SMB Community Podcast

1.) MSP Question of The Week How do busy MSP business owners deal with stress? Host Amy and Host James discuss their strategies. --- 2.) Five Minutes with A Smart Person - Eric Anthony Host James sits down with Channel Vet, podcaster, and Director of Community at EGNYTE Eric Anthony. Learn more about Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esanthony/ Eric's Customer Experience video: https://youtube.com/live/WHQWGhrg7FY Eric's Book "CX That Sings": https://www.amazon.com/CX-That-Sings-introduction-Customer/dp/B085RTL8NT/ref=sr_1_2? --- 3.) Notes on The News "Microsoft set for AI-powered revenue surge as stock pulls ahead... Microsoft is expected to report a 15.8% jump in quarterly revenue, its best growth in nearly two years, as rising adoption of its products infused with generative AI fuels demand for its cloud services." https://www.reuters.com/technology/microsoft-teams-down-thousands-users-downdetector-2024-01-26/ Microsoft's (MSFT.O), opens new tab Teams services were restored on Saturday after a disruption blocked access to the messaging platform. Several users had flagged issues with the messaging platform on Friday. Complaints peaked in the afternoon with more than 14,000 incidents, according to outage tracking website Downdetector.com. All incidents appeared to be resolved on Saturday. ---

Our upcoming events:

AUSTIN TX – MASTERMIND LIVE (March 28-29th)

http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind

https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

Use "EARLYBIRD" as the coupon code to save $200!

Irvine CA – SMB Techfest (Feb 8th-9th)

Make sure you catch Amy at SMB Techfest!

https://www.smbtechfest.com/events.asp

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

Host Amy and Host James catch up and catch a tan. 1.) MSP Question of The Week What is the best business structure for new MSPs? See: https://www.toptal.com/finance/interim-cfos/c-corp-vs-s-corp#:~:text=Compared%20to%20traditional%20S%20or,it's%20taxed%20as%20a%20corporation --- 2.) More Tech Layoffs? EY Announces Layoffs in Response to Economic Struggles See: https://www.channele2e.com/news/ey-announces-layoffs-in-response-to-economic-struggles "Less than a week after Broadcom finalized its $61 billion acquisition of VMware, layoffs began. This is a familiar pattern for the company, which followed a similar playbook with its acquisition of CA Technologies in 2018. Overall, it's estimated Broadcom will cut about 2,000 employees post-acquisition. Google, Amazon, Snap, Splunk, LinkedIn, Cisco, MariaDB and SecureWorks all recently announced layoffs. Other mass layoffs recently included Intel, Wish and LinkedIn in the San Francisco Bay area. At the beginning of September, Rapid7 announced a restructuring plan following disappointing second-quarter results, resulting in the layoffs of about 18% of the company's workforce. Similarly, AppSec firm Snyk laid off 128 people in April. Cloud security vendor Zscaler announced layoffs after what it called a rough fiscal second quarter. Software tools giant Atlassian laid off 5% of its workforce as it "shifted priorities." ----

Our upcoming events:

AUSTIN TX – MASTERMIND LIVE (March 28-29th)

http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind

https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

Use "EARLYBIRD" as the coupon code to save $200!

Irvine CA – SMB Techfest (Feb 8th-9th)

Make sure you catch Amy at SMB Techfest!

https://www.smbtechfest.com/events.asp

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

*Due to a small error, we are re-releasing this episode that was originally set for January 19th, 2024. Thanks for understanding. :-)

1.) Should you update your GOALS and OBJECTIVES every year?

The short answer? Yes.

Email James ([email protected]) for his one page business plan exercise.

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3.) Notes on The News

Is Connectwise a sinking ship?

https://www.msptechnews.com/business-news/is-connectwise-a-sinking-ship/

The best click-bait of the year....so far!

And MAJOR CONSUMERS SEVER RELATIONS WITH HACKED BRANDS?

Ransomware attacks in 2023 surged by 95% year-over-year, with 1,278 victims identified on leak sites - already surpassing both 2021 and 2022 totals...

https://www.msptoday.com/topics/msp-today/articles/458119-majority-consumers-sever-ties-with-hacked-brands.htm

2.) Five Minutes with a Smart Person: Erick Simpson

Erick Simpson is an MSP Business and Channel Growth Expert, MSP Influencer and MSP Thought Leader

A pioneer and leader in the managed services industry, Erick Simpson built and sold one of the very first MSPs in the industry and grew and coached a channel of 30,000 IT Solution Providers through their MSP transformation with his MSP Mastered® Methodology for managed services business performance improvement.

Erick is an MSP business & channel growth expert, influencer, thought leader, speaker and author with 4 best-selling books and 50 white papers to his credit, and his strategies and programs help MSPs overcome business challenges to realize consistent, profitable managed services recurring revenue growth. His M&A expertise has helped dozens of MSPs sell their businesses at the highest valuation or expand through acquisition.

He delivers strategic MSP market analysis services and builds and improves channel programs for IT vendors and distributors, and helps recruit and enable their channel partners through his thought leadership podcasts, webinars, workshops and event keynotes and breakouts.

Erick's industry recognition includes Channel Futures' 7 Thought Leaders Defining the MSP Market, Jay McBain's 100 Most Visible Channel Leaders, 2 Time ChannelPro 20/20 Visionaries, 2 Time MSP Mentor 250 and SMB Nation's SMB 150 award recipient.

Check out Erick's new community:

https://mspmastered.com/

https://ericksimpson.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericksimpson/

—

Check out Amy's Intune class:

https://www.thirdtier.net/2023/11/29/learning-intune-a-six-month-course/

Our upcoming events:

AUSTIN TX – MASTERMIND LIVE (March 28-29th)

http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind

https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event

Use "EARLYBIRD" as the coupon code to save $200!

Irvine CA - SMB Techfest (Feb 8th-9th)

Make sure you catch Amy at SMB Techfest!

https://www.smbtechfest.com/events.asp

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

Host Karl does a deep dive into the four steps you need to take for your “AI Strategy” in 2024. Learn it, use it, teach it, sell it. Whatever you do, just don’t ignore it.

 

AUSTIN TX – MASTERMIND LIVE (March 28-29th)   http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind   https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event   Use “EARLYBIRD” as the coupon code to save $200!   Irvine CA – SMB Techfest (Feb 8th-9th)   Make sure you catch Amy at SMB Techfest!   https://www.smbtechfest.com/events.asp      

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

Host Karl sits down with friend, Jerry Koutavas.

As President of The ASCII Group, Jerry Koutavas is responsible for creating resources and services aimed at helping IT and managed service providers better manage their time and their bottom line. Koutavas oversees the creation, implementation, and adoption of benefits at The ASCII Group which services over 1,400 MSPs in North America. A widely-recognized figure in the IT industry, Jerry has more than 25 years of experience in the Channel.

Check out more:

https://events.ascii.com/

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Our upcoming events:

Jan 16-18th in Honolulu HI – MSSP Sales/Marketing workshop https://conference.fornixmarketing.com/hawaii-conference-3364 Contact James for a $500 discount code!

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

1.) MSP Question of the week: Will the US economy adversely affect my business? In summation, it will...if YOU let it. And what does tabasco hot sauce have to do with you? --- 2.) Notes on the News Tech lay offs yet again! Google, Amazon and Snap are among latest to announce major layoffs. See: https://www.channele2e.com/news/google-amazon-snap-latest-to-announce-layoffs 3.) Cool Tech Gifts Our experts way in. :-) ---

Our upcoming events:

Jan 16-18th in Honolulu HI – MSSP Sales/Marketing workshop https://conference.fornixmarketing.com/hawaii-conference-3364 Contact James for a $500 discount code!

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

Host James sits down with Venvito's Founder Rob Fegan on partnering with Microsoft.

Venvito was formed to teach other Microsoft partners how to harness the scale and reach of Microsoft's field teams. Sharing with other owners, founders, and leaders the messaging, the mechanics, and the mindset necessary to partner with Microsoft, growing your Microsoft practice through mutually beneficial relationships at all levels within Microsoft.

Learn more:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robfegan/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/venvito/

https://www.venvito.net/?r_done=1

Our upcoming events:

Jan 16-18th in Honolulu HI – MSSP Sales/Marketing workshop https://conference.fornixmarketing.com/hawaii-conference-3364 Contact James for a $500 discount code!

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

Check out the latest episode!

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

Today the SMBCP is whole again: Karl is back! 1.) MSP Question of The Week What is the best commission plan for salespeople? --- 2.) What's New in the News OPEN AI – blew up! And ransomware attacks are on the RISE! Ransomware attacks have surged in recent years; this has led to significant financial losses, data breaches and operational disruptions across various sectors. As of 2023, over 72% of organizations worldwide were affected by ransomware attacks, according to Statista. That raises a question as to how malicious actors are able to successfully carry out these attacks on the majority of organizations. And one industry that is struggling to handle ransomware attacks is...healthcare. In fact, Sophos revealed in its "The State of Ransomware in Healthcare 2023" report that cybercriminals successfully encrypted data in nearly 75% of ransomware attacks. This is the highest rate of encryption in the past three years and a significant increase from the 61% of healthcare organizations that reported having their data encrypted last year. ---

Our upcoming events:

Jan 16-18th in Honolulu HI – MSSP Sales/Marketing workshop https://conference.fornixmarketing.com/hawaii-conference-3364 Contact James for a $500 discount code!

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

In this week's edition of SMBCP, we sit down with the Chief Information Officer of TS Banking Group, Julian Caldwell.

We discussed how to get into the door with executives--What are they looking for in MSPs? And hpw to become "Sticky" Long Term strategic partners with your customers?

Listen today to see why most MSP's fall short of these expectations...

Our upcoming events:

Kernan Mastermind Roadshow Dec 7-8th, 2023 in Newport Beach CA – http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event Use code: EARLYBIRD Jan 16-18th in Honolulu HI – MSSP Sales/Marketing workshop https://conference.fornixmarketing.com/hawaii-conference-3364 Contact James for a $500 discount code!

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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

Host Karl goes down under for the SMB IT Pro Con!

In this episode, Karl captures bite-sized interviews with the best in the industry.

Featuring (In Order):

Dean Calvert of Calvert Technologies

Elias Mansour of N-Able

Matt Koenig of Nodeware

Pablo Munoz of Ninja One

Peter Ward of Dijital Team

Shaun Witherden of Kaseya

Shaun Capps of Pax8

Ted Deane 2Excel

Tim Lippa Halo PSA

Will Parker HP Elite

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Our upcoming events:

Kernan Mastermind Roadshow Dec 7-8th, 2023 in Newport Beach CA – http://bit.ly/kernanmastermind https://kernanconsulting-mastermind.mykajabi.com/mastermind-event Use code: EARLYBIRD Jan 16-18th in Honolulu HI – MSSP Sales/Marketing workshop https://conference.fornixmarketing.com/hawaii-conference-3364 Contact James for a $500 discount code!

Our Social Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kernan-varcoach/

https://www.facebook.com/james.kernan

https://www.facebook.com/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlpalachuk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amybabinchak/

https://www.facebook.com/amy.babinchak/

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