Nothing
Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2023 Karl W. Palachuk
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Greetings!
The spring season is getting busy! CompTIA's CCF (communities and councils forum) is next week. Sadly, I won't be there. CompTIA closed down the executive council I was on. So, with no business reason to fly to Chicago and be out of pocket for the trip, I will watch from home.
I *did* find out last week that I'll be on the new Diversity in Action Workforce Council. I think that means I'll be heading to DC in May. Stay tuned.
We do have a webinar coming up with Asigra in April. With luck, I'll details and registration information next week. |
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And of course we have a big two-day online conference May 17-18. As of Friday at 5PM, we have 130 registered attendees. Please check it out at www.smbonlineconference.com - and register today!
I promised Kara that I'd fill in some blanks on that site this week. Now you can hold me to that as well.
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If I can help, please let me know.
A few people have reached out to me because they saw my books or something else.
Please know: I am VERY sincere when I say that I want to help you. My written mission for my companies is to make YOU as successful as possible. And I am always aware when people are worried about how the economy affects them.
Over the years, I've had my share of tough financial times, whether that's from the economy, divorce, or my foolish decisions. All three of those were in play at the same time, about thirteen years ago, plus I was paying for my daughter's college tuition.
If someone gave me a bunch of money back then, I would probably have helped a bit in the short term. But when things are bad, money just disappears into the void. What really helped me was meeting regularly with my mastermind group and talking through business strategies and ideas. And even if I didn't always take all their advice, the process of engaging regularly with people who were willing help was important.
If you are reading this and want some advice, ping me. karlp@smallbizthoughts.com.
Really.
You never need to feel so stuck in your business that you can't figure out which way to turn or what to do next. Long-term, you need to cultivate friends you can talk to about your business. It doesn't have to be formal. It doesn't have to involve money. Just get together with other people and talk. In fact, they don't even have to be in IT. Any business owner is going to have challenges you'll recognize.
Let's be clear: I'm not offering you my extremely expensive coaching program for free. But if a 20-minute Zoom call might help, I will be happy to do that. Whether you're stuck with client problems, employee issues, marketing, sales, pricing plans, training, or something else, I will help if I can. And sometimes you just need to talk.
I promise I won't try to sell you anything. I have a newsletter for that. :-)
The entire world is a click or two away: You should never feel like you're in this alone!
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NSITSP - Update
The National Society of IT Service Providers is hosting our first educational webinar.
Vendor Partner Brian Mahon from Insurance for MSPs is putting on a zero-sales presentation on the challenges and opportunities around insurance for IT service providers in the years ahead.
Read the full announcement here:
and register for the event on our Events page, here:
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This event is free and is open to everyone - members or not.
I say "zero" says. To be honest, Amy Babinchak and I are using this to show you the value the NSITSP is trying to bring to our community. So we will be asking you to join the NSITSP.
Obviously, Insurance is a HUGE issue today. And whether you like it or not, MSPs (and their clients) are directly affected by changes in the insurance industry.
The battles over ransomware, cybersecurity, and financial liability are critical. In fact, they are potentially deadly for IT Service Providers. Bad decisions regarding insurance can put you out of business.
Please register now for this great, educational program.
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I put up a few videos this week. Please check them out and give me your feedback.
Have a great week!
:-)
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Sign up now. Class starts March 21st.
Optimize Your Social Media Marketing and Advertising
Part of the "Social Media Super-Charge" Series for Small Business
Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk
- Five Tuesdays: March 21 - April 18, 2023
This course covers the key elements of designing, planning, and executing a modern social media strategy in the Small Business environment. We cover the use of social media for both marketing and sales.
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 starts with a business-focused overview of social media marketing and sales. We discuss taking control of your brand and managing how you show up on the web. We present a strategy for creating and managing your overall branding across all social media. Finally, we do a deep-dive into automating and managing your social media presence going forward.
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Here are the specifics of what you'll learn, week by week:
Module 1: Introduction, Overview. Marketing vs. Sales
- The Plan of The Course
- Take-Aways And Goal-Setting
- What is Marketing?
- What is Sales?
- Developing a Funnel System
- Schedules – Manual and Automated
- Which Social Media are Best for You? (Including Reddit, Instagram, TikTok?)
- The Big, Big, Social Media Strategy
Module 2: Google, Apple, SEO, And Managing Your Company's Meta Data
- Meta Data Basics
- Taking “Control” Of Your Google, Apple, and Other Meta Data
- SEO Reality
- SEO Checklist
- Data Maintenance
- Organizing and Tracking Meta Data
- Meta Data in the Big Strategy
- Drill-Down: Choosing Social Media platforms
Module 3: Graphics Overview And Tools Management
- Graphics Overview
- Branding Basics
- A Storage Strategy
- Updates, Versions
- Graphics in the Big Strategy
Module 4 Automating Your Social Media Marketing
- The Benefits of Automation
- Pacing – Creation and Publishing
- Popular Tools
- Free vs. Paid
- Focus on Your Prime Social Medium
- Strategy, Planning, and Tracking
- Hiring/Outsourcing Assistance
- Automating Social Media in the Big Strategy
Module 5 When to Pay for Advertising and Tools
- Free - A Great Place to Start, and Often the Most Expensive Option
- Comparing Tools, Features, and Prices
- Start Small – Don’t Buy Everything You Find
- Get the Most from as Few Tools as Possible
- Avoid Trying to Do Everything and Measure Everything
- Measuring Your Success
- Social Blade
- Social Bluebook
- TubeBuddy
- HootSuite, etc.
- Paid Tools in the Big Strategy
... 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:
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.
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 650,000 views!
Subscribe today and don't miss a thing!
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: Over 900 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 360+ SOP videos
- 275+ 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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Get The SMB Online Conference for FREE . . . |
Quick Summary of 2023 FREEBIES for Community Members
Community Members: Please grab your great content!
This year, that will include 23 five-week courses (which sell for $399 each). Each year, ten of these are live. So your "live classes" are worth $3,990. And recorded class are another $5,187.
You also get free access to the entire SMB Online Conference - Also a $399 value.
And all of that is on top of all of my books and trainings, plus special reports and live community meetings.
You've already paid for all this. Go get it! And if you need help finding anything, ping Kara or me.
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March Roundtable . . .
Rich Freeman was great. Do yourself a favor and watch the replay. As always, start in your personal dashboard.
I guess I jumped the gun. Rich is still the Executive Editor for ChannelPro Network for a couple more weeks. In the meantime, he's setting up a SubStack called Channelholic.
Rich will start posting great content soon.
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Here's the March Community News video, in case you missed it. |
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Last week I did a tour of my hometown, Sacramento, and posted lots of pix on my Facebook account.
This mural is in the old Sacramento train station. For eighteen months, history was made by the Pony Express, from Sacramento to St. Joseph, MO. Of course, that business was made obsolete by the railroad. Here's Leland Stanford on his way to drive the golden spike.
:-)
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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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March
XChange March 2023
March 5-7, 2023
Orlando, FL
ChannelPro Summit
Mar. 8-9
Dulles, VA (Mid-Atlantic)
CloudExpo Europe
March 8-9, 2023
London, UK
CompTIA CCF
Chicago, IL
March 13-15
Gartner CIO Leadership Forum
March 14-15, 2023
London, UK
Adobe Summit
Las Vegas, NV
March 19-20
IoT CA
March 19-21
San Diego, CA
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
IWCE Expo
March 27-30
Las Vegas, NV
Enterprise Connect
March 27-30
Kissimmee, FL
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
Kaseya 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 karlp@greatlittlebook.com. |
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Small Biz Thoughts is a subsidiary of Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc. |
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