The $100 MBA Show

You can do this. You are doing this. And it’s not a mistake. Impostor syndrome affects almost everyone, but it’s especially vicious among entrepreneurs. Because we’re off the beaten path, making our own decisions and living according to our own ideas, it can be very easy to start doubting ourselves. Without the support of a conventional job structure, it can be hard to believe in our own ability....

No rich parents or angel investors? You can still start a business. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one listener wants to know what kinds of businesses you can start without a dime in funding. Well, we’ve got it down to about $100. With only that much, you can build the foundation of a business that can grow into something big. Yes, it’s possible — if you know how. In fact, we’ve got 5 different ways to s...

Tired? Sluggish? Over it? Here’s the thing about your health: not only is it more important than your business, it’s also crucial to your business. Unhealthy, fatigued, tired entrepreneurs simply don’t have the energy required to get things done. And that means your business suffers. Which raises the question: how can you get in entrepreneuring shape? Well, our intrepid host Omar isn’t a doctor or...

Stress hurts. That’s not a complaint; it’s a fact. Excessive mental and emotional stress — the kind that seems to permeate modern life and business — hurts you, and your business. It diminishes health, and it kills performance. If you are stressed, you are not at your best. Managing stress isn’t a luxury. For entrepreneurs, it’s a responsibility. Tom Cronin knows about stress. He spent years in th...

Let’s talk about the endgame. No, not the vaguely disappointing superhero movie. We mean your ultimate, ultimate goal, your plan for the time period after you’ve made it in business, and are ready to rest on your laurels. We mean the “golden years” of retirement. Assuming you’ve got enough gold, that is. Don’t worry: this isn’t about how much money you need to lay around watching Murder, She Wrote...

Travel: it’s one of the perks of entrepreneurship. But when your accommodations feel less like home and more like hassle, travel can quickly become a chore. Which brings us to a classic question: to AirBnB, or not to AirBnB? The disruptive home-sharing industry has made it so hotels are not your only option. But does that mean a stranger’s apartment is a better choice than a place with room servic...

Think digital marketing is only for digital products? Come on now. Webinars work. We’re not saying that because we run a webinar software company, WebinarNinja (ok, we’re not only saying that because we run a webinar software company, WebinarNinja). We’re saying it because it’s true, and more entrepreneurs need to know.  Unfortunately, too many entrepreneurs assume that certain kinds of marketing...

No, today’s title is not a typo.  It’s a famous quote from marketer Dan Kennedy, whose understanding of value — and how to communicate it — made him one of the most successful copywriters ever. Kennedy understood that price isn’t just a number that represents profit. Price is also a signal, a window into something less concrete, but just as important: value. Every entrepreneur needs to master the...

What’s a great coach worth? Bill Campbell was a legend among legends. From coaching football to coaching the likes of Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos, Campbell’s ability to get the absolute best out of people echoes across business today.  In Trillion Dollar Coach, Campbell’s coach-ees unpack what made his coaching so effective — and how you can get the best from your own team. This is a Must-Read for l...

Spoiler alert. It doesn’t get better — but you do. If you’re an entrepreneur suffering from early-stage burnout, you may be asking yourself if this gets any easier. It’s an understandable question; sometimes, we plug away beyond the point of reason because we believe it’ll be worth it down the road. We work more, and harder, than is arguably healthy, because we want to bask in that end-of-the-tunn...

We are living in the Podcast Era — and smart marketers know it. We recently spoke at the Click Engage Convert digital marketing conference in Melbourne, and couldn’t wait to explain how podcasting changed everything for our business. In fact, our own $100 MBA Show producer gave a talk on exactly how to market via podcast — whether you actually host one or not. You read that right: you don’t have t...

You’ve heard that Facebook ads work. You’ve also heard they can be expensive, time-consuming, and hard to understand. Well, you heard right. But that doesn’t mean you can’t figure Facebook advertising out! It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener tackle The Social Network, however imposing it might seem. Fortunately, we know how to test the waters of a Facebook campaign, and what initial...

Got stage time at a conference? It’s time to perfect your deck. If you’ve ever spoken at a conference, you know that the right slideshow can make all the difference. But too many people think that more is…well, more when it comes to your slides. They don’t realize that the best slides don’t say it all — they simply help you say it better.  Today, we explain how to create efficient, stripped-down s...

Can’t get your business ball rolling? Maybe you need a (virtual) hand. A little help can mean the difference between staying on your current plateau and leveling up. In the early phases of building a business, it might feel premature to make hires. But there are affordable, practical options out there in the wide digital world. Why not take advantage? Remember: time is always more valuable than mo...

Negativity kills businesses (among other things). Negative, unhappy entrepreneurs are rarely successful. Negative, unhappy teams are rarely productive. The downsides to the downside are endless. And too often, we don’t address negativity in our businesses because we don’t see it in the first place.  Today, we discuss the subtle negative influences you might be missing, and how to address them. We’...

Comparison pages cut right to the point, showing why your product is better than the competition’s. But are they always effective? Spoiler alert: no, they’re not.  Unless you know what you’re doing, of course. Today, we discuss what makes a comparison page work, and why. So many small businesses try to use these pages as weapons to demolish the competition, when they should be using them to make t...

You’ve only got so much money to spend on marketing. How do you get the best ROI? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener figure out how to prioritize their marketing needs. Making those marketing dollars work efficiently is a must-have skill for any lean starter-upper, especially when you’re new to the scene. With a little strategy, your marketing results can be way bigger than the sum...

More and more, customer service is key to any business’s sustainability. Things are different now. As business niches down and democratizes, consumers simply expect more: more personal attention, more help, and more results. No matter the product or business, the bar for service is higher than ever before. The fact is, customer service can make or break your business in the long term. Today, we di...

How can you create revenue momentum? If you’re ready to watch your revenue growth snowball, you need to have the right systems in place from Day One. That’s the subject of this week’s very readable, endlessly useful Must-Read book for entrepreneurs. Victor Cheng’s Extreme Revenue Growth is less of a book and more of a manual. It’s also on the short list of the absolute best books we’ve come across...

Good ol’ fashioned print marketing: it still exists, even for digital entrepreneurs like us.  Unfortunately, it hasn’t gotten any cheaper. Anyone who’s ever purchased an ink cartridge knows how ridiculously expensive printing things can be. So what’s an entrepreneur to do when they need banners, flyers, t-shirts, business cards, and everything else? Today, we’ve got 4 specific tricks you can use t...

Never stop learning. Part of being a successful entrepreneur is keeping up on the latest ways to be better at…well, everything. But especially marketing. Of course, there’s a ton of content out there, and roughly eighty bazillion “gurus” with blogs full of advice on how to market. That’s why today, we’re sharing the 5 blogs we ourselves read. They’re so good — so valuable — that even our absurdly...

We keep hearing it’s a global marketplace out there. Unfortunately, not all of the globe has access to the same resources and services that make entrepreneurship possible.  What’s an international business person to do? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who can’t find a payment processor willing to do business with their Nigeria-based company. It’s a sad fact of our “global” business sc...

There’s a ton of competition for you, but you’re ready to play anyway. So how do you win? If you’re diving into a crowded, highly competitive market (think fitness coaching or social media app development), there’s a single fact you have to accept: having a great product isn’t enough . You’ve got to have more than just the best thing to sell. The sooner you learn this, the better.  A fantastic pro...

Every entrepreneur has a toolkit. Adding to that toolkit adds to your potential.  There’s one tool that’s undeniably valuable, and can instantly multiply your reach: speaking another language. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs never think of it. Others don’t pursue it, because they’re afraid it’s too difficult. But without a doubt, learning a language can be huge for you and your business.  Best o...

Netflix…am I right? I mean, they did it. They really did it. Netflix took a perfectly un-disrupted industry (movie rentals) and coolly demolished a corporate behemoth (remember Blockbuster?), seemingly without breaking a sweat. And before you knew it, they pivoted to pioneer an absolutely groundbreaking new way to deliver entertainment. Was it luck? Was it some endless stream of financing? Was it...