mar 2007

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:02 PM

SMB Partner Community - March 2007 www.smbnation.com Page 1

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:02 PM

MARCH 2007 | Vol. 1 � Issue 8

PUBLISHED BYSMB Nation, Inc.

Bainbridge Island, Washington

Harry Brelsford, PublisherEditorial Staff

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Beatrice MulzerEDITOR Barbara Wallace & Gib Curry

CONTRIBUTING EDITORSRobin Robins, USAJeff Wuorio, USA

LAYOUT Al AlarakhiaCOVER ART DIRECTOR Michael Young

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSMark Mulvany, Ireland

Diego Salato, ItalyNick Pieters, Belgium

Leen Kleijwegt, NetherlandsAndy Wendel, GermanyDean Calvert, Australia

Steven Teiger, IsraelSuresh Ramani, IndiaAndrew Watson, UKStuart Raj, Indonesia

Mikael Nystroem, SwedenShelagh Harrop, South Africa

Dana Epp, CanadaKen Thoreson, USAAnne Stanton, USA

BUSINESS STAFFHarry Brelsford, CEO

Kevin Pearson, PresidentBeatrice Mulzer, Vice PresidentKristal Sagdahl, Office Manager

Lindsay Serbous, Database AnalystJennifer Hall, Event Coordinator

Jackie Oreiro, Distribution

SMB Nation, Inc.PO Box 10179

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 USA

Telephone: 360-779-1140Fax: 360-779-1140

E-mail: [email protected]

© Copyright 2007 SMB Nation Inc.All Rights Reserved

Please contact us for reprints andreproduction of content.

ISSN 1933-8899

SMBPartnerCommunity

Growing Your BusinessYou just have to love it. If you were to follow magazines that cater to enterprise,

you would receive the message that the market in 2007 is forecasted to be stagnant.Everyone’s recommendation – focus on SMB. Well, isn’t that just a pickle! Good thingour community is already SMB-focused and won’t have to make a sudden shift.Matter of fact, the SMB market has been on a continuous growth path. With pricesdropping on hardware and software and more mid-market technologies becomingfinancially affordable for SMB, this market segment has certainly been doing well.

So it comes as no surprise that more and more SMB PC readers and SmallBusiness Specialists come to us asking about strategies for growing theirbusiness and market share. SMB Nation has also been experiencing growth – toa full-time staff of nine - as a direct result of the upswing in the SMB market.Therefore I would like to take this moment to make brief introductions to thenew talents that have joined our organization. Most likely you will meet up withone of them at a future conference or workshop with SMB Nation.

Our new company president, Kevin Pearson,is a 12-year Microsoft veteran. Prior to Microsofthe had his own small business as an IBM reseller inSouth Africa. In his spare time Kevin practicessome serious Yoga, which allows him to balancehis personal and business life. He now applies hisextensive management experience and rich SMBexpertise to SMB Nation daily operationsincluding some especially difficult tasks.

Meet our new events manager and moto-crossbabe, Jennifer Hall. Jennifer brings her excellentconference management experience from a largecompany across the sound. Do I dare mention thename? Jennifer is now in charge of all the fun stuffthat pertains to anything conference. You can reachher at 360-779-1140 x511 when she is not tearing upthe trails on her dirt bike.

Our new assistant editor and not yetdiscovered poet, Gib Curry, will be adding histouch to SMB Partner Community magazine in thefuture. Check out his article on time managementon page 8 in this month’s issue. He admits his wifethought it was funny that he would be the one towrite about such a subject!

EDITORIALBeatrice Mulzer

Kevin setting mouse traps –one of the more difficult

tasks!

Rip-roaring on her ironhorse, Jenny likes to spend

the weekends outdoors.

Climbing the Pyramid ofKukulkan at Chitzen Itza

Page 2 www.smbnation.com SMB Partner Community - March 2007

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Our all around tri-athlete and inspiration isLindsay, who has taken up the position of databaseanalyst. Lindsay attends to your records in our CRMsystem when she is not running up and down ahillside somewhere or riding a bicycle near the Wall of China.

Please make sure to give a welcome to our new staff when you see themout and about at the next SMB Nation conference.

Hopefully you are equally successful growing your business, and hopethat our magazine will be able to contribute to your growth. See this month’scover story on page 4, “Midnight Madness,” covering emerging retailparadigms and the opportunities Microsoft Partnership initiatives offer SmallBusiness Specialists.

Contributing Writer Jeff Wuorio helps you deal with angry customers onpage 11, while SBS MVP Amy Babinchak walks you through securing awireless network on page 12.

We look forward to your feedback. E-mail us at [email protected] let us know what you think!

DONATION OF THE MONTH: Give Locally to the Affinity Group

of Your Choice!

SMB Partner Community publisher Harry Brelsford thinks all SmallBusiness Specialists should Nordic ski. While that isn’t going to happenbecause of lifestyle preferences and geographic limitations, Harry made adonation to the Snoqualmie Nordic Club located at Snoqualmie Pass (45-minutes from the Microsoft Redmond campus) to support a goodcause – promoting exercise via Nordic skiing – with the hopes thatsuccessful Small Business Specialists will be supportive of local groups intheir respective communities.

Lindsay qualifying for the 2007 ITU longdistance world championship in Lorient,France (triathlon in July)

Marla Husnik (president),Chris Caviezel (board member) andHarry Brelsford enjoy a wonderful “weekendwarrior”Saturdayafternoon at the Nordic skiing tracks.

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www.smbnation.com SMB Partner Community - March 2007

COVER STORY

ot since Windows 95 launched on August 24, 1995,can old-timers recall such a retail event. Recently,mega-retailers relived the “midnight madness” of

yesteryear in the late night launch of the Microsoft Vistaoperating system and Office 2007 application suite down onthe showrooms floors (pizza included). Such “bookends” onthe retail story allowed us a fresh opportunity to see howretail plays in SMB today.

Twelve years ago, retailers served walk-in customers ofall shapes and sizes, including small businesses. Technologyproducts were sold to the end customer and services weretypically provided on-site for computer repair. This retailbehavior exists today, so at one level, not much changed.

Over the past dozen years, different retail paradigmshave emerged with differing levels of success. Gatewayarguably invented the mail order computer approach only tobe surpassed by Dell’s perfection of this distribution model.Today, Dell is reaching the outer boundaries of its mail orderinduced efficiencies and starting to lose its luster on WallStreet in terms of both respect and revenue and profitabilitygrowth. Not to be outdone, over this past dozen years, thecharismatic founder of Gateway, Ted Waite, moved from themid-west to Southern California, purchased a Gulf Streamprivate jet, retired and then un-retired to come back andreboot Gateway before ultimately selling the eMachines. Thecorporate entity itself has opened over 300 retail stores in theUSA with additional stores in the UK and some retailoutreach in Australia. Known as Gateway Country stores,these impressively designed environments were dressed tothe nines with expensive wood flooring and professionaldisplays. They sold SBS 4.5 and SBS 2000 “ready to go”server machines right on the floor. Gateway Country storeswere typically located on the fringe of major metropolitanareas (in the “country”) in strip malls and sales associateswhere trained to not only “pump” the SBS server machinebut to “attach” workstation sales to sell a complete network.

Fast forward over a decade later. Some of the names havechanged, but the game, in many ways, remains the same.

N BestBuy, CompUSA, Staples, Wal-Mart and even Costco areall big-box computer retailers. You can go to Office Depot andbuy some paper, some rubber bands and a computer!

A line-up at the door at midnight to buy an operatingsystem is a good sign of demand, and not only for the bigretailers.

Sales and SupportRetailers know sales; their model has worked for a long

while. Retailers’ expertise is drawing customers onto thebuying floor. Big retailers have never been known for theirservice and support. A unique way to let the appearance andthe fact change is to actively engage an already highlytrained and motivated service and support team.

The U.S. census bureau counts more than 5,000,000 firmswith less than 100 employees. As retailers recognize thepotential sales volume in small businesses, they willcertainly initiate programs to attract an increased percentageof that business to the sales floor.

One of the advantages of becoming a Microsoft SmallBusiness Specialist is admittance to the inside track buildingthis relationship. Many of Microsoft’s Small Business Centerwebsites have a prominent link to finding an IT Specialist.Checking a local Seattle-area zip code presented a short SmallBusiness Specialist Community list ranging from small localSmall Business Specialist Community organizations right upto a big box retailer and Small Business Specialist Community,CompUSA.

Smaller SBS consultants typically are support- and notsales-driven. This puts all you SBS consultants in primeterritory. A partnership between big retail and small businessconsultants gives the big retail stores the ability to move withgreater flexibility and increase customer satisfaction throughthe applied expertise of consultants with real worldexpertise. A dynamic retail partnership, additionally, drivessales to the consultancy that simply hasn’t been a part of thesmall retailers’ or consultants’ previous target market.

Consumers, retailers and small business consultants all

by Gib Curry and Harry Brelsford

MIDNIGHT MADNESSRetail Update for Small Business

Specialist Community

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


stand to profit. An increased revenue stream for smallbusiness and targeted and timely support and service forlarge retailers bodes well for an increase in business foreveryone. And perhaps more importantly, it means animproved experience for retail consumers.

Flood of opportunityIn the past, programs tying together retailers,

consultants and industry professionals have beenimplemented and disbanded. Gateway computers, inconjunction with their Gateway Country stores, ran a partnerprogram for a short time. Allen Weinberg, CEO of ASCIIGroup, participated with Gateway for a time but theadministrative and overhead requirement outweighed theuser benefits. And like many good ideas, the program faded.

Whether through poor timing or overly restrictiverequirements of participation, the costs apparentlyoutweighed the benefits in previous programs. Retailers knowthere is an active and vital market waiting activation and areseeking ways to cash in on a massive opportunity. Thedemands of the marketplace require continual refinement.

Allen says, “ASCII member retailers, overall, are doingwell. Many of our members having been in business over 10years and by and large they are making reasonable margins.Big retailers, trying to handle the small business market, overtime, historically will have problems. This will also drivebusiness to our smaller retailers.”

“A small shop can manage its overhead more effectivelythan a large shop. With less inventory carrying costs than thebig retailers, it gives our member retailers an advantage andimproves their return on investment.”

With large retailers looking to reinvigorate the massivesmall business market, small business and small businessconsultants are in an enviable position. With both large andsmall retailers working together to combine expertise, everyplayer should find some way to benefit.

Another view – the small business in retailSo thinking forward and moving forward, success can be

directly correlated to the innovation, elegance and stability ofthe solution. Today’s technology allows smaller retailers totake advantage of new opportunities to quickly respond tomarket trends, new avenues for meeting consumerpreferences and new opportunities to tailor each shoppingexperience to match the individual customer’s expectations.

The collection and accurate mining of information canhelp small retail organizations as much as large customers.Small customers tend to greatly appreciate feelingempowered by their technology to complete their tasksrather than finding their technology a hindrance.

In a recent rambling around a local neighborhood, theauthors saw many traditional small businesses in dire need

of Point of Sale (POS) help. Empowered POS is anopportunity to revitalize the customer’s experience andsaves labor while improving efficiencies and margins.

• Creative application of technologies can streamlinealready pinpointed efficiencies and improveproductivity by identifying repeatable processeswithin the retailer’s own environment

• Collaboration, when managed with the tools currentlyavailable, can directly address labor scheduling, timeand attendance accounting issues.

• Communications and document collaboration needscan be addressed with workforce managementcollaboration software.

• Reduced inventory and more frequent turns is adefinite advantage for a small shop. Small shops canact with more fluidity and with more immediacy thanlarge retailers. Especially when given the righttechnologies.

• Through the use of technology, retailers of all sizes canincrease their understanding of the identity of theirclientele through their buying habits and preferences.

Partnership InitiativesMicrosoft has had a focused initiative for the retail

industry for more than five years. There are now more than500 in the worldwide team focused on retail customers.Microsoft is committed to delivering retail solutions thatempower your people to give your company a competitiveedge. And they are just getting started.

The array of already existing initiatives aimed directly atthe small business community is extensive and not exclusiveto Microsoft. Any initiative to make life better for the retailersis welcome, especially any initiative driving referrals directlyto participating partners.

CompUSA already has a VAR program in place. Animportant feature involves gearing up to give retailers thedesignations, certifications and products that the consulting

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


community already recognizes. You can check outwww.Compusa.com/business for information on the“Techknowledgist” program.

Weinberger describes a program he is enthused about,through which member retailers can save up to $2,000 inprocessing and transaction fees for every $100,000 sold throughthe ASCII membership retail VISA/Mastercard program.

ASCII Group also consolidates membership numbersinto better buying power. They are already working with apowerful and diverse group of partners and are currentlynegotiating with Google to get every member on Google’sAdWord program.

Competition or Collaboration?Consultants building solutions based on innovative

technology and experience are defining their owncompetitive advantage. One current model is typified byBestBuy and its wholly-owned GeekSquad. Thoughsomewhat similar in appearance to the old Gatewayprogram, the business model has been refined over timebecause of the expertise in in-house and on-staff. However,there is an interesting Small Business Specialist Communitytwist, as the next tip suggests.

Competition and other market pressures are requiringthe retail supply chain to tighten up on operations andincrease all efficiencies. Many retailers are once againrealizing the validity of taking a more customer-centricapproach. Retailers have a wealth of information and a widevariety of sources for tracking their customers’ purchases.The data simply has to be mined effectively.

The “what have you done for me lately” approach ofmany consumers reveals a commercial cynicism on

consumers’ part. Retailers and consultants can benefit fromcollaboration. It may be time to put away the model ofcompetition between small and large retailers and theconsultants who serve both. Consultants typically respondquickly and are more knowledgeable about a broader set oftools and solutions. The idea of store or business loyalty maybe making a comeback.

All retailers, large or small, can respond better whensystems are integrated. There is a great demand forintegration and small business consultants are already inplace to handle the demand. Consultants bring a wealth ofpractical business experience and problem solving on aday-to-day basis that is hard for larger retailers to matchwith their diverse offerings and high employee turnover.

Retailers’ current efforts at increasing knowledgewithin their organizations haven’t resulted in increasedsales around advanced technology. The retailers’ businessmodel isn’t strong in addressing practical business issuesand they are not good at server and business networking.

Small business consultants are already trained in this.When a retail sales person reaches the level of knowledge ofan Small Business Specialist, he or she will likely leave thebig box retailers and join the small business consultingcommunity where there is more money to be made.

In general, the opportunity lying squarely before us isto assist our customers to manage their business effectivelyand their operations efficiently with advancedtechnological innovation. All our goals as consultants andsmall business people are to provide our customers withtools to empower them, to give them real time advancedanalytics, to improve communication and collaboration.

It stands to reason that the Small Business SpecialistCommunity will play a key role in whatever initiatives comedown the road.

Microsoft and big box retailers want to provide value tosmall consultants who have employees with Microsoftcertifications. If not yet qualified, you are encouraged tobecome a Small Business Consultant.

When you do, you place yourself in the best position totake full advantage of the retail marketplace and a livelyongoing partnership.

Cooperate, don’t compete!Enterprising Small Business Specialist Communitypartners are becoming BestBuy buddies bypurchasing items at BestBuy and becoming friendswith the GeekSquad employees. Under the oldpolitical science philosophy that we have more incommon than divides us, being a BestBuy buddyallows some SMALL Small Business SpecialistCommunity Partners to collaborate on deals that arebeyond the scope and capabilities of GeekSquad. Ofcourse, you could always be a stick-in-the-mud andtake an opposite tack and view the big box retailers atthe enemy, but you probably should also go bury yourhead in the sand as the Small Business SpecialistCommunity world passes you by.

Breaking NewsRetailers are always making big announcements. Besure to subscribe to our weekly e-mail newsletter forany announcements from the retail community thatmight have missed our press deadline.

Sign up at www.smbnation.com

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


Being a small business consultant and a member of thelocal small business community, I’ve found myself in needof upgrading my primary workstation. The point of thislittle journal isn’t what my ideal configuration is nor howmuch I paid for it. Today, I simply write about myexperience shopping in the local computer retail scene.

My first round of shopping was the big box retailers:Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA. I then took a sweepof some local small retailers.

Let me put it this way; of the big box retailers, Best Buywas the least offensive experience. From one store to thenext I found the desktop lineups almost the same: primarilyHP and Compaq and I found some Gateway and a feweMachines.

CompUSA is a large brick store that contains a designatedBusiness Sales Desk. I spent over 30 minutes wandering thecomputer aisle reading specs, comparing monitors, etc. Thesales assistant not once even spoke with me.

As part of a nationwide realignment that includes theclosing of 126 stores across the U.S., CompUSA will closesix Puget Sound area stores in the next two to three months.As the result of a restructuring plan announced this week,unless I go back to my local store and take advantage of the20% “Store closing” discount, I won’t be buying here. Bye.Not buy.

Circuit City was better. The young man gave a validattempt to help. However, he told me that significant partsof the configuration are out of stock. His manager didn’tknow when stock might arrive, nor did either seeminterested in checking inventory at other stores. Thanks,bye. Not buy.

My sales assistant at Best Buy was the mostknowledgeable of the three. The sales associate at Best Buyled me to a Gateway machine and a Velocity Micro that hadeverything I was looking for. They were out of stock of theGateway but a quick check of inventory found two in thePuget Sound area. No, they would not ship between stores.No, they could not deliver that machine. I would have todrive 25 miles to one store or 30 miles to another. But, theywould hold it for me for 30 minutes.

The Velocity Micro configuration was $500+ higherthan anything else I had seen. With a one-to-two-weekbuild/ship date; it is a good bye, not a good buy.

My tour through the local small computer store frontswas a different adventure. I made a list of five stores withinjust five miles of my office. Two of the five no longer existedsince the last printing of the phone book. So, I went to threeunique shops with my desired configuration in hand.

The first shop felt like exactly that - a shop. Afterleaving, I couldn’t remember seeing a display of onecompletely together and functional computer. He didn’thave several of the components I was looking for, butwould order them if I wanted.

They obviously have a clientele who keeps their doorsopen. I’m also sure that we did not hit it off with the senseof resonance that bodes well for a long-term businessrelationship.

I met the manager/owner of the second store whoassured me that I wasn’t asking for anything weird or rare.I left two copies of my full contact information – phone ande-mail. He would e-mail a quote in a couple of days.

That was a week ago and no word. I am verydisappointed. I’m hesitant to buy a box from someone whoacts uninterested in getting my money. My experience tellsme that attitude extrapolates to also being uninterested inmy satisfaction.

Store three is in a typical strip mall. Opening the door Iwas immediately greeted by a young dude in a Pink Floydt-shirt. He met my eye and asked the right questions tofigure out my configuration. Why did I want this? Do Ineed that?

The configuration came in under my price ceiling,everything was in stock and could be built in three days - aday on the bench to thoroughly test and delivery takesplace on the fifth business day.

Have I painted too bleak a picture? Or have I just runinto the common experience? If I had to sum up myexperience I would say I mostly saw unclaimedopportunities. All but one of the local retailers ignoredmoney walking in their door and barely noticed when itwalked out the door.

A garden, an orchard and a supply chain all dependupon selective pruning, nutritious feeding and active careto always be vital and reliable. The shifting nature of theretail landscape will constantly bring new challenges to thesmall businessman and small business consultant.

Bye or Buy?

SummaryIn commercial real estate, churn in retail tenancy at shopping centers is considered positive because it keeps a property fresh.The comings and goings of retail establishments is considered “living innovation.” Likewise, the changing retail landscapingof the Small Business Specialist Community, SBS and SMB channel should be embraced as a free market at its finest. It allowseveryone to consider, perhaps revisit, profitability possibilities that haven’t been discovered or were previously overlooked.Because retail is ever-changing, look for another retail update on these pages before the end of 2007! And we’ll keep it fresh! �

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


TTiimmeeMMaannaaggeemmeenntt

Recalling the time is money equation, I’m sure I am notthe only one needing to save more time!

Easier said than done.Have you noticed when given a focused, uninterrupted

period of your time, you can accomplish a lot? I was 8 years old, around 1956, when I first heard, “Eat the

crust of the toast first.” I’m not saying that’s the essence of mytime management philosophy. OK, well, I am saying that. Allthat really means is, take care of the most distasteful aspects ofwhatever you are doing first.

It also means that you should free yourself up for the reallyjuicy stuff of your day. Immediately take care of those thingsyou find less palatable than dry crust. I know that if I can getpast the crust, I’ve just got the toast, butter & jelly left!

I am the worst offender at wasting my own time. I’m prettysure it has never been someone else’s fault that I wasted mytime. If I don’t respect my own time, who will?

There are laws about that.Contrary to frequent observation, I would rather spend my

precious time helping myself! Thanks, in part, to Murphy’sLaw, there are enough roadblocks already, why am I so intenton throwing up a few more unnecessary ones? Just for the funof it? Sometimes I’m running and interfering with myselfrather than running interference for myself.

Observation over time verifies significant statisticalevidence of certain laws and principles being operational at afundamental level in our experience. These laws provide anunderlying matrix for living and an overlying context.Working in resonance with these laws increases our ease.Disharmony results from misalignment with these laws.Whether or not we are aware of it, we are operating undercertain laws and principles.

80/20 – Pareto’s Principle.One version of the story I recently ran across is that a

business management expert, Joseph Juran, recognized one ofthese laws as a business pattern that fit the 80-20 rule posited byItalian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Pareto’s Principle states thatfor many phenomena, 80 percent of consequences stem from 20percent of the causes. A common business example suggeststhat 80 percent of sales will come from 20 percent of clients.

One of the sharpest tools in our kit is good timemanagement. Someone once said, “Time is Nature’s way ofkeeping everything from happening at once.” I am certain thatwas coined before multi-threaded multi-tasking. In any case,we all know that for most things, those 20 percent of the mostimportant tasks we must accomplish today, are not benefitedwhen we are trying to multi-task. While it may appear thateverything is happening at once, trying to do everything atonce is an ineffective response!

This law of the “vital few” can apply over a broad swath ofliving. In a business sense, finding the 80/20 ratios is crucial formaximizing performance. Find the products or services thatgenerate the most income (the 20 percent); find the core of ourclients that produce the bulk of our work; find the 20 percent ofour day we are most effective.

A simple graph tells thesimple tale. Do most of yourwork early in the process andmost of your work is doneearly in the process! Brilliant!

How creatively can youfind application for the 80/20rule? I am attracted to thethinking that led Google toallowing their engineers tospend 20 percent of their timeon personal projects. Oh, yes I did! I said personal projects.

Smaller businesses and entrepreneurial companiesprobably find it hard to accept letting employees (or ourselves)spend 20 percent of their time on personal projects. How is thatworthwhile to the business? In crunch time, at deadline, duringcutover, where are you going to find time?

Those situations may demand your attention, but whenyou have a choice, perhaps a bit of applied creative timemanagement would send you out for some personal reflectionrather than in to next crusty situation!

At Google’s website (http://www.google.com/support/jobs/bin/static.py?page=about.html) I found this interestingtidbit.

“Our work here requires exceptional thinking andtechnical expertise, and we do everything we can to facilitate it:

by Gib Curry

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


• We work in small teams, which we believe promotesspontaneity, creativity and speed.

• Any Googler might have our next great idea, so we makesure every idea is heard.

• Because great ideas need resources to grow into reality,at Google you'll always get the resources you need tomake your dreams a reality.

• Google engineers all have "20 percent time" in whichthey're free to pursue projects they're passionate about.This freedom has already produced Google News,Google Suggest, AdSense for Content, and Orkut –products which might otherwise have taken an entirestart-up to launch.”

What’s 20 percent of your day? One hour? Three hours?How can you make your day's foundation an uninterruptedblock of time of that duration in which you can focus ondifficult, involved projects without interruption? If you can’tsqueeze in two to three hours, start with anything! Build upyour tolerance to getting things done. When you get to even 45minutes of uninterrupted time, you will begin noticing asignificant amount of work completed with fewerinterruptions.

During this uninterrupted block of time, don't answerevery phone call. Turn off your general e-mail alerts. If youwant to be sure that a certain person or message gets throughimmediately, set up your software rules. When you can block20 percent of your time to focus on what's really important,you'll accomplish about 80 percent of your work for the day.

Having uninterrupted time is easy when you arrive atwork an hour early or stay for a few extra hours at the end of aday, knowing you'll have some quiet time. But why not becomemore productive by scheduling that quiet time within your day

– and using it - instead of adding extra hours at the end of theday to get the same amount of work done?

Time enough to do it over, but not enough time to do it rightthe first time.

One important principle to keep in mind is that wheneveryou start a task, you are automatically rejecting everything elseyou could have done with that time. This is why it is soimportant for you to be the one choosing, rather than just goingwith the flow and allowing circumstances or other people tochoose for you. Prioritizing means taking conscious control ofyour choices. Who else can determine ultimate relevance toyour goals?

I’ll leave you with a few relevant reminders:• Important things are not always urgent and urgent

things are not always important. • Failing to plan is planning to fail.• "Remember that time is money"

- Benjamin Franklin, Advice to a Young Tradesman, 1748• "Never before have we had so little time in which to do

so much"- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Fireside Chat, February 23,1942

• Good judgment comes from experience. Experiencecomes from bad judgment.

1. BE PROACTIVE. Between stimulus and response inhuman beings lies the power to choose. Productivity, then,means that we are solely responsible for what happens inour lives. No fair blaming anyone or anything else.2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND. Imagine your ownfuneral. What you would like the eulogists to say aboutyou? This should reveal exactly what matters most to youin your life. Use this frame of reference to make all yourday-to-day decisions so that you are working toward yourmost meaningful life goals.3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. To manage our liveseffectively, we must keep our mission in mind, understandwhat's important as well as urgent, and maintain a balancebetween what we produce each day and our ability toproduce in the future. Think of the former as putting outfires and the latter as personal development.4. THINK WIN/WIN. Agreements or solutions amongpeople can be mutually beneficial if all parties cooperateand begin with a belief in the "third alternative" - a betterway that hasn't been thought of yet.

5. SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND, THEN TO BEUNDERSTOOD. Most people don't listen. Not really.Theylisten long enough to devise a solution to the speaker'sproblem or a rejoinder to what's being said.Then they diveinto the conversation. You'll be more effective in yourrelationships with people if you sincerely try to understandthem fully before you try to make them understand yourpoint of view.6. SYNERGIZE. Just what it sounds like. The whole isgreater than the sum of its parts. In practice, this meansyou must use "creative cooperation" in social interactions.Value differences because it is often the clash betweenthem that leads to creative solutions.7. SHARPEN THE SAW.This is the habit of self-renewal,which has four elements. The first is mental, whichincludes reading, visualizing, planning and writing. Thesecond is spiritual, which means value clarification andcommitment, study and meditation. Third issocial/emotional, which includes service, empathy, synergyand intrinsic security. Finally, the physical elementincludes exercise, nutrition and stress management.

The Seven HabitsFrom: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, Simon and Schuster, 1989.

Remember, if you don’t take conscious care of yourschedule, you may fall under the spell of Parkinson’s Law,formulated by Cyril Parkinson, "Work expands so as to fillthe time available for its completion.”

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


t’s a nightmare that every businessperson dreads – a publicdisagreement with a customer or client that somehow boilsover.

It’s likely you know the routine. Frustrated oversomething gone awry, a customer flies into a furious rage.Complaints escalate into shouts and accusations fly. Profanityadds to the furor. Even worse—others may be able to hearevery single word.

These sorts of fires happen. Trouble is, it’s often hard toknow what to say in the heat of the moment, short ofsomething that may fan the flames rather than douse them.

That means advancepreparation can be rather handy.Here are eight things to say thatmay help cool even the mostheated of moments:

1. “I’m sorry this happened.”How often have we all been inthe "right" in an argument, andremained peeved simply becausesomeone else didn’t say theywere sorry? Address any heatedmoment with this comment rightoff the bat. Notice it isn’t anadmission of guilt—rather, asense of disappointment thatsomething unfortunate hasoccurred. Unto itself, this canbegin to tame even the mostupset customer.

2. “Let’s review what’s happened.” This simple phrase hitsseveral important points. First, you’re asking your customerto think, not just rant. That can smooth things considerably.Moreover, you’re showing interest in what the other personhas to say instead of just your own point of view. Finally, itbuys time—as your customer talks and you listen, you have arespite from the heat of the argument and time to considerwhat to do next.

3. “Let’s talk about this face to face.” Many of us are a gooddeal more aggressive over the phone than we are in person. Ifthat’s what’s happening, suggest getting together to continuethe discussion. Again, it buys time to allow for a cooling offperiod. And a face to face conversation is likely to be more civiland productive than one that occurs via the telephone or e-mail.

4. “Let’s see what we can come up with to address this.” Thisis a powerful phrase in several respects. First, it reinforcesyour focus on finding a solution rather than "winning" anargument. Moreover, it involves both parties. That meanswhatever may come of the discussion will likely reflect bothsides of the issue. That will likely to lead to a solution that’sboth effective and fair to everyone involved.

5. “Let’s bring someone else in to listen.” Often,

disagreements between two people are little more thanstandoffs, with neither party willing to give a millimeter. Thebest way to deal with this stalemate is to bring in a thirdperson—a mediator or impartial third party. Who thishappens to be can be determined by mutual agreement—thathelps avoid anyone who either party suspects may be biased,which will only make the situation worse. Make sure thisinformal arbiter knows that he or she should approach thesituation as fairly as possible. That can prompt you and yourclient to be objective as well.

6. “How do you think we shouldsolve this?” This, in effect,challenges the other person todevise a suitable solution. But becareful. If you already have anidea what your customer mightsuggest—and you know it to beunreasonable—you may only bestoking the fire by asking forideas that you’re only going toreject out of hand. But, if asolution isn’t on the horizon, itnever hurts to actively solicitsuggestions. It gets the discussionmoving forward and, at the veryleast, shows that you’reinterested in the other person’sideas and suggestions.

7. “Let’s take a break and revisitthis later.” Not every disagreement can be solved on the spot.If you get a sense that things simply aren’t clicking forwhatever reason, suggest a temporary ceasefire. In so doing,emphasize that you’re not sweeping the problem under therug. Rather, urge your customer to give the matter somethought and set a time to meet again. Additional time outsidethe heat of confrontation may help both of you to come upwith a solution that’s fair and not merely expedient.

8. “What can we do to prevent this from happening again?”If you enjoy a good, heated argument, this is probably the lastthing you want to hear. If, by chance, you have come to asuitable agreement for the issue at hand, take things beyondthe moment and address the possibility of a similar snafu inthe future—and think of ways to tackle it before another blowup occurs. This is a great way to wrap up things for severalreasons. First, you build customer confidence. You’reshowing that you value your client by working to addressproblems before they even happen. Second, you’re inclusive.By asking for the other person’s thoughts and observations,you’re demonstrating that his or her ideas are every bit asimportant as your own. And that can make even the nastiestargument a distant memory. �

Jeff Wuorio is a business author and columnist. He can be reachedat [email protected]

I

Customer Focusby Jeff Wuorio Customer Focus

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


dding a wireless router to an existing wired network isone of the most common service addition requests insmall business, but introducing wireless clients to a

network can open up serious security concerns. Understanding what the business requirements are for

the wireless network is the critical first step to determiningwhat method you are going to use to mitigate the securityconcerns for the client. Find out who will be using thewireless network and what they will be doing when theyconnect. Do they need full access or limited access? Whichapplications and/or shared folders will they need access to?Do they only need access to the Internet? Which operatingsystems do the wireless clients have on their laptops? Theanswers to these key questions will determine the solutionyou propose and how much work will be involved to securethe wired network from the wireless network. Thesequestions will let you know whether or not you’ll be able touse WPA2 or have to go with WEP and whether you shouldput the wireless network into a secure DMZ, direct to therouter or straight onto the local network.

In my practice we use different implementations forwireless security depending on the access requirements. In allcases we look to maximize security for the wired networkwhile providing all of the services required by the wirelessclients. As with all security, it’s a balancing act. Security thatmakes it difficult for users won’t be tolerated for long.Unhappy users result in unhappy business owners who, out offrustration at dealing with an inappropriate solution, willdemand an all-open scenario just so they can get back to work.We’ve got to find the best non-intrusive, easy-to-use, securesolution given the end user requirements.

There are three basic solutions that we use. We’re not goingto go through each setup step-by-step but rather we’ll hit uponthe major configuration points. Let’s take a look at each one.

Scenario 1: Client would like to provide Internet accessfor visiting vendors and doesn’t want the vendors toexperience any difficulty or have to know a password orconfigure their laptops in any special way. The typical vendorwill bring in a laptop and we won’t know its OS, patch level orhealth. They will need to get to the Internet to read their e-mail. The client asks for an all-open solution but we’ve got todo something to protect the wired network from visitingwireless connections.

Solution 1: A little research reveals that the client has fivestatic IP addresses and is only using one of them and the ISP hassupplied a four-port router and there are three ports still available.We configure the wireless router WAN port with the second staticIP address and connect it directly to the ISP router. The LAN sideof the wireless router is configured to distribute DHCP addressesthat are in a different network from the wired network. At thispoint the wireless network is usable and open, yet isolated fromthe wired network. The goal has been reached but to improve

security a bit we could implement security on the wireless router.What about the requirement that the network remain open? I’llmake the pitch that we keep the code in the conference roomready for access by visitors. This is kind of like leaving thepassword taped to your monitor but at least it’ll make it a bit moredifficult for drive-by’s to take up our client’s bandwidth.

Scenario 2: Client has partnered with another firm tojointly produce a product. Visiting engineers require limitedaccess to the network. They also need access to the Internet.

Solution 2: We can set up the wireless router like we did inscenario one and give the visitors VPN access to the wirednetwork, but I’m not a fan of VPN connections. Configuring alaptop for a new VPN connection is beyond the capability of mostusers and since there isn’t local IT staff available to configure eachnew laptop that an engineer brings in, this could leave the user andclient frustrated. In addition, a VPN puts the visiting PC on theLAN and I can’t be certain that it won’t infect the LAN. I don’t trustthose PCs. Because we have ISA 2004 on this network, we set upour wireless router as an access point to our LAN and alsoconfigure the wireless router to assign a unique set of DHCPaddresses to the wireless clients. Then we use ISA to control accessto wired resources by wireless clients. After talking to the engineerswe determine that they need some CAD Files, Internet and Citrix.Our requirements are now HTTP, ICA, DNS and HTTPS.

Securing Wireless NetworksOn a Small Business Server 2003 Premium network

A

First we configure the wireless router. I like to create a DHCPreservation for the WAN side of the wireless router. This makes

it a lot easier to change the IP address assigned to the router,should I need to later.

We configure the LAN side with a network not used on our LAN.

Continued on page 27 (see Tech Corner)

Tech Corner by Amy Babinchack

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


Lisbon, Portugal: (L toR) Elisabete Macieira, Microsoft

Small Business Marketing, Beatrice Mulzer (SMB Nation),

Paulo Neto, Small Business Manager, and Patricia Santos,

Small Business Marketing, out for a stroll after the SMB

Nation Workshop in Lisbon, Portugal.

Kiev, Ukraine, Elena Dmitriev, Small Business Manager,Microsoft Ukraine and Beatrice Mulzer at a March 2007SMB Nation Workshop.

Oslo, Norway, (L to R) Gry LømoEriksen, Partner Marketing Manager

and Ole Roterud, Small BusinessManager, after a successful SMB

Nation workshop.

See the interviews at

www.smbnation.tv!

Mar 2007 3/14/07 12:35 PM


SMB Nation to sponsor TS2 eventsSMB Nation is proud to announce we are joining the

team of sponsors of new TS2 national tour. We join thelikes of Citrix in sponsoring the excellent TS2 events

SMB Nation and IndependentComputer Consultants Association(ICCA) have entered into a teamingagreement. As part of theirmembership benefits ICCA members

will receive the SMB Partner Community magazine.Harry is now officially scheduled to speak at the ICCA national conference (http://www.icca.org/confinfo_june2007.asp) in June of 2007 in Chicago. Harryand the rest of the gang at SMB Nation will provide on-going advice on ICCA’s international strategy.

The Independent Computer Consultants Association(ICCA) represents a wide variety of informationtechnology consultants who provide consulting,implementation, support, training, strategic planning,and business analysis services. ICCA helps its memberfirms by providing member benefits, services, and localchapters in metropolitan areas where like-mindedconsultants can meet and learn from each other.

More information at http://www.icca.org/

SMB Nation and PartnerPoint connect!

Devoted to helping Micorosft partners get the mostout of their relationship with Redmond, PartnerPointshares a close philosophical base with SMB Nation.

There is an increasing array of partner offerings, iIfyou need advice on how to take your Microsoftpartnership to the next level, you're not alone. Check outPartnerPoint’s offerings and while you’re there cultivatethe relationships needed to get those all-importantbusiness referrals. PartnerPoint is the brainchild ofFounder and President Brian Ocheltree, who saw the needfor a portal that complements Microsoft's program. “Ourgoal is to become a trusted advisor to the largest onlineMicrosoft partner community,” he said. More informationat http://www.partnerpoint.com/

April ASCII Tech Boot Camp - BostonThe next ASCII Tech BootCamp will be held inBoston, Thursday, April 19,2007 at the Sheraton inFramingham, Massachusetts.

Speakers will cover topics from sales and marketing tosecurity and business continuity trends to Spam and VoIP.Find out more at www.asciievents.com

Learn how to build and host Webservices for Microsoft OfficeOutlook 2007 Mobile Service. Thisarticle (1 of 3)) introduces Outlook

Mobile Service (OMS) architecture and message flow anddescribes the communication protocols between OMSclients and Web services. (21 printed pages)

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Mobile Service (OMS)is the new messaging and Personal Information Manager(PIM) component developed for Microsoft Office Outlook2007. OMS is designed to make Outlook the best tool formobile messaging and notification. With OMS, users canseamlessly integrate the mobile capabilities of Outlookwith their mobile devices.

Find out more at http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb277361.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/hub.mspxRemember to direct your clients to Microsoft’s friendly facefor the Small Business customer. Small businesses interfacewith a host of Microsoft services for small business.

IT PRO CONFERENCEJeff Middleton of

SBSmigration.com isinviting IT Profes-sional to enjoy

Memorial Day with a 2-day weekend conference

Technology Watch

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

May 26-27, 2007 in New Orleans, plus the option to sail toCosta May and Cozumel, Mexico the following day on a5-day Caribbean Cruise.

Small Business IT Disaster Planning for Risks andCrisis Recovery is the topic for both events. The FrenchQuarter weekend conference places emphasis on the"voice of experience" and discussion with professionalcommunity leaders, MVPs and industry experts. Sign-upfor the cruise and you have a getaway week combinedprofessional networking and daily seminars. Forinformation, go to http://www.conference2007.sbsmigration.com or call 866-464-9976.

Next month – What Are Your Reading and Watching? It’s 10pm at night and I’m very interested in knowing

where your eyeballs are! What are your eyeballs readingand watching. This month, the survey atwww.smbnation.com, asks you to share what magazinesyou read, what Web sites you visit and what radio and TVprograms you view.

CONNECTWISE leads PSA industry inManaged Services integration

C o n n e c t W i s etoday announcedthe addition ofZenith Infotech’sremote IT

monitoring and management application, SAAZ, to thegrowing list of managed services tools integrating with itsConnectWise Managed Services Platform. Zenith SAAZnow completes ConnectWise’s interoperability with allleading managed services applications and establishes theprofessional services automation (PSA) softwarepublisher as the clear leader in MSP integration.

For more information visit www.connectwise.com �

Microsoft and CompUSA Launch Program to Expand GrowthOpportunities for Small Business Specialists

REDMOND, Wash. – March 12, 2007 – Microsoft and CompUSA announced theCompUSA TechPro Business Providers program today, which directs smallbusiness sales referrals from the retail space to Microsoft’s Small BusinessSpecialist Community. Cindy Bates, Microsoft U.S. Small Business GeneralManager stated “We will be delivering what we think is a really unique referralprogram specifically for our Small Business Specialist Partners. Since welaunched the Small Business Specialist program about one and a half years ago,we are really continually committed to drive business value into that programand we think that this is going to be an additional, very attractive feature for ourSmall Business Specialist Partners. The way I like to think about it is really athree-way partnership with Microsoft, CompUSA and our Small BusinessSpecialist Partners that benefits all of the partners, but also very importantly our

small business customer base”. This will help Small Business Specialists to increase visibility in the market, strengthencustomer relationships and drive revenue – all considered an additional benefit as being part of the Microsoft’s SmallBusiness Specialist Community through this unique referral program (See cover story ‘Midnight Madness’ on page 4). Moreinformation is available on the Microsoft Partner site at https://partner.microsoft.com/us/techpro. The CompUSA TechProBusiness Providers program connects small business customers who visit CompUSA stores with qualified Microsoft SmallBusiness Specialists.

At this point in time, there are no other Microsoft certifications required specifically, other than the Small Business Specialistcertification in order to join the program.Through this program, Microsoft and CompUSA provide Small Business Specialistswith additional resources and skills to further address the needs of small businesses and provide an extra level of customerservice that differentiates them from competitors. Having additional certifications for instance in Mobility or DesktopSupport will allow CompUSA to better match up the Small Business Specialist with the needs and services required by theirclients. “Small businesses can be confident in the know-how and level of attention they’ll receive from the local partnerthey’re working with,” Bates says,“while participating specialists will benefit from the strengthened customer relationshipsand business growth that comes from working with Microsoft and CompUSA.”

Stay tuned, SMB Partner Community magazine will report on future developments and impact of the TechPro BusinessProviders program.

BREAKING NEWS

Microsoft and CompUSA announce

TechPro Business Providers program


Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


Centerpiece

t wasn’t that many years ago that Mr. Magic just neededcomputer help. Mr. Magic, Jay Weiss, was expanding hisbusiness, which offered quality entertainment to the

L.A. community and an entertainer-rating system. TheInternet was going to help facilitate it all. All he needed wasa little computer help. He hired and soon knew more thanhis first consultant. And then he made a decision.

Now, Jay Weiss, Mr. Magic to both his entertainmentand his Small Business consulting customers, is arenaissance businessman having fun at work and play.

We caught up with Jay on his way home from a TrixBoxtraining day and spent an invigorating hour or moreaccompanying him by cell phone on his commute home.Being used to seeing the world through magic eyes, Jayrecognized a golden opportunity. He raved about hisexperience at the first SMB Nation.

“Getting started on my own, I didn’t know whoseinformation to trust. So, I asked myself where I was goingto find the most trustworthy information. That led medirectly to SMB Nation in Indianapolis! From the firstsession right up until today, I’m thankful for that firstconference.”

“The depth of knowledge was almost intimidating!Things change so rapidly in our environment, bothhardware and software, that it is difficult to have more thanthree months’ experience in anything! That being said, thepeople I met had long histories of working in business andapplying technologies as solutions. There is no way toreplicate depth of knowledge. It is gained only throughlong-term practical experience.”

“Here are all these people. I had read their names innewsgroups and, especially, their answers to knotty issues. Ihad seen them on web videos. I was so impressed. It seemedall the best people in the Small Business Server arena werethere. And not only there, but participating! I was havinglunch and eating with all these people. I made so manyexcellent contacts. It changed my business. It helped changemy life. Especially when I realized we were allcontemporaries. And the only problem was being creativeenough to make use of all the resources available to us.”

“I met Frank Clark at that conference. He’s in Denverand I’m in L.A. and we collaborate all the time. Thetechnologies built in to Small Business Server make it soeasy. I can be onsite, ring up Frank and he’ll dial in. We’veeven brought others in. It’s so cool, sitting in that room,collaborating with some of the best minds in the industry -make that, some of the best people in any industry. Forexample, Frank’s Mom is my web designer!”

I

by Gib Curry

Mr. Magic

Jay’s shows - Montessori school & Bobbi’s party

Microsoft SMB Advisory Council 2005

Phil Liggett South Africa 2006

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


Then, there’s Lindell, Jay’s delightful office assistant.She arrived with years of retail experience dealing with allkinds of people. Even so, she is quick to say that Jay isunique. And, of course, now she’s also cycling—wonderwhere she got that inspiriation!

Nothing is ImpossibleThis is the short version for our vibrant community

partner. It leaves out the broken femur from skydiving,the fractured wrist from biking in South Africa, theRoad Rash, the years of being the traveling magician on the Amtrak Coast Starlight from L.A. to Seattle and back, and other salient and silly highlights and low points.

Every day is an adventure. What exciting thing do youwant to do today? Jay’s enthusiasm is infectious and hechallenges you to live life large. There’s nothing stoppingyou in your personal life.

With all the initiativesand offerings of solutions forsmall business, there isvirtually no limit to thepossibilities at work either.

While work can be fun, ittakes work to make it thatway! Jay manually buildsmany of the illusions he uses in his magic act. Ridingwith professional bike racersrequires hours of strenuousexercise and training.Hanging with the best at SMBNation requires commitmentto ongoing education. Jay isagain a leader with his multi-

certifications: A+, SBS, VoIP (LinkSys & TrixBox), MSCE,MCT, MCP+I, etc.

A trickster at heart, Jay is looking forward to meeting asmany of you as he can at the next SMB Nation. I have towarn you though. He’ll be in the mood for tricks. But, hewill be much more in the mood of creating new andexciting collaborative partnerships.

“These are our people. These are the best people fromall over the world and the best of Microsoft gathered in oneplace. Of course I am going to be there. The only questionis who should I make disappear Saturday night? Should wetake a poll and the winner gets transported! What if I can’tbring them back?”

We are all fortunate and will be treated to anappearance, by popular demand, of Mr. Magic, Saturdaynight at the SMB Nation Annual Conference in Redmond inSeptember.

Keep up the great work, Jay. �

Bob Roll group shot 2006

South Africa Cape Argus Pick-n-Pay Finish 2006

South Africa Carbon Fiber Wheel Crash results

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

reece! The land where conversation comespackaged with eating and drinking that can go allafternoon or all night. I learned this on a recent trip

to Thessaloniki, Greece, where Daphne introduced me tothe clearly preferable way of life – and then some! Betweenendless plates of ntolmadakia, keftedes, moussaka,loukoumades and a most scrumptious desert, Daphneshared some insights on the Greek small business marketand the Microsoft Partners who serve it. Beforehand Ishould mention that we had a SMB Nation workshop thatday with an attendance of close to 100 partners who cameto learn more about the Technology Assessment Toolkit,Office 2007, Vista and Mobility with WM 5.0.

Biggest challenge: With such a great turn-out onattendance, it was very interesting to learn about thedifferences in this market. “The biggest challenge informing the Greek Small Business Specialist Communitywas reaching the right audience,” says Daphne. “MicrosoftGreece looked at the different regions where they wantedcompanies to become SBSC certified and looked at theirown database.” Partners were then approached directly inthe different geographic areas so it was more targeted. Butthen, there was the proverbial “extra step.” Daphne and herteam also approached Microsoft’s authorised Distributorsand talked to the account managers. “They know all thecustomers, they talk to them every day and we thoughtthey could help us,” shares Daphne.

Once this was achieved there was the case of proving thereal value of the Partner program and all the great tools andresources that are offered through it. “People were notconscientious of what the Small Business Specialist programstood for. They tended to compare it to other vendor partner

G

Microsoft Insiderby Beatrice Mulzer

Meet Daphne Stavropoulou!

Title: Small Business Specialist Community Manager

Location: Athens, Greece

Responsibilities: Run the SBSC program in Greece,manage local activities and marketing material forSmall Business Partners.

Education: Bachelor in International and EuropeanEconomics from the Athens University of Economicsand Business; MBA in Corporate Planning by FreeUniversity of Brussels, Belgium

Age: 28

Currently reading: The State of Africa. It’s actually abook that describes Africa’s history from theirindependence to date.

What Do You Do In Your Free Time? Movies, cooking,drinks with friends and in the summertime,swimmingor just lying on the beach.

What Motivates You? Life! What is greater and biggerthan this?

Life Philosopy? It’s not a joke! It’s the same asMicrosoft’s philosophy: People have unlimitedpotential! Helping someone realize their full potentialand capabilities is what makes this world a betterplace. Helping someone evolve to become a betterperson is priceless.

Traveling just across the Mediterranean sea to Seville, Spain.

A quick side trip to picturesque Stockholm, Sweden.


Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


programs.” In order to combat this misperception, a newapproach was used. “So we started to talk about the SBSCbenefits at every single event. Even if it was for CRM orWindows embedded devices, we always talked about thebenefits of being a SBSC to spread the word. We redesignedthe website so the benefits were clearer. We also ran somepromos with different vendors. Where a vendor usuallygives a 10% discount to their customer, we had them offerdiscounts of 25%, 30% or 35% off their products for SBSC,and then we communicated that back to the partners.”

Next Hurdle: “Most Partners see the other SBSCs more likecompetitors than community,” explains Daphne. “It’spartly mentality, partly the fact that there is no otherPartner program, not even with vendors; none of the otherPartner programs work like that. There is no such thinghere where partners can exchange ideas. It is very difficultto explain to Partners why they should get together andtalk. Partners will say things like ‘I don’t want to talk aboutmy business in front of the other person [competitor].’ Theydon’t realize that by exchanging ideas they can help eachother and improve their business. We still see partnershesitating in exchanging ideas.”

One more bump: “Although there is a lot of material on theweb in English, most Partners seem to find it easier to havethis localized” says Daphne, and that is something that Ihave found echoed in many countries outside the UnitedStates. Even though you will find that Partners around theglobe have a great comprehension of English, reading andlearning something new in a non-native language and thengoing back to the workplace and trying to put it into anative context can be very challenging.

Lessons learned: The first thing Daphne will tell you is, “Talkto Partners, listen to their issues, problems and concerns.Focus efforts in recruiting the right type of Partners so theSBSC can become a real community rather than just adesignation of the Microsoft Partner Program. Listening toPartners and really taking into consideration their feedback isthe only way we can create a Partner program that reallyworks. In a small country like Greece, Microsoft to mostPartners seems a big corporationwith no ‘local’ face. Therefore, thereis a bigger need to meet and talkwith the Partners, understand theproblems they face and guide themthrough the numerous Microsoftresources, help them find a way tobetter run their business and bemore profitable.”

Next Steps: “Launching a bigcampaign to promote the value of certification, not just to IT

companies and VARs but also to all customers – fromenterprise to small businesses. The campaign on certificationis not only about the Small Business Specialists program, butfor the Microsoft Partner program in general, as well as thevalue of becoming and/or hiring MCPs. This way we expectto create demand for trained professionals and certifiedpartners, thus providing real value to the members of ourPartner community and better helping our customers,”Daphne continues. “Customers need services of high qualityand our Certified / SBSC Partners are the ones who may bestaddress the customers’ needs. Furthermore, in co-operationwith our very strong PTS (Partner Technology Specialist)team we are conducting exclusive trainings on newtechnologies, including Vista and Office 2007, as well aspreparing an SBS step-by-step guide and a new Office guide.These exclusive benefits will help our Partners and have adirect impact on the profitability of SBSC members. Last butnot least, we are running campaigns (like the SBS - FirstServer-Right Server campaign) with a direct link to SmallBusiness Specialists. There is a real value add of being amember of the Small Business Specialist community and ourstrategy and commitment in the next months is to work withour Partners and create the customer-to-partner connection.”

Conclusion: Greece is off to a great start with the SmallBusiness Specialist program. Having almost 100 attendees atthe workshop is a strong sign that Partners are interested inthe Microsoft programs and do understand the value that

Microsoft offers through Partneraffiliation. In a country where719,018 companies of a total of795,556 registered companies areSMEs (i.e. limited partnerships, soleproprietorships), amounting to90.38% of all businesses in Greece(according to a study of theNational Statistical Service ofGreece in 2005), I’d say this is a greatcountry to be in and wearing theSmall Business Specialist logo. �

(L to R) Daphne, Lefteris and Elena are giving Beatrice Greek life-style lessons!

Daphne visiting one of the most beautifulislands, Mykonos, Greece.

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

t costs a lot of money to generate leads and attractnew clients. Whether it’s a yellow pages ad, abrochure, or some other type of mailing, you are

spending hard-earned dollars trying to generate newclients. Yet so many business owners and sales peopleare saying and doing things to royally screw up anyopportunity they may get from their advertising andmarketing investments.

Now that spring is on the way, I’ve started to get alot of flyers, letters, and postcards from locallandscapers. Some of them are full-color, glossy, andvery expensive to print. So when I decided it was timeto re-design the entire front yard with lighting,hardscape stone designs, and of course all new shrubs,I called three of the companies that sent me brochures.

Now, keep in mind that I was not looking for thecheapest price. My two biggest concerns were gettinga design I was happy with and getting a design andgarden that would be able to survive my Jack Russells.In every case, I made these two priorities very clear, aswell as the fact that I wanted first class work. I wasready to buy and anxious to get started, and Irequested that they come out and meet with me todiscuss the project as soon as possible.

The first guy I called had purchased a big(expensive) ad in a local newspaper. When I called andtold him what I was looking for, he sheepishlyinformed me that he charges a $200 consultation feewhich will later be applied to the cost of the job if Ichose them to actually implement the design. Butinstead of leaving it at that, he went on a long, drawn-out explanation as to why they do this, how thedesigner’s time is valuable, and how they don’t getpaid for doing free design work. It was PAINFULLYobvious to me that he felt completely uncomfortableasking for the $200 design fee and fully expected me toargue with him over this, even though I have givenhim no reason to believe that I would. When heshowed up, he took at least five phone calls on his cell

phone within the entire 12 minutes he spent with megoing over what I wanted, and never bothered toremove his mirrored sunglasses when talking to me,even while indoors. Of course, he provided noguarantees, no references, testimonials, and not even alousy picture book of designs he’s done to help me buyfrom him.

I made an appointment with a second guy whosent me a direct mail letter, which I missed. I feltterrible and profusely apologized to him when I calledto reschedule. His retort? Don’t worry, you won’t feelas bad for standing me up once you see our price! Hispresentation wasn’t much better than the first guy,although he did take about 10 minutes to explain howhe came up with the name of his company, which wasneither compelling nor interesting to me, and didn’ttake one minute to explain how their process works,how they deliver higher quality than the rest, or anyother useful information that would help me to buyfrom him. The third and fourth companies I callednever returned my call.

Of the two guys who showed up, none offered meany type of guarantee or testimonials, and neitherhad anything to demonstrate his level of competenceor quality of work. Not even a crummy brochure.They basically showed up and expected me to knowwhat I wanted. They didn’t ask consultativequestions such as:

• What’s most important to you when choosing a landscaper?

• Who else are you getting quotes from?• Who has been maintaining your lawn up until

now, and what is causing you to switch? (Helps you discover dissatisfaction.)

• Do you have any concerns?• Would you like to speak to a few of our clients?

The only question they had was, “What do you

I

Do You Make These Mistakes WhenPresenting Your Services To A Prospective Client?

by Robin Robins Money Shaker


Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

want to spend?”But don’t scoff too fast. The question you should

ask yourself is, do I make these same mistakes? Do Iask these questions to new clients? And I don’t meansimilar questions, I mean the ones I’ve outlined above.

Obviously these landscapers are sad and patheticexamples of how many companies deliver their pricesand present their services to new clients, and if youthink about it, I’d be willing to bet you can namedozens of times when you’ve experienced thisyourself. I’m sure that all of these companies regularlycomplain about how their marketing and advertisingdoesn’t work and that all clients are shopping on priceeven though none of them have spent any timeworking on a presentation that actually sells, and twoof them never even bothered to call back.

I’m also sure that they are paying the price thatcomes with this level of laziness and stupidity inbusiness: starvation. All it takes is a little effort inbuilding a credible, polished presentation, yet so manybusiness owners never invest any time in thinkingabout and developing one. In most cases, they preferto “wing it,” or worse yet, unleash an un-trained salesperson to “wing it” for them. In most cases, this personknows even less about the company than they do andprobably cares a lot less as well.

Here are a few basic and critical elements yoursales presentation MUST have:

1. A pre-meeting phone interview. The questionsshould be written out in advance and askedbefore you agree to meet with a client. This is abasic first screening to make sure the client isn’ttoo small, too cheap, or otherwise a bad fit. Itshould also give you an idea of what the clientwants so you can properly prepare for yourmeeting provided they are a good fit. Most SMBconsultants will meet with anyone who showssigns of breathing; that’s a surefire recipe forfrustration and wasting a lot of time.

2. A package of collateral that sells. I’m not talkingabout your amateur tri-fold brochure thatserves no good unless you’re into killing trees. Iwould include:

• A free report on “X Critical Characteristicsto Look for in a Computer Consultant – Don’t Let Anyone Touch Your Network

Until You Read This!” that educates the prospect.

• A client success story and testimonial book.

• Copies of previous articles or newsletters you’ve written.

• A copy of your “Customer Bill of Rights” or guarantees you make.

• Copies of articles written about you, or where you were quoted.

• An audio CD that contains an interview of you talking about the importance of maintaining a small business network (managed services).

• A copy of a book you’ve written.

3. A written down, planned presentation. If youdo not have your presentation mapped out onpaper, you don’t have a presentation; you arewinging it and you’re going to be a lot lesssuccessful than you could be. This shouldinclude carefully crafted questions to help youferret out objections and really understandwhat the prospect is looking for. You shouldalso prepare and incorporate objection-handling answers to common sales objections.Make sure you address them before the clientbrings them up.

Of course, if you aren’t doing lead-generationmarketing, you probably don’t need to work that hardto close new sales because you’re only getting the low-hanging fruit. But, if you want to start promotingyourself to new prospects, you’ll have to master thisprocess to be successful. Either way, I wouldencourage you to take a fresh look at your own salespresentation to new clients. I don’t care how good youare, there is always something you can improve. �

Robin Robins has over 14 years experience in directsales and marketing. Robin is an independent marketingconsultant, sales trainer, and author that specializes inlow risk, low-cost marketing strategies for smallcomputer resellers, solution providers, and IT consultingfirms. To learn more about Robin, visit her online atwww.technologymarketingtoolkit.com


Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

remember going to the local weekend computerbazaar in Detroit, Michigan USA, about 10 years ago,and finding, besides very cheap hardware, very

discounted bundles of software packages, includingshiny NT 4.0 Server CDs for sale – for a mere $99 USD!What a deal. I don’t remember the Action Pack programexisting in ’97 and all I could ever get my hands on tostudy for the MSCE exams were 120-day trial versions ofNT 4.0 Server and Workstation 4.0 from the back insertof the Microsoft exam study book, which had to bereloaded from scratch after, well, 120 days. I wasthinking, “Wow, what a great price!” But then I realizedthat something couldn’t be right. These were just waytoo cheap to be the real thing.

About two years ago I ordered a copy of WindowsXP Professional SP2 over the Internet for a mere $50USD. I couldn’t help myself; I had to see what it lookedlike. The package arrived about four weeks laterstamped from Saint Petersburg, Russia, and it had a veryofficial looking CD with a very unofficial looking COA(Certificate of Authenticity). I went ahead and installedit in Virtual PC – to find out that it was a cloned betaversion and it wasn’t even working! When I told this toa friend at Microsoft, he laughed and commented that Ipaid way too much money for the pirated copy, and if Ihad gotten it from India, I would have only spent $9USD and gotten a working version. Recently, whilevisiting Kiev, Ukraine, I found out that I could get aworking version there for about $4 USD.

Fast forward to December, 2006, with SMB NationFounder and CEO Harry Brelsford on the road visiting

Delhi and Mumbai, India, to conduct SMB Nationnetworking events. In between Delhi and Mumbai, wetook a break from work and made the rounds throughlocal shops – because gosh – we are also Americantourists! While perusing the store, Harry noticed a BSOD(blue screen of death) in the store office. Being the ITspecialists we are, we immediately rushed to the rescue,hoping to achieve a Win-Win situation by fixing thejewelry store’s computer and getting ourselves adiscounted shopping experience!

To make a long story short, the store owner was verydelighted to have American SMEs (subject matterexperts) offer to take a look at the system, and we werethrilled to help a Microsoft customer in need. Just that itturned out that this was no Microsoft customer after all.The store owner produced the usual box of unorganizedsoftware CD’s, manuals, unidentified parts, and yellow stickies with serial numbers written on them. We did find a Windows Professional 2000 CD, but nolicense number orCOA for it. Alongwith it we werehanded a yellowsticky with a XP Professionallicense number –which apparentlywas the lastinstalled operatingsystem before itdecided to BSOD.

Unfortunately, the store owner had no real backupof the store inventory data which was kept in a third-party application on the Windows XP Professionalsystem. We apologized and told him that we could nothelp now, but will put him promptly in touch with aSmall Business Specialist referred by Microsoft in hisarea. Was the software pirated? We don’t know and I’lljust leave it at that.

If you think that Microsoft is overdoing it with theirAnti-Piracy policy, take a look at some of the numbers. Areport by Nasscom (National Association of Software andServices Companies) states that the software piracy levelin India is close to 73 percent compared to the worldwide

I

Global Perspective

In Piracy Pursuitby Beatrice Mulzer


Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


average of 36 percent and 23 percent in the US andCanada. Business Software Alliance, an antipiracywatchdog group for the software industry reports that in2005, counterfeits of software sold in China accounted for86 percent, 64 percent in Brazil and 83 percent in Russia.

No wonder that Vista, which reportedly cost $7 USDBillion to develop, has greater anti-piracy features builtinto it. Vista comes with new counterfeit-sniffingsoftware as well as the ability to hinder and disableimportant features such as the built-in antispywareprotection and the Aero interface in phony copies of theoperating system. Some people complain about theseanti-piracy measures being built into it. But quitefrankly, as a consultant, I am glad that I no longer haveto explain to certain customers who ask me to install anOffice CD on all 26 workstations, even though only onecopy was bought, why I refuse to do so. It makes my lifeeasier and helps me weed out unwanted clientele.

Then of course there are country presidents likeTraian Basescu, who while Bill Gates was opening a newtechnical center in Bucharest, Romania, publiclyexclaimed, "Piracy has helped the young generationdiscover computers. It set off the development of the ITindustry in Romania." So piracy must be a good thingafter all! Romania put its anti-piracy legislation into theworks about 10 years ago, but reports have it thatsoftware infringement is still rampant, with salesmenvisiting offices in Bucharest offering phony software.Rumor has it, though, that the only time arrests aremade is when a pirate forgets to pay his bribe money tothe local constabulary.

I believe that software is one of the most valuabletechnologies in use today. There is no denying thatsoftware has become an important productivity tool.The amount of illegal copying and distribution justemphasizes this point. When people knowingly usepirated software, they are disrespecting the very peoplewho created it. It takes a team and much effort, sharingcreative ideas and combining them with the talents ofprogrammers, graphic artists and writers in order todevelop good software. In order to continue to improvethe software, it would make sense to support thecreators by paying them for their work.

In the past it was not so easy to check whether asmall business’s software was compliant, but now thereare many free tools available that you can employ. Irecommend using these before you get in too deep witha new client. We probably have all been there. You get aphone call because there is a server or workstationproblem and this is the first time you are meeting this

customer. The customer mentions no word of theprevious consultant or technician or speaks only badlyabout them. You then proceed to fix the issue and whileyou are thinking, “Great, I got a new customer,” you findsix months down the road that they don’t have theproper licenses. But now you have already invested inthis relationship. This is a bad situation.

You can avoid this situation by running the Microsoft Inventory Analyzer toolhttp://www.microsoft.com/resources/sam/msia.mspxat your new client site in order to see all core Microsoftproducts installed on a single workstation or a networkwith up to 250 clients. You can also use one of the freeanalyzer tools available at the Business SoftwareAlliance http://www.bsa.org/usa/antipiracy/Free-Software-Audit-Tools.cfm).

You could also offer the “license compliance check”as a free service to businesses that you would like to getyour foot in the door! Also, make sure you understandthe different licensing options available so you canspeak knowingly about this to your customer. You canfind information at http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/default.mspx and if this is too

corporate for you, anexcellent site to visit is EricLigman’s SmallBiz site athttp : / /b logs .msdn.com/mssmallbiz/default.aspx

So how did the trip toIndia end? Well, good ofcourse. We did leave the storewith some small presents forfamily back in the UnitedStates, and I learned how towrap myself in a saree! �

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


top it! This column is not going to straddle the fenceon a popular political debate about sex education inschools. Rather, after reviewing this month’s survey

results about growing your consultancy by addingemployees (which is good), I’m going to leave you withthe question of where exactly are you going to get thesequalified employees from?

In the current survey, we are very keen on learningexactly what your 2007 growth plans were vis-à-vis thenumber of people working for you. Why? Growth ismeasured many ways, as a viewer of the internationalCNBC financial network would know. There GNP, GDP,balance of trade, inventory levels, optimism and goinglong and short in the world markets – measures allreflecting expectations about the future. But there isnothing like your vote of confidence expressed as hiringplans. Myself, stock investor Warren Buffet and WallStreet are very interested in what you think – so let’sjump into it.

Q: Do you plan to add employees to your SMBconsultancy this year?

Yes 81%No 19%

Harry’s take: WOW – forget about the China shock on worldmarkets in late February. It appears the “fundamentals” in theSmall Business Specialist Community are VERY STRONG.You are busy and growing, and need help in 2007.

Q: How many employees do you anticipate adding?One 50%Two 31.8%Three 9.1%Four 9.1%Five 0%More than five 0%

Harry’s take: Again – very impressive results but you haveto understand the context. On the surface, adding a singleemployee is not news (“dog bites man”). But when you co-relate with our February 2007 salary survey that shows themajority of Small Business Specialists work in entities with

one to three employees, the mere fact a single employee is beingadded represents anywhere from a 33 percent to a 100 percentlabor force increase. That’s enough to get the Department ofLabor’s attention!

Q: Instead of employees, do you use contractors andcontingent staff to meet your human resource needs?

Yes 61.5%No 38.5%

Harry’s take: While not addressing growth rates, thisquestion speaks towards labor force composition. It appearsthat many Small Business Specialists enjoy the flexibilityafforded by deploying contractors and temps to fulfill work.Seems smart to not only have the ability to expand orcontract as your needs warrant but in many cases to “trybefore you buy.”

Essay question: How will you grow your SMB consultingpractice in 2007? Responses included:

• I'm an SBSer and just became a Certified Partner,and now the phone is starting to ring off the hookwith offers.

• Add services such as off-site backup, advancemonitoring services, mobile gprs and g3 data;remote support at very cost effective prices.

• We've always been a managed services firm andwill continue to be. Direct mailing is ourmarketing method of choice. It works.

• I will be adding managed services and offering aVoIP phone system with a high-end service router.

• If possible we will outsource and not hire, but wewill likely need to hire. Hiring has been a majorstumbling block.

• I intend on remaining a one-man shop and willgrow my business by working to attract additionalsmall businesses that would benefit from myservices and skills with Small Business Server, aswell as offer additional services to my existingclients.

SHow to Make Babies!

Perceptionsby Harry Brelsford

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


• We are in managed services already...We areplanning on growing by proactively asking for andcultivating referrals from existing clients.

• Just started business in December 2006, andworking from home. If all goes well I plan to moveinto an office suite later this year and employ at leastone other member of staff.

• Plan on working the area with marketing. Trying toget in the door with the IT Business Assessmentsand go from there.

• I'll start doing services for other SBSC's (like beingtheir internal staff/technician).

• I am trying to use remote managed services, butthere is some difficulty to this here in Brazil. But Iwill keep trying.

• I won't be using one of the managed servicespackages but offering managed servicesnonetheless. We make all users run as non-adminswith roaming profiles and a standard desktopwithin the business so the desktops are stable (andusers easily migrated if there is a failure). The built-in tools in SBS are sufficient to monitor the serversand keep them operating efficiently when coupledwith regular site visits. The standardised approachmeans we can offer customers a reliable computernetwork without the overhead.

Heard on the StreetWe took it to the street at the D&H West Coast Show

in mid-February 2007 in City of Industry, California. Hereis what we heard!

I leave you with the question I asked earlier. With all thisgreat growth in employment, where are you going to findall these employees? As they say – are you going toconvert or grow from the bedroom? So go forth, multiplyand make babies. I’ll see you next month! ☺

“I have employees and in alllikelihood, I’ll add more employeesin 2007. I foresee 25% growth inmy practice as we further build ourbusiness in the document imaging

niches and the telephony area.”Eric Hanson

Inlan Productivity Solutions, Inc.Upland, CA

“My niche is the convergence of theentertainment and infrastructuremarkets. For example, we servecustomers [learning] how [to] livein the world of video encoding andwe’re introducing networks into thisenvironment. We have significantbusiness overseas and I hope to develop abusiness plan to tell me how we’ll grow in this niche.”

Michael ZerbibEBS InternationalLos Angeles, CA

“I’m really trying to learn to be anSMB consultant and leave my dayjob at the law firm. I plan to studythe different business modelsbefore making the leap and I planto start out as a Small BusinessSpecialist.”Patrick Brewer(Employed at law firm; seeking to break outand be his first employee.)Los Angeles, CA

“I really plan to grow my practiceby becoming a Small BusinessSpecialist and go to the next level.That’s why I bought the red book!”

Gideon CharlesLink DAT Computers

Jacksonville, FL

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


Scenario 3: The client would like to have wireless accessto the network for internal users only. The connecting deviceswill all be trusted.

Solution 3: This is the true access point and we’ll purchasean access point, not a wireless router, for the job. They are alittle more expensive but experience shows that, becausethey’re special purpose devices, they produce superior results.WPA2 will be implemented and we’ll configure eachconnecting device. The WPA2 code will not be made availablepublicly, but instead will be guarded as closely as the domainadministrator password. Our goal is to keep unknownconnections out. Once you have a wireless access point onyour network you’ll want to regularly check your security logsfor illegal connection attempts.

In visiting small businesses I’ve rarely encountered awireless network that was set up with anything other than themost basic settings. We can do better. Today’s routers andfirewalls give us the flexibility to make wireless networkssecure while providing the access required by the client. Whilethere are undoubtedly additional scenarios and solutions thatcould be considered, we’ve discussed three of the mostcommon ones. In cooking these would be known as themother sauces from which you can derive all other sauces. Insecuring wireless networks, once you master the threesolutions we outlined, you’ll be able to derive any securewireless solution your client requires. �

Amy Babinchak (ISA MVP) is president of Harbor ComputerServices, a Small Business Specialist and managed servicesprovider since 2000. She is also an SMBTN chapter leader, hostsa forum in the MSPSN Experts Corner, writes, blogs, providesescalation and ISA configuration support for other consultantsand is an occasional speaker at various events. She can bereached at [email protected].

Use the built-in DHCP server to provide addresses on the router’s LAN network.

Because the router will be part of our internal network, we wantto sync the time with the rest of the Internal network.

We have the problem of not being certain that visitors willbring WPA2 capable laptops, so WEP security is configured.

If we were certain the visiting laptops could support it,we’d go with WPA2 instead.

Next we configure our ISA server to only allow our wirelessnetwork to access the protocols and shared file location. We canset up a third NIC in the server and create a secure DMZ, onlyallowing the access we want the router and the wireless clients

to have; or we can create a new network in ISA on the LAN sideand then assign permissions.

After configuring your allow rules, don’t forget to remove yourwireless router from other rules in which you’ve used Network

Sets. For example, the All Protected Networks network set wouldinclude the wireless router. Fortunately we don’t have

to create a deny rule, we can simply add an exception to theserules. If you are using SBS, you’ll have several rules you need

to except the wireless router from.

Tech Corner (Continued from page 12)

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


he primary reason that the President of PRISMConsulting, Inc. (my wife, Joan) made theexecutive decision to subscribe to the Action Pack

was for software and support. It was, of course, based on the depth of research that her IT guy (me)provided her.

The software list that Registered Partners acquire via theaction pack is a true business resource. And, even if you don’tthink you need or want the software, the option of havingmission-critical, server-down support backup from Microsoftis worth the price of admission. If you haven’t, do subscribe.

My January Action Pack arrived. (Not without a littlecontroversy. More about that in a moment.) On one of thevery first pages it indicates the contents are organized in sixsections, as follows.

1. Expand My Skills2. Increase My Opportunities3. Close More Sales and Support My Customers4. System Builders5. Custom Development Solutions6. Local Resources

I’ll add my own list. When I look at my own life,business and schedule, here’s what I need, in this order:

I. Increase Knowledge And CompetenciesIncreasing my knowledge and competency will directlytranslate to more effectiveness and efficiency in thefield, and may even help boost confidence.

II. Timely Information And EducationI recognize that I’m behind the curve in every area I’mnot ahead of the curve! That is, if the whole dang wavehasn’t just washed over.

III. Participate and Collaborate with othersI mean a lot of variations when I say this. I meanconnecting with living people on the end of whicheverPartner phone line I dial. I mean having access to thelatest innovations in business practices from mycolleagues and peers. I mean running a burning issue up a flagpole and seeing if anyone squirts on it!Etc. Etc. Etc.

Since early childhood I recall hearing our fearlessleaders indicate that we are increasing complication tosimplify our world. I thought, “Thank you. When I grow up wecan be more of a leisure society and I won’t have to work as hardas my father and mother. I will be able to spend most of my time“leisuring” with my friends and family. My working will be short,sweet and focused. I will be able to use amazing tools to get all mywork done in half the time. Thank you.”

The formula was almost correct. But, instead of moredone in less time, it sometimes seems we are workingharder and more hours to be able to succeed to the goal ofmore leisure.

In the original Willy Wonka movie, Gene Wilder,handsprings into his first scene of the movie. With frizzyhair and wild eyed glee, Willy articulates, (paraphrasing)“Hurry. Hurry. There is so much time and so little to do.Wait just a moment. Yes. Reverse that. There is so little timeand so much to do. We must hurry.”

As my wife, Joan, and I began digesting the scope of thevery first action pack we received, or attempting to, weimmediately decided we couldn’t afford to hire someone tojust manage our Partners and Action Pack memberships,but there was enough in it to feel as if it were warranted.

So, our first concern was, “What’s in it for us?”For us it came down to Software and Support and we

have felt mightily repaid on our subscription investment.Yet, there is so much more.

I heard a local noted storyteller say, “I’d rather cross thewilderness alone and without a map than follow a mapmade by fools.” There. Consider yourself warned about themap I’ll be drawing for you of my use of the Action Pack.

For instance, this whole time/money relationship isinteresting. Money is money. Time is time. Time is money.So, if time is money, then, not only is money money but timeis time! So, if I invest time the return on investment of myprecious time should bring either money or time. Is an hourearned a dollar saved?

If I invest an hour of time, how much of either money ortime can I expect to see coming back and how can I gaugethat? I’ll not delve too deeply here and now into the harddollars versus soft dollars conversation, other than to saythat time is often considered to be soft dollars andfrequently has a higher value than hard dollars.

Gauging the hard dollar return on education in a smallconsulting business isn’t easy. Multiplying your hourly ratetimes the time spent in class (not billing) you know how

T

by Gib Curry Partnering

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


much education is costing. What is it gaining? An hour invested for orienteering Microsoft’s myriad of

online offerings should result in something! Can I seeresults? Do I end up getting somewhere when I go there?

Now, for many years in our business, this has not meant seeing more customers, making more sales, or hiringmore people.

We are nearly satisfied with the “level” of our businessand its volume. It could even be less, and we’d still behappy.

However, if we could see a reduction in the actualworkload that generates and maintains that volume, nowthat would be a ROI for us! More time with our kids andgrandkids! Now, that’s ROI.

For a long time, then, our focus has been on that mainpoint.

Whether I am in my office or whether I am in the field,how might I save a few precious moments?

This ties directly in to the opening section of the January2007 Action Pack that lists 6 bullet pointed sections.

Start at https://partner.microsoft.com/US/partner whichrequires you to sign in with your Microsoft Live ID.

Perhaps you can already determine my order ofpreference using the above tablature on the PartnerProgram page. I glance quickly at the headlines and godirectly to either “Training and Events” or “Support andSecurity.” If I must, I deal with “Program Membership”issues. The “Sales and Marketing” tab is farther down theroad than the Products and Solutions information.

Not that I never go to those pages, but each of us has toprioritize to receive the highest concentration of benefit outof the resources we have available.

So, I frequently jump directly to https://partner.microsoft.com/US/trainingevents/webcasts

One of my excursions led me to search all the ondemand webcasts. The list is extensive, and you must havepatience drilling down to find what you want and/or need.More on that in a moment.

A quick mining expedition finds gold.

Fine tuning the Advanced Search’s selection criteria,this search finds 77 results for technical training for the Small Business Specialist. Minor changes in criteria canvastly affect how many choices with which you are presented.

http://www.msusapartnerreadiness.com/ws_bytype.asp

Searching for Small Business Specialist Community for On-Demand Technical webcasts yielded 77 results.

Near the top of the list are five sessions related directlyto us – examination preparation for SBSC 70-282. Excellentand it’s in two formats. Being Small Business experiencedbut not SBS certified, this means a lot to me.

My budget includes neither the time nor the money foreducation. Here, I’ve found a way that in an hour a day, five days a week, I can gain some education that directly applies toward fulfilling my Partnershiprequirements.

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


I can now anticipate looking forward to the SmallBusiness Specialist certification. My optimistic mother,being somewhat testy, always said I was certifiable. Right again.

The time I do have is late at night, after the caffeine hasworn off and the adrenaline has taken over. There are veryfew training facilities that can accommodate that schedule.Thankfully, Beatrice is always on duty! So, this is what shedoes in her spare time!

And, like I said, have patience. It is a slight inconvenienceto have to refill the contact information for each classregistration. Since I’ve logged in with my Windows Liveand/or .Net login and password and since I’ve verified that Iam a partner at my achieved level, then why do I have to fillin this form every time? Isn’t one of the advantages ofcomputers to tie all the information in together? Anyway, fillout the online form. It doesn’t take long.

I mentioned earlier there being a bit of a controversy. Asof my last reading on Blogspot.microsoft, this January’sAction Pack includes only Vista Business.

There was some controversy on the licensing of theAction Pack software, but I found the answers at EricLigman’s smallbiz site listed below:

The updated Action Pack policy states that as long as youcontinue to keep your Action Pack subscription current, you canuse prior versions of the software that you have received throughAction Pack in the past. If you did not receive the prior versions inyour Action Pack in the past, you cannot use those versions.

Example #1: Continuously renewed subscriptionIn this example, it shows you started your Action Pack

Subscription in 2006. Then in 2007 and 2008, you renewedyour Action Pack Subscription both times so that yoursubscription did not expire during this 3-year period. Youhave received your various software versions throughoutyour subscription time. As such, you are entitled to use theprior versions you received instead of the current versions ifyou wish. So for instance, you could use Office 2003 instead

of Office 2007 since you would have received that duringyour 2006 subscription. You still only have the samenumber of licenses that are included in Action Pack (i.e. 10for Office), they do NOT add up over time (10 + 10 + 10).

Example #2: Lapsed subscriptionIn this example, it shows you started your Action Pack

Subscription in 2006. Then in 2007 you chose not to renewyour subscription. In 2008, you re-subscribe to the ActionPack Subscription (start a new subscription) so yoursubscription expired during this three-year period. You havereceived your various software versions throughout yoursubscription time; however, you are only entitled to use theprior versions you received since your last expiration. So forinstance, you could not use Office 2003 instead of Office 2007since you would have received the 2007 version in your latestkit and the 2003 version was received prior to you lettingyour subscription lapse. Once your subscription to MicrosoftAction Pack expires, you must uninstall the software anddestroy your media. You will receive new media once yourejoin Action Pack with your new subscription.

I am glad Eric set that straight!So, let’s delve into our Action packs a little deeper and

begin to see what we can make out of ourselves with just alittle help from the Action Pack. �

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM


by Charles VanHeusenTS2Nami

hat keeps you up at night? Are you staying uplate reading books on the latest products,working with new products, trying to figure out

where they might fit into your service offerings? Let me introduce you to “Partnercasts”, the latest

addition to the Partner Readiness offerings from Microsoft! Itis the best way to keep abreast of latest insights ontechnology, sales, business value, and licensing straight fromthe source. With the new Partner Readiness Partnercastsubscription, you can get all the latest and greatest trainingthrough partner experiences, talk radios, and more on the go.

The subscription is free and you get sign up today athttp://www.msreadiness.com/partnercast/. The site hasinstructions for setting up a download tool to get your mediaon your favorite device, including your Microsoft Zune,Windows Mobile 5 devices, or your iPod. If you don’t haveone of these devices, it’s not a problem; you can play them inMP3 format on your PC or burn them to CD and play them

in the car the next time you are stuck in traffic on your wayto your client’s site. Registration for the subscriptions isavailable now and the first of many Partnercasts will beavailable for download starting March 8th.

To kick things off, I am interviewing Robert Doi, theGroup Manager for Partner Readiness for Vista and BrianLamee, one of the foremost experts at Microsoft of theDynamics product lines regarding the Dynamics “BusinessReady Licensing” and the opportunities it brings to themarket. Additionally, we are looking at topics aroundManaged Services, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007,Windows SharePoint v3 Integration with Small BusinessServer 2003 and many more.

As we continue to develop this program, we areextremely interested in your feedback around the recordingsand the topics so we can better help you win business. If youhave suggestions for topics or ways to improve them, pleasesend us an email at [email protected] �

W

Alabama04/05/2007 Mobile 04/26/2007 Huntsville

California04/03/2007 Bakersfield 04/05/2007 Long Beach 04/19/2007 San Francisco 05/01/2007 Burbank 05/03/2007 Irvine 05/08/2007 Redding 05/10/2007 Santa Rosa 05/15/2007 La Jolla

(San Diego) 05/17/2007 Pleasanton

Connecticut05/01/2007 Norwalk 05/03/2007 Farmington

Florida04/03/2007 Tallahassee 04/17/2007 Sarasota 04/19/2007 Palm Beach 05/15/2007 Boca Raton 05/17/2007 Jacksonville

Georgia04/24/2007 Columbus

Idaho04/10/2007 Boise

Indiana05/04/2007 Evansville

Kansas5/08/2007 Topeka 05/10/2007 Wichita

Massachusetts04/17/2007 Springfield 05/22/2007 Worcester

Maryland04/10/2007 Bowie

Detroit05/10/2007 Detroit

Montana04/17/2007 Billings

North Carolina05/24/2007 Raleigh

New Hampshire04/05/2007 Concord 04/19/2007 Portsmouth

New Jersey04/10/2007 Middlesex 04/12/2007 Mt. Laurel 05/24/2007 Edison

New Mexico05/22/2007 Albuquerque

Nevada04/17/2007 Reno

New York05/08/2007 Buffalo 05/10/2007 Syracuse

Ohio05/08/2007 Toledo 06/05/2007 Dayton

Oregon04/24/2007 Eugene 04/26/2007 Portland

Pennsylvania04/26/2007 Philadelphia

South Carolina05/22/2007 North

Charleston

South Dakota04/19/2007 Rapid City

Tennessee04/24/2007 Knoxville 04/26/2007 Chattanooga

Texas04/10/2007 Midland 04/12/2007 El Paso 05/01/2007 Fort Worth 05/03/2007 Dallas 05/22/2007 Austin 05/24/2007 Houston

Wyoming05/10/2007 Cheyenne

You will find upcoming TS2 seminars in April and May at the following cities:

Topics covered are how to build a profitable business leveraging the new releases of Windows Vista and Office system.Sign up at www.ts2seminars.com

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:03 PM

Mar 2007 3/13/07 1:04 PM

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