Karl's SMB Email August 8th

Nothing Happens by Itself

Hello from Scotland

Greetings!

I hope your August started out well. Mine started out in Chicago at ChannelCon. Then I hopped over to Scotland to hang out with some partners. I love meeting people and finding out what they're up to - and the challenges they're having.

I got a chance to hang out with Heather, Brian, and Faith Johnson from Gozynta. Heather is also the VP of the NSITSP and Brian is on one of our committees. I hadn't met either of them in real life. They live in the Netherlands, so they hopped over to the UK to meet partners as well.

And . . . to make it all interesting, my luggage didn't make it with me.

-- -- --

Zen and the Art of Travel

Many people on Facebook were very sympathetic, and offered much advice. But I have to admit that this is not as big of a deal as most people think. I wish it hadn't happened, but such wishing is not helpful.

I try always to not worry about things I can't change, and every once in a while, that get tested. All the time I could spend fretting over luggage would be just wasted time. Stuff happens. What's next?

Many people first connected with me on Facebook about a dozen years ago when my daughter and I had to cancel our trip to the UK at the very last minute (while boarding the plane). We were in New York with ten days of vacation left. In about five minutes, I pulled out the laptop and asked where we should go instead.

We then grabbed a plane leaving an hour later for Florida. We did all the Disney parks in Orlando, caught up with some friends, and then spent a few days on Daytona Beach. I got to see one of the last Shuttle launches from a beach. All in all, it was a great vacation.

You Rarely Get to Choose Your Detours

In life, there are detours. You can whine about them or just keep moving. And, to be honest, it's a lot easier to just keep moving than it used to be. Every tourist destination has shopping and a good pharmacy or store for the essentials.

Many people took the opportunity to mention that they always only carry on their luggage. With my rheumatoid arthritis, and a two-week trip to two different kinds of events, this was not an option.

Sadly, I had two bags checked: One was filled with gifts for UK partners. With luck, it will join me somewhere along my travels.

My R.A. limits my physical activity and my energy level - especially when I over-due it. Airlines frequently have short layovers and require getting from one end of the airport to the other. All in all, it's not a good combination for me.

One of my Rules for Success is that I never base a policy on the exception to the rule. In more than a million miles of travel and more flights than I can count, this is the third time I've had a problem with luggage. The first time, my bag arrived empty. It was actually somewhat humorous.

The second time, half my bag showed up after being eaten alive in the belt system. I was headed to a conference to speak on the topic, Relax Focus Succeed. So the bag turned out to be a great prop.

Since luggage almost never goes missing or gets damaged, I'm going to relax and not drag mine through the airport while carrying my laptop and camera gear in a backpack. Overall, my life is better when I'm more relaxed.

First Stop: Edinburgh

I chose Edinburgh and August because the largest, best art and activities festival in the world happens here and now.

See The Fringe.

Luckily, Richard Tubb and I were able to find a beer. And then we met about a dozen local partners for dinner.

Huge thanks to Linode for buying the dinner and drinks!

I got to meet some Linode folks "in real life" at ChannelCon, and James is from Manchester, so he's going to join us for part of this UK tour.

At the end of the day: Business is about people. In my opinion, when it becomes all about money, you've lost your way. You never know when your number will be up. Don't spend your time fretting about money and worrying about things you can't control.

. . . Monday the grand adventure continues as we make our way to Falkirk and then on to Glasgow. Stay tuned.

:-)

NSITSP Election Update

to run for office!

Now is the time to file to run for an office in NSITSP. We have more than ten people filed already. You can meet them and file for office yourself at https://nsitsp.org/elections/.

Beginning immediately, all paid members can file to run for office. "Offices" include the Board of Directors and all committees (Finance, Governance, Legislative, and Marketing).

Join us and make this organization as successful as possible!

We also have a big NSITSP all-member meeting on August 10th.

https://nsitsp.org/events/nsitsp-all-member-meeting-august-10th/

Topics include elections, Fall activities, and more.

Open to everyone!

-- -- --

Thanks for reading. I appreciate any feedback you have.

Have a great week.

- Karl P.

:-)

Starts August 9th:

Create a Great Lead Generation Program

Create a Great Lead Generation Program

You’re guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!

Taught By: James Kernan, Author and sales coach

- Five Tuesdays - August 9th - September 6th

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

Learn the industry’s best practices on the overall sales process from Prospecting, Qualifying, Needs Analysis and Assessments, Connecting your value proposition to the customers issues. Tips to get through the Sales Process faster and Closing the Deal!

The MSP Lead Generation and Appointment setting course will include five live training sessions delivered in 60-minute classes. Designed for technology business owners, sales managers, and sales professionals, this training program covers industry best practices for selling contractual monthly recurring revenue and finding new accounts.

All five sessions will be recorded LIVE and delivered with a PDF workbook and related template exercises.

You will learn:

How to create your sales playbook
Appointment setting 101
How to run the first and second prospect meeting
How to make customers for life – secrets to valuable QBR’s
How to create and present fantastic proposals that close
and MORE!

ITSP University Certification:

Meets Certification Requirements for:

Management
Sales and Marketing

This class will be recorded. Each unit is generally posted within 24 hours of the live class. These recorded units will become the On-Demand class and you’ll have lifetime access to it.

Class Content

Unit 1 Creating Your Sales Playbook

Unit 2 Appointment Setting 101

Unit 3 The Sales Process and How to Run Your Prospect Meetings

Unit 4 How to Keep Customers for Life – secrets of QBR’s

Unit 5 Creating and Presenting Amazing Proposals

About James Kernan

For the past 12 years, James has served as a Principal Consultant for Kernan Consulting and provides Coaching, Advising and Mentoring programs to entrepreneurs and leaders. Kernan Consulting offers One on One Coaching, CEO Peer Groups, M&A Consulting and online training programs.

Note: * Members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge. See details in the Community

All the Resources That Are Fit to Print

Recent Blog Posts, Podcasts, and Videos

Small Biz Thoughts Blog:

SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday

The Killing IT Podcast - New episodes drop every Tuesday

National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog

Relax Focus Succeed:

Confidentiality and Nondisclosure - SOP for Managed Services

Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:

Our YouTube tech channel is now reaching 30,000 views per month (and sometimes more). Subscribe today and don't miss a thing!

A quick guide to my Playlists:

Total: Over 830 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
345+ SOP videos
265+ Relax Focus Success videos

Plus . . .

Training, Courses, Seminars on Managed Services
Product Reviews
and more

You can always check out my YouTube Channel and subscribe at https://www.youtube.com/smallbizthoughts

OR my Relax-Focus-Succeed Channel at https://www.youtube.com/relaxfocussucceed

Community News

SmallBizThoughts.org

Join us live every Thursday on Zoom!

I missed the last meeting due to travel, but I'm told it was excellent and I've been given an assignment to create some new content.

Luckily, all meetings are recorded and posted with a transcript, so I'll be able to catch up.

Your weekly meeting link is always at the top of your Dashboard.

Also Remember - your discount codes for training via ITSP University is just a click away. As soon as you're logged in, just click the dollar sign next to your name on any page.

Remember: Your Entire Team Saves on Training

As a member of the SBT Technology Community, you can attend classes for free. AND your employees attend for only $99 each - an additional savings of $200. No limits.

James Kernan is teaching an excellent sales course - starting tomorrow. Sign up now!

We have twenty classes now, and will add more this year. So if you're not sure where to start, contact me to schedule a 20-minute Zoom call.

Everyone needs a program customized to their situation, their business, their clients, and their employees. I'm happy to help any SBT member who wants to build a roadmap to greater success.

Remember: We are 100% committed to your success!

If you haven't seen the latest news video, check it out here.

That's it for this week. I'll see you at the meeting on Thursday.

Thank you!

:-)

Picture of the Day

Most hotel passwords are pretty bad. They're something like AlohaBilly1!.

But this one is awesome. I'll do a podcast on this hotel Wi-Fi, but I think I'll save banking for a VPN to my hosted desktop.

:-)

Live Events Calendar

What's Here?

This calendar lists two kinds of things: LIVE in-person events from any organization that focuses on the SMB consulting community; and MY events, whether live, webinar, etc.

If you have live events on your calendar that may be useful to others in the SMB Community, please let us know. We'd be happy to list them.

Of course: Everything here is subject to change based on Covid. Click the links for the latest details. Please send updates so we can post them.