Nothing
Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2023 Karl W. Palachuk
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Greetings!
Happy President's Day. I hope you are closed today. We are.
As I mentioned just last week: I hope you have a great day and a great week. You deserve it!
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HEY - Did you see that new banner ad above? We are very happy to welcome Asigra to the "Small Biz Thoughts" party.
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We are working on a few projects with Asigra, helping them to get out the word about their security offerings - like cleaning ransomware from your backups so you don't have to worry about recovering infected files.
Stay tuned for more information. In the meantime, please click that ad to learn more. Tell them Karl's robot sent you.
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Killing IT - Taking a Break
Notice: Switched to "Recorded" in the graphic.
Tomorrow's News Today: On the Feb. 21st Killing IT Podcast, we announce that we are taking a break. We kicked off this podcast in 2019 and have loved doing it.
We particularly loved keeping everyone informed and engaged while stuck in their homes during the pandemic. But all good things must run their course.
The Killing IT Podcast is not "gone" or dead. We're just refocusing. We will drop a show from time to time. And you can see us at Killing IT Live events. The next Killing IT Live appearance is the SMB Online Conference, May 17-18.
If you never did jump on the Killing IT Podcast bandwagon, you can binge-listen on your favorite podcatcher. The show's primary web site is https://killingit.smallbizthoughts.com. You can listen there, or follow the links to iTunes, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, etc.
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Price Increases Are Not a One-Time Thing
Over at my online community - smallbizthoughts.org - I posted some sample "Price Increase Memos" for members to use in crafting their own client memos.
I had some old memos to use as fodder because I raise prices on a regular basis! I hope you do as well. If you rarely raise prices, please read the next few paragraphs!
I highly encourage you to create a regular schedule of price increases. If you'd rather not raise prices on everything every year, that's okay. But you should raise prices on everything within a three-year rotation.
One of the most common things I end up coaching people about is pricing. There are three big problems with pricing, and you can correct all of them with a simple policy. Write the policy on a white board you see every day for the next three years!
Problem One: You haven't raised prices in a long time. [Long time = anything great than 12 months]
- This one's easy to fix. I hereby give you permission to raise your rates. Then, put a note in your calendar to announce your next price increase in November so everyone has at least thirty day's notice before the higher prices take effect next January.
Problem Two: Every customer has a different price. This often means they're also all on different custom plans.
- If you're an airline, you can have a different price for every seat. If you're an MSP who wants a profitable business, standardize your pricing!
- When pricing is complicated, clients don't understand it and your employees don't understand it. Pricing is not a magical "art." It should be simple and straight forward.
Problem Three: You're afraid clients will leave you. This violates one of the absolutely unbreakable rules of service delivery: Don't have both sides of the conversation!
- In twenty years of giving this advice, I have had ONE person tell me that they lost clients as a result of raising rates. Your clients love you and want you to be their IT service provider. They're probably wondering why Netflix raises their rates more often than you do.
Two Reasons for Multiple Rates
Most of the time, clients on different rates got their because you raised rates on NEW clients from time to time but were afraid to raise rates on existing clients. This is a very common mistake. The problem is not real (It's based on fear inside your head), but you compound the problem every time you raise rates but don't raise them for existing clients.
The other common cause of custom rates is that the owner (you) negotiate with prospects and build a custom offering with a custom price. This is less common, but represents a much bigger problem. It means that there is not commitment to standardization and consistency, and that problem starts at the top of the company!
Fixing It - Raising Rates and Making Rates Consistent
The biggest hurdle here is simply admitting you have a problem and taking some - any - action to address it. Step one is to determine what your rate should be for everyone. For argument's sake, let's say it's $200/hour. That's your target.
If you have a lot of different rates, you may convince yourself you have to raise them gradually. Right now, with all the talk about inflation, is the best time to make the biggest jump. Pick a date (e.g., April 15th) and give everyone notice that rates are going up. The highest-paying clients will see the smallest increases, so just send a letter and be done with it.
The older clients, with the lowest rates, will feel the most pain. They've also been with you the longest, and they know deep in their heart that a rate increase is long overdue. If you feel you need to soften the blow, get all these clients more than halfway to the new rate on April 15th. Then plan to bring them the rest of the way one year later.
And remember this absolute truth:
The fastest way to make more money is to raise your rates!
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If you need more tips on making money, send $100 to . . .
:-)
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Please Help NSITSP - Executive Search Taskforce
The National Society of IT Service Providers is forming a taskforce to find a professional administrator / executive director.
If you are a paid member of the NSITSP and would like to be part of this taskforce, please send an email to [email protected] and address the following (it can be very short):
1) Why do you want to be on the taskforce?
2) What relevant experience do you have?
Thank you !!!
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See that cute little island logo? We did a minor site update over at the Relax Focus Succeed site. That logo's inspired by the photo I use in many videos. I took the picture in Hilo, HI in 2019. It's a minor refresh, but I'd still love your feedback.
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If you're headed to the ASCII event in SoCal this Wednesday and Thursday, please look for me. I'm going to be attending and wandering around.
Have a great week!
:-)
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All New Course from James Kernan! |
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You only missed one week. Sign up now, catch up, and join us tomorrow!
Leadership and
Management Principles
for MSPs
Learn the industry’s best practices on managing, leading, and growing your business. These sessions will be focused on leading people and teams while connecting them to your vision and goals.
Taught By: Coach James Kernan
All New Course
- Five Tuesdays: February 14 March 14, 2023
The Leadership and Management Training Program will include five live training sessions delivered in 60-minute classes. Designed for technology business owners, executives, directors, and managers, this training program covers industry best practices for managing and leading your teams.
Award winning business coach and trainer, James Kernan is back to educate you on the industry’s best practices on managing, leading, and growing your business. These sessions will be focused on leading people and teams while connecting them to your visions and goals. We will review foundational leadership skills, management tips, recruiting, onboarding, and training new employees and how to connect every single employee to the company’s goals. This class is ideal for any owner, executive, manager, or key employee you are grooming into leadership.
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You will learn:
- What does leadership look like in the workplace?
- How to lead and motivate your team
- How to hold your team accountable
- What is the difference between a BOSS and a LEADER?
- Learn key skills and fundamentals that will help you gain trust with your entire team.
- Basic leadership fundamentals and skills
- How to lead though challenging situations
- Motivating and management of employees
- How to overcome and deal with conflict
- Create a recruiting process
- Create a recruiting presentation
- Fine tune your onboarding/training plan for new employees
- How to screen candidates based on your core values
- Create your Culture Plan and Core Values
- Positive vs Negative Leadership styles
- Why recruiting specific staff is important
- Communication/Meeting Schedule
- TEAM – Trust, Encouragement, Accountability and Mentoring
- Creating a PURPOSE for each employee
- How to create goals/kpi’s for all staff members
- How transparency can motivate performance
- Rewarding and Recognition of employees
- Creating your Management Scorecard/Dashboard
... And More!
Includes five weeks of webinar classes with related handouts, assignments, and “office hours” with the instructor.
ITSP University Certification:
Meets Certification Requirements for:
- Management
- Service Manager
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 How to connect your entire team to your vision, mission, and goals
Unit 2 How to deal with conflict and overcome gossip in the workplace
Unit 3 How to motivate your employees so they want to come to work everyday
Unit 4 How to hold employees accountable while making work fun
Unit 5 How to attract A-Player recruits, while making sure you have the Right Employees in the Right Seats
Note: * Members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge. See details in the Community
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All the Resources That Are Fit to Print |
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Recent Blog Posts, Podcasts, and Videos |
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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:
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Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:
Our YouTube IT Consulting channel now has more than 645,000 views!
Subscribe today and don't miss a thing!
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: Over 895 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 360+ SOP videos
- 265+ Relax Focus Success videos
Plus . . .
- Training, Courses, Seminars on Managed Services
- Product Reviews
- and more
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Community News
SmallBizThoughts.org
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More Great Content!
We are adding more content to the SBT Technology Community site. If you're a member, log in and check out What's New.
Also . . . Keep an eye out for some site changes. Kara's working hard to make things load faster and for you to find content faster.
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We meet every Thursday at 9:00 AM Pacific. Join us. New attendees always welcome!
Note: I will be in Southern California this Thursday. I will join from my hotel room. But I'll be there!
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March Roundtable . . .
A rare opportunity to meet the most prolific writer in the SMB IT Community - Rich Freeman. You've certainly read MANY articles by Rich as he was the Executive Editor and principle author at ChannelPro.
Rich is still the most prolific writer in SMB IT, but he is now the former executive editor for the ChannelPro Network.
Now you can meet him and ask questions about the state of the industry and more.
No reservations necessary! Just log into the Community and you'll find the link on your Dashboard.
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You Asked - We Delivered
A member sent us an email on a timely topic: Sample client memos about rate increases.
If you've followed me for very long, you know that I'm a big believer in regular rate increases. So, I looked back into my old files and found some of the memos I've used.
I re-wrote and updated three memos. They are zipped into one file with a little note about how to implement them into your messaging. Note: One of these memos is a "we're not raising your rates because you're under contract" memo.
Raising rates in a tiny bit "art" but mostly just a tiny little job that needs to be done. Don't freak out. Just do it.
Members can log in and download here:
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Here's the February Community News video, in case you haven't see it yet:
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Sacramento's Discovery Park is used for flood control. When it's flooded, water is more than eight feet deep. Don't leave your car packed in the lot their.
And hence the sign, which I always find amusing. This sign is frequently stolen, so I assume there's a stack of them somewhere in the city works department.
:-)
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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.
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February
ASCII Edge 2023
February 22 & 23
Newport Beach, CA
Join Me Live!
MWC Barcelona 2023
Feb 27-March 2, 2023
Barcelona, Spain
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March
XChange March 2023
March 5-7, 2023
Orlando, FL
More info: https://event.thechannelco.com/xchange-march
ChannelPro Summit
Mar. 8-9
Dulles, VA (Mid-Atlantic)
CloudExpo Europe
March 8-9, 2023
London, UK
Gartner CIO Leadership Forum
March 14-15, 2023
Londong, UK
IT Nation 2023
March 20-22, 2023
London, England
Cloudfest
March 21-23, 2023
Europa-Park, Germany
ASCII Edge 2023
March 22 & 23
Atlanta, GA
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
March 30-31
Orlando, FL
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April
ItaliaSec: IT Security Conference
April 4-5, 2023
Rome, Italy
The IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp
April 11-14, 2023
Nashville, TN
HIMSS
April 17-21
Chicago, IL
ASCII Edge 2023
April 19 & 20
Dallas, TX
CyberSecurity Expo
April 20, 2023
Bristol, UK
Connect IT Global
April 24-27, 2023
Las Vegas, NV
RSA Conference
Apr. 24-27, 2023
San Francisco, CA
TECHSPO New York
Apr 27-28, 2023
New York City, NY
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May
ChannelPro Summit
May 9-10
Chicago (Midwest)
2023 SMB Online Conference!
May 17-18
Zoom
Online - Stay Tuned for Details - but mark your calendar now.
Join Me Live Online!
ASCII Edge 2023
May 24 & 25
Newark, NJ
:-)
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June
Cisco Live!
June 4-8, 2023
Las Vegas, NV
IT Nation Secure
June 5-7, 2023
Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
Orlando, FL
ChannelPro Summit
June 7-8
San Jose, CA (West Coast)
Infosecurity Europe
June 20-22, 2023
London, England
ASCII Edge 2023
June 21 & 22
Tampa, FL
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
June 29-30
Denver, CO
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July
ChannelPro Summit
Aug. 9-10
Newark, NJ (Northeast)
ASCII Edge 2023
July 12 & 13
Columbus, OH
CyberSecurity Expo
July 13, 2023
Manchester, UK
:-)
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August
ASCII Edge 2023
August 30 & 31
Toronto, Canada
:-)
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September
ChannelPro Summit
Sept. 6-7
Boston (New England)
ASCII Edge 2023
September 20 & 21
Chicago, IL
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
Sept 28-29
Omaha, NE
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October
ChannelPro Summit
Oct. 10-11
Atlanta (Southeast)
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit 2023
Oct. 16-18
Miami, FL
ASCII Edge 2023
October 18 & 19
Washington, D.C.
dattoCon 2023
Oct. 2-4, 2023
Miami, FL
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November
Send me your events !!!
:-)
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December
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
Dec 7-8
Phoenix, AZ
:-)
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Note: If you know of any in-person event for SMB Consultants, please send info to [email protected]. |
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Small Biz Thoughts is a subsidiary of Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc. |
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