Monday, September 23, 2019

My Web Guy - Ruben Young

This is a shout-out for one of my web developers.

Most of you probably don't know that I mange almost two hundred web sites for my business. In addition to the blogs, podcast sites, and "major" web sites (SMBBooks.com, SmallBizThoughts.com, SmallBizThoughts.org, GreatLittleSeminar.com), I also have at least one site for each product. Multiple sites allow me to do A-B testing of advertisements.

Anyway, I have been working with Ruben Young on many web sites for more than five years. He had helped me with major re-designs of many sites, and is the designer and implementer of my membership site at www.smallbizthoughts.org.


Here is Ruben:


You can find him at RubenYoung.com.

If you need some web (or other) design work for your business, I recommend you contact Ruben.

Earlier this year, Ruben sent me a note. He has been drinking the Relax Focus Succeed Kool-Aid. He told me that working with me has convinced him to raise his rates, take more confidence in his work, and stop working crazy night and weekend hours. As a result, after 20 years in business, he is more balanced and more successful than ever.

I'm not saying he's expensive. He's not. He does excellent work, is very responsive, and is able to come up with great ideas to push the "creativity" side of the development work.

Twelve years ago, I built (had built) a membership site with pretty much the same features as the Small Biz Thoughts Community site. It cost me about ten times as much as what Ruben charged me to build the current site - and the newer site is ten times more attractive and functional.

So if you need a good developer or just someone to consult on your web or print design, I encourage you to contact Ruben.

-----

Not a paid advertisement. Just spreading the good word about a good guy I work with.

P.S., My in-house designer, Kara Schoonveld, also does excellent work. She is currently working to revamp several other sites. More about her soon.

:-)


Thursday, September 19, 2019

24 hour Zoom Room Available to Community Members

We all love Zoom, right?

Well now we are taking our Zoom engagement to a new level.

Effective immediately, we are making our Zoom Room available to all SBT Community Members 24 hours a days, seven days a week!

24×7
Why and What? Here’s what we’re up to:

Members Click Here to Access the Link.

Whenever you want to chat with someone in the community, you simply go to that link. Your video and microphone will be OFF by default, but you can always turn them on. Recording of the session is also OFF by default.

If you’re ever just hanging out and wondering if anyone else is hanging out, we encourage you to log and engage.

Note: This is the same Zoom room we use for classes and Community meetings. So if you’re hanging out and we crank up a class or meeting, we will (politely) let you know that we “need the room” for an hour or so.

We are VERY open to ideas you have about how we can use the Zoom Room.

:-)

Thursday, September 12, 2019

NexGen Conference - Free on Me Oct 23-24

From my good friends at NexGen:

NexGen Conference  2019

Complimentary General Admission Pass for October 23 & 24th
Use Promo Code SmallBiz
Anaheim, CA - Anaheim Marriott

www.nexgenconference.com

Managed services are at the heart of the IT solution provider business, generating a staggering $158 billion in sales. Partners at the forefront of managed services are rapidly expanding by offering customers new services and solutions. NexGen caters to this critical segment of the channel, with a conference custom designed for elite services-led and cloud-focused managed services professionals.
MSPs attend NexGen to:

  • Stay ahead of technology services and industry trends
  • Identify strategic partners to fuel their growth
  • Engage with peers for feedback and validation of their strategies


This year-s featured sessions include:

  • The X Factor of Customer Centricity
  • Max Out SaaS Sales to SMBs
  • 3 Ways To Sell The Cloud 
  • Securing The Customer: Taking Relationships to The Next Level
  • Google Cloud Pros & Cons
  • Using AI to Measure Customer Satisfaction Levels


View the conference agenda

:-)

Monday, September 09, 2019

The Real Cost of Travel

As some of you may have noticed, I like to travel. A lot.

Travel is a great example of why "cost" is a relative thing - and why the cheapest looking price is often not the cheapest at all. Remind your clients and prospects of this when they want to talk about pricing.
My apartment in Edinburgh

Here are some of the key costs of travel that people ignore.

1) Travel by car is not cheap!

Many people think, "Oh, it's cheaper to just drive." Why? Because they look at the cost of fuel in isolation from everything else. It may be cheaper, but you have remember all the associated costs. Many conference hotels charge $20-30 per day to park. More if you use their valet. Plus you have to stop for more food during your travel than a you would with a quick plane ride.

2) Published hotel prices are all fictional.

You need to dig into the real total here. Many hotels add "resort" fees even though the resort consists of the workout room with three pieces of equipment. Hotels also don't always include taxes and fees in their pricing. So an advertised room at $129 might end up costing you $170 when the total bill comes. (Plus parking.)

3) Food, especially breakfast, is a huge variable.

Many mid-range hotels (Courtyard, Townhome suites, etc.) include a very basic breakfast with your stay. This can save you $10-20 over the cost of breakfast at a higher-end hotel. Of course, if you're Platinum or some other expensive metal, then you can eat for "free" in the executive lounge. But your room will be in the $169 range rather than the $139 range.

4) Wi-Fi. Get the real deal before you book.

As a very frequent business traveler who works from the road, I always need good Wi-Fi. And very often that means I have to bring it with me. In most countries, I can use my T-Mobile phone and just add a data package. In some places, I buy a local Mi-Fi device or even a low end cell phone with a data package. If you have to constantly upgrade your Internet access, it can cost you as much as $10-20 per day. Make sure you know what you're getting into.

5) Local transportation can range from free to expensive.

Once you're on site, you need to get around. So, for example, if you stay in the heart of the tourist district, you might be able to walk to everything you need. Of course, you'll pay a higher price for your hotel if you do that. It's cheaper outside the tourist area, but you'll end up driving and paying to park, or take Uber and Lyft everywhere. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy the more expensive hotel room.

6) Air fares are NOT all about the price.

Cheap airfare is one of the most expense things you can experience. With very few exceptions, airfares are very well coordinated with experience. You pay less; you get less. If you don't care about legroom (or side room), then cheap fares will get you in the back, middle seats on almost any airline. Just don't whine about it: You chose that experience. For $25-50 more per hop, you can get a good seat on almost any airline. Also, some cheap fares now exclude any carry-on baggage. Once again, look at your total price. AND cheaper flights often include extra stops and much longer total travel time.

7) Local meals and entertainment can vary dramatically.

In most places you travel, there are meals and bars that range from cheap to expensive. But not always. If you're going to eat out every meal, make sure you have local options. It may be worthwhile to pay a bit extra to be within walking distance of reasonably priced food.

8) Plan WAY in advance and save.

I try to buy my airfare and make hotel reservations months in advance. As a result, my airfare is usually super cheap, and my hotels are reasonably priced. Buying flights 4-6 months in advance can cut the price by half or more.

My current trip from Oakland to Manchester (UK) to Seattle over about two weeks cost me $932 all in. I took the train to Edinburgh and will take a train to Newcastle. Buying way in advance, both cost less than $60 USD. Similarly, my trip to Australia next month was paid for back in April and will cost about $1200 round trip.


Bring it all together: Expect to pay more than the advertised price.

For my current trip I booked an apartment above a bar in Edinburgh for about $160/night. With that location, I have no local travel expenses and lots of options for local eating and drinking. And, of course, no parking. I did buy an extra data package from T-Mobile for $35, but it's good for the entire trip.

In general, I guarantee a certain level of "quality" travel by following a few simple rules.


  • Start by avoiding the cheapest price. I buy main cabin airfare and hope to get upgraded.
  • Check a variety of housing options. I start with FlipKey.com and then Travelocity.com. Sometimes I get a deal with the airline while booking flights (especially Delta and Hawaiian airlines). But bundles with Travelocity are also excellent.
  • Consider alternative travel. For Americans that means trains, light rail, ferries, and even buses. 98% of non-US mass transit is reliable and reasonably priced.
  • Plan well in advance.
  • Plan to pay 10-20% more than the advertised fee on hotels and cheap airlines.


Note: Your clients have experienced all of these things when they travel. So when they want to talk pricing or want to compare you to low-cost IT providers, but remind them of the last horrible "cheap" flight or cheap hotel.

Cheap never is. And the experience leaves much to be desired.

Don't be cheap.

:-)

Tuesday, September 03, 2019

5-week Course - The Unbreakable Rules of PSA - Starts September 10th

The Unbreakable Rules of PSA – IT Service Delivery in the 21st Century

Taught By: Manuel Palachuk

Register Now

Five Tuesdays - 9:00 AM Pacific

September 10, 2019 - October 8, 2019

Course 5w11

Everyone needs a PSA - Professional Services Automation tool. But in addition to simply having a PSA, you need to set it up correctly and use it wisely.

In this course, you will learn how to double your value to clients and increase your profit with these powerful golden rules of PSA Service Ticket Systems.

Coach Manuel focuses on the direct connection between your service delivery system, the value you give your clients, and your profit, and how to maximize each. He also gives an overview of Agile Service Delivery, an emerging method you must learn to stay competitive.




Whether you’re a one-person shop or have fifty employees, to be consistently profitable, you must have guidelines for how to break down the work in an organized fashion and how you will communicate with the client along the way.

You don’t have to be an MSP or even use a PSA to work efficiently and be profitable, but you do need a system and a method. These "golden" rules can be the seed for your own system if you have none, or you can adopt them in whole to enrich your existing methods. Either way, this is your opportunity to take your service delivery and your profits to the next level.

The course includes a thorough discussion of the unbreakable rules of service tickets as well as covering quality communication with every client. It will be time well spent!

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!

Delivered by Manuel Palachuk, author and business coach.

- 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.

$259.00 - Purchase The Unbreakable Rules of PSA - IT Service Delivery in the 21st Century
There are no modules in this training course.







:-)