Nothing Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2023 Karl W. Palachuk
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Greetings!
And now . . . let's get ready for the 4th of July.
Holidays, holidays, holidays. Next Monday will be a lost cause for work. Those who have Tuesday off are likely to take Monday off - or work a slow, lazy schedule. Seems like a great time to verify your backups. :-)
My newsletter, however, never takes a day off. Last Monday (Juneteenth), I looked at my stats at 10AM. I was pleased to see that you and your friends got up and read this newsletter even if you took the day off work.
By 10AM Monday, the open rate and click-through rate had already exceeded the normal performance of industry emails! The click-through rate was already 31%. Of course it only went up from there.
Thank you for opening, reading, and giving me your feedback.
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Join me in Vegas - Free!
I'm having fun promoting our ChannelCon appearance August 1-3 in Las Vegas. We're giving away stickers, including the MyTie sticker in the "Picture of the Day" below. AND we're giving away this vintage (working) Robbie the Robot. See 54-second video.
We're in booth 101.
Or use the code SBSmallBizThoughts23 if asked. NOTE: I am giving away this robot to one lucky winner. Must be present to win.
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Other ChannelCon News: No Coaching Mastermind
For the last several ChannelCon events (in Vegas and Chicago, both before and after the pandemic), a number of IT coaches have gotten together to put on a special "mastermind" huddle. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do that this year.
We requested a room and were told that we need to give someone else a chance. I thought this was funny since our sessions have regularly been rated more highly than the official programs put on by ChannelCon. But it's not my event (obviously) so this year is a no-go for coaching.
BUT - you can still drop by my booth, grab some stickers, take a selfie with a robot, and enter to win the vintage Robbie the Robot.
. . . and potentially buy me a beer. Just sayin.
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Thursday the 29th - The Managed Security Services Forum
Join me Thursday at Phelim Rowe's MSSP event. I'm on a panel that kicks off at 9:00 AM Pacific.
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Share Your Finances!
One final note for the week. As Q2 comes to a close (Friday), this is a great time to share your finances with someone who cares. Laying out your Q1 and Q2 finances, along with planned changes for the rest of the year, can really help you to start the second half headed in the right direction.
I sat down with my daughter over the weekend for half an hour and went through our major sources of income and expenses. I gave her the complete P&L month-by-month for 2023 and explained why we are making certain changes. We also discussed some of what's planned for 2024.
Although she's not working "IN" by business daily, she understands what we do and our mission. It's always great to get a sympathetic ear with finances. It helps to verbalize your goals because that forces you to gain some clarity. And it helps to hear the obvious questions that you might not have thought of because you're too close to the situation.
Don't Whine that you feel completely alone as a business owner. It's okay to open up a bit, especially with someone you know and trust. If you don't have a family member who's good with numbers, find a friend or a peer group.
There are many, many peer groups. I think my favorite peer group over the years was the one that started each meeting by sharing our numbers for the quarter. This dose of naked honesty takes a little getting used to. But you quickly realize that other people are going through similar problems - and you work together to strategize changes.
Bottom Line: Share your numbers! Nothing bad will happen, and you might get some good advice.
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I think we had five or six calendar updates. Check them out below. And if you know of something we should list here, please send me the details! We list in-person events only. Thanks.
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As always: Feedback and comments welcome. Please share this newsletter if you enjoy it.
Have a great week!
:-)
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Join me at . . .
- Managed Security Services Forum LA County - June 29 . . . online
- SMB Techfest - July 27-28 in Anaheim
- CompTIA ChannelCon - August 1-3 in Las Vegas
- XChange - August 20-22 in Nashville
- Beerfest - October in Perth, Australia
- SMB IT Pro Conference - October 27-28 in Melbourne, Australia
- ASCII event - December 7 in Waikiki, HI
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Sign up now. Join me live in July.
The Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service Delivery
Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk
Author and Community Builder
- Five Tuesdays - July 11 - August 8
- Includes the book The Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service Delivery in PDF format
This course covers the most important "rules" you need to follow to create a massively successful business. Based on Karl's 20+ years experience running successful businesses - and helping others do the same.
How can you guarantee that your company delivers great service, has a great culture, and still manages to stay profitable? You need to follow certain “Unbreakable Rules” for success. Best-selling business author and coach Karl W. Palachuk draws on more than thirty years of owning and running service-based businesses to present the rules his companies live by.
These rules will help you align your personal and professional goals while creating “standard operating procedures” to automate successful habits. Notice that “The customer is always right” is not on the list. Why? Because everyone knows that’s not true. Customers are frequently wrong, or would make bad decisions if we didn’t help them to make good decisions.
This class doesn’t waste your time giving lip service to worn out platitudes. Instead, we focus on building a great, successful business in the 21st Century. And since the rules are absolutely unbreakable, they will stand the test of time and the changing business environment.
In addition to the unbreakable rules, we give advice on identifying your own unbreakable rules. Branding, after all, is everything you do in your company: The way you hire, the way you greet customers, the way you document processes, the way you invoice, how you handle difficult conversations, and much more. Your business is a reflection of your beliefs and values. It should be built with intention, not something that “just happened.”
Some of these rules help you make money. Some of them keep your work standards high. Some build culture. All of them help your employees and client to understand the culture that's embedded in your brand. This book will help you identify and codify the core elements of your success. It will also help you build the definitive list of absolutely unbreakable rules that will guide your business going forward.
Top Five Take-aways:
- Define YOUR company’s rules for greater success
- Learn great “best practices” for your company
- You will take actions to improve your business before the class is over
- Improve your profit
- Improve customer service
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Here are the specifics of what you'll learn, week by week:
Week One - Why these rules?
- Define your brand, and the guidelines that create it
- Create rules that define overall behaviors of success
- Learn to prioritize everything you do
Week Two - Client Rules
- Learn to control your processes since you can’t control people
- Learn to get accurate information from clients so you don’t have to guess
- Stop being tempted by unprofitable habits
- Define your overall approach to customer service
Week Three - Employee Rules
- Assuming you have good processes, find employees who will do what you need them to do
- Create clear communications around expectations, behavior, wages, and performance
- Create a great hiring process
- Create effective employee evaluation forms
Week Four - Finance Rules
- Learn why you should be prepaid for everything, and how to implement this policy
- Establish very profitable rules around billable hours and minimums
- Know which money you should go after and which you should avoid
- Establishing new financial policies over time
Week Five - Service Delivery Rules
- Create a great definition of what’s covered under managed services, and train your clients and employees
- Manage time from every angle (time billed, time paid, time off, etc.)
- Sign service agreements with every client
- Use your ticketing system/service board effectively
- Document absolutely everything you do
Delivered by Karl W. Palachuk, blogger and author of Relax Focus Succeed (and lots of other books).
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:
- Management
- Service Management
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 690,000 views!
Subscribe today and don't miss a thing!
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: Over 940 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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Join us every Thursday
9 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern
All members welcome.
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July Roundtable: Paul Green from
Paul Greens MSP Marketing
Join us Thursday, July 6th for a great Small Biz Thoughts Roundtable with Paul Green
Paul is an MSP marketing expert, based in the UK, working with 700+ MSPs all over the
world with his MSP Marketing Edge program.
Paul is a former journalist and radio presenter, and the host of the world’s most popular podcast on MSP marketing – search for “Paul Green’s MSP Marketing podcast” in your favorite podcast platform.
Remember: You can always submit questions in advance. The link is at the top of your dashboard. Join us live on July 6th - the link is always at the top of your dashboard!
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Don't Miss These Members-Only Webinars!
Starting July 5th, we kick off some special trainings for you and your staff.
This is NOT "Everything about TCP/IP and DNS." This is more along the lines of "The basics you need to know if you're going to be supporting small business networks today."
Here's the trio of classes:
Understanding TCP/IP - A Very Practical Introduction
July 5th
TCP/IP Troubleshooting - A Very Practical Workshop
July 26th
Building the Basic Small Business Network - A Very Practical Workshop
August 16th
I created these 1-hour trainings by request of a Community member. The goal is to make sure you and your techs have a solid understanding of the basics of TCP/IP - the protocol that runs the world.
And if YOU have a request for training or resources, please get in touch with Kara or me.
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The JULY Newsletter will go out this Friday (final Friday). Look for the newsletter and the video.
Here's the last Community News video:
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MyTie is now a sticker! Pick one up at my booth at ChannelCon. Free, of course.
:-)
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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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June
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
June 29-30
Denver, CO
CRN Sales & Marketing Awards
June 29
London
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July
IDM (Identity Management) Dach
July 6
Frankfurt, Germany
XChange Security 2023
July 10-12
Dallas , TX
National Retail Federation Nexus
July 10-12
Los Angeles, CA
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 27-28
Anaheim, CA
MSPRescue
July 27th
Princeton
ARN Edge (Australian Tech)
July 29-August 2
Queensland, AUS
RetailNOW
July 30 - August 1
Orlando, FL
:-)
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August
CompTIA ChannelCon
August 1-2-3
Las Vegas, NV
Visit me in Booth 101
Join me Live!
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
MSP Community Minds
August 14-15
Denver, CO
XChange - Nashville
August 20-22
Nashville, TN
Join me Live!
Inclusive Leadership Network Workshop 2023
August 23
Nashville, TN
CMIT Connect Live!
August 29th
Austin, TX
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
Midsize Enterprise Summit Fall 2023
September 17-19
Houston, TX
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
Scottsdale, AZ
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October
dattoCon 2023
Oct. 2-4, 2023
Miami, FL
Nerdio Training Camp
Oct 3
San Antonio, TX
Best of Breed Conference 2023
October 9-10
Atlanta, GA
ChannelPro Summit
Oct. 10-11
Atlanta (Southeast)
NexGen 2023
October 15-18
Houston , TX
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit 2023
Oct. 16-18
Miami, FL
Nerdio Training Camp
Oct 17
Dallas, TX
NexGen Security Workshop 2023
October 18
Orlando, FL
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
Women of the Channel Leadership Summit East 2023
December 4-5
New York, NY
ASCII Navigate in Hawaii !!!
Dec. 7th
Waikiki, HI
Join Me Live in Hawaii!
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Quarterly
Dec 7-8
Phoenix, AZ
Nerdio Training Camp
Dec 12-13
Los Angeles, CA
:-)
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January 2024
Send us your updates
February 2024
Send us your updates
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March
Midsize Enterprise Summit IT Security 2024
March 18-19, 2024
Indianapolis, IN
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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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