Vlads New Direction
I have gotten a few e-mails and calls asking me what Vlad is up to. I don’t know why y’all assume I am his father, I am way too young for that :>)
One of the nicer ones came in this morning “Loved the blog from Vlad you forwarded, although I did not agree with his assessment of SBS providers, many of whom I have met and have respect for.” Some were so rude, they sounded like Vlad wrote them :>) What I don’t understand is why y’all they send them to me instead of responding to his posts directly.
I have a little secret for ya, he is all about the conversation. He just wants to motivate you to respond, to communicate. Don’t like what he has to say, that is why there is a reply section on Vladville.com post your thoughts.
As for what he is up to, He Will Tell You In His Own Words Here
July 8th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Andy,
They write to you because they don’t want to have that kind of an argument with me - because I talk to EVERYONE. And I know the riffraff, the SPFs, the scammers, the crooks and the true landscape of the SBS providers.
I know a lot of great SBS partners. I work with a ton of them. But because I make a point to get out there, provide webcasts/podcasts, TS2 support and so on I also get to meet the 70% of the SMB community that most of you are not going to make a point to go and shake hands with.
It’s like any other profession, there are good people and then there are bad people. SBSers unfortunately overwhelmingly fall into the bad category. That is not a reflection of you as an SBSer, thats the reflection of the market and your coleagues. Ever wonder why only 5 people show up to your UG meeting but 50-100 show up to TS2? Ever wondered just what those other 95 “SBSers” were up to?
I know. And I try to make people aware of that on my blog so you can lift your game up and not make the same mistakes they do. If you must hate me for that, hey, your problem - I work with some great people out here and I intend to continue to do so because every bit that I can do to help improves us all.
-Vlad
July 8th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Wow, now I don’t feel nearly as bad as I have been only averaging 18 people a meeting. Where I live except for my dusty littel troup, they care so little about our industry Microsoft even stopped holding TS2’s out here.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:00 am
Andy,
And thats precisely what pisses me off the most - Microsoft just shuns them and nothing happens. I explain why they are being shunned - because the majority of them reflect the “Vlad’s assessment of SBS providers” and I’m the bad guy?
Further proving that people would rather be lied to than be told the truth they don’t want to admit. Kudos to anyone that can run their business that way, I can’t imagine the amount of money that would be needed to let me sleep at night if I spent all day misleading people and smiling while reaching into their pocket.
-Vlad