Push the reset button and let's kick some bootay in 2021!

I always enjoy doing a series of pundit-focused webinars and podcasts at the end of the year. But, more importantly, I am looking forward to my 12th Annual State of the Nation Address for SMB IT - and looking forward to what's ahead in 2021.

We always get a few hundred attendees. I hop you'll join us. See the link at https://www.mspwebinar.com. Join me January 13th - 9am Pacific.

Don't worry: No politics!

And while I share all the enthusiasm to get 2020 behind us, we move into the new year with no false perception of what we're up against. The recession has not hit bottom. It will affect more people and more businesses. Eventually, it will probably affect your business, no matter how well you've fared so far.

The pandemic will continue to drag on. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll spend my March 5th Covid anniversary alone in my house. It's almost funny. I remember getting home from Exchange and sending my team a note that we will be working remote until "at least March 30th."

You don't know what you don't know.

-- -- --

Mark your calendar. Lori Hardtke's super-popular class on how to be a Super Successful Sole Proprietor kicks off Tuesday the 12th. Details at www.GreatLittleSeminar.com.

Then, on Wednesday the 13th, I have my State of the Nation Address, described above.

And Thursday the 14th, I'm doing a special webinar with Acronis and Amy Luby to look at the state of security software in 2021 and beyond. See the add above.

All events are recorded, of course. But if you want to participate in live Q&A, you'll need to be there. In any case, it doesn't hurt to register now. That way, if you miss it, you'll at least get a reminder about the recording.

-- -- --

Note on classes from Great Little Seminar. Even thought GLS is a separate entity, I own both, so I am able to give huge discounts on classes to members of my Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community.

In fact, these discounts have become a major benefit for Community members. Monthly subscribers save $2,000 per year and annual subscribers save $2,990 per year. Both options far exceed the cost of membership.

AND, members can access recordings of past classes with the same discounts. So the savings just keep increasing.

Just a thought.

;-)

First, you need to make sure you've taken care of your PPP and EIDL loans from 2020. Have you filled out whatever forgiveness forms you need to? Don't forget. It might be a pretty costly mistake.

Second - and somewhat related - I'm planning a public and free webinar with Rayanne Buchianico to talk about the "new" or second round of PPP. We'll also discuss the tax consequences of the forgiveness portion of the program. As you may have guessed, there's no such thing as a free lunch - even when you pay for it with tax dollars.

Third, US companies need to get your 1099s and W2s out to employees and contractor by January 31st. This year I'm using one of our advertisers, efile4biz to file my forms. Super easy and straight forward. See ad below.

-- -- --

I have been trying to figure out how to maximize my marketing and advertising budgets (Yes, those are separate because they are very different things.). And I've been trying out various online tools.

One of my new favorites is called Keywords Everywhere. It's a Chrome plugin that you can turn on and off as you browse. When you turn it on, you can analyze a page or dig deep into a Google Search.

On the right is part of the printout from a search on "security update" on Google. You can see search volume as well as estimated cost per click.

Note: you are charged one "credit" for each linkable keyword. You prepay $10 USD for ten thousand credits. On one hand, it's pretty cheap. On the other hand, you are highly motivated to turn off the widget when you go to a page and see that you just spent fifty credits when you weren't really doing research.

Anyway, there's lots of juicy information here, as well as easy deep dives into organic vs. paid traffic.

-- -- --

One more Thank You as we begin another year.

I moved this newsletter to Constant Contact in 2013. So, without doing some actual research, I can't remember when I started doing a weekly newsletter. I know it's been a long time because I remember an incident from 2008.

A group of us was at Jeff Middleton's SBS Migration conference in New Orleans, sitting around a monstrous conference table in Erick Simpson's suite. All at once, many cell phones beeped. And lots of people made the comment that they had just received an email from me.

January represents the 18th anniversary of Great Little Book Publishing Co., Inc., the corporation that owns Small Biz Thoughts and all my other "properties" online.

I sincerely and honestly appreciate all the support over the years. And I have a very positive attitude about 2021 because of all the great people like YOU that I get to work with all year long.

In January of 2011, I wrote down that I want to write more, I want to travel more, and I want to speak more. And then I proceeded to rebuild my life and my business so that I write and travel and speak.

Except 2020.

But I plan to be right back at it this year. Thank you for your support!

-- -- --

That's the news for now. Have a great week.

-- Karl W. Palachuk

:-)

Join Us Live (though no in person)

PLEASE join me on the Acronis webinar with Amy Luby. Amy is one of the true founders of the Managed Services business model. We're going to be talking about how you sell cybersecurity in the 2021 and beyond.

The registration link is easy to remember and share with all your staff: https://bit.ly/kpstop01

You can't afford to be casual about security. And that includes the sales process. You can't promise things you won't deliver. So, it's a one-two punch: You need to sell the right way; then you need to deliver what you sold.

Join us free! Sign up today. Thanks.

5W18

Taught By: Lori Hardtke, Community Leader and Coach

- Five Tuesdays: Jan 12 - Feb 12, 2021 -- Register Now

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific

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 $300K 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!

-- -- --

- David Streit, Stephill Associates, LLC

-- -- --

Here's what you will learn:

. . . and More!

The Modules:

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 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.

Questions? Email concierge@smallbizthoughts.com

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

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.

You can always check out my YouTube Channel and subscribe at https://www.youtube.com/smallbizthoughts

OR my Relax-Focus-Succeed Channel at https://www.youtube.com/relaxfocussucceed

-- -- --

Remember that you can access the recorded class and the workbook 2021: Year of Intention anytime. Free inside the Community. AND - if you're a SBT Community member - I am happy to schedule a Zoom call to talk about your business plan for 2021.

AND there is now a forum in the SBT Technology Community dedicated to the Year of Intention concept, workbook, and class. Join us there, too!

-- -- --

Members should have received a January Newsletter on Friday. If you didn't, please contact Kara to troubleshoot.

Here's the January News video:

As always, our goal is to help you to be as successful as possible!

We are working on some amazing new members-only sales resources in January. Stay tuned!

If you need something, please post a question in a forum or email Kara (your Community Manager) or me.

:-)

I ordered a box of paper from Amazon. The well-packaged box showed up inside another box.

I will never understand this. The larger box had no padding, so the inner box got knocked around in shipping. AND the bigger box was a lot more awkward than the box inside.

I have the same issue at the grocery store. No, the big jug of laundry detergent with a convenient handle built in does not need a bag!

Boxers gotta box. Baggers gotta bag.

Newsletters gotta complain.

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.

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.

Register Now - Free: https://www.mspwebinar.com

Short link . . . https://bit.ly/kpstop01

Orlando, FL

More Info: https://event.thechannelco.com/xchange-plus-march

May 6, 2021

Chicago, Il

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com

More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com

More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com

June 9, 2021

Houston, Tx

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

Raleigh, NC

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

Sept 2, 2021

Boston, MA

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

More Info: https://www.itbog.org

Oct 6, 2021

Atlanta, GA

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/

Los Angeles, CA

More Info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/