The $100 MBA Show

So much to see and do, so little time. We’re on week 7 of our map-hopping adventure, finding out just what it takes to build a business while seeing the world. If you’ve ever dreamed of working independently and remotely, this is the series for you! We’re reporting from the front lines of location independence, sharing all the ups, downs, and surprising realities of working while traveling. With 2...

Go global! We’ve hit the road to learn how seeing the world while growing a business can work. But traveling isn’t the only upside to doing business in a web-connected world. Our ability to market to the whole planet— not just our corner of it— is what gives the 21st century entrepreneur so much freedom. If you’re serious about making your own way in business, one of the smartest things you can do...

Ah, Venice. We’re floating through the canal-strewn dreamscape of Northern Italy, soaking in the culture and beauty of this bucket-list destination. But it’s not all gondolas and gelato; we’re running an independent business— and we’re here to find out just what it takes to do so while seeing the world. Welcome to week 5 of our 8-week working-while-traveling experiment! In our first 4 episodes, we...

What can the best Italian meal of your life teach you about running a business? How can the warmth of a Sicilian barista inform your customer service philosophy? How much can you grow as an entrepreneur by consciously, thoughtfully enjoying the world beyond your borders? We’re finding out in this week’s podcast. It’s week 4 or our 8-week trek across the globe, and we’ve got another incredible in-d...

Fasten your seatbelts, and return your seats and tray tables to the upright position! We’re crossing the globe to find out if it’s really possible to build a business while seeing the world. If location independence is on your list of entrepreneurial dreams, this is the podcast for you! Today’s deep-dive business lesson is Part 3 in our 8-part series on working while traveling. We’re hitting 15 ci...

Can it be done? We’re continuing our great experiment with the ultimate entrepreneurial dream: working while seeing the world. We’re building towards one of the biggest project launches of our lives (the release of our webinar software, WebinarNinja 5.0 ), but that’s not stopping us from touring our way across Europe and the USA before heading home to sunny Sydney— and we’re taking you along for t...

Travel while working. Make money while seeing the world. Grab your laptop and hit the beach. We’ve all been tempted by The Dream. But is truly mobile entrepreneurship possible? Can you run— and grow — a business from the road? Here at The $100 MBA, we’re all about the possible. We’re also all about travel. So we packed up, strapped in, and set off for an experiment in location independence ahead o...

So you’ve missed a deadline. Whether you missed it yourself, someone on your team missed it, or your whole team collectively missed it, missed it is. Spoiler alert: this is going to happen. It shouldn’t happen regularly, but when it does, it’s important to know how to handle it. What matters isn’t that you and/or your team dropped the ball. What matters is how you pick it up. Missed deadlines can...

There’s a new obsession in entrepreneurial circles, and it’s time we looked at it with a critical eye. Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) seem to be all the rage, as independent business people look to protect their new ideas with the legal equivalent of the Great Wall of China. But are they really necessary? More importantly, are they worth the cost and effort? Whether your idea needs protecting— an...

Few people love their work the way entrepreneurs do. So why do we have trouble discussing it? Most of us can pitch, but how many of us can simply talk about what we do in a way that’s concise and understandable? How many of us can describe our business in a way that shows how excited— and how competent— we truly are? If you can’t articulate your mission in layman’s terms, you haven’t thought about...

The comfort zone: we all have one, but not all of us manage to leave it. If you’re in business, it’s not just healthy to evolve beyond what you’re used to. It’s necessary! Your products, your skills, your work ethic; all of these things matter. But none of them add up to success if you’re trapped inside a stagnating version of yourself. Why does getting out of our comfort zone matter so much? Why...

Facebook ads: are they worth it? That’s a question many an entrepreneur asks themselves. Fortunately, we’ve got some insight. We’ve spent the last year running targeted ads on Facebook for our software, WebinarNinja. We’ve seen what the costs- both stated and hidden- are. We’ve seen what kind of effort it takes to make a successful campaign. And we’ve seen exactly how effective it is, provided it’...

What’s the most visited page on your website, after the homepage? Check your analytics, and odds are it’s your “About” section. So many entrepreneurs mistakenly undervalue this page, saving all the thought and pizzaz for the rest of the site. While it’s often an afterthought, the About Page is actually one of your best opportunities to turn visitors into customers. That’s because of the way modern...

For most products (especially the digital kind), you want a demo video. Actually, you need one. Nothing helps sales more than showing your customers what a product does and how it works. Whether it’s a course, a service, or a software, your visitors need the reassurance. Buying a product you can’t touch is one thing. Buying a product you can’t see— or don’t understand— just isn’t appealing. It all...

What’s the difference between hard work and success? Leverage! Many people work hard— heck, most people do. But for hard work to become true and lasting profit requires an extra ingredient. It requires an efficiency of effort that maximizes the impact of every second you spend. It requires an approach to business that isn’t just big-picture; it’s HUGE picture! On this episode of the podcast, we’ve...

Do you dream of travel? Many who go into business for themselves do so partially to be free to see more of the world. But what if travel isn’t just the end to your business’ means? What if travel itself can help your business? That’s what we believe, and that’s what we’re discussing today. Getting out of your comfort zone and exposing yourself to new places, cultures, and ideas isn’t just good for...

Beyond marketing and sales, beyond projections and accounting, even beyond innovation and creativity, there’s a skill. One skill makes an entrepreneur successful no matter their background or training: problem solving. What makes or breaks a business is whether or not it solves a consumer problem. What makes or breaks a business person is whether or not they create that solution— and solve all the...

How many times are you hitting “snooze?” If you’re tired of being tired, or just wondering if your sleep schedule is holding you back, this is the podcast for you! With so much advice and so many schools of thought on sleep, how do you decide when to set the alarm for? What sleep schedule can maximize productivity and make your waking hours count? Is success the result of a “sleep when I’m dead” a...

Done right, partnerships and affiliations can add an incredible boost to your product launches. By tying yourself to a whole new audience, you can sell exponentially more! So how should you choose your partners? More importantly, how can you make sure they choose you? Today, we lay out our exact strategy for bringing partners on board and forging alliances in which everyone wins. It’s systematic,...

Surprise! This week we’ve got a special bonus episode featuring a special guest teacher! It’s Steve Glaveski, founder of collectivecampus.us and host of the Future Squared Podcast. If you’re running a business-to-business business, you know how hard it can be to land the big clients. Glaveski has secured deals with huge corporate partners— despite his own firm being a feisty little independent ope...

Customer service isn’t just support for users of your product. It’s part of the product! The price should represent not only what’s sold, but also what your customers know will happen when they need to reach out. Ensuring that customer service is done right means (eventually) hiring people who can do it. How can you best build that team? When should you start? How can you ensure that the people in...

Go big! When a large project is looming, how can you prepare yourself to tackle it? With so much to be done, how can you create a feasible timetable? Today, we’re outlining exactly how to plot and execute long-term projects. Our biggest project ever, WebinarNinja 5.0 , is launching soon. This project was over a year in the making, so we thought we’d share the exact strategy we used to stay focused...

Have a great business idea, but afraid there’s too much competition? Well, we’ve got great news: there’s no such thing! Contrary to popular belief, it’s actually easier to compete in a crowded marketplace than it is to be first. Creating demand for a kind of product that doesn’t exist is an uphill battle, to say the least. Having a customer base that’s already seeking solutions— that’s an advantag...

There are tough decisions, and then there are tough decisions. In business, difficult choices are almost run-of-the-mill. They have to be made every day by someone who can handle the mantle of responsibility. But every once in a while, the entrepreneur is faced with the kind of decision that’s far tougher. It’s worse than simply having to choose the best option— it’s having to choose the least hor...

Habits create a business person, for better or worse. Your habits, however subtle and unconscious they might be, define your chances of success! I learned that lesson the hard way after realizing that some of my habits were holding my businesses back. It was tough to acknowledge, but once I did, the results were astounding. Today, I discuss four very common habits that hurt my chances the most. Br...