SMB Community Podcast: Business Advice for Small MSP Owners

One very serious topic, and two somewhat-lighter topics this week. Please post questions or comments. And don't forget to share with your friends.

Topic 1: Open Source Managed Service Tools?

Here's a seriously interesting question: Is open source software for managed services a beautiful vision of the future . .. or a nightmare. We have different thoughts on this one.

Link:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/12/23/open-source-managed-services-technology-in-evolution-part-i/

Topic 2: The next interface? Gesture controls.

We start with a link to a white paper that lays the groundwork for this discussion. It's a quick read, and very interesting. We also encourage you to Google "computer gesture control" to dig deep into the kinds of products and software you can start deploying today.

We also added a link to one cool example: BMW's radio control.

Links:

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2010.13197.pdf

https://www.bimmer-tech.net/blog/item/124-bmw-gesture-control

Topic 3: Touchless in 2020

On a somewhat related note, gest controls are one example of touchless controls. Clearly, the need to go touchless has come to the forefront during the pandemic.

https://www.engadget.com/touchless-contactless-technology-2020-160048513.html

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:-)

Host Karl sat down with Pete to talk about promoting IT businesses.

Pete started his own MSP in 2011. For the next near decade that business grew, hit and exceeded the magic £1m turnover mark (one million pounds revenue), grew to 16-staff, strong and the business brand itself became well known locally as something for other MSPs to aspire to.

In early 2020 Pete exited the business to pursue other interests, including Video, and helping other MSP Owners!

In this conversation, we start with a discussion of mergers and acquisitions and that flows into a general discussion of business success. One big question: What's your number? Pete completed the sale of his business as the pandemic shutdown was taking place. So that's a great story.

Before selling the business, Pete invested in video (YouTube) production. His big challenge was: How do you use YouTube videos to promote your IT business? Pete kept the YouTube channel - and you can find it at youtube.com/petematheson.

Pete gives some great examples of the videos he produced as an IT consultant. These are client-facing. From there, he moved to helping IT pros figure out videos for their business.

Sites:

• petematheson.co.uk
• youtube.com/petematheson
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/petematheson/
• https://twitter.com/petematheson

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Topic 1: Forrester says US online holiday shopping to reach $173 B

Constant question: How much of this is temporary vs. permanent?

Have you built a store for your clients? We think this is a great opportunity for IT professionals.

Related Link:

https://go.forrester.com/blogs/2020-us-online-holiday-sales-online-holiday-sales-will-reach-historic-levels-despite-uncertainty-from-covid-19/

Topic 2: Is there any good news for MSPs in 2021 Cybersecurity?

Predictions include:

• Cloud misconfigurations will be one of the top causes of data breaches.
• We’ll see the consequences of employees letting their guards down as work-from-home extends.
• Legacy security architecture like VPNs will be the weak link for many organizations, and use of zero trust network access is likely to accelerate in 2021.

Link:

https://www.dbta.com/Editorial/News-Flashes/Cybersecurity-Predictions-for-2021-144487.aspx

Topic 3: 75% of electrical capacity growth expected to be renewable for the next three years

Solar, Wind, and Water power are growing dramatically - without regard to political points of view. Coal dominates the power source being retired.

This actually matters, going forward.

Link:

https://cleantechnica.com/2020/12/21/solar-wind-74-6-of-expected-us-power-capacity-growth-in-next-3-years-charts/

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:-)

with Dylan Dahlquist dylanquestdigital ( at ) gmail.com

Google's Advertising platform is versatile, far-reaching, and pretty confusing. Sometimes getting a clear return on ad spend can feel closer to wizardry than science, but that's why Dylan has spent years figuring out methods for businesses and organizations to grow with Google Ads. He has success managing Ad Accounts for a variety of businesses and non-profit organizations. Dylan is also a Digital artist as well as a published Scientist. Wow!

"I just searched my business and I saw...."

This is the statement many digital marketers/advertises hear from clients moments before disaster strikes. Google-ing your name/business is an outdated way of measuring your online presence, and a great way to distract yourself from actually helpful tools that could grow your business/brand online.

Interested in Google ads?

Email DylanQuestDigital ( at ) gmail.com

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Special show - and video! We recorded a video version of this podcast. You can view it at https://killingit.smallbizthoughts.com. Or on YouTube on the Small Biz Thoughts channel (https://youtube.com/smallbizthoughts).

In this episode, we take a look at technology in the year gone by and what it means for the year ahead. So, we're breaking away from the strict timing and 3-topic format.

First up: What's the status of our big pizza/burrito delivery race? Delivery improved on many fronts in 2020. But none of us took delivery of a burrito! No visible progress, although technology is inching forward

That morphed to a discussion of how much of the "changes" from 2020 will stick? How much of the pandemic-centric behavior is preferred in the long run? How much business travel will return, and how soon?

We certainly learned a lot about location independence and remote work in 2020. Over time, people actually started stretching a bit and adding creativity to the remote component.

In all of this, there's still a human component to the changes. That will certainly affect the speed and nature of any return to the in-person world that emerges in 2021.

Then we looked at . . . the things we totally missed. What did we not see coming a year ago. One biggy was the visibility of our industry to legislatures. It looks like 2021 will be a year of increasing regulation.

Another is the nature of cybersecurity. Ryan was hoping that we'd stop selling on fear, but fear seems to be the future. But, on a positive side, a lot of clients have finally seen true value in the money they spend on technology. Many IT service providers are enjoying great success.

The barrier to entry in IT is higher than it used to be, and true competence is noticeably more difficult than ever. The era of the amateur are over.

A final umbrella discussion is on the changing nature of the supply everywhere, at every level. The problems with JIT (Just in Time) delivery have never been more obvious. Will companies build a little slack into their systems.

Again, our discussion turns to percentages. Some will; some won't. What lessons will be learned?

. . . We had a great time making this show. We hope you enjoy. Please like, share, subscribe, and send us any questions you have. We have a question form at https://killingit.smallbizthoughts.com.

:-)

I caught up with Richard Tubb near the end of November. In addition to a general catch-up, we recorded a podcast on Marketing Tips!

We did this after an experience we shared that resulted in extra bonus marketing for Richard - because he was prepared. It got me thinking about how being ready to take advantage of opportunities goes a long ways.

In this conversation, Richard shares some great ideas for IT professionals who want to krank up continuous marketing - which is a great idea!

Note: One tool Richard mentioned in the interview is Text Expander: https://textexpander.com/.

I mention a blog post I did on Richard recently. You can find that here: https://blog.smallbizthoughts.com/2020/10/meet-richard-tubb-true-community.html

The easiest way to connect with Richard is via his primary web site: Resources for MSPs - https://www.tubblog.co.uk/resources/

I particularly encourage you to sign up for his weekly newsletter - MSP Insights - https://www.tubblog.co.uk/nl

You can check out his blog over on my blog roll, or go direct to https://www.tubblog.co.uk

Richard also has a fun podcast for IT Consultants called TubbTalk - http://tubb.co/TubbTalk

. . . and a YouTube (TubbTube) channel at http://tubb.co/TubbTube

And last, but not least, Richard has written several books, which you can explore at https://www.tubblog.co.uk/books/

:-)

Sponsor Note: Gozynta Mobius

Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks Online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage.

With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster.

Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. Now introducing a free plan, Go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Karl sent you.

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Heading straight on toward year end . . . and Episode 100.

Stay tuned for a December 29th Year-end special. But today's show is also good.

Topic 1: AI may help you find your doppelganger.

The YouTube video below has a look at the technology involved in AI doppelganger research. You can see right away that this dataset can be used to "crowdsource" the improvement of this technology.

Related Links:

https://twinstrangers.net/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1nz5Bkpmcw

Mentioned in passing: Google's AI singing blobs.
https://artsandculture.google.com/experiment/blob-opera/AAHWrq360NcGbw?cp=e30

Topic 2: Google went down . . . and the world went down with it.

Well, for a short while. Below is a commentary (not news) about the use of technology to track us and control us. We discuss how accurate this is, and the lessons we hope to learn from the analysis.

Commentary:

http://www.gilmermirror.com/view/full_story/27785935/article-Big-Brother-in-Disguise--The-Rise-of-a-New--Technological-World-Order

Topic 3: Life after the pandemic: What we're learning from Vaccine Apps

Tracking might be good or bad. "Vaccine Passport" apps may be used for ways they are not intended. Aside from fighting the pandemic, there are some obvious questions about privacy, HIPAA, and personal liberties.

We discuss. And remind you that there's tech that you might be able to integrate into your service offerings.

Related Link:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/13/technology/coronavirus-vaccine-apps.html

:-)

Karl interviews co-host James Kernan on his new book, Tech Up or Lose Out. James is the editor and publisher of the book. And, of course, he wrote a good deal of it.

James calls this book the Entrepreneurs Guide to IT. The target audience is small business - not just IT businesses. You might, for example, give this book to clients to educate them on why they need tech support.

The basic goal is to show business owners how they can leverage technology as a competitive advantage in your business.

James Kernan is the CEO of Kernan Consulting, Inc. an international award winning management consulting company. They have become one of the most successful consulting firms in the country, primarily serving Information Technology Value-Added-Resellers or MSP's. Its core competencies include Coaching, Advising and Mentoring programs like the Mastermind CEO Peer Groups, Leadership, Sales Training and its One-on-One Consulting Programs. Since 2006, over 500 businesses in six different countries have successfully been coached through their programs.

The book is a collaborative effort with 11 of the brightest tech experts in North America. This team has come together to provide entrepreneurs an outline of how they can leverage technology as a competitive advantage in their business. From Cloud to Business Intelligence, this book has the tech basics you need to succeed.

Related Web Sites, etc.: - www.KernanConsulting.com - https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/ - https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

:-)

Sponsor Note: Gatekeeper from Calyptix Security Introducing Gatekeeper from Calyptix Security: zero trust access securing RDP and SSH connections with two factor authentication without open ports to the internet, client installs or VPN. Two years of partner driven development brings audit friendly access across all types of devices. Reduce stress and implement proper safeguards as advised by the FBI, NSA and DHS, all in a purpose-built solution for small businesses. Interested? Learn even more by visiting calyptix.com/gatekeeper, and when you do, tell them Karl sent you.

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We're approaching Episode 100. Also planning a big year-end podcast. Always stay tuned.

Topic 1: Burnout in a Pandemic World … and What to Do About It

Okay. It's been nine months of being shut in. This is getting old. What does that really look like? What the best way to deal with it? We explore.

Related articles:

https://www.axios.com/work-burnout-economic-growth-d45b9a7a-f6bb-4b69-9306-cc85e17a1813.html

https://insights.dice.com/2020/12/07/employees-at-apple-google-big-tech-were-feeling-demotivated/

Topic 2: Data centers aren’t dead

But they’ll never look the same again. Data center in a box becomes reality.

https://www.protocol.com/manuals/new-enterprise/data-centers-hybrid-cloud

Topic 3: Uber Exits the Self-Driving Car Race

. . . well, mostly. Kinda. Uber sold off their self-driving department . . . to a company they have a huge stake in. So they continue to flop around trying to figure out what their business model is.

https://www.wired.com/story/uber-gives-up-self-driving-dream/

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Sponsor note:

Gozynta Mobius – the easiest way for ConnectWise Manage and QuickBooks online to connect. Keep invoices, expenses, and inventory automatically updated right from Manage to QuickBooks Online, and payments right back into Manage. With simple pricing, set it and forget it auto sync, Gozynta Mobius delivers with no restrictions on the number of invoices, expenses and payments, and plays well with others like ConnectBooster. Trusted by over a thousand MSPs. now introducing a free plan, go to gozynta.com/mobius, and tell them Killing IT sent you.

:-)

Host James Kernan interviews Sarah Hansen on Social Media Marketing.

Sarah runs Hansen Collective, a firm that uses online marketing expertise to help both international and domestic clients, while also fostering a community and educating her audience on creating effective social media strategies for personal brands and businesses alike.

Hansen Collective combines modern social media marketing strategies with custom content to boost your business's online presence. Our mission is to help your brand better communicate with your audience, and in doing so, create profitable social platforms.

The greatest weakness Sarah find with social media strategies is that many companies use a cookie-cutter approach that doesn't feel natural online. She prefers a more natural, organic, and therefore successful approach.

Web Sites, etc.: - www.hansencollective.com - www.instagram.com/hansencollective - www.linkedin.com/hansensarah21 - www.facebook.com/hansencollective

:-)

About the SMB Community Podcast: Weekly business advice for small MSP owners from Amy Babinchak and James Kernan of the Small Biz Thoughts community — MSP sales, MSP pricing and agreements, hiring and leading an MSP team, MSP operations, selling your MSP, and AI for small MSPs. Produced by MSP Radio. More for MSP owners at smallbizthoughts.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.