Somebody asked me about the difference between the Small Biz Thoughts Community and the ASCII Group. I had to smile.
I've been an ASCII member and advocate for a LOOOONG time. I joined ASCII originally for one of their primary benefits: A massive vendor discount. I was looking to buy some RMM licenses back in the day when the vendor insisted on selling 100, or 1,000, or 10,000 at a time.
They said, "If you're an ASCII member, we can save you about 20%." Gulp. I saved enough on licenses to pay for my ASCII membership for a few years!
ASCII excels at helping members build relationships with vendors - distributors, suppliers, and manufacturers. You have a problem with a warranty? They go to bat for you. You want to start buying at the Silver level with your first unit? They can make that happen.
ASCII also has great discounts on insurance, and great assistance programs with things like their 50-state tax information program. They also have programs to get made-for-you and white label marketing.
. . . and we don't do any of that.
Check out ASCII at
www.ASCII.com.
Check out the Small Biz Thoughts Community at
www.SmallBizThoughts.com.
Our focus is on a more vendor-agnostic community. We are all about training, best practices, SOPs (standard operating procedures), checklists, books, and helping you with the business side of the business.
I designed it this way for a very simple reason: ASCII does a GREAT job with the things they focus on!
There's already an ASCII. So why create another one? You can't fill a void by creating something that already exists.
Besides, I have been working for YEARS to put together my content. For example, my 18th book will be out in September. It will be about how to publish you non-fiction book. I co-authored it with Stephanie Chandler from the Nonfiction Authors Association.
That book will be 100% FREE to members of that Small Biz Thoughts Community.
With luck, I'll get another book out specifically for MSPs by the end of January. That will also be 100% free to members of the Small Biz Thoughts Community.
Every week we're adding more programs, more content, more downloads.
So, you see, there's no competition here. We each provide a service. We take two different approaches to helping YOU be successful. Here's a more visual comparison:
If you are interested in the specifics of what's included right now in the Small Biz Thoughts Community, please check out this video:
After you watch that, decide whether you want to join ASCII first or the SBT Community first. But in the end, it's probably best to join both. Just my opinion.
Check out the Small Biz Thoughts Community at www.SmallBizThoughts.com.
:-)
I've been an ASCII member and advocate for a LOOOONG time. I joined ASCII originally for one of their primary benefits: A massive vendor discount. I was looking to buy some RMM licenses back in the day when the vendor insisted on selling 100, or 1,000, or 10,000 at a time.
They said, "If you're an ASCII member, we can save you about 20%." Gulp. I saved enough on licenses to pay for my ASCII membership for a few years!
ASCII excels at helping members build relationships with vendors - distributors, suppliers, and manufacturers. You have a problem with a warranty? They go to bat for you. You want to start buying at the Silver level with your first unit? They can make that happen.
ASCII also has great discounts on insurance, and great assistance programs with things like their 50-state tax information program. They also have programs to get made-for-you and white label marketing.
. . . and we don't do any of that.
Check out ASCII at
www.ASCII.com.
Check out the Small Biz Thoughts Community at
www.SmallBizThoughts.com.
Our focus is on a more vendor-agnostic community. We are all about training, best practices, SOPs (standard operating procedures), checklists, books, and helping you with the business side of the business.
I designed it this way for a very simple reason: ASCII does a GREAT job with the things they focus on!
There's already an ASCII. So why create another one? You can't fill a void by creating something that already exists.
Besides, I have been working for YEARS to put together my content. For example, my 18th book will be out in September. It will be about how to publish you non-fiction book. I co-authored it with Stephanie Chandler from the Nonfiction Authors Association.
That book will be 100% FREE to members of that Small Biz Thoughts Community.
With luck, I'll get another book out specifically for MSPs by the end of January. That will also be 100% free to members of the Small Biz Thoughts Community.
Every week we're adding more programs, more content, more downloads.
So, you see, there's no competition here. We each provide a service. We take two different approaches to helping YOU be successful. Here's a more visual comparison:
Benefit |
SBT
Community
|
The ASCII
Group
|
| Karl's Classes |
Y
| |
| Karl's Books |
Y
| |
| Karl's Audio Training |
Y
| |
| Karl's Whitepapers |
Y
| |
| Karl's Checklists |
Y
| |
| Karl's Excel Workbooks |
Y
| |
| Karl's Workbooks |
Y
| |
| Karl's Client-Facing Materials |
Y
| |
| Karl's SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) |
Y
| |
| Free 3-Week Mini-Classes |
Y
| |
| Zero Vendors Ads |
Y
| |
| Channel Focused |
90%
|
100%
|
| Threaded Discussion Forums |
Y
| |
| Vendor-Free Live Events |
Y
| |
| Vendor Neutral Webinars |
Y
| |
| Break Room - Public Domain Movies |
Y
| |
| Resources for Speakers |
Y
| |
| Events Calendar |
Y
| |
| Non-Karl Forms, Tools, Downloads |
Some
|
Some
|
| Recorded Training |
Y
| |
| Live Events - US/Canada |
Y
|
Y
|
| Live Events - UK/Europe |
Y
| |
| Live Events - Australia |
Y
| |
| Distributor Discounts |
Y
| |
| Savings on . . . All Kinds of Stuff |
Y
| |
| Group Buying Power |
Y
| |
| Vendor Assistance/Troubleshooting |
Y
| |
| Vendor Webinars |
Y
| |
| Sales Tax Help Desk |
Y
| |
| Price Comparison Tools |
Y
| |
| List Serve Email Forum |
Y
| |
| Vendor-Focused Live Events |
Y
| |
| White Label Newsletters |
Y
| |
| Social Media Marketing Assist |
Y
| |
| Member to Member Outsourcing |
Y
| |
| Vendor Advisory Boards |
Y
|
If you are interested in the specifics of what's included right now in the Small Biz Thoughts Community, please check out this video:
After you watch that, decide whether you want to join ASCII first or the SBT Community first. But in the end, it's probably best to join both. Just my opinion.
Check out the Small Biz Thoughts Community at www.SmallBizThoughts.com.
:-)
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Great post, Karl! You're right, ASCII is a tremendous asset for the MSP community.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree, you need to join both! :)
ReplyDelete