u/Agreeable_Rub_552

Serious question: why are people spending $100k+ on MBAs / leadership master’s when lower-cost licensing paths can outperform financially?

For example in Canada:

LLQP:
- a few months
- low upfront cost
- path into insurance sales / brokering
- realistically six figures if you’re competent, potentially much more if you build a book or brokerage

vs

MBA / engineering leadership / management master’s:
- 1–2 years
- massive tuition + opportunity cost
- no guaranteed outcome
- many grads still landing fairly normal corporate jobs

And before people say “long-term upside”... why wouldn’t the LLQP route also compound over 10+ years into management, ownership, or a brokerage business?

Especially with AI making some white-collar business/analyst/marketing work feel less stable than relationship-driven sales.

Genuine question: what’s the actual economic argument for the expensive master’s route?

Not asking about passion, learning, or prestige. Purely career ROI.

I’m trying to sanity-check something before I let FOMO make a very expensive decision for me.

I have an engineering bachelor’s degree, but I ended up in digital marketing because I started working while studying and stayed in the field. I’m now working in the intersection of digital marketing + data at a company in Toronto (not a well-known company, but 100M revenue one), and I also have one unpaid side project where I’m building more hands-on experience.

I’m an immigrant in Canada and don’t have PR yet, though I’m expecting it in about five months. Sometimes I wonder if not having a Canadian degree is holding me back, especially when I see people using an MBA or marketing master’s for better jobs, credibility, or networking.

But these programs are expensive, and I’m not convinced the ROI is obvious for digital marketing/growth roles.

If you did an MBA or marketing-related master’s:

Did it actually help you get better roles, higher salary, stronger network, or more confidence?

Or would you tell someone in my position to focus on work experience, portfolio projects, certifications, and networking instead? Would you consider a part-time degree or there is not much to it?

Would love honest answers, especially from people in Canada or marketing/growth roles.

PS: My current salary is 90K per year, and I'm 26 y.o. My husband earns almost twice me, so I can afford a degree but since we have nothing as assets but only incomes, anything can feel expensive.

We’re a home services company in Canada, and I’m honestly stuck on what to do with Yelp.

We do good work. Obviously not every job is perfect, but our reputation on Google, HomeStars, and BBB is solid and way more representative of the actual customer experience.

Then there’s Yelp… and it looks terrible.

The frustrating part is that when happy customers do leave reviews, a lot of them get filtered. First-time reviewers are basically invisible. Even detailed, legitimate reviews sometimes don’t show up.

So now we’re in this weird position where we can’t confidently ask customers to review us on Yelp, because there’s a decent chance their review just disappears. It feels like sending happy customers into a black hole.

I’ve read the usual explanations about Yelp’s algorithm, trust signals, review quality, user activity, etc. But from the outside, it feels like reviews only stick if the person is already an active Yelp user.

And yeah, I know Yelp officially says ads don’t affect review visibility. Still, the whole thing feels suspiciously pay-to-play sometimes. Maybe that’s unfair, but that’s the vibe.

For context, we’re in a high-ticket home services category where one job can be around $10K, so reviews actually matter a lot for conversion.

So I’m curious:

Has anyone in home services actually figured out Yelp?

Is there any ethical way to improve review visibility there?

Have Yelp Ads ever produced real ROI for you, or did it feel like a money pit?

At what point do you just stop caring about Yelp and focus on Google/HomeStars/BBB instead?

I don’t want to ignore Yelp if it still has strategic value, but right now it feels like a lot of effort for very little control.

Would love to hear what others have seen, especially in Canada.