The $100 MBA Show

It’s that time of year!No, not that.Even better: it’s time to reveal this year’s 5 lessons from 5 of the greatest business teachers around!Every year, we choose 5 entrepreneurs whose unique approaches, strategies, and styles inspired us, educated us, and made us better business people — whether they knew it or not. Some of them we know personally. Some of them, we’re just fans of. But whatever the case, their choices informed our business, as well as the personal entrepreneurial development of our host, Omar.We learned from them, and so can you.These 5 special individuals have no idea we’ve been studying their work so intensely. We have no arrangement with them to be the subject of this podcast, for sponsorship or any other purpose. In fact, they don’t find out how much they’ve taught us until the day the episode airs!They are simply the people whose examples were of the greatest genuine value to us — and we’re hoping, to you.Some are writers. Some are software developers. One is a comedian who started with nothing but a YouTube channel. But all of them are dynamic entrepreneurs. All of them have taken on their own business development with creativity, flexibility, and ingenuity. They’ve done something different.They’ve all done something completely their own, but with implications for anyone who wants to learn entrepreneurship.Each of these 5 incredible game-changers has a unique twist on independent business, one that allowed them to stand out from the crowd. Their accomplishments were not insanely well-funded or corporate-backed ventures. There are people whose success was derived directly from their willingness to find new roads, to do what true entrepreneurs do: give the market something it was missing.By forging their own approach, these great teachers (whether they meant to teach or not) are the year’s best examples of the founding principle of The $100 MBA: that being true to your own vision will reveal your value to consumers.Tune in. Hear what our 5 inspirers have to teach us about marketing, selling, innovating, managing, and all the rest. Take what we’ve gotten from them, as we pass it on to you. Learn from the best, just like we did. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Links$100 MBA Essential GuidesWebinarNinjaBackLinkoh3h3 ProductionsBaseCampRyan HolidayNoah Kagan interviews Ryan HolidayThe post MBA906 5 Things I Learned From 5 People in 2017 appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There’s more than one way to start your own business. When plotting out your entrepreneurial path, it’s important to establish something early on: what kind of independent business person you are.Would you make a better entrepreneur, or solopreneur?Maybe you’re the type to go it alone. Maybe your product is best produced, marketed, and sold by its creator. In that case, solopreneurship might be the path for you. If you love leading a team, and your product requires diverse skill sets to bring to market, entrepreneurship could be the way to go.It’s important to start thinking about this now, especially if you’re at the beginning of your business journey.Your own talents and skills, plus the nature of your product and business goals, need to be carefully considered. Many factors determine the best way forward, and it’s crucial to choose correctly.That’s what today’s podcast is all about: helping you decide what will work best for you.Let’s be clear — neither solopreneurship nor entrepreneurship is better or worse. Neither is easier or more difficult. These are two very different, but equally valid, ways to build a business. In fact, our host Omar has found success with both approaches, depending on the kind of product and the goals for the business.Some entrepreneurs even start as solopreneurs, building their brand on their own until it grows to the point where it takes a team to scale up. Some solopreneurs go it alone all the way to the top, reaching 6-figure incomes without hiring a single employee.As they say, it all depends.Both options have their advantages. Both have their challenges. Today, we want to explore all the ups and downs of both, so that you can apply this knowledge to your own business ideas. By understanding the strengths, risks, and unique factors of each approach, you can optimize your chances of success. Whichever you choose, though, it’s important to choose as early as possible.This episode offers a comprehensive explanation of solopreneurship, its practical differences from entrepreneurship, and concrete, actionable steps you can take to move forward with this information in mind.We don’t just want to help you get started; we want to help you get started with every possible advantage. That begins with defining your approach to business with clarity, specificity, and forward-facing vision. With that accomplished, you can move on to building your audience, creating your product, and shaping your strategy towards achieving the lifestyle you want.Tune in, compare and contrast these two approaches, and get ready to take action. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Links$100 MBA Idea Validation CourseWebinarNinjaBaseCampSumoThe post MBA 905 Solopreneur vs. Entrepreneur appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So you want to start your own business. What’s taking so long?Here at the $100 MBA, we battle a myth. We battle it day in and day out, because it’s the one thing holding more entrepreneurs back than anything else: the belief that you need huge amounts of funding, education, time, or resources to start a successful business.It’s not that you won’t ever need things like knowledge or capital. You just don’t need as much as you might think to get started! You can begin the journey any time, including right now, and gather those things along the way. All it takes is a little guidance, and the will to move forward.So many people want to be independent entrepreneurs, but too many people overestimate the obstacles to doing so. You don’t need a huge budget. You don’t need the experience of an expert. You don’t need a degree. You don’t need “passion,” or some Earth-shattering product idea.You just need to take the first steps.You can build a business right now, today. What business will depend on you, but there are a few categories of business that anyone can establish with minimal resources and experience. We know — we’ve built these businesses ourselves. Today, we’re sharing 5 specific types of businesses that you can start with nothing but a laptop and decent wifi.The greatest preparation for entrepreneurship? Just plain doing it.We talk all the time about the MVP, or Minimum Viable Product. It means that every product has to start somewhere, that it can’t be perfect before you get the ball rolling. The same applies to entrepreneurs. If you want to be in business for yourself, the most important thing you can do is to get started! You don’t need the features of a long-established career to begin one. Sometimes, you just have to stop packing and get on the road.Whether it’s service, creative, or educational, there are countless ways to leverage your talents into a real-world business. With this lesson, we offer 5 examples. We discuss why you don’t need to wait for conditions to be “perfect” to start a business, how to find your niche, and how to find your first clients.Tune in, hear how jumping into entrepreneurship really works, and decide how you can start your independent business journey, right this minute. After the lesson, stick around for a very special, very important announcement for all our listeners. We can’t wait to share this lesson, and we can’t wait to share this week’s exciting news.Let’s kill the excuses. Let’s kill the doubt. Let’s get going! Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksWebinarNinjaThe post MBA904 5 Businesses You Can Start Today appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every business is different. So why assume that what works for some businesses will work for yours?It’s pretty standard practice in most industries to ramp up sales for the holidays. After all, it’s the most wonderful time of the year — to generate revenue. The big holiday sales push is so commonplace, we just assume that it’s a smart, effective strategy.Let’s stop assuming.For some kinds of businesses, it might be smarter to consider something different. Something outside the box. Something downright radical: taking the holidays off.Crazy, right? In retail, suggesting we take a holiday break would be enough to get you pilloried. But for small service businesses, a little holiday hiatus is not just harmless; it could actually increase your profits. A strategic holiday shut-down is an opportunity to retool your product, push for a pre-holiday sales boost, and recharge your whole business.It’s counterintuitive, but that’s what makes it so brilliant.Great entrepreneurs don’t chase the crowd. They find the underserved market, they seek the niche, they go where other businesses aren’t going. And while most companies are decking the halls for the holiday sales explosion, lean, smart, small-time entrepreneurs think differently.On this episode of The $100 MBA Show, we’ll discuss how to plan and execute a strategic holiday sales break. We explain exactly why this strategy works, how to determine if your business would benefit from it, and how to execute it. We detail the exact steps you should take to temporarily shutter the sales end of your business, and quietly prepare to come roaring out of the gate in the new year.Our experience building small businesses has taught us the value of thinking differently. Bucking the holiday trend of pushing for sales might sound like anathema, but we’ve seen it work. By closing your doors for a bit, you can start the new year with a burst of activity, well-rested and equipped with a fresh influx of new customers.This holiday season, let’s think outside the tastefully-wrapped box. Learn how a little downtime can create an upward trend. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksTotal Recall: My Unbelievable True Life Story by Arnold SchwarzeneggerEntrepreneurs On Fire$100 MBA Free Idea Validation CourseThe post MBA903 Not Selling During Holidays? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Is it time to hire?As your business grows, this can be a tough question. As entrepreneurs, we all want to be proactive. Why wait ‘till tomorrow when you can do it today? But when it comes to personnel, it’s not quite so simple. Growing your business is about many things, not the least of which is timing.No one can hire the people they need at the exact moment they’re needed. So the question is: should you hire late or early?Is it better to have the people you need in place before the work rolls in? Or should you save the capital until the investment is absolutely necessary (not to mention guaranteed to pay off)? What’s worse: spending money you don’t have on people you don’t need, or scrambling to handle the workload with inadequate staffing?What’s the lesser of two evils?We’ve been entrepreneur-ing for some time now, and we’ve got pretty strong views on this topic. Today on the podcast, we’re weighing the pros and cons of both early and late hiring, and explaining why we consistently choose one path over the other. While no two businesses are alike, we think our reasoning can help any entrepreneur, whichever policy they prefer.It’s advice worth hearing.To help you with your hiring plans, we discuss all the factors that go into this important decision. What positions are truly necessary? How much momentum and revenue is required to make a new hire a safe bet? How much work is too much for a solopreneur or small team? Most importantly, how can you establish a new position in a way that lets your new employees hit the ground running?Whatever you spend on your team, it needs to be money well spent. On this episode, we’ll teach you how to project timeframes, analyze the cost/benefit ratio of every new hire, and scale up while keeping your business lean.We’ll help you hire with the timing and finesse every entrepreneur needs to make strides without losing ground.There’s a risk in every decision. Nowhere is that more true than when it comes to the timing of your hires. Tune in, hear how we’ve dealt with this deeply important policy question, and decide if our logic applies to your business. We offer detailed insights, plus practical exercises you can use before you decide to hire.Make sure that every investment is a worthy one. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFree guides for building your business from The $100 MBA: 100mba.net/guidesThe post MBA902 Better to Hire Early or Late? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Are you addicted to social media?More importantly, is social media having a negative impact on your business? There’s lots to love about Twitter, Facebook, and all the rest. For business owners, social media is an undoubtedly useful tool for outreach and marketing. But many independent business people — myself included — think there’s a fine line between useful and necessary.I’m not the only one who thinks that (depending on the business) social media is often wildly overrated. Its power to grow your audience and generate leads is far more limited than many new entrepreneurs realize. While there are those who’ve built their followings primarily through social media, those are exceptions, not the norm.I like to say that your business isn’t done on Facebook, or Snap, or any other social media platform. It’s done on your webiste, in your store, in the space you create.To really take this principle for a test run, I made what some would consider a pretty radical decision: I quit social media. Indefinitely. For the last several weeks, I’ve suspended all my social media accounts. And you know what? I can’t say I miss it.Again, I’m not here to bash social media. It’s valuable, it’s useful, and its effects on society are better discussed by sociologists than business people. I may even return to social media once this experiment has yielded all its results. But I’ve found that since I kicked the habit (and it is a habit), both my business and personal life have demonstrably improved.Today on the podcast, I discuss what exactly was behind my decision to quit social media. I describe my motivations and inspiration for this experiment, and what I hoped to get out of it. I also discuss what I have gotten out of it so far, from increased emotional well-being to greater focus and productivity.In fact, I’d argue that leaving social media has actually helped my marketing efforts, by allowing me to focus on marketing strategies with far greater ROI.Social media is a boon in many ways, but it is undoubtedly a habit, one with the potential to create addictive, distracting patterns of behavior. In this episode, I even propose a short experiment for you, the listener, to decide if backing away from social media could be beneficial. Maybe a social-free life isn’t for you, but it could be worth finding out.Tune in, hear my 3 specific reasons for giving social media a break, and consider my results. A healthier, more focused, balanced approach to work and life might just be the outcome. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksDeep Work by Cal NewportCal Newport: Quit Social Media TEDx TalkBuffer.comNoah Kagan on Social MediaThe post MBA901 Why I Quit Social Media appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What do you want?It’s the most basic of questions, underlying the motivations behind everything we do in life and business. What’s it all for? Why are we striving to make our businesses successful? What’s the point of profit?For all of us, the money isn’t the answer. It’s the means to achieve the answer.That said, we shouldn’t abandon all thoughts of quantifying our personal definition of success. No, money can’t buy happiness. But it can give you the freedom and resources to do whatever it is that does make you happy. That’s a quantity worth calculating. How much money, exactly, do you need to live the life you want?Do you want to travel? Support a family? Drive your dream car? Order the appetizer? Whatever it is, there’s a number attached to it. The life of your choosing can’t be defined by money, but it can be enabled by a concrete number.On today’s podcast, Omar introduces a life/business planning exercise by which you can nail down your personal number. Using this simple but thoughtful process, you can legitimately determine what the life you want will cost— and start moving towards it.This isn’t about dreaming. This exercise is an act of doing.By quantifying the key to your goals, you enable yourself to take concrete steps towards attaining them. In fact, after you do the math, you may find that your goals aren’t as far off as you think!Too many people define their life goals to broadly, carrying nebulous ideas of how much money they need. Yes, we all want to be “wealthy” or even just “comfortable.” But we can do better than that. We can define what specifically we want, and work out a realistic price tag.Doing this exercise can radically alter your approach to business. By defining your personal goals in terms of exact numbers, you can focus your business goals on achieving those numbers. The number is a bridge between your dreams and your reality. By seeing your business is the means to cross it, your focus intensifies.It’s not about making the most money; it’s about making the right amount. By plotting an actionable path to your goals, you can achieve what too many people in business forget about: working to live, instead of living to work. Find out how.Special thanks to all our listeners as we celebrate this, our 900th episode! It’s a good one: Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksI Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit SethiThe post MBA900 How Much Money Do You Need? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What to say about Steve Jobs? He’s the first person that comes to mind when you think of the word “entrepreneur.” He changed the world we all live in, by virtue of his commitment to a business vision. Much has been written about, by, and for him. What can you, as an entrepreneur, learn from the legend?Now, we have the ultimate guide to his life and career: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, the most complete, relevant biography for any entrepreneur who wants to take lessons from the life of the iconoclast.Isaacson’s biography is the latest addition to our Must Read list, and the subject of this week’s podcast. With so many books about business and entrepreneurship (not to mention about Apple and Jobs specifically), we like to highlight the ones that can best impact your growth as a business person. In this episode, Omar breaks down the key takeaways from this incredible (and incredibly long) book.It’s a page-turner, and good thing — there are quite a few pages to turn. This fascinating biography paints a narrative of struggle and innovation, of idiosyncrasy and vision, of controversy and perseverance. Despite how close the biographer was to Jobs, his access didn’t spoil his objectivity. This is no work of flattery, but an honest, revealing exploration of what made Jobs so…Jobs.Innovators don’t happen by accident. They build and define themselves as they create and grow their businesses. Jobs may reign as the greatest example of that spirit of his generation. None of us will ever be Steve Jobs, but all of us can benefit from the fearless dedication to innovation that drove his life, through all its ups and downs.To learn those vital lessons, we highly recommend this book. For a succinct breakdown of those lessons, tune in to Omar’s synopsis. You’ll be glad you did. – Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Links$100MBA Free Idea Validation CourseAudible.comSteve Jobs by Walter Isaacson on AmazonThe post MBA899 Must Read: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What’s the best return on investment? What’s the most valuable thing an entrepreneur can gain from any expense?Time.Time is the greatest ROI. Some say time is money, but money pales in comparison to the value of time, the one resource you can never replenish once lost. A goal of every entrepreneur should be to free up as much of their time as possible: time better spent innovating than managing, moving forward rather than treading water, or even just spent living and enjoying the freedom entrepreneurship offers.So how can we get more time? Outsourcing.The smartest, boldest thing you can do as an independent business leader is to get things off your own plate. Spend your money to free up your time by zeroing in on the most time-consuming tasks best left to others. Not only will this allow you to focus on the leadership aspects of your business, it may significantly improve the quality of your product. Why be the jack of all trades when you can hire a master of each?On today’s episode, we discuss the top 5 tasks you should consider outsourcing. By utilizing team members, freelancers, even affiliates, you can stop working and start leading. Free up time, headspace, and personal resources to make yourself more effective than ever. Minimize stress and focus on the creative, exciting parts of running a business. Through outsourcing, you and your business can become more agile than ever.What about the cost?That’s the best part: today’s global marketplace is teeming with talent, available to work remotely from all over the world. With the prevalence of skills in everything from content to accounting, it has never been more affordable to outsource.This is especially important as your business grows, and your success forces you to scale up. As your business gains momentum, your leadership will be far more important than your labor. Not only that, but the odds are that for each of these 5 tasks, you can find someone who can do it better than you can!That’s been our experience, anyway. These 5 areas aren’t just tasks we recommend outsourcing, they’re tasks we’ve outsourced ourselves! It’s worked for us, and it can work for you. Find out how- Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksXero Accounting SoftwareiDevAffiliate Affiliate Tracking SoftwareThe post MBA898 The Top 5 Tasks to Outsource appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For a predictable revenue stream, nothing beats the subscription model. Customers sign up to pay a fixed rate, monthly or annually. The business owner gets to map their budget and growth goals with greater confidence and stability. Everyone wins. But unfortunately, this model doesn’t work for regular old e-commerce…or does it?Typically, the subscription model applies to services, especially of the SaaS (Software as a Service) variety. The SaaS model is all the rage, one of the most lucrative ways to harness the Internet for a passive revenue stream. Wouldn’t it be great if e-commerce businesses could enjoy the same benefits?Impossible, you say. I don’t sell a software, or a service. I sell clothes, or shoes, or hamster grooming products. My business just isn’t SaaSy enough for this model.Think again.You can convert your e-commerce to the subscription model, and enjoy all the stability of a SaaS business. You simply have to sell, package, and deliver your product like a service. You wouldn’t be the first. Great subscription services deliver physical goods to customers around the world every day— from Dollar Shave Club to Amazon Prime to Blue Apron.This isn’t just a trick to gin up some extra income from your customers. It’s a way to reward your best customers by offering them something valuable: membership. Membership is a whole ‘nother level of brand loyalty, one that customers enjoy. More than ever, consumers like to identify with brands to which they’re loyal, especially small-business brands that declare their unique and discriminating tastes.People love the extra personalization of membership, and they love having products curated for them, rather than just buying them. It’s a service in the truest sense: you not only provide the product, you essentially do the shopping!On this podcast, we teach you exactly how to move your e-commerce business into the SaaS model. It’s not for every business, but so many purveyors of physical goods can use this method to substantially increase revenue. We discuss how to implement the service, market the service to your current customers, and integrate the revenue into your budget.This model can work, as a replacement for a-la-carte shopping, or as a valuable supplement. Tune in to our in-depth lesson, hear how it’s done, and see if you might give it a try. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Links$100MBA Free Idea Validation CourseThe post MBA897 Turn Your Ecommerce Store into a SaaS appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Most people think that being an entrepreneur means starting a business. But there’s another option, an alternative path to independent success: buying a business!We don’t often think of this option, but with some capital and a smart purchase plan, it can be the right move. Pre-owned cars and homes can be great investments, so why not businesses? So much of the work that goes into building a business is done already. And while there is other work to be done when buying as opposed to building, that completed work represents a huge advantage.So what does it take to be a successful business buyer? That’s the topic of today’s deep-dive lesson. We begin with the two essential questions every would-be entrepreneur should consider before they reach for their checkbook. First, is buying the right option for me? Second, what’s the right business to buy?We detail where and how to find businesses with great potential, how to evaluate them, and how to determine what they’re worth. We walk you through the essential steps of identifying the right business, assessing what success you can reasonably expect, and calculating a fair price based on those expectations.Whether you want the freedom and independence of profiting on your own terms, or the intrinsic creative joy of building a new brand and forging independent success, purchasing a pre-established business might just work for you. People are selling businesses every day, for reasons that don’t necessarily reflect a lack of success. Even failing businesses can make fantastic investments, if you’ve got the skill set the seller lacks!All told, it’s worth considering.The infrastructure is there. The overhead is established. The initial customer base doesn’t need to be chased down. Even if you plan on making drastic changes, starting with all the established baselines of a pre-owned business is a massive advantage. With today’s lesson, we’ll help you determine what a business is worth, what it should cost, and how much you should have in the bank when you take the reins.Entrepreneurship is all about possibilities— especially the ones that people overlook! Tune in, learn how to evaluate the possibilities, and see if this entrepreneurial alternative is right for you. It just might be! Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA896 Should You Buy a Business Instead of Starting One? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So you want to be an entrepreneur. Honestly, who doesn’t? Who hasn’t occasionally dreamed of that freedom and self-determination? Who isn’t intrigued by the thought of making their own living on their own terms?Of course, dreaming is one thing. Doing is another.That’s what we’re here for: to help you become one of the “doers” who actually takes concrete action. And that’s why this week’s special guest teacher is here: to share her incredibly valuable experience on the subject of breaking into entrepreneurship.Dorie Clark knows more than most about transitioning from conventional employment to entrepreneurship. She literally wrote the book on it, and she’s written another one that hits the shelves this week. Today, Clark offers a special preview of Entrepreneurial You: Monetize Your Expertise, Create Multiple Income Streams, and Thrive. Her years of studying independent success and profiling great entrepreneurs has given Clark unparalleled insights. She’s here to share them.On the podcast, Clark discusses 6 specific principles that make the difference between considering entrepreneurship and actually doing it. These 6 strategic concepts allow you to hone in on what actually creates independent wealth. With so much to know, being able to focus on what really matters is crucial. These 6 things are the pillars that can turn the desire for entrepreneurial freedom into something real, feasible, and sustainable.These are not hacks. They’re not tricks. They are instructions. Honest, practical, actionable instructions that you can apply today. With Clark’s extremely well-informed advice, you can start laying the roadmap for your own success right now. Clark has found success over years of study and experimentation. She’s lived the trial and the error. Now, let her experience increase your chances of making it.Stick around after Clark’s lesson for two fantastic bonuses: Our host Omar offers his own tips on building and sustaining entrepreneurial momentum— after all, he knows a thing or two about independent success himself! And, Dorie Clark would like to offer all of our listeners a special free download, one that can jumpstart your journey to entrepreneurship today.That’s right: Free Gift!There are no shortcuts. As Clark and Omar detail in this lesson, entrepreneurial success is earned, not taken. We’re not here to sell The Dream, and neither is Dorie Clark. What we can offer is the truth about exactly what it takes to do business— your business, your own way. It’s not easy, and it’s not quick. But it is possible. With some honest effort and the right guidance, you can do this.Tune in. Hear Clark’s advice and Omar’s analysis. Get your free gift. Go forth into the future you make for yourself. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Linksdorieclark.com/entrepreneurThe post MBA895 Guest Teacher: Dorie Clark – Practical Steps to Taking the Leap Into Entrepreneurship appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Worst. Boss. Ever.We’ve all had a terrible boss. As entrepreneurs, we never have to have one again. But as our independent business grows, how can we avoid becoming one? That’s the topic of this week’s deep-dive lesson, and it’s one worth exploring. Do you have the courage, the honesty, and the wisdom to ask yourself the question:Am I a terrible boss?Right off the bat, let’s be realistic: you’re probably not. But just as realistic is the probability that you could be a better one. We could all improve, in whatever we do. But it’s especially important for entrepreneurs to stay on top of their personal development as leaders.Your business depends on your ability to lead your team. As we expend our mental capital on product development, marketing, budgeting, and all the rest, we can forget this. We can neglect a skill that’s just as important to develop as salesmanship or technical expertise. We can forget to strive to be the best boss we can be.Our team suffers as a result.When our team suffers, the work suffers. When the work suffers, the business grinds along at a fraction of its true potential. It’s incumbent upon every entrepreneur to give their customers the best experience possible— but it’s just as incumbent upon them to give their employees the motivation they need to create that experience. There are ways to achieve this. There are strategies to ensure it.We’re here to share them.Fortunately, being great at bossing is just like being great at anything; you can learn how. You can practice. You can consciously develop the ability you need to lead. On this podcast, we explain how to evaluate and develop your leadership skills. We share our experience as bosses, and offer specific, actionable tips on how to be better.We discuss the biggest pitfalls common to new bosses, the balance between high expectations and empathy for your employees, and how to be open to improvement. We offer examples of bosses to emulate, and reflect on the unique position of company founders.When you’re the boss, the stakes are high. Tune in, and learn how to maximize your potential as a leader. Learn how to earn the loyalty and dedication from your employees that gives your business the edge. Boss “like a boss!” Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksMust Read: Total Recall by Arnold SchwarzeneggerMust Read: Shoe Dog by Phil KnightMust Read: Elon Musk by Ashlee VanceThe post MBA894 Are You a Terrible Boss? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The product is never perfect. Smart entrepreneurs realize that in order for a business to grow, the product has to grow with it. But what if you could direct (or at least guide) the evolution of your product? What if you could time that evolution, and set goals for certain improvements? What if you could see the development of your product in the future, as you move your business forward into it?Enter the Product Roadmap.Increasingly popular as an organizational, motivational, and even marketing tool, the Product Roadmap can be applied to any kind of product (even a service). It is what it sounds like: a visual representation of the planned development of a product. You literally map out your own goals for your product, from the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to the top-of-the-line game-changer you ultimately strive to create.By aligning what your product could be with feasible timelines, you can turn possibilities into an actionable plan. These Product Roadmaps can be internal, strictly used to keep you and your team focused on your long-term product development goals. Or, they can be publicized, doubling as a marketing tool that lets your audience in on the process— even soliciting their opinions on what your product should do.But for all its usefulness, is a Product Roadmap right for your business?That’s what today’s podcast can help you determine. Today we discuss what a Product Roadmap is, how to develop one, and when it’s most applicable and helpful. With this lesson, you’ll learn exactly when Product Roadmaps are most effective.We speak from experience. From our clothing line to The $100 MBA to our webinar software service, WebinarNinja, we’ve built plenty of products: some with roadmaps, and some without. We know their value, and their limitations. Our experience using Product Roadmaps can give you exactly the insight you need to determine whether it’s a good fit for you. In the right situation, the return on investment can be substantial.A Product Roadmap can be an efficient repository for all your product ideas, even the most ambitious ones. It can allow you to branch out creatively, fearlessly saying “yes” to everything, and creating an action plan to make things happen. It can help you understand your own product better, and effectively prioritize all the development possibilities.By establishing goals, deadlines, and expectations, a well-crafted Product Roadmap can keep your team’s work aligned with your overall mission. It can keep that work in context, from here to wherever you want to be.SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksBaseCampTrelloMeisterTaskThe post MBA893 Do You Need a Product Road Map? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A successful business has many components, but all of them fall into one of 3 main categories. These 3 branches of business are the basic aspects of commerce. They are the pillars that hold up any company, big or small. And like any tripod, without each leg in place, the whole thing comes crashing down. By understanding the 3 branches, and applying appropriate levels of focus to each, you can give yourself the edge that means the difference between success and failure.You can ensure that your business has a fighting chance.It all comes down to these: smarketing, product development, and customer service. None of those are likely to come as a surprise, even if you’ve never heard the term “smarketing” before (that’s sales + marketing, the line between the two being a blurry one in the greater scheme of things). But too many entrepreneurs focus on one or two at the expense of the others. While they excel in one arena, they drop the ball in another. Their businesses suffer as a result.This is a choice.Proud tradespeople and artists devote themselves to their craft— their product— but put little time into marketing or customer service. Born sales people love the dance of securing customers and making deals, but allow the quality of their product to be sub-par. Devoted, loyal entrepreneurs put customer satisfaction above all else— including the acquisition of new business. As great martial artists are known to say, a fighter’s strength is his or her weakness. By relying too heavily on what comes easiest, some entrepreneurs never develop into well-rounded business people.You can do better.On today’s podcast, we discuss the importance of each branch in turn, and the vital role each plays in the development of a successful business, no matter what kind or what size. Going further, we discuss how to prioritize these branches at different points in the growth of your business. While one may be paramount at the beginning, another may become more important later on. Knowing when to focus on which branch is key to leveraging your efforts and maximizing your growth.Beyond that, knowing which aspects you excel at (and which ones you don’t) is crucial to your development as an entrepreneur. With self-awareness, honesty, and the willingness to shore up your weak points while nurturing your talents, you can be the entrepreneur whose ideas go the distance. While a thousand great business ideas go no further than talk, a balanced approach to the 3 branches of business can turn the dream into a reality.Tune in, listen to our in-depth explanation of the 3 branches and how to properly utilize them. Hone your skills, and learn how to apply your precious time, resources, and effort where they count the most. Be one of the entrepreneurs who make it. Know what forces need to be balanced, and how to balance them. Succeed. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksBacklinkoThe post MBA892 How To Master The 3 Branches of Your Business appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

No man is an island, or so they say. By the same logic, no entrepreneur succeeds entirely on their own.Independent business doesn’t mean going it alone or taking a solitary approach. It just means you get to choose the terms upon which you partner with others. When you do, you further your success, and theirs. Mutually beneficial partnerships can fast-track the growth of your business by allowing you to access new markets. They can also plant the seeds of lucrative long-term business relationships.The bottom line: why market alone?That brings us to today’s podcast. We’ve got a special guest, Dale Beaumont of Brin.ai. Beaumont is one of Australia’s most successful young entrepreneurs, having started several million-dollar business and written 16 best-selling books. But he didn’t do it alone— he strategically partnered with other business people he could trust to help maximize his potential. In doing so, he accessed markets and customers that might’ve taken exponentially longer to reach. Beaumont is here to share his 7-step plan for establishing mutually beneficial marketing partnerships.This man knows what he’s talking about.Unlike joint ventures or affiliate marketing, marketing partnerships aren’t about sharing profits. They’re about sharing audiences. By cross-promoting with another trusted brand, you can find customers more quickly, more cheaply, and more efficiently. Through mutual value-sharing, two businesses can multiply their credibility. That means less time and money spent on things like advertising, which serve the same function at a much higher cost— and a much lower return on investment.For great examples, look no further than the big boys of business. Every McDonald’s happy meal is a promotion for another major company like Disney. Ford sells Eddie Bauer edition vehicles, while Subaru sells LL Bean versions. All over the business world, creative leaders find ways to multiply the effect of one company’s marketing by that of another.Here at The $100 MBA, we’re no strangers to marketing partnerships. Whether we’re co-hosting an event of webinar, guest-blogging, or guest-podcasting, bringing the value other thought leaders offer to our own audience makes sense. Our audience is happier and better informed, and we get the opportunity to demonstrate our value to their audience as well. Everyone wins! Following Beaumont’s lesson, we’ll offer our own 3 extra tips for optimizing marketing partnerships, in addition to the step-by-step plan from our guest.Don’t go it alone. Learn how to take the fastest route to growth. Learn Beaumont’s steps, take our tips, and find the partners who can take your business where you want it to go. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFollow Dale Beaumont onFacebook and TwitterOr visit his website atdalebeaumont.comThe post MBA891 Guest Teacher: Dale Beaumont- How to Use Marketing Partnerships to Scale Fast appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Independent business is never easy. If it was, everyone would do it! Because we choose the path less traveled, we entrepreneurs need to reckon with challenges and obstacles that the conventionally employed never face. At first, that might seem like a negative. But challenge is what entrepreneurs thrive on. Independence is what we work for. No matter how tough the going gets, we don’t just persevere— we enjoy taking it on.That’s the theme of this week’s in-depth podcast, and the lesson of our latest Must-Read book review for independent business people. It’s been a while, but we’ve finally had time to digest another great entry into our ever-growing library of essential books. Like our other Must-Reads, Ben Horowitz’s The Hard Thing About Hard Things is invaluable for anyone who wants to understand what it takes to succeed in business. It’s so good, reading it once wasn’t enough!Horowitz is a legend in modern entrepreneurship, leading the way into the tech-scape we inhabit today from way ahead of the curve. He was an early pioneer in web-browsing and cloud computing, building companies that were eventually acquired by the behemoths of the tech industry. And while he met with undeniable success, it was never, ever easy.That’s the beauty of Horowitz’s approach, and his book. Rather than offering strategies for avoiding the scariest pitfalls of business, he offers advice for dealing with them. His is not a guide to finding the path of least resistance. It’s about facing the most daunting aspects of entrepreneurship, and plowing through the challenges that business inevitably poses. It’s about facing the worst case scenario, fearing nothing, and making the right move when it seems like there are no moves to make.Take responsibility. Take charge. Focus on results, not shortcuts. Your darkest moments will be your greatest victories, if you have the right attitude. Check out our podcast, read the book, and see how Horowitz’s approach can work for you. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksGet the bookThe Hard Thing About Hard Thingsby Ben Horowitzon AmazonThe post MBA890 Must Read: The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

At The $100 MBA, we’ve always believed in the philosophy of ABM: Always Be Marketing.Succeeding as an entrepreneur takes more than a great product and a can-do attitude. While starting a business takes some work, it’s maintaining and growing a business that poses the greatest challenge. That’s why a constant, consistent marketing effort is the difference between a business that could’ve been and a business that continues to be, year after year. Marketing is everything— and webinars are the future of marketing.Content marketing comes in many forms. Blogs, videos, email campaigns, social media outreach: they’re all well and good, and should all be a part of your content marketing arsenal. But the most undervalued marketing tool in existence is the webinar, hands down. Webinars are powerful. Webinars work. Webinars bolster and legitimize every other piece of content you put out there. Too many entrepreneurs are either intimidated by webinars, or aren’t yet convinced of their effectiveness.We’d like to change that.We know what you’re thinking, loyal listeners— don’t Omar and Nicole also run a webinar software company? Yes, we do, and we understand if our enthusiasm for webinars seems a little…convenient. But the truth of the matter is this: we don’t believe in webinars because we run a webinar company. We run a webinar company because we believe in webinars. Our message has always been that success rests on credibility. And there’s no more direct, effective way to build credibility than to turn on a camera, strap on a mic, and meet your audience face to virtual face. Potential customers need to know they can trust you. Webinars can prove you’re worth trusting.Sales and marketing aren’t about manipulating consumers. They’re not even about convincing or persuading. They’re about educating. Webinars allow you to approach marketing like a teacher. Rather than trying to convince an audience of something you want them to believe (ie, that you and your product are genuinely valuable), you simply show them something true. Show your audience a genuine solution to their problem, and you won’t have to “sell” a thing! That’s what webinars can do.Today we discuss why webinars are so effective, what you can do to prepare for one, and why everything that might scare you about webinars is nothing to fear. Our groundbreaking webinar platform, WebinarNinja 5.0, is coming just around the corner, and we want our $100 MBA audience to be ready.Whatever platform you choose to use, give webinars a chance. They won’t let you down. Learn how— and why— they work. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA889 How to Grow Your Business With Webinars appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What’s your website doing right now? If it’s not growing your business for you, it’s not doing its job!Optimizing your website to promote growth is key to your survival in businesses. It’s also the whole point of having one! Too many entrepreneurs put extraordinary time and effort into the design of their website, but that effort isn’t geared specifically towards growth. It may be beautiful. It may be intuitive. It may have the greatest content on the face of the Web— but if it’s not encouraging the right actions by your visitors, you’ve got changes to make.To help you with that, we’ve brought one of the foremost experts in website optimization onto the podcast. Troy Stites is the growth and optimization specialist for Sumo.com, a business that’s certainly seen its share of rapid growth. Stites knows the tricks of the trade that turn websites into wellsprings of growth. His strategies are designed to start long, productive relationships with visitors, rather than turn them off with aggressive sales pitching or low-value bells and whistles.With Stites’ easy-to-apply remedies, what your website is currently lacking in growth promotion can be a thing of the past!Specifically, Stites is here to share 3 particular strategies that work well for any website, no matter the content, product, or industry. These strategies bypass the instinct to start selling right away, and instead establish a connection with visitors that builds your credibility, breeding the genuine trust that creates loyal customers.There’s no maintenance in business. You’re growing, or you’re dying. If your website is being visited, don’t let that be the end of the story! Parlay those visits into relationships, and those relationships into sales. We’ll show you what you can do today to drastically boost the performance of your website in the never-ending quest for growth. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA888 Guest Teacher Troy Stites- Three Strategies to Automate Your Business Growth appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All good things must come to an end. Our incredible 8 week trip around the world is no exception. But with every ending comes a new beginning— and the end of this journey signals the start of something BIG for ourselves and our listeners!We’re in the magical, timeless little town of Gimmelwald, Switzerland, surrounded by breathtaking beauty and clean mountain air. We’re reflecting on everything we’ve learned while business-building on the road, and getting ready to head home and begin the next chapter. What we’ve discovered along the way will have a big impact on our decisions going forward— and it might just do the same for you.We’ve got big news to share at the end of this episode, but first, we’re taking a big-picture look at our two months’ journey. We discuss our biggest, most important takeaways. We share 5 burning questions that we had going into the experiment, as well as the answers we uncovered. So many entrepreneurs sell the idea of location independence, of making a living from your laptop while roaming the landscapes of your dreams. And for every person who’s sold it, there’s been someone who questioned the feasibility of this alternative lifestyle.Is it real, or is it a pipe dream? Is it worth it? We stopped asking, and started finding out for ourselves.Today we address everything you need to know when considering mobile entrepreneurship, from the costs to your business to the effects on your health. We tried it out, and the benefits and drawbacks are both considerable. We’ve got important advice— you might even say warnings— for anyone who’s serious about taking their show on the road. We discuss what you get, what you lose, and how working while traveling changes the nature of both work and traveling.Our final verdict may surprise you. You may agree with it. You may not. But either way, you’ll consider your own options armed with the benefits of our experience. Hear how our literal journey affected our business journey. Decide if the mobile life is right for you. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksWebinarNinja.comSwitzerland – Rick Steves’ EuropeThe post MBA887 The Working While Traveling Experiment P8: Would I Work While Traveling Again? My Take-Aways From This Experiment appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So much to see and do, so little time. We’re on week 7 of our map-hopping adventure, finding out just what it takes to build a business while seeing the world. If you’ve ever dreamed of working independently and remotely, this is the series for you! We’re reporting from the front lines of location independence, sharing all the ups, downs, and surprising realities of working while traveling. With 2 weeks to go, things are getting interesting!This week, we’re in Berlin, Germany, a fascinating city with more history and culture than we can shake a stick at. But with so much to absorb, how can we stay on task? How can we be efficient and productive when every day offers new wonders— and new distractions? On a hectic, inspiring journey, how can we make sure we’re getting as far in business as we are in travel? Productivity comes down to one thing: focus. And focus is acquired through strategy.Whether you’re traveling or not, focus is a skill you have to develop. It’s not something that happens by itself. It’s a series of choices you make every single workday. Whether you’re in an office, on a train, or in a charming cafe, zeroing in on what needs to get done isn’t always easy. Today, we’re sharing 6 specific strategies for improving focus that are guaranteed to work. Some of them may seem extreme, but when put into practice, they make all the difference to your business. Try them, and find out how much more you can accomplish.We know they work because we use them. We know because we’re using them right now, despite the incredible new horizons outside our window at any given moment. We’ve taken time-tested principles of focus and applied them to the most wonderfully distracting situation imaginable. Not only are we staying productive, we’re moving forward as our business grows. Wherever you roam, you can do the same. Find out how you can get in the zone, and free the rest of your life up for living. Find out how to focus: Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Linksbacklinko.comThe post MBA886 The Working While Traveling Experiment P7: How to Stay Focused in a Busy Time appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Go global! We’ve hit the road to learn how seeing the world while growing a business can work. But traveling isn’t the only upside to doing business in a web-connected world. Our ability to market to the whole planet— not just our corner of it— is what gives the 21st century entrepreneur so much freedom. If you’re serious about making your own way in business, one of the smartest things you can do is leave international borders behind.We’re in Naples, the last stop on the Italian portion of our 8-week globe-trotting adventure. It’s a homey, gritty city that reminds us how cultures can vary, but everyone speaks the language of value. Appealing to only your own homeland is an option, but how much do our odds of success multiply when we look beyond our borders? How many markets lay waiting to be discovered? How many customers are we leaving behind when we limit ourselves to just one part of the planet?Today, we’re discussing what it takes to appeal to a global audience. We offer 7 specific steps you can take to branch out into the world. You can reach consumers from all over the human diaspora, and build the following that sustains your business. Hear how we plan our marketing strategy to reach the people who may be far away, but whose business can come right to your virtual doorstep. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA885 The Working While Traveling Experiment P6: What Makes a Business a Great Global Business? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Ah, Venice. We’re floating through the canal-strewn dreamscape of Northern Italy, soaking in the culture and beauty of this bucket-list destination. But it’s not all gondolas and gelato; we’re running an independent business— and we’re here to find out just what it takes to do so while seeing the world. Welcome to week 5 of our 8-week working-while-traveling experiment!In our first 4 episodes, we taught you how to prep and schedule, as well as how to take specific lessons from the new worlds you encounter. Now, we’re hitting roadblocks (or in this case, canal-blocks). What happens when things go awry? How can you deal with work-mergencies when you’re an ocean (or two) away from your office? What challenges make travel a potential detriment to your business, and how can you address them?No worries, friends. With the right attitude, expectations, and support, you can handle anything that comes your way— even when you’re not at “home” to handle it. Whether you’re a solopreneur blogging your way around the world, or juggling all the moving parts of a large team effort like we are, you can do it. This trip is the proof. Today we discuss 3 specific challenges that dogged us throughout our trip, and how we handled them efficiently, productively, and (most of all) calmly. Let our struggles be your tour guide- Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA884 The Working While Traveling Experiment P5: My Working While Traveling Challenges appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What can the best Italian meal of your life teach you about running a business? How can the warmth of a Sicilian barista inform your customer service philosophy? How much can you grow as an entrepreneur by consciously, thoughtfully enjoying the world beyond your borders? We’re finding out in this week’s podcast. It’s week 4 or our 8-week trek across the globe, and we’ve got another incredible in-depth lesson to share.Last week, we discussed how enlightening certain tourist experiences can be for an entrepreneur. This week, we’re taking a look at what you can learn specifically from other businesses abroad. How is business philosophy different around the world? What foreign perspectives and practices can inform your approach to business? What can you bring home that will make your company stand out?We’re in Sicily, eating, drinking, and lodging our way to a better understanding of how business works. With the launch of our unparalleled new software just around the corner, we’re learning about customer service from the only perspective that matters: the customer’s. We’re halfway through this eye-opening journey, and the lessons are already worth every step. Hear what we’ve learned— Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA883 The Working While Traveling Experiment P4: Learning From Businesses Abroad appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Fasten your seatbelts, and return your seats and tray tables to the upright position! We’re crossing the globe to find out if it’s really possible to build a business while seeing the world. If location independence is on your list of entrepreneurial dreams, this is the podcast for you! Today’s deep-dive business lesson is Part 3 in our 8-part series on working while traveling.We’re hitting 15 cities in various nations over 8 incredible weeks, all the while finding out what it takes to stay productive. This week, we’re in Italy. The culture is ancient, but the lessons in productivity, innovation, and achievement are timeless. We’re letting some of humanity’s oldest works inspire new ideas about setting expectations, overcoming obstacles, and daring to go big— Roman Colosseum big! Join us as we reflect on how travel experiences can change the way you see your small business.We don’t just think you can travel while you’re working. As today’s episode reveals, traveling can actually improve the quality of your work. It can expand your mind, uncover new possibilities, and shake off doubts. Specifically, we’ve had 3 experiences in Italy that affected our professional outlook in practical, actionable ways. It’s an exciting journey, and we’d love to share it with you— Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA882 The Working While Traveling Experiment P3: Applying Your Travel Experiences to Your Business appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Can it be done? We’re continuing our great experiment with the ultimate entrepreneurial dream: working while seeing the world. We’re building towards one of the biggest project launches of our lives (the release of our webinar software, WebinarNinja 5.0), but that’s not stopping us from touring our way across Europe and the USA before heading home to sunny Sydney— and we’re taking you along for the ride. 8 weeks, 15 cities, and countless challenges await!Join us as we navigate the pitfalls of running a business while on the move. On this episode (part 2 of our 8-part series) we’re in Italy, dividing our time between Milan and Florence. We discuss how to strike the perfect work/leisure balance, scheduling time and managing workloads to get the job done while still seeing the sights. Staying in touch with your team, optimizing your schedule around local business hours, and finding the right work space are all covered. We show you how to make and execute a work/travel plan that keeps you on track, but leaves room for adventure.It’s a global economy, and we’re hitting the globe to see how business can be done no matter where you roam. With a little planning, a little flexibility, and a lot of optimism, anyone can see the world— and their business can benefit. Whichever direction you travel in, you can keep moving towards the goals you’ve set for yourself. Make sure you’ve listened to Part 1, and Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA881 The Working While Traveling Experiment P2: Making Time to Work & Play appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Travel while working. Make money while seeing the world. Grab your laptop and hit the beach. We’ve all been tempted by The Dream. But is truly mobile entrepreneurship possible? Can you run— and grow — a business from the road? Here at The $100 MBA, we’re all about the possible. We’re also all about travel. So we packed up, strapped in, and set off for an experiment in location independence ahead of the launch of our game-changing software, WebinarNinja 5.0.Today’s episode is the first in an 8-part series as myself and my co-founder/best life-partner ever Nicole hit the road for an epic trek abroad. 8 weeks and 15 cities from now, we hope to have learned the best ways to be effective and efficient while traveling. We’ll discuss what to bring, how and where to work, and what potential pitfalls you can avoid— and which you can’t. Everything from the best business travel gear to ensuring mobile service abroad will be covered, along with specific tips for making the most out of your biz-cation.Making money while seeing the world isn’t beyond reach. Over the next two months, we’ll show you how to do it right! Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksMinaal Carry-on 2.0 BagMinaal Daily BagGoogle DriveGoogle CalendarSpeedtest.netBrian Dean of BACKLINKOSheets on Google PlaySheets on the App StoreMacbook ProAudio-Technica ATR2100-USB Cardioid Dynamic MicrophoneLogitech HD Pro Webcam C920SanDisk USB Flash DrivesKindleWhatsAppApple WalletTripCase Travel AppThe post MBA880 The Working While Traveling Experiment P1: Preparing for Travel appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So you’ve missed a deadline. Whether you missed it yourself, someone on your team missed it, or your whole team collectively missed it, missed it is. Spoiler alert: this is going to happen. It shouldn’t happen regularly, but when it does, it’s important to know how to handle it. What matters isn’t that you and/or your team dropped the ball. What matters is how you pick it up.Missed deadlines can snowball into the rest of your project, and the rest of your business. They can create a self-propelling cycle of anxiety that hinders your performance even further. They can create disappointment— and even resentment— among team members. If not handled skillfully, a deadline unmet can become a bigger problem than plain old tardiness.Fortunately (for our listeners, not so much for ourselves), we’ve missed a deadline or two in our day. We’ve had to learn how to keep moving forward, even when we’re doing so from behind. Even our most ambitious project yet, the release of our game-changing WebinarNinja 5.0 platform, has fallen victim to the cruel whims of unforeseen delay. Today we’re discussing how to dust yourself off, assess the situation, and make whatever strides necessary to get back on track. Don’t be afraid- be ready! Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA879 Missed Deadlines. What do you do? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There’s a new obsession in entrepreneurial circles, and it’s time we looked at it with a critical eye. Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) seem to be all the rage, as independent business people look to protect their new ideas with the legal equivalent of the Great Wall of China. But are they really necessary? More importantly, are they worth the cost and effort? Whether your idea needs protecting— and whether an NDA can actually protect it— are worth thinking about.Today we discuss the main reasons businesses insist on making employees, partners, and investors sign NDA’s. We also discuss the shortcomings of these agreements, as their value in protecting the heart of your business might be a little…exaggerated. Not only are these documents surprisingly limited in their ability to keep people from finding out how your sausage is made, it’s likely that they’re protecting sausage that’s perfectly safe anyway. On top of that, NDA’s can actually deter valuable people from helping get your business off the ground!Before you invest the time, effort, and legal expense of insisting that everyone around you be legally sworn to secrecy, listen to this podcast. Know that idea theft is rarely pursued by any serious business people, and is even more rarely successful. Most of all, know that it’s not the “big idea” that’ll make or break your success— it’s how you implement ideas that matter. No one can steal that. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFree Course: 5 Steps to Idea Validation in The Real WorldThe post MBA878 Do You Need an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement)? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Few people love their work the way entrepreneurs do. So why do we have trouble discussing it? Most of us can pitch, but how many of us can simply talk about what we do in a way that’s concise and understandable? How many of us can describe our business in a way that shows how excited— and how competent— we truly are?If you can’t articulate your mission in layman’s terms, you haven’t thought about it enough. If you can’t describe it at a party, you’re missing a crucial skill: the ability to get everyday people as pumped as you are about the product.Call it the “social pitch.” It’s the ability to represent your business, your brand, and yourself in a relatable, functional way. It’s not just a combination of words to throw around at barbecues; it’s a way of thinking about your business from a human perspective. That perspective, and the language that comes with it, is crucial to bridging the gap between yourself and your market.Learn how to answer the question “What do you do?” in a way that makes people want to hear more. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA877 Stop Talking About Your Business That Way appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The comfort zone: we all have one, but not all of us manage to leave it. If you’re in business, it’s not just healthy to evolve beyond what you’re used to. It’s necessary! Your products, your skills, your work ethic; all of these things matter. But none of them add up to success if you’re trapped inside a stagnating version of yourself. Why does getting out of our comfort zone matter so much? Why is it so hard? Most importantly, how can we do it?On today’s episode, we’ve got someone with answers to all that. Special guest teacher Andy Molinsky is a renowned professor, author, and all-around expert in the comfort zone and how to escape it. An authority on business psychology, Molinsky has identified what being trapped in the comfort zone looks like, how we tend to react to it, and how we can choose to do better. A former nervous introvert himself, he’s here to share his proven techniques for coming out of your shell and stepping into a more successful version of yourself.Enjoy this in-depth lesson from Molinsky, and check out his best-selling book Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge, and Build Confidence. Plus, enjoy our free bonus gift to you: a special pocket guide from Molinsky on the questions you can ask yourself to shake free of the comfort zone once and for all. Take the first step towards the next you! Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksAndy Molinsky on Twitterwww.andymolinsky.comReach: Hardcover on AmazonDownload his FREE e-books:10 Cultural Codes From Around the World10 Powerful Questions For Stepping Outside Your Comfort ZoneThe post MBA876 Guest Teacher Andy Molinsky – How to Successfully Reach Outside Your Comfort Zone appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Facebook ads: are they worth it? That’s a question many an entrepreneur asks themselves. Fortunately, we’ve got some insight. We’ve spent the last year running targeted ads on Facebook for our software, WebinarNinja. We’ve seen what the costs- both stated and hidden- are. We’ve seen what kind of effort it takes to make a successful campaign. And we’ve seen exactly how effective it is, provided it’s done right.The major misunderstanding about Facebook ads is that they’re just something you create once, and let Facebook do the rest. Unfortunately, there’s much more to it than that. A “set it and forget it” attitude won’t get you much by way of conversions! That’s why we’ve detailed exactly what needs to go into a successful, long-term Facebook ad campaign. We’ll help you do the math on cost, skills and personnel needed. We’ll show you how to do everything you need to get the best ROI from The Social Network.There’s more to advertising on Facebook than many people are willing to discuss. There’s a lot in this episode that you won’t hear anywhere else. Before you pull the trigger, give this one a good listen. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFacebook AdsThe post MBA875 Lessons Learned After a Year of Facebook Ads appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What’s the most visited page on your website, after the homepage? Check your analytics, and odds are it’s your “About” section. So many entrepreneurs mistakenly undervalue this page, saving all the thought and pizzaz for the rest of the site. While it’s often an afterthought, the About Page is actually one of your best opportunities to turn visitors into customers. That’s because of the way modern consumers think.Today’s customers look beyond the brand. In fact, they look beyond the product! In the Information Age, people don’t just insist on knowing how the sausage is made— they want to know who made it. A clear, personal, fun About Page is the best way to convince visitors to do business with you. It’s your “interview” with the public. And it’s your best shot at converting traffic to results. Today we discuss how to build the best About Page, with detailed advice on the layout, features, and goals thereof. Show ‘em who you are— Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksWistiaThe post MBA874 Optimizing Your About Page appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For most products (especially the digital kind), you want a demo video. Actually, you need one. Nothing helps sales more than showing your customers what a product does and how it works. Whether it’s a course, a service, or a software, your visitors need the reassurance. Buying a product you can’t touch is one thing. Buying a product you can’t see— or don’t understand— just isn’t appealing.It all comes down to the education theory of sales. You can’t just tell your customers why your product is good for them. You’ve got to teach them. You’ve got to demonstrate how your product works, not just that your product works. Like onboarding after the sale, a good demonstration makes the customer comfortable and familiar with the product. It makes them confident enough to buy it, and competent enough to use it!This episode offers a step-by-step tutorial in how to film professional quality demo videos. We discuss how to script it, how to shoot it, even what tech we recommend for the best possible result. There’s a lot to know, so let’s get started— Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Linksaudio-technica 2100QuickTimeCamtasiaYouTubeWistiaVimeoSennheiser ME 66The post MBA873 How to Shoot a Demo Video appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What’s the difference between hard work and success? Leverage! Many people work hard— heck, most people do. But for hard work to become true and lasting profit requires an extra ingredient. It requires an efficiency of effort that maximizes the impact of every second you spend. It requires an approach to business that isn’t just big-picture; it’s HUGE picture! On this episode of the podcast, we’ve got a special expert on hand to tell us all about it: ScienceofSuccess founder and Forbes 30 Under 30 recipient Matt Bodnar.Bodnar knows a thing or two about leverage. He’s studied the success of everyone from Rockefeller to Gates, looking for patterns of thought and behavior that are universal keys to success. His “High Leverage Thinking” model centers on the relationship between time and the creation of value. By focusing on bedrock decision-making skills and effective delegation, you can make yourself successful in any industry, no matter how it or the overall economy changes. By studying foundational principles of not just business, but reality itself, you can create the conditions for success in any context. Learn how it works— Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFollow Matt Bodnar on TwitterThe Science of Success4 Steps to Making Better DecisionsThe post MBA872 Guest Teacher Matt Bodnar- High Leverage Thinking appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Do you dream of travel? Many who go into business for themselves do so partially to be free to see more of the world. But what if travel isn’t just the end to your business’ means? What if travel itself can help your business? That’s what we believe, and that’s what we’re discussing today. Getting out of your comfort zone and exposing yourself to new places, cultures, and ideas isn’t just good for the soul. It’s good for business! No matter what kind of business you run, what you can learn abroad is invaluable to your growth as an entrepreneur.It’s never been as true as it is now. Today’s economy is a global one, more interconnected than ever before. Selling abroad, finding talent abroad, and having access to foreign markets is the leg up every entrepreneur should seek. The bigger your world is, the more of it you can do business with. We’ll show you how to travel like an entrepreneur. Learn how to see the world, and apply your experience to your work. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksQ&A Weekends: Is it really possible to build and run a business while traveling long term?Can You Really Set Your Business on Auto-Pilot?The post MBA871 How Travel Can Improve Your Business appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Beyond marketing and sales, beyond projections and accounting, even beyond innovation and creativity, there’s a skill. One skill makes an entrepreneur successful no matter their background or training: problem solving. What makes or breaks a business is whether or not it solves a consumer problem. What makes or breaks a business person is whether or not they create that solution— and solve all the other little problems along the way. If you like solving problems, entrepreneurship is for you no matter what else you’re capable of.What matters is the problem-solving mindset. While many see problems as obstacles to avoid, entrepreneurs see them as challenges to enjoy. By gaining fulfillment from problem-solving, you become the kind of person for whom nothing seems impossible. That’s the mindset that breeds innovation, risk-taking, and an understanding of what consumers want. Whether you’re trying to solve huge problems or little ones, sales is nothing more than money being traded for solutions. Hear how to approach business the problem-solver’s way. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksAirtaskerWebinarNinjaMBA667 Must Read: Elon Musk by Ashlee VanceMBA765 Must Read: Shoe Dog by Phil KnightMBA807 Must Read: Total Recall by Arnold SchwarzeneggerThe post MBA870 The One Skill Every Entrepreneur Must Have appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How many times are you hitting “snooze?” If you’re tired of being tired, or just wondering if your sleep schedule is holding you back, this is the podcast for you! With so much advice and so many schools of thought on sleep, how do you decide when to set the alarm for? What sleep schedule can maximize productivity and make your waking hours count? Is success the result of a “sleep when I’m dead” attitude, or holistic and healthy time management?We’ve studied the sleeping habits of some of the most successful entrepreneurs on Earth, from the most well-rested pillow-cuddlers to the drowsiest dark-circled go-getters. Different approaches work for different people, so what’s right for you? We’ve got a system for finding out. With a little experimentation, you can identify the best sleep pattern for your body and mind, one that’ll leave you sharp, fresh, and rested enough to chase your dreams. Pun intended! Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA869 The Surprising Truth About Sleep & Success appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Done right, partnerships and affiliations can add an incredible boost to your product launches. By tying yourself to a whole new audience, you can sell exponentially more! So how should you choose your partners? More importantly, how can you make sure they choose you? Today, we lay out our exact strategy for bringing partners on board and forging alliances in which everyone wins. It’s systematic, relatively simple, and takes the pressure off of your potential partners so that “yes” seems like the only answer!This is the exact strategy we’re using to establish launch partnerships for the upcoming debut of WebinarNinja 5.0. The philosophy behind it is simple: while we do want something from our potential partners, we don’t approach them with a request. We approach them with an offer, emphasizing how the relationship will benefit them. Crucially, we also create partnership “packages” of marketing materials, so our partners have very little to do. Hear all about our system, apply it to your business, and take your next launch to the next level. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA868 How to Approach Launch Partners & Affiliates appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Surprise! This week we’ve got a special bonus episode featuring a special guest teacher! It’s Steve Glaveski, founder of collectivecampus.us and host of the Future Squared Podcast. If you’re running a business-to-business business, you know how hard it can be to land the big clients. Glaveski has secured deals with huge corporate partners— despite his own firm being a feisty little independent operation of only 6 people. Today, he’s stopping by to teach our listeners how it’s done.By identifying the right people and learning how to approach them, you can do what Glaveski does best: cut through the corporate red tape. Ingratiating yourself to decision makers, making the case for your product, and starting a lengthy and lucrative relationship with a major business is possible. You can navigate the layers of corporate structure and stand out from other applicants, and you can do it as an independent entrepreneur. Find out how, plus get a special free downloadable bonus! Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksDownload a free bonus bundle for Steve’s new book atwww.theinnovationmanagershandbook.comFollow Steve Glaveski on Twitter!Steve’s websites:Collective CampusFuture² Podcastwww.steveglaveski.comMentions:SupahandsHubSpotFollowUp.ccLinkedInRocketReachBuzzSumoGoogle AlertsThe post Bonus: Guest Teacher Steve Glaveski – Selling to Big Corporates appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Customer service isn’t just support for users of your product. It’s part of the product! The price should represent not only what’s sold, but also what your customers know will happen when they need to reach out. Ensuring that customer service is done right means (eventually) hiring people who can do it. How can you best build that team? When should you start? How can you ensure that the people in charge of keeping your customers happy will do so?Today we discuss the process by which we built our customer support team, starting with our first hire. We detail the exact procedures, tools, and resources available. From finding the right people, to training and integrating them into your business culture, to finally entrusting them with the autonomy that frees you up to do other things, we’ve got a process that works. We’ll tell you when to do it, how to do it, and why customer service is so integral to entrepreneurial success. Build a team you can trust! Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksSlackGoogle FormsFreelancerUpworkOnlineJobs.phRelevant Episodes:How to Filter for Superstars When HiringThe First 3 Positions You Should Hire For as a SolopreneurQ&A Weekends: What is the cost of your content manager & how did you find/hire Cyndi?How to Hire Your First ManagerThe post MBA867 Building a Customer Support Team appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Go big! When a large project is looming, how can you prepare yourself to tackle it? With so much to be done, how can you create a feasible timetable? Today, we’re outlining exactly how to plot and execute long-term projects. Our biggest project ever, WebinarNinja 5.0, is launching soon. This project was over a year in the making, so we thought we’d share the exact strategy we used to stay focused, motivated, and on task over the long haul.In a way, it’s easier to accomplish something when you have less time! That’s because you can see the endgame from where you are. But when the end of the tunnel is far, far away, you’ve got to strategize. You’ve got to think abstractly. Most of all, you’ve got to be at your most goal-oriented and consistent. It can be done! Our specific, step-by-step, actionable plan is applicable to any long-term goal in any kind of business. Tune in, learn how it’s done, and take on your next big project with confidence. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA866 How To Stay Focused with Large Projects appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Have a great business idea, but afraid there’s too much competition? Well, we’ve got great news: there’s no such thing! Contrary to popular belief, it’s actually easier to compete in a crowded marketplace than it is to be first. Creating demand for a kind of product that doesn’t exist is an uphill battle, to say the least. Having a customer base that’s already seeking solutions— that’s an advantage!Today, we discuss how businesses have earned incredible success by “niching down.” They didn’t have to invent the wheel. They just had to make a wheel that an underserved segment of the market needed! Rather than looking for the golden product idea, they did something smarter: found out what was missing from the existing options. We discuss how to identify that need, and how to position your business as the solution. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA865 Starting a Business in a Crowded Marketplace appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There are tough decisions, and then there are tough decisions. In business, difficult choices are almost run-of-the-mill. They have to be made every day by someone who can handle the mantle of responsibility. But every once in a while, the entrepreneur is faced with the kind of decision that’s far tougher. It’s worse than simply having to choose the best option— it’s having to choose the least horrible one!What’s tough isn’t just deciding which way to go; it’s having to decide at all. We were faced with a decision like that recently regarding our software company, WebinarNinja. Choosing the lesser of two evils was no walk in the park. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to share it publicly on the show! In the end, this podcast is about helping our listeners learn from our experience. As tough as this decision was, it taught us something— and we think it can teach you something too. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA864 The Tough Thing About Tough Decisions appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Habits create a business person, for better or worse. Your habits, however subtle and unconscious they might be, define your chances of success! I learned that lesson the hard way after realizing that some of my habits were holding my businesses back. It was tough to acknowledge, but once I did, the results were astounding. Today, I discuss four very common habits that hurt my chances the most. Breaking them wasn’t easy, but doing so was well worth the effort.Habits are like muscles. The more they’re used, the stronger they become— and that’s doubly true for the habits you want to kick! Getting out of these four habits will, over time, help you and your business reach their fullest potential. The effect is cumulative. It takes time. But realizing that you are your own greatest obstacle can do more for your business than you might realize. Find out if you can break free from any of these four business-killing behaviors. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA863 4 Habits I Had to Kick To Succeed appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Every new business owner has doubts. That’s healthy! If you’re in that crucial first year or two, it’s important to be brutally honest with yourself in order to make sure you’re on track to succeed. Are you really making it? How can you best answer that question? What needs to be analyzed in order to get the most accurate picture of where your business is headed?Today, we’re talking about the one thing — that’s right, one thing— that determines whether your business makes it or not. Beyond marketing, beyond product design, beyond advertising, there is one thing that separates the ones that sink from the ones that swim: profitability. No matter how innovative the product (or not), no matter how brilliant the marketing (or not), profitability is what matters.We discuss how to assess your profitability, what resources can help you do so accurately, and what to do if the picture the numbers paint looks ugly. Get ready to do the math— it just might save your business. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksBaremetricsXeroIntercomThe post MBA862 How To Know Your Business is Failing appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If there’s one topic our listeners want to know more about, it’s marketing. You could have the best product in the world, but without marketing, you don’t have a business. In fact, the ideal marketing strategy is in place before the product is! That’s the lesson we’re teaching in today’s deep-dive tutorial: our proven marketing strategy for any business. If it sounds too good to be true…it’s not! This strategy takes work and some outside-the-box thinking to be effective.Our marketing strategy is based on what comes from the customer, not the business. It’s reactive. It’s engaged. It requires putting the time and effort into building a genuine relationship with your audience. The insight you gain from that goes into the product. The trust you earn goes into your branding. The result is a personalized, responsive kind of marketing that creates long-term loyalty, not just individual sales.If you’re ready to revamp your marketing approach, click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksSpotifySurveyGizmoThe post MBA861 A Marketing Strategy That Works & How To Do It appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to Part 2 of our very, very in-depth lesson on (re) launching your products! We want you to master the art of the launch, because it’s a skill you’ll need over and over again. With our formula, launching can become second nature. With a little practice, each and every new iteration of your product will be a fresh beginning for you and your independent business.In our first episode, we covered the first phase of the launch: the pre-pre launch, where most of the work is done. In this episode, we cover the rest: the pre-launch, the launch itself, and the post-launch. This is where we execute all of the careful preparation that went into Phase 1 and turn the launch into a true event. We build buzz, offer incentives, and pull in new clientele. After, we use the momentum of the launch to propel the business straight into the future!This is the exact formula we’re using to launch our new software, WebinarNinja 5.0. We’re also including a special bonus— The Complete Product Launch Guide, a special companion to these lessons. Make sure you’ve listened to Part 1 in its entirety, and click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksDownload The Complete Product Launch Guide here.The post MBA860 How to Re-Launch a Product P2 appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Get the most from your time! John Lee Dumas is a productivity expert, having taught countless entrepreneurs how to get things done through EOFire, The Freedom Journal, Podcaster’s Paradise, and his newest release: The Mastery Journal. Today, he’s here to give us a breakdown of the fundamental concepts behind the Mastery Journal, and help us reach peak productivity. With the right planning, execution, and reflection, we can all make hay while the sun shines.Dumas lays out the core principles behind his approach to productivity, including the best methods for plotting your schedule. For Dumas, it’s not about how much work you do. It’s about how effective your work is. Strategic breaks, tips on prioritization, and anti-distraction tactics abound in this fantastic bonus episode. Do right by your business— click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFollow JLD on Twitter!THE MASTERY JOURNALMaster productivity, discipline and focus in 100 days!GET THE FIRST 30 DAYS FREE!Mentions:Rich Dad Poor DadThe post Bonus: Guest Teacher John Lee Dumas – Master Productivity, Discipline & Focus appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You’ve validated the idea. You’ve built the business. You’ve launched the product. Now comes possibly the most important part of all: RE-launching the product! Every successful business has to master the art of the relaunch (just look at how many iPhones have come out in the last few years). While initial launches are the most discussed— and maybe the most worried about— the relaunch tends to take a back seat. This super in-depth 2 part episode aims to fix that.While the first launch of an MVP (minimum viable product) is a foundational step and proof of your overall concept, relaunching is what allows your business to truly move forward! Your ability to innovate, to be responsive to customers, and to stay relevant are all on display. In this podcast, we show you how to build the buzz, stoke new levels of excitement in your established customer base, and attract new business. We offer a specific, step-by-actual-step formula for the ideal relaunch— the same process we’ll be using ourselves for the debut of our own software update, WebinarNinja 5.0! Step one: Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksSurveyGizmoActiveCampaignConvertKitMailChimpLeadDynoDownload The Complete Product Launch Guide here.The post MBA859 How to Re-Launch a Product P1 appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.