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MBA1523 Must Read: Remote by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

The book isn’t new, but the review is timely. This is the best guide to running a remote team available, from two guys who helped pioneer and popularize the concept.

Fried and Hansson are the co-founders of Basecamp, the tool we use here at The $100 MBA to coordinate the work of about two dozen employees on four different continents. Their approach can be described as radical, and the pair haven’t always made friends with their committed approach to letting people work from home.

But now might be a good time to revisit their advice.

This book will help you understand how to make remote work work. More importantly, it explains why; whatever happens with COVID-19, many businesses will have the option of not going back to normal…and that can be a really, really good thing.

Learn why remote work isn’t just necessary in a crisis, but preferable all the time. See what pitfalls are common, and how to address them. Start planning your company’s transition to a fully (or partially) remote team long-term. Click Play!

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WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

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!

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Remote by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson

Basecamp

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MBA1522 Set Up a Home Office on a Budget + Free Ride Friday

Our company has always been remote, and we’ve always worked from home. 

With millions suddenly forced to do business from the same building they live in, we figured a little advice on effective home office setup might be helpful. The good news? It’s pretty easy, and not that expensive.

If you’re used to working in a conventional office, you may not be going back to it for a long time — or ever. 

That’s not because COVID-19 won’t be under control; it will be, sooner or later. But the benefits of remote work for employees and employers will remain. Remote work was always an excellent alternative for many businesses; coronavirus just forced many of us to give it a try.

You might not want to go back!

You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars for a professional, comfortable, productive home office space. Even if you have to buy a few furnishings and pieces of equipment, a modest investment can create a perfectly efficient space you might actually prefer to your good ol’ cubicle.

Today, we’ll share our best tips for the perfect setup, with loads of specific recommendations (we hope you like IKEA). Remote work can be liberating, especially if you plan the space right. Click Play!

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WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

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!

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IKEA Micke Desk

IKEA Skarsta Desk

IKEA Linnmon Table

IKEA Kullaberg stool

Asus monitors

Light & Glo Candles

Google Home Mini

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MBA1521 First Steps In Setting Up a YouTube Channel

YouTube: ignore it at your peril. 

It’s the world’s second largest search engine, and its content often dominates the results of that other search engine. It’s a powerful marketing channel, as powerful as any blog or social media account.

So how do you get started?

Today, we’ll explain how to get your own YouTube channel up and running with minimal hassle. With step-by-step instructions and loads of online resources, you can claim your space on this increasingly vital platform.

We’ll discuss how to manage realistic expectations, and how “standing out” on this very crowded platform is less important than finding your niche. With a reasonable investment of time and effort, you can reap major traffic from YouTube — even if you’ve never shot a video before.  Click Play!

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WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

NerdWallet

We all love nerding out. When it comes to personal finance, no one nerds out like the nerds at NerdWallet. NerdWallet makes even the most complicated money matters understandable for everyone. Their calculators and comparison tools help you understand your options, no matter what you’re trying to accomplish. For all your money questions, check out the expert advice at nerdwallet.com

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CGP Grey

UBeeSize Ring Light

ATR2100 Microphone

Camtasia

Backlinko

Fiverr

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MBA1520 Q&A Wednesdays: I Want To Sell My Books. Do I need a Website?

Standing out as a writer is tough. 

Fortunately, you don’t necessarily have to shoot for the New York Times’ best-seller list. You just have to find your audience, and grow it. But for today’s authors, that begs the question: does Amazon help with that, or hurt?

Or both?

It’s Q&A Wednesday, and one of our listeners is a fiction author who’s not sure whether to even build their own website, since Amazon…y’know, exists. After all, most books are sold on Amazon, right? Is it worth the time and effort to build a site that just forwards people to The Everything Store anyway?

Spoiler alert, budding authors: do not rely on Amazon.

We get into the details on today’s episode. We’ll discuss why Amazon is helpful for authors, and the price you pay in return. We’ll explain how important your own website really is, and what you lose by not having one.  We’ll also explain why even if you are selling books on Amazon, your own separate corner of the Internet is still a must..

Plus, we’ll discuss how the difference between physical books and e-books factors into the overall equation.

Amazon is a useful resource for writers and entrepreneurs of all kinds, but that doesn’t mean you should only market and sell there. Find out why, plus learn where to get some affordable help in setting up your own website. Click Play!

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NerdWallet

We all love nerding out. When it comes to personal finance, no one nerds out like the nerds at NerdWallet. NerdWallet makes even the most complicated money matters understandable for everyone. Their calculators and comparison tools help you understand your options, no matter what you’re trying to accomplish. For all your money questions, check out the expert advice at nerdwallet.com

WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

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Podia

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MBA1519 How to Create a Demo Video for Your Product

No matter what you’re selling — product or service, physical or digital — a great video can be a marketing game-changer.

Videos are an efficient way to get attention, get your message across, and nurture leads faster. As content goes, video is almost as important as the written word these days, and will almost certainly keep trending up.

And by the way: it’s ok if you’ve never made a demo video before.

Today, we’ll explain how to craft short, effective, professional demo videos for your product. We’ll go through each step in the process, and take the intimidation factor out of the equation for anyone with something to sell.

We promise it’s easier than you think!

We’ll explain how to plan and execute your video with conversions in mind, and of course we’ll offer recommendations for hardware and software that makes it all a snap.

A good short video can be far-reaching and seriously impactful. Take the time to produce one or two, and you just might make it an integral part of your overall marketing strategy. Start with this lesson. Click Play!

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WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

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 oupodia.com/mba now.

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Wistia

Camtasia

Audio Jungle

WebinarNinja Demo Video

ATR2100 Microphone

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MBA1518 Guest Teacher – Angela Henderson – How To Use Human to Human Marketing In Your Business

You’ve heard of B2C and B2B. But H2H is still important, no matter what kind of business you run.

Angela Henderson is a business coach, keynote speaker, and podcaster who helps women business owners from around the world earn consistent 5-figure monthly revenue and multiple 6-figure years… without burning out in the process. Her focus on the human aspect of lead nurturing and customer relationships might sound a little analog, but that’s exactly what makes it effective.

Today, she’s here to help us understand how there’s no substitute for the personal touch.

If you’re looking to stand out in your marketing, and turn customers into lifers, H2H may be the ingredient you haven’t considered. People’s human interactions with your brand can define it in the long term, regardless of everything else you’re doing to grow your business.

In other words, while outsourcing, automation, and staffing are important for efficiency, those tactics have their limits.

Tune in, and let Angela explain why that phone call, that check-in, and all the ways you personally show up can make all the difference – even though you’re busy. Click Play!

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WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

Microsoft Teams

Welcome to the new way to work together. From group projects to weekly “all hands” meetings, Microsoft Teams will change the way you teamwork. Contribute to meetings from anywhere, chat with coworkers, find and edit files in real time, and more. With one place to create and make decisions together, there’s no limit to what your team can achieve. Learn more at microsoft.com/teams

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Finlee + Me

Angela Henderson Consulting

BuiltWith

NerdyData

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MBA1517 How To Move From Working In Your Business to Working On Your Business + Free Ride Friday

You’ve built a business. Congratulations! Now, it’s time to stop building it.

Seriously.

One trap entrepreneurs fall into is failing to take Marshall Goldsmith’s old advice: “What got you here won’t get you there.” In this case, it means hanging on to responsibilities that shouldn’t be yours anymore — things you handled at the beginning, but only because there was no one else.

In other words, it’s time to let others work so you can lead.

Today, we’ll discuss what tasks you should be handing off to your team. Your role as founder has to be sharply defined, or you’ll end up being sucked into endless day-to-day stuff that keeps your business running, but doesn’t move it forward. 

If you’re not ready to expand your team accordingly, that’s ok too. We’ll discuss alternatives, as well as how to map out a long-term plan for making the right hires. The goal: to have everyone in your company — including you — doing only what they’re best at, not just what needs to be done.

Plus, we’ll offer a few tips on where to turn for even more help, inspiration, and advice for finally, truly taking the lead. Click Play!

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WebinarNinja

Looking for an easy, intuitive webinar platform that gets out of your way? WebinarNinja is the most user-friendly webinar platform on the market. Best of all, it works! With built-in marketing tools like email automations, landing pages, and more, WebinarNinja is everything you need to run live, automated, or hybrid webinars. Sign up for a free live demonstration at webinarninja.com/workshop.

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 oupodia.com/mba now.

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EasyCourse

Entrepreneurs on Fire

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz