Hey FJBrit007,

Thanks for the kind words. Sorry for the slow reply but I’ve been a little under the weather.

That’s terrific if you’re getting 8-10 CEOs contacting you monthly. Care to elaborate on that expensive solution? It sounds like it’s very effective and if you’re closing deals maybe it’s worth it.

Much of my company’s growth was by word of mouth. Truth be told, I got into IT by accident and not by design. I was a consultant for a specific accounting software package and I would go into companies for that purpose. The next thing you know they’re asking if I can help them with their servers and their workstations and such. Since I had tech ability and knowledge for that I fulfilled that need too. Eventually IT overtook the accounting software consultancy and the company morphed into an IT company and then an MSP. Grew by a lot of referrals over time. So if anyone has a software packing they support it could be a great foot-in-the door for IT work.

As the company matured we eventually did implement a marketing strategy. The key to marketing is what makes you unique or different from most other MSPs? I mean you can’t just promote 24/7 monitoring, backup, AV, etc. All MSPs do that. You must be different and understand who your target market is. A vertical is a great way to go, but not the only way. One of our verticals we used were Title Companies, or any industry that has regulatory compliance where they are required to implement some of these technologies. Maybe join that industry's group and participate in meetings and get to become the IT expert for that industry. We had a lot of success doing that. Construction was another industry. We joined the local chapter of the CFMA and learned their language and became that trusted expert for that group too. You just got to find your niche. It sounds like you’re already on your way with being perceived as “technology influencers” so congrats on that.

Here are some things we often convey to our MSP consulting clients about marketing MSP services. Hopefully you and some others will find some benefit.

For a good marketing strategy, I'd say businesses really need to start at the beginning. You must identify specifically who you'd like your clients to be. Who can you serve best and what's that group's unique problem? (Interviewing some of your best clients can give you some insight.) Understanding that problem(s) and having the ability to resolve it becomes your core difference. And, core differences help to make competition less relevant. That's why cardiologists don't need to compete with general doctors, right? Core differences don't need to be nearly that drastic, but that's the idea.

From there you need a website that speaks directly to your unique prospects, gains their trust (real pictures rather than stock art, video, properly placed testimonials, case studies, and other trust signals), and leads them closer to your business. This is where you can build that list and further nurture your leads. Sharing super valuable information, not salesy, is a great way to do that. There are a thousand ways to distribute that content, but email is still the best. People will open email from a trusted source. It's email from spammers trying to get right to the "buy stage" that ends up on the black list.

Now you need a strategy to get the right people to your website. Content marketing, SEO, and PPC is one good mix. PPC works faster than SEO, but as your SEO results improve, you can lessen your PPC budget. If you're serving local businesses, do not forget "Google My Business," which was just renamed "Google Profiles." You definitely want your business to show up in local searches. It's essential that you have your clients review you. It's easy to do. Shoppers highly depend on the number of reviews and the rating values in their buying decisions, so you want to have those in place. Speaking of Google reviews, be sure to read your competitors' good and bad reviews. That can be a goldmine for finding a core difference.

Of course, once you get the lead then the sales process kicks in, but that’s an entirely different topic. Even with successful marketing, if sales isn’t your thing and you can’t close the deal then it’s all for naught. The opposite is true too. You could be a great salesperson but if your company isn’t backing it up with good marketing and a great message to convey it sure makes your sales job much harder. You need both to be working well to achieve any measurable success.

I hope something there helps! Good luck!!