Nothing Happens by Itself
Copyright © 2021 Karl W. Palachuk
|
|
Next up: Q4 -
The most challenging part of the year
|
|
I always remind people to stay focused when Fall arrives. Between back-to-school and a gaggle of holidays, many people are challenged to give their business the attention it deserves.
Q4 holidays include Halloween, Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving (and the day after), Hanukkah, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Christmas, and Year's Eve. And some people celebrate a few others.
I love to see people take time off and lead a balanced life - Relax, Focus, Succeed. BUT don't miss out on opportunities that only come at the end of the year!
You will have clients with extra money at the end of the year. They want to find some legitimate expenses to reduce their taxable income. So, you should absolutely be offering them pre-pay opportunities for managed services as well as new hardware, and other items.
This year we are blessed with a new version of Windows that requires a new security chip not previously required. That means that November and December have the potential to be very good months to sell new laptop and desktop computers.
I'm a huge fan of preparing invoices and simply sending them to clients (with a cover letter). If they sign and return, you've got a sale! I mentioned this two years ago and a member of my online community tried even though she was skeptical. It turns out, she had a lot of previously-unplanned December sales.
Anyway: Stay focused. Take some downtime. Recharge your batteries. And make sure your Q4 is a profitable as it should be.
-- -- --
As for me . . . I am traveling a bit. Here's where you can join me live and buy me a beer:
-
NexGen+ 2021 - October 25-26 - Anaheim - I'm doing seminars on building YOUR absolutely unbreakable rules of service delivery
-
ChannelPro SMB Forum - November 16 - Los Angeles - I'm not presenting. Just attending. But you can still buy me a beer.
-
ASCII Success Summit - December 8-9 - Orange County - I'm not presenting. Just attending. But you can still buy me a beer.
-
SMB Roadshow - December 14th - Las Vegas - Four hour educational program. Join us!!!
For links to all of these, see the calendar below. And I hope to see you out there somewhere.
-- -- --
|
|
CISA Advice
Last week I pointed you to my blog post with my first impressions of the CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) documents regarding your clients.
The Government is Telling Your Clients How to Select an MSP
On Tuesday, I followed up with some action steps you can take in response to this.
I highly encourage you to read these. Please don't read the headlines of the first paragraph of each and think you understand what's going on. Let's be honest: The reason the government is getting involved in your business is that a lot of people have not kept up on the technology and best practices.
Some MSPs will see this as all good news because they've been exercising "best practices" for years. Some will be in a bit of a panic because they've been cutting corners for years. Most will be in the middle, trying to figure out what to do next.
Please read those posts. I welcome your feedback.
|
|
-- -- --
NSITSP is progressing . . .
In my last newsletter, I posted the new Board of Directors. In the intervening week, all the committees have met.
"All" the committees are three: Formation, Finance, and Legislative. The Board appointed chairs and I have distributed information to committee chairs so they have the full roster of people who have volunteered in one way or another.
I know it seems that we're moving slow, but it's best to do it right than to do it over.
If you haven't joined today, Please Join! It's only $100 and we can use the numbers as we begin to look at legislative activity.
-- -- --
Personal memo. I got my third Pfizer Covid vaccine on Friday. No ill effects. I take some strong medicines for my Rheumatoid Arthritis that affect my immune system (RA is an immune disease).
I refuse to argue with people about this. My belief is that we should all take reasonable precautions but we don't need to take unreasonable precautions. So, as I said in last week's Relax Focus Succeed newsletter - You Be You!
I *do* maintain that I need the rest of the world to get vaccinated so I can travel.
I want to get back to Asia, but they need to stem the pandemic.
I want to get back to South America, but they need to stem the pandemic.
I want to get back to Australia, but they need to stem the pandemic.
I want to get back to Europe, but they need to stem the pandemic.
I want to go to Africa, but they need to stem the pandemic.
My 2 cents, as usual.
Have a great week.
-- Karl W. Palachuk
:-)
|
|
New Class:
Super-Charge Your Social Media Marketing
|
|
You only missed two classes.
Register now, catch up, and join us live tomorrow
Super-Charge Your Social Media Marketing
Course 5W25
Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk
Five Tuesdays
- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific
You're guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!
This course is designed to help you "put it all together" and complete your social media strategy with the most powerful tools at your disposal. While most people approach Twitter, blogging, and podcasting as basic, mundane marketing tools, they are second only to Your Newsletter in positioning yourself as an expert in your field. We'll look at all of these.
This course shows you how to maximize these tools and wrap them into an overall strategy for marketing and sales. But the real juicy goodness is a strategy for creating a magnifying effect across all your marketing. No matter which tools you focus on in this series, the "Super-Charge" takes place with a combination of automated and manual rebroadcast mechanisms. We provide you a detailed process for creating this echo effect. In fact, we literally give you the checklist to make it happen.
Most small businesses "use" social media, but don't really have a strategy for using social media effectively. That strategy starts with understanding the strengths and weaknesses of various platforms. And it culminates with a unified approach to branding and how your company presents itself across a variety of platforms.
This course is taught by Karl W. Palachuk, a social media influencer who "touches" over one million people per month. Karl has been using these social media for more than ten years, and has demonstrated mastery across all of the major social media that small businesses need to be successful.
|
|
Only $299 per student
Delivered by Karl W. Palachuk, author and business coach.
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 Service 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
|
|
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
The Cheeky Sales Coach Podcast / Video - New episodes drop every Wednesday
National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog
Relax Focus Succeed:
.
|
|
SOP: It's not about control. It's about branding. |
|
Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: More than 760 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 310+ SOP videos
- 100+ Relax Focus Success videos
Plus . . .
- Training, Courses, Seminars on Managed Services
- Product Reviews
- and more
|
|
Small Biz Thoughts Community News
SmallBizThoughts.org
|
|
Next SBT Roundtable: Lessons from the Robotics Competition |
Members: Join us for the Thursday meetings!
We always have great topics and members share excellent information and insights. The link is always at the top of your dashboard.
|
Coming up this Thursday: For the next SMB Roundtable, my guest is my brother Neil. He's a CAD designer for Boeing. They sponsor a high school robotics team and Neil is the coach. Well, amidst the pandemic, remote learning, and a bit of a recession, they won the international robotics championship.
I am most interested in how you teach all the skills of programming, machining, mechanics, and design to high school students in their spare time. Even when there's not a pandemic and remote learning, how is this possible?
Join us for all the juicy details. Link at the top of your Community Dashboard.
-- -- --
|
|
And don't forget to check out the October Community Newsletter.
Don't miss it! You can watch the video here:
The October members-only newsletter went out Friday. If you're a Community member and didn't get the email, contact us and we'll figure it out.
Of Note: We're going to post a new Member Roadmap for implementing some of the CISA recommendations mentioned above. This is absolutely a members-only benefit. So don't miss it.
-- -- --
|
|
Remember you massive class discounts! Whether you're a monthly or annual subscriber, do yourself a favor and sign up for classes over at Great Little Seminar. You save 3x or 4x the cost of your membership, depending on your plan.
After the current class on super-charging your social media, Rayanne has her super popular class on Financial Processes for IT Consultants. After that, I'm offering my also-popular class on Service Agreements SMB IT Consultants. Even if you already have a service agreement, this class is worth taking. After all, your agreements are not about your service: They're about your relationship with your client!
Coming in January - a 100% all-new class on Customer Service. Do not miss it.
If you need something, please post a question in a forum or email Kara (your Community Manager) or me.
:-)
|
|
A fun place to work
While in Portland, my family went to a sports bar fur lunch one day. I noticed this level on top of a display and assumed that someone forgot it there and no one noticed. We had a bit of a laugh.
Then my brother Manuel asked the waiter if our tables were level, because they didn't look level. The waiter said he had no idea, so Manuel asked him to see if they have a level. He dutifully wandered off to the manager. She send him in the back to look for a level.
Then she came over to our table and said that the waiter had left the level up there when he hung the display and no one had ever told him - "So please don't ruin this for us."
At this point, the waiter came back without the level and his manager told him to keep an eye out for it. We told him the tables were level enough and didn't say another word about it.
I think I could work at a place like that.
:-)
|
|
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.
|
|
September
IT Partners
Sept. 29-30
Disneyland, Paris
IOTSSA Cybersecurity Expo
Sept 19-30
Charlotte, NC
|
|
October
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Live Event
Oct 6, 2021
Raleigh, NC
DTX 2021 (Digital Transformation)
Oct. 6-7
London, UK
DattoCon 2021 - Now virtual
Oct 13
SMB TechFest
October 13-14
Anaheim, CA
SMB IT Professionals National Conference - Australia
Postponed!
. . . Maybe next year
Sherweb Accelerate
Oct 18-20
Hollywood, FL
More Info: https://info.sherweb.com/accelerate.html
Channel SEC London
October 19th
London, UK
Kaseya Connect IT
Oct 19-22
Las Vegas
NexGen+ 2021
October 24-26
Anaheim, CA
Join me Live!
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
October 25-27
Miami, FL
ASCII Success Summit
October 27 & 28
Orlando, FL
I'm hoping there's a trip to the Gold Coast in my future. Stay tuned.
|
|
November
Channel Partners Evolution
Nov. 1-4
Las Vegas, NV
Managed Services Summit Live
November 2nd
Amsterdam
Kaseya Connect Europe
Nov. 2-4
Amsterdam
ASCII Success Summit
November 2 & 3
Washington, DC
IT Nation Connect North America
November 10-12
Orlando, FL
IT Nation (Connectwise) Evolve Peer Groups
November 15-19
Sydney, Aus
Managed Services Summit North
November 16th
Manchester, UK
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Live Event
Nov 16, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
Join me Live!
Women of the Channel Summit West 2021
November 16-17
Palm Springs, CA
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
November 18-19
Schaffhausen, Switzerland
|
|
December
Women of the Channel Summit East 2021
December 6-7
New York, NY
ASCII Success Summit
Orange County, CA - December 8 & 9
Join me Live!
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
December 8-9
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Event
Dallas, TX
Dec 9-10th
SMB Roadshow - Las Vegas!
Las Vegas, NV
Dec 14th
Join Me Live!
-- -- --
If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
|
|
January
Send us your updates!
|
|
February
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
February 17 - 18, 2022
Singapore, Singapore
Xchange+
February 27 - March 1, 2022
Dallas, TX
|
|
March
Cloud Expo Europe
March 2-3, 2022
London, UK
|
|
April
Send us your updates!
|
|
May
Send us your updates!
|
|
June
Send us your updates!
|
|
July
Send us your updates!
|
|
August
CompTIA ChannelCon 2022
August 1-3, 2022
Houston, TX
More Info: Coming after ChennelCon 2021 ;-)
|
|
Note: If you know of any in-person event for SMB Consultants, please send info to karlp@greatlittlebook.com. |
|
Check out all my "Channels" |
|
Share on YOUR Social Media: |
|
Small Biz Thoughts is a subsidiary of Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
