The $100 MBA Show

Who’s ready to smarket? Anyone can create a product. But sales and marketing are complementary, mutually supportive efforts that turn your products into an actual business. Especially at the beginning, crafting a holistic approach that integrates these two systems is the best way to maximize your chances of success. In this two-part series, we focus first on the marketing, and then on the sales. T...

This week’s Q&A Wednesday started with a (much appreciated) compliment. One loyal listener noticed that our little ol’ podcast has grown exponentially since we started it, and wanted to know how we pulled it off. Well, we’re happy to share exactly how we built our audience. Mostly, it has to do with our “content first” approach, prioritizing the quality and value of our show above our marketing ef...

Before you say “No,” hear us out. Personal Assistants aren’t just for the rich and famous. These days, it can be affordable (and well worth the investment) to hire a little help — especially for busy entrepreneurs. As we like to remind everyone, time is the most valuable currency. Your time is like a bank account, from which you can only withdraw. If a personal assistant can give you significantly...

Let’s work on that “To Do” list. Crossing tasks off your list is a good feeling, and not just because it means forward progress for your business. It also means more time for you, for the things that matter, for the life you built your business around. Today, we review a Must-Read book that’s all about maximizing your productivity during work hours. David Allen’s Getting Things Done is a best-sell...

The free trial: it’s an old, effective, tried-and-true way to turn leads into sales. But there’s one aspect of the free trial that business owners can’t seem to agree on. Should you require a credit card, or not? On the one hand, taking credit card info makes the final sale that much easier — and therefore, that much more likely. On the other, asking for credit card info before the prospect is rea...

As your business grows, you can’t do everything yourself. However, there are some things no one else should do for you. In fact, there’s one thing you can never, ever delegate. It’s healthy and necessary to hand off responsibilities as time goes by. Outsourcing, delegating, and otherwise trusting others to help move your business forward is the only sustainable way. But there’s one part of running...

Your website is everything to your business. And like your business, it can’t afford to stagnate. It’s got to change, grow, and evolve in order to stay effective. It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who wants to know exactly how often a business website needs updating. The answer, of course, is complicated. It depends on several factors, from the type of product to the progress of your bu...

Mastermind groups can be a fantastic way to get and give valuable advice, accelerating your growth as an entrepreneur. These small groups of industry peers are more and more common, as entrepreneurs reach out to each other for help, support, and understanding. But not all masterminds are created equal. Our host, Omar, has been a member of several different mastermind groups. Some have been incredi...

Let’s take a step back. Let’s look at marketing differently. A rounded, grounded approach to marketing is a powerful thing. By planning your marketing strategy around certain universal principles, you can maximize its effects. By taking advantage of all the available channels, you can diversify your marketing efforts for much better results. But first, you have to understand what marketing is. Tod...

If you’re not blogging, you’re not marketing. Yesterday , we took a look at how to establish your blogging goals, and how to systematize your writing schedule for maximum effectiveness. Today, we discuss the down-and-dirty technical aspects of starting a blog, from choosing the best platform to leveraging your content into conversions. With the “why” of your blog established, it’s time for your co...

Effective online marketing comes down to one thing above all: content. And while pics and videos are great, the written word is still the most important factor as regards your ultimate reach and SEO. Long story short: you need to blog. Even if you’re no Hemingway, you can create and manage a blog that’ll achieve its most important purpose: building a loyal following of potential customers. Whether...

Here at the $100 MBA, we live by a few unquestionable business truths. One of them is that when it comes to marketing, email. Is. King. When you’re starting your business, one of the most important things you can do is establish a system for email marketing that lets you leverage your content into conversions. That, of course, starts with choosing an email marketing service to use. With so many op...

What does retirement mean to you? If you’ve never tried to answer that question, the time to start thinking about it is now — no matter your age. Retirement doesn’t have to mean lounging in Florida at 65; it can mean anything from reducing your workload, to choosing only passion projects, to “retiring” for a few months at a time between spurts of profit-building. It’s totally up to you. Today, we...

Every day is a new opportunity! Your morning routine can have a huge impact on your long-term success. In fact, a common thread among some of the most successful modern entrepreneurs is a commitment to making the first few hours of the day count. Today, we take a look at a Must-Read book on exactly that topic: The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. We know the author personally, and can vouch for his s...

Is your product ready for launch? How can you know? Spending too much time in the beta phase can hurt your business. Excessive testing and endless tweaking can delay launch of the only product that matters: the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). As we often remind listeners, entrepreneurs who hesitate are truly lost. So how can you balance the need to make your product genuinely viable, without succumb...

Onboarding: it’s not just for customers! Your new team members need to hit the ground running, feeling comfortable and confident from the start. They’ve got to gel with established team members, find their space, and work out the best ways to contribute. The sooner all that happens, the better. To set your new hires up for success, you need more than just a few inspiring slogans and HR-speak. You...

You’re just starting out as an entrepreneur. You know you’ll need versatile skills, but you can’t do everything well. If you’re gonna be a jack of several trades, which skill should you focus on most? Which ability will have the biggest impact on your chances of success? What’s the most important thing you can be good at? Today, we discuss the one skill that applies to everything an independent bu...

Ditch the old-fashioned employee handbook. Today’s dynamic companies have a new approach. Rather than carving company info in stone and handing it down, new entrepreneurs can take a much more creative angle. We recently attended the Running Remote conference in Bali, where the good folks from GitLab treated us to an incredible lesson on establishing your company’s go-to guide. The twist? You don’t...

Want to keep your team happy, productive, motivated, and on point? It’s all about the culture. Today, we’ve got a special guest teacher with years of experience helping businesses build teams that work. Dan Stones knows team culture — what kind of culture gets the best results, how to cultivate it, and how to get everyone on board. He’s here with 5 tips that any business owner (big, small, or in b...

How much does money matter? Where’s the line between realism and materialism? How much of your business’s value can be expressed in dollars and cents? Today, we discuss money’s true worth. As entrepreneurs, we don’t work for pay. We work for a vision, for a lifestyle, for a principle. But undervaluing money is a dangerous trap, one that can snuff out your dreams if you’re too idealistic. You shoul...

A little gift can go a long way. It’s not a bribe. It’s not an act of manipulation. It’s simply an expression of genuine appreciation for someone you’d like to work with. Today, we share how the simple psychology of gift-giving can forge business connections — and relationships — that open doors. When done thoughtfully and sincerely, a token of appreciation can create bonds that matter. It doesn’t...

To get your business rolling, we always advocate for the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). But when it comes to marketing that product, you’ll need another MVP: a Minimum Viable Page on your website! It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who’s ready to make the smart move of building a pre-launch web page for an app. Trouble is, our loyal listener doesn’t have much by way of creatives or even s...

Your business deserves the best. But where do you find it? It starts with redefining “best.” While many employers look for the most talented prospects with the right skill sets, a much more important metric for an employee’s true potential is motivation. As we like to say, you can always teach the skill. You can’t teach the attitude. Today, we discuss how to save yourself time and effort when look...

Sometimes, the best advice comes from unexpected places. Scott Adams is a cartoonist, but anyone who’s read his classic comic strip Dilbert knows he’s an expert in business and corporate culture. A sarcastic, controversial expert, but an expert nonetheless. After repeated recommendations, we finally got around to reading Adams’ 2013 best-seller, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big ....

Your business has a website, promoting your brand and product. But do you need another website, to promote…y’know, you? Many business owners maintain separate websites about themselves, giving potential customers a deeper look into their motivations, outlook, and the bigger context of their businesses. But is this really necessary? Can the choice to market yourself make or break your company? Our...