Omar Zenhom charges $100 a month for his MBA training because paid courses get finished while free ones don't. Harvard and MIT data show the gap. He gave away 10 free scholarships and only 2 people logged in, zero completed it.
Questions this video answers
2,600 business lessons (2,600 episodes).
3–6% average completion rate for free online courses.
30–60% completion rate for paid courses (varies by price and structure).
Adding a $1 price tag increases perceived value of usage by over 80% (verbal claim).
He gave away 10 free scholarships; 2 logged in; 0 finished the program.
Chapters
You know what? I honestly hate selling my program. If I can give everything away for free, I would. And for the most part, I do. You're listening to this podcast which has over 2,600 business lessons. 2,600 episodes, completely free. I don't hold back. I give everything I know here on the podcast. And that model works. But when it comes to the hundred dollar MBA program, I charge for it. Not because I love selling, but because not charging for that program would hurt the people it's meant to help. Let me explain why. Free feels good, but it doesn't actually work all the time. We all love free, and free has a place, right? Free samples, free YouTube videos, free newsletters. All great for learning something new and exploring an idea. But when it comes to making a real change in your life, in your business, free doesn't cut it. Let me hit you with some real numbers. A report from Harvard and MIT found that an average completion rate for free online courses Is is between 3 and 6%. Meanwhile, paid courses consistently see completion rates between 30 and 60%, depending on the price point and the structure. A study from the Journal of Marketing Research found that even a dollar price tag on something increases the perceived value of the actual usage by over 80%. So if someone asks, why don't you just give your full program away? My answer is, because then you probably won't finish it. When I first launched the $100 MBA program over a decade ago, I gave away 10 free scholarships. I handpicked a few people that were really ambitious dreamers, people who just needed a break. And you know how many of those 10 people logged in? 2. 2. Out of the 10 people that were desperate for this program, you know how many people finished the program? 0. Meanwhile, people paying students who invested in the program were logged in, showing up, completing the lessons, asking questions, taking action. Right? That was a wake up call for me. It taught me what every experienced entrepreneur eventually learns. People who pay pay attention. They value what they pay for. And you don't just want attention, you want commitment. And a commitment often requires a transaction. Here's the thing. I'm not one of those always be closing guys who absolutely love sales. I don't mind it. I don't hate it. I've learned to start to enjoy the sales process. But if I could choose not to sell, I would choose not to sell. I was a teacher before I was an entrepreneur. I love teaching. That's why I started this podcast. Allow me to teach business lessons three days a week. That's why I built the $100 MBA program. But I still sell that program because it's the only way I can ensure that we're maximizing the potential for our students to get results. You have to actually complete the program. You have to learn what's in there so that you can implement, can't implement what you don't know. When you pay, you show up. When you show up, you do the work. And when you do the work, things change. And that's what I care about. And let's be real, giving away free content is better for me. It grows my brand, it builds my trust with my audience. It lets me have help a lot of people at scale. But if all I did is give away content, I wouldn't be doing right by the people who really want to change their lives and build a business. Because to really help somebody, they need to be invested. Like I mentioned, you know, they need to be financially, emotionally, mentally invested. And that's where paid programs come in. My paid program, the Hundred Dollar mba, is a full business training program to help people start, grow, and scale their business profitably from scratch, without fluff or theory. Even if you're starting out with no money. It's more than just tools. It's more than just video lessons. It's practical templates. It's a workbook that tells you what to do next. So you're building your business as you're watching the videos. It also has some really robust AI tools that allows you to ask questions and validate ideas and make sure that you're on the right path. It's the combination of everything I've learned along the way as an entrepreneur in a structure that allows you to start and grow your business as fast as possible. And yes, I charge for it. I don't charge thousands of dollars a month. I charge $100 a month. And that price point came about because we found that that is enough money for people to feel like they need to log in every month and do the work. So yeah, I would prefer to give away everything for free, but I still don't because I know that charging works not for me, but for my students. But honestly for me too. Because I need case studies to show that what I'm teaching actually works. And the only way I can get that is if people actually do the work that is required to get the results. When you pay for something, it forces you to take it seriously, to commit, to finish, to actually execute on what you're learning. And when that happens, your business and your life will change forever. So if you're ever wondering why somebody like me who loves free education still has a paid program, well, now you know. And the honest truth is that, like the. The money that we make from the program is so insignificant compared to what we make with the podcast with free content. So it's not about the money. It's about the results. If you found this episode helpful and you want to go deeper with me, then you'll absolutely love my three Things newsletter. It's an email newsletter I send out every week, and it allows me to coach you from afar. Every week, I send you three things. One, something to think about to improve your mindset. Number two, something to do so you're building and growing as an entrepreneur. You're actually making things happen week after week. And number three, something to learn so you're skilling up and improving. It's absolutely free. Just go to 100- MBA-NET sign up for any of our freebies and you get added to our newsletter automatically. The weekly newsletter takes about 3 minutes to consume every week. No spam, just value. Thanks again for joining me here on the $100 MBA show. Every single episode, I'm going to give everything I can to help you grow as an entrepreneur, build that business of your dreams, and live the life that you want. I'll check you in the next one.
