Marketing
Let’s face it: Many managed service providers don’t know how to market and promote their businesses. But don’t worry. We can show you how to raise the visibility of your business using Web 2.0 technologies, e-newsletters, online video, and other low-cost efforts. Get Started: Register to enter our Resource Center, where you’ll be able to download numerous guides to building and running your managed services business. And check back often. We post new guides in the MSPmentor Resource Center every week.
Roughly 60 managed service providers are beta testing Kutenda, an Internet marketing program that allows MSPs to offer Web site design, email marketing, search engine optimization and other marketing services to their end-customers. Kutenda co-founders Mike Cooch (CEO, Everon Technology Services) and Akash Saraf (CEO, Zenith Infotech) have updated me on their efforts. Here’s some perspective.
Recently, our company was brainstorming new and creative ways to get a foot in the door with SMBs to sell Managed Services. Times are tight, so it takes a little ingenuity to nail down an initial chat with business owners. You need something that will get them excited, and Managed Services doesn’t always do that by itself.
In the small business I own, I’ve noticed an ebb and flow through the years — periods when I am really “on it” and other times when I am either coasting or not as engaged as I need to be. I bet that managed service providers or anyone with a small business goes through the same cycles. Maybe if you read this you’ll snap out of a down cycle and get back on your game. So here goes: 6 Things Small Business Owners Do To Undermine Their Own Success.
Alpheon and Do IT Smarter, two members of the MSPmentor 100, are proving there’s more than one way to brand a company in the managed services market. Both managed service providers have revamped their web sites and customer messaging in recent weeks. And in some cases, the efforts avoid the need to mention managed services. Here’s some perspective.
Another sleeping giant is waking up to the managed services opportunity. Microsoft has launched a managed services landing page on its partner web site, and is beginning to connect the dots between managed services, software as a service (SaaS) and the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).
Face it: People love data. They love statistics. And they embrace research. One of the fastest ways for managed service providers (MSP) to generate marketing buzz is to publish a research report that’s full of key statistics. The report can also serve as a key sales tool. Consider, for instance, a recent research effort by The Planet, a major hosting provider.
Journalists and marketers share the same challenge: We want to write and say so much. We often use finely crafted language and lots of big words to tell our stories. But sometimes, the best way to market your company and your managed services business strategy is to bite your tongue — and get your hands off the keyboard — in mid-sentence. Let me give you an example.
Over the weekend several MSPmentor readers asked me to focus increasingly on marketing tips for managed service providers. Your requests came through loud and clear. You’ll see multiple marketing-related blog entries in the days ahead, including this one. Let’s start with the basics: Marketing spend vs. marketing speak.
It started about a year ago. Each time I attended a managed service provider conference, I saw executives and attendees shooting quick marketing video using the Flip camera. This week at the Cisco Partner Summit in Boston, everyone — more than 1,500 attendees — is armed with a Flip video camera (care of Cisco). But do MSPs really have time for video capture and video marketing — especially when many MSPs are still struggling with basic marketing tools like a blog?
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