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MBA1477 Outsourcing Your Most Time Consuming Tasks + Free Ride Friday Mar 06, 2020

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Forget the dollar, the euro, the pound. The most valuable currency on Earth is time.

So let’s get you more of it.

Odds are, you’re doing things you don’t have to. These tasks are thieves, robbing you of the precious resource of time — a resource that can’t be replenished. Your time alive is a bank account from which you can only make withdrawals. When you run a business, it’s easy to lose track of how much is coming out.

You might be surprised just how much time you can save, when you take a look at your day systematically.

Today, we’ll explain how to conduct a time inventory, and offload the biggest time-suckers to other people. You may find that what you think are small, quick tasks are actually adding up to hours per week of waste.

Don’t surrender another second!

We’ll share strategies and resources you can use to accurately diagnose your time usage, identify the waste, and get it off your plate. The best part? As shocked as you might be by where your time is going, you may be just as surprised at how affordable it is to outsource.

What’s the point of entrepreneurship, if not to gain the freedom to live life? Take these tips, get some time back, and use it however you want — before your time runs out. Click Play!

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MBA1476 How To Use Newsjacking to Promote Your Business Mar 05, 2020

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Current events can produce more than anxiety. In fat, they might just be your secret marketing weapon.

“Newsjacking” is a tried-and-true trick in which you tie your marketing to national and global events. Whatever the media’s fixated on, you can leverage it to promote your business– if you’re creative enough.

And yes, it’s ok if it’s a (little bit of a) stretch.

Today, we’ll review some of the best examples of newsjacking from hard-hustling entrepreneurs who looked at the news and found relevance for their target audience. Whether it’s sports, politics, or simply recurring items that always find their way into the news cycle, you can hitch a ride on trending stories to boost your brand.

Heck, even we do it now and again.

It’s a great traffic generating trick, and it doesn’t need to be scammy or disingenuous. You just have to see the relevance and value your audience sees when they turn on the news. Click Play!

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MBA1475 Q&A Wednesday: How do I create an MVP for my physical product? Mar 04, 2020

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Always, always test the MVP – no matter what you’re selling.

If you don’t know, the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the first iteration of a product you can sell. It’s the barest-bones, cheapest-to-produce version of something you can still sell at a profit, to test the market potential of your idea in the real world. And you should always start with one.

It’s easy to create an MVP for a service or digital product. With physical goods…you just need the right resources.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’re helping one listener get their first units out the door. As it turns out, it’s cheaper and easier than ever to manufacture – and not just by outsourcing.

Yes, manufacturing locally is an option, depending on what you’re making. It might even be a better option than good ol’ China.

Today, we’ll give you the information and resources necessary to sell your 1.0 like a smart, lean startup. Plus, we’ll explain how you can start pre-selling your product before a single unit leaves the assembly line.

We’ll also explore the creation of your MVP as a marketing asset. Get the gears turning – literally, in this case. Click Play!

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

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MBA1474 The Worst Time To Make Big Decisions Mar 03, 2020

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Sometimes, it’s not how you make decisions, but when.

When you’re faced with a major choice, with significant stakes on the line, you have to make sure of one thing before you decide. You have to make sure that the context in which you make your decision isn’t putting the kind of pressure on you that distorts your thinking.

Sometimes, it’s more important to make the best decision than it is to make a quick decision.

Sometimes, we make decisions before we have to, just to relieve the pressure of having to make one. And while we’re all for moving forward generally, sometimes, pumping the brakes is the smartest decision you can make.

Today, we’ll explore how to tell the difference between patience and paralysis.

A long time ago, our host Omar made a decision he shouldn’t have. If he had just waited, a better option would’ve revealed itself. Faced with a similar context later, he remembered what went wrong – and found options he didn’t see the first time around.

It’s a lesson he never forgot. Now, we offer it to you.

Learn how to create the conditions for good decision-making. Find options outside the lesser of two evils. Make the call, not just any call. Click Play!

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MBA1473 Must Read: Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson Mar 02, 2020

Show notes

Still thinking about starting a business?

Stop.

This week’s Must-Read book for entrepreneurs is a classic. It’s a short, simple analogy that our intrepid host Omar first got as a gift from an old boss. Who Moved My Cheese? is all about getting out of your head and into the game, whatever your ambitions.

It’s just as relevant today as it was when Omar first read it.

A parable for the self-starter, this book doesn’t take long to read, but it stays with you for…well, forever. Its timeless takeaways will get you unstuck from the paralysis of fear and hesitation, the biggest obstacle to entrepreneurial freedom.

Hey, it’s a classic for a reason.

Take a lesson from one great author, and some fictional mice. It just might be the story you need to actually, finally make your move. Click Play!

Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr. Spencer Johnson

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

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MBA1472 Are You Confusing Your Customers? + Free Ride Friday Feb 28, 2020

Show notes

Marketing only has a few unbreakable rules. One of them is to never overwhelm the prospect with too much information.

Confusion is kryptonite for sales. But it can be incredibly hard to know when you’re confusing your audience. That’s because it’s exceedingly difficult for someone on the inside of a business to understand the outsider’s perspective.

Unfortunately, all customers are outsiders by definition.

Today, we’ll discuss how to streamline, simplify, and otherwise make it easier for your audience to understand what’s going on. Because only then can they be expected to truly consider a purchase.

You’ll never be perfectly inside your customers’ heads (wouldn’t that be nice?).

But you can have a grasp of how much information an average person can process before they tap out and move on. Listen in , and see if your messaging needs a little whittling down. Click Play!

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MBA1471 Quality vs Deadlines: When to Choose What Feb 27, 2020

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What matters most: quality, or fulfillment? What disappoints customers more: failure to deliver on time, or substandard performance?

Meeting deadlines and maxing out quality can be opposing goals. Today, we discuss how to balance them.

We’ve had this experience in our business, when delivering on a promise meant sacrificing a modicum of…let’s say, idealism. Over time, we’ve learned how to navigate both priorities.

On the one hand, failing to respect deadlines can create terrible habits. On the other, sacrificing performance for expediency is no one’s idea of good business. But there is a way to make sure that whichever side you err on, your customers will know you’re committed to their best interests.

We can’t do all things at all times. Tune in, and learn how a balanced approach can give your business the time and space to improve quality and speed at the same time — and at the right times. Click Play!

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MBA1470 Q&A Wednesday: I never hit my goals. Am I setting them too high? Feb 26, 2020

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We all want to reach our goals. But where do we set them? How do we know which goals are realistic, and which are just setting us up for failure?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who misses goal after goal. Is it because they’re too lofty? If so, how can we avoid setting goals that aren’t lofty enough?

If we try to be more realistic, will we aim too low? If we try to be ambitious, will we aim too high?

There’s gotta be a way to hit identify the sweet spot.

Today, we’ll discuss how to expand your concept of goal-setting to encompass multiple layers of goals. By establishing a range of milestones, rather than a single target, you can move towards the “zone of proximal development:” the place where you strive exactly the right amount.

Take a new approach to your goals — one that helps you grow. Click Play!

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

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MBA1469 How Many Support Agents Do You Need? Feb 25, 2020

Show notes

At our software company, we pride ourselves on customer support. We differentiate ourselves with it, and always have.

It’s kind of our thing.

So we weren’t surprised to field several questions about customer support when we attended a recent conference. What many people wanted to know was how many support personnel are really necessary. For new small businesses, it’s an important question.

After all, a lean startup can’t afford to idle hands. That said, they can’t afford anything less than top-tier support, either.

Today, we discuss our formula for keeping the right amount of support on hand. It varies from business to business, and depends on the amount of support requests you typically field, but there is a way to analyze your business’s needs.

Spoiler alert: responding to tickets is not the only thing great support agents do.

See how we keep pace with our customers’ support needs, as we continue to add agents to our growing team. See how our “Support Ninjas” take ownership of our customers’ success, and why that makes all the difference. Click Play!

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MBA1468 Guest Teacher: Chris Meroff – How To Develop A Company Culture That Fulfills Every Employee Feb 24, 2020

Show notes

Company culture isn’t something we always think about. And when we do, it’s often…after-thinking.

But it matters.

If you don’t intentionally build a culture, that lack of intention becomes your culture. And in a culture like that, there’s no way to get real and lasting buy-in from team members. It’s always about more than just the job and the pay.

It’s about personal fulfillment.

Today, special guest Chris Meroff is here to explain exactly how to make every employee feel valued, heard, and respected. Think that’s all fluff and woo-woo? Once you see the difference between emotionally committed employees and those who just collect a check, you’ll understand what a difference fulfillment makes.

Whether you’ve got a tiny team, or dozens of employees, you can learn how to do this. Once you do, your team will recognize it for what it is: the truest form of leadership. Click Play!

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