SMB Community Podcast

Karen Guarino from Reflexion – Spam Filtering, HIPAA Training, and Automated Email Encryption for HIPAA Compliance

Karen Guarino is the Channel Support Manager at Reflexion. She talked to us at the Autotask Community Live event about the latest and greatest campaigns from Reflexion. Of course Reflexion does spam filtering, but they have added some cool services that allow partners to more easily serve their medical/HIPAA clients.

In addition to spam filtering, Reflexion offers training on a few topics. The one I've been involved in is their HIPAA certification training.

In addition to that, Reflexion has a cool email encryption service that scans outbound emails and encrypts them if they meet certain criteria. For example, if it detects a Social Security (not allowed to be emailed under the HIPAA HiTech Act), it automatically encrypts the email.

For more information on Reflexion, visit www.reflexion.net.

For more information on Reflextion training programs, visit www.reflexiontraining.net.

– Download the Interview with Karen Guarino from Reflexion here.

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Steve Noel: Management by Exception Interface takes continuity to the next level

I caught up with Steve "The Dude" Noel, Technical Sales Engineer with Axcient at the Autotask Community Live event.

Axcient's big push right now is on their "Management by Exception" Interface for their business continuity solution. With this tool, you can get alerts if a good backup is not received within a specified time period.

On other fronts, Steve mentioned that Axcient is beginning to see more activity in the mid-market space in addition to the "S" side of SMB. (It is interesting that he's the second person we interviewed that is seeing traction into the mid-market.)

You can find out more at www.axcient.com

or contact Steve directly at [email protected].

– Download the Interview with Steve Noel from Axcient here.

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Ken Edwards: Adding Streams of Income … and More

My friend Ken Edwards is a busy member of the community, an SMB 150 award winner, and an Autotask user. Ken owns Maverick Mesa Computers in Glendale, AZ.

He also owns a few other small businesses unrelated to I.T. service delivery. Here he gives us some ideas about how to set up "automated" businesses that sell products without him having to deliver services or manage the sales of a product. His big key to success is finding little niche products that fill an existing need.

Ken is also a speaker at the SMB Online Conference next week. His topic is: Topic: Where Facebook Meets Business.

Ken Edwards has been servicing the computer networking needs for small businesses for over 25 years. Beginning as an aviation tech in the Marine Corp, he progressed through servicing restaurant systems to handling the computer needs of general small business. He really cut his teeth in networking in the mid-90s as a Novell CNE, and then became a Microsoft Networking expert. Recently holding the Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation, he continues to serve small businesses as head of Maverick Mesa Computer Specialties Inc, an Arizona local IT firm. On behalf of his own business, he recognized the need to develop an internet marketing expertise. Currently, he advises other businesses on using the internet as a promotion vehicle, handing out knowledge gathered during his intense 3 years of internet marketing experimentation.

Web: http://mavmesa.com

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/ken-edwards/4/516/5a9/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maverick-Mesa/110323722456207

View the Press Release about Ken's Appearance at the SMB Online Conference.

The theme of this year's SMB Online Conference is IT Business Reboot – We'll cover a variety of topics related to re-building your business as if you were starting over today.

Here are the topics for Day Three: June 27, 2013

9:00 AM PST Karl's Keynote (Karl W. Palachuk)

10:00 AM Brian Sharp – How to Take Back and Turn Around Your Small Business

11:00 AM John Armato – Think Inside The Box

1:00 PM Rayanne Buchianico – Understand Your Financials – Use Data to Make Decisions

2:00 PM Ken Edwards – Where Facebook Meets Business – Strategies to Market to the Business Audience Existing in Facebook

(all times are Pacific)

For more information on the conference, visit www.SMBOnlineConference.com.

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

Mark Moreno: Success with the "Mom and Pop" Mid-Market

My friend Mark Moreno is an active member of the SMB community, an SMB 150 award winner, and an Autotask user. He owns C&M Support Services & Consulting, Inc. in Elkhart, IN. He has built a great business based on a specific kind of client, which he calls the "Mom and Pop" mid-market. This is an interesting hybrid market that operates just like any other small business when it comes to buying an decision-making. But they spend at the level of enterprise companies.

Mark Moreno

Mark gives us a quick intro to the topic here, but he will have a much more detailed presentation at the SMB Online Conference next week. Mark's topic at the conference is Serving Larger Clients – The Mid-Market: An Opportunity You Do Not Want to Miss.

Mark's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/christsitguy

View the Press Release about Mark's Appearance at the SMB Online Conference.

See the press release here: SMB Online Conference Press Room.

The theme of this year's SMB Online Conference is IT Business Reboot – We'll cover a variety of topics related to re-building your business as if you were starting over today.

Here are the topics for Day Two: June 26, 2013

9:00 AM PST – Karl's Keynote (Karl W. Palachuk)

10:00 AM Richard Tubb – Effective Business Networking: How to Network Online and Offline

11:00 AM Stacey Powell – Five Magic Tricks to Make Your Numbers Jump Up and Speak to You

1:00 PM Mark Moreno – Serving Larger Clients – The Mid-Market: An Opportunity You Do Not Want to Miss

2:00 PM Josh Peterson – Stop Hiring Your First Sales Person Over and Over Again

(all times are Pacific)

For more information on the conference, visit www.SMBOnlineConference.com.

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

John Phillips: Synnex has an entire Small Business Team

I talked to John Phillips from SMB Connect at Synnex while I was as Autotask Community Live.

Synnex SMB Connect

John was at AT Live to educate folks about a special sales group at Synnex focused completely on the SMB space. The group has 44 sales people, credit programs, and exclusive vendor rebates for participants of the program. See details at www.synnex.com/smbconnect.

You can find out more about the program at that site or email [email protected], or call them at: 855-899-0050.

John even has his direct number and cell phone on the SMB Connect web site. That's pretty accessible!

In this interview John also talks the reseller program, the refurbished product service, licensing, and more. One of the cool tools is Renew Solve – a free tool for tracking license renewals that sends reminder messages to clients – from YOU and not from the vendor.

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Michael Siggins from ChannelPro SMB

At the Autotask Community Live conference, I caught up with Michael Siggins, Publisher of ChannelProSMB. They loved the event and the sense of community.

Michael highlighted for us the upcoming ChannelPro SMB Forum in New Jersey September 10th.

Channel Pro Forum will be a jam-packed, one-day affair with great content, great food and great networking opportunities.

Sessions include: o Adapting Your Business to the Cloud o Winning Sales and Marketing Strategies for MSPs o Where the Money Is in Mobility o Today's Hottest Trends in Hardware o CompTIA Training: MSP Partners Trustmark

And of course you, I will be there on a panel.

The event is FREE.

For more info and to register, please go to www.ChannelProForum.com.

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Travis Austin: PumpUpTheAuto.com

One of the first and best Autotask experts is Mr. Travis Austin. Travis has developed programs for getting information in and out of Autotask. Now he specializes in helping companies get the most from their Autotask investment. Austin's new venture is called PumpUpTheAuto.com.

Of course Travis was at Autotask Community Live in Phoenix last week. We caught up and talked about his latest adventure. In this interview Travis tells us about how folks are using Autotask and how you can make the most of it if you're already an Autotask user.

Travis has extensive background and experience in making Autotask fit a business' workflow. His tools, tips, tricks, and expertise have proven invaluable to thousands of Autotask users, and he's ready to help you use Autotask better, too!

We use his email connector and have for many years.

You can check out Travis' new adventure at www.PumpUpTheAuto.com

There you'll find some great educational videos about the latest features being released for Autotask.

His blog is at http://www.pumpuptheauto.com/blog/

Also see:

Twitter – https://twitter.com/PumpUpTheAuto

LinkedIn – www.linkedin.com/in/travisraustin

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Richard Tubb – Effective Business Networking: How to Network Online and Offline

Richard Tubb is well known for the Tubblog at http://www.tubblog.co.uk/. Richard is a former Managed Service Provider and now a successful coach for I.T. Consultants.

Richard has worked in the IT industry for more than 15 years, working at large corporations such as Ernst & Young and the NHS, as well as being the owner of an award winning Managed Service Provider business in the UK.

After selling his MSP business, Richard now works providing expert advice to help IT companies who want to grow their business in a scalable and sustainable way – helping them moving their business up a gear by putting together Managed Service offering and pricing it correctly, getting to grips with Marketing to help generate sales, or implementing internal systems and processes that encourage growth.

Richard has a great blog and always provides excellent value to the community.

We are please to have him talking at the SMB Online Conference about networking success – both online and in the so-called real world. In this interview he gives us some great perspective on how this kind of communication has changed over time.

Web Site: www.richardtubb.co.uk

Blog: www.tubblog.co.uk

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tubblog

See the press release on this topic here: Do You Even Geek Bro?

The theme of this year's SMB Online Conference is IT Business Reboot – We'll cover a variety of topics related to re-building your business as if you were starting over today.

Here are the topics for Day Two – June 26th:

9:00 AM PST Karl's Keynote (Karl W. Palachuk) / Building Your Identity (Internally and Externally)

10:00 AM Richard Tubb – Effective Business Networking: How to Network Online and Offline

11:00 AM Stacey Powell – Five Magic Tricks to Make Your Numbers Jump Up and Speak to You

Noon Hour Lunch Break

1:00 PM Mark Moreno – Serving Larger Clients – The Mid-Market Opportunity for Small Business Consultants

2:00 PM Special Presentation

(all times are Pacific)

For more information on the conference, visit www.SMBOnlineConference.com.

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

John Armato – Think Inside the Box

John Armato is a Senior Vice President & Senior Partner, and Creative Strategist for Fleishman-Hillard International Communications.

John helps companies set strategy, shape messages, and develop programs to inspire people, sell products, solve problems, promote causes, and avert crises. He has won dozens of awards and worked with more than 100 clients, including Hallmark, H&R Block, Visa, E. & J. Gallo Winery, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Egyptian Tourism Authority, and the University of Oregon.

John is in demand to lead "big idea" sessions and to coach others on the creative process. He has been called "one of the most accomplished presenters in his field" and his keynotes have been featured at clients, colleges, and conferences around the country.

In this podcast, John talks to us about creativity and how the "idea" process works. I think you'll find this a very engaging discussion. It also ties in well with the presentation John will be making at the SMB Online Conference next month.

John's presentation is entitled "Think Inside The Box." He'll be discussing the creative process, communications, and living a life of ideas.

John's Web Site: : www.thinkinside.biz

Twitter: www.twitter.com/@armatoj

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/johnarmato

See the press release on this topic here: Creative Strategist Says Stop Thinking Outside The Box.

The theme of this year's SMB Online Conference is IT Business Reboot – We'll cover a variety of topics related to re-building your business as if you were starting over today.

Here are the topics for Day Three – June 27th:

9:00 AM PST Karl's Keynote (Karl W. Palachuk)

10:00 AM Brian Sharp – How to Take Back and Turn Around Your Small Business

11:00 AM John Armato – Think Inside The Box

1:00 PM Rayanne Buchianico – Understand Your Financials – Use Data to Make Decisions

2:00 PM Special Presentation

(all times are Pacific)

For more information on the conference, visit www.SMBOnlineConference.com.

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

Rayanne Buchianico

Rayanne Buchianico is an Accountant and MSP Business Consultant.

At the SMB Online Conference in June, she'll be talking about Understanding Your Financials: Three Mandatory Monthly Reports and What They Are Telling You.

We talked last week about how you can use QuickBooks and your financials. She gave some great information – which is why she has TWO presentations at the SMB Online Conference next month. Listen to the podcast … then check out the conference.

Rayanne has over 25 years of accounting, tax and business experience in the SMB sector. She specializes in working with IT Professionals and MSPs to improve profitability through accounting systems, financial reporting, and PSA integration. She was awarded the 2012 Jim Locke Memorial Community Award (formerly "SBSer of the Year") by SMB Nation and SMBTN and was named to the SMB 150 list by SMB Technology Network (SMBTN) and SMB PC magazine in 2011 and 2012. She partnered with Bigger Brains to provide the QuickBooks 2013 video training course. She is the founder and leader of the Tampa Bay IT Pro Group, and is the past Treasurer of the Global IT Community Association for both the North American Board and the Global Board.

Rayanne is the owner of ABC Solutions, LLC in Clearwater, Florida. ABC Solutions provides accounting, tax, and accounting systems consulting services to SMB IT companies throughout the United States.

Web Site: www.abcsolutionsfl.com

Blog: http://abcsolutionsfl.wordpress.com

See the press release "Demystifying QuickBooks – What I.T. Professionals Need To Know" here: SMB Online Conference Press Room.

The theme of this year's SMB Online Conference is IT Business Reboot – We'll cover a variety of topics related to re-building your business as if you were starting over today.

Here are the topics for Day One – June 25th:

9:00 AM Karl's Keynote (Karl W. Palachuk)

10:00 AM Chip Reaves – Better Sales Through Better Education

11:00 AM Rayanne Buchianico – Understanding Your Financials: Three Mandatory Monthly Reports and What They Are Telling You

1:00 PM Manuel Palachuk – Five Tools That Could Transform Your Company Overnight

(all times are Pacific)

For more information on the conference, visit www.SMBOnlineConference.com.

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