Nothing Happens by Itself
Copyright © 2021 Karl W. Palachuk
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The weather is improving across the Northern Hemisphere. I talk to people all the time who are enjoying the the bright sunshine . . . or the last freak snowfall of the year.
I spent time moving a couple of sage plants in order to give them more room. See the Picture of the Day, below. These will each be big and bushy and about three feet tall.
On the business front . . . I have officially changed my airplane ticket for the Canadian cities of the SMB Roadshow.
May is just too early to feel confident that I can fly trouble free without quarantining. But I am VERY sure I'll be able to travel well in September. I'm going to visit Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. And, since I want to visit friends in New York/New Jersey, I added another city to the trip just because I've never been there: Providence, RI.
Note: We are still feeling very good about the UK Roadshow in August. The US and UK are doing well with vaccinations, and I think travel will be easier by then. Those shows are Manchester, Cardiff, and London.
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Somewhat along those lines . . . California opened up eligibility on April 1st. So I logged on at 7:01AM and made an appointment for my first shot - April 16th.
I'm glad I didn't log on at 7:02.
Anyway, I'll be fully vaccinated by the end of the month. Now I just need the rest of the world to catch up so I can travel.
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Massive Recommended Reading List
So . . . back in November/December I produced a workbook for the members of my online community. It included as massive recommended reading list.
Now, thanks to my assistant Laura, we have added all those items to the Recommended Reading List at Relax Focus Succeed.
Whether you enjoy cuddling up with a Kindle, iPad, or printed book, there's lots to choose from here. Many of these are also available as audio books.
And remember: Reading improves your vocabulary inexorably!
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Change Goals - Fast!
I am reading Forged in Crisis by Nancy Koehn. It's about how leaders manage to be courageous in difficult times. The first section tells the story of Earnest Shackleton leading a crew of more than twenty men across the ice flows of Antarctica, where they were trapped for almost three years.
There are many amazing things about this journey. One of them is the relentless piling on of bad luck. The weather was worse than expected; the ice closed up sooner than expected; their ship was crushed in the ice flows and they had to walk most of the way out.
Because their luck turned bad right at the beginning, there was no hope of making the trip they had planned on. So the entire three years was spent trying to survive and get back to civilization.
One could easily imagine just giving up. Traveling thousands of miles by foot, dragging all their supplies month after month has got to be one of the most depressing and challenging undertakings ever. But one thing was obvious: They didn't have any choice. Having sailed into the ice, the crew quickly had only two options - survive or die.
Just for some context: The journey started in 1914 and ended in 1917. So, there was no radio communications. Plus, there was a war going on. No one expected them home for a year anyway. There were no planes to go looking for them.
No one knew the situation they were in. So no one was going to come rescue them.
But here's the good news: At every turn, Shackleton managed to create victories. The greatest of all was simply keeping everyone alive. Close behind that was keeping the men from falling apart as a team.
Shackleton constantly worked to find things for the men to do. Even when their boat was trapped in the ice and beginning to crack to pieces, the decks were cleaned every day and everyone had chores to do.
The original goal of the expedition was to walk across the Antarctic continent, touching the South Pole along the way. That goal disappeared almost immediately, and Shackleton shifted to the new goal of survival. And then he instantly started planning milestone goals on the way to the (new) big goal. Every day, he re-evaluated short-term and medium-term goals.
This kind of "pivoting" of goals is something many of us have trouble with in our businesses. In one situation after another, our original goal becomes simply impossible. All too often, we find ourselves floundering around trying to figure out what to do. It's not easy to simply point in a new direction and choose a new goal.
In the sudden shutdown of March 2020, many businesses saw their plans for 2020 simply disappear. Luckily, our industry had a new and fairly obvious challenge, helping our client to work from home. But many clients did not have a new set of goals that were as clear as this.
For example, I find it very interesting how different restaurant owners reacted to the sudden change. Some dug right into delivery and take-out options. Others threw up their hands and prayed they could survive without customers. Many restaurants simple shut their doors rather than take on the new challenge.
Over the course of your career, you will face many challenges you didn't foresee or plan for. This might be personal health crises, economic recessions, natural disasters, or a hundred other events you don't control.
It helps to start out with a commitment that giving up is not an option. After that, constantly setting new goals is extremely valuable. Luckily, this is a skill you can nurture now - before the next unforeseen challenge.
You might not think of goal-setting as a skill, but it really is. And, as with everything else, the more you do it, the better you get.
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Favor:
If you like this newsletter, please share it with a colleague who might also enjoy it.
Thank you.
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One final note for the week. Please check out the NEW classes we have at Great Little Seminar ( greatlittleseminar.com).
James Kernan has an all-new sales class that starts April 27th.
Then I'm doing three new classes:
- Optimizing Your Social Media Marketing and Advertising
- Deep Dive into Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn
- Super-Charge Your Social Media Marketing
. . . that's it for now.
Have a great week.
-- Karl W. Palachuk
:-)
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Managing Your Service Board |
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Sign up today. Catch up with the recordings.
Join us Live Tomorrow.
Managing Your Service Board – Setup, Core SOPs, and Daily Procedures
Course 5W10
Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk
This course covers the most important pieces of making your PSA (Professional Services Administration) service board work effectively. Your PSA is the brain center of your entire operation.
Most Managed Service Providers don't use their PSA systems efficiently. In fact, most of them only use 10-20% of the capabilities of their PSA. This costs you money because you have the tool to run everything in your business more effectively. But if you don't put the right information into the tool, then you can't get the reports you need to improve your business.
This course covers the daily operation of a managed service business - or any IT shop with a service board and one or more technicians who execute the service. It assumes you have a service board or PSA (Professional Services Administration) and a service manager.
Whether you sell “break fix” or flat fee services, a service board will take your company to the next level – if you use it right. In addition to covering setup and core standard operating procedures, we'll get into the "nitty gritty" of running a service board and managing the service department.
Which PSA?
This course is not PSA-specific. I used ConnectWise for four years in my business. Then I switched to Autotask and used that for five years. Eventually, I move to SolarWinds and used that for more than five years.
On top of all that, I've worked closely with coaching client who have used all of these products. This course is intended to apply to all PSAs. I will point out areas where differences are most obvious.
You will learn
- How tickets should flow into, through, and off of the service board
- How to set up the core components of a service board
- Priorities
- Statuses
- Workflows
- Time Estimates
- The most important processes and procedures for making the board work effectively once it's set up
- Introducing new processes to you employees
- Getting clients to understand the new processes
- Time tracking the right way
- The most important reports you need to run
- Every Day, Every Week, Every Month
- When it's time for client renewals
- Avoiding the biggest pitfalls with service board management
- Building an Action Plan that works
Additional Topics Listed here:
Delivered by Karl W. Palachuk, blogger and author of the very popular "SOP Friday" posts at https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com.
Includes five weeks of webinars with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor. All classes are recorded for download.
This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Service Manager or Operations Manager.
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Weekly Agenda
Week One
- Core Components
- Building Blocks of a Great Service Board
- Documentation
Week Two
- Core Processes and Procedures for Success
- Time Tracking the Right Way
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Week Three
- Implementation and Daily Processes
Week Four
- A Day In the Life of the Service Desk
- Policies that Drive Profitability
Week Five
- Build and Maintain a Well-Oiled Machine
- Getting the Details Right
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Only $299 per student
Includes five weeks of webinars with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor. All classes are recorded for download.
This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for the Service Manager or Operations Manager.
A Few Details . . .
- Each course will be five one-hour Zoom webinars
- There will be handouts and "homework" assignments
- Class webinars will be recorded and made available to paid attendees only.
- All calls start at 9:00 AM Pacific Time
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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:
Relax Focus Succeed:
SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday
The Killing IT Podcast - New episodes drop every Tuesday
The Cheeky Sales Coach Podcast / Video - New episodes drop every Wednesday
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SOP: Documenting Vendor Service Calls |
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Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:
Note: We started auto-posting the podcasts to YouTube. Those are not listed here as YouTube Videos since they're listed under the podcasts above.
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: More than 700 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 275+ SOP videos
Plus . . .
- Training, Courses, Seminars on Managed Services
- Product Reviews
- and more
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Small Biz Thoughts Community News
SmallBizThoughts.org
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We had a great turnout for the SBT Roundtable with Dave Sobel last week. Thanks to all who attended, put in questions, and played in the chat.
The next Community Newsletter goes out April 30th - final Friday. Stay tuned for that.
Thursday (April 8th) will be a regular weekly Zoom call for all members. Join us - especially new members who want to get extra value from the Community.
Topics will include Ecommerce. We are organizing the next Ecommerce Working Group meeting. So join us, or email Kara to make sure you're on that list.
All Community meeting links are at the top of your Dashboard.
If you're a member, join us.
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In case you haven't see it yet, please check out the April News Video. This video is open to everyone, not just Community members.
If you need something, please post a question in a forum or email Kara (your Community Manager) or me.
:-)
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Totally Personal Note: I Love Hummingbirds
My daughter had her yard redone last year. Among other things, she had some amazing Mexican Sage plants. When she told me they attract hummingbirds, I ordered four of them and planted them in my front yard.
Well . . . as a gardener, I have a tendency to plant the plant I see instead of the plant it will become. Which is to say, these things grew to be about three feet across each. Or they wanted to, but I planted them to close to one another.
So this year, I spread them out. They look a bit like a hedge in a few months. And they are great for honey bees and hummingbirds - so I placed them where I have a perfect view of them from my primary workstation.
:-)
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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.
Of course: Everything here is subject to change based on Covid. Click the links for the latest details. Please send updates so we can post them.
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April
If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
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June
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
June 9, 2021
Houston, Tx
ASCII Success Summit
June 16 & 17
Cincinnati, OH
IT Nation Secure
June 21-23
Orlando, FL
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Event
Omaha, NE
June 24-25th
Channel Sec Europe
June 24th
London
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July
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
July 8, 2021
Raleigh, NC
ASCII Success Summit
July 21 & 22
Chicago, IL
Black Hat USA
July 31-August 5
Las Vegas, NV
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August
SMB Roadshow - Manchester, UK
August 10th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - Cardiff, UK
August 12th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - London, UK
August 17th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
ASCII Success Summit
August 18 & 19
Raleigh, NC
SMB Roadshow - Amsterdam, NE
August 19th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - Berlin, Germany
August 21st
Tentative . . . but count on it!
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
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September
CEDIA Expo
Sept 1-3
Indianapolis, IN
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
Sept 2, 2021
Boston, MA
ITBOG (Business Owners Group) Cruise Conference
Sept. 3-6
Departs Miami
Managed Services Summit Live
Sept 15th
London
Channel Live
Sept 21-22
Birmingham, UK
ASCII Success Summit
September 22 & 23
NY / NJ area
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Event
San Diego, CA
Sept 23-24th
IT Partners
Sept. 29-30
Disneyland, Paris
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October
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
Oct 6, 2021
Atlanta, GA
DTX 2021 (Digital Transformation)
Oct. 6-7
London, UK
DattoCon 2021
Oct 11-13
Seattle, WA (I think)
SMB IT Professionals National Conference - Australia
Oct 15-16
Surfer's Paradise
Join me Live. I'm going to do my best to be there!
Kaseya Connect IT
Oct 19-22
Las Vegas
ASCII Success Summit
October 27 & 28
Orlando, FL
I'm hoping there's a trip to the Gold Coast in my future. Stay tuned.
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November
Channel Partners Evolution
Nov. 1-4
Las Vegas, NV
Managed Services Summit Live
November 2nd
Amsterdam
ASCII Success Summit
November 3 & 4
Houston, TX
Managed Services Summit North
November 16th
Manchester, UK
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
Nov 16, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
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December
ASCII Success Summit
Orange County, CA - December 8 & 9
James Kernan's Millionaire Mastermind Event
Dallas, TX
Dec 9-10th
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If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
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January
Send us your updates!
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February
Send us your updates!
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March
Cloud Expo Europe
March 2-3, 2022
London, UK
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April
Send us your updates!
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May
Send us your updates!
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June
Send us your updates!
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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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