What can you do with $100?

One of the big things I studied in college was business.

I learned a good bunch about accounting, business law, organizational structure, and other stuff like that. When I graduated and stepped fully into the working world–especially when my position put me in touch with a lot of other businesses–I was shocked.

I was shocked (and still am, regularly) that so many aren’t doing what they should be doing according to what I learned in school.

Then I look around and realize two things: A lot of business that goes on today didn’t exist when I was in college and what works in the text books isn’t always practical for the small business actually trying to make it in the world.

That’s where the Internet comes in.

Most of the work I do now–websites, social media, and business development–was just crawling out of the realm of science fiction when I was in college. It wasn’t in any of the text books. None of the professors had any experience with online anything.

That in and of itself makes a lot of what I learned in all those hours (and paid all that money for) more than a bit outdated and kind of useless.

If I didn’t keep myself on top of the new ways of doing business, I wouldn’t have a clue about all the fantastic resources that are available.

Most small businesses–the ones fighting to make it on Main Street in any town you care to point at–don’t have the time to stay on top of all the new developments. Heck, the only reason I can is because it is the core of my business. If I were running a restaurant or retail store, managing employees, or anything else like that, I’d be hard pressed to find enough hours in the day to keep up.

But, for anyone who wants to make the time and take the effort, the Internet is easily available and it’s full of awesome information.

Just $100 to get started

With all of that information readily available, there’s a lot less need to drop the huge hunk of cash on a business school education. Especially if you’re in the market to go solo… or are serious about following one of your passions.

We’re regularly told that doing those things are a bad idea. (At least if we want to keep food on the table.)

The more time you spend looking into it, though, the more you realize that the most successful (and happy) people out there have done just that.

One of those successful and happy people is Chris Guillebeau. He doesn’t have the fancy education or the impressive resume. But he’s spent the last few years traveling the world, writing about it, learning what it takes to make a great business, and making a real living doing it.

He’s about to release a book called The $100 Startup. Guillebeau has gone and interviewed 50 successful business people who started out with around $100 in capital.

You really can’t get much more up to date and hands-on than that.

A damn fine deal

One of the things he’s definitely learned is how to cut a good deal (did I mention all the world traveling he’s done has been paid for in large part by frequent flyer miles?). To celebrate the launch of this new book, he’s been kind enough to get together with Only72.com and let the hard cover version of his book serve as the centerpiece for their latest package deal.

This time around, the Only72 crew have put together 18 different ebooks and online courses to help you tackle the business challenges of the modern world. Each book or course is from someone who’s not only done it before but is doing it now–making their money using the tools available on the Internet (and elsewhere in the modern world). They’re all a far cry from the dusty textbooks and not-quite-cutting edge professors from my college days.

The deal is this is over $1000 worth of hands-on educational material, including the hard cover book, at the very nice 90% discounted price of $100. The catch is, it’s only available for a little while. Get it now.

I regularly follow a handful of the people, including Gillebeau, and can tell you the advice they give is super useful. (It’s also usually more than a little entertaining and comes with a healthy dose of enlightenment, too.)

So, yeah, for just $100 you can get started making your own way in the world, by learning directly from people who are doing it.

Then you and I can trade stories some day about how rough it is starting out on your own, but how nothing really compares to it in the long run.

[Yes, the links here are mostly affiliate links. If you buy from them, I get paid. But I wouldn’t push anything in your direction that I wouldn’t use… and I did just buy this set myself. There’s always something new to learn.]