Nothing Happens by Itself
Copyright © 2021 Karl W. Palachuk
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A bit of feedback, please . . . |
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Will you please do me a favor?
We have a super-quick and easy survey about this newsletter.
As with many things in my life, I just do what I want to do and then find people are like that (or are willing to put up with it). So, this newsletter has evolved over the last 15+ years based on my mood and attitude.
But perhaps we can do better!
Please take 60 seconds and give us some feedback here:
Thank you.
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Join me for a great class focused on your success . . . Starts this week!
Killer Combo 2021 . . . with Sherweb
This is a two-week series. But it's three hours each week (with a break). So if you're ready for a deep-dive into your future success, please check it out.
Click here for details:
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Hopefully-Humorous Video
I created this 36-second promo for the Cheeky Sales Coach.
I hope you enjoy it.
My friend John Armato and I love to tell this joke at every opportunity.
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Work/Life Balance Note
As you probably know, I am a huge advocate of work/life balance.
What you may not know is a bit of my history around this. Way back in 1999, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, an immune disease that causes the body to attack its own sub-systems, starting with the synovial fluid inside the joints. Eventually, left untreated, the body is slowly crippled and deformed.
Of course I've been under a series of treatments since then, and I am a long-time user of Enbrel. I honestly consider it a miracle drug. It has kept my joint deterioration and other symptoms to a minimum.
The primary symptom I live with all the time is pain. Sometimes it is minimal. Sometimes it stops me from doing normal activities. On rare occasions, it is unbearable. But it is never gone. The other primary symptom that I experience every day is exhaustion. Not just tiredness: exhaustion.
As a result of the ever-present pain, I started meditating as a means to control the pain and minimize the use of pain killers. My brain is the only means I have to make a living, and pain medicines dull my brain. So I try not to use them.
I wrote Relax Focus Succeed as an indirect result of my experience with RA. As I mention in the book, I am limited in the number of hours I can work in a day or a week. I literally cannot put in the 60-hour (or more) weeks that are common in this industry. And yet, I was able to grow my business and build amazing recurring revenue during the worst part of getting the disease under control.
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May of the "rules" I use to govern my life and my business are a direct result of my commitment to creating a productive AND sustainable approach to my business and personal lives.
There really is no secret to success. But there is on HUGE, overwhelming, and enduring falsehood that is almost impossible to overcome. It is so pervasive, I wonder if it is somehow built into our DNA.
The false belief is this:
If you work more, you will achieve more.
At some level, there's truth here. If you work two hours, you will achieve more than you would in one hour. But there are hard limits. If you work twelve hours, you rarely achieve more than you would in ten.
I think this falsehood is most prevalent with physical labor. But, as I always remind people, I do not want a surgeon to work on me during the last hour of a twelve-hour shift. And while we fool ourselves into thinking that long hours of "knowledge work" are easier, that's clearly not true. Work is slower and less precise as the day goes on.
You might easily work nine productive hours. But very few people consistently provide ten hours of quality work day after day. One one day in isolation, you might. But on a never-ending schedule over twenty years, there is no way to maintain consistent quality.
The reason I think this false belief is built into our DNA is that I see it across every culture, every generation, and every time period throughout history. Even with research proves that overwork leads to poor performance, the belief lives on.
Work/Life Balance is more than limiting the work day. You also need to recharge your batteries. That might be through rest or sleep, but it may also be through enjoyable activities with friends and family.
During the pandemic, I have talked to many people who have figured out that they need to limit their work hours when they are always home. So they stop at nine or ten hours per day. But many of them do not engage is activities that help them recharge their batteries.
They don't meet with friends. They don't laugh enough. Then don't have a chance to relax and simply enjoy the company of others. They don't indulge in hobbies or get lost in reading a book. All of those things help us fill in the complete picture. "Stop working" is one half of the equation. "Recharge your batteries" is the other half.
Work/life balance look different during a pandemic than is does in normal times.
If you're feeling a little down, a little depressed, a little un-motivated, it might be time to re-balance your life. The same is true if you find yourself a little more frustrated or more negative than usual. Many of us are approaching a year at home and out of our preferred "normal" routine.
Please don't ignore this. Mix things up. Do something a little different. Re-balance your balance.
I mentioned that Enbrel was a miracle drug for me. Balance is another miracle. It allows me to keep going, to be productive, and to remain happy, engaged, and to keep moving ahead when my body lets me down.
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Quick note for SBT Technology Community members: PLEASE do yourself a favor and watch the Community News video, and read the newsletter. We posted lots of great sales related materials in the last month. Grab these materials!!!
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That's the news for now. Have a great week.
-- Karl W. Palachuk
:-)
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Newly Revised Class for 2021
Position Your IT Firm for Growth or Sale
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Sign up Today
Position Your IT Firm for Growth or Sale - Totally Revised for 2021
5W19
Taught by Rayanne Buchianico, Author and Coach
- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific
You're guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!
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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Only $299 per student
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 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: Is this a profitable hour for our company? |
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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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New members - join us for the weekly meetings every Thursday.
The link is right at the top of your Dashboard. We'll see you at 9:00 AM (Pacific) Thursday.
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We had a great Roundtable with Jay McBain from Forrester. The recording is up on the Community. Next month's Roundtable will be with be with Janet Schijns from the JS Group. Don't miss it!
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Sales Materials - and more Sales Materials - and even more Sales Materials!
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Always look for great new materials in the Community. If you need help finding things, contact Kara. Here are our favorite new additions to help you with Sales in 2021:
Security Sales 2021 - workshop and workbook. Everything about the threat landscape has changed during the past five years - except, perhaps, the way you sell security. It's time to update that.
Social Media Cheat Sheet - This asset is intended to help you spread the word effectively on social media – and to get assistance from your friends and business partners to spread the word even faster.
White Paper: Sales in the Era of Zoom - Written by Carolyn Heinze exclusively for member of the SBT Technology Community. This document will help you build and execute a remote sales process for 2021 and beyond.
Updated Technology Roadmap - with 2021 supplemental questionnaire. Designed to help you start the conversation with your clients. What is their plan for getting back to the office (or shutting it down)? Will it be all at once or in stages? Do they need additional technology? Will they be moving more resources to the cloud?
Best place to see all of this is in the What's New section.
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If you haven't seen the February News video yet, please check it out.
Also . . . Coming This Week:
As always, our goal is to help you to be as successful as possible!
If you need something, please post a question in a forum or email Kara (your Community Manager) or me.
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Tell it like it is
Honest instructions are always a little jarring.
:-)
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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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February
If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
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March
XChange +
March 7-9 / Live + Virtual event
Orlando, FL
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April
If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
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May
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
May 6, 2021
Chicago, Il
SMB Roadshow - Vancouver
May 11th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - Toronto
May 13th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - Montreal
May 18th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
Join me Live!
ASCII Success Summit
May 19 & 20
Bethesda, MD
SMB Roadshow - Providence, RI
May 20th
Tentative . . . but count on it!
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
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June
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
June 9, 2021
Houston, Tx
ASCII Success Summit
June 16 & 17
Cincinnati, OH
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July
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
July 8, 2021
Raleigh, NC
ASCII Success Summit
July 21 & 22
Chicago, IL
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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
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
Sept 2, 2021
Boston, MA
ITBOG (Business Owners Group) Cruise Conference
Sept. 3-6
Departs Miami
ASCII Success Summit
September 22 & 23
NY / NJ area
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October
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
Oct 6, 2021
Atlanta, GA
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!
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
ASCII Success Summit
November 3 & 4
Houston, TX
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event
Nov 4, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
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
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If you know of in-person events we should list, please let us know.
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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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