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Nothing Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2024 Karl W. Palachuk
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Hello Karl, -
Happy Eclipse . . . if you get to see it. I'm not driving anywhere to get a better view. So, if the clouds stay away, I might see a sliver.
April always seems to be a "false start" kind of month. I want Spring to be here, but I need to be patient for another week. I want Q2 to take off with a leap, but I have to polish up my taxes. Income tax is long done, but Q2 sales tax is due. And as a Californian, I have to pay the state $800 for the privilege of extra sunshine . . . which will be here in another week or two.
This week - literally in the next few days - all that whining will be over and I'll have my Spring weather. Temps will be in the 80's and we won't look back!
Right now, my plan is to spend next weekend in Yosemite National Park. Sunday will be the first day you need a parking pass to get in. For me, that weekend is the perfect time to go. Big crowds won't be there yet, hotel rates are quite reasonable. And with the snow starting to melt, the waterfalls will put on quite a show.
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On the recent Killing IT Podcast, I mentioned that some books give great advice for larger companies, but you need to work to make them fit smaller businesses. Ryan expounded on that and mentioned Good to Great by Jim Collins. I think that's a perfect example.
I loved Good to Great - but I have also worked in mid-market and enterprise businesses. I've seen how management works in those companies - and how separated it is from line workers.
I like the book Great by Choice much more. In fact, it's on my top five list of business books for SMB IT consultants (Good to Great is not). Why the difference? Primarily, Good to Great really is all about big business. It's all about the challenges for a Fortune 500 company. In my opinion, Great by Choice is almost immediately usable for small businesses. You don't have to stretch much to apply the lessons.
My webinar on Wednesday will spend a little time on the major differences between SMB (small and medium business) and truly big business. One of the major differences - and perhaps the greatest challenge of big business - is that big businesses have a never-ending turnover of middle managers. This is normal and natural when you have thousands of employees.
This is a challenge for big business because it highlights the greatest weakness they have: Managers get into their jobs without much knowledge about the job, the people, the specific market they have to operate in, the resources available to them, the politics of getting something done in their subdivision of the corporation, and so forth. In other words, their job is filled with mystery and the unknown.
They don't understand the holistic system in which they are asked to be successful. And they don't have much time to learn it before they have to reach quarterly goals and annual targets. If they fail, they move on to another job in another company and are thrown into another position filled with mystery.
If they succeed, they are promoted in their department, or moved to another department. Promotion means they also move to a new job filled with mystery. This never-ending churn of middle management is a defining characteristic of mid-market and enterprise companies.
Most middle managers spend most of their career learning their job (market, people, etc.) and therefore management training is all about cutting through the mystery to learn what's really going on in their own business. They end up managing by numbers and measures that rarely address what really matters in their business.
Small businesses don't have that weakness. There shouldn't be much mystery at all in your business. You know whether employees are motivated. You know whether clients are happy. You know whether you're making money or struggling to get by.
You still have challenges, but they're directly related to what really matters in your business - not to finding out the most basic information about your business.
Something to chew on.
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Webinar this Wednesday: Measuring Success
Register now and don't miss this free webinar!
Measuring Success:
The Unpopular Truth about KPI's, SLA's, and SMB IT
Are KPIs helping your business ... or just killing employee morale?
No sales. No time wasting!
April 10th
9 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern
Register Now!
The latest fad in our business is measuring lots and lots of things . . . but that's probably not improving your business, your profit, or your happiness. Join me for a different perspective. I promise this webinar will lighten your workload, reduce your stress, and give you a better understanding of how your business works.
Consider: What are most important things in your business? Profit, of course. Then what? Quality clients? Long-life clients? Quality employee? Culture? Operational excellence? Work-life balance?
Whatever you decide is important, I guarantee you will find zero enlightenment from knowing how much revenue you have per technician! In fact, revenue per technician might be the least interesting number you will ever waste time on.
Join me for a different perspective that might actually help you run your business!
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NSITSP Webinar Thursday
CMMC is Here, Get Ready
The NSITSP is bringing together a panel of experts to talk about CMMC and how it will impact our MSP members. CMMC is both an opportunity and a potential challenge for MSP’s and MSSP’s. Learn about the requirements for MSPs and MSSPs providing services to defense contractors and some of the approaches they can take.
Join us Wednesday
April 11th
9:00 AM Pacific
https://nsitsp.org/event/webinar-cmmc-is-here-get-ready/
Free. Everyone's welcome. Join us!
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That's about it for now. I am enjoying my spare time by reading a lot these days. After decades of working at it, I really have built a life for myself that I thoroughly enjoy. It's definitely been worth the effort.
I hope you're building the life that makes you supremely happy. After all, that's another major difference between big business and small business. If you run a small business, it exists to make your life better. Big businesses exist to give shareholders X%.
Have a great week!
:-)
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Join me live at . . .
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Measuring Success Webinar - April 10th - on Zoom
- An Introduction to Artificial Intelligence for Small Business - May 29th - on Zoom
- SMB IT Professionals conference - Oct. 25-26, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia
- ChannelPro SMB Forum - Nov. 12-13, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA
Links below in the events calendar - or at WhereInTheWorldIsKarl.com.
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Next Great Class at ITSPU | |
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Starts April 23rd:
The MSP Professional Sales Program
Taught by James Kernan, Community Builder and Sales Coach
- Five Tuesdays
- April 23 - May 21
Register Now - Only $399*
Features
1. Bring new prospects into your pipeline
2. Shorten the sales cycles
3. Increase average deal size
4. Sell value so you do not have to compromise on price
Do you want to stand out from your competitors and win more Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)? How about winning more business from existing customers and becoming “sticky” so you are the top-of-mind partner when opportunities arise? By using the “Value Based Selling” sales process you will be more successful in sales!
This course will give you your own Sales Playbook template that you can customize to make your own. Get everyone on your team following the same blueprint to success!
We will help teach you how to get leads from your strategic partners and how to run more marketing campaigns for a fraction of the price of your competitors. We will give you our Annual Marketing Plan template so you can develop your own series of campaigns that will work in your local geography.
Whether you are an owner operator that wants to improve your sales skills, or one who is starting to hire a team, you need a sales process for ALL to follow. In this course you will learn the “Value Based Consultative Sales” process. This is an 8-step process that will help you quickly move from qualifying to closing. Then more importantly, keeping the customer for life with QBR’s (Quality Business Reviews)
We will give you over 10 (ten) handout exercises that will help you create your own Sales Playbook, Annual Marketing Plan, Sales Process, Qualifying Process, and more!
Furthermore, we will teach you what to do when the customer says no to your recommendations by giving you tips and techniques to win the deal. Other documents provided are Denial of Services Letter, Letter of Understanding, Assessment Presentation template, QBR Checklist and USP. We will help you stand out from your competition, by helping you develop your unique selling proposition.
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Only $399
Weekly Details
1. What is Value Based Selling?
- Why value-based selling is best
- 5 principles of value-based selling
- Matching your solution to their business challenge
2. Qualifying
- Why you do not chase after every opportunity
- 8 step process to qualify all opportunities
- The power of NO
3. Sales Process
- 7 step sales cycle
- Emotional sales cycle
- The customers buying process
4. Framework for Successful Sales Departments
- Create your Sales Plan
- Goals/KPIs
- Compensation Plans
- Sales Skill Training/Mentoring
- Staffing the sales team
- and More!
5. Negotiating/Closing
- How to overcome objections
- Trial closes
- How to ask for the order
- Letter of Understand technique
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Delivered by James Kernan, Community Builder and Sales Coach. James is the author of the 36 Month Millionaire Program, and two books: Leadership Essentials for Successful Executives and Business Tips. For the past 12 years, James has served as a Principal Consultant for Kernan Consulting and provides Coaching, Advising and Mentoring programs to entrepreneurs and leaders. Kernan Consulting offers One on One Coaching, CEO Peer Groups, M&A Consulting and online training programs.
James is a frequent speaker for TechSelect, CompTIA, XChange, Convergence, Robin Robins Bootcamp, HTG, Mastermind Peer Groups, SMB Nation, SMB TechFest, and Microsoft IAMCP events. He has been recognized and written up as an extraordinary “example of success” in industry publications such as CRN, Business Solutions, VAR Business, CRM Today, and Inc. Magazine.
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.
Register Now - Only $399*
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 | |
Recent Blog Posts, Podcasts, and Videos | |
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Small Biz Thoughts Blog:
Killing IT Podcast - Now posted quarterly
SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday
National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog
Relax Focus Succeed:
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The latest Super Success video ... | |
Community News
SmallBizThoughts.org
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Join us every
"First Thursday"
9 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern
All members welcome.
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Members: Please read the April newsletter. Or at least view the latest news video.
Big Announcement: We have moved to holding monthly meetings on the first Thursday of every month. Please mark it on your calendar and don't miss it!
That also means there won't be a meeting this Thursday. And it means we free up third Thursdays for Community Breakouts.
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Member Notes
We have an all-new Community Breakout starting April 18th.
All SBT Technology Community members are welcome to join us.
The focus of this breakout is Marketing!
We'll start with a bit of information to set the scene. Then we'll have an open discussion and begin working on helping attendees to create and execute a marketing program over the next five months.
Breakouts are part education, part peer group, part mastermind, and part accountability group. They are intended to be short-term. In other words, they are not a forever commitment - but highly focused to help you get value right now. And we get to build community in the process!
Members check out the registration link - in the Community!
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Community Plus Members - That's most of you:
Please watch my latest video on getting the most from your Community Plus Membership! Get your free classes. Download two dozen books. Get the checklists and calculators and tens of thousands of pages of other downloads !!!
We know we have an overwhelming about of great content for you. If you're wondering where to start, check out the Roadmaps. Or send us an email. We're here to help.
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Members: Grab that Free Training!
We have a great co-marketing program with IT Service Provider University. And you can engage at any level you choose.
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Community Members receive one free 5-week course each year from our list of twenty-five courses.
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Community Plus Members can access ALL twenty-five courses free of charge.
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Team Members can also engage with me to do a deep-dive on the live classes. We have two teams doing this right now with the Managing Your Service Board class.
If you have questions, or want to learn more, send me email to me at : karlp@smallbizthoughts.com.
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Here's the last Community News video: | |
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I would pay extra rent to have this office suite. But then I could never find it.
:-)
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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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April 2024
Intel Vision
April 8-9
Phoenix, AZ
More Info: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/events/on-event-series/vision.html
Google Cloud Next
April 9-11
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://cloud.withgoogle.com/next
North American Cloud & Collaboration Summit
April 9-11
Dallas, TX
More Info: https://www.collabsummit.org/
Special Webinar with Karl:
Measuring Success: The Unpopular Truth about KPIs, SLAs, and SMB IT - April 10th - on Zoom
April 10th
On Zoom
Register Now: https://mspwebinar.com
Join me Live online
ChannelPro LIVE
Apr. 10-11, 2024
Orlando, FL
More info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/
Days of Knowledge
April 12-13
Odense, Denmark
More Info: https://www.directionsforpartners.com/conferences-and-events/days-of-knowledge/nordic-2024
Directions
April 14-17
San Diego, CA
More Info: https://directionsna.com/
Black Hat Asia
April 16-19
Singapore
More Info: https://www.blackhat.com/asia-24/
ASCII Edge 2024
April 17 & 18
Newark, NJ
More Info: https://events.ascii.com/
eMerge Americas
April 18-19
Miami Beach, FL
More Info: https://emergeamericas.com/
TDWI Transform
April 28-May 3
Chicago, IL
More Info: https://na.eventscloud.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=777592&_gl=1*x88u25*_gcl_au*NjI4NDAyOTQxLjE3MDE3Mjk1NjI.
Kaseya Connect Global
April 29-May 2
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.kaseyaconnect.com/
Microsoft 365 Conference
April 30-May 3
Orlando, FL
More Info: https://www.m365conf.com/#!/
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May
Red Hat Summit
May 6-9
Denver, CO
More Info: https://www.redhat.com/en/summit
RSA Conference
May 6-9
San Francisco, CA
More Info: https://www.rsaconference.com/usa
ServiceNow Knowledge
May 7-9
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://knowledge.servicenow.com/events/k23/getupdates
SMB TechFest
May 9-10
Irvine, CA
More Info: https://www.smbtechfest.com/showdates.asp
European Collaboration Summit
May 14-16
Wiesbaden, Germany
More Info: https://collabsummit.eu/
Gartner Application Innovation & Business Solutions Summit
May 14-16
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/applications-us
ChannelPro LIVE
May 15-16, 2024
Baltimore, MD
More info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/
Dell Technologies World
May 20-23
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.dell.com/en-us/dt/events/delltechnologiesworld/2024/index.htm
IBM Think
May 20-23
Boston, MA
More Info: https://www.ibm.com/events/think
Microsoft Licensing Boot Camp
May 21-23
Atlanta, GA
More Info: https://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/members/get-training
Nutanix .NEXT
May 21-23
Barcelona, Spain
More Info: https://next2024.nutanix.com/
MSP GeekCon
May 21-23
Orlando, FL
More Info: https://www.mspgeekcon.com
ASCII Edge 2024
May 22 & 23
Denver, CO
More Info: https://events.ascii.com/
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June 2024
Cisco Live
June 2-6
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.ciscolive.com/global.html
Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit
June 3-5
National Harbor, MD
More Info: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/security-risk-management-us
ConnectWise IT Nation Secure
June 3-5
Orlando, FL
More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/secure/cybersecurity-conference
VeeamON
June 3-5
Fort Lauderdale, FL
More Info: https://www.veeam.com/veeamon
Microsoft 365 Educon & PWRCON
June 3-7
Seattle, WA
More Info: https://pwrcon.com/
Infosecurity Europe
June 4-6
London, England
More Info: https://www.infosecurityeurope.com/
ChannelPro LIVE
Jun. 5-6, 2024
Columbus, OH
More info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/
Databricks Data + AI Summit
June 10-13
San Francisco, CA
More Info: https://www.databricks.com/dataaisummit/
European Power Platform Conference
June 11-13
Brussels, Belgium
More Info: https://www.sharepointeurope.com/european-power-platform-conference/
North American Information Security Summit
June 16-18
Denver, CO
More Info: https://infosecurity-summit.com/
Commsverse
June 26-27
Weybridge, England
More Info: https://www.commsverse.com/
ASCII Edge 2024
June 26 & 27
Chicago, IL
More Info: https://events.ascii.com/
XChange Best of Breed
June 2024
East Essex, England
More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/xchange
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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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AI Transparency Statement
We do not use artificial intelligence apps in the writing of any content for this newsletter. Some of our royalty-free paid graphics might use AI-generated images. But all of the writing is by Karl W. Palachuk, or others as noted.
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