TMBA Podcast Episodes
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TMBA 285: So You've Got Some Time and Location Freedom, What's Next?
In a nice bit of serendipity, I was in Singapore last week and I ran into my friend John McIntyre. John is The Autoresponder Guy, but today he didn't want to talk about email marketing or autoresponders. We got to talking about what you do when you've gotten through those first few years of running a business and you've reached a certain level of comfort. How do you choose to live once you own your own time? We'll also talk about John's experience scaling in year three of a productized service business, and what you can get out of living in Chaing Mai.
TMBA 275: How Should an Entrepreneur Invest $50,000?
Bossman and I have taken the last few weeks off to recharge and prepare for our upcoming Singapore Event. We're back from our short break and ringing in the new year by discussing a question that Marc Cuban asked recently: What should the average investor do with $50,000? We'll dissect some of the ideas he proposed about financial investments, talk about how the location-independent entrepreneur can put them to good use, and explain exactly what makes our upcoming gathering of entrepreneurs such a unique sharing environment.
TMBA 274: When You’ve Built Yourself a Job Instead of a Business
With the help of our friend Taylor Pearson from TaylorPearson.me, we are continuing our 5 part series. The first episode was about making that first $1,000 of income. This episode is all about the next phase of a business, where you are starting to make a living, but you're trying to figure out how to scale that and turn it into a real asset. We'll talk about how we got out of our jobs and built a business, how long we were living broke for and the fundamental difference between building yourself a job and a business.
TMBA 271: Understanding and Optimizing For Multiple Currencies: A Conversation with Patrick McKenzie
Patrick McKenzie from Kalzumeus.com has been one of my favorite bloggers for over half of a decade. Patrick has a storied history of writing long-form pieces about the experiences of starting bootstrap software businesses, and is an expert at optimizing for non-cash currencies. In this week's episode we dig deep into Patrick's business philosophy, including how he has been able to build a powerhouse blog that is followed by some of the most influential people in the industry. We also talk about his expertise around conversion optimization and email marketing, how not to suck at giving conference speeches, and Patrick's experience as a long-term expat in Japan.
TMBA 270: A Roundtable Discussion on Apprentices, Mentoring, and Team Building
Our old friend and former team member Taylor Pearson from TaylorPearson.me has come by this week to help us have a broad, round-table conversation about team building. We talk about the ways that Ian and I have done it, and Taylor shares some insider insight from having been on our team. We also answer a question from a young listener about whether he should be learning a skill set like SEO or diving headfirst into his own business.
TMBA 269: Branding is About Relationships Not Recognition
TropicalMBA is a podcast dedicated to the growing movement of location independent entrepreneurs. Every week, location independent entrepreneurs all over the world will leave us questions and comments in our voicemail. This week, we are answering a whole bunch of those voicemails, including questions about why you should be starting or joining a mastermind group, some of the best things about being an expatriate and why branding is really about building relationships with your clients.
TMBA 268: Getting More Out of Conferences - “Breakfast is a Big Deal”
Bossman and I are in Tokyo this week following our annual DC BKK Conference in Thailand. We are gonna be recapping how the event went, and reminiscing about some of our favorite speakers. We're also going to be talking about what we've learned about throwing events, what we are planning to do in the future and sharing our advice for people that are looking to get the most out of all these upcoming conferences.
TMBA 266: Growing Productized Services Businesses
Bossman and I are in Bangkok, gearing up for DC BKK, and we are chatting with our friend Jacob Puhl this week. Jacob is one of our speakers here for the event, and he has built a really unique and successful productized service business, geared primarily toward the dental industry. He really has a lot of valuable knowledge on how to scale a business. We're gonna be talking about how to overcome the complications of investing in and expanding a service business and the five ways to turn your services business into a salable asset.
TMBA 265: Visiting China - Why Entrepreneurs Travel to the Canton Fair
The Canton Fair is taking place this October, so I was really happy to run into my old friend Matt Kowolak from HighCappin.com. Matt has been living as an entrepreneur in China for ten years, and he is the person I go to whenever I have a question about the country. We chat it up about the history of the fair, what it feels like to attend such a historic trade show and what kind of opportunities exist there. He also shares a broad overview of what living in China as an expatriate is like and how to take advantage of their entrepreneurial culture.
TMBA 264: The Artisan's Approach to Podcasting
This week, we’re going to talk all about how to find your unique voice in the marketplace, and how to build an entertaining and informative show that can help you generate a location-independent income. Damien Ruse from SemiProCycling.com is doing just that. He is a coach, a cyclist and a podcast host that has been producing his show for two years, and is currently making a full-time income off of it. If you are interested at all in podcasting, blogging or making a living from your own art, this episode is for you.
TMBA 263: Building Low-Risk Software Startups
I'm in Bangkok this week, getting set up for DC BKK and I was very excited to run into our good friend David Hehenberger from WPCast.fm and FatCatApps.com. His products help marketers drive conversions from their Wordpress sites. This is really a full-circle moment for us, as David used to edit the show in the early days of our Podcast. David has since downshifted to focus on building a software company that he felt would be sustainable and generate income on his own terms. We're gonna be talking with David about how he got his company off the ground, how difficult it really is to develop a software product, and the challenges of working within the Wordpress ecosystem.
TMBA 262: How to Make Your First $1,000 Online
With over 260 episodes, some of our listeners have been asking us which episodes of our show are the best to share with people who want to learn more about the location independent lifestyle. We thought this posed a pretty interesting challenge, and we've decided to create a five part series that people can download to get an overall sense of what the location independent startup community is all about. On this first episode in the series, we are going to be going over five key points on how to make your first $1000 online.
TMBA 261: Systematize Your Selling
On last week's episode, our good friend Taylor Pearson mentioned that one of the most universally fundamental traits that all successful entrepreneurs have is sales skills. We're gonna be talking about how to build that skill set so you can get your first 100 customers. We are also answering a bunch of listener questions about fighting the Amazon beast, how to get the most out of events, and our thoughts on visiting the U.S. after an extended time abroad.
TMBA 260: The Long Road to Mid 5-Figure Months
We put Taylor Pearson in charge of our Portable Bar company in its infancy, and he helped us grow our business 527% in the first 18 months, to the point where we are consistently having healthy mid 5-figure months. This week, Bossman is back and we are chatting with Taylor about what it's like to evolve from a small business that is just keeping the lights on to a real significant source of wealth. We're talking about the old-school tactics we used to grow our business, and how we have used the advice that we give in this show in real life situations.
TMBA 259: What Does Google Know About Us?
As entrepreneurs, Google has really become a huge part of a lot of our everyday lives. The privacy concerns that have come to light over the last few years are legitimate, and way we think about our internet use is changing. Gabriel Weinberg is the Founder of DuckDuckGo, a search engine that is steadily gaining market share by offering real privacy. He is also an angel investor, and has taken investments from some of the most successful venture capitalists in the world. This week, Gabriel and I are going to be talking about what privacy means today and what Google knows about us, along with some really unique strategies for startups.
TMBA 258: Living, Working, and Adventuring in South East Asia
This week I was lucky enough to catch up with Stuart McDonald, the founder of Travelfish, which one of the most respected sites on the web for South East Asia travel information. If you peak over the shoulder of a random backpacker in Bangkok cafes, expect to see a "TravelFish" URL along with Facebook blue. There aren’t many people that have more travel experience in the region than Stuart. Because of this, I couldn’t help but ask him a lot of travel and expat-centric questions. We talk about everything from raising a family in SEAsia, the lore and adventure many westerners place on SEAsian adventures, the nuts and bolts of expat living, and how Stuart was able to turn Travelfish into a successful online business.
TMBA 257: Thoughts On Recruiting Effective Affiliates
Bossman is back this week and we are talking about affiliate relationships. How do you get others to promote your products? We'll talk about how to "write the religion" and give potential content publishers a reason to tap into your narrative. We also field several listener questions, including what to look for when hiring your first employee, and the ins and outs of establishing business credit.
TMBA 256: Making Sense of Awards Points and Business Class Upgrades
Bossman is on vacation this week, so I've invited my friend Erik Paquet from Abroaders.com on to the show to talk all about mileage, point redemption, how to fly business class as often as possible and much more. In the Dynamite Circle, Erik is widely regarded as the go-to guy for travel hacking. We are also going to be discussing how he has been able to use his unique set of skills to launch a productized service business.
TMBA 255: How People Fail at Sustaining the Digital Nomad Lifestyle
Will you succeed or fail as a digital nomad? Becoming a successful location-independent entrepreneur isn't guaranteed. Some of the skills it takes to become a successful digital nomad take years to develop. This week, we are talking about the four major differences we have seen between successful digital nomads and those who have failed.
TMBA 254: A Framework for Creating Mastermind Events or Parties
Having a mastermind group, and perpetuating a mastermind group, is a great way to handle some of the emotional struggles of having your own business. They are just as fun as a poker party, but they can change your life. Masterminds are the reason we started this podcast. We've done a lot of in-person masterminds, and they are a great way to grow a community and connect with your audience. This week, we're talking about the power, the pitfalls, and the process of in-person masterminds.