April 24, 2025 • 10 mins
If you're still getting your business advice from that one guy on LinkedIn who hasn't updated his profile since 2014... this episode is your wake-up call.
We're diving into what it really means to future-proof your solo business—and spoiler: it’s not just about hopping on the latest tech trend. From decluttering your feed to actually talking to your audience, Carly and Joe share no-fluff strategies to help you stay ahead without burning out.
Whether you’re overwhelmed by AI hype or stuck in scroll mode, this episode will help you cut through the noise and tune into what actually matters to help you run a successful solo business.
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr's SoloSuite Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, be sure to check out LifeStarr Intro!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carly Ries (00:00):
If you're anything like us, you want your solo
(00:02):
business to run smoothly now andbe ready for whatever curveball
comes your way. In this episode,we dive into one of the best
ways to future proof yourbusiness, and that's staying on
top of trends. But don't worry,we're not talking about chasing
every shiny new thing. We'retalking about curating your
feed, setting up smart alerts,listening to your audience, and
(00:23):
tuning into the places wherereal conversations are
happening. So tune in and getthe tips you didn't know you
needed.
You're listening to the AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
those just taking the bold stepor even just thinking about
taking that step into the worldof solo entrepreneurship. My
name is Carly Ries, and mycohost, Joe Rando, and I are
(00:44):
your guides to navigating thiscrazy but awesome journey as a
company of one. We take pride inbeing part of LifeStarr, a
digital hub dedicated to allaspects of solopreneurship that
has empowered and educatedcountless solopreneurs looking
to build a business thatresonates with their life's
ambitions. We help people workto live, not live to work. And
(01:05):
if you're looking for a get richquick scheme, this is not the
show for you.
So if you're eager to gainvaluable insights from industry
experts on running a businessthe right way the first time
around or want to learn from themissteps of solopreneurs who've
paved the way before you, thenstick around. We've got your
back because flying solo inbusiness doesn't mean you're
alone. So, Joe, when it comes tobuilding a successful solo
(01:30):
business, you obviously want itto run smoothly in the present,
but you also want to futureproof it or at least future
proof it as best as you can toprepare for any curveballs that
may come your way. Obviously,COVID was something that the
monstrosity of it was nothingthat most business owners could
(01:50):
have predicted. But there aresome things that you can kind of
gauge the ebbs and flows of thatI kinda wanted to address today.
So one of those is to stayactually, the only topic I
want to discuss today is stayingon top of trends because that is
one way that you can futureproof your business.
Joe Rando (02:08):
Yeah.
Carly Ries (02:10):
for people that are not using AI right now, they are
not staying on top of a trend,and they are falling behind in a
sea of competition that is usingAI to better streamline their
businesses.
Joe Rando (02:22):
But it's important to note that there are people that
are using AI wisely, and thereare people that are using AI
poorly and still trying toconvince you that they're using
it wisely, and you don't wannajump on that train. So I don't
know if we wanna dig deep heretoday, Carly, but, using AI to
create your content for you, youknow, carte blanche is very,
(02:46):
very, very bad.
Carly Ries (02:47):
Joe, we can spend a whole episode talking about
that. But today, I feel likelet's talk about ways that we
can really stay on top of trendsjust in general. ChatGPT maybe
wasn't the best example from atrend standpoint because I don't
think it's a trend. I think it'shere to stay.
Joe Rando (03:03):
Well, yeah, a trend. It's a trend kind of like
automobiles and airplanes and
Carly Ries (03:09):
Yes.
Joe Rando (03:09):
And the Internet. There are people that said the
Internet was a fad. but, yeah, Ithink you're right.
But, yeah, in agreement.
Carly Ries (03:20):
My biggest tip for people who want to stay on top
of trends, and the easiest thingthey can do is to declutter
their news feed and startfollowing people that would that
they need to pay attention tofor their business. I know for
LinkedIn let's use LinkedIn, forexample. I follow so many people
where I just scroll past theirposts because I followed them at
(03:44):
one point and just haven't takenthe time to unfollow them. But
then I end up not seeing theposts that I should be following
that are relevant to ourbusiness because there's just so
much clutter preventing me fromgetting to it. So the first
thing I recommend for people isto start unfollowing people you
genuinely just don't payattention to.
(04:05):
You're simply an impression thatsees their post, and you just
keep scrolling. Get it to aplace where you're only
following people that canbenefit you and your business,
whether that's competition,whether that's people that you
admire and you strive to be,whether that's people who are
good with industry trends orpeople that share similar
(04:29):
audiences. But just make sureit's things that you actually
care about, and then get rid ofthe fluff.
Joe Rando (04:36):
I totally agree with that. But there's also the fact
you have to be aware of what thetrends are. Right? So sometimes
you need to identify what thetrends are in order to then know
who you should follow or notfollow. I'll give you an
example.
We had someone on one of oursolopreneur success sessions
recently, Elin Giczi, and shetalks about how to make LinkedIn
(04:58):
videos that work. you know, acouple of years ago, LinkedIn
videos wasn't really a big deal.It was, mostly text posts and
things, and maybe, you know, youhave some graphics, then it was
kind of the carousel kinds ofthings. But now all of a sudden,
LinkedIn videos are huge, andanybody that's not doing
LinkedIn videos is probablygonna get left behind. And
(05:19):
that's something I've beenworking on personally because I
don't love videos.
I've said a hundred times, butit's gotta be done. you know,
sometimes you have to do alittle work just to kinda see
what's happening in whatever itis, in this case, LinkedIn, to
know that something's a trend.And, maybe there's somebody
talking about it, and you canfind them and subscribe to the
(05:40):
newsletter. But there is acertain amount of not just, you
know, abdicating yourresponsibility to keep up on
trends to somebody else that'ssupposed to tell you, if you get
my drift.
Carly Ries (05:51):
Yeah. No. That's a great point. And once you know
what those trends are, like,subscribed to newsletters, which
is super important.
But you can also set up, Googleor set up social monitoring
where you will be alerted ofthese trends. So you're not
constantly manually going in andsearching for these, but you can
actually get notificationsthrough social media as well as
(06:13):
your email of what's going on.Again, whether it's directly
related to your business orsomething that could impact your
business that's a bigger picturething.
Joe Rando (06:24):
Yeah. And I mean, you need to put, that time on your
calendar as part of working onyour business to do some
research, poke around a littlebit. And you know, hard. It's
just a matter of taking thattime to say, hey, what's
happening? There was anewsletter called trends.
I don't know if it's stillaround anymore. I haven't seen
(06:45):
it recently. But, that used tobe a little bit interesting. You
know, 90% of it didn't matter tome, but every once in a while,
I was like, that's interesting.But I'm not sure where that's at
these days.
I'll have to check into it.
Carly Ries (06:59):
Perfect. Well, the other thing that I think is hard
for solopreneurs is it can getso easy to start working in a
silo. So even if you are gettingthese notifications, if you are
actively talking to youraudience, to people in your
industry, to competitor like,people that competitors might
target, and actually puttingyourself out there and engaging,
(07:21):
you're gonna be falling behindin the trends because that's
where you get so much of thatinformation. We have a foodie
Facebook group here in my city,and people chatter about what
went wrong, what didn't, allthese things. And it's kinda
like the behind the scenes takeof the restaurant scene here in
town.
You're not gonna find that froma Google alert or a newsletter
(07:43):
or anything. But you'll find itby actually paying attention to
what people are saying. Yourtarget let's say you're trying
to open a restaurant, you'llfind it by what people are
saying behind the scenes. Andunless you're paying attention
and actively involved in thesecommunities or getting out in
person and talking to thesecommunities, you're going be
missing some of the chatterthat's going on that you want to
(08:07):
get just from the typicalnotifications that you get in
the digital world.
Joe Rando (08:10):
Those restaurant owners should be in that
following those carefully.
Carly Ries (08:15):
Oh, they are. And they communicate because it's a
very, very active Facebookgroup.
Joe Rando (08:20):
Yeah. just making excuses.
Carly Ries (08:23):
Yeah. Exactly. So just know what people are
saying. But those are my biggesttips to set up those alerts for
you to take the time to stay ontop of trends and then to
actually network and get to knowthe people that would impact
your friends.
Joe Rando (08:38):
Yeah. I just got one more thing I wanna say, and this
is really important. dependingon your business, it may be more
or less important. If you're,you know, custom horseshoe
maker, maybe trends aren't asimportant. You know, horse
technology isn't really, atleast as far as I know, hasn't
(08:59):
gone a long way in the lasthundred years.
You know? Horseshoes arehorseshoes. But if you're, doing
the kinds of things that most ofus are doing, you're gonna be
impacted by trends. But watchout for the shiny object
syndrome. It's also easy to go,oh, look at that.
Oh, that's happening. Andjumping on every new trend and
you know, I am the kind ofperson that tends toward that.
(09:22):
If it looks cool, if it'sinteresting, if it's exciting, I
tend to wanna jump into it, Butit doesn't help because you end
up going in too many directions.
Carly Ries (09:31):
Yeah. Makes you go nuts. But anyway, those are our
2¢ for staying on top of trendsto better future proof your
business. To future proof ourbusiness, we need those review
reviews and these shares and thelikes. So please leave a five
star review, subscribe on yourfavorite podcast platform, and
share with a friend, and we willsee you next time on the
(09:52):
Aspiring Solopreneur.
You may be going solo inbusiness, but that doesn't mean
you're alone. In fact, millionsof people are in your shoes,
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
(10:13):
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
If you're anything like us, you want your solo
(00:02):
business to run smoothly now andbe ready for whatever curveball
comes your way. In this episode,we dive into one of the best
ways to future proof yourbusiness, and that's staying on
top of trends. But don't worry,we're not talking about chasing
every shiny new thing. We'retalking about curating your
feed, setting up smart alerts,listening to your audience, and
(00:23):
tuning into the places wherereal conversations are
happening. So tune in and getthe tips you didn't know you
needed.
You're listening to the AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
those just taking the bold stepor even just thinking about
taking that step into the worldof solo entrepreneurship. My
name is Carly Ries, and mycohost, Joe Rando, and I are
(00:44):
your guides to navigating thiscrazy but awesome journey as a
company of one. We take pride inbeing part of LifeStarr, a
digital hub dedicated to allaspects of solopreneurship that
has empowered and educatedcountless solopreneurs looking
to build a business thatresonates with their life's
ambitions. We help people workto live, not live to work. And
(01:05):
if you're looking for a get richquick scheme, this is not the
show for you.
So if you're eager to gainvaluable insights from industry
experts on running a businessthe right way the first time
around or want to learn from themissteps of solopreneurs who've
paved the way before you, thenstick around. We've got your
back because flying solo inbusiness doesn't mean you're
alone. So, Joe, when it comes tobuilding a successful solo
(01:30):
business, you obviously want itto run smoothly in the present,
but you also want to futureproof it or at least future
proof it as best as you can toprepare for any curveballs that
may come your way. Obviously,COVID was something that the
monstrosity of it was nothingthat most business owners could
(01:50):
have predicted. But there aresome things that you can kind of
gauge the ebbs and flows of thatI kinda wanted to address today.
So one of those is to stayactually, the only topic I
want to discuss today is stayingon top of trends because that is
one way that you can futureproof your business.
Joe Rando (02:08):
Yeah.
Carly Ries (02:10):
for people that are not using AI right now, they are
not staying on top of a trend,and they are falling behind in a
sea of competition that is usingAI to better streamline their
businesses.
Joe Rando (02:22):
But it's important to note that there are people that
are using AI wisely, and thereare people that are using AI
poorly and still trying toconvince you that they're using
it wisely, and you don't wannajump on that train. So I don't
know if we wanna dig deep heretoday, Carly, but, using AI to
create your content for you, youknow, carte blanche is very,
(02:46):
very, very bad.
Carly Ries (02:47):
Joe, we can spend a whole episode talking about
that. But today, I feel likelet's talk about ways that we
can really stay on top of trendsjust in general. ChatGPT maybe
wasn't the best example from atrend standpoint because I don't
think it's a trend. I think it'shere to stay.
Joe Rando (03:03):
Well, yeah, a trend. It's a trend kind of like
automobiles and airplanes and
Carly Ries (03:09):
Yes.
Joe Rando (03:09):
And the Internet. There are people that said the
Internet was a fad. but, yeah, Ithink you're right.
But, yeah, in agreement.
Carly Ries (03:20):
My biggest tip for people who want to stay on top
of trends, and the easiest thingthey can do is to declutter
their news feed and startfollowing people that would that
they need to pay attention tofor their business. I know for
LinkedIn let's use LinkedIn, forexample. I follow so many people
where I just scroll past theirposts because I followed them at
(03:44):
one point and just haven't takenthe time to unfollow them. But
then I end up not seeing theposts that I should be following
that are relevant to ourbusiness because there's just so
much clutter preventing me fromgetting to it. So the first
thing I recommend for people isto start unfollowing people you
genuinely just don't payattention to.
(04:05):
You're simply an impression thatsees their post, and you just
keep scrolling. Get it to aplace where you're only
following people that canbenefit you and your business,
whether that's competition,whether that's people that you
admire and you strive to be,whether that's people who are
good with industry trends orpeople that share similar
(04:29):
audiences. But just make sureit's things that you actually
care about, and then get rid ofthe fluff.
Joe Rando (04:36):
I totally agree with that. But there's also the fact
you have to be aware of what thetrends are. Right? So sometimes
you need to identify what thetrends are in order to then know
who you should follow or notfollow. I'll give you an
example.
We had someone on one of oursolopreneur success sessions
recently, Elin Giczi, and shetalks about how to make LinkedIn
(04:58):
videos that work. you know, acouple of years ago, LinkedIn
videos wasn't really a big deal.It was, mostly text posts and
things, and maybe, you know, youhave some graphics, then it was
kind of the carousel kinds ofthings. But now all of a sudden,
LinkedIn videos are huge, andanybody that's not doing
LinkedIn videos is probablygonna get left behind. And
(05:19):
that's something I've beenworking on personally because I
don't love videos.
I've said a hundred times, butit's gotta be done. you know,
sometimes you have to do alittle work just to kinda see
what's happening in whatever itis, in this case, LinkedIn, to
know that something's a trend.And, maybe there's somebody
talking about it, and you canfind them and subscribe to the
(05:40):
newsletter. But there is acertain amount of not just, you
know, abdicating yourresponsibility to keep up on
trends to somebody else that'ssupposed to tell you, if you get
my drift.
Carly Ries (05:51):
Yeah. No. That's a great point. And once you know
what those trends are, like,subscribed to newsletters, which
is super important.
But you can also set up, Googleor set up social monitoring
where you will be alerted ofthese trends. So you're not
constantly manually going in andsearching for these, but you can
actually get notificationsthrough social media as well as
(06:13):
your email of what's going on.Again, whether it's directly
related to your business orsomething that could impact your
business that's a bigger picturething.
Joe Rando (06:24):
Yeah. And I mean, you need to put, that time on your
calendar as part of working onyour business to do some
research, poke around a littlebit. And you know, hard. It's
just a matter of taking thattime to say, hey, what's
happening? There was anewsletter called trends.
I don't know if it's stillaround anymore. I haven't seen
(06:45):
it recently. But, that used tobe a little bit interesting. You
know, 90% of it didn't matter tome, but every once in a while,
I was like, that's interesting.But I'm not sure where that's at
these days.
I'll have to check into it.
Carly Ries (06:59):
Perfect. Well, the other thing that I think is hard
for solopreneurs is it can getso easy to start working in a
silo. So even if you are gettingthese notifications, if you are
actively talking to youraudience, to people in your
industry, to competitor like,people that competitors might
target, and actually puttingyourself out there and engaging,
(07:21):
you're gonna be falling behindin the trends because that's
where you get so much of thatinformation. We have a foodie
Facebook group here in my city,and people chatter about what
went wrong, what didn't, allthese things. And it's kinda
like the behind the scenes takeof the restaurant scene here in
town.
You're not gonna find that froma Google alert or a newsletter
(07:43):
or anything. But you'll find itby actually paying attention to
what people are saying. Yourtarget let's say you're trying
to open a restaurant, you'llfind it by what people are
saying behind the scenes. Andunless you're paying attention
and actively involved in thesecommunities or getting out in
person and talking to thesecommunities, you're going be
missing some of the chatterthat's going on that you want to
(08:07):
get just from the typicalnotifications that you get in
the digital world.
Joe Rando (08:10):
Those restaurant owners should be in that
following those carefully.
Carly Ries (08:15):
Oh, they are. And they communicate because it's a
very, very active Facebookgroup.
Joe Rando (08:20):
Yeah. just making excuses.
Carly Ries (08:23):
Yeah. Exactly. So just know what people are
saying. But those are my biggesttips to set up those alerts for
you to take the time to stay ontop of trends and then to
actually network and get to knowthe people that would impact
your friends.
Joe Rando (08:38):
Yeah. I just got one more thing I wanna say, and this
is really important. dependingon your business, it may be more
or less important. If you're,you know, custom horseshoe
maker, maybe trends aren't asimportant. You know, horse
technology isn't really, atleast as far as I know, hasn't
(08:59):
gone a long way in the lasthundred years.
You know? Horseshoes arehorseshoes. But if you're, doing
the kinds of things that most ofus are doing, you're gonna be
impacted by trends. But watchout for the shiny object
syndrome. It's also easy to go,oh, look at that.
Oh, that's happening. Andjumping on every new trend and
you know, I am the kind ofperson that tends toward that.
(09:22):
If it looks cool, if it'sinteresting, if it's exciting, I
tend to wanna jump into it, Butit doesn't help because you end
up going in too many directions.
Carly Ries (09:31):
Yeah. Makes you go nuts. But anyway, those are our
2¢ for staying on top of trendsto better future proof your
business. To future proof ourbusiness, we need those review
reviews and these shares and thelikes. So please leave a five
star review, subscribe on yourfavorite podcast platform, and
share with a friend, and we willsee you next time on the
(09:52):
Aspiring Solopreneur.
You may be going solo inbusiness, but that doesn't mean
you're alone. In fact, millionsof people are in your shoes,
running a one person businessand figuring it out as they go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
(10:13):
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
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