Nothing Happens by Itself
Copyright © 2021 Karl W. Palachuk
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Due to a variety of recent get-togethers, I found myself actually eating out, sitting inside restaurants, and not wearing a mask. While "everything" is not back to normal, eating in restaurants is.
I love to eat out. And I'm not a big fan of cooking-for-one. So that works out well. Oddly enough, I gain less weight when I eat out. I try to eat about half of what's put in front of me. At least in the US, where portion sizes are ridiculous.
In California, the official date for masks to come off altogether is June 15th. In the meantime, almost no one is wearing them outside. So you put on a mask to enter the restaurant and be seated. Then you take the mast off until it's time to leave.
That one minute of mask-wearing is a nice piece of Pandemic Theater.
When we get back to live conferences, I suspect several vendors will be giving away branded masks that no one will wear. We shall see.
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Be nice to people on the way up; You'll meet them again on the way down.
This isn't really about Up and Down, but I always liked that saying as a reminder that we should always treat people well - because we're likely to see them again.
Over the last week I've been thinking about the people I met because they played one role in life and then I met them again in a different role. For example, the teacher who became a friend; the employee who became a client; the casual friend who became a co-author. And so forth.
Sometimes we connect with someone in one part of our lives and then have a hard time seeing them in another part of our lives. Like the friend from church that you run into at the grocery store. Or the former realtor who shows up at a friend's birthday party.
Most often, for me, I experience this as a change in the nature of the relationship. And almost always it's because an acquaintance of some kind became a friend and then changed jobs or status. So now they become the friend who used to do this and now does that.
It's not just changing jobs (e.g., working for one vendor, now working for another vendor). Sometimes the change is to a completely new profession, a new country, or even a different continent.
This only happened to me in tiny ways until I was in my thirties and realized that I had been many different people. I had been the student, and the college student. Then I became the researcher, the DJ, the husband, and the employee. It didn't take long for me to be the teaching assistant and then teacher and then college instructor.
On the "real" job front, I had a few big job changes before I settled into IT as a career. And the, again, there were people who only knew me as a father (Victoria's Dad) and only vaguely knew that I did something with computers.
In all cases, I have always tried to collect more friends. This gives me people to connect with as I travel around from place to place and job to job.
I'm sure there are people out there who don't like me, but I've always tried to be nice to people. Because even though I don't think of this career journey in terms of the way Up and the way Down, I do run into the same people again and again.
And the formula is very simple: If I want people to be nice to me, I start by being nice to them.
Just a random thought.
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Calendar updates . . . Acronis #Cyberfit Summits.
I've added several Acronis events. Not sure why these haven't been advertised more broadly, but I happened to wander onto this page: https://acronis.events/. Events include October in Miami, November in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, December in Dubai, and February in Singapore.
With luck, I'll get to go to some of these! :-)
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Manifesto Watch
Over the weekend, I posted the final installment of my "manifesto" on transforming our industry into a profession.
I know it's a big long, but it's intolerably long. And I think it addresses some of the most important issues we face in our industry today.
We have some huge challenges. Arguably the greatest challenges our industry has ever faced. And it's time for us to change our approach from quietly sitting back and watching the world go by to actively affect the world that we will operate in going forward.
Interestingly enough, I don't see vendors getting involved. Taking a stand is not why they're in business. And while creating a stable, profitable environment for IT consultants is in their long-term interest, it doesn't make money this week or this quarter.
I also don't think we'll see much coverage from the magazines the "news" sources in our industry. They get their funding from vendors almost exclusively. So diving into discussions with attorneys, insurance companies, and state legislators doesn't get them more clicks or more ad revenue.
I've been told that it's not my place to take on this topic since I don't currently own an MSP business. But this subject matter is extremely important. It's not particularly useful to argue about who should be pushing the industry forward. Someone needs to try.
Perhaps I'll be like Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. But I'm going to try.
If you have a little time, please review the posts on my blog - blog.smallbizthoughts.com - and give me any feedback you have.
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The all new Social Media Course is only in its second week. You only missed one class. Sign up, catch up, and join us live tomorrow.
Thanks for reading my random thoughts.
Have a great week.
-- Karl W. Palachuk
:-)
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Optimize Your Social Media
Marketing and Advertising
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You only missed one week.
Sign up. Catch up. Join us Tomorrow!
Sign up today.
Optimize Your Social Media Marketing and Advertising
Course 5W23
Taught By: Karl W. Palachuk
Five Tuesdays
- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific
Part of the "Social Media Super-Charge" Series for Small Business
This course covers the key elements of designing, planning, and executing a modern social media strategy in the Small Business environment. We cover the use of social media for both marketing and sales.
Most small businesses "use" social media, but don't really have a strategy for using social media effectively. That strategy starts with understanding the strengths and weaknesses of various platforms. And it culminates with a unified approach to branding and how your company presents itself across a variety of platforms.
This course starts with a business-focused overview of social media marketing and sales. We discuss taking control of your brand and managing how you show up on the web. We present a strategy for creating and managing your overall branding across all social media. Finally, we do a deep-dive into automating and managing your social media presence going forward.
This course is taught by Karl W. Palachuk, a social media influencer who "touches" over one million people per month. Karl has been using these social media for more than ten years, and has demonstrated mastery across all of the major social media that small businesses need to be successful.
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Weekly Agenda
Week One - Introduction, Overview. Marketing vs. Sales
- The Plan of The Course
- Take-Aways And Goal-Setting
- What is Marketing?
- What is Sales?
- Developing a Funnel System
- Schedules – Manual and Automated
- Which Social Media are Best for You?
Week Two - Google, Apple, SEO, And Managing Your Company's Meta Data
- Meta Data Basics
- Taking “Control” Of Your Google, Apple, and Other Meta Data
- SEO Checklist
- Data Maintenance
- Organizing and Tracking Meta Data
- Meta Data in the Big Strategy
- Choosing Social Media platforms
Week Three - Graphics Overview And Tools Management
- Graphics Overview
- Branding Basics
- A Storage Strategy
- Updates, Versions
- Graphics in the Big Strategy
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Week Four - Automating Your Social Media Marketing
- The Benefits of Automation
- Pacing – Creation and Publishing
- Popular Tools
- Free vs. Paid
- Focus on Your Prime Social Medium
- Strategy, Planning, and Tracking
- Hiring/Outsourcing Assistance
- Automating Social Media in the Big Strategy
Week Five - When to Pay for Advertising and Tools
- Free - A Great Place to Start, and Often the Most Expensive Option
- Comparing Tools, Features, and Prices
- Start Small – Don’t Buy Everything You Find
- Get the Most from as Few Tools as Possible
- Avoid Trying to Do Everything and Measure Everything
- Measuring Your Success
- Social Blade
- Social Bluebook
- TubeBuddy
- HootSuite, etc.
- Paid Tools in the Big Strategy
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Only $299 per student
Delivered by Karl W. Palachuk
Karl W. Palachuk, blogger and author of the most popular books on managed services.
Includes five weeks of webinars with related handouts, assignments, and "office hours" with the instructor. All classes are recorded for download. All classes include suggested "homework" that is totally action-focused and intended to move your company's marketing forward.
This course is intended for business owners and managers. It is particularly useful for Sales Managers and Marketing Managers.
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: Choosing or Changing Your PSA |
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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 730 videos on the Small Biz Thoughts channel
- 295+ SOP videos
- 45+ Relax Focus Success 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 SBT Roundtable with Richard Tubb last week. And we're scheduled to meet with Brett Jaffe for the SBT Roundtable on Thursday July 1st at 9am Pacific.
For the next three weeks, we have our regular Community Zoom meetings every Thursday at 9:00 AM. These calls are open to ALL community members. Check the link at the top of your dashboard.
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The New Ecommerce Program Launches this Week
We are working with members of the Ecommerce working group to get the first few sites up. That's really going to be the "live" launch of the public-facing portal.
This program is only available to SBT Community members. Our goal is to get you into the ecommerce world. In the worst case scenario, you'll make a little extra money. But the real goal is to engage clients more deeply, and maybe even lure in a new client or two.
You can get an idea of what we're up to by visiting https://modelmsp.com and clicking on the View Demo button. Let us know if you have any questions. . . .
See you Thursday at 9AM Pacific time! The link is at the top of your Community Dashboard.
If you need something, please post a question in a forum or email Kara (your Community Manager) or me.
:-)
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In the midst of the lockdown, my friend Stephanie installed this "Tiny Library."
Now I have to drop by and leave a copy of Relax Focus Succeed.
:-)
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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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June
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Hybrid Event - But you can attend LIVE!
June 9, 2021
Dallas, 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 - Live Event
July 8, 2021
Atlanta, GA
InfoSecurity Europe
July 13-15
London, UK
ASCII Success Summit
July 21 & 22
Chicago, IL
Retail NOW 2021
July 25-27
Nashville, TN
Black Hat USA
July 31-August 5
Las Vegas, NV
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August
IT Nation (Connectwise) Evolve Peer Groups
August 2-6
Englewood, CO
Defcon 29
August 5-8
Las Vegas, NV
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
IT By Design Build IT LIVE 2021
Aug 30 - Sept 1
Jersey City, NJ
IT Nation (Connectwise) Evolve Peer Groups
Aug 30 - Sept 1
Gold Coast, Aus
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September
CEDIA Expo
Sept 1-3
Indianapolis, IN
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Live Event
Sept 2, 2021
Boston, MA
SMB Roadshow - Vancouver
Sept 7th
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - Toronto
Sept 9th
Join me Live!
SMB Roadshow - Montreal
Sept 14th
Join me Live!
Managed Services Summit Live
Sept 15th
London
SMB Roadshow - Providence, RI
Sept. 16th
More info: https://www.smbroadshow.com
Join me Live!
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 - Live Event
Oct 6, 2021
Raleigh, NC
DTX 2021 (Digital Transformation)
Oct. 6-7
London, UK
DattoCon 2021
Oct 11-13
Seattle, WA
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!
Sherweb Accelerate
Oct 18-20
Hollywood, FL
More Info: https://info.sherweb.com/accelerate.html
Kaseya Connect IT
Oct 19-22
Las Vegas
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
October 25-27
Miami, FL
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
IT Nation (Connectwise) Evolve Peer Groups
November 15-19
Sydney, Aus
Managed Services Summit North
November 16th
Manchester, UK
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Live Event
Nov 16, 2021
Los Angeles, CA
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
November 18-19
Schaffhausen, Switzerland
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December
ASCII Success Summit
Orange County, CA - December 8 & 9
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
December 8-9
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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
Acronis #Cyberfit Summit
February 17 - 18, 2022
Singapore, Singapore
More Info: https://promo.acronis.com/Summit2021.html
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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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