234: Why I Wrestled a Sumo Wrestler (And What It Taught Me About Funnels)
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Release Date: 03/13/2026
245: One Email Uncovered $1M in Hidden Wins
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
We sent one email to our alumni students. No pitch, no offer, just one question: "What's been happening? Give us an update." What came back blew us away. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of our signature course (originally called Tribe, now The Membership Experience). Tens of thousands of students have gone through the program, and we realized we had no idea what most of them were up to. So we sent a simple check-in email. The replies started pouring in. Jamie had built 600 members at $30 a month. Cindy hit a million dollars in revenue. Julie was running 10 different memberships....
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244: He Gets Paid to Listen to Music All Day (Here's How He Built It) - Mike Indovina
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Mike went from frustrated course launches to a $197/month coaching membership where members stay for YEARS. Here's exactly how he did it - including the borrowed influence strategy that got him 7 cent leads. Mike Indovina started as a drummer chasing rockstar dreams. Today he runs masteryourmix.com - a membership helping rock musicians create professional recordings from home. In this conversation, Mike reveals: • The emotional moment that changed everything (fans telling him his music helped them choose to live) • The "borrowed influence" strategy that built...
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243: The $100 Event That Changed Everything
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
I almost asked for a refund on a $100 event ticket. I didn't think I could afford it. That one decision led to a $15,000 training paid for by a stranger, a job offer, a free house, a free car, and a career I never could have planned for. In this episode, I'm sharing a story I've never really told publicly before. It starts in 2002 when I was 22, living in my parents' basement, and barely making money as a speaker. I signed up for a $100 event in Toronto, almost backed out the night before, and what happened next set off a chain of events that shaped the rest of my career. Along the way, I...
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242: The $100B Battle Over Creators (And How You Win)
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
There is a massive hundred-billion-dollar battle happening right now. And the biggest companies in the world (YouTube, Meta, and legacy media giants like CNN, ESPN, and the Washington Post) are fighting over you. This is the biggest power shift in media history. Creators who understand what's happening right now and take action on it will win long term. In this episode, Stu breaks down exactly what's going on, why it matters to your business, and the three specific moves you can make this week to take advantage of it. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why YouTube has outspent Netflix by $20B...
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241: He Posted a Toilet Video and Now Gets Millions of Views on SEO
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Matt Diamante's first video was him sitting on a toilet. Three years later, he has a 19-person SEO agency - all from content that makes the "driest topic in marketing" go viral. Matt runs an SEO agency that went from 3 to 19 employees in 3 years - all thanks to social media content. In this conversation, Matt reveals: • Why his first video was him sitting on a toilet (and what happened after) • The "visual hook" strategy that stops the scroll • Why he "tricks" people into learning about SEO • The truth about AI content: "Google doesn't care who wrote it" • How he got 300 people to...
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240: Why Feeling Bored With Your Message Is a Good Sign
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Have you ever wondered if your message is actually getting through? You keep saying the same things over and over, and you look around thinking... is anyone actually hearing this? I want to share a moment that completely changed how I think about that question. I was driving my daughter and her friend to school, and I overheard my daughter tell her friend, "Sleep makes your brain smarter." That's something I've said to her dozens of times. But she wasn't quoting me. She said it like it was hers, like it was just something she knew to be true. And it hit me: the message had gotten...
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239: Why I'm Betting Big on Summits (And You Should Too)
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
What if one event could build your email list, create months of content, AND generate revenue? That's exactly what we're about to try. And in this episode, I'm taking you behind the scenes. Register for the FREE Audience to Income Summit (April 8-10): https://links.membership.io/summit2026 A lot has changed in the creator space. Strategies that used to work really well aren't working anymore. AI has disrupted everything. Algorithms have shifted. And it's left a lot of people confused and unsure of what to do next. So I want to share a strategy that's been quietly producing...
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238: From Crying in the Shower to 8 Figure Business (Rachel Rodgers Story)
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Rachel Rodgers ran a $155K Kickstarter campaign in public... where everyone could watch the numbers. For 19 days, it looked like she was going to fail. What she said next changed how I think about entrepreneurship. Rachel Rodgers is the founder of Hello Seven, a multi-million dollar coaching company helping women build wealth through entrepreneurship. In this conversation, Rachel reveals: • The shower breakdown before her DC internship (and what her mom said) • Why she calls herself "ungovernable" and "unemployable" • The $155K Kickstarter that almost failed in front of everyone • Why...
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237: Experience This - The Marketing Strategy Nobody Can Copy
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
If your marketing feels like it's not cutting through the noise right now, this episode is going to open your eyes. I just got back from a family trip to Japan and I walked away with three marketing lessons that every business owner needs to hear. My kids planned their entire Japan itinerary from short-form video. The strawberry sandwich from 7-Eleven, the Ichiran Ramen restaurant, the bamboo forest -- all of it came from 15-second clips on Instagram and TikTok. And it wasn't just them. I saw a 30-second reel of the Nike running lab in Tokyo, booked it in advance, and walked in the door...
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236: 3 Lessons From a Public Feud
Marketing Your Business - Marketing Strategies for Business Owners
Two of the most respected marketers in our industry just had a very public falling out -- all because of a single AI-generated image. And it raised a question every one of us using AI needs to answer. Frank Kern ran an ad for his AI copywriting tool. The ad included an AI-generated image of a woman in a red string bikini. The problem? The image looked almost identical to Alex Cattoni, founder of Copy Posse. People started DMing Alex asking if it was her. She posted a video calling Frank out publicly. Frank responded saying it was a coincidence and he wasn't apologizing. The comments section...
info_outlineWhat if you could turn one Instagram Reel into actual sales, without ever sending someone to a landing page? About a year ago, I started tracking our drop-off rates and the numbers were brutal.
My family and I are in Japan right now (I wrestled a Sumo wrestler — long story), and while I've been here I've been thinking a lot about this system we've been building. We stopped sending people to landing pages entirely. Instead, we kept the entire funnel inside Instagram DMs. Opt-ins more than doubled. Same content, same offer; we just removed the friction of leaving the platform.
In this episode, I'm breaking down the exact anatomy of what I call the "One-Post Funnel" from the Reel that hooks them, to the DM that converts them, to the $7 impulse offer that upsells 40% of buyers into your next offer.
In this episode, you'll learn:
• The 4-part content formula for Reels that actually convert (hook, teaching points, CTA, caption structure)
• Why DM automation gets 65-90% opt-in rates vs. 30-40% on landing pages — and how to set it up with ManyChat
• How a $7 front-end offer qualifies buyers and leads to membership upsells on the back end
• The repurposing strategy that turns your top-performing Reels into webinars, email sequences, and more lead magnets
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - What if one Reel could generate sales without a landing page?
1:22 - Japan update: I wrestled a Sumo wrestler for the kids
2:40 - Why I started questioning everything about our Instagram strategy
3:08 - The drop-off problem: views but no sales
3:42 - The stat that stopped me cold (DM opt-in rates vs. landing pages)
4:06 - What if we just kept people inside Instagram?
4:38 - We tested it — opt-ins more than doubled
5:03 - Part 1: The high-converting content formula (hook + 3 teaching points + CTA + caption)
6:05 - Why you should never say "link in bio" again
6:41 - Caption structure: CTA as the first line
7:37 - Part 2: DM automation with ManyChat
8:06 - Why DMs crush landing pages (65-90% vs. 30-40%)
8:45 - How to set up the automation sequence
10:06 - Why instant responses build trust in 2026
10:14 - Part 3: The $7 impulse offer
10:58 - Order bumps and membership upsells on the back end
11:42 - The math: 100 opt-ins → $400/month recurring from one Reel
12:20 - Part 4: Repurpose the winners
13:00 - Next steps: Your 3-step action plan
13:36 - Experience this funnel yourself — DM me SUMMIT26
14:13 - Next week: Dean Graziosi's 680,000-registrant launch
14:45 - Full recap of the One-Post Funnel system
📥 RESOURCE: Grab the resources from this episode at https://podcast.stu.me
🎟️ FREE SUMMIT: Join Stu and 24 creators for the Audience to Income Summit (April 8-10, 2026): DM "SUMMIT26" to @stumclaren on Instagram or visit https://membership.io/summit
CONNECT WITH STU:
• Website: https://stu.me
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• Podcast: https://podcast.stu.me
• Membership.io: https://membership.io
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