The $100 MBA Show

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!SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Are you being served?Most of us use shared servers for our websites, at least at first. Whether you’re on WordPress, SquareSpace, Weebly, or another host, you’re probably sharing server space with a few hundred “roommates.” So when is it time to leave the apartment and buy your own house?Like so many things in business, it depends.It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener decide if it’s time for their very own server. We’ll explain why businesses do this, but more importantly, we’ll discuss when. Depending on certain milestones, it might not be worth it…yet.Plus, we’ll discuss the one downside of using a private server.Learn what you get out of having a private server, and how to tell when it’s time to get yours. Get a sense of what it costs, and why it’s actually a money saver after a certain point. Decide what’s best for one of your business’s most important digital assets. Click Play!To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Does someone need to take the wheel at your website?Stop right there: this is not an episode only for the technologically…disinclined. Your website doesn’t have to be a mess for you to consider an outside expert. In fact, if your business and website are doing great, it might just be the right time.Especially considering how much a good web manager can boost your business.Today, we’ll discuss why you should (or shouldn’t) hire a web manager – regardless of your own technical ability. We’ll explain exactly what to look for in a good web manager, and all the ways one can help you get the most out of your site, and your time.Take a moment to assess the time you’re putting into your website. How much more valuable could that time be to your business? When you understand what a good web manager can do, you might think they’re worth every penny – and then some. Click Play!SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Are you getting the best from your team? If they’re not psychologically safe…probably not.In order to perform to their potential, employees have certain work environmental needs, aligned to commonly understood human needs. If that all sounds a little academic, it’s because we’ve got an eminently qualified guest teacher this week: author, entrepreneur, and Oxford doctor of social sciences Timothy Clark.Don’t worry : this lesson goes way beyond theory.Your team members don’t just need to feel “safe” physically. They need to feel respected, invited to contribute, and perhaps most importantly, free to disagree. If your people won’t challenge you, that’s a failure, of leadership – not a sign of strength.Today, Clark will show you how to assess the psychological safety of your company.Specifically, he’ll help you “score” your business (and your leadership) on the 4 key factors that indicate psychological safety. With this information, you can create confident, creative employees who think for themselves instead of simply doing what they’re told.It’s proven to be one of the single most important factors in team management. Find out how “safe” your team really is. Click Play!LeaderFactorThe 4 Stages of Psychological Safety by Timothy R. ClarkSUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode isn’t about your health.Well, it’s about that, too. But this is a business podcast, and here’s the bottom line: stress doesn’t only hurt your body and mind. It can destroy your business. It can make you think you’re “working hard” when you’re really just working against yourself.De-stressing isn’t a luxury. It’s a strategy.To prove it, we’ll explain how stress has done more than give us sleepless nights. It held us back during a crucial phase in the development of our business. It made us counter-productive, and blinded us to things we should’ve recognized.Ultimately, it cost us money, or at least time.There’s no such thing as stress-free entrepreneurship, but there is a such thing as stress competence for an entrepreneur. We know you’re “tough” enough to endure stress. But we all need to be smart enough to minimize and manage it.Let’s discuss how. Click Play!SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 with. We’ll lay out a step-by-step procedure for Googling, organizing the data, and acting on it. This can be crucial to controlling the narrative around your brand. After all, if you’re not helping to tell your brand’s story, it’ll be left up to everyone else to tell for you.Get a handle on your online reputation. Have a voice in your own business’s story. Click Play!SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 starting a business?It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener find out what variables are predictable, controllable, and worth examining. Whether you’re a little nervous about starting a business, or just want to play it smart, there are steps you can take.Ask the right questions about what you want your business to be, then see if conditions are conducive to that endgame. You might decide to back out before it’s too late – or you might realize you have every reason to be confident. Click Play!To submit your questions, visit 100mba.net/q.SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 mindful enough to see what was happening. By the time we realized, some damage had been done. Now, we’ll describe the warning signs so you can avoid learning the way we did: the hard way.That’s the thing about the really valuable lessons: they’re not just hard to learn. They’re hard to recognize.Of course, these lessons look more obvious in hindsight. But evaluating them now, publicly, will help us see the next big lesson coming — and hopefully, we learn them a little sooner this time. See what you can learn from our helpful misadventures.SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 top of a mountain. According to Tom Connellan’s The 1% Solution for Work and Life, there’s a more realistic, attainable approach.You just have to start taking steps.Tune in, and hear the most valuable takeaways and insights from this short but powerful book. Start making moves, and see what a massive difference a tiny difference can make.The 1% Solution for Work and Life by Tom ConnellanDiscover all our must-read book reviews at https://100mba.net/bookreviews.SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 is no magic day or hour during which emails get universally higher open rates. If there was, your inbox would be hit by roughly 40 gazillion emails every week at that exact time.You have to do a little investigating.We’ve seen companies send at days and times that seem terrible at first glance, but work for the audience in question. Over time, we’ve put in the work to figure out when our contacts are more or less likely to read our messages, and time them accordingly.You can, too. This episode will tell you how.Conduct a few exercises and experiments, just like we did. Get that engagement up, and start turning your ‘mails into sales.SUBSCRIBEYouTube | Apple Podcast | Spotify | Podcast Feed Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.