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Nothing Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2024 Karl W. Palachuk
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Hello Karl, -
I had a few conversations last week that reminded me of one of my favorite (misunderstood) quotes from G.K. Chesterton:
"If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
Chesterton's point is not that we should expect bad work. No, his point is: We never start being good or great at a new activity. We need to start out un-skilled. And with each job, we get better and better.
You want to be good with Artificial Intelligence? Start where you are and get better. This is the same with every skill you've ever developed. You were bad before you were good. A few notes on this truth:
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One - Almost anyone can get to be "good" at almost anything they set their mind to. That means you and your staff can master any new technology trend that comes down the road. You've done it before and you can do it again.
Two - You cannot be great at very many things. While the exactness of Gladwell's "10,000 hour rule" is in question, the fundamental lesson remains: Ability grows with practice. And there's a natural limit to how many things you can dedicate your time to.
Three - Our industry is almost unique in our ability to master new technology - and that means we have the choice to build skills from within our companies. In other words, we don't have to hire someone with cutting edge skills. We can hire folks with technical aptitude and train them!
I love the world of technology for many reasons, but one of the most important is our ability to learn and master the latest technologies. But we also have to acknowledge the cost of this frenetic learning environment. So ...
Four - When you lose the passion for learning and change, it's time to consider a different industry. You might retire, take a job in real estate, or do something else. But if you no longer love the change and the challenge, then "the end is in site" for the world of technology in your life.
Time and time again, I have watched people reach this point. I first noticed it when people refused to learn a graphical user interface. Some loved DOS so much that they refused to learn to use a mouse. Others loved Novell so much that they could not see the Internet eating their career.
I saw it again with the introduction of Active Directory, group policies, the Internet itself, cloud services, and even modern cybersecurity. Time and time again, I heard the words, "I will not learn one more generation of technology." And that's what some people are saying today with artificial intelligence.
Note: There's always good news. If you decide that you are "done" with the constant change, that's okay. Based on past experience, I believe you can survive another 3-5 years focusing on 2023-era technology. Plenty of clients will be happy with that. Plenty of employees will go along with it. And that gives you at least 3-5 years to figure out what to do next.
And for those of you committed to the future, it's always a good day. You and your team can learn anything anyone else can! So you get to choose the technologies you'll embrace. There will always be a bright new world, thanks to technical advancement.
So, embrace something you can be bad at today. That way, you can be the best at it soon!
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Next Stop: ChannelWise Coaching in Las Vegas
Once again, I am happy to join the folks at ChannelWise for a "Coaching Cafe" event at the annual Channel Partners conference.
Channel Partners has traditionally been a telecom conference. For a long time, they have also held an MSP event inside the big CP conference. I have like this conference because it's VERY large, and it represents one of the biggest trends in our industry: Telecom companies moving to managed services.
The telecom industry has been promising this forever, but they are finally making headway. As the technologies grew more and more similar, and TCP/IP came to dominate telephone communications, all of these companies have had to hire or train network engineers. That was the missing link for them.
YOU should keep your eyes on this trend for two important reasons. First, the money in telephony shrinks (per end-point) every year. Telecom has been built on recurring revenue since day one, the reductions are amplified by the business model. They need new sources of revenue, and they're finally figuring out networks and IP infrastructure.
Second, telecom companies have traditionally been very good at sales - The Achilles Heal of most MSPs. Basically, they can sell anything. And that means they can probably out-sell most MSPs when it comes to packaged services, cloud offerings, and just about any recurring revenue-based service.
Bottom line: You should be there and get a look at your future.
AND, as long as you're there, drop by and see me for some free coaching, organized by ChannelWise.
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New Member Benefit Video
We have a number of new members joining at the new $799 level. This video is intended to give new members a "quick start" introduction to getting the most from your membership.
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If you're thinking of joining, click on the graphic to view the video on YouTube. And if you have any questions, let me know.
We plan to create videos for the Community Plus membership and Community Team membership as well. Stay tuned.
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Heads Up:
Free Webinar for IT Consultants
Registration is now open.
Register at https://mspwebinar.com.
This is my first public discussion of using a "Systems" approach to running an IT company. I hinted at it in my State of the Nation Address.
All too often, our love for measuring things goes too far. I'm a big believer that you should measure frequently but change infrequently. This is particularly true in small business. I love this quote:
Block out April 10th and register today.
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Other Notes:
From the National Society of IT Service Providers:
This week - tomorrow - Don't miss the Legislative Committee's monthly Open Q&A meeting. Details here: https://nsitsp.org/event/legislative-open-qa/
This open forum is held the first Tuesday of each month via Zoom.
Not sure what we're up to? Join us and ask!
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ASCII Edge was great fun last week. Stay tuned for a podcast featuring interviews from the event.
That's the news and notes for the week.
Have a great week.
:-)
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Join me live at . . .
- Channel Partners Conference - March 10-13 in Las Vegas, NV
- Coffee Coaching with ChannelWise at the big Channel Partners Conference - March 13th in Vegas, Baby.
- Measuring Success: The Unpopular Truth about KPIs, SLAs, and SMB IT - April 10th - on Zoom
- SMB IT Professionals - 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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Revised for 2024!
Powerhouse of One:
How to Be Super Successful MSP
(or Solo Entrepreneur)
Taught by Lori Hardtke, Community Leader and Coach
- Five Tuesdays
- March 19 - April 16
Register Now - Only $399*
Features
1. A different, simplified approach to packaging your Managed Services
2. How to grow revenue and net income without hiring any full-time staff
3. A quick start guide to Profit First and establishing quarterly bonuses
4. Tactics on utilizing engagement letters, pre-paid support agreements & raising rates
5. Automating your business to run like clockwork
If you prefer to run a very small managed service business, you can be extremely successful – but you have to create excellent processes to make that happen. Multi-state MSP owner Lori Hardtke shows you how to grow your business to $350K and beyond without any additional full-time staff on your payroll.
You hear it all the time, you need to work "on" your business not "in" your business. You need to hire staff and delegate in order to grow.
But what if you could grow your business to $350K or more without any additional full-time staff on your payroll?
Tired of sitting in traffic to make that meeting across town and filling up at the pump every few days? What if you could master running your MSP practice remotely nearly 100% of the time?
Ever dream of having no monthly A/R and no debt?
Then this class is for you!
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Only $399
Here's what you will learn:
- How to pick the right vendors to do a lot of the heavy lifting
- How to position your micro MSP practice to prospects and clients as though you have an army of employees behind you!
- How to sell additional technology services that are pure profit
- How to land new MSP contracts without leaving your office!
- Tactics on raising rates and going after low hanging fruit
- Ideas on how to package and price your MSP offering
- How to streamline your sales process
- Technical Business Review checklist
- Finances - the bottom line
- How to Live Your Business Dream
…And more tips-n-tricks to help you be different and think different!
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Only $399
Top Take-aways:
- A different, simplified approach to packaging your Managed Services
- How to grow revenue and net income without hiring any full-time staff
- A quick start guide to Profit First and establishing quarterly bonuses
- Tactics on utilizing engagement letters, pre-paid support agreements & raising rates
- Automating your business to run like clockwork
PLUS lots more.
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Here are the specifics of what you'll learn, week by week:
Unit 1 Vendors/Affiliations/Peer Groups
Unit 2 Sales Process for Services That Are Pure Profit
Unit 3 Plans, Pricing & Agreements
Unit 4 Finances – Learn how to break through to a 6-figure salary
Unit 5 Automating Your Business to Run Like Clockwork
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Delivered by Lori Hardtke, an MSP, a Certified Profit First Professional, a technology educator, author, and coach. Lori has been an MSP (managed service provider) for many years and runs a two-state business with no employees.
ITSP University Certification:
Meets Certification Requirements for:
- Management
- Service Manager
- Front Office
- Sales & Marketing
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:
SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday
National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog
Relax Focus Succeed:
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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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Member Notes
The March Year of Intention Breakout meeting will be March 21st.
All members are welcome to join us.
If you're interested, join us on the regular Thursday Zoom link at 10:00 AM Pacific. The link is always in your Community Dashboard.
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Check out all the juicy new content in the Community by checking out this link:
https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/category/whats-new/
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New Members: Catch the Live Community Tour with Kara on March 14th (the Second Thursday) at 7:30 AM.
All Members: We are about to launch a Major Refresh and update of the Community!
Keep an eye out - It will magically appear at https://www.smallbizthoughts.org.
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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 see some variation of this theme again and again at hotels.
I'm not (overly) irritated by the fact that Hilton uses absurd one-shot crappy espresso machines.
What irritates me is that whoever buys the cups has no idea what the cups are used for.
Variations of this theme include towels that aren't made for the towel dispenser, toilet paper rolls that don't fit the TP dispenser, or even single-serving coffee pods that aren't made for the coffee maker.
This is the perfectly predictable result of siloed knowledge. What little, annoying things does your company do?
:-)
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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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March
XChange Orlando
March 3-5
Orlando, FL
More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/xchange
VSLive!
March 3-8
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://vslive.com/events/las-vegas-2024/home.aspx
Cloud Expo Europe
March 6-7
London, England
More Info: https://www.cloudexpoeurope.com/
Right of Boom
March 6-8
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.rightofboom.com/event/22f53824-56a7-4e87-9dc4-c25d1d93baf7/summary
MSP Summit
March 11-12
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://channelpartnersconference.com/msp-summit
XChange UK
March 6-7
UK
More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/xchange
Channel Partners Conference & MSP Summit
March 11-14
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.channelfutures.com/channel-events
Join me live!
Coffee Coaching with ChannelWise
March 13th
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.channelwise.com/coaching-cafe
Join me live!
Gartner Data & Analytics Summit
March 11-13
Orlando, FL
More Info: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/data-analytics-us
Microsoft Envision AI Tour
March 12
Paris, France
More Info: https://envision.microsoft.com/en-US/paris
NVIDIA GTC
March 17-21
San Jose, CA
More Info: https://www.nvidia.com/gtc/
Datacenter Dynamics Converged
March 18-19
New York City, NY
More Info: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/dcd-connect-live/connect-nyc/2024/
CloudFest
March 18-21
Rust, Germany
More Info: https://www.cloudfest.com/
Midsize Enterprise Summit IT Security 2024
March 18-19, 2024
Indianapolis, IN
More Info: https://www.thechannelco.com/events
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon
March 19-23
Paris, France
More Info: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe/
ASCII Edge 2024
March 20 & 21
Houston, TX
More Info: https://events.ascii.com/
Days of Knowledge
March 21-22
Birmingham, England
More Info: https://www.directionsforpartners.com/conferences-and-events/days-of-knowledge/uk-2024
Gartner CIO Leadership Forum
March 25-26
Hollywood, FL
More Info: https://www.gartner.com/en/conferences/na/cio-us-east
Microsoft Fabric Community Conference
March 26-28
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://fabricconf.com/#!/
MSP Rescue from SMB Nation
March 27
Los Alamitos, CA
More Info: https://msprescue.pro/
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April 2024
Fortinet Accelerate
April 1-5
Las Vegas, NV
More Info: https://www.fortinetaccelerate.com/home/3861565
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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