Nothing
Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2023 Karl W. Palachuk
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Greetings!
I don't know about you, but I am truly crazy busy for the next three weeks.
I know many people have the end of the school year in sight, so they're looking at kids, summer childcare, and vacations. I don't have that stuff, but I have my own stuff.
Remember: We are all humans, and our clients are as well. Tune into their "seasons" and make sure that you take on tech-related tasks that free up their time when they need it.
Service doesn't have to be about tech.
My to-do list includes:
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Wednesday - two days from now - BIG security webinar with Asigra. Please register now. Even if you can't attend live, you'll get access to the recording.
- Friday April 21st - NSITSP special meeting on the Microsoft MFA attack and one member's experience. With Andy Higgins from the Marketing Committee. See https://nsitsp.org/events.
Then I head off to Las Vegas to run my business remotely for a week. So I'm gone May 30th to the land of the lost money. I'm ostensibly in town to attend the Channel Partners Conference.
Then it's back home in time for the quarterly NSITSP All-Member Meeting:
- Wednesday May 10th - NSITSP All-Member Meeting. Open to everyone. We have LOTS to report. Please register and join us for this informative meeting.
On top of all that, I have eight meetings related to the NSITSP and four for the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community. So, I'm pretty much full-up busy. Of course, things only slow down a little after that. But you don't want to be bored, right? ;-)
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A big thanks to my assistant Nai for keeping up on the research. Thanks to her, we have added even more in-person events to our calendar.
One new-to-me event is CAN-IT in September in Banff, Alberta. With I could attend that, but it's about a week after my first grandchild is due . . . and I'm not missing that!
If you know of any live events we haven't listed, please send them our way. Thank you.
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Join Me Wednesday for the Big Webinar with Asigra
We've been planning this for awhile. If you haven't registered yet, now is a great time!
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April 19, 2023
9:00 AM Pacific Time / Noon Eastern
Register Now:
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Always keep an eye on the beach
A note about balance.
I was going over my crazy-busy schedule recently and was asked whether I'm stressed out "yet." The implication was that I either was stressed out from busy-ness or I would be eventually.
But that's now how I work. Regular readers will recall that I regularly cut back on some activities to make room for others. I have many domains for previous projects that simply redirect to an essay I wrote entitled "Know When to Quit." For example:
As I write about the busy-ness of the next 3-4 weeks, I also look ahead to vacations planned in Mexico, Hawaii, and Australia this year. And, to be honest, I am strict with my commitment to rarely ever "just" make a business trip. So, while I could fly to Las Vegas on Tuesday morning and fly home Wednesday night, I'm adding days to go see shows, relax, gamble a bit, see friends, and enjoy the probably-perfect weather.
When I started writing this article, I went to look for a graphic of a beach. Then I stopped myself and just put up the one you see: The new logo for my Relax Focus Succeed brand. After all, most of my free time is spent either ON a beach or dreaming about one.
Scheduling OUT
One of the great fallacies that people constantly tell themselves in this business (in most businesses) is that everyone wants everything right now. This is absolutely not true. One super-easy way to reduce you level of stress permanently is to put blank blocks of time in your schedule.
For the most part, you want to keep the blank spaces blank, so you can create periods of focused work for yourself. But they are also place to put truly urgent new activities. Just remember that you should work very hard to not fill up these spots with someone else's priorities.
One of my favorite old sayings is, "Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."
It will be hard to avoid letting so-called urgent tasks fill up your precious blank blocks. But when you realize that there is no end to urgent requests, it will become easier. And when you realize how amazingly productive you are due to your blank blocks, they will become more precious over time. And you will protect them even more.
And when you've got your time filled up with scheduled appointments (other peoples' priorities) and your blank blocks (your priorities), then the next thing you can do to keep stress at bay is to schedule work out into the future.
It is not true that everything's an emergency!
It is okay to say, "I can get to that in six weeks, or eight weeks, or twelve weeks. And it really is okay. In fact, it's good for you. It's much better to schedule out your work and execute everything with a well-rested body and a clear mind instead of a frazzled body and mind that cannot concentrate or do good work.
The best news of all: Today is a great day to start practicing this. You don't even have to tell anyone. Just quietly add blank blocks to your schedule and start scheduling things further into the future.
And keep one eye on the next vacation, whether that's a beach or not.
:-)
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OH. I forgot to add to my crazy-busy schedule: The SMB Online Conference is May 17-18. We'll have a dozen amazing rockstars! Join us. www.smbonlineconference.com
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Have a great week!
:-)
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New Class Starts Next Week
Refreshed for 2023!
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Sign up today!
Position Your IT Firm for Growth or Sale
Taught By: Rayanne Buchianico, Author and Coach
- Five Tuesdays - April 25 - May 23
“Rayanne’s course on getting a company ready for growth or sale was amazing.”
– David Streit, Stephill Associates
As your business matures, you want to take control of profits and your financial house. You invested the time to set up your chart of accounts, align income with COGS for easy measuring, and organize your reports and service desk. You have the information you need; this course teaches you how to use it.
This class provides unique content from a unique teacher! Rayanne is a managed service provider from Tampa, FL. She is also an accountant and an Intuit Certified ProAdvisor. In addition to her MSP business, Rayanne helps I.T. consultants to take control of their finances and understand their own business at a deeper level.
Topics for this class include:
- Create KPIs specific to your company
- Benchmark against your peers
- Detailed cash flow management and measure debt against income
- Measure service-level profits and improve profitability
- Identify red flags in your business, make changes before they become problems
- Prepare your company for growth, sale or merger
- Use margins to price your services for profit
- Income Tax Planning and Projections
- Action plans for success
... And More!
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Here are the specifics of what you'll learn, week by week:
Module 1: Introduction, Overview. Marketing vs. Sales
- Plan
- Organize
- Documentation
Module 2: Google, Apple, SEO, And Managing Your Company's Meta Data
- Tracking EBITDA
- Valuation Methods
- Working Capital
Module 3: Graphics Overview And Tools Management
- Build KPIs
- Develop Trends
- Labor Costs
Module 4 Automating Your Social Media Marketing
- Cash Flow Forecasting
- Debt Reduction
- Controlling Costs
Module 5 When to Pay for Advertising and Tools
- Workshop – Bring is together
Delivered by Rayanne Buchianico, Accounting Professional and QuickBooks Advisor. Rayanne has been an MSP - managed service provider - for many years and advises MSPs on how to get the most out of their QuickBooks and PSA integrations.
Includes five weeks of webinar classes with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor.
This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Owner or Operations Manager.
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
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 670,000 views!
I now believe we might surpass a million views in 2023.
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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Our weekly meetings are fun and educational!
About three years ago, in the early weeks of the pandemic, we started scheduling weekly Zoom calls inside the SBT Technology Community. Very quickly, they became a major source of both community and information sharing.
Somewhere along the way, these meetings started getting longer and longer. Now, I block out an hour at 9-10 AM every Thursday, plus an additional hour 10-11 AM just in case.
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Topics in the last two weeks have included ...
- Events
- Kaseya
- Member merger!
- Dave Sobel's Business of Tech
- Private Equity
- Our SBT Roundtable with Janice Burt
- Updates on client problems and solutions
- Making money while you sleep
- Referral pathways
- Creating relationships with clients
- Sales notes, trials, and victories
- Who’s using what for servers/firewalls, etc.
- Serving low-budget businesses (Non-profits, churches, etc.)
- ... and more
All meetings are recorded. We post them with the full chat and transcript, so you get all the links that are mentioned. These really are an amazing resource.
To access, log into the Community and then browse to Community / Member Call Archive.
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ALSO: Don't forget to sign up for your FREE classes at www.ITSPU.com. Note that these sites are different, so you need a unique logon for each. Your "transcript" of classes is tied to your login email. That way, no matter what happens in the future, you can access all the classes you've taken.
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Here's the April Community News video: |
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We took delivery of new NSITSP table-top signs for our big Coaching Event at the Channel Partners Conference. Look for Amy Babinchak, Jeff Ponts, and me in Las Vegas. And Join Us!
:-)
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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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April
HIMSS
April 17-21
Chicago, IL
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Webinar:
Don't Be the Latest MSP Victim!
Webinar with Karl and Asigra's CEO Eric Simmons
Free online
April 19th
Register now
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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
Channel Partners
May 1-4
Las Vegas, NV
Join Me Live in Vegas!
Free Coaching
ALSO: Do not miss the FREE coaching sessions being sponsored by ChannelWise.
This event is inside the MSP Summit. Many coaches, including Jeff Ponts, Amy Babinchak, Erick Simpson, and more!
May 3rd
Las Vegas
Join Me Live in Vegas!
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IT Nation Evolve
May 1-5
Dallas, TX 75207
Nerdio Training Camp
May 2-3
Houston, TX
SMB TechFest Q2
May 4-5
Anaheim, CA
N-Able Empower
May 9-12
Prague, Czech Republic
ChannelPro Summit
May 9-10
Chicago (Midwest)
Service Desk and IT Show
May 10-11
London, UK
Ingram Micro Cloud Summit
May 15-17
Las Vegas, NV
7 Figure MSP Live
May 16-18
Nashville, TN
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2023 SMB Online Conference!
May 17-18
Online - Two Days - 13 Hours of Education
Join Me Live Online!
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IoTSSA Cybersecurity Expo
May 18
Columbus, OH
Channel Sec 2023
May 18
London, UK
MSP Geekcon
May 21
Orlando, FL
IT Nation Manchester
May 22-26
Manchester, UK
VeeamOn
May 22-25
Miami, FL
Dell Technologies World
May 22-25
Las Vegas, NV
ASCII Edge 2023
May 24 & 25
Newark, NJ
Dublin Tech Summit
May 31 - June 1
Dublin, Ireland
:-)
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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
Nerdio Training Camp
Jun 7-8
Las Vegas, NV
ChannelPro Summit
June 7-8
San Jose, CA (West Coast)
Join Me Live!
MSPDay
June 9
Riccione, Italy
London Tech Week
June 12-16
London, UK
Pax8 Beyond
June 11-13
Denver, CO
IT Nation Sales and Service Leaders
June 12-16, 2023
Denver, CO
Nerdio Training Camp
June 20-21
New York, NY
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
IDM (Identity Management) Dach
July 6
Frankfurt, Germany
ASCII Edge 2023
July 12 & 13
Columbus, OH
CyberSecurity Expo
July 13, 2023
Manchester, UK
Nerdio Training Camp
July 19
Calgary, Cananada
SMB TechFest Q3
July 27
Anaheim, CA
:-)
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August
Nerdio Training Camp
August 1
Toronto, Canada
ChannelPro Summit
Aug. 9-10
Newark, NJ (Northeast)
IT Nation Evolve Business Leaders
August 7-11, 2023
Denver, Colorado
ASCII Edge 2023
August 30 & 31
Toronto, Canada
:-)
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September
ChannelPro Summit
Sept. 6-7
Boston (New England)
Nerdio Training Camp
Sept 12
Atlanta, GA
ASCII Edge 2023
September 20 & 21
Chicago, IL
CanIT Con
Sept 24-26
Banff, Alberta, Canada
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
Sept 28-29
Omaha, NE
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October
dattoCon 2023
Oct. 2-4, 2023
Miami, FL
Nerdio Training Camp
Oct 3
San Antonio, TX
ChannelPro Summit
Oct. 10-11
Atlanta (Southeast)
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit 2023
Oct. 16-18
Miami, FL
Nerdio Training Camp
Oct 17
Dallas, TX
SMB TechFest Q4
October 19
Anaheim, CA
ASCII Edge 2023
October 18 & 19
Washington, D.C.
Beerfest with Karl
- October 2023
- Perth, Australia
More Info: Details to be announced !!!
Join me Live in Perth!
SMB IT Professionals National Conference
October 27-28
Melbourne, Australia
Join me Live!!
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November
ChannelPro CyberSecurity Strategies
Nov 1-2
Los Angeles
IT Nation Evolve Business Leaders
November 6-8, 2023
Orlando, FL
Nerdio Training Camp
Nov 14-15
Austin, TX
IT Nation Sales and Service Leaders
November 28 - December 1, 2023
Nashville, TN
:-)
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December
Growcon
Dec 3-6
Clearwater, FL
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
Dec 7-8
Phoenix, AZ
Nerdio Training Camp
Dec 12-13
Los Angeles, CA
:-)
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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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