The $100 MBA Show

So you’re ready to speak in public. Kudos. Public speaking — especially at industry conferences — can be a massive brand-builder. It can turbo-charge your networking. It’s not for everyone, but the effects on a small business are undeniable. Somewhat surprisingly, it can also be the perfect way for introverted entrepreneurs to connect with people. But how do you book a gig? We’ve been there: before our intrepid host Omar became a successful regular public speaker, he had to find a way in. The goal was never to be a high-powered semi-celebrity making his living off speeches, but simply to showcase expertise, build his personal brand, and make connections. But getting in the door was…a challenge. Today, we’ll share what Omar learned over time, so you can get to your first speaking engagement sooner. There is a way to get on stage, even if you’ve never delivered a talk in your life. Find out how — Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Amazon Logistics Amazon Logistics has a new program for leaders who want to build their own full-time package delivery business. Get access to Amazon’s logistics training and technology, and start building a team of motivated drivers in your community. To learn more about becoming an Amazon delivery service partner, go to logistics.amazon.com. Kronos Kronos is workforce innovation that works. Kronos puts HR, payroll, talent, and timekeeping on a single, cloud-based platform specially designed to give HR professionals supporting a blended workforce a whole new level of confidence. Learn more at kronos.com/hrswagger Show Links EasyCourse The post MBA1401 How to Start Getting on Stages appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s an SEO emergency! It’s the first big, scary challenge that many entrepreneurs face: how the heck to get people to your website. There are literally hundreds of millions of websites out there, many of which are filled with advice on how to get traffic.  But what can you do, right now, today, that’ll give you a chance to be heard? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners has hit a plateau. Despite regular blogging over several months, the traffic isn’t exactly stellar. Are there any quick fixes? There sure are.  While the art of building an audience is something that takes time, patience, and effort, sometimes it’s the little tricks and tips that make all the difference. Today’s episode is all about things you can do immediately to improve your site traffic, mostly to do with those three magic letters: S.E.O. Hear what relatively simple changes can unleash your website’s true potential. Some of them are so simple and small, they’re often overlooked. But each of them represents a potential “traffic jam” that you can easily clear up, if you know how. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Brandwagon On Brandwagon, Wistia’s new talk show for marketers, hear how companies like Harpoon, MailChimp, and HubSpot are transforming their marketing efforts to build better brands. Learn valuable business insights — like how to make your brand stand out. If you’re ready to take your marketing from “meh” to “memorable,” check out BrandWagon at wi.st/brandwagonshow Fundopolis Investing: it seems complex, intimidating, and impersonal. With Fundopolis, it doesn’t have to be that way. Fundopolis is where people and money come together to support businesses they care about. Investing shouldn’t just be for industry insiders; it should be for communities and individuals trying to grow something they’re passionate about. Head to fundopolis.com/podcast for an enjoyable, personal investing experience. Show Links WebinarNinja Ahrefs The post MBA1400 Q&A Wednesday: Why is my website not getting any traffic? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

“You should write a book.” “I could write a book.” “One day I’ll write a book.” We’ve all had the thought, the suggestion, even the plan. But as a marketing strategy, is it smart? Are books still relevant in a digital economy? Does the (considerable) time, effort, and money required to produce a book pay off? What’s the ROI? Today, we answer those questions. We’ll discuss what makes writing a book worthwhile, and how so much of a book’s value rests on a simple question: “Why?” Before you write a single word, the purpose of the book — and the effects you’re trying to produce — have to be established.  What you write, how you write it, and what you do with it all depend on the “why.” There are different endgames for different books. We’ll explain how to choose your endgame, and how to actually execute the writing and marketing of your book. Launching a book now is much different from the days of Barnes & Noble. You may find that your idea for a book, however good, needs some tweaking. Your book might be a game-changer for your business — but only if you start with a plan. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Brandwagon On Brandwagon, Wistia’s new talk show for marketers, hear how companies like Harpoon, MailChimp, and HubSpot are transforming their marketing efforts to build better brands. Learn valuable business insights — like how to make your brand stand out. If you’re ready to take your marketing from “meh” to “memorable,” check out BrandWagon at wi.st/brandwagonshow Columbia College Founded in 1851, Columbia College has been accredited for more than a hundred years. 8-week classes are held year round, so you can earn your degree quickly. With Columbia’s “trutition,” your education is one low price; no fees, book costs, or other surprises. Columbia even offers e-texts convertible to audio for studying on the go. Graduate or undergraduate, live or online, Columbia has classes for you — plus, Columbia has eliminated all fees from the application to graduation. Head to mytruition.com/mba to learn more. Show Links Elizabeth Marshall The post MBA1399 Should You Write a Book in 2020? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What do personal finance, entrepreneurship, “money dials,” and the importance of fitness have in common? Answer: Ramit Sethi. If you’re a regular listener, you know our intrepid host, Omar, reads a ton of books. Perhaps the most impactful one for him was I Will Teach You to Be Rich by personal finance expert and course-selling mastermind Ramit Sethi.  Seriously, he still gives it to people as birthday presents. So today is a special treat for Omar and our listeners: we’ve got an extended interview with Sethi, covering a multitude of important topics for entrepreneurs. From their shared immigrant-family experience, to their stances on credibility in marketing, to the powerful impact nutrition and exercise have had on their performance as business people, Omar and Ramit have lots to talk about — and lots to teach us.  It’s rare that we get a chance to learn directly from the public figures that influenced us the most. Tune in as Omar picks Sethi’s brain, and see what you can learn about managing your finances, building your business, and getting it all together.  Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Fizzle Let’s be honest: entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’ve got a million questions about your business, and few people to ask. Get the knowledge and support you need with Fizzle. Fizzle can help you earn a living doing something you love, with training, tools, coaching, community, and their famous Roadmap. Join Omar and thousands of other entrepreneurs on Fizzle — Get a free 14-day trial at fizzle.co/omar now! Capital One With the Spark Cash card from Capital One, you earn unlimited 2% cash back on all  your business purchases. Think about it – unlimited 2% cash back on everything you buy for your business. That cash back can add up to thousands of dollars, which you can reinvest back into your business so you can keep growing. Imagine what unlimited 2% cash back could do for your business. Capital One: what’s in your wallet? Show Links I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi The post MBA1398 Guest Interview: Ramit Sethi – Creating Your Rich Life appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The best part about failing? It’s an opportunity to try something bold. If your business isn’t making it, you shouldn’t give up too soon. But you also shouldn’t keep trying the same strategies that got you into trouble in the first place. If you’re stuck in a ditch, it’s time to try something you wouldn’t normally try. It’s time to go big, before you go home. It’s time to get radical. Like a defibrillator to the chest, a drastic move can seem scary, but rescue your business. Today, we’ve got 4 power moves to try when things aren’t going your way. If business was good, you’d probably never consider these things. But business isn’t good, and a Hail Mary play might be the smartest thing you can do. These tactics involve major changes; huge shifts in how you do business that will blow your original business model apart. But if your business model isn’t working, that’s no problem at all. Listen to these 4 ideas, and see if one or more of them can get your business back on track. Who knows? Failing might be exactly what your business needed in order to change for the better. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Podia Easily sell Online Courses, Memberships, and Digital Downloads to your audience. With more than 10,000 creators on the platform, Podia is the easiest way to earn a living teaching what you know. Create a beautiful storefront in minutes and start selling your digital products. No technical knowledge needed, and no third-party plugins required. Check out podia.com/mba now. Fizzle Let’s be honest: entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’ve got a million questions about your business, and few people to ask. Get the knowledge and support you need with Fizzle. Fizzle can help you earn a living doing something you love, with training, tools, coaching, community, and their famous Roadmap. Join Omar and thousands of other entrepreneurs on Fizzle — Get a free 14-day trial at fizzle.co/omar now! Show Links EasyCourse The post MBA1397 4 Ways to Turn Your Business Around + Free Ride Friday appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What’s your NPS? If you don’t know, you need to find out.Your “Net Promoter Score,” or NPS, is a simple but super-powerful metric for measuring…well, love. Based on a single-question survey, it gives you a snapshot of how much your current customers love your business. That’s all there is to it, but don’t let the simplicity of the equation fool you.You need to know which of your customers can help your business, and which can hurt it.To fight churn, protect your brand, and give your business long-term sustainability, keeping track of your NPS is a huge must. By categorizing your customers on a scale from “Loves you so much they’ll actually do your marketing for you” to “hates you so much they feel compelled to tell anyone who will listen,” you can figure out what you need to do to increase satisfaction and ensure loyalty.It’s a consumer’s world now. Ratings and perception can make or break your business faster than you can say “No Stars.” Listen to your customers, and let them show you the way forward with one simple question. By conducting NPS surveys and taking action, you can do more for the life of your business than any amount of advertising. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksSurvicateZapierThe post MBA1396 What Is NPS, and How Can It Improve Your Customer Retention? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Don’t just look at growth. Look at churn.If the latter outpaces the former, you have a huge problem. Churn destroys businesses, even ones that grow at a decent pace. If you don’t already know, churn is the rate at which a business loses recurring customers, like monthly subscribers. For these kinds of businesses, keeping existing customers is just as important (if not more important) than finding new ones.It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener whose churn is cancelling out every bit of progress made. We’ll discuss how to invest in retention as effectively as you invest in acquisition, so you’re not bringing money in one end only to lose it out the other. The key is to establish a system for retaining recurring customers. Get the intel you need to keep customer loyalty high, then act on it to increase long-term satisfaction. As the founders of a SaaS company, we’ll share our own strategies for keeping churn low, as well as some of the resources we use to keep an eye out for trouble.If your business uses a recurring model, churn protection is Priority One. Hear how it’s done. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksProfitwellThe post MBA1395 Q&A Wednesday: My churn is out of control. How do I reduce churn ASAP? appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sometimes, we forget to focus on the customers we already have. Your “buyer’s journey,” the steps your customers took from stranger to lead to revenue source, is crucial to keeping your business alive and thriving. Knowing exactly how you got people interested — and how you converted that interest into a sale — is the key to repeating the process, and to finding customers that will stick around for the long term. In other words, your best current customers can help you find more like them. Today, we discuss how to analyze your sales and marketing efforts, mining the information for clues to what works best. Instead of hoping your marketing works, look at when it already worked, and figure out why. Find out how you produced the greatest CLTV (Customer Lifetime Value) and double down. Your customers aren’t just a source of revenue. Their journey is a source of information that’s more valuable than the price of any single sale. Dig in, take a long look at your data, and figure out what gets people in — and keeps them coming back. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Fizzle Let’s be honest: entrepreneurship can be lonely. You’ve got a million questions about your business, and few people to ask. Get the knowledge and support you need with Fizzle. Fizzle can help you earn a living doing something you love, with training, tools, coaching, community, and their famous Roadmap. Join Omar and thousands of other entrepreneurs on Fizzle — Get a free 14-day trial at fizzle.co/omar now! HoneyBook HoneyBook is an all-in-one business management platform for creative small businesses. They make it easy to streamline your process with client and calendar management tools, plus custom branded proposals and contracts. Save hundreds or thousands of hours a year. Get 50% off your first year at HoneyBook.com/MBA. Show Links Segment The post MBA1394 Why Knowing Your Buyer’s Journey Is So Important appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A recession is coming. That’s a fact. How do we know? Because a recession is always coming. Business is cyclical, and smart entrepreneurs don’t hope against economic downturns — they prepare for them. Jonathan Slain was hit hard by the Great Recession of 2008. After he got back on his feet, he realized that recession-proofing is an absolute must for any business. Now, as the founder of Recession.com, Slain helps other businesses survive and even prosper during those inevitable low points. Today, Slain is here to help us prepare while the current economy still looks good. Recessions come in many forms, besides the usual dips in GDP and stock market troubles. Slain’s strategies can also help your business through “personal recessions” like the loss of a major client or partner, or anything else beyond your control that can derail your business. The key is to see it as natural and inevitable. And to be ready. Tune in, and hear how your business can stay agile during a recession: speeding up, slowing down, or stopping short to avoid the worst — and still shoot for the best. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Amazon Logistics Amazon Logistics has a new program for leaders who want to build their own full-time package delivery business. Get access to Amazon’s logistics training and technology, and start building a team of motivated drivers in your community. To learn more about becoming an Amazon delivery service partner, go to logistics.amazon.com. Capital One With the Spark Cash card from Capital One, you earn unlimited 2% cash back on all  your business purchases. Think about it – unlimited 2% cash back on everything you buy for your business. That cash back can add up to thousands of dollars, which you can reinvest back into your business so you can keep growing. Imagine what unlimited 2% cash back could do for your business. Capital One: what’s in your wallet? Show Links Recession.com 50% off Recession Workbook (use coupon code MBA) Recession Readiness Assessment Rock the Recession by Jonathan Slain and Paul Belair The post MBA1393 Guest Teacher: Jonathan Slain – How to Look Forward to the Next Recession appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Catastrophic success is real — and dangerous. Unchecked growth has the same effect on a business as it does on a body: it overloads the systems and puts you at risk for collapse. Yes, growth is necessary for a business to survive. But if that growth isn’t sustainable, your business won’t survive it! That’s why it’s important to have a vision for the pace of your growth. Today, we discuss how to plan intentionally for growth, and how to spot the red flags that signal an imminent growth-based catastrophe. By making sure your business is equipped for more and more customers, you guarantee that you’ll never be a victim of your own success. Part of the excitement of growth is planning for it, moderating it, and making sure it’s a net benefit rather than a careless risk.  Don’t be caught off guard! Tune in, and hear how you can get ready to grow in a way that’ll keep you in business for the long term. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Mailchimp Ready to grow your business? Mailchimp is your all-in-one marketing platform. Mailchimp lets you manage more of your marketing from one place, without all the extra tools. Market smarter and grow faster with one tool that helps you create, publish, manage, and measure multi-channel marketing campaigns. Let Mailchimp help you market smarter — learn more at mailchimp.com Native Native creates safe, simple, effective products that people use every day. Their products are filled with trusted ingredients, and their natural deodorant is no different. Typical deodorant contains ingredients like aluminum. Native deodorant has no aluminum, parabens, or talc. Instead, it has simple ingredients found in nature. Native offers free shipping, returns, and exchanges. For 20% off your first purchase, head to nativedeodorant.com and use promo code MBA. Show Links EasyCourse The post MBA1392 What Does Growing Too Fast Look Like? + Free Ride Friday appeared first on The $100 MBA. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.