Karl's SMB Email November 22nd

Nothing Happens by Itself

Have a Great Holiday . . . Then Get to Work!

The US Thanksgiving holiday is Thursday. And the so-called Black Friday shopping holiday is Friday.

Our company officially takes off both days. After all, no one's in the mood to work Friday anyway.

But come Monday - a week from today - there's still five weeks left in the year, so it's back to business.

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I somehow managed to create a LOT of content last week. So check out the links and downloads here - especially on cybersecurity. Do not miss the free PowerPoint cybersecurity training template!

Anyway: There are lots of goodies in this newsletter. If you don't have time to go through all of it now, save for later. I'm not trying to overwhelm you. ;-)

Note: This roundtable will *not* be recorded as requested by Paul – you’ll want to join us live!

The December SBT Roundtable will be a spectacular holiday party!

For this month’s Roundtable, we’re happy to welcome Anthropologist and Mentalist, Paul Draper!

December 2nd

9:00 AM Pacific.

Paul is an anthropologist and organizational expert. He has taught at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and served as a master lecturer at Yale University. For seven years, he represented the Casino Floor and Marketing Department for Sands Corporation at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

He has recently consulted for Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California, and in Florida, he has acted as a consultant for Martin Memorial Health Systems, Orlando Healthcare Systems, Tallahassee Healthcare Systems, and for Lee Health in Fort Myers.

Members can always find the Zoom link is in your dashboard.

Non-members need to join in order to attend this event.

SBT Community Prices Go Up Jan. 1st

Now is a great time to join the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community.

If you've had a good year and need a great business expense for 2021, you can join the Community today - and lock in the price for life.

Starting January 1st, the Annual Membership is going to $1199 and the monthly is moving to $129. All existing members will continue at the price they' already paying.

One GREAT reason to join is the free training you'll get. We put on ten five-week classes every year. And we have an additional ten on-demand classes - all intended to help you be more successful as a managed service provider or any kind of serious IT service provider.

We have a Big Announcement coming in December. We are re-branding our classes and introducing an amazing program to help you and your staff improve your operations and professionalism.

Community members may attend all classes at no additional charge!

This really is a great deal. The cost for twenty class is just under $6,000. And, of course, the Community includes all of my books, white papers, checklists, and more. It's very easy to get your money's worth immediately.

Join us! www.smallbizthoughts.org

SMB Roadshow 2021

December 14th

Courtyard by Marriott Hotel

3275 Paradise Road

Las Vegas, NV

We had a great time in Providence . . . but that was on the other side of the country. It's often easier and cheaper for folks to make it to Las Vegas. Please join us. This is guaranteed to be a great event.

Topics include:

Game show! Educational and Entertaining
Running Successfully in the 2020's
Post-Pandemic Clientele and Offerings
Building YOUR Absolutely Unbreakable Rules
Looking Forward to the next normal

If you are a member of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community, you get in FREE.

If you're not a member, please consider joining.

If you've had a bad year, email me and we'll figure something out.

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I've added a few goodies to the 2022 calendar. But if you know of scheduled in-person events, please send them my way.

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Have a great week. - Karl P.

:-)

NSITSP Meeting Was Very Well Received

The NSITSP had a General Membership Meeting last week

We officially introduced the Board of Directors. You can see them and their bio notes here:

https://www.nsitsp.org/board-of-directors/

We also introduced the Committee chairs and discussed some of the activity that's been going on.

We have over 500 members now. We need more paid members.

And, of course, we had a good open discussion and Q&A session. You can view the recording and the Zoom chat session here:

https://www.nsitsp.org/meetings/

Thank you, everyone, for your support on this important work!

:-)

Grab this 100% free sample security PPT

I did a cybersecurity training for a "former" client over Zoom. So I recorded it and updated the sample security training at mspwebinar.com.

Everyone can go to that site, view the recording, and download the source PowerPoint. You can edit it, remove my graphics and branding, and use your own. Free.

This was for an office environment where almost everyone is still remote. So it might not be a perfect fit for your business or your clients. But at least you don't have to start with a blank slate.

I also talked in some detail about this on the SMB Community Podcast last Thursday. There I lay out the strategy for using client cybersecurity questionnaires and trainings to create a never-ending security conversation with your clients.

Note: Members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community can access all of this inside the community PLUS the sample Data Handling Guide and client cybersecurity questionnaire I sent out before the meeting. Free to members.

Not a member? Now's a great time to join and lock in the current membership rate for life.

www.smallbizthoughts.org.

:-)

Service Agreement Class Starts Tomorrow!

This is always a very popular class!

Service Agreements for I.T. Consultants

Course 5W16

Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk

Five Tuesdays

November 23 - December 21 - Register Now

All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

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

Based on the best-selling book Service Agreements for SMB Consultants, this course covers everything you need to know about developing your service agreements. And the book subtitle is important, too: A Quick Start Guide to Managed Services.

Most IT Professionals sign - or don't sign - contracts for the wrong reasons. Most think contracts are intended to draw battle lines for when you have a disagreement with your clients. In fact, that piece of the relationship is almost always outside the contract! We'll explore why you really need contracts or service agreements.

We'll also look at various options, including a 2-page "terms of service" as well as managed services, programming agreements, and more.

Tuition for this course include the ebook version of the newly revised and expanded Service Agreements for SMB Consultants! That includes all the downloads from the book as well.

You will learn

Defining Yourself and Your Relationships
Define Yourself
Define Client Relationships
The Language of Service Agreements
The Service Agreement Construction Kit
A Sample Credit Agreement
Boilerplate: A Sample Service Agreement
Flat Fee or Managed Services Parts
The Managed Service Agreement
Getting Help and Managing Agreements
Getting Help - Lawyers, Accountants, etc.
Managing Your Service Agreements

PLUS lots more.

This class is filled with great advice and tips on running your I.T. company and moving into the world of recurring revenue with managed services.

Includes five weeks of webinars with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor. All classes are recorded for download.

This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Service Manager or Operations Manager.

Week One: Introduction and Defining Relationships

Week Two: Money, Money, Money

Week Three: The Parts – Part 1

Week Four: The Parts – Part 2

Week Five: Managing Contracts . . . And Relationships

For the week-by-week agenda, see www.greatlittleseminar.com

Only $299

Only $299 per student

Delivered by Karl W. Palachuk, blogger and author of the very popular "SOP Friday" posts at http://sopfriday.com.

Includes five weeks of webinars with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor. All classes are recorded for download. All classes include suggested "homework" that is totally action-focused and intended to move your company's marketing forward.

This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for front office and financial managers.

A Few Details . . .

Each course will be five one-hour Zoom webinars
There will be handouts and "homework" assignments
Class webinars will be recorded and made available to paid attendees only.
All calls start at 9:00 AM Pacific Time

Questions? Email concierge@smallbizthoughts.com

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:

SOP - What is a Commodity Service?

Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:

A quick guide to my Playlists:

Total: More than 770 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
315+ SOP videos
100+ 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

Small Biz Thoughts Community News

SmallBizThoughts.org

Prices Go Up January 1st

Members always lock in their price for life.

Annual membership will go to $1199 on January first. Monthly membership will go to $129.

Join now and you can lock in the lower rate forever!

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I won't repeat the big Roundtable announcement from above. But please do yourself a favor and be on the Community Roundtable call December 2nd. It will be great - and it will not be recorded.

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Starting January 1: All Members Receive All Classes Free

All members - both annual subscribers and monthly subscribers - Attend Free

For each class, you may have one person attend a live class free of charge. Additional employees may attend for only $99 - a savings of $200. Or, of course, you can buy an additional membership.

In all, you can attend ten live classes each year, plus we have ten additional on-demand classes. That's a $5,980 value!

For larger companies, consider the "Corporate" membership: Ten logons with full access for only $3299. Email me if you want details.

Please check out the newsletter. Discounts on training, roadshow, and more.

If you're a member and it's not in your inbox, contact us and we'll figure it out.

The video is here for everyone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7Ia3athCCM

:-)

Picture of the Day

Spotted this wall art in Sacramento

Not sure I understand it all, but that's what are is for, right?

:-)

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.