Last week I was in Washington State for my college reunion. From there, I hopped to the Gold Coast (Surfer's Paradise) in Australia for the SMB IT Pros conference. Now I'm in Thailand finished the last bits of this newsletter so I can go to the beach!

Being just west of the international date line is confusing. After all, Europe is even more west, and I'm never confused there. But in Australia and Asia, I literally never know what time it is back home. The UK is always eight hours from Sacramento. The east coast is three hours off. But the other side of the Pacific always makes me look up the time back home.

. . . And this is not my first trip. I can officially say I've lost track of how many trips I've made to Australia. Maybe even more than Europe. I don't have enough fingers and toes to keep track.

Anyway . . . I had a GREAT time with my old friends at the SMB IT Pro conference in Australia. I have been speaking at their events for years, and was slated to return in 2020. Well, you know what happened there (and in 2021). Now it's 2022 and they're back. Just under 150 attendees, not counting vendor folk. SMB IT Pros grew to 441 paid members during the pandemic. 

I had a chat with one delegate who mentioned that Aussies have this vision of themselves as being about five years behind the US in everything. Well, I can tell you, that's not true on at least two fronts: 1) National Broadband (even though they love to complain about it), and 2) Outsourcing entry-level work to the Philippines and other places fulltime.

And, by the way, Congratulations to long-time friend Wayne Small for being selected as the new CEO of SMB IT Pros. My how things change in . . . twenty years. :-)

-- -- -- 

Now for a week of mostly-vacation in Thailand. I always write on vacation, and I'll do some work for the National Society as well as my own paid community. I'm planning about eight hours of work in eight days, which includes writing. 

I am meeting long-time friend Rich Freeman (Executive Editor, ChannelPro magazine) in Phuket. He has never been to Thailand, so we agreed to coordinate our visits. I'm staying on a few days to head to Singapore while he heads back to be at The ChannelPro SMB Forum in "greater" Los Angeles. See https://events.channelpronetwork.com/channelpro-smb-forum-2022-southwest-los-angeles

Then I head to Miami for the Acronis #Cyberfit Summit. See bit.ly/AcronisSummitKP November 7-9. Perhaps I'll see you there. I'm one of the paid podcasters from the event.

Register today and join us - Literally!

Register now:

I am putting on a two-part webinar series to tackle the biggest problem SMB IT folks are having today: Finding and keeping good employees.

Finding and Keeping Great Employees in 2023 is part webinar and part conversation about the realities of our current employment environment, with some thoughts about long-term and short-term strategies. With a bit of employment philosophy thrown in.

I have some information to share as well as thoughts on how to tackle this problem. After all, you are literally competing with all the large businesses in the world for a shrinking pool of talent.

And don't worry: I don't have anything to sell you. I just want to start having a different conversation around this topic. I also want your participation and feedback.

NO Vendor Sponsor - I'm calling this No Vendor December.

Webinar 1: Dec 7, 2022 at 9:00 AM Pacific

Webinar 2: Dec 14, 2022 at 9:00 AM Pacific

The first webinar will give some stats and information, followed by some ideas about the specific challenges we face today and unique ideas we'll need to have to get the work done in 2023. THEN we'll have a lengthy Q&A session and discussion.

The second webinar will respond to bigger questions raised in the first and talk about some best practices for keeping and cultivating great talent in the current environment. Then we'll have a lengthy Q&A session and discussion.

For both webinars, I'm planning to leave time within the 60 minute slot to answer questions. But I'm also planning to go to 90 minutes if the questions keep coming. Some folks will drop after 60 minutes to get to their next meeting, but I'll stay as needed.

Free, of course.

-- -- --

Final tid-bit: The SMB Community Podcast and The Killing IT Podcast are now being published to my YouTube channel - https://youtube.com/smallbizthoughts.

So if you like grabbing podcasts on YouTube, please feel free to add ours to the mix. I have NOT added these "videos" to the video lists below.

And one final-final note: My YouTube channel turned 12 years old on October 21st. We enjoy almost exactly 1,000 HOURS of watch time per month. (We are still outperformed by 14-year-olds doing makeup videos, but we're still proud.)

-- -- --

That's it for now. Ping me if you need me.

Have a great week.

Taught By: Rayanne Buchianico, coach and community builder

- Five Tuesdays - October 18th - November 15th

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

QuickBooks is the defacto finance tool for small businesses - and that includes IT Service Providers. In this always-fresh course, Rayanne takes two tracks to improve your business: 1) Get the most out of QuickBooks Online, and 2) Take your business to the next level by connecting QBO to other tools and services.

This is a very hands-on course. As you follow along, you'll fix-up your current QBO configuration and get the most out of integrations with your PSA and other tools. Plus, you'll learn the most important reports to use, how to effectively (and securely) share sensitive financial data with clients, and generate beautiful and amazing reports.

Whether you're new or experienced at running a business, this course will take your practical financial education to the next level!

You will learn:

and MORE!

Meets Certification Requirements for:

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.

Unit 1 Introduction and Connecting Your PSA

Unit 2 Document Management and BillPay

Unit 3 Automating Accounts Receivable

Unit 4 Time, Payroll, and Revenue

Unit 5 Cash Flow and Putting It All Together

SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday

The Killing IT Podcast - New episodes drop every Tuesday

Our YouTube IT Consulting channel now has more than 550,000 views!

Subscribe today and don't miss a thing!

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

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

Thank you!

:-)

Sometimes, labels just print the oddest information.

Suitable for Airline Use. What do you think that means?

Unlike other blankets, it can be folded, unfolded, and washed a lot?

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.

Oct. 23-26, 2022

Orlando, FL

More Info: https://event.thechannelco.com/nexgen

So Calif

Nov 3rd

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

More Info: https://acronis.events/summit2022/

Nov. 9, 2022

Orlando, FL

More Info: https://mspinitiative.com/orlando/

November 9 - 11

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

Nov. 12-16, 2022

Orlando, FL

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

Nov. 16, 2022

Manchester, England

More Info: https://north.managedservicessummit.com/

Dec. 1, 2022

London, England

More Info: https://www.cybersecurityexpo.co.uk/

Dec. 6-9, 2022

Melbourne, Australia

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

Register Now: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QaMrDgbSQMymmLvnqd0G1w

Dec. 8-9

Las Vegas, NV

More Info: https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

Register Now: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QaMrDgbSQMymmLvnqd0G1w

Register Now: Webinar Registration - Zoom

:-)

Feb 14-17, 2022

Fort Lauderdale, FL

More Info: https://www.mspexpo.com/east/

March 30-31

Orlando, FL

More Info: https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

April 11-14, 2023

Nashville, TN

More Info: https://robinsbigseminar.com/

Apr. 24-27, 2023

San Francisco, CA

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

:-)

June 4-8, 2023

Las Vegas, NV

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

June 5-7, 2023

Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center

Orlando, FL

More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/secure/cybersecurity-conference

June 20-22, 2023

London, England

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

June 29-30

Denver, CO

More Info: https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

:-)

:-)

Sept 28-29

Omaha, NE

More Info: https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

Oct. 2-4, 2023

Miami, FL

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

:-)

Dec 7-8

Phoenix, AZ

More Info: https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

:-)

View this and previous newsletters at