Richard Tubb's Blog, page 82

Digital Leaders – Enhance Your IT Strategy

A heads-up that the BCS have released a new eBook entitled “Digital Leaders – Enhance Your IT Strategy”.

Enhance Your IT Strategy

The 146-page eBook is aimed at CIO and CEO level professionals who are interested in enhancing their business or organisations IT strategy and improving the way in which their business functions.

The book features over 50 articles written by a range of experts on an array of IT topics including entrepreneurs and start-ups, communications, cloud computing and data management, The Internet of things, project management, learning and development, security, service management and strategy.

Building your Business

I’m honoured to have been asked to contribute to the book myself and you can read my chapter on building your business in the entrepreneurs and start-ups section on page 42.

Download the eBook

The eBook “Digital Leaders – Enhance Your IT Strategy” is a free download to both BCS members and non-members.

Read more about Digital Leaders.
Download the eBook as a PDF file (44.5mb) for free.

The opportunities for IT companies in Cloud Accounting – TubbTalk13

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What is upside down accounting and how is Cloud accounting changing the way companies do business?

The opportunities for IT companies in Cloud Accounting

In a special hour-long episode 13 of TubbTalk, I speak with Paul MacNeill, MD of Australian based MSP Virage IT and co-founder of Wise-Sync.

Paul and I discuss:-

What is upside down accounting?
How is Cloud accounting changing the way companies do business?
Why are some accountants resistant to Cloud accounting?
How can Cloud accounting reduce both licensing and staffing costs?
Paul’s experience of partnering with Xero and Xero integration with 3rd party tools
The nightmare of managing US sales tax codes
The opportunity of Cloud Accounting for IT companies
How to reduce the admin burden for IT companies in taking payments from their clients
Maximising the value of your IT business prior to exit
How peer communities and accountability groups have helped Paul’s businesses grow
The work involved in migrating to a Cloud accounting package
The Wise-Sync brand journey and transparent pricing
Developing thought leadership and helping businesses understand how to be more successful
The book that Paul has read that has impacted him the most
Overcoming the challenges of synchronisation between a Professional Service Automation (PSA) tool and an accounting tool
The most successful people that Paul admires
Paul’s advice for any MSP’s using Desktop accounting packages and manual processes

“Now’s the time to calculate the value of your time spent on manual proces­ses” @prointegr8

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Mentioned in this episode:-

Virage IT
Wise-Sync
MSP Metrics That Matter – An Interview with Eric Dosal
ConnectWise
Sage Accounting
QuickBooks Online
Xero
Kashflow
ConnectWise Partner Community
Powernet IT Consultants Wise-Sync Story
ConnectWise Procurement & Inventory modules
Quosal
HTG (Heartland Technology Group)
Flying Fox IT
Xerocon
ConnectWise IT Nation
Wise-Pay
MYOB
Authorize.net
Braintree
Stripe
Jamie Sutherland, Xero GM
DeskDirector
IT Glue
SLI (Service Leadership Index)
TubbTalk #02 – Interview with Phill Claxton of Desk Director
TubbTalk #10 – The importance of IT documentation. An interview with Chris Day of IT Glue
Xero Certification for Partners
Book – The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann
Book – The E-Myth by Michael Gerber
Book – Getting Things Done by David Allen
ConnectWise Marketplace
Fully Managed
Arnie Bellini, ConnectWise CEO
David Bellini, ConnectWise MD International

Connect with me

Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunes
Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk on Stitcher Radio
Follow @tubblog

Hiring the right staff and delivering a profitable IT Managed Service – TubbTalk12

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What can an IT Managed Service Provider learn from McDonald’s burgers and UK crime drama, The Sweeney?

Hiring the right staff and delivering a profitable IT Managed Service

In episode 12 of TubbTalk, recorded at Old Trafford Stadium, home of Manchester United Football Club, I speak with Andy Pope, a former MSP owner and the Managing Director of The Consort Group.

Andy and I discuss:-

Why Andy refers to Break/Fix as “Sweeney Support”.
Who are the Consort Group?
What have been the major changes in the MSP market?
Tackling the IT Skills Shortage – Hiring vs Outsourcing
Understanding Digital Natives and Digital Migrants
What should IT employers look for in new hires?
How McDonald’s demonstrate consistency through processes.
How to deliver profitable client support services.
The value in standardisation for Managed Services.
If Andy were to start an MSP again today, what would he do differently?
Why becoming a trusted advisor is more profitable than being a techie.
The value in sticking to what you’re good at.
The power in IT companies collaborating over competing.
Who is the better superhero, Superman or Spider-Man?

“Sweeney Support” is sliding over a car bonnet, rushing to help a client” says Andy Pope

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Mentioned in this episode:

The Email Laundry
MSP Raise Your Game Road show
Infrascale
AVG
Epson
Tigerpaw
Old Trafford, Manchester United Football Club
The Consort Group
The Sweeney
CompTIA
Integral IT

Watch the Video

You can also watch the video of my interview with Andy Pope.

Connect with me

Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
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Follow @tubblog

News Feed Eradicator for Facebook

Every Friday I try to share one of my favourite finds of the week – a web-site, tool or app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is News Feed Eradicator for Facebook.

What is it?

News Feed Eradicator for Facebook is a Chrome web browser extension that replaces your news feed on Facebook with an inspirational quote.

How can it help me?

Do you find yourself checking Facebook and then disappearing for hours as you fall into the bottom less pit that is the Facebook news feed? It’s a never ending list of status updates, funny videos of cats and pictures of what friends had for dinner and it can kill your productivity.

News Feed Eradicator for Facebook is an alternative to deactivating or deleting your Facebook account. It replaces the Facebook news feed with an inspirational quote. You can still use Facebook, but you’re much more likely to be intentional over what you do rather than graze the news feed.

How much does it cost?

News Feed Eradicator for Facebook is a free extension for Chrome.

How can I get it?

You can download News Feed Eradicator for Facebook from the Chrome Web Store.

Thanks to Colin Gray of The Podcast Host for the tip!

The Productivity Planner: Get More Done and Beat Procrastination

Every Friday I try to share one of my favourite finds of the week – a web-site, tool or app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is The Productivity Planner: Get More Done and Beat Procrastination.

What is it?

The Productivity Planner is a simple and effective method for getting meaningful work done without feeling busy and overwhelmed. It’s a physical notebook put together using productivity hacks from some of the most successful and productive people in the world.

How can it help me?

The Productivity Planner helps you to list out your three to five most important tasks for the day and then tackle them in order of importance, using the Pomodoro technique — which readers of this blog will know I’m a big fan of!

How much does it cost?

The Productivity Planner is currently going through a Kickstarter campaign with a pledge of $2 or more earning you a PDF copy of the Productivity Planner. Pledge $27 or more to get a physical copy of the Productivity Planner.

How can I get it?

Pledge $2 or more via The Productivity Planner Kickstarter campaign.

How can I eliminate unnecessary tasks?

Do you regularly undertake any tasks, jobs or chores within your business that are unnecessary and if so, how can I eliminate unnecessary tasks?

One way to answer this question is by asking yourself “Is this necessary?” the next time you undertake a repetitive or regular task.

I often ask myself this question about the repetitive work I do. I sometimes surprise myself when the answer I give comes back not as “Yes, this is necessary…” because of x, y or z valid reason, but “Yes, this is necessary…” because, well, I’ve always done it and I can’t stop doing it now, can I?

Eliminate unnecessary tasks

We can often find ourselves undertaking repetitive tasks within our businesses because at some point, when we started doing those tasks, it seemed like a good idea. Over time, we’ve continued completing that task not because it adds value to our business, but because we’ve committed to doing it.

But why are we still doing that thing?

As human beings, we often seem to be adverse to losing things, or giving things up. Think about the clothes in your wardrobe. Are there any clothes that seemed like a good idea when you bought them, but you’ve hardly ever worn or never worn? Why do you keep those clothes? Why not give them away if you’re never going to wear it again?

It’s the fear of loss. We’ve paid for the clothes so by keeping hold of them, we attribute some sort of false value to them.

Are you doing certain tasks because they add value, or because you’ve always done them?

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So I’ve found it is with repetitive business tasks. We continue doing something, not because it adds value, but because we have a fear of giving that thing up.

How to un-commit from unnecessary tasks

One way to eliminate unnecessary tasks is through an experiment. I’m a big fan of experiments. Labeling something as an experiment gives it the indicator of being temporary. Of being a test. If you are scared of trying something new, or fear others will be scared of a change, label it an experiment. People are more open to experimenting than making changes. It feels less permanent.

Try experimenting with ceasing a regular task you suspect is unnecessary. This is especially useful if the task is customer facing.

For instance, when I owned my IT business we used to send out executive reports to decision makers at our clients each month. These reports took some time to create and send but the theory was the customer would find value in them.

We experimented with ending the task of collating and sending these reports. Not one customer complained or even noticed the report wasn’t sent at its usual time. The customers didn’t see any value in the report, we just assumed they did and therefore that producing and sending the reports was something we should be doing.

Conclusion

Which tasks are you regularly undertaking that you suspect you might only be doing because you’ve always done it, and not because it adds value to your business?

Experiment with ceasing a task and seeing the impact on your business. If somebody notices the absence of the result of the task, ask them why they found it valuable. At least now, if you choose to re-implement the task, you have a legitimate reason for expending time on it.

If nobody (especially you!) notices the task hasn’t been completed, then you’ve saved yourself some valuable time that you can spend elsewhere within your business on a task that does add value instead.

22 Essentials from Nicholas Bate

After a long period on the road, I arrived home to a pile of post. Most of it was dull bills, yet one card was very welcome — a lovely note from Nicholas Bate and his “22 Essentials” list.

Who is Nicholas Bate?

Nicholas is one of a handful of “must read” bloggers whose thoughts on the business of life and the life of business I read every day without fail. I recommend you check out his work at http://www.nicholasbate.typepad.com/.

As well as being an amazing author (I highly recommend his book You, Only Better) Nicholas puts together lists that provide wisdom straight to the heart of the matter — as you can see with the 22 Essentials list he kindly sent me below.

22 Essentials from Nicholas Bate

22 Essentials — number 1. A pencil. Check out the whole list from Nicholas Bate.

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Thank you Nicholas!

How do I remove a LinkedIn contact?

Should you remove LinkedIn contacts who you have no relationship with? I explore with a guide answering the question, how do I remove a LinkedIn contact. Read more [...]

Using Social Media to win local business – TubbTalk11

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Can Social Media really be used by small businesses to find and win customers locally?

“Social Media is all about building an audience one person at a time.” @Chris­Marr10­1

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Using Social Media to win local business

In episode 11 of TubbTalk, I talk with Chris Marr of Learning Everyday, a leading Marketing and Communications Agency based in Scotland to explore using Social Media to win local business.

Chris and I discuss:-

Overcoming the common objection “We don’t use Social Media because our customers don’t use it”
Why Social Media is worthwhile for local businesses
The perils of not prioritising Social Media (or any type of Marketing) in Small Business
Examples of Social Media opportunities for local businesses
The mistake of using Social Media to sell to people
Who your competition really is on Social Media
Joining the dots – How the principles of off line networking successfully work in social networking
How a small business can build a following on Social Media
The power of Twitter lists
Why should businesses seek out Twitter chats
Details of The Content Marketing Academy event in Edinburgh.

Mentioned in this episode

Learning Everyday
The Content Marketing Academy Facebook group
The Content Marketing Academy Conference in Edinburgh, 3rd-4th September, 2015
@ChrisMarr101 on Twitter

Connect with me

Subscribe to TubbTalk RSS feed
Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk in iTunes
Subscribe, rate and review TubbTalk on Stitcher Radio
Follow @tubblog

Pixelgarde – Add, Remove or Change Geotags in Images

Every Friday I try to share one of my favourite finds of the week – a web-site, tool or app that has impressed me.

My Friday Favourite this week is Pixelgarde — a tool to Add, Remove or Change Geotags in images.

What are Geotags?

Geotags are electronic tags (or metadata) embedded in the images you take with your Smartphone, tablet or digital camera which assign a geographical location to your photos and videos.

In short, many of the photographs or videos you may have shared to Social Media sites such as Facebook or Instagram can be checked to see the location of the image when you took it.

What are the uses for Geotags?

Geotagged images can be really useful to allow you and others to know where a photograph or video was taken, and to organise your images by location.

On the downside, Geotagged images can also be used to pinpoint your location. That photograph of your Cat you took at home and uploaded to Facebook? Others can pinpoint your home on a map with very little effort.

For this reason, many people like to strip the Geotag information from their Photos before sharing to Social Media sites.

Checking your images for Geotags

If you are not sure if some of your images contain Geotags or not then you can use GeoImgr, a free website that quickly allows you to upload images and see if they contain Geotag data.

You may be surprised at what information your images reveal!

Pixelgarde – Add, Remove or Change Geotags in Images

Pixelgarde is a free app that enables you to organise and share your images safely.

You can use Pixelgarde to remove all private data when you want share images on-line. You can also use Pixelgarde to edit specific metadata — such as geotags and dates — to help you organise your images more efficiently.

While you should be aware of how to avoid the potential risks of geotagging, using Pixelgarde is a better solution than turning off GPS (Global Positioning System) geotagging altogether, because it allows you to keep geotag location data in your original images while stripping it from images you may have otherwise unintentionally shared geotagged data with when you post them on-line.

Download Pixelgarde

Pixelgarde is available for iPhone, Android, Windows and Mac.