because I think that they're the ones that you can take with you as well.

Alyssa:

Now, before I tell you my favorites, I want to share the season's top five episodes and what those were, so that you can reference back to them. And here they are Number 18, how Matt Diamante turned his biggest setbacks into a multimillion dollar business. Number 17, read Holmes on appreciated branding how to build emotional connections with customers. Read Holmes on Appreciated Branding how to Build Emotional Connections with Customers. Number 16, brooke Greening on High Ticket Sales Mastering Conversations that Convert. Number 20, how to Share your Story Without Oversharing. Greg Howpin's Five-Step Framework. And number 19, simplify your Brand Message with Rueen Jorah's hey Levi's AI playbooks the first one that comes to mind which is the most popular episode this season is my conversation with Matt Diamante.

Alyssa:

He's the founder of hey Tony, which is a digital marketing agency that specializes in SEO, so he shared how his biggest setbacks became the foundation for a multi-million dollar business. Now, what I loved about Matt's story is that it wasn't just about having like the perfect plan. He had businesses before he created hey Tony. That didn't work out and he was experimenting, simplifying and kind of using what knowledge he already had to create now his multi-million dollar business, and it kind of reminded me that failure doesn't really mean the end. It just gives you the material to build something better. Then there was Brooke Greening. So she takes this. She was the third most popular episode and she opened up about high ticket sales and how so much of it comes down to conversations. So Brooke has this really approachable way of reminding us that sales isn't about pushing people, it's about listening, clarifying, building trust. For anyone who's ever felt awkward about selling, her insights really flip the script on what it means to invite someone into your offer.

Alyssa:

Another episode I loved was Evan Kuderbatch. So he's the founder of a pickleball brand and his story is proof that sometimes you just need to start before you're ready. Evan didn't wait until everything was like perfect. He started building and then, along the way, he started to track his time. He automated when he needed to and then he delegated so that he could scale his business. And it was such a great reminder that momentum comes from action, not overthinking.

Alyssa:

Now I also want to mention Jennifer Scribner. She created a simple ebook called when to Buy it. It's one of those ideas that sounds very straightforward. It's a resource that helps people find gut-friendly ingredients, but it solved such a specific pain point that it became a powerful tool in her business. Jennifer's story is like a really great example of how noticing a small gap in your market can turn into something really popular. And finally, there was Ruin Jara. She has the fifth most popular episode. She shared her AI-powered framework for simplifying brand messaging with HeyLevi. So I use HeyLevi to create my brand messaging and it doesn't have like prompts, like it does with ChatGPT. It populates a framework for your messaging based on what information you provided. And what stood out to me about Ruin and HeLevi is how much we need clarity in our business. We need to know who we want to work with, go beyond demographics and really know the type of people we want to serve.

Alyssa:

Now, as I wrap up season one, I can't help but think about everything that's coming next. Season one was all about testing the waters, trying different topics, seeing what clicked and figuring out what people needed the most. But season two this season is for nutritionists, fitness instructors, women's health coaches and practitioners who've built programs, courses or memberships, but they're still not getting a station of clients you really are looking for. Next season isn't about surface level tips. It's about digging into the real reasons your programs aren't selling. We're going to unpack the subtle signals, the subconscious patterns, the decision triggers that make your clients pause, hesitate and bail, and then how to fix it. Here's a sneak peek of some of the topics we're going to dive in together.

Alyssa:

We're starting with one of my favorite strategies the yes letter. It's all about getting your clients to make small commitments to your brand before they ever buy from you. So when you think about things like liking your Instagram posts, replying to your polls, sending you a DM with a compliment or downloading your freebie, each little yes they make moves them closer to saying yes to your programs, memberships or courses. And since so much of my work connects back to color psychology. We're also going to do a full series on colors, so like why certain colors make people feel a specific way, how to make your designs easier to read, which button colors get more clicks. Even like how too much visual clutter can turn clients away without you realizing it.

Alyssa:

Later in the season we're going to dig into the roadblocks that stop people from saying yes, so the ones that they never say out loud. So things like when they freeze because they have too many choices, because you have too many programs, or when they're worried about making the wrong decision because they've been burnt in the past. So they kind of have trauma, a little bit of trauma from before, like if they've worked with a coach from before. You approach them and you, you know, go into a sales conversation, they back up. So we're going to look at all of that. And we're also going to look at, you know, if they've already spent money on previous programs or that they're stuck on the cheaper options and they feel stuck of, like, what to do next. So we're going to go into the sunk cost fallacy theory and we're going to explore and dive into all of that.

Alyssa:

I'm so excited to share it with all of you, and you can expect next season to be released in January. Now to wrap up this episode, I just want to say thank you again for being here with me through season one of Brilliant Ideas. This podcast has been such a joy to create. Honestly, it wouldn't mean half as much without knowing that you're on the other side, listening, learning and hopefully taking pieces of these conversations into your own business. Now, if you've loved this season, I would be so grateful if you take a moment to subscribe, leave a review and share your favorite episode with a friend who might need it. It's one of the best ways to help the show grow and it means the world to me.

Alyssa:

All right, so that's it for now. I'm so excited to kick off season two with you. Until then, stay connected with me over Instagram, at yeslabca, or at yeslabca, which is my website, at yeslabca or at yeslabca, which is my website, and get ready, because I've got so much good stuff coming your way. Join me in January for season two. Thanks for tuning into this episode of Brilliant Ideas. If you love the show, be sure to leave a review and follow me on Instagram for even more insider tips and inspiration. Ready to bring your next big, brilliant idea to life. Visit alissabelcercom for resources, guidance and everything you need to start creating something amazing.