The symposium will feature Ron Baker of the VeraSage Institute and Ed Kless, Senior Director, Partner Strategy and Development from Sage. This experience is dedicated to the possibility that a professional organization can be run more effectively when it becomes a knowledge firm rather than a service firm. Creating such an organization is hard work and not for everyone as it requires partners to think differently than they have in the past about what it is that they do.

Hyatt Regency Irvine      Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Course Fee: $1,500 (USD)

May 23, 2012 – May 24, 2012
08:00 AM
Seats Left 30

River Rock Casino Resort  Richmond, BC  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Course Fee: $1,500 (USD)

July 17, 2012 – July 18, 2012
Seats Left 30

Doubletree Hotel Boston – Boston, MA – Downtown  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Course Fee: $1,500 (USD)  PDC100 – Sage Consulting Academy – Consulting Essentials

The Sage Consulting Academy Consulting Essentials is designed to give consultants, new and seasoned, a comprehensive and perhaps different look at the consulting process, a thorough understanding of the business and industry issues faced by the companies in the industries they’re consulting to, and a hands-on approach to implementing Sage  solutions in the marketplace.

NOTE: If you are enrolling in this class as part of a competency role requirement, refer to the product certification pages for enrollment instructions to receive the appropriate pricing.

 The West Westin Bristol Place Toronto Airport  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

July 16, 2012 – July 19, 2012
Seats Left 25

Hilton Vancouver Airport  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

July 30, 2012 – August 02, 2012 Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Seats Left 25

Hyatt Regency Irvine    Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000.00 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500.00 (USD)

PDC100PE – Sage Consulting Academy Essentials Assessment Certification Assessment

This certification assessment is part of the Implementation Consultant Competency Role.

You can sign up for the Certification Competency role through the certification links on Sage Partner University to receive this exam as part of that enrollment. However, if you want to “Test Out” of the Competency Role by challenging the exam only, register here and pay the assessment fee.

You will have 2 attempts to test out, no materials are included, and if you don’t pass the challenge exam you must sign up for the entire competency role and attend training

IMPORTANT NOTES:

NO study materials are included with this test-out option; however, an outline of the course this assessment is based on can be found at this link: Course Outline.

Recommended Prerequisites:
Attendance in the Sage Consulting Academy

Online Assessment – ACS  Course Details  List Price: $200 (USD)
Assessment Fee: $0.00 (USD)

Purchase Credits: -300

PDM100 – Sage Marketing Academy

The Sage Marketing Academy is designed to jump start your marketing efforts.  The academy starts before you even arrive at class with key customer interviews that are required for participation in Day 1.  Through the academy, you will refine your core messaging and differentiation, and then you will use this core messaging to develop a comprehensive marketing calendar to take with you.

PDS100 – Sage Sales Academy – Essentials

Sage Software Sales Academy Essentials I is a four-day course designed to provide a comprehensive education on the selling process, a thorough understanding of key industry issues and a hands-on approach to improving key skills necessary to succeed in the marketplace.

PD111 – Firm of the Future Symposium

The Westin Bristol Place Toronto Airport Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)

The symposium will feature Ron Baker of the VeraSage Institute and Ed Kless, Senior Director, Partner Strategy and Development from Sage.This experience is dedicated to the possibility that a professional organization can be run more effectively when it becomes a knowledge firm rather than a service firm. Creating such an organization is hard work and not for everyone as it requires partners to think differently than they have in the past about what it is that they do.

Hyatt Regency Irvine  Directions  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Course Fee: $1,500 (USD)

May 23, 2012 – May 24, 2012
08:00 AM
Seats Left 30

River Rock Casino Resort - Richmond B.C.  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Course Fee: $1,500 (USD)

July 17, 2012 – July 18, 2012
Seats Left 30

Doubletree Hotel Boston – Downtown  Boston Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Course Fee: $1,500 (USD)

PDC100 – Sage Consulting Academy – Consulting Essentials

The Sage Consulting Academy Consulting Essentials is designed to give consultants, new and seasoned, a comprehensive and perhaps different look at the consulting process, a thorough understanding of the business and industry issues faced by the companies in the industries they’re consulting to, and a hands-on approach to implementing Sage solutions in the marketplace.

NOTE: If you are enrolling in this class as part of a competency role requirement, refer to the product certification pages for enrollment instructions to receive the appropriate pricing.

Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

May 08, 2012 – May 11, 2012
Seats Left 16

The Westin Bristol Place Toronto Airport Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

July 16, 2012 – July 19, 2012
Seats Left 25

Hilton Vancouver Airport  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

July 30, 2012 – August 02, 2012 Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Seats Left 25

Hyatt Regency Irvine     Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

PDC100PE – Sage Consulting Academy Essentials Assessment Certification Assessment

This certification assessment is part of the Implementation Consultant Competency Role.

You can sign up for the Certification Competency role through the certification links on Sage Partner University to receive this exam as part of that enrollment. However, if you want to “Test Out” of the Competency Role by challenging the exam only, register here and pay the assessment fee.

You will have 2 attempts to test out, no materials are included, and if you don’t pass the challenge exam you must sign up for the entire competency role and attend training
IMPORTANT NOTES:

NO study materials are included with this test-out option; however, an outline of the course this assessment is based on can be found at this link: Course Outline.

Recommended Prerequisites:
Attendance in the Sage Consulting Academy

Online Assessment – ACS  Course Details  List Price: $200 (USD)
Assessment Fee: $0.00 (USD)

Purchase Credits: -300

PDM100 – Sage Marketing Academy

The Sage Marketing Academy is designed to jump start your marketing efforts.  The academy starts before you even arrive at class with key customer interviews that are required for participation in Day 1.  Through the academy, you will refine your core messaging and differentiation, and then you will use this core messaging to develop a comprehensive marketing calendar to take with you.

PDS100 – Sage Sales Academy – Essentials
Sage Software Sales Academy Essentials I is a four-day course designed to provide a comprehensive education on the selling process, a thorough understanding of key industry issues and a hands-on approach to improving key skills necessary to succeed in the marketplace.

The Westin Bristol Place Toronto Airport  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

PDS100 – Sage Sales Academy – Essentials
Sage Software Sales Academy Essentials I is a four-day course designed to provide a comprehensive education on the selling process, a thorough understanding of key industry issues and a hands-on approach to improving key skills necessary to succeed in the marketplace.

Irvine  Course Details   Course Fee: $2,000 (USD)
2nd Attendee Price: $1,500 (USD)

The year 2011 marks the 30th year that Sage has been providing market-leading business management software and services to small and midsized businesses. Throughout our history, our commitment to customers has been at the center of everything we do. It is a commitment that has helped make Sage a recognized global leader in supplying business management solutions to small and midsized businesses like yours, and it is a commitment that grows each day in the way we serve you, as we deliver a growing portfolio of products and services to help make your business life easier.

Sage Product Family

Beginning in 2012, Sage will be using a product numbering system: Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300, and Sage 500. Learn more about these product families.

What’s Changing?

In 2012 the names of many of our core accounting and ERP lines, including those designed for nonprofits and the construction industry, will be changing. These products will be identified with a numbering approach where higher numbers denote increasing levels of product capability or sophistication. Our product numbering sets will include Sage 50, Sage 100, Sage 300, and Sage 500.

However, these changes are more than in name alone. Each product family will offer integration to common business solutions such as CRM, Fixed Assets, HRMS, and Payroll. Sage Connected Services provide additional capabilities, including online payment processing, mobile access, and data security, while product support through Sage Business Care and Sage Advisor technology ensure you get the most from your Sage investment.

What’s Staying The Same?

Sage is still the same company at heart. We remain fully committed to advancing our products—those whose names are changing as well as those that retain their familiar names—to help make your business life easier. And we remain fully committed to delivering a superior customer experience when you call us on the phone, work with us through the web, and use our products on a daily basis.

Please explore this site for more information about the evolution of the Sage brand in 2012. You’ll find a brief preview of what’s ahead for our products and services in 2012 as we simplify our product portfolio and back it with common services and experience to help make your business life easier. Watch a brief overview video that describes the brand name evolution, then read information on how the changes affect the product you’re using today, and learn more about Sage and Sage solutions for your business.  http://linkd.in/sF7OIC

Sage Gold Development Partner, ACOM Solutions Inc., today announced the launch EZeCabinet,
a Sage-Integrated Document Management Solution for under $11,000, to their Sage Partners and End-users. The addition of EZeCabinet to ACOM’s solution line-up adds to the success of their Sage-Integrated EZCM Enterprise Document Management Suite; expanding their market reach to now include Sage ERP systems of every size. Feature-packed EZeCabinet sets a new standard of success for ACOM, building upon their strategic focus in developing affordable, Sage-integrated document management solutions to meet the needs of ERP users at any level.

For over the last two years, ACOM has maintained its success in the Sage marketplace by delivering affordable, easy-to-use, bundled EDM solutions, integrated with Sage ERP Accpac, Sage ERP MAS and Sage Fund Accounting. The launch of EZeCabinet now takes ACOM’s “affordability” model to new levels giving users the ability to capture, store, track, share, link, and manage their documents for under $11,000; with a tightly integrated and fully implemented solution.

The software, offered through ACOM’s world-wide Partner network will be available December 1, 2011. Fully implemented within a day, EZeCabinet’s ease of installation, training and operation gives ACOM the opportunity to expand their market reach even further with EZeCabinet programs available for Sage Authorized Business Partners of every size.

According to Joseph Torano, vice president of ACOM’s channels division, “We have listened intently to Sage clients who have the requirements to manage their documents and business information, but lack the organizational size and/or budget. In developing EZeCabinet, we focused upon their needs, giving them powerful tools to manage their information, Sage-integrated functionality and all at an affordable price point. And, as with ACOM’s full suite of Sage-Integrated solutions, EZeCabinet users have the capability to access EZeCabinet functionality directly from their Sage screens or via web browser. This gives EZeCabinet clients the ability to easily share documents and information with employees, partners, vendors and customers…and without requiring ERP access.”

“EZeCabinet is also designed around the technology offered in ACOM’s EZCM solutions. That means that as EZeCabinet customers grow, they will have the opportunity to upgrade their solutions to ACOM’s full suite of Sage-Integrated ERP Enterprise Document Management, Process Automation and Payment Solutions. What’s more; with Sage-Integrated EZeCabinet, customers can be fully functional within a day. Combine this with ease of training and operation, and we will be able to extend EZeCabinet to a much wider range of Sage ERP customers, with programs for Sage Authorized Business Partners at different levels. We are excited to launch EZeCabinet, as this now puts us squarely in the majority market of Sage MAS, Sage Accpac and Sage Fund Accounting clients. Now Sage clients of any size gain the advantages that document management offers, which were once only reserved for larger enterprises using more expensive systems,” Mr. Torano added.

“EZeCabinet is an exciting development,” says Sage Business Partner Andrew Nunez, COO and Executive VP of Sales for SWK Technologies. “Sage ERP users can now have the advantages of going paperless with an integrated document management solution for under $11,000. We believe that this is the type of solution that we could offer with every Sage ERP sale.”

For more information about ACOM’s Sage-integrated EZeCabinet Document Management solution:

• Visit: http://www.acom.com/ezecabinet-sagelinkedin

About ACOM Solutions, Inc.

For over 28 years, ACOM has automated the document and payment processes for more than 4,000 organizations. ACOM’s Electronic Document Management solutions are integrated into an organization’s existing Sage ERP system to extend that system’s capabilities and dramatically improve efficiency by eliminating paper (along with the associated errors and storage costs), as well as automating manual, paper-based processes. By incorporating ACOM’s solutions into their product offerings, Value-Added Resellers (VARs) can easily bring this valuable set of additional cost-saving Sage ERP enhancements to clients. For more information about ACOM’s Sage-integrated Document Management solutions, please visit: http://www.acom.com/sagepr . For more information about ACOM’s Partner Success Program, please visit: www.acom.com/channelspr .

I’ve been reading GaryVaynerchuk’s book titled “The Thank You Economy.”  I’m also reading his other book “Why Now Is The Time To Crush It.” Both books are very well written by someone who has mastered social media. If you don’t know of his social media pedigree, go to You Tube and listen to some of his talks at conferences or take the plunge and purchase his books through Amazon.com

Essentially social media has been around for about 14-15 years with the advent of the first recognizable social network site launched in 1997. SixDegrees.com allowed users to create profiles, list their Friends and, beginning in 1998, surf the Friends lists.

Since that small inauspicious beginning there have been literally hundreds of (SNS) or Social Networking Sites with members, friends, connections counting in the millions.

So where am I going with this? Okay, since you asked I’ll tell you. There are thousands of people in the United States that refer to themselves as Social Media Experts, Social Media Gurus etc. Some of the more humble call themselves Strategists and bill out to other companies to tell said companies how to build a social media strategy that will guarantee an almost immediate ROI.

Granted most companies have a FaceBook, Twitter & LinkedIn profile but have no clue as to what to do with that profile to make it work for them. I know this to be true because I’ve been given the privilege to talk to Sage partners and I would estimate that 80% of those that have a profile don’t know how to utilize it. How did I come up with that percentage? I always ask at the beginning of each session and the number has remained pretty consistent.

So what do they do? They find someone who will work inexpensively and promises to increase their Social Media profile if they will just do the following…blah…blah…blah…etc…etc…etc…

But the partners trust them because their business cards says they’re a Social Media expert and they wouldn’t stretch the truth on their business card, would they?

I just corresponded with a business partner whom sat in on my session at Sage Summit 2011 and afterwards he wanted to talk about increasing his profile and tailoring it for his needs. Guess who is helping him? His girl friend because she’s his girlfriend. Good luck with that.

In a business arena that is as young as Social Media is there are very few experts. There are, however, people who have learned how to monetize Social Media and I guess that makes them experts in making money. There are also those who have studied it enough to be able share their knowledge with others.

I don’t have anything bad to say about someone who is lucky enough to work for a corporation that believes that Social Media is our future, because that’s what I would like to do. No, my problem is the Experts and Gurus out there who are giving the rest of us that really care about our customers a black eye by taking the money and running.

To borrow from Gary’s book “The Thank You Economy” Blockbuster didn’t think that the Internet was going to be around very long and basically they handed the business to NetFlix. Can anyone tell me who is no longer in business as the direct result of not recognizing the power of the internet? The same goes for Borders, they handed a goldmine to Amazon, as the Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos says, “If I had a nickel for every investor that said that this (Amazon) wasn’t going to work”……. 

I recently changed my e-mail signature to read LinkedIn Enthusiast because I am very enthusiastic about all things LinkedIn & Social Media as a whole.

Be leery of those that call themselves experts, ask to see their certification, ask them for business referrals, ask them if they wouldn’t mind you calling some of their customers (that you get to pick)

Embrace the Internet and Social Media, they’re here to stay and if you’re not spending time there you’re missing out because I’ll bet your customers are spending time there.

Article provided by our friends at Juice Marketing – A VAR Channel Marketing Company and
Sage Preferred Vendor.

By now, most of you recognize that landing pages play an important role in
your VAR marketing effort.  While there are plenty of “Do’s”, “Don’ts”, and
best practices for landing page performance that make good sense, here’s
one thing I learned recently while attending a Hubspot webcast that’s not so
obvious … the best performing landing pages are naked.

Keep it Simple

A naked landing page is simply stripped of (pun intended) menu navigation
and extraneous information that doesn’t serve the primary goal of the page
(download white paper, register for webcast, etc.).

While it’s tempting to show off all your great products, services, and other
offerings, that stuff will probably just distract your visitors from (what should
be) the primary purpose or goal of the landing page … get them to provide
contact/lead information in exchange for your great offer.  Once they submit
contact info or take action on your landing page, THEN you can redirect them
to your home page, blog, product overview, or anywhere else on your website.

So c’mon VARs … delete the navigation menu, focus on the call to action, and
let’s get naked!

“For more channel marketing insights, check out the Juice Marketing blog at www.Juice-Marketing.com/blog“

Mark Badran
Juice Marketing, LLC
mark@juice-marketing.com
(949) 340-3374  |  www.Juice-Marketing.com    

“I have had the privilege to work with Moira Goggin on a couple of different projects & I think that there is no one better at what they do than Moira. I’m amazed at her knowledge and her ability to present what I believe to be a complex situation into terms that the end user (and myself) understand.  She also has the ability to gain a client’s trust & keep it throughout the life of the project and beyond. I highly recommend her for any project that needs someone who has integrity, honesty & knowledge.” ~ Bill Kizer 

Your business is more than just products and services. Your business is a living, changing and developing enterprise. You need tools, you need resources, you need answers. Get the most out of your ERP system — we’re here to give your business the competitive edge with Sage products, MAS 90, MAS 200, SageCRM, BusinessWorks and our in-depth knowledge, experience and workability.   

• System Analysis, Design, Integration
• System Implementation, Software Installation
• Training, Support/trouble-shooting
• Custom Reports – Including Crystal Reports and FRx
• Custom Programming
• Data Conversion and Data Import/Export
• Data interfacing
• Program Upgrades/Conversions
• Custom Operation Guides and Documentation
• Sarbanes/Oxley Audit Support 

2700 Temple Ave. Suite E
Long Beach, CA 90806
(562) 989-8400 / sales@chismet.com / www.chismet.com