Author: Omar Zenhom

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MBA889 How to Grow Your Business With Webinars

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date August 21, 2017

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!

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MBA888 Guest Teacher Troy Stites- Three Strategies to Automate Your Business Growth

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date August 14, 2017

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!

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Entrepreneurship

Why I Changed My Twitter Handle

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date August 7, 2017
No Comments on Why I Changed My Twitter Handle

A while back, I made a change. My original handle on Twitter was @BizRepublic, reflecting the original name of our company, Business Republic. I changed it to @TheOmarZenhom, reflecting the original name of…me. Some of our readers and listeners wondered about the ramifications of doing so. Would we lose followers and exposure? Would it jeopardize our brand? In the Social Media Era, how big of an impact does changing your handle have?

I had good reasons for the switch. In fact, I wish I’d made it sooner (Actually, I wish I’d started with my current handle. More on that later.). It was worth navigating the “side effects,” which were surprisingly mild in my case, with the kind of businesses I’m running. It was even worth losing a few followers.

I’ve always said that independent business owners have a tendency to make too much of social media. But in choosing or changing your social media moniker, there are some things worth considering.

Don’t Make Your Audience Work

I’d been on Twitter for some time, trying to grow my audience. Of course, having that presence on Twitter is a great marketing opportunity, and I wanted to see that “Followers” number rise. But what I heard over and over was that people were trying to find me by using my actual name. If someone enjoyed the podcast or a blog I’d written, or heard about a webinar I’d done, they weren’t trying to find “Business Republic.” They were trying to find Omar Zenhom.

Now, followers could still find me under “Biz Republic” as long as my actual name was in my profile. However, it created an unnecessary obstacle. Twitter is a medium in which attention spans aren’t long. Every character— and every second— counts. That means giving a potential customer even a moment’s difficulty in finding me or verifying my account was a problem. In a split-second, 140-character-limit context, decisions are made in less than a snap. You’ve got to make it easy for people to follow you.

Some Things Never Change

The other problem with @BizRepublic is that it refers to one company. I’ve developed, run, and been associated with several businesses over the years. While I’m proud of all of them, none of them define my career as an entrepreneur on their own.

Business changes. You take on different projects, you go in different directions, you develop along with your circumstances. While one business or project might consume you at the moment, it might not be the center of your world next year. Your name, on the other hand, stays the same unless you choose to change it. If you’re developing a true and loyal fanbase, it’s you they’ll be looking for, not just your business or product.

When I finally made the switch to my given name, my fears about losing visibility turned out to be unfounded. In reality, the people who actually cared about what I was doing were associating me with my name, not the name of the company. Because I invest my personality into my businesses, that’s what people remember.

“Followers” vs Followers

When I changed my handle, it meant that every tweet in which I was referred to as @BizRepublic died. Those tweets now link to nothing (actually, they link to “Page Not Found”). They’re lost, along with some followers. Some entrepreneurs try to “migrate” their followers to a new account by keeping the old one active just to redirect people to the new account. This is neither efficient nor particularly worth the effort.

Instead, I chose to let @BizRepublc go. I had plenty of content, connections, and moves to make using my own name. Yes, I lost some links and some followers. But as time went on and @TheOmarZenhom carved out its niche, I found out I didn’t really need them. What’s the value of a year-old tweet anyway? As for the followers, changing handles provided a great example of the “true fans” theory of marketing.

“Followers” on Twitter are one thing. But your true followers, the ones who actually care about what you’re doing and are likely to either be or become customers, are quite another. The people who truly enjoy your content, use your product, and have a relationship with you aren’t just on Twitter. You’re interacting with them via email, via webinar, and most importantly, on your own website. Social media is a useful tool. But the people who’ll sustain your business will hear from you elsewhere as well.

Since I changed handles, I haven’t heard from a single person who had trouble finding me on Twitter. They know my name, and they’re in touch with me in other ways. The audience I’m Tweeting to will be there, because it’s part of a bigger picture. The real followers came along, and they always will.

Perspective

Twitter isn’t your business. No social media platform is. They’re a way to communicate. They’re marketing tools. But you can’t depend on them to carry your voice to your audience. These platforms change their algorithms and formats. New platforms rise up as established ones lose popularity. And the audience of a given platform is so vast that you have little chance of being heard— unless some slice of the audience is already listening for you.

For the bulk of your business, you have to use your own website. Relying on the fickle whims of social media is not a marketing plan. It’s a lack of one. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking success is just a retweet away. And don’t overrate the importance of your social media presence. Changing my handle worked out fine, because Twitter is just a supplement to my overall marketing strategy.

If I had to do over, I’d have gone with my own name from day one. If you’re just starting out, I’d advise you learn from my mistake and do the same. Your business will change. But the heart of that business is your vision, your outlook, your personality. Let your social media presence be a reflection of that, and you’ll get the most out of it.

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MBA887 The Working While Traveling Experiment P8: Would I Work While Traveling Again? My Take-Aways From This Experiment

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date August 7, 2017

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!

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MBA886 The Working While Traveling Experiment P7: How to Stay Focused in a Busy Time

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date July 31, 2017

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!

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MBA885 The Working While Traveling Experiment P6: What Makes a Business a Great Global Business?

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date July 24, 2017

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!

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MBA884 The Working While Traveling Experiment P5: My Working While Traveling Challenges

Post author By Omar Zenhom
Post date July 17, 2017

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!

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