The $100 MBA Show

What’s a leader’s job? As our business grows, we can find ourselves plateauing. That’s because a business founder has to make a difficult transition: at first, you’re the person responsible for everything. But ultimately, you have to let go of more and more responsibilities, handing them off so that you can focus on bigger, broader things. And that can be hard as heck. As CEO, refusing to let go of responsibilities will leave important things undone. Refusing to surrender your To Do list will take you away from CEO-specific priorities. If you can’t adapt to the new role that success hands you, you’ll stay exactly where you are — and that’s death for an entrepreneur. Today, we discuss how to make the switch from “I got this” to “they got this,” and become the leader you aim to be. Omar would know; he’s learned to let our growing team take over one spinning plate after another, so he can keep his eye on the horizon. And if he can do it, you can too. 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! Campaign Monitor Campaign Monitor made email marketing radically easy, so you can focus on bigger things. It’s an email marketing provider with an easy to use email builder, flexible pricing plans, and a great free trial. It’s straightforward, simple, and loaded with professionally designed templates and designs so your emails can get results. Best of all, their drag and drop email editor gets it all done in record time! Join over 250k organizations using Campaign Monitor at campaignmonitor.com now! Show Links EasyCourse The post MBA1352 Are You Doing Your Job as CEO? + 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.

Before you try to sell, ask yourself: what’s the point? All products, and all marketing, should address the pain point. It’s about being customer-centric. Customers will choose your business if they think it offers the best cure for their pain. In other words, customers ultimately don’t want the most features or the coolest look or even the best price.  They just want the best solution to their problem. Customers don’t care how cool we think our products are. And despite our assumptions, price is definitely not the deciding factor most of the time. All sales start with a problem, with the “pain” of needing a product that does x, y, or z. This trumps every other feature or benefit. If you keep your eye on the pain, customers will choose you.  A pain-centric approach will help you differentiate your business and make the best argument against the competition. Tune in, and learn how to listen to your customers, not just pitch to them. Find out what’s hurting, and offer the fix. Articulate why — every other factor aside — your offer can cross one problem off their list. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors 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 Bank of America Feeling stuck in your job? Bank of America’s Academy for Consumers and Small Business can help. Bank of America can help you start on a long term career path through peer mentoring, immersive programs, and a variety of clear and distinct paths. Take the first step towards your long term career  at careers.bankofamerica.com now! Show Links SAAS Academy ConvertKit The post MBA1351 Does Your Offer Address the Biggest Pain Point? 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 gonna happen. If you make even a modest name for yourself in business or media, your inbox will become a very crowded place.  Potential investors, partners, and guest writers and speakers will find your email address and fire away. We all want to network, but networking strategically is tough when you have a thousand unopened cold emails from perfect strangers. What’s an entrepreneur to do? It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one listener is wondering exactly that. Today, we discuss how to address the million demands on your time that come popping into your inbox every day. You can remain nice, polite, and professional without sacrificing hours of your workday to exchanges with everyone who finds their way into your inbox.  Omar would know — he used to lose a ton of time to cold emails, until he discovered the solution we’re sharing today. Protect your time without being rude. Free yourself without missing out on genuine opportunities. Clean up that inbox with a clear conscience. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors M&M’S Hazelnut Spread Chocolate Candies Work got you bogged down? Treat yourself to new M&M’S Hazelnut Spread chocolate candies. They’re an instant classic, guaranteed to deliver a delicious combo of hazelnut spread and milk chocolate in every bite-sized piece. Add a little  luxury to your workday — go Hazel-nutty and try the new MM’S Hazelnut Spread chocolate candies today! Onnit Alpha Brain by Onnit is a clinically studied nootropic that helps healthy adults with memory, focus, and mental speed. Whether it’s a work project, a test, or an athletic event, taking Alpha Brain is like having another gear for your brain. It’s made of Earth-grown, stimulant-free ingredients that you can feel good about. Plus, it’s cheaper than a daily cup of coffee. Alpha Brain is free to try — just pay shipping. Get a two week supply free at onnit.com/100mba now! Show Links $100 MBA Show Guest Teacher Application The post MBA1350 Q&A Wednesday: How do you deal with cold email pitches? 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 the right website hosting platform for you business?There’s no shortage of options. Recently, we pondered whether Webflow would be a better fit for certain businesses, including ours. Omar did some intense research, comparing and contrasting Webflow with WordPress, Weebly, and the rest.The results are an in-depth lesson on what makes this platform unique, and how it might serve your business best — depending on your needs and your website design skills. It’s not about deciding which platform is “better” or “worse.” This episode is all about the unique features and functions of Webflow for anyone who’s interested. And no, this episode is 100%, absolutely, unequivocally not sponsored.You may decide Webflow isn’t for you at all. Of course, there’s only one way to find out. Tune in, hear what Webflow has to offer, and see if (like us), you’d seriously considering switching platforms. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksWebflowMBA1293: Product-Led Growth by Wes BushWeeblyWebinarNinjaThe post MBA1349 Should You Build Your Website with Webflow? 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.

Every one of your goals depends on mastering one skill: what we normally call “focus.” Nir Eyal thinks of it a little differently. He knows that cutting out distractions and getting in the zone is the key that unlocks all doors. But rather than “focus,” he refers to “traction” — as in, the opposite of “distraction.”  It’s a powerful philosophy — but he explains it better than we can. Nir is this week’s special guest teacher. After featuring his book Hooked on our Must-Read book episode, we were thrilled for the chance to have Nir come by and explain the premise of his new book, Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life.  Today, Nir offers his 4 pillars of indistractability, the key strategies for cutting the “dis” and getting some traction. In an era of endless “pings, dings, and other things,” indistractability may be the most crucial skill in an entrepreneur’s set.  Make yourself more focused, more efficient, and more valuable. Get business handled, and protect your free time while you’re at it! Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Bank of America Feeling stuck in your job? Bank of America’s Academy for Consumers and Small Business can help. Bank of America can help you start on a long term career path through peer mentoring, immersive programs, and a variety of clear and distinct paths. Take the first step towards your long term career  at careers.bankofamerica.com 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 MBA597: Must-Read: Hooked by Nir Eyal Indistractable by Nir Eyal+Supplemental Workbook Free Schedule Maker Forest App The post MBA1348 Guest Teacher: Nir Eyal- How to become Indistractable 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.

Who wins in business: the jack of all trades, or the master of one? It’s one of the most important questions an entrepreneur can ask about their business. Should your product be defined by versatility, mass appeal, and all-around utility? Or is it best to make your product uniquely, unbeatably awesome at solving one particular problem?  Should you compete with everyone at everything, or should you make it so no one can compete with you at one thing? We’ve got a straightforward answer to this one, and lots of examples to make our case. We’ll even discuss how we chose a strategy for our own businesses, and why answering the broad vs. deep question is so fundamental to your chances of success. Learn where to put your focus, and how spread your focus should really be. 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 smartwater smartwater alkaline has 9+ ph to help keep you hydrated while you’re on the move — whether you’re climbing a mountain, or doing mountain climbers on your mat. If you’re looking for a moment of zen, smartwater antioxidant with added selenium helps you find balance for body and mind. Plus, there’s a new way to order smartwater; just ask “Alexa, order smartwater,” and the rest is taken care of. smartwater – that’s pretty smart! Show Links EasyCourse WebinarNinja Luxury Escapes The post MBA1347 Is it Better To Be The Best at One Thing or Good at Many? + 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 makes a good developer? More importantly, how can you find one? If you’re building an app, a website, or any other kind of digital product, your business is only as good as your devs. We know — we’ve spent the last several years building our own webinar software, including a radical top-down redesign that took some serious developer talent to pull off.  We can’t do it ourselves, so finding that talent is one of our most important jobs. Today, we discuss how to attract the best developers, and separate them from the rest of their over-crowded field. There’s a bazillion of them out there, and it can be tough for non-devs to evaluate their ability. Fortunately, our experience has shown us what matters most. Learn what skills and abilities are non-negotiable, the lack of which instantly eliminates applicants from your search. Learn what attributes make a dev most likely to move your project forward. Learn how to interview, test, and hire the true keepers. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Joy at Work There’s a new podcast that should be on your radar. We spend so much time driving results at work, but not driving joy. Joy at Work brings together business leaders, authors, and influencers to discuss how to infuse more joy into everyday work life. Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you listen. To learn more, head to atkearney.com/joy JustWorks Scaling a biz is easier with the right tools! JustWorks is a simple, intuitive HR platform that makes work easier and more fun. With JustWorks, entrepreneurs and their teams get access to high-quality affordable benefits, automated payroll, compliance support, and HR tools — all in one place. Offer competitive benefits on par with larger companies. Get 2 free months at justworks.com/mba Show Links WebinarNinja The post MBA1346 4 Essentials When Hiring a Developer 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.

If your content isn’t marketing, you’re not content marketing. Blogs are fun to write, and valuable for your audience. But if they aren’t converting, they’re worth bupkus to your business. Today, we discuss how to move past the “spray and pray” method of throwing content into the wind, hoping for results. It’s time to start tracking, start measuring, and start using your blog to make progress.Of course, that takes a little know-how.It’s not enough to be a good blogger. You’ve got to get a handle on tracking content performance, lead attribution, and conversion rates. You’ve got to be able to reverse-connect the dots — from sales to traffic, and from traffic to content. Otherwise, you have no idea if your blog is worth the time it takes to write.Learn how to measure your blog’s performance, with or without helpful CRM software. Find out if your words are generating leads, and sales. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksDev BasuGoogle Data StudioThe post MBA1345 Q&A Wednesday: Is my blog working? How do I know? 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.

We all want to move our business forward. But true success means reaching a point where your business moves itself forward. That’s momentum, and that’s the topic of today’s episode. At some point, you need to stop pushing the boulder uphill, and get over the hump. There’s a way of working that encourages this — a strategy that’s built for momentum, not just progress. You just have to change your routine. Today, we discuss how to revamp your approach, and schedule your workday in a way that maximizes momentum. A little discipline can go a long way towards making your results equal more than the sum of your efforts. It’s about focus, it’s about motivation, and it’s about time management. But most of all, it’s about creating self-propulsion for your company. Your work can work better, and finally get the ball of your business rolling in a big way. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors Fidelity Ready to start a career in financial services? Fidelity Investments is looking for talented people eager to help others. As a Career Relationship Advocate, you’ll be the voice of Fidelity. You’ll learn alongside other resourceful, friendly associates who are working to achieve customers’ financial goals. Learn more about the opportunities Fidelity offers at customeradvocate.fidelity.com Amazon Kindle Read as much as you want, from over a million books available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited. Kindle puts over a million e-books and 5,000 audiobooks at your fingertips. You can also choose from a rotating selection of current issues of popular magazines. With a variety of genres and titles to choose from, you can enjoy popular titles and discover your next favorite series. Read anywhere, on the device you prefer — even switch between automatically synced devices. Get 3 months of Kindle Unlimited for just $1.99 amazon.com/100mba The post MBA1344 How to Create Momentum in Your Business 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.

How do people make it in business? Every once in a while, a successful entrepreneur writes a book that helps answer that question. Explosive Growth has a title that sounds like it’s a bit much, but the content lives up to it. Clif Lerner is a startup founder who’s had his share of failures (and then some), but took each setback as a lesson in how to do better on the next try.  Now, his app has over 100 million active users, and his lessons are worth hearing. This is the best kind of business book: an entertaining personal narrative with practical applications. It’s the story of an entrepreneur who didn’t stumble into success, but turned things around when things looked their worst.  In this case, Growth doesn’t just refer to the shrewd strategies Lerner used to acquire more and more customers. It refers to taking your lumps, learning from your failures, and improving as a business person. That’s a lesson we could all use. Click Play! SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTS Stitcher | SoundCloud | Podcast Feed | How To Subscribe Give us a Rating & Review Today’s Sponsors smartwater smartwater alkaline has 9+ ph to help keep you hydrated while you’re on the move — whether you’re climbing a mountain, or doing mountain climbers on your mat. If you’re looking for a moment of zen, smartwater antioxidant with added selenium helps you find balance for body and mind. Plus, there’s a new way to order smartwater; just ask “Alexa, order smartwater,” and the rest is taken care of. smartwater – that’s pretty smart! Zapier Running your own business can mean a never-ending to-do list. How can you automate your tasks? We use Zapier. It makes everyone’s life easier, integrating with over 1,500 apps. Payment processors, CRM, Slack; you name it! You can make Zapier work for you without writing code or asking developers for help. It’s truly drag and drop! Join more than 4.5 million people saving an average of 40 hours a month. From now through November, try Zapier free for 2 weeks at Zapier.com/mba Show Links Explosive Growth by Cliff Lerner The post MBA1343 Must Read: Explosive Growth by Cliff Lerner 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.