There's an old Wall Street saying: As goes January, so goes the year. Basically, it means that an "up" January is a great indicator of an up year. (And vice versa, of course.)

I've talked to almost a hundred MSPs in the last ten days, and I'm happy to report that attitudes and enthusiasm are UP. We'll see if revenues are the same. My suspicion is that revenues will grow for most people this year. In the fall, lots of people committed to price increases of 20-30%.

The best way to bring more money in the door is to raise your rates.

That takes care of the revenue side. Remember: You also have to keep your expenses under control or the extra revenue will go right back out the door. Revenue's great. Profit is better.

Remember: Pretty much everyone is taking this time to raise their rates. So you need to commit to regular cash flow reports in 2022.

And if you have news to report on how your personal economy is doing, shoot me an email.

-----

We all know that the number of online events has exploded in the last two years. Unfortunately, this has led to some rather counter-productive behavior. Many folks (maybe most) open a webinar or Zoom meeting in one monitor and then proceed to do work on a second monitor.

Whether you like it or not, this behavior is a huge drain on your own productivity. Human beings cannot multi-task. Using multiple monitors makes you feel more productive while actually making you less productive.

You don't catch the whole webinar and whatever other work you're doing is distracted and degraded. If an event is worth attending, it's worth paying attention to. We all know this true, whether we want to believe it or not. How do I knew?

1) A hard-working soul who will be putting in 12-hour days for the next four months

or

2) A hard-working person who is well rested and recharges their batteries on a regular basis to remain sharp

1) Someone who has your tax return up on one screen and a training video or webinar up on the other

or

2) Someone who focuses 100% of their attention on your business and your tax return

I hope you picked option two in both cases.

Your clients (and your company and your family) deserve your attention. Work when you work. Play when you play. Recharge your batteries so you can focus on the one job in front of you.

Do one thing at a time and do it well.

Relax Focus Succeed. Just sayin.

This is my 13th year in a row of doing a "State of the Nation" address for SMB IT Consultants. And I think it will be a good one.

The year we look back on is a year filled with pandemic, economic issues, ransomware, a new national association, and fast-changing environment for IT consultants. The year ahead is going to move even faster.

I review and comment on the environment we find ourselves in. Then I make some predictions and comments on the year ahead.

And finally, I present some new ideas that I hope you'll use to focus your business in 2022 and maximize your success.

Please register and tell your friends:

This Wednesday!

Register at https://bit.ly/son2022

Also: Heads up!

Killing IT Live Returns January 19th. This is a Zoom meeting, so the "tech" side will be much improved. And we have chat enabled so you can heckle us.

Details and registration are at http://killingitlive.com/

Register free at http://killingitlive.com/

-- -- --

That's about it.

New Community Members: Read the news below so you don't miss this week's great meeting!

Have a great week. Happy New Year.

- Karl P.

:-)

Taught By: Lori Hardtke, Community Leader and Coach

- Five Tuesdays - January 11 - February 8, 2022

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

Features

1. A different, simplified approach to packaging your Managed Services

2. How to grow revenue and net income without hiring any full-time staff

3. A quick start guide to Profit First and establishing quarterly bonuses

4. Tactics on utilizing engagement letters, pre-paid support agreements & raising rates

5. Automating your business to run like clockwork

If you prefer to run a very small managed service business, you can be extremely successful – but you have to create excellent processes to make that happen. Multi-state MSP owner Lori Hardtke shows you how to grow your business to $350K and beyond without any additional full-time staff on your payroll.

Lots more details and information on the IT Service Provider University site:

- David Streit, Stephill Associates, LLC

Here's what you will learn:

Delivered by Lori Hardtke, MSP and Peer Advisor. Lori has been an MSP (managed service provider) for many years and runs a two-state business with no employees.

Includes five weeks of Zoom webinar classes with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor.

This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Service Manager or Operations Manager. This course has an associated professional certification exam and may be applied to specialist certifications in Management, Sales & Marketing, Service Manager, or Front Office.

Class Content

Unit 1: Vendors/Affiliations/Peer Groups

Unit 2: Sales Process for Services That Are Pure Profit

Unit 3: Plans, Pricing & Agreements

Unit 4: Finances – Increasing Cash Flow with Profit First

Unit 5: Automating Your Business to Run Like Clockwork

Note: * Member of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge.

SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday

The Killing IT Podcast - New episodes drop every Tuesday

SOP: The Squeaky Wheel Improves Service

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

The January Newsletter and video are out. If you joined after the newsletter went out, send me an email and I'll get you a copy.

Most of the juicy good news is in the Video, available by clicking the thumbnail on the right.

-- -- --

We have lots of great stuff going on in January. Contact us if you need a tour or need help finding anything.

Thank you!

:-)

What? It's a curly piece of plastic from a twist drill. Insite the display.

The options are (obviously) to return it or take apart the display. Leaving it light that forever is NOT an option!

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.

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.

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fgFBeeDzTd6yduKRh7SMCQ

Jan. 16-18

New York, NY

More Info: https://nrfbigshow.nrf.com/

January 20

Anaheim, CA

More Info: https://www.smbtechfest.com/karl

Jan. 27 - Feb. 5

Bethesda, MD

More Info: https://www.sans.org/cyber-security-training-events/cyber-threat-intelligence-summit-2022-bethesda-md/

We return for a great live event.

January 19th

9:00 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern

Register Now: https://killingit.smallbizthoughts.com/killing-it-live/ (scroll down to register)

FREE, of course.

Feb. 7-11

Amsterdam

More Info: https://www.ciscolive.com/emea.html

Feb. 8-11, 2022

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

More Info: https://www.cannatechexpo.com/

February 16-17

Houston, TX

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

February 17 - 18, 2022

Singapore, Singapore

More Info: https://promo.acronis.com/Summit2021.html

February 21-23

Cancun, Mexico

More Info: https://www.nerdiocon.com/

February 27 - March 1, 2022

Dallas, TX

More Info: https://events.thechannelco.com/events

March 2-3, 2022

London, UK

More Info: https://www.cloudexpoeurope.com/

New Jersey

March 9th

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

March 23-24

Kansan City, MO

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

April 11-14, 2022

Las Vegas

More Info: https://www.channelpartnersconference.com/

April 14

Anaheim, CA

More Info: https://www.smbtechfest.com/karl

April 20-22, 2022

Orlando, FL

More Info: https://www.knowbe4.com/kb4-con

April 20-21

Chicago, IL

Moe Info: https://asciievents.com/

More Info: https://acesconf.com/

Chicago

May 5th

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

May 17-19

Miami Beach, FL

More Info: https://www.ingrammicrocloudsummit.com/

May 24-25

Boston, MA

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

June 6-9

San Francisco, CA

More Info: https://www.rsaconference.com/usa

Texas

June 7th

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

June 7-9

Location TBD

More Info: https://www.womentech.net/women-tech-conference

June 12-16

Las Vegas

More Info: https://www.ciscolive.com/us.html

June 14-15

London

More Info: https://www.channelevolutioneurope.com/

June 15-16

Long Beach, CA

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

July 21

Anaheim, CA

More Info: https://www.smbtechfest.com/karl

July 27-28

Toronto, ON

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

August 1-3, 2022

Houston, TX

More Info: Coming after ChennelCon 2021 ;-)

Charlotte NC

Aug 9

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

August 21-23

Denver, CO

More Info: https://event.thechannelco.com/xchange-plus-august

August 23-24

Miami, FL

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

Sept. 12-15, Orlando

More Info: https://www.themspsummit.com/

Baltimore

Sept 13th

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

Sept. 14-15 --> was January 18 - 20, 2022

Phoenix

More Info: https://www.iotssa.com/cybersecurity-expo-phoenix/

September 28-29

Parsippany, NJ

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

October 4-5

Dallas, TX

More Info: https://asciievents.com/

October 20

Anaheim, CA

More Info: https://www.smbtechfest.com/karl

So Calif

Nov 3rd

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

November 9 - 11

More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/connect-na