TMBA Podcast Episodes
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We publish a new show every Thursday morning, 8AM EST
TMBA 158 (LBP135) - 8 New Year's Resolutions
Dan and Ian are now back in Bali just in time for the New Year’s festivities. Between celebrations, they’ll be putting together their game plan for 2013 and setting some lofty goals for 2013. The turn of the new year marks Dan and Ian’s fifth year in business which sparks a discussion on goal setting and identifying keystone habits. These help form their New Year’s resolutions where they’ll push past just talking revenue and business growth. You’ll hear about Dan’s professional aspirations, Ian’s plan to step up his business relationships and the pairs’ health focus that will inspire you to set some New Year’s resolutions of your own.
TMBA 157 (LBP134) - If It Makes You Money, You Shouldn't Be Doing It (The SOP Episode)
Almost back in Bali! Ian’s heading to join Dan in Bali in just a few days for the end of the year. They’re going to take a look back at their businesses in 2012 and look forward at how to grow their businesses in 2013. They’ve realized that in order to continue to scale, they need to get even more focused on creating documentation and standards of procedure. They took a look at the literature and brought their experience from their e-commerce company together to bring you a step-by-step guide to start creating SOPs that let you save your profits right out of the gate.
TMBA 156 (LBP133) - Deferred Life Plans and the Action Jackson Strategy
Dan and Ian are making plans to rendevous in Bali again. Dan is still there working on his book, while Ian is in Orlando avoiding the M3 service industry guys and spending time with his family. Ian’s recent trip to a race prompted a discussion between the guys about deferred life plans. There’s a built in assumption that retirement is worth 30 years of investment, but is that true?
TMBA 155 (TTR24) - "If You Cannot Exercise This Kind of Control in Adult Life, You'll Be Totally Hosed"
It’s time for another Tropical Talk Radio podcast, which gets published every Friday afternoon (Hong Kong time). Here’s the link to subscribe in Itunes if you haven’t already done so. In this week’s episode Dan hands off the mic to a recording of David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech given in 2005 to Kenyon College in Ohio. It’s inspiring and thought-provoking.
TMBA 154 (LBP132) - "The Imagination Economy" and Other Predictions for 2013
Dan’s set a Sunday deadline for finishing his first book and getting it to a group of Beta readers. Ian and Dan have laid out the upcoming meetups for DCers with definite meetups in April (Europe) and October (Bangkok – #DCBKK) and a potential get together in the Phillipines in March. In today’s episode Dan and Ian make some predictions for 2013 and beyond. Turns out, they think Seth Godin is a pretty smart guy.
TMBA 153 (TTR23) - The Rule of 6 (Plus 5 Sociopathic Tactics)
It’s time for another Tropical Talk Radio podcast, which gets published every Friday afternoon (Hong Kong time). Here’s the link to subscribe in Itunes if you haven’t already done so. In this week’s episode I respond to a few reader emails I received this week.
TMBA 152 (LBP131) - The Rule of 6 - And the 10 Commandments of Content Marketing
It’s getting late in the year and we all know what that means: Buck season. While Ian is stalking the big bucks back in San Diego, Dan’s writing binge in Bali continues. Content Marketing is a hot topic in the internet marketing world right now, but what does content marketing really mean? Dan and Ian define what great content really is and show how you can use the Rule of 6 to spring load your content marketing efforts.
TMBA 151 (TTR22) - 4th Dimension Copywriting (and Why You Shouldn't Bother with Keyword Research)
It’s time for another Tropical Talk Radio podcast, which gets published every Friday afternoon (Hong Kong time). Here’s the link to subscribe in Itunes if you haven’t already done so. In this week’s episode I respond to a few reader emails I received this week.
TMBA 150 (LBP130) - How to Be a Happy Sociopath
Dan has adopted the Tim Ferriss book writing method and isolated himself from everything except Evernote. Ian on the other hand is tearing it up in San Diego and prepping for a motorcycle race. In this week’s episode, Dan and Ian explore the benefits of being a “sociopath” (it’s not what it sounds like). Inspired by a Ribbonfarm post from Venkat, they discuss the relationship between sociopaths, the clueless, and the losers.
TMBA 149 (TTR21) - Spotlight Marketing (+ Have We Found the Community Marketer's Secret Weapon?)
It’s time for another Tropical Talk Radio podcast, which gets published every Friday afternoon (Asia time). Here’s the link to subscribe in Itunes if you haven’t already done so. In this week’s episode I respond to a few reader emails I received this week.
TMBA 148 (LBP129) - ROUND 1 - Business Idea Smackdown - Dan “Coconut Crusher” Andrews vs. Ian “Benjamins by Birth” Schoen
Dan’s bean bag sitting in Bali, intermittently nuking himself off the internet to make sure he gets his book taken care of on time while Ian’s in San Diego taking care of business like a boss. After getting some inspiration from the Adsense Flippers, Dan and Ian decided to go for a knock down drag out four-rounder this week. They asked Taylor, the new guy on the team, to put together 4 unique business premises. Dan and Ian come up with unique solutions to each premise and it’s up to you guys to decide who came out on top.
TMBA 147 (TTR20) - What Is the Best Place in Southeast Asia for Internet Entrepreneurs?
This week I totally geek out on one of my favorite topics: how do various locations in Southeast Asia stack up to each other for internet entrepreneurs? During the conversation I share a lot of anecdotes from my last 5 months on the road, along with a few new pieces of information I’ve picked up along the way. Hope you enjoy and curious to hear your thoughts as always.
TMBA 146 (LBP128) - Manipulating the Success Script
Dan’s still in Bali grinding out his first book while Ian’s back in San Diego working on taking the product business to the next level. Inspired by a talk Cal Newport gave, Dan and Ian reveal that the script to success, however you define it. While success is something each person decides on, there is a script that everyone can follow to get themselves there. With all the talk in the blogosphere about “passion,” the true story about achieving success and happiness seems to be a little more complex.
TMBA 145 (TTR19) - The 2% Fallacy and 10 Business Red Flags
I’m back in Bali hoping to take advantage of the inspiring scenery and lifestyle to get a ton of work done. I was excited to hop on the mic solo-style this week and address those of you who plan to spend the weekend hustling away. In this week’s show I talk about some digital nomad hot spots as well as 10 business red flags that prevent you and your business from achieving maximum velocity.
TMBA 144 (LBP127) - Generating Wealth and Re-Considering Retirement for Entrepreneurs
Dan and Ian are homeward bound. Ian just got back San Diego and Dan’s headed to Bali for November to write his first book. Both still coming down from the high and energy of DCBKK, they wanted to tackle a tough question on the real meaning of wealth and entrepreneurship. Everyone knows that society has certain scripts and most people blindly assume the numbers support those. Dan and Ian sit down to look at the facts of a 20 year trajectory for a professional job vs. an entrepreneur and then look at how they and their network got there.
TMBA 143 (TTR18) - 5 Media Created Distortions About Successful Internet Ventures
The CEO-yeah is heading back to the good ole’ U.S. of A. and I’m heading up to Chiang Mai to do a little scouting and see if it could be worthy of being the next TMBA compound. In this week’s episode, we get called out on our Modern Cat Furniture business by listener Shayna and invoke the “do as we say, not as we do” maxim. We reveal our 3 step process on how to know when it’s time to hire and the differences between what we do, small businesses, and startups.
TMBA 142 (LBP126) - Gaming Google Search Results - What's Working and What's Getting Killed
After the first annual Dynamite Circle DCBKK Conference in Bangkok, Dan and Ian blew it out Bangkok-style. But first, they sat down with SEO guru Travis Jamison from Smash Digital to discuss some of the latest Google algorithm updates and how Travis is adjusting. Lots of site owners have been left scrambling after the Google Penguin updates and refreshes over the past months, not to mention the Exact Match Domain update that rolled out a few weeks ago. While the rest of the world screams “SEO is Dead,” Travis reveals how he’s still crushing it with top rankings.
TMBA 141 (LBP125) - How to Avoid your Entrepreneurial Blindspots - Dan's Stick-On Mirror Theory
After two weeks in Puerto Galera with the October TMBA session, Dan and Ian celebrated Dan’s birthday in style at the classic Filippino restaurant TGIFriday’s and then curled up under a staircase in the Mall of Asia to bring this episode to you. Having done three sessions with various TMBA participants and being asked weekly similar questions from folks starting their own businesses, they’ve come to notice some consistent things that happen with every new business owner. The good news is that these are generally fixable, you just need to know how to adjust your mirrors.
TMBA 140 (LBP124) - How Marketing Beats Sales and Why Capacity Is A Number With James Schramko
This week Dan jumped on the phone with the man, the myth, the Aussie legend in content marketing and helping customers online, James Schramko of Super Fast Business and one of Dan’s new favorite podcasts Freedom Ocean. A super-sized episode that caused Dan to spend the past week to say to Ian “Did I tell you what Schramko told me? Have I told you about my interview with Schramko? James has this baller way of dealing with that.” Needless to say Dan and Ian’s mancrushes run high – after listening to the interview you’ll develop a mind-crush too.
TMBA 139 (LBP123) - Getting To Five Years On A Business Trajectory
Five years ago (October 2nd, 2007 to be exact) Dan and Ian were sitting at brunch when Dan got a notification on his original iPhone that they had gotten paid for their first product sale. Starting that day they set their sights on a business trajectory that has taken them five years, multiple product lines, 10+ employees, world-wide travel destinations, a publishing venture, private mastermind community, and top iTunes podcast into the future.