The $100 MBA Show

It’s one of the most effective ways to grow your following. But how do you pull it off? Here’s the good news: almost every podcast needs guests — lots of ‘em. Most of the time, your average podcast would be thrilled to have someone who knows their area of expertise and can carry a good conversation. You just have to be that person. Today, we explain how. Using Omar’s personal system, we’ll discuss...

What are your employees worth? What will it take to keep them? It’s a question every founder has to ask themselves, especially once the ball gets rolling. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who’s finally making decent profits — enough to start spreading the wealth to the team that helped make it happen. …but how much is a “good” raise? Today, we’ll explore how to create a raise-giving fo...

If you sell digital products, you need to know about AppSumo. AppSumo is the GroupOn of digital deals aimed at entrepreneurs and other business people. Today, we explain how putting your own offer on AppSumo can boost your business. …in fact, we’re offering our own deal on AppSumo, to help promote our SaaS business. Learn the benefits of creating an AppSumo deal, what missteps to avoid, and how to...

Don’t go for the biggest audience. Go for the right audience. Finding your niche might be the most important early step in creating a business. If you can find the people only you can serve best, you don’t just create sales. You create loyalty. …and best of all, you do an end-run around the competition. Today, special guest teacher Frida Leibowitz shares her strategies for identifying, connecting...

Stress is not a sign of a great work ethic. It’s a liability. It’s crucial not to underestimate the toll stress can take on you and your business. The myth is that we trade our mental health for better business outcomes. But the reality is just the opposite. Today, we discuss the effects of excessive stress — and how to avoid it as an entrepreneur. Stress is limiting, draining, and ultimately coun...

You don’t have to be a developer to develop an online business. These days, “no code” business-building is all the rage. With third-party solutions for everything from creating a website to building an online community to designing an app, your average non-engineer can pretty much do anything…within certain limits. But is it smart? There are advantages to not hiring or relying on real-deal devs. T...

In business, can you get respect without being ruthless? Can you command a team without being commanding? Do entrepreneurs need a mean streak to survive — or even a cold one? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener with a team that basically walks all over them. For some reason, the employees are not showing our listener the respect due to their position as founder. Can a leader change this w...

Ready to create (and keep) more customers? A while back, we started experimenting with something in our SaaS company, WebinarNinja. We authorized team members who have daily contact with leads and customers to offer what we call “salutation offers.” …and it worked like a charm. Today, we explain how this tactic is boosting our revenue, lowering our churn rate, and generally strengthening our busin...

In business, anything can happen — including bad things. You have two choices: be prepared, or be blindsided. Rochelle Clarke is an expert in ensuring business longevity through continuity. She helps businesses plan for the worst, so they can bounce back and keep on keeping on. Think of your business like a car; most of the time, it just runs. But breakdowns happen. Accidents happen. Potholes. Tra...

Not sure what kind of business you want to start? There’s a perfect go-to answer. Service-based businesses are uniquely suited to first-time entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and people with day jobs. Today, we explain why. With a low barrier to entry, limitless growth potential, and more flexibility than any other model, the services game is pitch-perfect for your first (or next) foray into entreprene...

Call it the ultimate productivity hack: blurring the line between the office and the gym. There are so many ways to make progress on your To-Do list while you’re on a treadmill or under a barbell. The kind of repetitive exercises most of us use for conditioning are a perfect opportunity to make headway on any number of tasks — including the tedious ones. Today, Omar shares how he personally kills...

We’re not all salespeople. It comes naturally to some. For others, nothing is more awkward than trying to get someone to buy your thing. But here’s the good news: you really don’t have to “sell” if you don’t want to. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners has a thriving business, ripe for expansion. The only problem? Our listener can’t stand the thought of having to do more selling.  Fortuna...

Ever have doubts about the business you’re in? That’s natural. In fact, it’s healthy. But sometimes, we’re scared to ask ourselves if we chose the wrong path — and to answer that question honestly. Today, Omar shares a single guiding principle he’s learned over decades as an entrepreneur, having founded almost a dozen independent businesses. In all that time, one huge, crucial, clear lesson has co...

Why do you make the decisions you make? How? It’s a huge question, with huge implications for how you run your business. Today, we dive into Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. This book by economist, psychologist, and nobel laureate Kahneman unpacks the mechanics of decision-making — and how to better optimize it. If that sounds a little deep…it is. But it’s entirely practical, and applica...

For entrepreneurs, there’s no way around writing. No matter what you sell, the written word is your primary tool for reaching potential customers. Even if you’re a great speaker or vlogger, writing will still be mostly how you market, sell, and communicate generally — even when you’re writing what you’ll say out loud. So how can you get good at it? Today, we offer a simple 30-day challenge that wi...

Thinking about starting a business? For how long now? Getting honest with ourselves about our motivations — and our fears — might be the most fundamental step toward becoming an entrepreneur. “Am I afraid to do this?” is the first question you have to answer. And you have to answer it truthfully, for better or worse. The alternative? You just keep thinking, to avoid actually doing. It’s true; we p...

Business can get emotional — but you can’t let emotions hurt your business. The ability to navigate strong feelings and prioritize relationships over ego is a must-have skill in entrepreneurship. If networking is key, most of us can’t afford bad blood. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who had a falling out with their former business partner. In the past, they had great success. But the...

Experts agree a recession is on the horizon. Most small businesses will have to keep a closer eye on their budgets, very soon. Which means now is the perfect time to shore up your reserves, and stockpile revenue to weather the coming storm. But how can you get some extra pennies in the piggy bank, quickly and without burning out yourself or your team? Today, we offer 4 ways. Short-term revenue bur...

What kind of leaders do employees love most? According to this week’s Must-Read, the best leader isn’t someone who commands. It’s someone who coaches their people, unleashes their fullest potential, and trusts them to be their best. The Coaching Habit by Michael Stanier is two things at once: a primer on a coaching-based leadership philosophy, and a practical guide to make it happen.  Today, we sh...

Don’t dream about starting a business. Do it! You don’t have to start by quitting your job or borrowing a ton of money. You don’t need the “perfect” product or service idea. You just need time, and practice. Today, we share 5 low-risk, low-investment businesses you can literally (yes, literally) start today. With minimal time, resources, and sweat, you can get the ball rolling on a business that c...

The written word is still the biggest key to your website’s traffic. Fortunately, nailing the words you need to rank on search engines is much easier than it used to be — especially if your site is hosted on WordPress. With the tools available now, even non-professional writers can get help making sure their page copy, blog posts, and other content is hitting the right notes for Google (and even c...

This isn’t the question you think it is. Normally, pricing coaching comes down to a fairly standard formula. You determine how much a client stands to make based on your training, and set your price at about a fraction of that. “For just $XXXX, you can be qualified to charge $XXXXXX!” But what if your potential clients stand to make…nothing from your training? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping...

Risk reversal is a must for most products and services. But inevitably, someone tries to turn a fair shake into a ploy for free stuff — at your expense. So how can you prevent someone from using your free trial offer as a way to get…more than a trial? Today, we share all the ways we make sure that our free trial is used for its intended purpose: to give people a risk-free way to confirm their choi...

Your customers are out there…somewhere. You just have to give them a path to your door.  The art of creating and converting leads takes practice, experimentation, and (of course) a plan. Today’s special guest teacher is an expert at identifying, attracting, and winning over the people who are the best fit for your product or service.  Chloe Thomas is a renowned consultant, speaker, author, and exp...

For a small business trying to build a following, every cent counts. Too much of marketing seems like magic, or hack-based advice that makes empty promises of results if you just do x, y, or z. The reality is much more fluid, and requires you to be very careful with your marketing dollars. Today, we share what we know to be true about marketing fails — based on our own failures. These are the mark...