You Can’t Fight Gravity

The doctor asked me, “Do you get much exercise?” I replied, “Every day I get exercise in futility. Does that count?”

For the last 20+ years, I have worked on teaching marketing for MSPs. I have woken up and gone to work in getting T.E.C.H.s with helpers (the operators of small MSPs who do Tedious, Exhausting, Chaotic and Hard work) to step into the role of being R.E.A.L. entrepreneurs (someone building a Rewarding, Easy, Attractive and Lucrative MSP) so they can truly achieve financial freedom for themselves and their families. I also want to help them experience the pride, satisfaction, and personal development that comes with building a highly successful, sustainable and profitable IT services business.

Only a minority of people embrace the marketing for MSPs that it takes to secure unbelievable success.

Many get some success and start making more money, but then lose their drive and determination to keep going. As my friend and Expert In Residence Greg Crabtree would say, they have the “belly full” problem. What they don’t realize is that they’ll be hungry again, and winter is coming, grasshopper. Others don’t understand the importance of marketing for MSPs so they just flat out CAN’T execute, and WON’T implement. It’s the proverbial 80/20 rule at play – a natural law. Yet I still try to fight gravity and get the 80% to implement. Hope springs eternal.

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One of my previous dogs, a Jack Russell named Ozzy, used to demand I take him for his walk at the designated time, regardless of the weather. He could not puzzle out that sometimes it was pouring rain, sleeting and 20 degrees below freezing and therefore NOT a good time to head out for a walk – and he HATED to get wet. I would open the door and let him go stand outside for a second, hoping it would dawn on him that a walk was not a good idea… Yet it never would.

What he wanted he wanted, period. He was oblivious to the reality around him. One time I suited up and started the walk to prove my point. We got halfway down the block, and he stopped, dripping with cold water, his ears flopped over, and looked at me like I was the idiot here. Of course, after taking him home and drying him off, he was right back to the same routine the next day with the same weather.

Having to explain the realities of marketing for MSPs who have never done marketing and have unrealistic expectations about what is required… is exhausting.

Like my Jack Russell, they look at me with irritation and frustration. Who am I to derail them with silly facts and reality? What do you mean I have to hire TWO telemarketers, ideally three, because one will quit, one will fail and hopefully one will do well? I don’t like that reality, so I’ll just outsource it with no real involvement or management of the process. You mean I have to mail 1,000+ before I’ll know anything about a list? What do you mean I have to be ready to spend money for four to six months on Google PPC before getting any results, and might not get any results at all?

Some of the clients I work with are like this. I am talking about MSP business owners who want one or two managed clients who are spending $5K a month in IT services but want to just do PPC or some Facebook ads. They want 24 HVCs (high-value clients) from a list of 500 ice-cold prospects when they’ve never done marketing and have nothing truly unique or compelling to sell that is radically different from what the prospect is currently buying and zero sales process. They are hiring me and figure I should be able to know how to do it, because, after all, YOU’RE the expert here. I’m good, but I don’t walk on water.

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The gold standard for a marketing campaign to cold prospects in B2B is a 0.5% response rate – 2% if the list is already familiar and warmed up (unconverted leads, for example). Even then, the offer and execution have to be impeccable. I often can double or triple that response, getting it to 2% or 3%, but it’s not something I want to promise. Everything must be executed precisely as prescribed, PLUS a little luck. But even then, if they get a 1% response, often they are grossly disappointed because of “all the work” they put in and how “expensive” it all was without getting the results they wanted. In their eyes, I’m solely responsible for their failure.

In summary, with all marketing for MSPs, you have to have a realistic set of expectations and be willing to do the work required to get the results you want.

You CAN fight gravity, but it requires you to launch a spaceship that can catapult you far enough away from earth’s gravity. If you can do THAT, you CAN fight gravity. But without that level of strategy, planning, investment, expertise and tools, jumping off your roof with hopeful exuberance will only kill you.

Marketing for MSPs WILL Cost You A Bit Of Work, But The Reward Is Well Worth It
See How This MSP Overcame 9 Years Of Zero Growth: Click Below

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
There’s no doubt about it: Robin Robins has helped more MSPs and IT services companies to grow and prosper, liberating them from stagnation, frustration, drudgery and low incomes. For over 20 years, Robin has been showing MSPs and IT services firms how to implement marketing plans that attract higher-quality clients, lock in recurring revenue streams and secure high-profit contracts. Her methods have been used by over 10,000 IT services firms around the world, from start-ups to multimillion-dollar MSPs. For more information and a FREE copy of The MSP’s Ultimate Guide To IT Services Marketing And Lead Generation, go to https://www.technologymarketingtoolkit.com

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