The $100 MBA Show

The product is never perfect. Smart entrepreneurs realize that in order for a business to grow, the product has to grow with it. But what if you could direct (or at least guide) the evolution of your product? What if you could time that evolution, and set goals for certain improvements? What if you could see the development of your product in the future, as you move your business forward into it?Enter the Product Roadmap.Increasingly popular as an organizational, motivational, and even marketing tool, the Product Roadmap can be applied to any kind of product (even a service). It is what it sounds like: a visual representation of the planned development of a product. You literally map out your own goals for your product, from the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to the top-of-the-line game-changer you ultimately strive to create.By aligning what your product could be with feasible timelines, you can turn possibilities into an actionable plan. These Product Roadmaps can be internal, strictly used to keep you and your team focused on your long-term product development goals. Or, they can be publicized, doubling as a marketing tool that lets your audience in on the process— even soliciting their opinions on what your product should do.But for all its usefulness, is a Product Roadmap right for your business?That’s what today’s podcast can help you determine. Today we discuss what a Product Roadmap is, how to develop one, and when it’s most applicable and helpful. With this lesson, you’ll learn exactly when Product Roadmaps are most effective.We speak from experience. From our clothing line to The $100 MBA to our webinar software service, WebinarNinja, we’ve built plenty of products: some with roadmaps, and some without. We know their value, and their limitations. Our experience using Product Roadmaps can give you exactly the insight you need to determine whether it’s a good fit for you. In the right situation, the return on investment can be substantial.A Product Roadmap can be an efficient repository for all your product ideas, even the most ambitious ones. It can allow you to branch out creatively, fearlessly saying “yes” to everything, and creating an action plan to make things happen. It can help you understand your own product better, and effectively prioritize all the development possibilities.By establishing goals, deadlines, and expectations, a well-crafted Product Roadmap can keep your team’s work aligned with your overall mission. It can keep that work in context, from here to wherever you want to be.SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksBaseCampTrelloMeisterTaskThe post MBA893 Do You Need a Product Road Map? 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 successful business has many components, but all of them fall into one of 3 main categories. These 3 branches of business are the basic aspects of commerce. They are the pillars that hold up any company, big or small. And like any tripod, without each leg in place, the whole thing comes crashing down. By understanding the 3 branches, and applying appropriate levels of focus to each, you can give yourself the edge that means the difference between success and failure.You can ensure that your business has a fighting chance.It all comes down to these: smarketing, product development, and customer service. None of those are likely to come as a surprise, even if you’ve never heard the term “smarketing” before (that’s sales + marketing, the line between the two being a blurry one in the greater scheme of things). But too many entrepreneurs focus on one or two at the expense of the others. While they excel in one arena, they drop the ball in another. Their businesses suffer as a result.This is a choice.Proud tradespeople and artists devote themselves to their craft— their product— but put little time into marketing or customer service. Born sales people love the dance of securing customers and making deals, but allow the quality of their product to be sub-par. Devoted, loyal entrepreneurs put customer satisfaction above all else— including the acquisition of new business. As great martial artists are known to say, a fighter’s strength is his or her weakness. By relying too heavily on what comes easiest, some entrepreneurs never develop into well-rounded business people.You can do better.On today’s podcast, we discuss the importance of each branch in turn, and the vital role each plays in the development of a successful business, no matter what kind or what size. Going further, we discuss how to prioritize these branches at different points in the growth of your business. While one may be paramount at the beginning, another may become more important later on. Knowing when to focus on which branch is key to leveraging your efforts and maximizing your growth.Beyond that, knowing which aspects you excel at (and which ones you don’t) is crucial to your development as an entrepreneur. With self-awareness, honesty, and the willingness to shore up your weak points while nurturing your talents, you can be the entrepreneur whose ideas go the distance. While a thousand great business ideas go no further than talk, a balanced approach to the 3 branches of business can turn the dream into a reality.Tune in, listen to our in-depth explanation of the 3 branches and how to properly utilize them. Hone your skills, and learn how to apply your precious time, resources, and effort where they count the most. Be one of the entrepreneurs who make it. Know what forces need to be balanced, and how to balance them. Succeed. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksBacklinkoThe post MBA892 How To Master The 3 Branches of 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.

No man is an island, or so they say. By the same logic, no entrepreneur succeeds entirely on their own.Independent business doesn’t mean going it alone or taking a solitary approach. It just means you get to choose the terms upon which you partner with others. When you do, you further your success, and theirs. Mutually beneficial partnerships can fast-track the growth of your business by allowing you to access new markets. They can also plant the seeds of lucrative long-term business relationships.The bottom line: why market alone?That brings us to today’s podcast. We’ve got a special guest, Dale Beaumont of Brin.ai. Beaumont is one of Australia’s most successful young entrepreneurs, having started several million-dollar business and written 16 best-selling books. But he didn’t do it alone— he strategically partnered with other business people he could trust to help maximize his potential. In doing so, he accessed markets and customers that might’ve taken exponentially longer to reach. Beaumont is here to share his 7-step plan for establishing mutually beneficial marketing partnerships.This man knows what he’s talking about.Unlike joint ventures or affiliate marketing, marketing partnerships aren’t about sharing profits. They’re about sharing audiences. By cross-promoting with another trusted brand, you can find customers more quickly, more cheaply, and more efficiently. Through mutual value-sharing, two businesses can multiply their credibility. That means less time and money spent on things like advertising, which serve the same function at a much higher cost— and a much lower return on investment.For great examples, look no further than the big boys of business. Every McDonald’s happy meal is a promotion for another major company like Disney. Ford sells Eddie Bauer edition vehicles, while Subaru sells LL Bean versions. All over the business world, creative leaders find ways to multiply the effect of one company’s marketing by that of another.Here at The $100 MBA, we’re no strangers to marketing partnerships. Whether we’re co-hosting an event of webinar, guest-blogging, or guest-podcasting, bringing the value other thought leaders offer to our own audience makes sense. Our audience is happier and better informed, and we get the opportunity to demonstrate our value to their audience as well. Everyone wins! Following Beaumont’s lesson, we’ll offer our own 3 extra tips for optimizing marketing partnerships, in addition to the step-by-step plan from our guest.Don’t go it alone. Learn how to take the fastest route to growth. Learn Beaumont’s steps, take our tips, and find the partners who can take your business where you want it to go. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksFollow Dale Beaumont onFacebook and TwitterOr visit his website atdalebeaumont.comThe post MBA891 Guest Teacher: Dale Beaumont- How to Use Marketing Partnerships to Scale Fast 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.

Entrepreneurship is a challenging journey, filled with obstacles that require resilience and strong leadership. Ben Horowitz's insights emphasize facing these challenges head-on rather than avoiding them. Key discussions cover the importance of honest communication during crises, fostering a supportive company culture, and adapting leadership styles based on situational needs. The contrast between peacetime and wartime CEOs highlights the necessity of evolving strategies. Ultimately, gaining perspective through reading and shared experiences is crucial for entrepreneurial growth.

At The $100 MBA, we’ve always believed in the philosophy of ABM: Always Be Marketing.Succeeding as an entrepreneur takes more than a great product and a can-do attitude. While starting a business takes some work, it’s maintaining and growing a business that poses the greatest challenge. That’s why a constant, consistent marketing effort is the difference between a business that could’ve been and a business that continues to be, year after year. Marketing is everything— and webinars are the future of marketing.Content marketing comes in many forms. Blogs, videos, email campaigns, social media outreach: they’re all well and good, and should all be a part of your content marketing arsenal. But the most undervalued marketing tool in existence is the webinar, hands down. Webinars are powerful. Webinars work. Webinars bolster and legitimize every other piece of content you put out there. Too many entrepreneurs are either intimidated by webinars, or aren’t yet convinced of their effectiveness.We’d like to change that.We know what you’re thinking, loyal listeners— don’t Omar and Nicole also run a webinar software company? Yes, we do, and we understand if our enthusiasm for webinars seems a little…convenient. But the truth of the matter is this: we don’t believe in webinars because we run a webinar company. We run a webinar company because we believe in webinars. Our message has always been that success rests on credibility. And there’s no more direct, effective way to build credibility than to turn on a camera, strap on a mic, and meet your audience face to virtual face. Potential customers need to know they can trust you. Webinars can prove you’re worth trusting.Sales and marketing aren’t about manipulating consumers. They’re not even about convincing or persuading. They’re about educating. Webinars allow you to approach marketing like a teacher. Rather than trying to convince an audience of something you want them to believe (ie, that you and your product are genuinely valuable), you simply show them something true. Show your audience a genuine solution to their problem, and you won’t have to “sell” a thing! That’s what webinars can do.Today we discuss why webinars are so effective, what you can do to prepare for one, and why everything that might scare you about webinars is nothing to fear. Our groundbreaking webinar platform, WebinarNinja 5.0, is coming just around the corner, and we want our $100 MBA audience to be ready.Whatever platform you choose to use, give webinars a chance. They won’t let you down. Learn how— and why— they work. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA889 How to Grow Your Business With Webinars 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 website doing right now? If it’s not growing your business for you, it’s not doing its job!Optimizing your website to promote growth is key to your survival in businesses. It’s also the whole point of having one! Too many entrepreneurs put extraordinary time and effort into the design of their website, but that effort isn’t geared specifically towards growth. It may be beautiful. It may be intuitive. It may have the greatest content on the face of the Web— but if it’s not encouraging the right actions by your visitors, you’ve got changes to make.To help you with that, we’ve brought one of the foremost experts in website optimization onto the podcast. Troy Stites is the growth and optimization specialist for Sumo.com, a business that’s certainly seen its share of rapid growth. Stites knows the tricks of the trade that turn websites into wellsprings of growth. His strategies are designed to start long, productive relationships with visitors, rather than turn them off with aggressive sales pitching or low-value bells and whistles.With Stites’ easy-to-apply remedies, what your website is currently lacking in growth promotion can be a thing of the past!Specifically, Stites is here to share 3 particular strategies that work well for any website, no matter the content, product, or industry. These strategies bypass the instinct to start selling right away, and instead establish a connection with visitors that builds your credibility, breeding the genuine trust that creates loyal customers.There’s no maintenance in business. You’re growing, or you’re dying. If your website is being visited, don’t let that be the end of the story! Parlay those visits into relationships, and those relationships into sales. We’ll show you what you can do today to drastically boost the performance of your website in the never-ending quest for growth. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA888 Guest Teacher Troy Stites- Three Strategies to Automate Your Business Growth 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.

All good things must come to an end. Our incredible 8 week trip around the world is no exception. But with every ending comes a new beginning— and the end of this journey signals the start of something BIG for ourselves and our listeners!We’re in the magical, timeless little town of Gimmelwald, Switzerland, surrounded by breathtaking beauty and clean mountain air. We’re reflecting on everything we’ve learned while business-building on the road, and getting ready to head home and begin the next chapter. What we’ve discovered along the way will have a big impact on our decisions going forward— and it might just do the same for you.We’ve got big news to share at the end of this episode, but first, we’re taking a big-picture look at our two months’ journey. We discuss our biggest, most important takeaways. We share 5 burning questions that we had going into the experiment, as well as the answers we uncovered. So many entrepreneurs sell the idea of location independence, of making a living from your laptop while roaming the landscapes of your dreams. And for every person who’s sold it, there’s been someone who questioned the feasibility of this alternative lifestyle.Is it real, or is it a pipe dream? Is it worth it? We stopped asking, and started finding out for ourselves.Today we address everything you need to know when considering mobile entrepreneurship, from the costs to your business to the effects on your health. We tried it out, and the benefits and drawbacks are both considerable. We’ve got important advice— you might even say warnings— for anyone who’s serious about taking their show on the road. We discuss what you get, what you lose, and how working while traveling changes the nature of both work and traveling.Our final verdict may surprise you. You may agree with it. You may not. But either way, you’ll consider your own options armed with the benefits of our experience. Hear how our literal journey affected our business journey. Decide if the mobile life is right for you. Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksWebinarNinja.comSwitzerland – Rick Steves’ EuropeThe post MBA887 The Working While Traveling Experiment P8: Would I Work While Traveling Again? My Take-Aways From This Experiment 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.

So much to see and do, so little time. We’re on week 7 of our map-hopping adventure, finding out just what it takes to build a business while seeing the world. If you’ve ever dreamed of working independently and remotely, this is the series for you! We’re reporting from the front lines of location independence, sharing all the ups, downs, and surprising realities of working while traveling. With 2 weeks to go, things are getting interesting!This week, we’re in Berlin, Germany, a fascinating city with more history and culture than we can shake a stick at. But with so much to absorb, how can we stay on task? How can we be efficient and productive when every day offers new wonders— and new distractions? On a hectic, inspiring journey, how can we make sure we’re getting as far in business as we are in travel? Productivity comes down to one thing: focus. And focus is acquired through strategy.Whether you’re traveling or not, focus is a skill you have to develop. It’s not something that happens by itself. It’s a series of choices you make every single workday. Whether you’re in an office, on a train, or in a charming cafe, zeroing in on what needs to get done isn’t always easy. Today, we’re sharing 6 specific strategies for improving focus that are guaranteed to work. Some of them may seem extreme, but when put into practice, they make all the difference to your business. Try them, and find out how much more you can accomplish.We know they work because we use them. We know because we’re using them right now, despite the incredible new horizons outside our window at any given moment. We’ve taken time-tested principles of focus and applied them to the most wonderfully distracting situation imaginable. Not only are we staying productive, we’re moving forward as our business grows. Wherever you roam, you can do the same. Find out how you can get in the zone, and free the rest of your life up for living. Find out how to focus: Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow Linksbacklinko.comThe post MBA886 The Working While Traveling Experiment P7: How to Stay Focused in a Busy Time 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.

Go global! We’ve hit the road to learn how seeing the world while growing a business can work. But traveling isn’t the only upside to doing business in a web-connected world. Our ability to market to the whole planet— not just our corner of it— is what gives the 21st century entrepreneur so much freedom. If you’re serious about making your own way in business, one of the smartest things you can do is leave international borders behind.We’re in Naples, the last stop on the Italian portion of our 8-week globe-trotting adventure. It’s a homey, gritty city that reminds us how cultures can vary, but everyone speaks the language of value. Appealing to only your own homeland is an option, but how much do our odds of success multiply when we look beyond our borders? How many markets lay waiting to be discovered? How many customers are we leaving behind when we limit ourselves to just one part of the planet?Today, we’re discussing what it takes to appeal to a global audience. We offer 7 specific steps you can take to branch out into the world. You can reach consumers from all over the human diaspora, and build the following that sustains your business. Hear how we plan our marketing strategy to reach the people who may be far away, but whose business can come right to your virtual doorstep. Click play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA885 The Working While Traveling Experiment P6: What Makes a Business a Great Global 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.

Ah, Venice. We’re floating through the canal-strewn dreamscape of Northern Italy, soaking in the culture and beauty of this bucket-list destination. But it’s not all gondolas and gelato; we’re running an independent business— and we’re here to find out just what it takes to do so while seeing the world. Welcome to week 5 of our 8-week working-while-traveling experiment!In our first 4 episodes, we taught you how to prep and schedule, as well as how to take specific lessons from the new worlds you encounter. Now, we’re hitting roadblocks (or in this case, canal-blocks). What happens when things go awry? How can you deal with work-mergencies when you’re an ocean (or two) away from your office? What challenges make travel a potential detriment to your business, and how can you address them?No worries, friends. With the right attitude, expectations, and support, you can handle anything that comes your way— even when you’re not at “home” to handle it. Whether you’re a solopreneur blogging your way around the world, or juggling all the moving parts of a large team effort like we are, you can do it. This trip is the proof. Today we discuss 3 specific challenges that dogged us throughout our trip, and how we handled them efficiently, productively, and (most of all) calmly. Let our struggles be your tour guide- Click Play!SUBSCRIBE ON APPLE PODCASTSSpotify| Podcast Feed| How To SubscribeGive us a Rating & ReviewShow LinksThe post MBA884 The Working While Traveling Experiment P5: My Working While Traveling Challenges 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.