The $100 MBA Show

This is math we’ve never had to do before.

Trying to stay in the black during a pandemic involves a lot more than simple numbers. Navigating the rules, assessing the risks, and operating with one (or both) hands tied behind our backs can be overwhelming – especially when the rules vary from place to place and time to time.

But we have to make these decisions, one way or another.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener decide whether to reopen with the most recently announced restrictions in place. Is he putting the staff at risk by opening, or starving them by staying closed? 

What’s the “right” thing to do when all our options seem like lesser evils?

We’ll discuss this listener’s specific situation, so you can make decisions about your own business and its variables. Do what’s right for you, your team, and the world – whatever that turns out to be. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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What’s a formal education really worth? Since this is The $100 MBA, you might expect us to say something along the lines of “not much.”

But not necessarily.

There are things you can only get in college. Whether or not you need you need those things depends on your goals, your entrepreneurial vision, and your personal definition of success.

Plus, not being required doesn’t make a thing not beneficial.

The “Do I need a degree?” debate came up during a recent TV interview with our intrepid host, Omar, who tongue-in-cheekily refers to himself as a “business school dropout.” Naturally, he prefers the brass-tacks, real-world business education approach. 

But that doesn’t mean formal education has no role in your journey.

Tune in, hear what you really get out of post-secondary education, and figure out if your path needs to detour in that direction. Or not. Click Play!

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Get on a podcast. Now.

It doesn’t have to be this one. But the value of being heard on a good podcast goes way beyond the exposure and brand awareness you stand to gain. In fact, this week’s special guest teacher might argue that the networking opportunities you get are just as valuable.

Or maybe even more so.

Matt Johnson is a podcast marketing expert who helps other entrepreneurs get on the virtual air. Today, he’ll explain what you need to do in addition to being a great podcast guest, in order to leverage your appearance into potentially game-changing networking wins.

Tune in, and learn the real value of being on a podcast. Discover a few relatively simple steps you can take once you’ve booked yourself to turn every conversation into a huge boost for your business. 

Plus, do so in a way that’s genuine, appreciated, and doesn’t seem all…thirsty. Click Play!

Podcast Pitch Assistant

How to Get Featured

SendOutCards

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Digital or physical, online or brick & mortar, every business needs a few things at the start. 

These are the non-negotiables, the 4 things that every single business can’t really function and thrive without. These are your first investments, literally the cost of doing business when you’re first getting started. This is where to spend your capital!

Get these things covered, and don’t waste money on non-essentials (until you’re profiting).

Today, we’ll list the 4 must-haves, and explain why they’re so fundamentally necessary. We’ll also discuss a few things you don’t need, but that far too many new entrepreneurs waste resources on. 

Invest wisely, and put your business on a firm footing from Day One.

Remember — for small business, debt is rarely your friend. That’s why it’s so important to put profit first. By focusing on the bare essentials early on, you can establish a healthy bottom line to grow from. Click Play!

EasyCourse

Square

SquareSpace

Weebly

Earth Class Mail

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Being stuck in lockdown doesn’t have to stop you from networking. 

Even though we can’t go to conferences and the like, networking is still possible — and it’s still incredibly important. It’s one of the most powerful methods for building your business, one that’s worth an intentional investment of time and effort, pandemics be damned.

So how can you network from home?

Today, we’ll lay out a specific, step-by-step plan for making and nurturing the most important connections. It’s a little something we learned from a friend and fellow podcaster whose networking know-how has been truly game-changing for him, and us.

Don’t let the current situation stop you from building your business. Adjust, adapt, and use our networking plan to make yourself a known quantity in all the right circles. Click Play!

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Price hikes can be scary. Will you turn customers off? Will people feel betrayed or surprised — especially during a global crisis?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got one listener who can’t get his business in the black without some fresh revenue. With no room for paid ads in the budget, and the lockdown depressing business generally, it seems like bumping up prices is the only option.

Or is it?

Today, we’ll discuss a few ways to create revenue that don’t involve price hikes. These revenue-raising strategies might be just the solution you need to get your business through COVID-19. When it’s time to balance the books, there are always options.

That said…

We’ll also discuss how to raise prices, when it’s appropriate to do so. Raising prices doesn’t have to be the end of the world, especially when you have well-served customers whose loyalty you’ve earned. Remember: a small increase doesn’t hit individual customers too hard — but it can make all the difference for you.

Tune in, learn what you can do besides raising prices, and how to raise prices in a way that won’t hurt the good will you’ve built up. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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This year isn’t all bad.

I mean, it’s bad. It’s awful. But if every crisis presents opportunities, the Year of COVID is no exception. Through pandemics, murder hornets, and whatever fate dreams up next, success comes to those who adapt the quickest.

So how can you navigate the new normal in a way that grows your business?

Today, we’ll discuss 4 specific ways you can lean into the new reality, and come out of 2020 stronger than when you went in. Some are easier than others, but all are doable, and all can radically change the game for you and your business.

Meet the crisis head on, adapt, and remember that what you can’t control isn’t the only factor. Click Play!

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Communication is everything when you’re leading a team. So how can you better explain why everyone’s work matters?

With a bicycle.

Rich Allen is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, and consultant whose success in small business has a lot to do with great team management. His bike analogy is the centerpiece of a results-driven approach that lets every employee know where they fit into the bigger picture.

In other words, a bike is more than the sum of its parts – and so is your business.

Today, Rich is here to go into detail about the bike, and how you can use this powerful analogy to get the most from your team. Ditch the “my job” mindset and cultivate what Rich calls “radical engagement.” 

Sometimes, it all starts with a better way of explaining things. Click Play!

Tour de Profit Free Resources

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Digital advertising is suddenly a lot cheaper. But it’s no less confusing.

When you’re deciding how and where to spend your advertising budget, it’s important to have a clear strategy. What are your priorities? One of the first, most fundamental decisions you have to make is to choose between the two super-powerhouses of online ads: Facebook and Google.

You definitely need one or the other, or both. But which one do you need more, right now?

Today, we’ll discuss the advantages and limitations of both options, so you can choose the right one for your next campaign. Neither is “better” inherently — but one is better for your business and its current needs. We’ll discuss how each option reaches people, what objectives each option is best at achieving, and how to decide between them. 

We’ll also outline simple experiments you can conduct to see which option will get you the best results. Now is a great time to buy online ad space — if you have a solid plan. Click Play!

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Just getting started? Here’s what not to do.

So far this year, we’ve seen various businesses make some of the same blunders. The mistakes aren’t just holding people back; they’re a mortal threat to any company trying to get off the ground. These are potentially devastating mistakes that negate all the hard work people put into their independent success.

So let’s do something about it.

Today, we’ll review some of the super-common, super-deadly missteps that plague new businesses. Just as often, they’re positive things we’re neglecting to do, as opposed to active screwups. But the results are the same: time, effort, and resources down the drain.

Tune in, and see if you’re making any of these mistakes. If so, it might just be the change you need to see real progress. Click Play!

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Analysis Paralysis: it’s that frozen feeling you get when there’s so much to do, you can’t do any of it. 

Sometimes, just knowing where to start is the first challenge, and the key that unlocks all your forward progress. When your business has multiple areas in need of help, what’s the priority? What takes precedence when everything seems important?

How can you be sure? 

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who just doesn’t know where to begin. He wants to take action, but for every problem he tackles, others go un-tackled in the meantime. 

Today, we’ll help put it all in order.

There’s a single question you can ask yourself to make a valid decision about what needs your attention most, and soonest. Once you ask it, you won’t only have a place to start, you’ll have the confidence to proceed with less anxiety about everything else —  all of which you’ll get to in due time.

Businesses are many-headed hydras, and entrepreneurship is a never-ending game of problem solving. By embracing the challenge, anyone can look at a laundry list of problems, improvements, and fixes with a calm and proactive approach.

You just have to get started. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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There’s only so much time and money. A bookkeeper can save you tons of both.

Today, we’ll explain exactly what a bookkeeper does, and why one is so vital to your business after a certain point. Different from a full-blown accountant, a bookkeeper helps you handle what no one should tackle solo — that is, once your business reaches a certain volume.

We’ll explain how to recognize that volume, and know when it’s finally time to get help.

Certain metrics will tell you that it’s time to hand the books to an outside pro. If you wait too long, you risk creating a mess that’s harder and more costly to straighten up — like we did. 

As Omar can personally testify, the time and money you save with a bookkeeper is worth much more than you’ll pay for one. Find out what books that need professional keeping look like. Be proactive, and you won’t regret it. Click Play!

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How powerful is video? As a medium, it’s quickly gone from a marketing “maybe” to a “must.”

Video can’t replace written content for every purpose, but used strategically (and created efficiently), a little video can be a huge differentiator. Oli Bridge specializes in using video content in ways you might not have considered — for results that might surprise you.

Today, Oli stops by the podcast to explain his system.

By using video in places most marketers don’t, you can cut through the noise and stand out among the countless others clogging up customers’ inboxes. By using it in a highly personalized way, you can turn regular customers into long-term “superfans” who drive new business.

It works, because science.

Hear Oli explain the psychology behind video’s extraordinary effectiveness. Once you understand the conversion potential, the time and effort required to produce videos (even short ones) will seem like a very wise investment. Click Play!

Bonjoro Video Funnel Playbook

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Entrepreneurship isn’t just about innovation. Sometimes, understanding that which doesn’t change is just as important.

Real long-term success requires a strategy that’s built around a few key principles; eternal truths about your industry that aren’t subject to the whims of the market. No matter what, consumers will always want their food to be tasty, their apps to be user-friendly, their trains to be on time. 

So when you’re trying to come up with that unique “twist” on a product, start with the unchangeables. 

Maybe your product does something in addition to the unchangeables. Maybe it addresses one unchangeable far better than the competition does. What your business does differently is crucial, but what consumers want to stay the same is equally so, and should never be forgotten.

If in the quest for innovation we forget the fundamental, basic needs behind our product category, we set ourselves up to flop. Today, we’ll share examples of those permanent truths, and how successful companies keep them at the heart of their strategies. Click Play!

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Your business needs good reviews. 

These days, people don’t buy a paperclip without seeing how many stars it got on Amazon. We live in the “social proof” era, where consumer opinions carry far, far more weight than any of your marketing or advertising. 

If people can’t find reviews of your product, it creates uncertainty, if not outright suspicion. More importantly, you can’t stop people from voicing their opinions about your product — and statistically, the haters are far more likely to post a review than the lovers.

Fortunately, there’s a way to make sure most of your reviews are positive.

We use a system that harnesses the social proof power of our happiest customers. By encouraging our “evangelists” to spread the word, we ensure that unhappy customers aren’t disproportionately represented, which is exactly what happens if you don’t take a proactive approach.

Tune in, and hear our system for cultivating good word-of-mouth with honest reviews from satisfied customers. Click Play!

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Every business needs a website. But does every business need an “About” page?

Yes.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who’s building their (very) small business website, and wonders whether showcasing his tiny “team” sends the wrong message. Can an About Page backfire, or make visitors take you less seriously?

Not if you do it right.

Today, we’ll discuss the real value of your About Page, and why it’s critical for traffic and SEO. We’ll explain what a good About Page needs, and how to tailor one for smaller businesses – even those run by solopreneurs.

Don’t miss out on the marketing potential of your website’s About Page – no matter how small your company is at the start. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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Ever get annoyed when businesses try to tack on little upsells? 

What if we took a different approach, one that puts added value first and added revenue second? That’s a better way to approach the optional features customers can add to your product – or not.

Today, we’ll explain how to determine what should be the core base of your product, and what should be reserved for add-ons, as well as how to package and sell those add-ons in a way that doesn’t feel scammy.

These aren’t one-time upsells, but permanent or recurring benefits that are genuinely worth the added investment for some, but not all, of your customers.

We’ll discuss the best times and ways to offer add-ons, as well as the difference between add-ons and pricing tiers. Plus, we’ll share some examples of add-ons done right from successful companies. Click Play!

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The book isn’t new, but the review is timely. This is the best guide to running a remote team available, from two guys who helped pioneer and popularize the concept.

Fried and Hansson are the co-founders of Basecamp, the tool we use here at The $100 MBA to coordinate the work of about two dozen employees on four different continents. Their approach can be described as radical, and the pair haven’t always made friends with their committed approach to letting people work from home.

But now might be a good time to revisit their advice.

This book will help you understand how to make remote work work. More importantly, it explains why; whatever happens with COVID-19, many businesses will have the option of not going back to normal…and that can be a really, really good thing.

Learn why remote work isn’t just necessary in a crisis, but preferable all the time. See what pitfalls are common, and how to address them. Start planning your company’s transition to a fully (or partially) remote team long-term. Click Play!

Remote by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Discover all our must-read book reviews at https://100mba.net/bookreviews.

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Our company has always been remote, and we’ve always worked from home. 

With millions suddenly forced to do business from the same building they live in, we figured a little advice on effective home office setup might be helpful. The good news? It’s pretty easy, and not that expensive.

If you’re used to working in a conventional office, you may not be going back to it for a long time — or ever. 

That’s not because COVID-19 won’t be under control; it will be, sooner or later. But the benefits of remote work for employees and employers will remain. Remote work was always an excellent alternative for many businesses; coronavirus just forced many of us to give it a try.

You might not want to go back!

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars for a professional, comfortable, productive home office space. Even if you have to buy a few furnishings and pieces of equipment, a modest investment can create a perfectly efficient space you might actually prefer to your good ol’ cubicle.

Today, we’ll share our best tips for the perfect setup, with loads of specific recommendations (we hope you like IKEA). Remote work can be liberating, especially if you plan the space right. Click Play!

IKEA Micke Desk

IKEA Skarsta Desk

IKEA Linnmon Table

IKEA Kullaberg stool

Asus monitors

Light & Glo Candles

Google Home Mini

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YouTube: ignore it at your peril. 

It’s the world’s second largest search engine, and its content often dominates the results of that other search engine. It’s a powerful marketing channel, as powerful as any blog or social media account.

So how do you get started?

Today, we’ll explain how to get your own YouTube channel up and running with minimal hassle. With step-by-step instructions and loads of online resources, you can claim your space on this increasingly vital platform.

We’ll discuss how to manage realistic expectations, and how “standing out” on this very crowded platform is less important than finding your niche. With a reasonable investment of time and effort, you can reap major traffic from YouTube — even if you’ve never shot a video before.  Click Play!

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Standing out as a writer is tough. 

Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to shoot for the New York Times’ best-seller list. You just have to find your audience, and grow it. But for today’s authors, that begs the question: does Amazon help with that, or hurt?

Or both?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners is a fiction author who’s not sure whether to even build their own website, since Amazon…y’know, exists. After all, most books are sold on Amazon, right? Is it worth the time and effort to build a site that just forwards people to The Everything Store anyway?

Spoiler alert, budding authors: do not rely on Amazon.

We get into the details on today’s episode. We’ll discuss why Amazon is helpful for authors, and the price you pay in return. We’ll explain how important your own website really is, and what you lose by not having one.  We’ll also explain why even if you are selling books on Amazon, your own separate corner of the Internet is still a must..

Plus, we’ll discuss how the difference between physical books and e-books factors into the overall equation.

Amazon is a useful resource for writers and entrepreneurs of all kinds, but that doesn’t mean you should only market and sell there. Find out why, plus learn where to get some affordable help in setting up your own website. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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No matter what you’re selling — product or service, physical or digital — a great video can be a marketing game-changer.

Videos are an efficient way to get attention, get your message across, and nurture leads faster. As content goes, video is almost as important as the written word these days, and will almost certainly keep trending up.

And by the way: it’s ok if you’ve never made a demo video before.

Today, we’ll explain how to craft short, effective, professional demo videos for your product. We’ll go through each step in the process, and take the intimidation factor out of the equation for anyone with something to sell.

We promise it’s easier than you think!

We’ll explain how to plan and execute your video with conversions in mind, and of course we’ll offer recommendations for hardware and software that makes it all a snap.

A good short video can be far-reaching and seriously impactful. Take the time to produce one or two, and you just might make it an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. Start with this lesson. Click Play!

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You’ve heard of B2C and B2B. But H2H is still important, no matter what kind of business you run.

Angela Henderson is a business coach, keynote speaker, and podcaster who helps women business owners from around the world earn consistent 5-figure monthly revenue and multiple 6-figure years… without burning out in the process. Her focus on the human aspect of lead nurturing and customer relationships might sound a little analog, but that’s exactly what makes it effective.

Today, she’s here to help us understand how there’s no substitute for the personal touch.

If you’re looking to stand out in your marketing, and turn customers into lifers, H2H may be the ingredient you haven’t considered. People’s human interactions with your brand can define it in the long term, regardless of everything else you’re doing to grow your business.

In other words, while outsourcing, automation, and staffing are important for efficiency, those tactics have their limits.

Tune in, and let Angela explain why that phone call, that check-in, and all the ways you personally show up can make all the difference – even though you’re busy. Click Play!

Finlee + Me

Angela Henderson Consulting

BuiltWith

NerdyData

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To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

Watch the episodes on YouTube: https://lm.fm/GgRPPHi

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You’ve built a business. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to stop building it.

Seriously.

One trap entrepreneurs fall into is failing to take Marshall Goldsmith’s old advice: “What got you here won’t get you there.” In this case, it means hanging on to responsibilities that shouldn’t be yours anymore — things you handled at the beginning, but only because there was no one else.

In other words, it’s time to let others work so you can lead.

Today, we’ll discuss what tasks you should be handing off to your team. Your role as founder has to be sharply defined, or you’ll end up being sucked into endless day-to-day stuff that keeps your business running, but doesn’t move it forward. 

If you’re not ready to expand your team accordingly, that’s ok too. We’ll discuss alternatives, as well as how to map out a long-term plan for making the right hires. The goal: to have everyone in your company — including you — doing only what they’re best at, not just what needs to be done.

Plus, we’ll offer a few tips on where to turn for even more help, inspiration, and advice for finally, truly taking the lead. Click Play!

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What happens to your company’s Customer Support during holidays? 

More importantly, what happens when it’s a holiday for some of your employees or customers, but not for others? It’s a global economy, and if you run a global business like ours, this becomes an issue. With a couple dozen employees and thousands of customers scattered around 4 different continents, the holidays can be a puzzle..

Fortunately, we like to experiment.

We’ve tried different ways of handling the whole holiday thing over the years. Most recently, we tried a new approach this past Easter. Frankly, we were a little scared to try it. But in the end, we learned something pretty valuable. 

As our team and user base grow, it’s becoming more challenging to accommodate everyone. It’s also becoming more necessary. 

Today, we’ll discuss everything you should consider when plotting out your holiday strategy. By doing a little homework, strategizing, and communicating clearly, you can keep your business functional while respecting everyone’s culture and downtime. 

Customer Support can be your company’s biggest differentiator. Make the effort to get it right, and it will pay off. Click Play!

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If you’re anxious about letting employees go, you are not alone.

Unemployment rates are at absurd levels, as company after company is forced into mass layoffs. Small businesses are no exception. The only difference? Axing team members can hurt more when the team is small.

Timing can make a huge difference. When you let employees go affects how you let them go, and the difference can be life-altering.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who’s considering two options: rounding everyone up and laying them off at once, or staggering the layoffs to keep some people for as long as possible. Both options have their ups and downs. 

But one may be the lesser of two evils.

Tune in, and we’ll discuss the arguments for and against both approaches, and share our recommendation. Learn how to layoff in the most ethical, damage-mitigating way possible — because things will be normal again some day, and how you treated your team during COVID-19 will matter long after the virus is under control. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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Whether you blog or vlog, work in words or graphics, it’s time to turn the content machine up to 11. 

Like, now.

It’s not just a way to pass the time while we’re all cooped up inside. For all the downsides, the current lockdowns aren’t just a way to save lives — they’re a business opportunity no entrepreneur should ignore. You not only have time to create more content; your audience has more time to consume it, engage, and take action.

Of course, you should have a plan.

Today, we’ll discuss how to  create a production schedule that keeps you consisten, and build up your content marketing asset stockpile. We’ll identify 3 reasons it’s so crucial to ramp up content production now, and how the effects of doing so will last long after the pandemic is over. Click Play!

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One of our favorite authors is back with another mindset-altering book we can’t wait to share with you. 

Ryan Holiday’s Stillness Is The Key is required reading for anyone looking to be their best in business and life. No, it’s not a meditation instruction manual. It’s a guide to addressing the overwhelm and anxiety common to running a business, and finding the calm you need to make the right calls.

In other words, anxious minds make anxiety-driven decisions.

This book is profound, but accessible, wide-ranging but practically applicable. Today, we’ll discuss how its lessons can help entrepreneurs and small business owners specifically. 

It’s not about being falsely stoic or emotionless. Rather, it’s about finding an internal stillness that allows you to navigate crazy situations — timely, no? It’s the perfect guide for dealing with the high stakes of independent business, and a sobering reminder of focusing on what truly matters most. Click Play!

Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday

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Cybersecurity has never been more important, as COVID-19 forces more and more business online. As we learned from the Zoom debacle, leaving your business vulnerable can lead to some serious losses, potentially losses you can’t recover from.

Let’s protect your baby.

There are three online “gates” cyberjerks can hack their way through, if you let them. We’ll discuss each way in, and how to properly secure it before nefarious actors have a chance to strike. No matter what kind of business you run, cybercrime can happen to you — and it’s kind of a booming business right now.

In the early days of our business, we learned the importance of cybersecurity the hard way. We’d prefer to pass those lessons on to you before you have a crisis of your own.

The good news? Getting solid security in place isn’t that difficult or time-consuming. By investing a few hours of your life, you can make sure that all your hard work isn’t compromised. Click Play!

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Maybe you were just getting ready to sell when COVID-19 hit. Maybe you’re thinking about getting out because of COVID-19. Either way, it’s a bit of a buyer’s market generally, so selling a business during this crisis must be approached with caution and careful analysis.

So how long should you hold out? How long can you?

Whether your business has been hurt by coronavirus, unaffected by it, or (as is the case in several industries) actually helped by it, do your homework before selling. Today, we’ll discuss what factors to consider, and where to turn for help in making this literally life-altering decision.

Selling your business is a major event in any climate, let alone the completely unprecedented situation we’re in now. Be sure to approach it dispassionately, and get advice you can trust from those who aren’t emotionally invested. It just might save your financial future.  Click Play!

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This corona thing is gonna be with us for a while. The question is: how long is a while?

More importantly, what can you do about it as an entrepreneur or small business owner?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener with a question that’s surely on many, many people’s minds. Trying to plan around this pandemic, with the news and the rules changing by the day (and by location) can be maddening. What plans can we even make that COVID-19 won’t throw a monkey wrench into?

There is a way through this.

Today, we’ll explain how it’s possible to plan when you don’t have all the variables. There are flexible, adaptable strategies that can help you bring in revenue now, but still allow you to go back to normal when…well, when things go back to normal.

Let’s establish what we know, what we don’t know, and decide how best to adapt to social distance for as long as we have to put up with it — however long that is. Click Play!

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Rebranding – is it worth the trouble?

Sometimes, the answer is yes. But we have to stress the key word here: sometimes. Rebranding can be a lengthy, difficult, costly process that only moves your business forward in very specific circumstances. Do your circumstances fit the bill?

Let’s find out.

If you rebrand in the wrong way, or at the wrong time,it can backfire and create a net loss to your business. If your current brand is even remotely well-established, don’t change your name before considering everything that goes into it.

Today, we’ll discuss all the work that goes into an effective rebranding, and the situations where it can be appropriate and effective. What’s in a name? Everything. 

Be careful before you choose to throw a good name away. Click Play!

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Customer service is your difference.

It’s one of the best ways for a small business to stand out from competitors and build a loyal following. You don’t have the marketing and advertising budgets of bigger operations, but you can devote a larger portion of your resources to making sure your customers aren’t just happy — they’re evangelists.

Today, we have an expert who knows exactly how to do that.

Clay Staires is a mindset master and professional inspirer who specializes in creating customer experiences that translate to growth. If anyone understands how to build something from very little, it’s Clay, who went from literal homelessness to entrepreneurial success.

Clay is here to show us how to instill the kind of customer service that can define a brand. With a little intention, you can create an experience for customers that will echo, and bring more business your way.

Tune in, and learn how to get some serious word of mouth going. Click Play!

Clay Staires/Leadership Initiative

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You sold merchandise IRL in a brick & mortar store or public marketplaces. Now you can’t.

There is a way forward.

Today, we’re not just discussing how to start selling your physical goods online. We recognize that this is a business emergency, and you don’t only need a way to do it effectively, or with the right strategies. 

You need a way to do it now.

So this lesson prioritizes speed above all else. Let’s get you online and selling, yesterday.

We’ve got the tips and resources you need to hit the ground running — or if you’ve already hit the ground, to get up, dust yourself off, and start running ASAP. 

With specific online services that make e-commerce easy, even for the unfamiliar, you can build a bridge over the economy’s very troubled waters. In fact, when this is over, you may find that the e-commerce infrastructure you develop now will serve you well, far into the future. Click Play!

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Sometimes, the best way to find your audience is to borrow someone else’s.

Content swapping is a classic, tried-and-true method of growing your brand awareness. It’s so well-established, it doesn’t even feel right calling it a “hack.” But whatever you call it, it works.

Today, we’ll explain how to execute this smart, efficient way to boost your profile with a little help from a friend.

The first step is choosing the company you’ll want to partner with. For some reason, many new entrepreneurs assume this should be a competitor. But as we’ll illustrate with examples from our own business, nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, your ideal collaborator may be in the last industry you’d expect.

This is a tactic we’ve used over and over. We’ve developed some simple SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) and best practices to make sure it goes smoothly. Feel free to use them for your next collaboration. Click Play!

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Not everyone is binging Netflix during this quarantine.

As COVID-19 forces countless people to learn new ways of doing business, some companies and entrepreneurs are suddenly inundated with inquiries, new customers, and…just work. 

How can we handle it all?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener whose plate is too full for comfort. While new business is a blessing — especially in times like these — catastrophic success is a real thing. Can we assure our best work while doing more work than ever?

Today, we’ll discuss how to draw the line between what you can do, and what you can do well.

This advice applies to everything, not just business. From hobbies to vacations to personal improvement, trying to do it all will inevitably hurt you. With some experience from our own business, and some wisdom from abroad, we’ll help you determine how much is too much. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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Online advertising is cheaper than ever. Cost-per-Click is down, and the whole world is moving their business to the web. It’s a very noisy Internet right now.

Should you stand out from the competition by calling out the competition?

Today, we’ll discuss what’s to be gained from taking on your competitors directly. When your marketing and advertising blatantly throws down the gauntlet, what are you risking? Does anyone win a tinkling contest, or is head-on advertising a recipe for conflict?

There are different schools of thought on this.

Let’s explore the practical and ethical factors you should consider before you drop a diss track online. If you do choose to take a swing at someone, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. Click Play!

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As you might be able to tell by the title, this week’s Must-Read is, um…direct.

That’s the best thing about it. Keith Cunningham’s The Road Less Stupid isn’t blunt for blunt’s sake. It strives to be practical, immediately applicable, and just as useful as possible.

Read it, and you can pretty much take action right away.

The general premise? Bad decisions have a massive impact. More massive than you probably realize, even. The domino effect of one bad call will echo through your business and life, so it’s crucial to do whatever it takes to avoid making one.

This isn’t a book about making good decisions. It’s about not making stupid ones.

Cunningham explores a truth that science and business is just starting to understand: that our decisions are not logical. We are not logical. Even when we think we’re being logical, it may just be our emotions deviously posing as logic to fool your frontal lobe.

In other words, maybe don’t trust your gut.

Learn how to step back, get a bird’s-eye view of your business, and proceed with clarity. Set realistic expectations, plan intelligently, and make more logical choices, more often. Click Play!

The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham

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COVID-19 is cratering the economy. But not everyone is losing business. Just ask Netflix, Amazon, or your local takeout place.

Even if your business isn’t naturally quarantine-proof, you can still find a way to thrive. By identifying and partnering with businesses better suited to ride this thing out, you can find a way forward.

There’s always an opportunity somewhere.

Today, we’ll discuss what kinds of businesses are doing better than ever under the cloud of coronavirus, and how your business can intersect with what they’re doing. It may take a little creativity, but by offering your value to someone in a better position, you can both benefit.

Desperate times call for creative measures.

There are no easy solutions in a situation like this. But there will be survivors, there will be beneficiaries, and there will be winners. You just might need a little help from the right partner to see it through. Click Play!

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He’s been stuck in the house for 14 days. At first, it seemed like an inconvenience.

So he turned it into an opportunity.

We just came back from some time abroad. During the COVID-19 crisis, that made things a little awkward when we touched back down at home. By law, our intrepid host Omar wasn’t allowed to leave the house for a full two weeks.

But that couldn’t stop him from finding new ways to reach his audience.

Today, Omar shares the most important lessons he learned from trying something new, even if it was out of necessity (and a little bit of boredom). 

The willingness to experiment is always valuable to an entrepreneur. But you don’t always have the time — until you do.

Learn what a few weeks of sharing his story via Facebook taught your favorite podcast host, and what you can learn by…just adapting. Click Play!

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Price doesn’t matter. Value does.

When it comes to sales, the only thing that a high price changes is the amount of trust you have to build in order to convey the real value of the product. It might take more time or effort, but if the value is there, the sale makes sense.

That’s why webinars are perfect for high-ticket items.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and like many of you, one of our listeners is suddenly forced to do business remotely. While live sales events are this coach’s usual bread and butter, webinars are the next best thing. But will they do the trick?

Boy, is this the right podcast to ask.

Call it a great opportunity to toot our own horn, but if anyone knows how to sell via webinar, it’s us. Webinars are specially positioned to move high-ticket items, because high-ticket items are just “high trust” items.

And trust is a webinar’s biggest advantage.

Tune in, and learn what techniques work best for the highest price tags on a sales webinar. And remember, it’s never about the price. It’s about your ability to gain credibility when you explain the value. Click Play!

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For your business to be stable, your revenue stream needs a minimum level of predictability.

That’s where smart, proactive cashflow management comes in.

As a small business owner or entrepreneur, you have to have a plan for the ups and downs, for all the circumstances outside your control that can affect your business. And the better you utilize the ups, the less damaging the downs will be.

Coronavirus won’t be the last crisis.

Something else will go down, because it always does. The current situation is crazy, but it isn’t unique. The sooner you crazy-proof your business, the better.

Today, we’ll lay out the exact steps you can take to fortify your business against…whatever. With a few simple strategies and a little forward thinking, you can be the one who rides out the next crisis with calm, confidence, and stability.

Remember what the businesses who aren’t broken have in common, besides luck: preparation. Click Play!

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A qualified accountant is a clutch hire, no matter the size of your business.

If a penny saved is a penny earned, a penny well-managed is just as valuable. CPA (Certified Public Accountants) don’t just count beans – they increase the bean count, and make sure the beans you have are creating beans of their own.

But enough about legumes.

If you think you can’t afford an accountant, listen to today’s special guest teacher, Brian Hamilton. When he’s done explaining an accountant’s value (in his…signature style), you might realize how much money you’re losing by not having one.

As the title suggests, it’s about so much more than tax compliance.

While avoiding prison is nice, the power of an accountant to inform, enlighten, and co-strategize is the most undervalued business asset. Tune in to Brian’s lesson, and see what we mean. Click Play!

Brian Hamilton Foundation

Inmates to Entrepreneurs

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Nothing is “just business.” 

Feelings affect everything we do, no matter how calculated or logical we think business is. It’s time to stop trying to separate emotions from business, and instead learn to navigate the emotions around business. 

Pretending our feelings don’t affect our performance or our decisions is delusional. But if we work on being aware of our emotions and their influence, we can make smarter choices and accomplish more.

It’s about recognizing feelings, not denying them.

Today, we’ll discuss how to see your feelings, and work with them in a constructive way. Once you realize how logical your business decisions aren’t, you can learn to work within the feelings you have to find a better headspace in which to do your best work.

If this sounds a little Self Help-y, understand that nothing can separate the emotional from the practical. The sooner we realize that, the better off we’ll be.

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Just before the corona-crisis descended, our intrepid co-founders Omar and Nicole headed to Japan for 10 days of decompression. 

It wasn’t a business trip, just pure travel for the fun of it. But as they explored this new culture for the first time, they couldn’t help but  learn a few things.

Now, it’s time to apply those things to business.

Visiting a surreally different place can break you out of stagnant thinking, and help you see possibilities you hadn’t considered. Japan’s particular approach to life and business is much different from the rest of the world’s – and we all have a thing or two to learn from it.

Omar & Nicole didn’t go to Japan for professional development. But the lessons were too good to ignore.

Today, Omar will share the 5 most profound lessons they took away from the Land of the Rising Sun. Learn what a culture devoted to meticulousness can teach us about running our own lives and businesses more efficiently, effectively, and beautifully. Click Play!

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Let’s tackle the most FAQ about business in the COVID-19 era.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners (actually, make that a ton of our listeners) is suddenly forced to run a team remotely. How the heck do you manage people who are nowhere near you?

We definitely have this one covered.

Our company has always been remote. We currently have about two dozen employees spread across 4 continents, working, collaborating, and succeeding together despite being literally oceans apart. It’s not a hassle — it’s an advantage.

Don’t just cope with switching to remote work. Embrace it!

As more and more teams go remote, we predict that many or most will prefer it. Once people learn to love the autonomy and results-driven approach that works best with remote teams, businesses might never look back — even after coronavirus is under control.

Learn how we manage our team remotely, as we always have. See why the switch to remote work might just be the silver lining your business could use right now. Click Play!

To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.

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You knew this episode was coming.

During the coronavirus pandemic, so many people suddenly have to work from home. When your kitchen table becomes your office, how can you keep from losing your grip? How can you protect your home and personal life —  not to mention your mental wellbeing — from your job?

For many, bringing work into the home can feel like an invasion.

Today’s episode is not about productivity or home office setup (don’t worry, we’ll get to that). It’s about what we believe is the first priority: your health and sanity. Secure that, and worry about your desk later!

Fortunately, we’ve been working from home our entire careers as entrepreneurs.

 It wasn’t the smoothest transition for us at first, but over the years we figured out what works, what doesn’t, and what keeps us from going crazy. The good news? Working from home can be convenient, liberating, and enjoyable – if you do it right. 

Let’s discuss how. Click Play!

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Where does innovation come from? What about the greatest game-changers lets them see opportunities the rest of us miss? What is genius?

Walt Disney is a perfect case study.

Neal Gabler’s Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination is the most detailed, exhaustively researched portrait of Mickey’s creator ever written. It takes a deep dive into the personality that saw things as they were, but imagined what could be — and had the creativity to make it happen.

This book is no PR-friendly fluff piece, though.

The biography also explores the hard part about being naturally innovative: being different, being misunderstood, and struggling to make sense to the people around you. “Who is Walt Disney?” is a question that has as many answers as people who knew him – and they’re not all positive.

In a way Steve Jobs would later bring to mind, Disney changed everything by seeing where things were heading and adapting existing products. But he ability to see through the fog of the present and get a jump on the future isn’t just for “geniuses.” It’s something we can all cultivate.

That starts with studying the ones who did it best. Click Play!

Walt Disney by Neal Gabler

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Virtual assistants can be invaluable – but exactly how valuable are they?

Having a dedicated person to handle administrative tasks online is a massive advantage for small business owners. We’ve used a VA since the early stages of our business, and she’s worth every cent. But just how many cents makes sense, business-wise?

Let’s do the math.

Today, we’ll discuss average rates for VAs from different parts of the world. With an entire globe’s worth of options, the price range can vary wildly – as can the quality. We’ll share some specific resources for finding the best virtual help a reasonable amount of money can buy, and define how much “reasonable” really is.

Maybe you’re paying too much. Maybe you’re not paying enough! High-quality virtual assistants make a huge impact on a business. Ours is a great example. Click Play!

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Professional development is key, no matter what you do.

As a small business owner, how much of your team’s development is your responsibility? How much training, resources, and opportunities should you provide? No matter how big or small the team, it’s a question we all should answer.

You can’t be the only one who continues to learn and grow.

Today, we’ll discuss what happens to employees in the absence of training and professional development, and why it’s so valuable. We’ll explore how much time is worth taking away from everyday tasks in order to improve skills. 

Plus, we’ll offer some creative ideas and resources for training your team, even on a tight budget.

See what the educational world can teach the private sector. Make sure to invest in your team, so your business gets their best work. Click Play!

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