Nothing Happens
by Itself
Copyright © 2023 Karl W. Palachuk
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Hello Karl,
Well, it's finally Thanksgiving Week in the U.S. - and the crazed rush to the new year is in full swing. You, your clients, your employees, and your suppliers are all juggling short weeks, vacation time, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanza, and New Years. On top of all that, you've got end-of-quarter and end-of-year stuff going on.
It's a hard time to start new ventures. It's also a GREAT time to contact every one of your clients. Wish them a great new year - and make sure they know that you would be happy to help them make some wise investments in technology if they need to spend some money at the end of the year.
The message is: You need to stay focused on your business for the next five weeks!
You know I believe in Relax, Focus, Succeed and having a balanced life. That is not incompatible with staying focused through the end of the year. But it won't happen by itself. you need to determine how you'll make that balance happen, and then execute.
Nothing Happens by Itself. Certainly not success.
If I can help, let me know.
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All Book Formats are Now Live!
We will not be producing an audio book for this one. Forms don't work well in audio. But I *AM* considering recording the essays from the book for members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community.
We have produced the Kindle/ePub version. And, of course, the print version. Those are available on Amazon or at our store at https://store.smallbizthoughts.com. And of course these are available inside the SBT Technology Community.
NOTE: If you pre-ordered the printed book, it is being printed right now and (I hope) will be delivered this week. Friday is not a federal holiday, so I hope you'll receive the book by Friday.
Anyway, you can order at your favorite store right now!
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In the meantime, our class is going very well. We have a good turn-out and a very active group. The class is only available to SBT Community members.
Note One: These classes are not recorded. So you should attend live. This also allows folks to talk more freely since it's just the other community members on the call who are sharing the conversation.
Note Two: You can jump in any time. So head to https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/class-and-breakout-based-on-the-new-book-year-of-intention/ and plan to join us December 7th and 14th.
Members Click Here
Non-members: If you want to join the class, just join the Community.
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How Change Really Happens
Super quick book note.
I have long been a fan of The Ideavirus by Seth Godin. The basic argument is that ideas spread like viruses. So, for example, "everyone" had an air fryer before you knew they existed.
How does that happen? Quite simply, someone says, "Oh my God, you will love it" at a party or get-together and two more people go buy it immediately. And those two people sneeze the idea to others. etc.
I have appreciated this description because it has a lot of truth about how simple ideas spread. But it is quite hard to create a marketing campaign around this virus concept. Many have tried.
I just finished Change by Damon Centola. In this book, Centola addresses how change makes place in a more complex world. Complex behavior change is not explained by the virus concept. Getting enough people to see your product (or service or idea) is simply not enough. Two clear examples are: 1) the company that blows their entire budget on a Super Bowl ad but no one buys and 2) Google+, which everyone on earth heard about, but no one really adopted.
Eyeballs are not enough. And think of how many billions of dollars have been spent on that simple misconception about marketing.
I won't summarize the whole book. But here are the seven strategies. Most of these won't make a great deal of sense until you ready the book. So I recommend you get it on Kindle, paperback, or Audible.
1. Don’t rely on contagiousness
2. Protect the innovators
3. Use the network periphery
4. Establish wide bridges
5. Create relevance
6. Use the snowball strategy
7. Design team networks to improve discovery and reduce bias
One of the great take-aways from this book is that innovation thrives best when you gather information from a very wide set of sources. All too often, with a narrow set of sources, everyone grabs onto and tries to improve the first good idea they find - and they never continue the search for even better ideas.
Anyway, give yourself this book for Christmas. :-)
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New Membership Level Open
for Enrollment December 1st!
For existing members: We've upgraded you subscription! The name for your membership is Community Plus.
As always, Community Plus includes thousands of dollars worth of books, training, checklists, community meetings, audio programs, and more. Plus it includes all the classes at our sister site, IT Service Provider University (25+ classes focused 100% on IT consulting and managed services).
Now we've added three free certification exams each year for Community Plus members.
In the new Community level, you'll get all the content inside the community (books, etc.) and one free 5-week class per year, and one certification exam per year.
The main difference: If you need, or can use lots of great training, then choose the Community Plus subscription. If you only need (or can use) one class and one certification per year, then choose the Community subscription.
See the video below. If you have questions, let us know.
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Tid Bits . . .
I've talked to several people who are headed to Hawaii for the ASCII Navigate event. This is the last big event of the year. I'd love to see you there - and get together for dinner, or drinks, or both.
See the note here: https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2023/11/ascii-announces-2024-event-schedule.html
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Don't forget to scroll down and view the latest videos.
Thanks for reading. Have a great Turkey Day!
:-)
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Join me live at . . .
- ASCII event - December 7 in Waikiki, HI
- Karl's 2024 State of the Nation report for SMB IT - Register Now
ChannelPro SMB Forum - Nov. 12-13, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA.
Links below in the events calendar - or at WhereInTheWorldIsKarl.com.
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Starts Next Week! - Register Now
Customer Service for IT Service Providers
Taught by Karl W. Palachuk
Author, Coach, and Community Builder
- Five Tuesdays
- Nov 28 - Dec 26
Register Now - Only $399*
(Only $349 with code below)
One of the most ignored/neglected aspects of running an IT business is Customer Service. My particular approach focuses on what I call the Three P's - People, Processes, and Programs.
I take a wholistic approach. In other words, I believe that customer service touches every part of your company. It's not just when technicians or CS reps are talking to clients. Remember: Customers just call it service. And service begins with your marketing, sales, and client onboarding. It includes the way you invoice and do collections. And, of course, it affects your technicians, front office, and CS staff.
Check out the super-quick intro video
https://youtu.be/qAH1Kx6-M0E
Description
Great customer service doesn’t just happen. It’s built from the bottom up with great processes, people, and programs. In this course, you’ll learn how to build a system that provides excellent customer service while keeping your company profitable. Most companies don’t design a customer-focused service delivery with intention. We’ll show you how to attract new clients based on your service delivery.
We use a framework that focuses on people, processes, and programs. “People” includes your employees, your clients, and your vendors. And that makes clear why you need to build a customer service system that’s totally consistent with your brand.
It’s critically important that you don’t simply “bolt on” customer service to whatever you’re already doing. Instead, we’ll show you how to create a never-ending loop of brand-building, employee management, and customer management. And we’ll do all this with in a way that maximizes profitability.
And of course, all of this is presented in the context of an IT consulting business.
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Only $399 - only $349 with code
Top Take-aways:
- Why is Customer Service different in small business?
- Where does customer service happen in your company?
- Why 10x-ing everything is stupid and harmful to your business
- How to build a great business based on your perfect clients
- Why customer service permeates every single thing in your business
PLUS lots more.
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Here are the specifics of what you'll learn, week by week:
Unit 1 What is Customer Service and Who Delivers It?
Unit 2 People: Clients and Employees
Unit 3 Processes for Success
Unit 4 CS programs and automation
Unit 5 Consistent, Scalable, Reproducible, Amazing Customer Service
Delivered by Karl W. Palachuk, author The Absolutely Unbreakable Rules of Service Delivery . . . and other fine books.
As always, this course includes instructor office hours, lots of handouts, and homework intended to help you actually make change in your business.
ITSP University Certification:
Meets Certification Requirements for:
- Management
- Front Office
- Technician
- Service Manager
- Sales & Marketing
This class will be recorded. Each unit is generally posted within 24 hours of the live class. These recorded units will become the On-Demand class and you’ll have lifetime access to it.
Register Now - Only $399*
Save $50 with code above
Note: * Members of the Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community attend at no additional charge. See details in the Community
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All the Resources That Are Fit to Print | |
Recent Blog Posts, Podcasts, and Videos | |
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Small Biz Thoughts Blog:
SMB Community Podcast - New episodes drop every Thursday
National Society of IT Service Providers News Blog
Relax Focus Succeed:
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Community News
SmallBizThoughts.org
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Join us every Thursday
9 AM Pacific / Noon Eastern
All members welcome.
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Note: No Membership Meeting on Thanksgiving
We have a live meeting for all members every Thursday at 9AM Pacific (Noon Eastern) . . . Except Thanksgiving Thursday. :-)
AND we have a GREAT guest for our December 7th Roundtable: Dave Sobel from The Business of Tech!
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If you're not following The Business of Tech podcast with Dave Sobel, you should be! I am a huge support and subscribe to his Patreon.
Dave is going to be our special guest on the Small Biz Thoughts Roundtable December 7th.
Members can always find the Roundtable Link in your community Dashboard. For more information, see the What's New post here: https://www.smallbizthoughts.org/dave-sobel-on-the-sbt-roundtable-ai-and-more/
Dave is extremely smart and is a great news analyst as well. So we'll talk about a variety subjects. But our primary topic will be . . . AI!
Dave uses the two primary kinds of AI on a regular basis: Tools and content generation. We'll ask Dave how he is using these to generate content for his newsletter and podcasts.
Join us for a great Roundtable. December 7th. Find the link in your Dashboard!
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Tiny Note:
The Community Newsletter comes out on the Final Friday of each month, so look for the December Newsletter on Friday the 24th.
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Here's the last Community News video: | |
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Above you see two views of the same bumper sticker.
It caught my eye as I walked by because it changed as I walked by. So I went back and snapped a couple of pix.
:-)
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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.
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November 2024
ChannelPro SMB Forum
Nov. 12-13, 2024
Los Angeles, CA
Stay tuned for info: https://events.channelpronetwork.com/
Join me Live!
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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. | |
View this and previous newsletters at
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AI Transparency Statement
We do not use artificial intelligence apps in the writing of any content for this newsletter. Some of our royalty-free paid graphics might use AI-generated images. But all of the writing is by Karl W. Palachuk, or others as noted.
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