SMB Community Podcast

Host Karl interviewed Ryan Denehy, Founder and CEO of Electric (www.electric.ai). Electric manages pretty much any cloud-based services for end users. Interestingly, they provide support via Slack, Teams, and Email - not through a client-facing ticketing system. Ryan explains that they primarily focus on SaaS management, device management, and network management. In growing their MSP business, Rya...

Host Karl caught up with John Hammond, the Senior Cybersecurity Researcher at Huntress. Right at the start is Karl's favorite new term: Ransomware canaries. Here we discuss the Huntress "Hack_it 2021" event, March 22-24 online. In addition to an all-day "Hacking Windows" pre-day, the event features a variety of great hands-on training. You can see the full agenda at https://www.huntress.com/hack_i...

Host James Kernan interviews writer Kate Frank about the strategic use to writing as a marketing tool. Kate is a professional writer with decades of marketing expertise. She has a unique ability to tap into the genius of others and get their message on the page of a book or other media. Most people struggle with identifying their unique proposition for their customers and clients. For Kate, it is...

Host Karl sat down with Pete Matheson for the second time in two months. Here we get an update on Pete's YouTube channel traffic and the lessons he's learned. Check out Pete's last appearance here: https://www.smbcommunitypodcast.com/2021/01/pete-matheson-using-video-to-grow-your-it-business/ Basically, Pete saw great opportunities with YouTube, so he jumped in and gave it a lot of his attention....

Karl and Mike get together for an update on security. As you know, 2020 was quite a year. There was new legislation at the state and local levels, primarily in response to an explosion of sophisticated attacks of ransomware. We went into a good deal of detail on new NIST and CMMC recommendations, as well as a major update on HIPAA. Mike Semel is a noted thought leader, speaker, blogger, and best-s...

Karl caught up with a fellow CompTIA Executive Committee member, Pete Busam from Equilibrium Consulting. Pete and Karl sit on the Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity E.C. Pete Busam is the founder and owner of Equilibrium Consulting, LLC, a management consulting and outsourced marketing firm specializing in assisting channel and technology services organizations with establishing partner relations...

Host Karl interviews Paul Katzoff from White Canyon Software. White Canyon provides software to really, truly, honestly remove all the data on hard drives so it cannot be recovered. As Paul points out, we could download free tools from the internet, but "they don't get certified for a reason - they don't work." Wipe Drive can erase one drive at a time, a dozen at a time, or even build a Pixi netwo...

James Kernan interviews Hartland Ross from eBridge Marketing Solutions. Hartland has been working in the sales and marketing of IT services and SaaS firms since 1999. He is well recognized and regarded in the IT services industry and to date has worked with hundreds of firms providing opportunities for business growth through M&A, marketing strategy and by providing industry advice, recommendation...

Karl interviews Janet Schijns from the JS Group. Janet is the CEO and Digital Ninja of JS Group, a leading go-to-market consultancy in the technology industry. She's a former executive at Motorola, Verizon and Office Depot. Plus, Janet is the founder of Tech Worlds Half, a not-for-profit dedicated to keeping women in the technology industry. Her recent awards include: Channel Influencer of the Yea...

Host Karl interviews Daniel Welling from Marlow, UK. Here we look at "organic growth" vs. buying companies as a growth strategy. Which is best for you? Daniel started his career in IT in 1995, following a sales track, working for a number of VARs and quickly developing a consultative approach to new business and account management, leading to Sales Management within a few years. The urge to do mor...

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...

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 business...

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...

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...

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 str...

Karl interviews Manuel Palachuk, author and coach. Manuel is introducing a new kind of interactive event call The IT Confidential. See https://theitconfidential.com . The new venture is a bit like a webinar/podcast with a major twist: A live audience. The goal is to take a hard look at some issues that others are not talking about in the channel. Plus, he got a cool look and feel for the web site....

Karl caught up with Chris Timm from Sondela Consulting. Chris has a long history in the SMB IT community. He is a former MSP owner and spent a few years at Autotask. Today Chris is a coach and thought leader around making the most of your PSA. He runs a podcast with Rayanne Buchianico at http://psaimpact.net/ . Check it out! But our focus here is Chris's new book! PSA Profitability is available on...

Using LinkedIn to Generate Leads for MSPs with Nathaniel Freedman, Tech Pro Marketing Karl interviews Nathaniel Freedman, CEO of Tech Pro Marketing. As Nate says: You don't want marketing help from just anyone — you want it from someone who is focused exclusively on using MSP Marketing to help MSPs generate leads. Tech Pro Marketing is dedicated to delivering predictable, quality leads to Managed...

Karl caught up with coach Erick Simpson ( www.ericksimpson.com ). He works with a lot of partners, and we talk about what partners are experiencing as the extended "work from home" world evolves. Luckily, many IT service providers are thriving and doing well helping their clients to be successful. That is a great example of technology that used to be "nice" and is no critical. So that has turned i...

Karl interviews Ben Niernberg from MNJ Technologies. MNJ is an MSP that also helps other MSPs resell phone services and Internet connectivity. Ben currently oversees all sales, marketing, services and vendor management relations for MNJ Technologies. Before joining MNJ, he spent a decade at Canon Solutions America, a subsidiary of Canon USA Company, where he was in a variety of management and exec...

Host Amy Babinchak interviews Josh Barker from TechRug (the Technology Risk Underwriting Group). Their topic is: The Insurance Landscape for MSP's. Amy starts out with the big question: What's up with the big price increases? Is it all ransomware? And just so we don't put all the blame on the "bad guys," Amy and Josh also discuss the promises made by MSPs that get them into trouble. If your web si...

I caught up with Paul Green again, from Paul Green's MSP Marketing. One of the first things Pauls says is that you can't really speed up sales most of the time because you don't have the power place your prospects in a position of "needing" your services. Your goal is to be there when they realize they have a need. But you can't create the need. In this interview, Paul talks about the power of phy...

I caught up with Amy as she's running around (virtually) getting ready for the big Acronis Summit 2020. More information at https://summit.acronis.events . The Acronis Summit is . . . October 19-20-21 Registration is free at https://summit.acronis.events Amy is a long-time friend of the Channel and is now the Channel Chief Evangelist at Acronis. She is organizing a number of the sessions for the S...

I caught up with Michael Slater, Director of Corporate Sales at Sherweb. Sherweb has promised that the 2020 Accelerate conference will be focused on MBA for MSPs. Accelerate is always focused on education, and 2020 will continue that approach. Historically, Accelerate has been held in Montreal. So, they decided to move to Florida this year. Well . . . then 2020 happened. Now, the conference is 100...

Today's guest is Todd Snapp from Stridepoint, the developer of Relay Managed Security Awareness. We do a deep dive into "Security Awareness" services. And, of course, my big question was about the managed piece of this. Several companies will now send out test phishing email to catch client users opening things they shouldn't. Relay Managed Security Awareness goes way beyond this, including preven...