Whether You’re a Small Business Server, VOIP or Other Technology Solution Provider in the SMB IT Space, Becoming a Trusted Business Advisor is the Goal.
In no uncertain terms, technology education for the survival and advancement in your SMB IT business is a must. But as a technology business owner, this also means continuing education in how you personally run your business. Forever looking for ways to improve the operation of you business will allow you to turn around and utilize that knowledge to become a trusted business advisor to your small and medium business clients.
Just like any other part of your business, having a continuing education strategy is a must. What books will you read? What webinar and teleseminars will you join in on? What business and technology events will you attend? Who will you tap to coach and advise you to the next level?
This continuing education process for your business is not a luxury. It truly is a necessity, especially in the competitive small and medium business environment. In this venue everyone is looking to partner up with a true business that brings integrity and value to the table.
They want a trusted business advisor that understands what it means to operate a small and medium business, not just someone to handle small business server issues and show up when their technology infrastructure has a problem. There’s a huge difference and the SMB IT companies that are keeping clients and adding new ones in this economy get it. How about you?
So since we are talking about my favorite subject of continuing education as a technology business owner, let me give you the low down on a hot upcoming business and technology event for the SMB IT business owner.
Coming up on May 1-3, 2009, SMB Nation will be holding its annual SMB Nation Spring 2009 event. This is the East Coast version of their business and technology continuing education, which is being held at Montclair State University in my neck of the woods otherwise known as Northern NJ. It’s a terrific continuing education setting on a really great university campus. You can’t help but feel the learning going on around this entire event.
And the best part? Not only does this show give you some great options to learn more about the latest in technology for the small and medium business world such as small business server issues, VOIP, cloud computing, virtualization and more, it also has an amazing line-up for everything you can think of and never thought about for sharpening you business operations.
That means lots of continuing education on the tech side (geek speak) and the business side (business speak) by thought leaders in the SMB world you know and will want to know better by the time you leave. And I can guarantee you will walk out of this 3 day event with a whole new outlook to your business, the small and medium business space, and our economy.
There is no better bang for your buck business and technology event focusing on making you a trusted business advisor to your small and medium business clients in the NYC and NJ areas this year. Attend SMB Nation Spring in early May 2009 by registering at SMB Nationand see for yourself.
Did I mention that I will also be speaking there (see this link for more events as well)? As a matter of fact I personally know that the business education is one great line up since I’m the Business Speak Chair with the main session for day 1 and I have another session on day 2 about building value in your business.
Another great speaker that I know will come out guns blazing with great information is the event company's president, Harry Brelsford, who will be combining tech speak with business speak by doing a talk on "geekonomics". Should be a terrific and insightful session.
I promise that SMB Nation, as always, will provide an excellent venue for your continuing education strategy that will pay you back 10 fold just by walking in the door to network and listen to top notch minds in the SMB space.
See you there!
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Time for some R&R to Help Your Technology Business
R&R: What does it stand for? In most circles it means Rest & Relaxation or something of that sort.
Today it means Reactivation & Referrals
These are 2 things that should be done regularly and come in especially handy during a rough economic cycle as they cost little to no money to execute, but can pack a pretty nice punch.
Let's start with Reactivation first. What exactly does this mean? Well, just about every business that's been around for a bit will have clients that they did work for and were satisfied but are no longer current paying clients.
Maybe you did a quick job for them in the past or a bigger one-shot project. Either way, you got paid and as far as you know there is no bad blood just a lack of follow up as you continued to get new clients and develop new business offerings.
Do you think you can send them a direct marketing piece or an email or better yet give them a buzz and "reactivate" them? A nice 2 step reactivation campaign like direct mail pushing them to a special web page or a follow up call to make an appointment is easier than you think. And it's pretty low cost with a good chance of a nice ROI.
I'd say it's more than worth a try. And I would also suggest making this an annual or semi-annual ritual as well in any economy.
Now for Referrals. We all know about them and some of us utilize this technique on a regular basis, but it has a special edge to it in this rough economy.
When money gets tight, business and people in general still have to spend it on things they need and are willing to pay for since they also want it. They will gladly pay those that they trust to give it to them. If you know you fall into that category and especially if you work a particular vertical market, now is the time to pick out your best and/or favorite clients and enter them into a formal referral program.
By formal I mean you offer them rewards and/or payments for their endorsements and kind words that put money in your coffers.
Another form of a referral program is a joint venture. And this is a great time to do it. This is a way to leverage the trust that non-competitors who serve the same market have built with a win-win for you, them, and their clients. And you can also return the favor for your endorsement of them to clients of yours that would benefit from the JV partner's offerings.
If you're looking for a fairly quick, low cost boost in your marketing efforts to help your technology business move forward, you can't beat a little R&R so get to it.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
Today it means Reactivation & Referrals
These are 2 things that should be done regularly and come in especially handy during a rough economic cycle as they cost little to no money to execute, but can pack a pretty nice punch.
Let's start with Reactivation first. What exactly does this mean? Well, just about every business that's been around for a bit will have clients that they did work for and were satisfied but are no longer current paying clients.
Maybe you did a quick job for them in the past or a bigger one-shot project. Either way, you got paid and as far as you know there is no bad blood just a lack of follow up as you continued to get new clients and develop new business offerings.
Do you think you can send them a direct marketing piece or an email or better yet give them a buzz and "reactivate" them? A nice 2 step reactivation campaign like direct mail pushing them to a special web page or a follow up call to make an appointment is easier than you think. And it's pretty low cost with a good chance of a nice ROI.
I'd say it's more than worth a try. And I would also suggest making this an annual or semi-annual ritual as well in any economy.
Now for Referrals. We all know about them and some of us utilize this technique on a regular basis, but it has a special edge to it in this rough economy.
When money gets tight, business and people in general still have to spend it on things they need and are willing to pay for since they also want it. They will gladly pay those that they trust to give it to them. If you know you fall into that category and especially if you work a particular vertical market, now is the time to pick out your best and/or favorite clients and enter them into a formal referral program.
By formal I mean you offer them rewards and/or payments for their endorsements and kind words that put money in your coffers.
Another form of a referral program is a joint venture. And this is a great time to do it. This is a way to leverage the trust that non-competitors who serve the same market have built with a win-win for you, them, and their clients. And you can also return the favor for your endorsement of them to clients of yours that would benefit from the JV partner's offerings.
If you're looking for a fairly quick, low cost boost in your marketing efforts to help your technology business move forward, you can't beat a little R&R so get to it.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Fear Factor: Make or Break a Technology Business
Fear can be two things in people. It can be a motivator if we take it and reverse it into drive, or it can be completely debilitating.
As a technology business owner fear is something that can possibly be faced every day. Fear of an unhappy client. Fear of not getting paid by a client. Fear of not having enough work. Fear of failure. And so on.
When fear takes over it not only stops you in your tracks, but often makes you back up a few steps. It's never a good time for this as a true business owner. As an entrepreneur.
Times like the one we're in right now call for us to not be afraid and to push forward. Many business owners will make huge mistakes this year out of pure fear of the economy.
They will cut expenses that shouldn't be cut like networking functions and education. They will stop doing things that are positive and create revenue like marketing campaigns. They will hand out discounts like they're going out of style to current clients without being asked and on top of that add value, which in turn makes many profitable clients unprofitable.
Do not let fear kill your business or make you unreliable to your clients. Now is the time to make expense cuts after thoroughly thinking them through as necessary and viable. Now is the time to streamline processes and systems. It's time to assess metrics and measurements to do more of what is working and eliminate what isn't.
Turn your business fears into drive and motivation right now.
Invest in yourself and your business because they are the only things you can truly control.
Make it happen.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
As a technology business owner fear is something that can possibly be faced every day. Fear of an unhappy client. Fear of not getting paid by a client. Fear of not having enough work. Fear of failure. And so on.
When fear takes over it not only stops you in your tracks, but often makes you back up a few steps. It's never a good time for this as a true business owner. As an entrepreneur.
Times like the one we're in right now call for us to not be afraid and to push forward. Many business owners will make huge mistakes this year out of pure fear of the economy.
They will cut expenses that shouldn't be cut like networking functions and education. They will stop doing things that are positive and create revenue like marketing campaigns. They will hand out discounts like they're going out of style to current clients without being asked and on top of that add value, which in turn makes many profitable clients unprofitable.
Do not let fear kill your business or make you unreliable to your clients. Now is the time to make expense cuts after thoroughly thinking them through as necessary and viable. Now is the time to streamline processes and systems. It's time to assess metrics and measurements to do more of what is working and eliminate what isn't.
Turn your business fears into drive and motivation right now.
Invest in yourself and your business because they are the only things you can truly control.
Make it happen.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Back to Basics- Call in the SWOT Team Technology Business Owners!
That's right, I said SWOT team not SWAT.
It's time to get back to basics and check out your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A regrouping of your business would be a very good idea right now.
SWOT is often looked at in a pure marketing light, but it has many uses. For this discussion we're talking about it as a company wide strategic brainstorming and planning tool.
What we want to do is see where you stand now and how to apply that to the near and distant future of your business.
Here's what I mean:
STRENGTHS- These are internal factors such as some kind of technical certification or specialty, expert knowledge of a particular vertical industry, a unique process or procedure, value added benefits of products/services, etc.
WEAKNESSES- These are also internal factors such as a lack of expertise, too many "me too" things/no differentiation from competition, quality issues, reputation issues, etc.
As a side note, location and size of the business can be a strength or a weakness depending on how you look at it. A location could help you corner a market and a smaller business with good infrastructure can change with client and environment needs much faster than a larger, less nimble business.
OPPORTUNITIES- These are external factors such as joint venture possibilities, new market entry opportunities, weakened competitors, new technologies to leverage, etc. Look at opportunities that you can take action on within the next 6 months.
THREATS- These are also external factors such as new top notch competitors, government rule changes, new tools that out date the ones you use, etc. Look at imminent threats that you need to take care of within the next 6 months.
Now that you have everything written down, you need to prioritize what needs to be taken care of. After that, come up with an actionable plan to capitalize on strengths and opportunities and to get rid of weaknesses and threats.
Sounds simple but it's rarely done as is most strategic planning in small businesses.
But seriously, now is the time to get back to these basics. No company is too big or small to do this kind of strategic planning. As a business owner, this is your core job for working on your business vesus in it.
Get to it and let me know if you need any help.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
It's time to get back to basics and check out your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A regrouping of your business would be a very good idea right now.
SWOT is often looked at in a pure marketing light, but it has many uses. For this discussion we're talking about it as a company wide strategic brainstorming and planning tool.
What we want to do is see where you stand now and how to apply that to the near and distant future of your business.
Here's what I mean:
STRENGTHS- These are internal factors such as some kind of technical certification or specialty, expert knowledge of a particular vertical industry, a unique process or procedure, value added benefits of products/services, etc.
WEAKNESSES- These are also internal factors such as a lack of expertise, too many "me too" things/no differentiation from competition, quality issues, reputation issues, etc.
As a side note, location and size of the business can be a strength or a weakness depending on how you look at it. A location could help you corner a market and a smaller business with good infrastructure can change with client and environment needs much faster than a larger, less nimble business.
OPPORTUNITIES- These are external factors such as joint venture possibilities, new market entry opportunities, weakened competitors, new technologies to leverage, etc. Look at opportunities that you can take action on within the next 6 months.
THREATS- These are also external factors such as new top notch competitors, government rule changes, new tools that out date the ones you use, etc. Look at imminent threats that you need to take care of within the next 6 months.
Now that you have everything written down, you need to prioritize what needs to be taken care of. After that, come up with an actionable plan to capitalize on strengths and opportunities and to get rid of weaknesses and threats.
Sounds simple but it's rarely done as is most strategic planning in small businesses.
But seriously, now is the time to get back to these basics. No company is too big or small to do this kind of strategic planning. As a business owner, this is your core job for working on your business vesus in it.
Get to it and let me know if you need any help.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
Monday, March 9, 2009
SMB IT Community_ Partnerships are a difficult ship to steer
Calling all IT business owners!!
The following is a joint message from me and Stuart Crawford of Bulletproof InfoTech/host of the Small Business IT Radio Show.
I will be a guest on Stuart's show this Friday March 13th, noon EST. See below for details.
***************
Join Stuart Crawford from Calgary’s Small Business Specialist, Bulletproof InfoTech and George J Sierchio from Action Business Partners as we discuss one of the most difficult areas of business today, Partnerships.
Partnerships can help your business succeed in new areas with business partners and also allow you a bit of a safety net with others to share your risk. Dangers lurk beneath the surface when you go into uncharted waters?
George and Stuart will discuss and share some of their experiences with business partnerships. What works? What doesn’t? What to do when you are doing all the work?
We will also share tips and tricks to bring your partnership back up to the surface or when you decide to abandon ship.
Listen live to Small Business Radio on Friday, March 13 at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific Time. Listen live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb.
Missed an episode? Catch up on back editions online today.
****************
Although the radio program is generally aimed at IT entrepreneurs, feel free to listen on as the topic most definitely applies to all technology based companies.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
The following is a joint message from me and Stuart Crawford of Bulletproof InfoTech/host of the Small Business IT Radio Show.
I will be a guest on Stuart's show this Friday March 13th, noon EST. See below for details.
***************
Join Stuart Crawford from Calgary’s Small Business Specialist, Bulletproof InfoTech and George J Sierchio from Action Business Partners as we discuss one of the most difficult areas of business today, Partnerships.
Partnerships can help your business succeed in new areas with business partners and also allow you a bit of a safety net with others to share your risk. Dangers lurk beneath the surface when you go into uncharted waters?
George and Stuart will discuss and share some of their experiences with business partnerships. What works? What doesn’t? What to do when you are doing all the work?
We will also share tips and tricks to bring your partnership back up to the surface or when you decide to abandon ship.
Listen live to Small Business Radio on Friday, March 13 at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific Time. Listen live at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb.
Missed an episode? Catch up on back editions online today.
****************
Although the radio program is generally aimed at IT entrepreneurs, feel free to listen on as the topic most definitely applies to all technology based companies.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
Monday, March 2, 2009
Technology Business Owners- Can you hear what I hear?
That scurrying sound you've been hearing is two things.
1. Your competitors taking cover hoping to weather the storm and
2. Your competitor's clients looking for a real business to help them weather the storm and be on the path to grow when it goes away
That's right. Once again I'm talking about structuring and acting like a real business. No matter how big your company is. The horse is apparently not dead yet so I will keep going on this until it becomes ingrained in your brain and you take action on it.
Read the last few posts of mine including the one about proof from a fellow technology business owner on how he looks at utilizing other technology businesses.
It's time to step up and run your business. Time to let your clients, potential clients and competitor's clients know that you're not going anywhere and your business is set up to help them do the same.
There is no "back up plan" of going out and finding a job. There aren't any. So what are you waiting for?
Get out there and pick up the pieces that your competition is scattering all over the place. There are many unsatisfied and scared clients out there waiting for another small technology business to come along and prove to them they're in it for the long haul and are looking to be a part of their team.
If you want to brainstorm this or any other subject a bit, I'm here to help. Just go to my main website my clicking here to schedule a strategy session. I have a recession buster deal going on as of right now that really can't be beat.
I strongly encourage you to check out this opportunity as it's an excellent way to see the forest from the trees and bounce ideas off of someone that's already been in your shoes through bad and good economies.
Now is not the time to hide or act like an island. But as always, it is the time to not waste time or reinvent the wheel. Get help and get moving.
Surviving this storm will make your business very strong when it blows over. That should be your goal and that's my goal for you.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
1. Your competitors taking cover hoping to weather the storm and
2. Your competitor's clients looking for a real business to help them weather the storm and be on the path to grow when it goes away
That's right. Once again I'm talking about structuring and acting like a real business. No matter how big your company is. The horse is apparently not dead yet so I will keep going on this until it becomes ingrained in your brain and you take action on it.
Read the last few posts of mine including the one about proof from a fellow technology business owner on how he looks at utilizing other technology businesses.
It's time to step up and run your business. Time to let your clients, potential clients and competitor's clients know that you're not going anywhere and your business is set up to help them do the same.
There is no "back up plan" of going out and finding a job. There aren't any. So what are you waiting for?
Get out there and pick up the pieces that your competition is scattering all over the place. There are many unsatisfied and scared clients out there waiting for another small technology business to come along and prove to them they're in it for the long haul and are looking to be a part of their team.
If you want to brainstorm this or any other subject a bit, I'm here to help. Just go to my main website my clicking here to schedule a strategy session. I have a recession buster deal going on as of right now that really can't be beat.
I strongly encourage you to check out this opportunity as it's an excellent way to see the forest from the trees and bounce ideas off of someone that's already been in your shoes through bad and good economies.
Now is not the time to hide or act like an island. But as always, it is the time to not waste time or reinvent the wheel. Get help and get moving.
Surviving this storm will make your business very strong when it blows over. That should be your goal and that's my goal for you.
To Your Business Success-
George Sierchio
The Consultant's Coach
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