The True Value of the Small Business Consulting Community

The Small Business IT consulting community is a dynamic and exciting community to be active in at this time. Many different opportunities are gaining some serious momentum in this underserved marketplace in Canada. The Small Business marketplace will be the fastest-growing segment in the information technology market. Currently, approximately 97% of the businesses in Canada have five hundred employees or less, which equates to a fantastic market to specialize in.Microsoft launched their Small Business Specialist program in the summer of 2005 at their annual partner conference. Since that time, a number of information technology consulting firms have taken advantage of this program to commence their consulting practice. The Small Business Specialist program is designed to promote Microsoft’s offerings to small business. It establishes SBSC members as leaders in the small business IT consulting marketplace that has been thrust into the spotlight for growth potential.The Small Business Specialist program serves as a best resource for IT professionals to access information, promotions, partnership opportunities and assistance to service a small business oriented client base. Groups have emerged on international, national and regional levels that assist the small business specialist in obtaining not only technical but also important business assistance. In addition, each year SMB Nation brings together the small business consulting community to network, learn, share and play.The small business consulting community has grown out of the leadership of corporations like Microsoft, SonicWALL, and Symantec. It has also grown because of people like Harry Brelsford of SMB Nation and several other leaders in the community. Their leadership has provided Small Business Specialists with additional resources to sharpen their craft long before the official launch of programs from corporations like Microsoft.The SMB community is open to sharing experiences, ideas, concepts and best practices so that emerging IT companies can seek knowledge to develop and grow. “I like focusing on a market segment where I can really get to know my clients and have a direct, tangible impact on their businesses,” claims Jeff Anderson, General Manager of Red Deer’s Bulletproof Networks, the city’s leading Small Business Specialist. Business development, however, is often overlooked by those text book technicians who have decided to start their own businesses. Learning from others in the SBSC community allows the small business consultants like Jeff to learn two or three markets and become the expert specialist in that field in order to have the potential to gain new business clients.New service offerings are demanding small business consultants start planning now on how to bring them to their client base. Clients today are in search of options that are evolving and they must be presented in a manner and language that they understand. Managed services, remote monitoring, software and hardware as services are starting to gain some traction in the market and as a new offering they need to be available from their SMB consultant. Small businesses want a company that they can trust. “When you and your peers are representative of 97% of the Canadian marketplace, it makes sense to be working with the very businesses that share the same concerns and deal with the same issues you do. Who better to give them the right tools to succeed?” states Elisabeth Vandervelt of Conamex International, an award winning Microsoft Small Business Specialist in Montreal.Today’s small businesses need innovative solutions to keep them competitive in the fast paced, on-demand, we-needed-it-yesterday and downtime-is-not-an-option environment we call today’s business world. SBSC members have the luxury and the ability to have direct interaction with decision makers therefore sales cycles are generally shorter while the demand for services has never been higher.Another luxury in the small business community is the ability to share work with each other across regional, national and international boundaries. Many firms are partnering locally to provide a one stop shop for their clients who need a specialized service or coverage in other locations where their clients may have a remote user or branch office. Partnering in the SBSC community is critical to the success of the small business consultant’s business since it gives small firms the reach and abilities of a much larger IT company and can be the their advantage over their competition in today’s marketplace.The Small Business Specialist can rest assured that they have the pride and recognition of a job well done combined with a community to back them up. All of these positive aspects provide an overwhelming sense of accomplishment for participants in the SBSC program.I reflect back to when my youngest son was in Beavers and their leaders consistently reminded them of the Beaver motto, the same motto that is the cornerstone of the SBSC community and all other small business consulting groups: Sharing, Sharing, Sharing! Share your successes with others; help others who are struggling; and share of yourself to make our community strong.

Computing Education Grants Program for the 21st Century

The National Science Foundation, more commonly known as the NSF, is a United States federal government agency that’s essentially responsible for pursuing and financially supporting fundamental research and education in all of the non-medical fields of science and engineering.The grants and initiatives of the NSF are all aimed towards the achievement of its overall agency mission which is “to promote the progression of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense.”In line with this mission, the National Science Foundation has recently established the Computing Education Grants Program for the 21st Century (CE21), whereby the agency primarily intends to make a robust computing research community, as well as a computationally competent 21st century workforce, and in the end a computationally empowered people.The NSF believes that there are three reason why the community has not yet achieved computational competence, first being that there is an underproduction of degrees that are important to the computing and computing-associated work-force, second would be the ever pressing concern referring to the under-representation of various segments of the population, and finally, the sheer absence of a presence of computing in K-12 levels.The modern-day era has brought information technology and computing to a whole new level in areas such as business expansion, scientific advances, and national security. Because of this, the country has seen a staggering growth in information technology-related jobs. Unfortunately, not that many Americans have managed to capitalize on this opportunity mainly because of their complete lack of skills and knowledge in the area of computing.As the clamor for the computing workforce continues to swoop, the NSF wishes to address this concern by making certain that ladies, people with incapacities, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans and indigenous races, and students in K-12 levels are well exposed to better computing-related opportunities.As a response, the Computing Education Grants Program for the 21st Century will fund studies that will concentrate on methods and ideas that will provide students with rigorous educational curricula that essentially contains sufficient computational ideas and skills.A funding amount of $13,000,000 is about to be provided for by the National Science Foundation to support this objective.The affiliations and institutions who will be deemed eligible to submit an application under the Computing Education Grants Program for the 21st Century are the following:a) Schools and Colleges – Universities and two and four-year colleges (including community colleges) which are licensed in, and having a campus that’s located in the United States, acting for their faculty members.b) Non-profit, non-academic affiliations such as Independent museums, observatories, research laboratories, professional societies and similar associations in the United States which are connected with educational or research activitiesc) State and Local Governments such as State educational offices or organizations and local school districts.

Struggling With Your First Year in Network Marketing?

There is hope, network marketing does work. Your upline wasn’t lying to you.Your first year in network marketing or any business for that matter is always going to be one of the hardest. The issue with network marketing, particularly the first year in network marketing is the new marketer expects to enter the network marketing industry as a professional marketer.You have been on the company training, been to a couple home and hotel meetings, read the hand book, listened to your uplines stories. Now fully armed with your new found knowledge you feel you are ready for this network marketing stuff. The first couple times you expect to get knocked back, rejected, but after the 10th, 20th, 30th time rejection becomes a bitter pill to swallow would you not agree?Do you really know all there is to know? Have you been trained enough? Is there more you can be doing? Is there a SMARTER way to work?Lets look at it this way. If you decided today that you wanted to become a brain surgeon, do you think after attending some hotel and home meetings, reading a book and listening to some stories from a brain surgeon friend of yours that this is going to qualify you enough to become a brain surgeon in a week or months time? No I didn’t think so. Now even though being a network marketer isn’t as involved as brain surgery there is still a lot to learn if you want to be a really successful network marketer.So lets break down what network marketing is.Your roll as a network marketer is to market your product or service to your network. Think to yourself right now, how big is your network? Who does your network consist of? Family, friends, co-workers, hobby buddies etc, I am sure you already have this list. How many people from your immediate network (list) are really going to be interested in your product / service or would like to join you in your business venture? If 50% of your list (and that is being very generous) want to join or buy from you will the income they produce give you the lifestyle you are after? I am sure the answer to this it NO. Your network is too small to fulfill your dreams.Doom and gloom over. I am sure you have had enough of that for your first year in network marketing. The solution to your problems is simple. Get a bigger network to which you can market your product / service.How big can my network be?As big as your product / service will allow. If your goods are globally sold, then the world is your oyster. If your goods are only in your country, then your whole country is who you can market to.How am I going to market to the rest of the world?You do it ONLINE. The internet is the most powerful marketing tool ever created.That’s my network problem solved. Now how do I market to them?Great question. There are literally hundreds of ways to market. Some you will be glad to know are free, such as Facebook Marketing and Article Marketing, some you have to pay for such as pay-per-click, banner ads, advertising on other people website and so on. I would strongly advise that you find one, two max marketing methods your happy with. Learn them, consistently apply what you have learned and master those methods. Once they start bearing results then your can proceed onto other marketing method.If your first year in network marketing has been full of struggles I am sure you now have a new boost and ideas on how to make your second year more successful. If you have just begun your first network marketing year you could use this article as a short cut to your success.To summarise on how to be successfully in your first year in network marketing.
Get access to the biggest network you can!
Market to this network!
Use the most powerful marketing tool on the planet, THE INTERNET!
To you future success.
Dwayne Huggins