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SMB Consulting Best Practices (Harry Brelsford's SMB)
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List Price:
$59.95
Homebizpc.com Price: $59.95
Subject To Change Without Notice
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Hara Publishing Group
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780974858067
ISBN: 0974858064
Label: Hara Publishing Group
Manufacturer: Hara Publishing Group
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 624
Publication Date: 2003-09
Publisher: Hara Publishing Group
Studio: Hara Publishing Group
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Editorial Reviews:
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This book serves the small and medium business (SMB) technology consultant seeking to make a great living as a professional service provider. Focused more on the "business" side than the "bits" side, it's all about: * Not only surviving but thriving as an SMB consultant by cultivating a superior portfolio of top flight customers with appropriate, effective and efficient business development approaches. * Keeping your customers happy by applying the consulting practice management skills presented between the covers. * Finding your calling in SMB consulting life by discovering niches such as Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS 2003) that allow you to master a technical area and consistently deliver assured outcomes. Some will find this book, built on the well established construct of the finder, minder, grinder professional services delivery model, could aptly be titled "How to Make Money as an SMB Consultant." Others will view this book as a transition tome between SBS 2000 and SBS 2003 due to the timeframe that is was penned (this books uses both examples as . Others will view it as the first SBS 2003 book to market! And finally, many will consider this book their ready guide to taking their SMB consulting practice to the next levels of profitability and service delivery. Bottom line: This is your "pocket MBA" course on how to launch yourself as an SMB consultant using Microsoft's SBS solution -or- if you're an experienced consultant, this book will help you sharpen your SMB consulting operations. It's safe to say it's purchase price will be returned many times over and reflect an positive return on investment! You may contact the author (an experienced SMB consultant, SBS guru and writer) directly at sbs@nethealthmon.com if you have any questions about this book you would like answered before you make your purchase. You will receive a reply within one business day.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Self Merchant
Comment: If you haven't heard about the author's personal enterprises, then you surely will after reading all about him in this book. Heck, if a merchant won't promote his own wares, then who would? The gist of the book is to sell yourself wherever there is a heart-beat, and since would-be readers of this book have a pulse, they are fair game.
The author insists on calling this light-weight a 'tome,' but it is far from one. This book could have been written in half the number of pages and had room to spare. It is interspersed with redundant spaces for the reader's notes. These 'Notes' boxes and generous screen-shots fill many pages with vacuums when the author draws a blank. He admits it is more profitable to self-publish and and so the lack of editing is evident. The prose is colloquial, verbose, replete with spelling and grammatical errors, and has a few misplaced figures.
So why rate it three stars? Well, we mustn't throw out the baby with the bath water. The author is a successful consultant and so his experiences are instructive. Among the topics covered are the business plan, growing a consulting practice, marketing, sales, client relationships and financial management. One can almost envision him recalling courses from his MBA as he navigates these topics. The author is a Microsoft Small Business Server consultant and the material leans heavily that way, and so a more accurate title would have been SBS Consulting Best Practices. The coverage is adequate, but not worth the price tag, especially for those familiar with consulting books.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Nothing but a bloated advertisement...
Comment: From the blurb on this book's back cover, it would seem that actual consulting with 'SMB' as a target market would be covered extensively in the book content. This really isn't the case.
Page after page of this book contains little more than thinly veiled advertisements for 'MS Small Business Server'. Reason after reason for selling 'SBS' to a client is detailed, while providing little else in the way of actually useful information.
For example, take chapter 6, titled 'SMB Consulting Sales'. This would hopefully contain information on selling consulting services to an SMB. Instead, this chapter focuses entirely on the section 'How To Sell SBS in under five minutes'. Swell.
From the standpoint of a consultant looking for ways to begin or improve practices as related to SMBs, this book is nearly worthless. I count myself fortunate that I purchased it used for $10, but I honestly regret spending even that.
If you're seeking useful information on consulting to the 'Small To Medium sized Business', look elsewhere, you won't find it in this book. If you'd like to pay in the neighborhood of $60 for a bloated sales pamphlet that covers MS SBS in nauseatingly fuzzy detail, then this is a must-have.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Harry keeps his streak going!
Comment: If you know Harry Brelsford and his writing this is the next book in a long line of great books. Harry's wit and personality shines to the forefront but don't be mistaken this book is strictly about making money and advancing your business which Harry is all about. If you're starting up your own consulting biz then you must have this book or if you are just stagnant in your own practice this book has some great pointers to get you going again.
Also, as a SMB Nation attendee I suggest that as well, which is the conferences that Harry sponsors. Check it out at smbnation.com.
Get it, Grab it, Read it, Understand it, Prosper from it!Tavis Patterson
TAZ Networks
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