Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Survey! Tell Us About Your RMM Tools

On my SMB Roadshow, I have a section where we talk about the tools you might use to deliver and manage "managed services" and "cloud services." Obviously, a remote monitoring tool is central to that.

I thought it would be useful to find out what YOU are using for remote monitoring and patch management. Please fill out this quick form. If you choose to enter your email, I'll make sure you get the final results.

Some fields are required, but not your email address.

Please fill out the form - and send a link to your I.T. friends on Facebook, LinkedIn, Reddit, ASCII, etc. The more responses we get, the better!

Survey closes at end of day May 31st, 2017.

NOT sponsored by a vendor.

Remember: I promise to never sell, loan, or rent your email address to anyone for any reason.

Thanks.
- Karl P.


Tell Us About Your Remote Monitoring Tool!

This survey is closed.

Results are blogged here: RMM Survey Results

And Results Part 2 is here: RMM Survey Results Part 2



(Thanks. kp)

Monday, May 22, 2017

Only 17 SMB Roadshow Dates Left - Sign Up Now

Please Join Me on the 2017 SMB Roadshow!

Topic:Making Money with
Cloud Services in Small Business


This all-day seminar is 100% education. No vendors on site. No booths or up-selling. Just education on my very successful "Cloud Five Pack" and how we make 73% profit on our small clients.

Details at SMBRoadshow.com.

Invitation Video:







The show is $999 at the door - but there's no excuse to pay that.

Remaining shows include:
- 4 in the U.K.
- 4 in Australia
- 9 in the U.S.

And if you register now, it's only $599 ! 

You will literally pay for that with the first client you sign. In fact, you'll probably pay for it with the you charge!

The is CHEAP since:
  • You probably don't have to travel far to find a city near you.
  • You only need to sell ONE client on this package to make your money back
  • This really is a business model you can execute right away.  


One guy from the "dry run" we did of this seminar was able to create an offering and sign two clients within TWO business days of the event!


Details at SMBRoadshow.com.


Sessions Include:

Read More . . .
 - Cloud Services in Small Business
 - The Cloud Five-Pack
 - Cloud Migration
 - Implementation
 - and MORE!

Seminar Objectives

This is a workshop - which means you will leave with some real-world goals, and the tools to implement them.

We will cover the strategies for creating a powerful and profitable cloud service offering for the small business market. My managed services businesses have been selling these bundled cloud services since 2008. In fact, it's one of the things that helped us thrive during the recession!


Details at SMBRoadshow.com.


This is NOT a 30 thousand foot overview. We will discuss:
  • Specific products and services
  • How to bundle them
  • How to maximize profit
  • How to combine cloud-based and onsite options
  • The best way to integrate your onsite server
  • Managing multiple accounts
  • Specific scripts for implementing your "Cloud 5-Pack" (or whatever you end up selling)
  • How to change/upgrade the bundle
  • Tiered pricing options
  • Click-by-click setup and integration
  • Selling the cloud bundle
  • Bandwidth realities - and why you do NOT need massive bandwidth for a successful cloud integration
  • ... and more!

The handouts include VERY detailed instructions for configuring your bundles, implementing services, and migrating clients to the cloud. About 150 pages - spiral bound and available for download.



Details at SMBRoadshow.com.


Target Audience

This all-day seminar is intended for any IT service provider who wants to sell very profitable cloud-based services to small businesses. The ideal end-user client is anyone with 1 to 20 users.

You can certainly sell these services to larger companies - and this seminar will give you all the tools and strategies to do that - but larger companies tend to have slightly different requirements.

The basic cloud bundle is intended to provide all the technology a small company needs, including email, storage, backup, anti-virus, spam filtering, patch management, and remote support. You will learn how to up-sell this to include telephones, security monitoring, and other services.

The overall goal is to help you create a combination that is reasonably price for the client and hugely profitable for you.

Bonus Membership

We have created an exclusive Facebook page, open only to people who attend this seminar. It is a place to discuss the strategies presented in the seminar, share their experiences, exchange documents, and so forth.

Once you register for any city, and pay your tuition, you will have access to the Facebook group.

Another great reason to register early!


Details at SMBRoadshow.com.


Upcoming Cities Include:

Seattle, WA - June 20th

Portland, OR - June 22nd

Chicago, IL - July 25th

Detroit, MI - July 27th

London, UK - August 15th

Manchester, UK - August 17th

Edinburgh, Scotland - August 22nd

Dublin, Ireland - August 24th
Nashville, TN - September 19th

Atlanta, GA - September 21st

Adelaide, Australia - October 10th

Melbourne, Australia - October 12th

Sydney, Australia - October 17th

Brisbane, Australia - October 19th

San Jose, CA - November 14th

Oakland, CA - November 16th

Las Vegas, NV - December 8th  
Sign up early and save. 



Thursday, May 18, 2017

Next 5-Week Course Starts Tues. May 23: Core Standard Operating Procedures IT

W5-01

Core Standard Operating Procedures for Small IT Providers

- All classes start a 9:00 AM Pacific
You're guaranteed to learn something that will make or save you the price of admission!



This course will cover the most important procedures you need to have in place to run an efficient and highly profitable Managed Services Business.

Whether you're a new "Computer Consultant" or an experienced Managed Service Provider, you need to create successful processes that will propel your company forward. Nothing is more critical to making profit than having the right processes and procedures in place!

When I take on new coaching clients, they have many of the same issues over and over again. And almost all of them boil down to SOPs - Standard Operating Procedures. Or the lack thereof.

Everyone knows you need SOPs. In fact you probably know which ones you need. But where do you start?
Checklist
You will learn
  • A practical introduction to SOPs
  • The relationship matrix of SOPs
    • Clients
    • Employees
    • Vendors
    • Internal Organization
  • The Ten Most Important SOPs for your IT Consulting Business
  • SOPs management, organization, and updates
  • Implementation strategies internally
  • Implementation strategies for clients
  • Service Department SOPs
    • Building
    • Training
    • Deployment
    • Upkeep
  • Avoiding the biggest pitfalls with SOP development and deployment
  • Building an Action Plan that works

Includes five weeks of teleclasses 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.



A Few Details . . .

  • Each course will be five one-hour teleseminar phone calls
  • There will be handouts and "homework" assignments
  • If you wish to receive feedback on your assignments, there will be instructor office hours
  • Class calls will be recorded and made available to paid attendees only.
  • All calls start at 9:00 AM Pacific Time

:-)

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Retirement Resources for the Self-Employed

Free White Paper!

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been partnering with VSP® Individual Vision Plans to develop a great resource for people who are self-employed and looking to retire.

Most of the people who read my blogs and newsletters are self-employed. And many of you have heard me say, you have to make things happen – Nothing Happens by Itself. That’s certainly true of retirement planning.

If you Google “retirement for self-employed” you’ll get almost 20 million hits . . . all about money and saving. But there’s a lot more to retirement than just putting money in the bank. Yes, you need to address finances. But you also need to look at insurance, housing options, lifestyle, and even whether or not you’ll keep working for extra income on the side.

Check out the resource guide here.

Why this Partnership?

Like many of you, I’ve been self-employed for more than twenty years. And for a long time, I went without vision insurance. Then I found out about VSP Individual Vision Plans. I signed up last year and scheduled my first eye exam in more than five years. It was covered. Then I got new glasses. In all, I saved a few hundred dollars right away because I was covered by an  Individual Vision Plan . It really makes frames, lenses, and exams affordable again!

That’s why I decided to partner with VSP to create this resource. VSP is working to become a true resource for the self-employed community.

While I make a living helping small business owners become more successful, I’m also a strong advocate of work-life balance. That means you have to look at more than finances. VSP paid me to create this resource so they could bring this information to a broader audience. I was happy to do it – and I think you’ll love the result.

One of the most important elements of being self-employed is creating our lifestyle as we work in our businesses. Being self-employed means we have a lot of flexibility. So looking at retirement includes looking at how our lifestyle will change, and making plans to move in that direction.

At the same time, we live in an era where more and more people are creating jobs for themselves online. It’s now  easy to continue working past what some people consider to be re-tirement age. Luckily for us, that doesn’t mean flipping burgers when we’re 70. It basically means doing the same work we’ve been doing for twenty or thirty years, just on a different schedule.

In addition to covering the topics mentioned above, I also have lots of juicy resources in the white paper. These include the most important links you’ll need at the Social Security web site. I also call out some recommended “Action Steps” for you to take.

Please download the Retirement Resources for the Self-Employed white paper. I’d love to hear your feedback on this resource.

:-)

Tuesday, May 09, 2017

Just Released - 68 Point Checklist - Version 3.0

The truth is, most of the checklist is the same. But we DO need to keep up with the times.

This tool has been around for twelve years and has helped thousands of IT professionals get a jump start on doing network assessments and creating monthly maintenance checklists.

You can get the 68-Point Checklist V 3.0 FREE at SMB Books

There is a "checkout" process, but you don't need to enter a credit card since the price is zero. Please note: zero-dollar orders have to processed manually, so please be patient. Laura works hard to get orders processed every day.

This famous checklist has been used by thousands of IT Professionals to begin their network audits, provide monthly maintenance of client computers, and generally keep client computer tuned up and working great. Originally published in 2005, this checklist has recently been revised to include cloud services and a lot more.

For notes on how to use the 68-Point Checklist in your sales process, check out the videos on the sales page:

https://www.smbbooks.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=68point

Don't believe it's famous? Google "68 Point Checklist" and see for yourself.
https://www.google.com/search?q=68+Point+Checklist

. . .

It's fun to totally dominate a keyword phrase. Even if it's not something like "genius" or "babe magnet." Oh well.

:-)

Sunday, May 07, 2017

New Audio Program: Most Important Rules for Running a Successful Managed Service Business

I just posted a brand new program you can download today:

The Most Important Rules for Running a Successful Managed Service Business 


This is an audio program recorded live. Includes my flyer with the 22 most important rules I've used to build and run my companies over the last 22 years.

When I first started creating systems and hiring employees, I started paying attention to the "rules" that make us successful. If you've heard me speak, you probably have some of them memorized. Like: Get prepaid for everything.

I created a poster of the most important rules and everyone in my companies has it posted on their bulletin board. We speak these phrases to each other. They are our mantras for success. They help everyone see the big picture and understand the overall culture of our company. They drive our decisions.

And here's the key to success: It's not ONE rule that matters. I can't tell you that rule #7 is worth $1,000/month or 9% of revenue. It doesn't work that way. ALL of the rules, taken together, create a massive interactive effect that drives our success.

This audio program presents an introduction to all 22 rules for success. It was recorded live and includes some audience questions. Delivered as a ZIP file with MP3, slides, and the flyer in .docx format so you can customize it for your company and the rules that drive your success.

Available now at SMB Books!

Click Here for More Information