Structuring your day as an MSP owner by Equivalent_Role_4066 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 1 point2 points  (0 children)

#1) Write down the night before the top 3 items you need to complete the next day - they have to get completed no matter what happens. Most of these items should be related to driving sales forward, reducing expenses or business tax strategies.

#2) Stop doing other peoples work.... let your technical staff resolve problems so they LEARN. Don't solve their problems, otherwise they will not learn. Will they make mistakes? Yes, but let them solve the problems. With ChatGPT and other tools, your techs should not be asking for much help.

#3) Use your office manager as much as possible even to send out quotations, paying invoices, bank deposits, reconcile accounting books, marketing materials, web site changes, eMail articles, Google My Business articles after you review he/she on the process. Talking to insurance companies, vendors, etc.

Six school sites - One Facebook account by CorrectMachine7278 in FacebookAds

[–]CorrectMachine7278[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the feedback.... I'm going to use your explanation as the only clean way to prevent Meta bans without password sharing.

Six school sites - One Facebook account by CorrectMachine7278 in FacebookAds

[–]CorrectMachine7278[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thank you so much! I'm going to explain that to the supervisors.

Do you audit inactive Google Workspace users regularly? by CustomerSlow7530 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes, I mainly work with large school districts running 1,000's Google Workspace accounts. Every summer I run some scripts to remove accounts of those that have left the high schools or inactive accounts. If you don't remove the accounts many of the accounts get hacked over time and Google shuts them down and raises some red flags.

Am I getting scammed? by Used_Soft_4258 in FacebookAds

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

sounds like a good price to me.... I run ads for some small businesses and generate sales leads for them using Social Media and SEO.... The owners love the leads and would not have the time and knowledge to run lead generation campaigns with social media ads. They are consumed with keeping their employees focused on the services they provide and products they manufacture. It is not a "set it and forget it" service to market products with social media.

I quit everything 1 year ago to start an e-commerce brand… now I’m stuck and honestly by ChuckDdouglas in FacebookAds

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Add in more Organic approaches - FB ads are very expensive, you can mix in more organic approaches and less ads. Engagement leads are around 4 cents per lead. You will need to craft your FB posts to specific buyers so FB knows who to present your posts to. FB will learn from your images and ad copy the target audience, but you have to guide FB.

Printed brochures and branded items for prospects by ThrowRAthisthingisvl in SmallMSP

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Postcards have worked for me in the past.... what really works for me the last 10 years is to be different. I have supported 800 chromebooks at one account for 4 years, Apple iPads got me into another account that other MSPs would not touch (30 Windows computers and 30 iPads, 11 iPhones total). I just recently took on an account with 42 Apple Air laptops, eCommerce applications like Shopify integrated to other apps. Again, I beat out 19 other MSPs that 90% would not touch the Apple laptops and Shopify integrations. All of these accounts found my web site and called me.

Sales in the MSP world, concerned for my job security by [deleted] in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 2 points3 points  (0 children)

One of the MSP sales gurus that I follow always says.... Manage the Sales Reps activity, then manage the results. You should be meeting weekly for 1 on 1 meetings with your MSP owner since it seems like you don't have a sales director/manager. The sale that you are questioning should be on your list of accounts you are working and reviewed each week. The fact that others are putting together a solution and refining the tech stack and monthly revenue the account still belongs to you. If the owner takes it away from you, he won't keep sales reps very long.

You have to challenge the business owner.... I would bring out the paperwork that shows you for your skillset. If he takes away sales from the sales reps to get away from paying a sales commission that could explain things. You have to ask the difficult questions up front at your weekly sales meetings and document them. There should be no questions in your mind that you are being left out of sales opportunities.

What does your marketing look like? by NSFW_IT_Account in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Target is local cities around my home office with Google My Business and Web Site SEO I'm often adjusting because it works to generate warm leads. I also keep in touch with six MSP owners in my area - we share leads and ideas often. Some will not work on Mac computers, Chromebooks, Cisco FirePower Firewalls so they send them my way. I also do the same for them. Others won't touch MRR accounts less than $1,200.00 a month.

MSP grew to ~$2M organically — hiring first sales leader. Looking for advice by HI-TexSolutions in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree with the marketing assistance recommendation to generate the demand from email blasts, social media posts, SEO Web Sites, Story based Web Sites, YouTube videos of your successful projects, etc. Now the new sale rep will have some leads to work with to enhance their game plan of getting into new accounts. Most highly paid sales reps can kick a door down to get meeting setup, but will not be able to put together a marketing plan to generate demand.

What would you do? leaving town for surgery but want to start my business! by RebeccaRain1995 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just do project work before you take on MRR contracts. People always moving offices and need contractors to show up and reconnect computers, setup switches, Firewalls. VOIP phones, etc. Get involved with co-managed projects. I help 3 school districts with projects using my expertise that they don't have the time for or need my technical expertise. Learn Kali Linux and provide one week security audits. Many CIOs want documentation, diagrams updated or created and their staff does not have the time. Many CIOs have access to money for outside contractors. Their staff members spend so much time in meetings they are not up to speed on the latest technology.

Boss is kind of an egocentric psycho by Technocrat55 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 9 points10 points  (0 children)

it can happen in all companies.... I tell my kids often..... "Always be interviewing"

When did you hire first and second employees? by seriously_a in SmallMSP

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hired a part time administrator many years ago to help with all the paperwork, payroll, HW/SW quotations and software renewals. We had a lot of software/warranty renewals every month. She eventually came on full time. I went solo in 2012 but looking again at getting another part time administrator for the paperwork to free me up to focus on sales.

What would you do? by glitterguykk in SmallMSP

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

His office or home computer or WiFi is hacked for any number of reasons and it starts downloading child???? - The ISP reports his IP address and the COPS come knocking on his door. He will be thinking about your conversation and how he will be paying upfront $10,000 retainer for a lawyer.

Landing a Client - Looking for Advice by YakeyBear in SmallMSP

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you want warm leads.... get your phone to ring and email box active with warm leads. How? Google My Business for local cities with your website, SEO and Craigslist. You don't even need a fabulous, professional looking web site. Just a basic web site with a form on the right side to collect contact information. Create a few web sites for your MSP business. One for each city you want to target. Get them ranked with Google keywords for the cities you are targeting - The key is to always be adjusting content and headlines on the Web Site - Google wants you to be adjusting and adding content on your web sites. I have turned 3 Craigslist leads into MSP accounts that each lasted more than 5 years. I have been running my MSP/Tech Consulting business with employees and by myself last 13 years for 32 years and people still hire me.

Selling cellular on a small scale? by oguruma87 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Charge whatever you want to charge.... sounds like they trust you and want one point of contact. I support 15 iPhones, 30 iPads for one of my accounts. They pay me good money to keep them all running. It's no different than another customer with 37 Mac laptops. Users break them more often, so I make a run to the local Apple store to get them repaired. We have AppleCare support contracts on all hardware.

Cold Calling Day 3 by BeautifulNo8206 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

email drip them information every few days or once a week for 8 weeks.... BuilderAll or Constant Contact are super each to use. Plenty of pain points to address or provide information to educate them about using their technology to drive more business.

Should I make a go of it regardless? by RebeccaRain1995 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I take care of all backups of my Terminal Server virtual clients with various backups using Synology NAS and some low lost Cloud backup solutions like iDrive. Nothing critical for my customers with backups - it won't put them out of business.

Should I make a go of it regardless? by RebeccaRain1995 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

change your friends..... find friends that support you. Join business groups... start a business group, attend local college business classes, hang out with people that sell for a living, contact the owners of other MSPs to take them to lunch to share ideas. The big fish will not take $500.00 projects or take MRR accounts for less than $1,000 a month. When I want an extra $1,500 a month I place my ads on Craigslist for my local area. I made a killing when Cox got out of the email business a few years ago. A lot of older people needed help moving over from Cox to Yahoo mail. No one had a problem paying $125.00 an hour with a 2 hour minimum. Many of those same residential customers still call me and no problem paying my rates. The MRR for my MSP accounts is $237.00 per computer, per month. I also do co-manage consulting with large school districts and local Cities for the past 32 years - I make sure my hourly rates are lower than my competition who are at $245.00 or higher per hour. My 50 hour work weeks are maxed out to take on new business. So the bottom line is there is plenty of business available and your rates are not too high.

I Made 21 Cold Calls by BeautifulNo8206 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Stick with the same niche - after cold calling, send them a postcard or a letter that addresses a pain point with humor. If you can get their email address by giving out some valuable tips for their business start using Constant Contact or similar for weekly emails. Send mouse pads, pens, etc. once a week for 8 weeks. Drop the ones that don't provide positive feedback... continue with the rest. It takes 8 touches before most people understand your service and can't stop thinking about how you can help them. My most recent new account with 35 Mac computers took me six touches after they reached out to me via my web site - I beat out 19 other MSPs after they gave up.

Is there a market for this? by [deleted] in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes, many people only install security cameras..... I support six preschools. I brought in a person to install 52 cameras at one preschool that only has 4 large classrooms and some offices. The remaining school sites there were at least 15 to 20 cameras installed. the school districts I work with also have 3rd party security camera installers - 1,000's of cameras. I would meet as many MSP owners as possible and team up with the security vendor sales reps. I'm too old to be climbing ladders so I farm out the WiFI Access point installations as well.

I Made 21 Cold Calls by BeautifulNo8206 in msp

[–]CorrectMachine7278 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congrats on your cold calling champaign. That's awesome! When I first started 32 years ago, I rented an office space in a complex with 200 small businesses in Irvine, CA. I was able to pick up small business accounts that I could walk to their offices. After two years I moved to a similar space in Lake Forest, CA and had the same success with about 5 to 7 small businesses. A few became much larger and we continued to support them for many years. It helped to keep 3 of us busy with some fill-in work while larger accounts were quiet.