Happy Hello and a Fond Farewell

It is with great joy I can tell you that Brad Kowerchuk has accepted our request to join the HTG advisory council. Brad brings a vast array of experiences from his business in Canada to our council. Beside the wonderful success and growth he has achieved in his company since joining HTG, his facilitation and hard work as an HTG4 member and advocate make him an obvious selection to help direct our program for the coming years. I am excited he has decided to join our team and look forward to introducing him to everyone face to face in Dallas. Brad joins other council members Brad Schow, Dan Hay, Lyf Wildenberg and Robert Lindley who provide the HTG team strategic direction and feedback.

With Brad's appointment, we bid farewell to Stuart Crawford who has served on the advisory council since its inception a few years ago. Stuart was part of HTG3 before moving to help us begin our first international group in Canada, where he facilitated HTG10 for a year and a half. Stuart has a passion to help people, and caught the Go Giver bug in ways that became contagious. He leaves us to pursue his passion around social media and the web. He is consulting for businesses in his hometown of Calgary and around the globe as he serves people and their desire to learn how to leverage the communication tools of the 21st century. Thank you Stuart for your hard work and contributions to helping HTG become what it is today.

As always, I am grateful for each of you and your passion to serve. That is what makes HTG what it is today – Go Givers who keep on giving. The measure of our receive is based on how well we give. Let’s keep it up – Brad will be a great addition to that cause!

Beyond Facebook - Where the rubber hits the road with Social Media

IT Professional turned Social Media and Online Marketing consultant, Stuart Crawford is hosting a special Microsoft 5W25 seminar on Feb 24th at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific. Register today at http://www.mssmallbiz.com/training/.

Stuart promises this to be an action filed 60 minute webinar and will not be a "death by PowerPoint" type of webinar. He promises to get down and dirty about why many of us in the IT industry need to start looking seriously at the role social media plays in our overall communications strategy. Yes, that is right, once just thought as a marketing activity, online services is now critical to our overall corporate communications. How we communicate with clients, prospects, the community and even our staff.

Check it out on Feb 24th.

HTG at WPC

We are almost ready to head to New Orleans for what may be the biggest event of the year outside our quarterly HTG meetings. There is a lot going on down there, and here is a list of things you probably want to take advantage of:

HTG Green Shirt Day
Wednesday is the day which has been set aside for HTG members to wear your green HTG shirts. It is important to bring that shirt along and proudly wear it that day. See photo for clarification on shirt!

HTG Buttons
Scott and I will have buttons available for you to wear at WPC to let people know you are part of HTG. Find us and put a button on!

HTG meeting place
SBSC is again hosting the Yellow Lounge, which is a good place to meet up with other SMB partners and particularly HTG members. Plan to meet up there around 11:30 each day to see what other HTG'ers are free for lunch.

Morning prayer and devotions
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings we will have a devotional and prayer time at 6:30 AM at the Residence Inn Convention Center in the courtyard there. Join us and bring along anyone that has interest.

Partners in Christ Prayer Breakfast
Wednesday morning at 7 AM we will hold the annual prayer breakfast at the Marriott Convention Center. Pre-registration is requested – link to register is http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2is6m4qfuzirfgr/a011kfwjnyit6/questions

HTG Meet-Up and dinner
Sunday evening at 6:30 PM – sponsored by ConnectWise and Microsoft
The Court of the Two Sistershttp://www.courtoftwosisters.com/ 613 Royal St. New Orleans, LA 70130. This is for HTG member companies only and you need to RSVP to me via email to have a spot.

HTG Speakers at WPC
SMB007 Power of Community
Presenters: Mark Crall, Dave Sobel, Erik Thorsell, Richard Tubb, Jamison West
Wed 7/15 2:00 PM-3:00 PM 215-216

Learn from esteemed peers who have successfully harnessed the "Power of the Community" in not only establishing better operational, sales, marketing and financial practices but greater work/life balance through execution of goals and accountability to their peers who become lifelong friends. Get ready to be personally challenged to aspire to greater things as you witness fellow SMB IT community peers who have called each other higher though a commitment to giving and execution.

SMB008 Social Media 101: Defining and Understanding How to Connect with Your Clients and Colleagues Using the Latest Technologies
Presenter: Stuart Crawford
Wed 7/15 2:00 PM-3:00 PM 217

Social media is the latest trend, but many leaders face big hurdles with getting online and creating a buzz. Hear how you can use social media tools internally across your organization and as a mechanism to quickly share important information. This session takes a hands-on approach on how to: use social media to connect with employees, team members, and clients; design a blog; write your message clearly and concisely; and apply delivery mechanisms and alerts for notification of new content.

SMB009 Partner Planning: Four Simple Plans That Can Change Everything
Presenters: Scott Scrogin, Arlin Sorensen, Erik Thorsell
Wed 7/15 3:30 PM-4:30 PM 208-210

This first session discusses key plans that should be in place for success, including: company business plan, personal leadership plan, life plan, and a disaster recovery/continuity plan. Hear from Partners who have had business or life change because of planning and learn how to get started with specific tools in each of these areas. Plan to spend a few hours working on your business and your life developing foundational direction that will lead to success!

SMB010 Virtualization: What You Need to Know to Get Your Business Ready
Presenter: Dave Sobel
Wed 7/15 3:30 PM-4:30 PM 215-216

Virtualization is a game-changing new approach to infrastructure. Learn what you need to know to start implementing projects using virtualization technologies, specifically as it relates to Windows Small Business Server and Windows Essential Business Server. See real life techniques and experiences that get you ready to deliver solutions, including a complete restore into a virtual machine from raw backup. Not just for the big boys, this is the next generation of infrastructure.

SMB013 Partner Planning Workshop: Putting Pen to Paper
Presenters: Scott Scrogin, Arlin Sorensen, Erik Thorsell
Wed 7/15 5:00 PM-6:00 PM 208-210

In this session, a workbook is provided for working on your company business plan, personal leadership plan, life plan, or continuity plan. We break into groups to work on at least one plan that is specific to your situation. Partners provide feedback and ideas to help you with the process. One of the outcomes of this session includes follow-up and accountability. Plan to spend this hour working on your business developing foundational direction that will lead to success!

SMB015 Building Momentum in Your Managed Services Practice
Presenter: Mark Crall
Thu 7/16 1:30 PM-2:30 PM 218-219

Move from the hit-or-miss world of break/fix to a reliable, recurring revenue stream. Industry leader Mark Crall strategizes on how to successfully move your customers to managed services. Learn • The importance of offering managed services • Key issues to consider first • Steps for planning your new service offerings • When and how to present to existing customers Don't miss this session! A stable, predictable revenue stream is critical for your company's survival and continued growth.

SI003 Optimizing What You Already Own in a Changing Economy
Presenter: Kenneth Lince, Arlin Sorensen, Erik Thorsell
Thu 7/16 4:30 PM-5:30 PM 243-244

Understand the software your partnership with Microsoft affords you to maximize your management of information and client relations. Learn how partners are using Microsoft technology solutions they own, as a result of their partnership with Microsoft, to optimize their business and sales agility in selling and delivering solutions more effectively to their customers.

HTG Summit Review

Stuart Crawford hosted a great blogtalk radio show about the HTG Summit. Hear feedback from a number of HTG members on their takeaways from the show.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2009/05/01/Thought-Leaders-Converged-On-Dallas

It is worth the listen!

HTG Wrap Up - Blogtalk Radio

Last week IT Thought Leaders converged on Dallas. Will it ever be the same? Small Business IT Thought Leaders and Industry Experts recently invested an entire week to focus on the growth of their businesses at the Q2 meetings of HTG.

Want to know what came out of it? Well tune into Small Business IT Radio on Friday, May 1st 2009 to learn how the cloud will impact your managed services business, what disruptive technologies are on the horizon and how your business will change because of it. How important is marketing and sales to a managed services provider these days? What about financial benchmarketing, why is this important? HTG brings together IT partners from three countries quarterly for in depth, highly focuses and stressful (in a good way) business development and growth focused peer groups that hold each member accountable for the success and challenges in their business.

Tune in Friday May 1st to learn more, showtime is 12 Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific Time - tune into http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2009/05/01/Thought-Leaders-Converged-On-Dallas. Arlin Sorensen will join host Stuart Crawford and other HTG members for a review of the content that was covered.

Are you a Good Communicator?

In times of economic challenge, business professionals who want to lead from a position of strength need more than high IQ. They also need proficient communication skills.
Communication cannot succeed without listening. Are you listening?
You say you want to listen, you know how important it is to pay attention to your clients, your colleagues, your spouse, your family, but… you’re busy, you don’t have time right now, there is so much to do.
So you keep doing, and keep talking, even though stopping to listen can more quickly and easily

• reduce professional and personal stress,
• calm rising tempers,
• clarify misunderstandings,
• give you access to new opportunities
• increase sales

Have you ever had someone say: “You seem to know exactly what I’m thinking. How did you do that?”
Tune in to Small Business IT Radio and hear what Jean Hudson has to say!

That’s Power Listening at work!

Jean Hudson is founder and CEO of execuCoach International, a Calgary-based leadership and personal development company. She has over 20 years experience as facilitator, speaker, writer, and coach. Her presentations and articles have been enjoyed by audiences across North America and Europe.
Jean holds a masters degree in collaborative leadership, and a master certificate in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) which is the study of how top-level achievers think, act, and communicate.
Jean is not an expert in your field. She is an expert in accessing the strengths and resources of individuals and teams, then developing the skills to behave and communicate in ways that magnify achievement.
Join Jean online with Stuart Crawford of Bulletproof InfoTech on his weekly Small Business IT Radio program. Show time is April 17 at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific. Tune in online or listen later.
Tune in to Small Business IT Radio and hear what Jean Hudson has to say!

Check out this Go Giver Discussion

Today Stuart Crawford hosted Bob Burg, co-author of The Go Giver, and myself discussing the book and upcoming HTG Summit. Bob will keynote our event on Tuesday April 21 in Dallas as part of our Q2 events. Check out the recording at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/va/2009/03/18/the-go-giver-with-bob-burg.

HTG also announced today our Go Giver Economic Stimulus offer for the HTG Summit. If you haven't seen the details and gotten registered - check the newsletter that came out earlier today. Your HTG contact has it in their inbox.

Make sure to listen to the recording, find your Go Giver book, and bring it to the Summit so Bob can autograph it after the keynote. I look forward to greating each of you there!

Upcoming HTG Summit Talk Show Featuring Bob Burg

On March 18th at 11AM Eastern, Stuart Crawford and myself will be joined on Blogtalk radio by Bob Burg, author of "The Go Giver" and more importantly to many of us - the keynote speaker for our upcoming HTG Summit meeting in Dallas on April 21. The current schedule is at http://www.htgmembers.com/HTGSummit09/Agenda.htm. Bob is a gifted communicator and will be with us to discuss our upcoming event and help us set the stage for a fantastic three days in Dallas in a few weeks. This is a call in program and you can join us that day at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2009/03/18/The-Go-Giver-with-Bob-Burg. And do not forget, if you want to call in live and speak with us, be sure to dial 646-716-8372. You will be placed into the caller queue where you will still be able to hear the show while you are on hold and then have a chance to speak with Bob directly.

For a little background, here are some facts about Bob Burg. He speaks for corporations and associations internationally, including fortune 500 companies, franchises, and numerous sales organizations. Bob has shared the platform with speaking legends, celebrities and business leaders, and even a former U.S. President.

He is best-known for his book “Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts Into Sales” which has thus far sold well over 175,000 copies and is still going strong.

His newest book (co-authored with John David Mann), is entitled, “The Go-Giver.” A business parable that both touches hearts and build bigger bank accounts, it shot to number 6 on the Wall Street Journal Business Bestsellers list just three weeks after its release and then hit number 9 on the BusinessWeek Bestsellers list. It has also become Bob’s fourth book to hit the 100,000 mark in sales. This book is about more than just succeeding in business; it’s about succeeding in life.

Bob is a staunch advocate, supporter and defender of the Free Enterprise system, believing that the amount of money one makes is directly proportional to how many people they serve. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Safe Harbor, the Humane Society of Jupiter, Florida.

He has been a good friend and supporter of HTG and all that we are doing. He understands business and wants to help us grow and achieve our goals. Join us for our call, and plan now to be in Dallas to hear him live and on stage. He will sign books following his keynote, so bring your copy along and take advantage of that as well.

Upcoming Live Meeting on Social Networking

Stuart Crawford is hosting a live meeting to help us all learn about social networking tools like Twitter and blogs. Time to get into the new world of communication and interaction......

Here are the live meeting details for the upcoming HTG Social Networking and Marketing webinar on Feb 12 at 2 PM Eastern/11 AM Pacific.
What we will cover during meeting

1. HTG Blogs - How your business can leverage HTG Blogs to promote your business
2. What is worth writing about and how to get the message out there
3. Leveraging Twitter to promote your blog and events
4. Many other tips and tricks

HTG Social Networking and Marketing
Start Time: Thursday, Feb 12, 2009 1:00 PM CST
End Time: Thursday, Feb 12, 2009 2:30 PM CST

Attendee URL: https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=HTG-SONET-012009&role=attend&pw=HTG-SONET-012009A
Attendee Entry Code: HTG-SONET-012009A
Meeting ID: HTG-SONET-012009

Call Bridge: 1 (866) 500-6738
Toll: +1 (203) 480-8000
Participant Pass Code: 1762396

Look Out Dallas - Here We Come

Monday begins the Q1 meetings for HTG in the US. We are descending on the Omni Mandalay hotel in Los Colinas for a week full of interaction, learning and community. Seventeen US based groups will be meeting this week. Half meet on Monday and Tuesday, the other half on Thursday and Friday. Wednesday is our HTGALL day - a new addition to the HTG program for 2009. We have 8 tracks running all day that day to allow members to learn more about the entire gamut of running their small business. Also that evening is our vendor reception where our great HTG vendor sponsors will have some time with the HTG membership. It will be a great week for sure. It is a bit cold here though - thirties? C'mon Texas, it isn't supposed to be this cold. Some of the troops want to play golf. Of course there is another group that wants to play poker after we wrap for the evening too. Quite an inventive and mischevious bunch we have. Our vendor partners will be here in force as well, so let's make sure they have a week they will never forget too!

But equally as exciting has been the successful second meeting of HTG11 in the UK led by Dave Sobel, and the HTG10 group just finished their third meeting in Vancouver led by Stuart Crawford. Both groups have a great core set of members and we are looking to grow those groups and increase our presence in both countries. Jesse Jervis wrote his thoughts on the recent Canadian HTG meeting here http://jervisjesse.blogspot.com/. There also is now a blog for our Canadian HTG brethren to post to as well at http://canada.htgblogs.com/. So many good things going on up north!

The time is now to move HTG to the next level. I look forward to seeing all of you in Dallas. Spread the word. HTG is making things happen and 2009 will be a banner year for all of us, in spite of the economy or the media reports. Let's make it happen!

A Couple of Opportunities

Three HTG members have teamed up to present some great ideas on positioning your company for success when everyone seems to be tightening their belts.

Microsoft 5w50 Webinar - Maximizing Success in Troubled Times
January 12th - 9:00 AM Pacific

- Karl Palachuk, KPEnterprises Business Consulting, Inc.
- Scott Mallet, Network Technology Solutions
- Tavis Patterson, TAZ Networks

Register at:
https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=259605

Please join these successful SMB Consultants as they explore some of their great ideas for what may be a tough year ahead. This is part of Microsoft's 5w50 seminar series.

Scott does a great deal of training in his business. He'll talk about how Microsoft Training can be a major boost for your business in the year ahead.

Tavis has a unique approach to sales promotion. He committed to a program a few months ago. We'll check in to find out what he learned and what lessons he has for us in the months ahead.

Karl will talk about some ways to improve cash flow and safeguard against sudden turn-arounds.

***********************************************************************************

Another opportunity comes along Friday at Noon Eastern Time/9 AM Pacific as well. Here are the details:

Leveraging Kaseya in your SMB IT Business

Kaseya is one of the leading monitoring tools available to SMB IT Professionals today. Join Stuart Crawford with Andrew Morgan from Kaseya as we chat about how a relationship with Kaseya will benefit your IT practice. Andrew Morgan is the Regional Sales Manager for Kaseya and works with IT Partners everyday, helping them build their practice with Kaseya's tools. This 60 minute interview with Andrew will introduce new concepts and how you as a Managed Services Provider can leverage the tools available from Kaseya to better service your clients.

For more information visit - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2009/01/09/Leveraging-Kaseya-in-your-SMB-IT-Business

Hopefully one of these will be of value as you plot your course for 2009 and beyond!

Are You a Twitterer?

Twitter is one of those social networking tools I am still trying to get my arms around. I know that several of the HTG folks use Twitter, and I have looked at it and considered the possibility, but it just seemed like a stretch for a guy in his 50's. But as we are working on our PR and communication strategy, being led by Stuart Crawford who fills that role on our HTG board of directors, well Twitter is coming into my life. http://twitter.com/htgmembers is our URL. Stuart will put together some information on how to use this little tool in the next few weeks. Watch for it in an upcoming newsletter.

It took me quite a while to succumb to the whole idea of blogging, but that has actually been pretty effective as a communication tool. Twitter allows us to set up blogs to feed into it so that will be the primary use. There will likely be some use particularly at our quarterly events when we are trying to get the word out quickly. I am no expert, but it does have some potential and we are beginning to work with it as a tool for HTG.

Stuart has also started our process of creating an HTG blog site - www.htgblogs.com - which will be a central repository for HTG specific information. This peer power blog often addresses HTG, but it is not completely dedicated to that - more of an IT SMB industry focus. So some of the things I write here, or that others write on their blogs will be posted to the HTGBlogs.com site as well.

It also will be a source for the public relations and media coverage that Stuart will drive. We have started to be more proactive in that area, with recent coverage around our Ingram partnership and some great work by Storagecraft around their sponsorship of HTG. We want to replicate that for all our relationships. And we want to highlight things that our members do as they tell the HTG story, so if you have an article published, a local newpaper clipping, or anything that we can share, we want to highlight that and help get the word out about what our HTG members are up to. We have the greatest people in this industry involved in HTG, from members, to vendors, to industry resources and distributors. And we want to let people know all about you and your success and partnership with HTG.

So I hope you continue to learn about the social networking tools that are out there. They can be effective ways to connect and communicate. I am still trying to grasp the business applications, which I know there are some of, and we will be working to educate you about those as we move through 2009 together. For now, just start learning and checking things out!

Ready to Review 2008?

We are on the edge of closing out 2008, and it is time to do some review. This week Stuart Crawford hosts several HTG members including Sean Fullerton and Joddey Hicks among others to talk about the good, the bad and the ugly from this past year. It is open mike format so you can call in and put your 10 cents into the discussion as well. Catch it at 3 PM Eastern on Tuesday Dec 30 at http://www.smallbusinessitradio.com.

Make sure to use these last days to evaluate what you need to continue in 2009! And what you need to quit doing too!

Link to our Discussion on Blogtalk Radio

Here is the link to the recording on the blogtalk radio show from Friday that Stuart Crawford hosted. Check it out if you are interested at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/12/12/marketplace-ministry. Have a Merry Christmas!

A Blogtalk Radio Discussion on Friday

Join Stuart Crawford, Jeff Wood, Brad Schow, Rick Bahl and me (all HTG members) on Friday at noon eastern on blogtalk radio. We will be talking about ministry in the workplace and how faith and business do not have to be separated and kept apart. It will be a lively discussion about how the things that are part of who we are as business owners can’t just be checked at the door when we arrive at work, and will address ways to be respectful of employees and others we work with but true to the inner beliefs we all possess. Join us on Friday at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb and join the conversation.

While we are talking about webcasts.....

Stuart Crawford notified me of a couple upcoming webcasts that may be of interest

The first is on the topic of goal setting. This is certainly the time of year to be working on that and now it is more important than ever with the economic conditions.

The second is around a new certification program coming out called the Trusted Business Advisor program. It is an interesting project and HTG has been looking into it as a possible tool for our members to differentiate in the marketplace. Here are the links with details:

http://sbsc.itsuccessmentor.com/?p=344

and

http://sbsc.itsuccessmentor.com/?p=340

Take a listen and share what you learn that is of value with those around you. That is the go-giver way!

Navigate The Stormy Economic Seas

Shopping malls are empty, businesses are stretching out IT projects and many small business are feeling the pinch of the economic conditions in today’s world. Is the press adding fuel to the economic bonfire? How is your business planning to ride out the economic storm? Many IT Professionals are very concerned about the economy and how to navigate the stormy seas of today’s economy. Join Stuart Crawford with leading HTG Partners, Sean Fullerton, Mark Crall, Mike Ritsema and David Ohendalski as we discuss today’s economy and what you can do to navigate the stormy seas that are in the forecast. Visit http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/11/21/Navigating-the-stormy-economic-seas to join the conversation on Friday, November 21 at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific.

Blogtalk Radio

Are you listening to the weekly radio broadcasts that good friend Stuart Crawford hosts? On Friday, Stuart Crawford will be hosting a great show as part of Small Business IT Radio (http://www.smallbusinessitradio.com) on Software + Services. Ryan Storgaard and Rob Kent from Microsoft Canada are joining Stuart as they everything from third party hosting, OLSB, BPOS and Windows Azure. Come and join us and learn about what is new in Microsoft’s online world. What are the benefits for the partner and IT Professional, plus what are the end benefits for the end client. Join us at noon this Friday at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/11/07/Inside-Microsoft-Software-Services as we tackle everything from Software + Services all up to the impact on and opportunity in the partner community.

I will be participating in a couple weeks to discuss marketplace ministry along with a couple other HTG members. Stuart has a variety of topics and many guests from the channel and you can listen to past broadcasts if you go to the site. I encourage you to check it out - some great information is availalbe there that is current and food for thought.

This and That

Congratulations to IT Matters for their award last night at the CDN Magazine awards gala. They won the award for Best Collaborative Solution in Canada. You can read about it at http://www.stuartcrawford.com/

How about this economy in your patch? We have seen some projects held but overall no major issues yet. But I think the impact is yet to come as companies try to get financing and credit in 2009. Craig Zarley from CRN did a good article I was fortunate to participate in on the subject. You might check it out at http://www.crn.com/it-channel/211600223.

At our HTG1 meeting this week we took a block of time to talk politics. That is way outside what I normally allow in these meetings, but based on the proximity to the election and the potential impact. There was lively discussion and the main outcome was that many wished there was a "none of the above" option for many of the races that are coming. The key is to get involved and VOTE. You shouldn't complain if you aren't part of the process!

Make sure you are guarding your credit with your lendors, distributors and vendors. It is a lot easier to lose it than get it back. Pay those bills on time and guard the credit you have with diligence. I believe those with credit will have significant opportunities in 2009 to grow rapidly as others are stymied in their business.

The Go Giver Update

Yesterday I was blessed to be on blogtalk radio with Stuart Crawford and Bob Burg to discuss the book "The Go Giver". You can catch the show at this link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2008/09/19/The-Go-Giver

We spent a little over an hour talking about the 5 laws of stratospheric success and real world examples of how these principles can be lived out in life and business. It was a great discussion and one I encourage you to listen to.

Along those lines, this week at the Connectwise conference, I moderated two breakout panels where we discussed these principles as well. Serving and sharing their experiences were Brad Schow, Jeff Howard, Erik Thorsell, Stuart Crawford and Jeff Wood. These guys opened up their businesses and personal stories to help people understand that there is another way to live rather than blindly following the common wisdom the world shares with us. If you haven't read the book, please take time to do so, about a two hour read which is great for a plane ride. The bottom line is that these principles can really change the way you look at business and ultimately life. Being a contrarian often has some hidden value and can lead to even more success!