Nothing Happens by Itself
Copyright © 2022 Karl W. Palachuk
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After almost three months of looking, I am happy to welcome a great new administrative assistant to my team. Nai joined us last week. And best of all, she showed up the second day and didn't ghost me!
My favorite advice from Bryan Tracy is "Hire slow and fire fast." Both sides of that statement have proven true time and time again over the last three decades I've been managing teams.
A related bit of advice is, "Hire the best, not just the best available." This takes patience and commitment. It means you go through some tough times when you're desperate to get someone onboard. Work backs up - or you overwork the staff you have.
But in the end, one of the Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service delivery proves true once more: You can't control people, but you can control your process.
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Here are a few of the main points that make this process different.
1) Do not send your resume. If you do, you will be disqualified.
2) Send a brief note telling me why I should ask for your resume.
3) I embed a note in the middle of the ad that says you get extra points for using the word "stupendous" in your response.
4) I over-state the need for menial tasks such as filling my car with gas. (I think I asked an employee to do that once. She said no.)
5) At the end, I say "NOTE: Everyone is welcome here! If you value diversity and enjoy working with a wide variety of people all over the world, you'll fit in well."
The combination means I get very few resumes, but everyone who shows up has good attention to detail, has a sense of humor, and is willing to work. In other words, a great deal of sorting is done before I get resumes.
And that last note makes sure I resumes from a variety of people.
If you just gather hundreds of resumes and try to hire the first person with a pulse who is willing to show up, then you have paved the way to your own disappointment. Like everything else in your business, hiring should be done with intention.
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Join Me Tomorrow - the ITSPU Launch Webinar
January 25th
11 AM Pacific
Great Little Seminar - our site for 5-week trainings - is now IT Service Provider University. Join me for a guided tour and an explanation of our new certification program.
We've been building the new site for over a year. As of Friday, we had just over 75 people registered. Join us and I'll answer all your questions!
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NSITSP All-Member Meeting - February 9th
Please Join Us!
We have a very active Board of Directors and five very active committees. In this meeting we will give an update on our progress.
A major highlight will be the presentation of the organization's Mission, Vision, and Values. The Board met in special session every other week for two months to settle on these simple but powerful statements.
As always, the NSITSP is committed to transparency. We want to present what the Board has come up with and get your feedback/discussion. It is our belief that these statements will help people who are "on the fence" to commit to our group and join as Professional members.
Join us - and give us your feedback.
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NSITSP Volunteers Needed
Code of Ethics Taskforce
The Board of Directors has formed a taskforce to come up with a Code of Ethics for the NSITSP. We are seeking 5-10 additional members.
If you are interested, please fill out the form at the top of the NSITSP web site - or just Click Here. Deadline January 28th.
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Board of Directors Opening
There is an open seat on the Board of Directors. We are re-opening the application process for this.
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I added a few items to the calendar below. Keep 'em coming!
That's about it.
I don't know about you, but I'm having a very busy January!
Have a great week.
- Karl P.
:-)
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Lori's Amazing 5-Week Course is Back! |
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You only missed two weeks. Register today, catch up, and join her live tomorrow.
Powerhouse of One:
How to Be Super Successful MSP
(or Solo Entrepreneur)
Taught By: Lori Hardtke, Community Leader and Coach
- Five Tuesdays - January 11 - February 8, 2022
- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific
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.
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Lots more details and information on the IT Service Provider University site:
"The class Lori did was simply awesome. I learned so much. She is what I want to be when I grow up!"
- David Streit, Stephill Associates, LLC
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!
Delivered by Lori Hardtke, MSP and Peer Advisor. Lori has been an MSP (managed service provider) for many years and runs a two-state business with no employees.
Includes five weeks of Zoom 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. This course has an associated professional certification exam and may be applied to specialist certifications in Management, Sales & Marketing, Service Manager, or Front Office.
Class Content
Unit 1: Vendors/Affiliations/Peer Groups
Unit 2: Sales Process for Services That Are Pure Profit
Unit 3: Plans, Pricing & Agreements
Unit 4: Finances – Increasing Cash Flow with Profit First
Unit 5: Automating Your Business to Run Like Clockwork
Note: * Member of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge.
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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
The Killing IT Podcast - New episodes drop every Tuesday
National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog
Relax Focus Succeed:
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Introduction to Customer Service for IT Service Providers |
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Selected Recent Videos and Webinars:
A quick guide to my Playlists:
- Total: More than 780 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 320+ SOP videos
- 100+ 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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Thanks for the great meetings! |
We've enjoyed having lots of new members join us on our weekly meetings.
For "older" members, the new link is at the top of your dashboard. For new members, the link is always at the top of your dashboard.
We meet every Thursday at 9:00 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern via Zoom.
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Our monthly newsletter comes out on the last Friday of each month. So look for it on the 28th.
Here's the January news video.
Available by clicking the thumbnail on the right.
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Our February Roundtable will have a great guest whose books many of you have read. Stay tuned for that announcement.
Thank you!
:-)
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Note from Panama
My friends Dave and Sharon sent me a photo from Panama . . .
:-)
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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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Cyber Threat Intelligence Summit & Training
Jan. 27 - Feb. 5
Bethesda, MD
IT Nation Evolve
January 31 – February 4, 2022
Phoenix, AZ
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February
Cisco Live
Feb. 7-11
Amsterdam
Cannatech Expo
Feb. 8-11, 2022
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
ASCII Success Summit
February 16-17
Houston, TX
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
February 17 - 18, 2022
Singapore, Singapore
NerdioCON
February 21-23
Cancun, Mexico
Xchange+
February 27 - March 1, 2022
Dallas, TX
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March
Cloud Expo Europe
March 2-3, 2022
London, UK
ChannelPro SMB Summit
New Jersey
March 9th
Comptia Communities and Councils Forum
March 14-16
Chicago, IL
Join me Live!
ASCII Success Summit
March 23-24
Kansan City, MO
Cybersecurity Expo, IoT Security Services Association
March 30-31, 2022
Austin, TX
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April
Channel Partners Conference & Expo
April 11-14, 2022
Las Vegas
SMB Techfest
April 14
Anaheim, CA
KB4-Con
April 20-22, 2022
Orlando, FL
ASCII Success Summit
April 20-21
Chicago, IL
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ACES Conference
Online - Karl is the Keynote Speaker
May 5th
Join Me Live Online!
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ChannelPro SMB Summit
Chicago
May 5th
Ingram Micro Cloud Summit
May 17-19
Miami Beach, FL
ASCII Success Summit
May 24-25
Boston, MA
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June
RSA
June 6-9
San Francisco, CA
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Texas
June 7th
Women in Tech Global Conference
June 7-9
Location TBD
Cisco Live
June 12-16
Las Vegas
Channel Evolution Europe
June 14-15
London
ASCII Success Summit
June 15-16
Long Beach, CA
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July
SMB Techfest
July 21
Anaheim, CA
ASCII Success Summit
July 27-28
Toronto, ON
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August
CompTIA ChannelCon 2022
August 1-3, 2022
Houston, TX
More Info: Coming after ChennelCon 2021 ;-)
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Charlotte NC
Aug 9
Channel Company xChange
August 21-23
Denver, CO
ASCII Success Summit
August 23-24
Miami, FL
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September
Channel Futures’ MSP Summit
Sept. 12-15, Orlando
ChannelPro SMB Summit
Baltimore
Sept 13th
IOTSSA Cybersecurity Expo
Sept. 14-15 --> was January 18 - 20, 2022
Phoenix
ASCII Success Summit
September 28-29
Parsippany, NJ
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October
ASCII Success Summit
October 4-5
Dallas, TX
SMB Techfest
October 20
Anaheim, CA
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November
ChannelPro SMB Summit
So Calif
Nov 3rd
IT Nation Connect 2022
November 9 - 11
More Info: https://www.connectwise.com/theitnation/connect-na
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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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