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MBA1457 How to Meet Industry Leaders with Dinners + Free Ride Friday Feb 07, 2020

Show notes

Who do you wish you could get to know? They say the fastest way to an entrepreneur’s heart…

Ok, no one says that. But one meal can have a massive impact on your future, if you plan it right. Hosting a dinner is the ultimate networking power move, one that’s worked for us and others time and time again. And yes, you can do it, too.

You just need a plan.

Today, we’re sharing a few tricks from some of our favorite entrepreneurs on arranging a life-changing get-together. We’ve got a step-by-step process for reaching out to the leaders you admire most, even if they’re nowhere near your own circles.

In business, relationships are everything. A friendly dinner can give you all the networking advantages of a conference, at half the cost (or less). Learn how to set it up, make it appealing for invitees, and start making connections.

Everyone has to eat — including the fellow entrepreneurs you admire most. Use that, and the results can be astonishing. Click Play!

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MBA1456 Should You Sell a White Labeled Product? Feb 06, 2020

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Who says you have to build a product to build a business?

“White Label” products let you market and sell someone else’s creation, under your own brand. It’s a tempting alternative for entrepreneurs whose strengths lie more in marketing and sales than in product development. And it’s a more popular option than ever before.

But is it worth it?

Today, we’ll review the advantages and disadvantages of going white label. We’ll discuss all the ways it’s easier and less involved than building your own product, and what you lose in exchange for that ease.

We’ll also detail exactly what to look for in a good white label product, so you can make sure to hitch your brand wagon to something reliable.

The white label approach can be a perfect option for certain kinds of entrepreneurs, or a precursor to a more conventional mode of entrepreneurship. See if it’s a way forward for you, with all the facts in mind. Click Play!

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MBA1455 Q&A Wednesday: How do I deal with a customer that threatens me? Feb 05, 2020

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Online bullying: it isn’t just for middle schoolers. Every business will eventually have a customer who turns rabid, threatening to blast your company all over the Internet if you don’t cave to their (often unreasonable) demands.

Here’s what to do next.

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners has a disgruntled customer who wants a refund well past the deadline — or else. Some people think bullying works, because frankly, sometimes it does. Anyone who’s ever been on social media knows that people aren’t always their best online. So how do you handle someone’s worst?

Is it worth the cost of a refund to avoid the drama? Or is it worth an attack on your reputation to stand your ground?

Today we discuss both possible answers, and the pros and cons of each. The cost/benefit analyses of both approaches are worth considering, and may differ from business to business. Either way, it’s best to be prepared. Click Play!

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

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MBA1454 Does Sponsoring a An Online Summit Work? Feb 04, 2020

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Conferences were always going to go digital.

Enter the online summit, a virtual gathering of industry pros that might offer the same (or similar) benefits to the analog version. These summits are more popular each year, with entire businesses built around hosting and promoting them.

What does that mean for you?

We’ve sponsored online summits, and been asked to sponsor others. Deciding whether it was worth it for us took some serious calculating. Today, we’d like to share our formula. How can you determine the ROI of sponsoring a conference?

More importantly, how can you make sure you actually get the return you expect?

We’ll discuss how to determine if a given summit is worth your sponsorship. Take the steps we outline, and you’ll get a better sense of the cost per lead involved, and whether putting your name on the virtual banners is smart marketing or not.

There’s huge potential in sponsoring summits — but only if the numbers add up. Click Play!

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MBA1453 Must Read: Barking Up The Wrong Tree by Eric Barker Feb 03, 2020

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Conventional wisdom: how wise is it?

That’s the question Eric Barker asks in Barking Up The Wrong Tree, a super-entertaining challenge to everything you thought you knew about business.

In this highly original, inventive look at the usual advice about success, Barker takes aim at the most well-established assumptions. Commonly held beliefs about everything from education to confidence to productivity are all shaken down in a ruthless pursuit of truth — however uncomfortable it might be.

Put simply, this book changed our minds.

Today, we’ll discuss three of the most “Holy Crap” insights this book offers. It’s less about debunking, and more about reconsidering, with a thoughtful, un-self-serious approach. Barker begs to differ, but he doesn’t preach.

This subversion of all the classic assumptions isn’t just thought-provoking. It’s downright fun. Take a look at what you believe, and see what a little critical thinking can do to give you a better sense of how to achieve success. Click Play!

Barking Up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker

Audible

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

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MBA1452 Should You Hire Friends and Family of Team Members? + Free Ride Friday Jan 31, 2020

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Hiring the best employees is no easy task. That task is further complicated when the perfect fit happens to be the relative, friend, or significant other of someone on your team.

Trust me, we’ve been there.

When you get a referral from a trusted employee, is that a good thing? Today, we’ll discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having deep personal connections between staff. Having briefly employed his own sibling, our host Omar has unique insight into the whole experience.

What if the personal relationship goes south? What if the professional relationship is too personal? Is a family recommendation a perfect endorsement, or a perfect liability?

We’ll explore all this, plus other complications that can ensue.

One of our best hires was the sister of an established employee, so we know what it looks like when keeping it in the family goes well. Listen in, weigh the pros and cons, and be ready to decide for yourself if someone on your team shares genes — or anything else — with your next ideal candidate. Click Play!

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MBA1451 4 Low Cost Ways to Gather Customer Feedback Jan 30, 2020

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Customer feedback is like fertilizer for your business growth.

Way too many entrepreneurs try to “figure out” what would appeal to customers, when a smarter solution is there all along: just ask some. Today, we’ll discuss the incredible, underappreciated value of customer feedback, and how to mine your customers for this valuable resource.

With it, you can do everything from improving your sales and marketing to lowering your churn. We’ve got 4 specific ways you can gather and utilize feedback, without putting too big a dent in the ol’ marketing budget.

This is a small investment with a massive return.

Establishing a systematized way of gathering and analyzing feedback takes a little work, but the payoff on that investment (of mostly time, by the way) is astronomical. With this precious intel, you can clear the blockage from your marketing and sales funnel. Growth ensues.

You don’t have all the answers. Fortunately, your customers have quite a few. Click Play!

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MBA1450 Q&A Wednesday: Should I refund customers past the refund deadline? Jan 29, 2020

Show notes

Almost every business goes through this: you set a refund policy, and a customer violates it — but they still want their money back.

The terms were clear, but the customer isn’t. Or they are, but they want an exception. This is especially common when your refund policy stops after a certain amount of time. People unintentionally let free trials lapse into paid memberships, or procrastinate on returning a physical item.

What should you do when they ask for a break?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and we’ve got a listener who wants to know how flexible or strict they can afford to be. Are there advantages to being a hardliner? What can you gain from bending the rules? It’s best to figure out what you’re going to do now, before you’re faced with the situation — because you probably will be.

We’ll share our own formula for handling post-deadline refund requests, and explore the pros and cons of good old fashioned mercy. Plus, we’ll explain how every refund request is a hidden opportunity, if you know how to approach it. Click Play!

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

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MBA1449 What Exactly Is a Funnel? (and How to Build One) Jan 28, 2020

Show notes

It’s something every marketer studies endlessly. If you’re in business, you’ve heard of it by now: the “funnel.”

There’s a good reason this concept is so common. Understanding the funnel and applying it to your business is crucial to your company’s growth. You could even argue that without studying the art of the funnel, your business can’t grow at all!

Whether they realize it or not, all businesses funnel. It’s just that some are better at it than others.

In short, the funnel is the thing that takes people from perfect stranger, to lead, to customer, and finally to creator of other customers. It’s a central tenet of digital marketing, and the only efficient way to approach the task of finding your customers among all those millions of people out there on the Internet.

Today, we’ll explain the funnel, unpack its mysteries, and illustrate the concept with a hypothetical example. Let’s build your funnel, and get some people into it. Click Play!

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MBA1448 Guest Teacher: Kim Speed – How to turn your clients into your greatest sales team Jan 27, 2020

Show notes

There is no better salesperson than someone who doesn’t work for you.

Think about how you decide to purchase something. While marketers, advertisers, and actual sales people have a goal in mind, other consumers have nothing to gain by encouraging you to buy a given product. It’s that simple.

A happy customer is worth a dozen salespeople — because trust.

That said, most of your customers aren’t likely to speak up for you unless you ask them. Today, we’ve got a special guest who’s an expert in enlisting customers as evangelists. Kim Speed is a branding master who knows how to get that crucial word of mouth going.

She’s here with a lesson on approaching your customers, getting the feedback you need, and using it to turn satisfaction into hyper-effective marketing and advertising.

Testimonials and customer reviews are pure gold, more likely to influence your sales than any amount of paid ads. Find out exactly how to extract this powerful asset from your customers, and use it to maximum effect. Click Play!

Branding on a Shoestring by Kim Speed

Purple Moon Creative

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