The $100 MBA Show

Ever Googled your own business? Sure you have.  But what were you trying to accomplish? Today, we’re discussing how to use Google’s search results strategically. No, this isn’t exactly an SEO lesson. But it’s a way to use Google to shape and act on your broader marketing objectives, systematically. What can you learn? And what can you do about it? Those are the questions you should approach Google...

Nothing is guaranteed. But that doesn’t mean we can’t evaluate the viability of a business idea in advance, and give ourselves the best chance of success. But how? It’s like poker: while there are elements you can’t control, knowing the odds and acting strategically are what separates the winners from the rest – all luck aside. So what can we do to survey the landscape in the early stages of start...

This is how we screwed up. Every mistake carries the gift of a lesson. Learning those lessons makes those mistakes valuable — to you, and anyone who can learn from you. To get the most value out of our stumbles, blunders, and fails over the last 12 months, we’re discussing them here – for you! Let’s call them…learnable moments. Most of these cringe-inducers happened because at the time, we weren’t...

Are you stuck at “average?” This week’s Must-Read for entrepreneurs is all about making real change, one little bit at a time. Whether you’re not progressing enough, quickly enough, or at all, it’s time to take action. Because average will only get you so far. The good news is that becoming your absolute best — at whatever you do — isn’t some radical, mind-blowing transformation that happens on to...

Email is still the most important marketing channel you have. But your emails won’t do much for your business if no one is reading them.  Part of getting those open, read, and click rates up is finding the right time for your message to hit the inbox — which isn’t as simple as you might think, despite tons of advice out there about certain days of the week or hours of the day. Spoiler alert: there...

Ready to extend your reach way beyond your daily working hours? If you have a course to sell, there’s a method that can save you a ton of time and energy, all while bringing in passive leads and sales. Automated webinars. Some people call them “evergreen” webinars. Whatever the name, they’re more than just videos. They’re pre-recorded interactive lessons, optimized to generate leads, sales, or bot...

Lifetime memberships can be tricky, especially as your business grows. When something changes, how can you honor your long-standing arrangements without losing money? How can you change the terms of your service without ticking off your earliest supporters? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a coach who’s ready to add significantly more value to their original lifetime package. It’s not what those...

Almost everyone has a cool idea for a business. Almost no one will actually do it. Will you? Today, we’ve got your first step. Do this one thing now, and you’ll be closer to actually starting your business than most of the would-be entrepreneurs who never make it past a great idea. The best part? It doesn’t even have to take long. “Analysis Paralysis” ends today. Take this step before you even cre...

The best product doesn’t win. The product with the best story wins. Narrative is how we learn. More importantly, it’s how we’re convinced. Stories take a lesson, person, or product past the gates of our conscious decision making and into the most impressionable parts of our minds. Ask any great teacher which lessons work best: the ones with facts and stats, or the ones with stories. Today, special...

Forget the dollar, the euro, the pound. The most valuable currency on Earth is time . So let’s get you more of it. Odds are, you’re doing things you don’t have to. These tasks are thieves, robbing you of the  precious resource of time — a resource that can’t be replenished. Your time alive is a bank account from which you can only make withdrawals. When you run a business, it’s easy to lose track...

Current events can produce more than anxiety. In fat, they might just be your secret marketing weapon. “Newsjacking” is a tried-and-true trick in which you tie your marketing to national and global events. Whatever the media’s fixated on, you can leverage it to promote your business– if you’re creative enough. And yes, it’s ok if it’s a (little bit of a) stretch. Today, we’ll review some of the be...

Always, always test the MVP – no matter what you’re selling. If you don’t know, the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the first iteration of a product you can sell. It’s the barest-bones, cheapest-to-produce version of something you can still sell at a profit, to test the market potential of your idea in the real world. And you should always start with one. It’s easy to create an MVP for a service o...

Sometimes, it’s not how you make decisions, but when. When you’re faced with a major choice, with significant stakes on the line, you have to make sure of one thing before you decide. You have to make sure that the context in which you make your decision isn’t putting the kind of pressure on you that distorts your thinking. Sometimes, it’s more important to make the best decision than it is to mak...

Still thinking about starting a business? Stop. This week’s Must-Read book for entrepreneurs is a classic. It’s a short, simple analogy that our intrepid host Omar first got as a gift from an old boss. Who Moved My Cheese? is all about getting out of your head and into the game, whatever your ambitions. It’s just as relevant today as it was when Omar first read it. A parable for the self-starter,...

Marketing only has a few unbreakable rules. One of them is to never overwhelm the prospect with too much information. Confusion is kryptonite for sales. But it can be incredibly hard to know when you’re confusing your audience. That’s because it’s exceedingly difficult for someone on the inside of a business to understand the outsider’s perspective. Unfortunately, all customers are outsiders by de...

What matters most: quality, or fulfillment? What disappoints customers more: failure to deliver on time, or substandard performance? Meeting deadlines and maxing out quality can be opposing goals. Today, we discuss how to balance them. We’ve had this experience in our business, when delivering on a promise meant sacrificing a modicum of…let’s say, idealism. Over time, we’ve learned how to navigate...

We all want to reach our goals. But where do we set them? How do we know which goals are realistic, and which are just setting us up for failure? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who misses goal after goal. Is it because they’re too lofty? If so, how can we avoid setting goals that aren’t lofty enough? If we try to be more realistic, will we aim too low? If we try to be ambitious, will...

At our software company, we pride ourselves on customer support. We differentiate ourselves with it, and always have. It’s kind of our thing. So we weren’t surprised to field several questions about customer support when we attended a recent conference. What many people wanted to know was how many support personnel are really necessary. For new small businesses, it’s an important question.  After...

Company culture isn’t something we always think about. And when we do, it’s often…after-thinking. But it matters. If you don’t intentionally build a culture, that lack of intention becomes your culture. And in a culture like that, there’s no way to get real and lasting buy-in from team members. It’s always about more than just the job and the pay.  It’s about personal fulfillment. Today, special g...

If you haven’t heard of ClickFunnels, you will. The company’s massive conference, Funnel Hacking Live, is like Coachella for marketing nerds. The energy is huge, the excitement is palpable, and the attendees are…devout, to say the least. But is there any substance behind the hype? We saddled up and headed to Nashville to find out. Today, we’ll share 3 deeply important, highly valuable lessons we l...

Keep. It. Simple. The problem entrepreneurs often have with marketing is totally overcomplicating it. Too many channels, too much content, and no idea what’s working and what’s not. It’s time to stop being a jack of all things, and become a master of one…at a time, anyway. But how can you know what to focus on? Today, we discuss how to narrow down your focus, and tackle one marketing effort at a t...

Did you forget to raise your rates again? You’re not the only one. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a business coach who hasn’t raised prices in years. Whether you’re a coach, a freelancer, or selling a product, keeping prices flat for that long is slow suicide!  Unless you run a dollar store, of course. For everyone else, price increases aren’t a matter of debate. You have to raise prices to ref...

Get back in the saddle — even if you never fell out. Sometimes, we put our whole selves into building a business or product, only to watch it bomb. That’s normal. In fact, that’s good. Failure isn’t just a rite of passage in entrepreneurship. It’s a required lesson, and a necessary stepping stone to success. You just have to be willing to go another round. That said, we’ve all heard the old saying...

This week, you’re writing the Must-Read book. We couldn’t resist. After using The Five Minute Journal by Alex Iconn for a while, we just had to recommend it — even if it’s not a “book” per se. It’s an app, or a hardcover analog journal if you prefer, that helps you get focused, grow, and enjoy life a little more. Given the size of the investment (we actually do it in less than 5 minutes each day),...

Facebook groups can go really well, or really badly. They can increase engagement and loyalty, or they can embarrass you. They can drive growth, or they can hurt your reputation in the space. Let’s make sure your next Facebook group moves your business forward, not back. One of the best ways to build a brand is to build a community around it. But simply having a Facebook group won’t do that. There...