What’s New

Weekly Community Confab – Starting April 9th

Apr 1, 2020

Starting April 9th . . .

We are creating a weekly Community Confab from now until the end of June.

Basically, we’re opening up the Zoom channel and inviting all members to come hang out, ask for help, offer help, and generally be available to one another during the Virus Lockdown.

At the end of that period, we’ll decide whether it’s useful to continue meeting weekly. Note: This does NOT replace the standard “Third Thursday” monthly member meeting.

My goal here is NOT to discuss the virus endlessly. Or, at all, if that’s possible.

What I would like to do is to discuss your business, how you collect cash and save money, how to implement managed services and recurring revenue opportunities during the downturn,

Possible Topics:

Cash is King
Collect all accounts now
Get paid in advance
Make a plan. The immediate future is visible. The near future will come into focus very quickly.
How we survived the 2008-2009 recession: Managed Services and Cloud Services
Branding is everything you do – even in hard times
Right now, that means helping clients survive
Take credit cards – and every other payment you can. Refer back to “get paid in advance”
Maintaining employee culture during separation
Implement changes during the “dip”
Client communications: Are you spreading clutter, confusion, or clarity?
Be prepared for the stages of the recession
Recurring Revenue is your savior
Client Roadmap meetings
Working from home – stage two (upgrades)
Remote work security assessments
Move to cloud storage
You were an expert in remote work before the “social distancing” began.
When your clients downsize, help their former employees. These people know you. You can help them set up new businesses in the cloud (very low cost).
Take this opportunity to start regular communications. Blog or Newsletter.

Members Learn More

🙂

March Member Call Posted!

Mar 19, 2020

Thanks to all the attendees !!!

Another great meeting. Excellent attendance!

We had a great discussion about what people are up to, the challenges of the “sudden” remove environment, and the tools people are using to help their clients out.

A few members shared some resources, including some supply chain notes.

Andy shared an important Azure AD security setting you should take a look at – and change NOW.

Next Scheduled meeting: April 16th !!

Members Access Now

New Roadmap: The Roadmap on Client Roadmaps

Mar 19, 2020

..Say roadmaps again.

ROADMAPS! But for you to create for/with your clients.

Help your clients make good decisions!

This roadmap is all about how to set up, stick to, and implement a client technology roadmap (plan). It’s low-pressure, low-sales, matter-of-fact meetings that keep their technology working for them.
This isn’t necessarily all-inclusive of how to create your clients’ roadmaps, but it’s a great place to start.

Members Access Now

🙂

Bigger Brains Supports Remote Work

Mar 13, 2020

Since so many are suddenly finding themselves to work remotely, online training company Bigger Brains has sent an update about how they can help. See Chips’ update here:

What we’ve done at first is put some of our training online for free on YouTube, as you can see in this blog post. Now, it’s only two relevant courses: Microsoft Teams Essentials (the mini version of our Mastering Teams course), and later we added Microsoft Forms Essentials after hearing some classroom teachers are struggling to figure out how to do testing now that they’re teaching online. Plus we’ve posted some outdated but still helpful content like Mastering Excel 2010.

If you see other ways we can help, let me know. In particular, if you know any teachers, school systems, or others who could benefit from our training right now but don’t have a budget for it, we’re happy to work with you to donate training licenses to your clients and friends when appropriate.

In regular news – we just launched an awesome sales training course, Competitive Selling, and another series of “Excel in 30 Minutes” courses. Oh, and by popular request we’ve added our first Salesforce course too.

As always, let us know what we can do to improve Bigger Brains for you and your clients. And be sure to wash your hands.

Chip
P.S. There’s a great article called “What Does COVID-19 Mean for MSPs?“, up on the Cloudradial blog here. We’ll be announcing our integration with Cloudradial in a couple of weeks – like Invarosoft and DeskDirector they’re part of a growing set of client-engagement apps for MSPs, and well worth a look.

Remember also that Community Members get a great deal over at Bigger Brains with a free training log in, plus a discount on the MSP Reseller program. Give a shout to Kara to get connected.

Not a member yet? Today’s your day! Get all of the resources delivered anywhere you can connect to the internet, whether you’re working remotely or not. 🙂

Members Only: Free Tickets to Robin Robins’ Big Show

Mar 10, 2020

Interested in Robin Robins’ Big Show?

April 8-11 in Nashville, TN.

I have a handful of free tickets to the first few Small Biz Thoughts Technology Community members who contact us.
Email karlp@smallbizthoughts.org or karas@smallbizthoughts.org.

We’ll contact Robin’s team and make sure you work out the details.

If you haven’t been, this is always an amazing event. Details and information at https://www.robinsbigseminar.com/

– Karlp

February Member Meeting Posted (2020)

Feb 20, 2020

Another good meeting. Lots of announcements !!!

Announcements include

Big savings on classes
Big savings on SMB Online Conference
New Member Dashboard
and more

Biggest announcement: For the rest of 2020, our Community Meetings will be on the Third Thursday at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.

Next Scheduled meeting: March 19th !!

We’ll see you there.

See the replay: Members Access Now

🙂

New Dashboard Options!

Jan 29, 2020

Hey everyone. Kara just made a major upgrade to the Member Dashboard.

As soon as you log in, the Dashboard show now look like this:

We’ve added three features to make navigation easier:

The member call-in information is right up front and easy to find. You’ll find the most recent recording, the next scheduled call, and a form for asking questions for the next get-together.
The Member Discounts are being gathered up in one location so they are easy to find. Need the current discount code for a class or seminar? It’s right there.
And of course Kara has made it easier for you to contact her. Whether you want to get signed up for a class, schedule a call with me, or contact Kara directly, start here.

All of these changes came as a result of your feedback. Thank you for your support and participation in the Community.

We are dedicated to your success!

Karlp

🙂

SMB Online Conference – Great Content – and Great Savings

Jan 26, 2020

Community Members – Register NOW for the 2020 SMB Online Conference!

Official web site: www.SMBOnlineConference.com – Members get discount details and links inside the community.

100% Online
Two Days – May 19-20
11 hours of fresh content
9 speakers
PLUS you get to participate in a LIVE Killing IT Podcast with Dave Sobel, Ryan Morris, and Karl Palachuk!
Learn more and sign up today.

Monthly members pay only $99.

Annual members attend for free!

Get the details:

Member Click Here

🙂