Tropical MBA: Entrepreneurship & Founder Lifestyle

Dan and Ian are together again at the infamous Badladz Resort in Puerto Galera, Philippines. This week they are joined by special guest Tim Conley from Foolish Adventure who will be working with the first group of folks here for the TMBA Start-up Summer project. Stay tuned in the next couple weeks for updates about these guys, their projects, and our Start-up Summer. This week they got a question from Shayna at EspressoEnglish.net: I run a website that teaches English as a Second Language, and I feel like I’m competing with the zillions of pages all over the internet. I’m having trouble pricing my products for a global audience and trying to compete with all the free sites out there. The most important thing about competing with free products when you’ve got something quality to offer is that you will always be fighting downhill when you do that. No one wants to fight downhill…you usually fall. Instead fight uphill and you’ll find it much easier

It is a sad day in the LBP world. After a year of pool parties, long nights of discussion and brainstorming on the deck, and countless DCers and LBP listeners visiting and crashing on our couches, the time has come to say good-bye to our Bali House (aka TMBA HQ). It’s been good times on the good old Jl Drupadi in Seminyak. We’re not giving up the compound dream, though. In fact, it’s getting bigger. And Dan & Ian are on the lookout for a resort or 10+ private room compound to turn into TMBA HQ 2.0 for the upcoming year. If you have any leads let us know! This week, after yet another 5-Star iTunes review showers the LBP with love, Dan & Ian decided it was high time to start sharing some of the secrets that has enabled them to become six-figure full-time income bloggers (much to Ian’s mixed elation and dismay). None of this is new stuff – but it will help you to be more effective with content. What’s the most important private label secret? It’s about Social Media and SEO.

This week Dan and Ian are dreaming of Ferraris. A slight departure from their regular dreams of Porsches and BMW’s. Ian might even by considering taking up a bartending job to bootstrap his new ride. Maybe he can get a gig working a portable bar somewhere? Mostly they are planning the shenanigans set to transpire when they are both on the same continent (in the same place even!) later this month at Badladz Resort in the Philippines. In this episode Dan & Ian once again get such a humdinger of a question that it’s a full serving of meat & potatoes to chat about! Dave (who is dreaming big in Japan asks: I’ve toyed with “make money online” stuff for a while, but now I realise that I haven’t been serious. I want to get serious. So: given resources of basically zero dollars, and 25 hours a week to spare, what ideas would you suggest to start earning $500-1000 a month asap and go from there. I’m not looking for a blueprint or a sure thing, but some lateral thinking or just your perspective. Well Dave, better than a blueprint we’ll give you and our listeners a full checklist for lateral thinking.

This week Dan and Ian are acting like expatriot snitches, unleashing an Offshoring 101 course onto the listeners of the LBP community. Blasting through conversation ranging from why you should and shouldn’t incorporate your business in the US to Earned Income Exclusions & FBAR’s and all the juicy details in between, including some important things they’ve learned along the way, the guys are getting into some serious business discussion. This episode is definitely one to pull out the pen & paper/Evernote for!

Dan goes back to his roots tearing up Vietnam while Ian gets multi-cultural by voice-overing one of the funniest Italian accents in iTunes podcasting history. This week the guys got an email from an eager and ambitious listener, Skyler: I’m extremely passionate about entrepreneurship, however, I’ve found that it can be hard to find the right opportunities. So while I have the passion, I don’t think I have the necessary skills or experience at this point. One of my goals is to work for you guys at some point, so I just wanted to find out if there’s any one skill that I should try to develop over the next year or two? The guys chewed on the question for a couple days. What are they looking for in employees and contractors? What skill is any entrepreneur looking for in employees and contractors? At the end of all that thinking (and a bit of a Vietnamese food coma) they found 5 skillsets that will be vital to anyone looking to hustle their way to a life of freedom and opportunity.

Yeah Buddy! Another week and another chance to talk biznass is always a good combo. Once again Ian and Dan are talking marriage in business, discussing partnerships and what matters and what doesn’t in the listener questions. Thankfully Dan doesn’t nag Ian on his greasy oil change habits. Much. With all the questions coming in and advice going out here at LBP, Ian and Dan realized that may of the questions fall into 4 general categories.

Coming off the euphoric high of 100th Episode bliss, Dan and Ian settled in this week to get back to business making money…for others. That’s right, they’re kicking around some angel investment ideas that would end with a qualified start-up getting some runway to make their lifestyle business dream a reality. Is an angel investment accelerator worth the time, resource, and money effort or should they just stop pansying around and make some real investments? In the Meat & Potatoes, Dan takes to the interview seat to chat with Matt Paulson, who has saved the LBP from a fate worse than death – Site Server Error. When Matt isn’t swooping in like a boss to save Dan and Ian, he’s running a web content company that focuses on various consumer and financial websites and newsletters. Matt has managed to build a devoted following that constantly increases with new readers and customers by NOT focusing on his SERP and SEO strategies. Instead, he thinks Outside the Index and uses unorthodox content oriented strategies to continue to build and grow. Some of his best Outside the Index strategies include:  YouTube and Google image content  Content Writers vs. Scraping Content  Content Generating Sites like Bing and Yahoo Finance  News Search Engines (Not Your Average SERP)

Seems like only yesterday Dan was calling Ian from a noisy cafe in the Philippines to do up another episode of the Lifestyle Business Podcast. Oh wait. That was yesterday! If sports teams have throwback uniforms, consider this special 100th Episode of the Lifestyle Business Podcast a throwback episode, complete with some of our favorite music, quotes, and outtakes from the past 1000 Days of broadcasting this podcast. In this episode, Dan and Ian get a little nostalgic. Remembering the times they’ve had here at LBP, remembering the times that they were away. Most importantly they are digging deep to share the things that worked for them, the things they’ve screwed up, and their hopes for the future of the biznass and LBP. So what are the Bunches of Stuff Dan & Ian Have Screwed Up In The Past 1000 Days? In no particular order…  Perspective on What It Really Takes To Get Momentum  One Thing: Shit Takes Forever  Location is EVERYTHING and Location is Nothing (Same Goes For Money)  You Don’t Need A VA (Gasp?! From the Original Outsourcing To The Philippines Guy?!)  They Would Have Paid Themselves More  Invest In A Good Tax and Money Guy Not to get too sentimental…but the LBP wouldn’t be hitting 100 Episodes without the balla support of our listeners. You guys make it fun to show up every week and talk freedom and opportunity for 20-30 minutes. Thanks for being so awesome! What are the plans for the upcoming 1000 Days/100 Episodes?  Found a Disruptive Business  Help 1000 Entrepreneurs Make A Switch To Running Their Own Business  Help our Dynamite Circle Members Create an Extra $10K in Annual Income  LEARN. IMPROVE. PLATFORM.

This week I decided to get back to my roots, fire up my dorky headset, and do another Tropical Talk Radio (iTunes link). Today we ask the question: do you think it’s likely that you’ll have $1,000,000 in your personal bank account in 5 years? You might be surprised by the way some young entrepreneurs answer the question. I was first introduced to my guests Tim and Nick by my friend Sean Ogle, and since that time I’ve enjoyed following what they are up to in China (I’m also proud to call them DCers!). These guys talk about doing business in China, and accelerating your entrepreneurial career by making the jump to Asia. I like the metaphor Tim and Nick use: “lose the [corporate] ladder, take the elevator.” One of the most useful pieces of small business advice I’ve ever heard is: “9 out of 10 small businesses track with market.” I believe the same principle can apply to your life and career. A rising tide lifts all boats

Less than 72 hours after we launched The Tropical MBA program exclusively to members of Dynamite Circle and then our pre-sale listeners, we have already SOLD OUT these first two sessions. Thanks so much – blown away, humbled, and excited as hell barely begin to scrape the surface of how we feel about that! This week Dan & Ian get a little Starsky & Hutch, bringing 70’s yacht rock back in style with Bad Company’s “Shooting Star” as they look at what makes a person or business so successful you watch them burst across the sky like a shooting star, lighting up the night.

All this thinking has led to a higher-than-average consumption of wine and Bintang, a lot of power naps, Ian taking up hot yoga, and some epic brainstorming. Why are some ridiculous people successful? Why do otherwise brilliant ideas fail? Can you really source an entire business set-up buying gigs on Fiverr? The key, as outlined by Steven Pressfield in The Art of War, is resistance. Resistance is rarely obvious in it’s inception and even harder to identify once you are fully entrenched. That’s why it’s so important to keep an eye out for these 8 Lesser Recognized Forms Of The Resistance: Anything that prevents you from having the best product Being smart Rationalizing your job Doing SEO, tech, specialization that you aren’t specialized in Having people sign NDA’s Going to conferences to learn critical information Getting your friends to partner up Hiring interns, VA’s, and other employees without knowing what’s what?

Who knew portable bars could be such a successful pursuit? Dan and Ian did, of course. And that’s where their time has been lately. Freestyling their content a bit this week, they take to their inboxes to answer some listener questions and discuss business strategy. Dishing out the free content for all the hustlers out there, ’cause it ain’t where you’ve been but where you’re about to go. Like a boss.

Things are exciting in the TMBA / LBP world as Ian and Dan work to put together a unique experience for 10 aspiring entrepreneurs. Start-Up August isn’t just some make money quick conference – if they wanted to do that there’d be a lot more hugging and Dan would bring his guitar to strum out some Kum-Ba-Yah ditties. Instead, this will be an intense three month mastermind process culminating in a two-week all expense paid experience at a resort in the Philippines. You know, that place that Dan and Ian have been gallivanting around for the past month playing in mud-carts and sipping wine on the deck overlooking the ocean. (They’re so classy…) Start-Up August will hit on 4 Key Points To Getting Your Biz Off The Ground:  Don’t Unnecessarily Spend Money (Philippines is one of the top baselining spots in the world)  Have an Amazing Support Network. (DC, in-person, 10 start-ups take on the world)  Clear Action Plan (Something you can excel at– we can help you, hold your feet to the fire)  Work Your Ass Off (The 2-week experience offers a controlled environment, teamwork, healthy food, exercise, etc) Still in the planning stages, the guys are looking for input and feedback on the program.

With Ian back stateside and Dan back in Bali, the guys have said goodbye (for now) to their time in the Philippines and are back to biznass. This week, they are chatting about the re-launch of their lifestyle business site, Tropical Work Force. During their time chatting up colleagues and friends in the Philippines, they learned that many entrepreneurs were interested in hiring “interns” of their own to grow their businesses and share their knowledge with. Having been through this process ten times now, Dan & Ian have quite a bit of experience helping people become location independent while working to grow their companies. Some of the experience is great and some…well…let’s just say they learned a lot. Overall, they came up with 5 Tips To A Successful Internship Paid Vs. Unpaid – Put your money where your intern is Get a commitment – Make the gig full-time Give them space – Create opportunities for them to network and meet your peers (Apartment, Join you in your house, Dynamite Circle forums) Ride ’em hard – These folks aren’t your average employee, challenge them and believe you have something to offer Touch base – No one likes to be micromanaged, but you need to have open communication with your interns

Even though Dan & Ian’s travel adventures in the Philippines are winding down for now, they’ll be back. The folks they’ve been able to hang out with the past few weeks are straight ballin’, entrepreneurs and business owners with at least six figures kicking around in an account or five. Whether they’re hobnobbing with the Vice President of the Philippines or dirt biking through the jungle, they’ve been absorbing all the advice these guys have to offer. It isn’t all yachts and big payout investments though. In this episode learn the 6 Financial Secrets that Dan & Ian have gathered from their conversations and observations. Things like:  How To Handle Your Mindset Like a Poker Player  Avoiding Itchy Feet and “I Finally Have Money” Euphoria  Having a Solid Fall Back Position  Supply, Demand, and Running Out of Stock  What Should You Borrow Against?  Dinari, Florida Swampland, and Other “No-Fail” Investments

What good is a location independent lifestyle business if you can’t enjoy it? Dan & Ian join us from the beach at Badladz Resort in Puerto Galera where they have been adventuring around the shooting range, playing with go-carts on the back roads, cutting deals and hustlin’ connections like a boss, and relaxing/karaokeing with friends in various cities across the Philippines. Taking a break from pounding the pavement, this week they’re talking about the most important entrepreneurial skillset one can possess. It isn’t a degree or marketing plan or venture capitalist in your back pocket. It’s all in your head. We’re talking mindset. Set against the lull of ocean waves and sea breeze, Dan & Ian break the entrepreneurial mindset down into 4 Basic Points: Don’t work with assholes How to handle “free work” Success time frames Johnny vs. Jeffie – A tale of two approaches to entrepreneurship and advice

Like the ballers that they are, Dan and Ian recorded this week’s podcast from the ballroom of the hotel they are staying at in Cebu City as they travel around SE Asia visiting with LBP listeners and members of the Dynamite Circle. With the popularity of their recent podcast which answered listener questions (and their overflowing in-boxes asking more questions) they decided to hunker down and discuss some answers. This was all after they nommed a killer gourmet cheese plate in the business lounge at the airport!

Ian landed in Bali last Saturday and it’s been all-biznass-all-the-time as we make the most out of his time here. No one should be surprised that they were able to do all their prep at Starbucks before. Good Chai, Ian? ;) This week Dan and Ian discuss two of the most misunderstood words in business:Hustler and Entrepreneur Listen to this episode and learn about: Entrepreneurs Writing Scripts, Hustlers Executing Scripts. Self Confidence vs.Product Confidence. Ego / Money Focus vs. Product / Customer Focus. Self Employed vs. Building Something Bigger. Short Term vs. Long Term Thinking. Some of Dan & Ian’s upcoming Dreamlines?  Pay for personal assistants– sports massage therapist, business coach, nutritionist, personal assistnat. doctors and dentists.  Get a book contract.  Summit about hyper-internationalization and micro-multinationals with some of the world’s premier location independent entrepreneurs.  Lead investments in disruptive platform style companies in our industries. 150+ spare, IE angel investor.  Concretely help 100 people make the lifestyle transition and a significant portion of the DC make 10K.  Business class on every flight. (how can we hack this???)

Ian managed to pick himself up from a nasty spin-out on the racetrack this week to join Dan as they reveal their most recent product launch and discuss the strategy that they used to find the niche and then dominate it. Additionally, with listener questions pouring in they take the time to chat about some real problems people have experienced and how they might be able to get back on track. Listen to this episode and learn about:  Picking up some contract work to bankroll savings and pay down debt – is it a good path to entrepreneurship?  Avoiding self-sabotage, inaction, and disbelief while building your lifestyle business.  How to use online email marketing services and which are best for some slightly shady deals Also in this episode, Dan and Ian disclose for the FIRST time on Lifestyle Business Podcast one of their product businesses: Portable Bar Company. Using the Rip, Pivot, and Jam method they were able to find a niche, apply known business practices, and rock out a successful product line.  Rip – Identify if others in the niche are making money from it  Pivot – Bring it to a new market / new approach  Jam – Crash the boards with 100% energy This is also how they have built the private blog network that will be available for a limited number of subscribers starting next week (email Dan for more information and pricing)

Dan and Ian invited the guys from AdSense Flippers on the show to chat entrepreneur to entrepreneur (to entrepreneur to entrepreneur!) about what it’s like to start a podcast, hire employees, and provide constructive criticism or feedback. Then they get into it and talk about the realities of business partnerships and what it’s like to build a life together. Listen to this episode and learn about: The high caliber of aspiring location independent interns and freelancers Why a business partnership can be so similar to a marriage Planning out your financial and life goals when you have someone else to consider Letting certain ships sail and still maintaining fundamental respect The critical junctures when your workflow should and should not overlap Why it is important to imagine the eventual successes as well as evaluating the day-to-day of your operation Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

Taking to the masses, Dan and Ian take a few questions from listeners on a broad range of topics vital to anyone looking to start, grow or expand their business. Listen to this episode and learn about: A closer look at micro-publishing and blogging with some convo about standing desks (Question from Justin Treptow of CubeSapien.com) The dirty little truth behind the 4-Hour Workweek and start-ups Whether to incorporate and some of the possible implications (Question from Jim Johnson of AccentHelp.com) How to get referrals and then act on them (Question from Ryan of SanAntonioSEO.com) Graduating college with a boatload of student loan debt and making career decisions with that in mind Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

After waxing a little philosophic about education and career prospects, Dan and Ian dig into the things that no one ever taught them in any business class or course. Listen to this episode and learn about: Real risks involved in cash profit and how it flows like water The Art of Entrepreneurship and how not to go crazy in your niche A simple mathematic formula for getting the most out of your networking efforts The value you add to your business and your role in that value Universal truths about public opinion Make sure to listen thru to the end for the one GMail hack that changed Dan’s life Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

After taking a Christmas break, Dan and Ian got together to discuss 4 online business trends that you shouldn’t miss in 2012. Listen to this episode and learn about: How small businesses can benefit from tax saving strategies that have been reserved to the big players until recently. Amazing opportunities to grow your business by hiring in 2012. The secret weapon that revolutionized Dan and Ian’s business. Why you should get onto the micropublishing bandwagon. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

This week, Dan, Ian and special guest Matt Kowalak talk about how you can get started sourcing products from China. Matt has been living in China for almost a decade and specializes on sourcing. Listen to this podcast and learn: Why so many people are getting into selling physical products (instead of information) How to get started with sourcing products from China How to avoid getting ripped off Where to find manufacturers … and much more. Tip: Make sure to scroll down further to read some more advice from Matt after listening to the podcast. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

This week, Dan and Ian talk about how you can get started living the “Four Hour Workweek”-dream and make money from anywhere in the world. Listen to this podcast and learn: How to get started with your “Four Hour Workweek”-business How millionaires deal with their personal finances Why you should quit your job … and much more. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

DISCLAIMER: We do not have appropriate qualifications to be handing out medical advice. Consult with your doctor before you take any supplements or drugs. Please don’t take our advice as anything more than a random person’s opinion. It is intended for your entertainment purposes only. Hopefully this sort of content will inspire you to explore ways to improve your health. Today Ian and I sat down with the SEO expert and body hacker Travis Jamison of SupremacySEO to discuss smart drugs and supplement stacks for brain and body optimization. Travis owns a supplement company and has experimented extensively with a broad range of vitamins, minerals, and other drugs. We’ve long been interested in smart drugs and dietary supplements, but have found that taking the first steps to be extraordinarily confusing. In this episode, Ian and I try to get the best “first steps” for people interested in body and brain optimization through the use of supplements, nootropics, and drugs.

This week, Dan and Ian talk about some news items and replay one of their most popular classic episodes. Listen to this weeks episode to learn of: A new project that Dan and Ian launched this week. An amazing TropicalMBA-style internship opportunity. One of Dan and Ian’s biggest business failures (it ended them costing $6k and Ian wasted one month in China because of it). Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

So Ian (the CEOh-yeah!) and I sat down tonight to talk about a bunch of stuff, but ended up instead telling the story of the Tropical MBA internships and how we plan to scale it through our new [UPDATE (1/2015): now retired] job site, TropicalWorkForce.com. The purpose of the TWF is to connect location independent entrepreneurs with freelancers providing services or aspiring digital nomades. Right now there are a lot of services posted on there– all services are pre-qualified by yours truly. I know these people, so we aren’t dealing with complete strangers here. Our hope is to inspire our fellow location independent entrepreneurs to post about 1 internship opportunity a week– that would be about 50 next year. If we can’t meet that goal, I think Ian and I can help pad that stats by offering our own internship opportunities! We’ll also be posting our internships at TWF going forward. If you have any questions about the site, or suggestions as to how we can make it better, I’d love to hear your thoughts! Speaking of awesome– Tropical Talk Radio has been featured on iTunes and has already received 10 5-star reviews. I really appreciate you taking the time to review the show and help us grow our listenership! Ian and I love doing the show, and getting great reviews from you guys (plus critical suggestions via email!) keeps us motivated and pumped up to do the show.

This week, Dan and Ian interview Tim Conley from the Foolish Adventure Podcast. Tim has been an internet entrepreneur for many years and focuses on information publishing and consulting. Listen to this episode and learn: How Tim got 7000 unique visitors on the day that he launched Foolish Adventure. Why more product launches fail than you think Why blogging and podcasting are still good businesses to get into, even though there are millions of competitors. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

Today I pulled Simon and Travis together to talk about some mindset issues. We were having an conversation for a few hours about our businesses, backstories, and relationships and… man I wish I would have had the tape running for that… anyway, I finally pulled out the mic and asked the guys to try and bring out some of key advice and concrete tips they have for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Another episode where we let it all hang out. Underdeveloped theories about sex and marriage? Check. F-bomb ladened rants about software start-ups? Check. Talking shit about people we shouldn’t be talking shit about? Check. Join us @ the TMBA compound for our Saturday night sit down where we talk about cash runway and a HUGE problem we see with tons of entrepreneurs who are creating web-based start-ups.

This week, Dan and Ian interview SEO expert Travis Jamison from SupremacySEO.com. Travis isn’t your typical SEO consultant. He developed a product in a highly competitive niche (health) and had to figure out how to rank #1 for his keywords. Travis accomplished his goal and outranked health companies and government websites using grey hat SEO tactics. Listen to this episode and learn: Why you won’t read about the best SEO tactics out there on blogs like SEOMoz. How to use a grey hat blog network to increase your rankings. The most important part in ranking #1 in the post Google Panda world. Travis also shares his favorite SEO tools in the quick tips section. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

Today I sat down with TMBA #6 Aamir Chishtie to discuss his affiliate marketing success story. Without a doubt, affiliate marketing is one of the best ways to make a living while you travel the world. Problem? 99% of people fail. Aamir is one of the few who have cracked the code. In this episode, I do my best to pull out the absolute best, no-bullshit resources on how to generate online affiliate income. Listen in and let us know your thoughts!

Today Ian and I braved some of Indonesia’s craziest roads to find ourselves a treat from home– American coffee! We fired up our new Blue Yetti mic to share some war stories from a million dollar year in our business, waxed philosophic about the magic of being an expat, and shared some critical strategies for our business in 2012.

This week’s episode features Rob Walling from Software by Rob and Startups for the Rest of Us. Rob runs several online niche businesses (mostly software). Dan and Ian are huge fans of Rob and are super excited about having Rob on the show. Listen to this episode and learn: How you can speed-up your (entrepreneurial) learning by years Rob’s favorite books An exciting new SEO tool for bloggers and e-commerce store owners – get more traffic with little effort In the quick-tips you’ll learn of a Mac software tip, Ian’s favorite headphones, the best mic for audio recording and a plane-travel hack. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

***Please note this episode is extremely explicit and potentially offensive. The F-bomb is prominently featured. If you don’t like ignorant dudes shooting from the hip, I say man, don’t bother. In this episode of TTR we also get a little negative, which is something we wouldn’t do on the Lifestyle Business Podcast. The LBP is focused on being useful for entrepreneurs. Tropical Talk Radio is more about being fun, and being real. Hopefully we can entertain and inspire for a certain subset of twisted entrepreneurial brethren.

Last night I sat down with Ian, Travis, and Simon before we went out on the town to discuss some cutting edge SEO techniques that are working for some highly competitive key terms (all a bit naughty, of course!). We also got an inside look on how Simon created his ecommerce store from scratch in less than a year, and how he is out-maneuvering the big guys with some clever tactics

This episode is primarily focused on tax strategies for Americans. My friends David and Carrie McKeegan were kind enough to host a pool party the other day, so I decided to bring along my mic to learn a little bit more about expat tax tricks. They run a very successful expat tax consultancy called GreenbackTaxServices.com. It’s a fantastic example of a scalable “micro-multiational” lifestyle business. It’s enabled David and Carrie to travel as the please and live in some amazing places. David said something that caught my attention the other day. He said if you are an American traveler or an expat, the single most profound financial decision you can make is to qualify for the earned income exclusion. His caveat was “if you make under 500,000K annually in personal income.” That’s, ahem, most of us…

Dan and Ian got together to talk about some grey hat SEO, internet marketing and business tricks. Topics discussed include How to get media/magazine mentions for your products. How to make Search Engines believe that your sites are being updated regularly (this is important for rankings). How to get more people to open e-mail blasts you send them. How (manufactured) drama can create a buzz around your product. And much more. In the quick-tips you’ll learn of a tool that makes you a better writer and how to make your audio sound better. This Sunday the price of DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs will go up forever. Join today and get locked in at the low price-level for life. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

It’s no secret that Ian and I love podcasting. Our heros are people like Howard Stern and Adam Carolla. Their shows (and many other radio programs) helped keep us company while we worked long hours at crappy jobs, and they continue to keep us laughing while we take long plane flights or just a walk around the block. Over the past few years, our podcast has attracted an audience of high calibre entrepreneurs and professionals. Each episode is downloaded by thousands of individuals (or iTunes clients). So far we’ve created 79 episodes, and received an insane 87 5-star reviews on iTunes. YEAH BUDDY!!! Tropical Talk Radio Should Be in iTunes This Week So why create a new podcast? For a long time now, Ian and I have wanted to produce more shows. We have a lot more to share than 10 to 20 minutes of talk a week. Building businesses is our whole life. This isn’t just a hobby! We thought about putting out more informal shows at the LBP feed, but were hesitant to mess with the integrity of that show. It’s got a solid format, loyal fans, and a strong focus on highly actionable, useful business information. With Tropical Talk Radio we’d like to explore a format that allows us to share some more personal thoughts about life, travel, business, and anything else that is on our mind. We’d also like to share more of our experiences as they happen on the ground. We have interesting conversations with amazing people everyday. Why not start turning on the recorder? Our goal here is to create a show that focuses a more on entertainment, inspiration, and narrative. It’ll be more about having a good time. Basically, we don’t want to have to live up to the standards we’ve set for ourselves! I’d also like to warn you, this new podcast will contain very explicit language and content, and will likely reveal facets of our personalties that aren’t as universally palatable. I’m sure we come off as total d-bags to plenty of people– that’s fine, we aren’t going to edit ourselves on this show. Please listen at your own discretion.

This week’s episode features a very special guest: Sebastian Marshall. Dan, Ian and Sebastian talk about how to hack performance and get more shit done. Topics discussed include Time tracking and how it works. Diet optimisation. Neural enhancer supplements. Putting a dolar value on your time. The equal odds theory (or: why Einstein was more successful than the average scientist) In the quick-tips section, Dan and Ian talk about caffeine and an excellent productivity blog. Do you want to take your business to the next level? Learn from other successful entrepreneurs and check out DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

This week, Dan and Ian talk about what they would do if they were to start from scratch in 2011. The answer might surprise you. Dan and Ian also ask a bunch of listener questions, including How to increase your chances of success when applying for a job (or the Tropical MBA)? How to be persistent? What should I do if I have no time and ressources to start a business? In the quick-tips section, Dan and Ian talk about the latest iOS version and their favorite iPhone apps. Do you want to take your business to the next level? Learn from other successful entrepreneurs and check out DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

This week, Dan sat down with DCers Joe and Justin from AdsenseFlippers (one of Dan’s favorite blogs) to talk BIZNASS. These guys have a ton of hard-won business experience, an incredible story, and a scalable, repeatable business model that you can quickly draw lessons and inspiration from. WE LOVE THIS BLOG. These guys are 100% legit, quality business guys with a great lifestyle biz. Go subscribe now, you won’t be disappointed. Do you want to take your business to the next level? Learn from other successful entrepreneurs and check out DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

This week, Dan and Ian are joined by a special guest: Brendan Tully from the Search Engine Shop (Dynamite Circle member, SEO, e-commerce and conversion optimization specialist). Brendan, Dan and Ian discuss the concept of Critical Non-Essentials (CNEs). CNEs are small changes that you can make to your business that bring huge results. The results that CNEs bring are super effective – changing a couple of small things could account for 99% of your improvements (thus 99/1 principle – forget the 80/20 principle). This Episode is features 8 useful CNEs that you can implement immediately, no matter if you run a consulting, e-commerce, software or more traditional business. Do you want to take your business to the next level? Learn from other successful entrepreneurs and check out DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

Are you interested in content businesses? Dan and Ian certainly are and plan to focus more heavily on web properties like blogs and niche communities in the future. In this episode Dan and Ian talk about 4 ways to monetize an existing content site starting today. If you don’t already have a site, you’ll get inspiration and information on what kind of projects you should tackle next. They don’t just talk theory, Dan and Ian also announce their latest content site (which is not related to lifestyle/business) to the world. Other topics discussed are the new Tropical MBA internship #9, Bali and an iPhone game that Ian is addicted to. Do you want to take your business to the next level? Check out DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

In this week’s episode, Dan and Ian talk about common small business myths. Learning about big, successful companies can be inspiring, but many entrepreneurs make the mistake of trying to copy their ways of doing business. The fact is that a company like Apple or Nike approaches marketing (and all other parts of running a business) entirely different than you should run your business. Listen to this episode to learn of the three most harmful myths. In the quick tips section radio DJ Dan Lyons gives podcasting advice. Furthermore, Ian recommends a podcast interview with “4 hour”-guru Tim Ferriss. Do you want to take your business to the next level? Check out DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

This week, Dan and Ian answer a bunch of listener questions. Topics include An in depth discussion on hiring (including: how to delegate, how to find cheap talent, …) Trade show hacks that Dan and Ian use (hustling involved) How Dan and Ian first got started when they founded their business 4 years ago The quick tips section features Rob Walling’s (from Startups For the Rest of Us) top 3 sticky apps of 2011. We just launched DynamiteCircle, our community for entrepreneurs. Check it out. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

In this episode, Dan and Ian unveil their private community for entrepreneurs, DynamiteCircle. The “meat and potatoes” section features an interview with Sean Ogle who is launching his product Location Rebel. Check out Location Rebel if you want to quit your job and make the leap into location independence. Sean and Dan discuss 5 mindsets that will break or make your entrepreneurial ventures. They also discuss how Sean ended up becoming one of the top lifestyle design bloggers. In the quick tips section you’ll learn how Dan got 200 new subscribers to his RSS-feed overnight. We just launched DynamiteCircle, our forum for entrepreneurs. Check it out. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

In this episode, Dan and Ian talk about 9 tough truths about running or starting your business that bloggers won’t tell you about. Starting a business requires a lot of sweat, tears and sacrifices. You’ll feel lost or depressed every once in a while. You’ll have to stay at home while your friends go out and have expensive cocktails. Friends and family won’t understand or support what you’re doing. This episode is dedicated to these less glamourous parts of entrepreneurship. Dan and Ian also share their top 3 tips for people who are getting started with their business. In the quick tips section Dan and Ian talk about some of their favorite software and a really funny video. If you want to support the show, check out our first 50 episodes on sale. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)

After the successful sale of OutsourceToThePhilippines.com (and making more than $200 per post), Dan an Ian discuss content/blogging strategies. While they often make fun of blogging, providing high quality content to the right niche can be very lucrative. In this episode, you’ll learn how to identify a profitable niche how to come up with content one content strategy that caters loyal readers and long-tail search terms alike and a lot more In the quick tips section Dan and Ian recommend one of their favorite business books. There’s also a heads up for US citizens about an important upcoming IRS deadline. If you want to support the show, check out our first 50 episodes on sale. Have fun. Leave a comment. Give us a ring. 888-554-8428. Go make it happen! :)