Small Biz Tech Talk ™

Cisco Systems recently announced that as part of its UK division, it would be appointing the managed services marketing firm Information Arts to manage some of its its data planning.

Managed services marketing firm Information Arts will work alongside Harte Hanks, a company already working with Cisco at dealing with prospect data management and its call center.  This will be the first time these two companies have worked in conjunction to provide managed services marketing to an organization.   

CIO of Information Arts stated that he is happy to be providing its trademark data-driven solutions to Cisco and translating them into business solutions.  A data strategy manager will work at Cisco’s offices to help with daily operations and what Harte Hanks Managed Services is already doing.  

To learn more about this managed services marketing story, visit the attached link.

Submitted By:  Computer Consulting Kit

In May, 2008 managed services marketing news, Nottingham-based UK firm Quantix enjoyed a new record – sales revenue of over £1.5 million after winning many new projects.  This managed services marketing success for the company shows its continued dramatic growth since its formation in 2002.

Each year, Quantix has enjoyed year-on-year increases in revenue and profits, earning them a spot as #87th in Lloyds Development Capital’s Hot 100 growth report.  The managed services firm focuses on Oracle Support, SQL Server Support and Security Managed Services.  The value of its contract base has expanded to nearly £5 million, and its client retention rates have been great, which the experts attribute to its focus on innovation and investment in a consistent service delivery model.  

Quantix enjoys partnerships with Oracle, Microsoft and Juniper and offer remote, virtual IT support services based on low cost and high value.  

For more information about this burgeoning managed services marketing story, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Recently, the Greenville, South Carolina-based managed services marketing firm ITG announced it had chosen PittStop Marketing to help run its marketing program.  

Adam Pittman, managing partner with PittStop Marketing expressed he is excited about the opportunity to work with the managed services marketing firm and hope to help with sales and marketing strategies as well as media and public relations efforts to help raise community awareness of the company.

Brian Irey, owner of ITG Networking stated that PittStop Marketing was chosen because of its logical approach and processes and track record for offering marketing consulting at a great value.

For more information about this managed services marketing story, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Part of your computer consulting marketing plan should be to track and measure your strategies.  You need to track your responses and how many of them turned into sales.

What types of inquiries resulted from your different marketing vehicles?  For example, if you hold a seminar, track how many registrants came from your Chamber flyer, how many were from a small newspaper ad you had and how many were the result of outbound telemarketing you did yourself?

Measuring Your Computer Consulting Responses

1.    Send respondents to a specific URL so you can see how many went to your Web site.

2.    Ask clients where they heard of you when you talk to them on the phone.

3.    Have clients call a specific phone number to make requests.

4.    Use different response vehicles with each different marketing vehicle.  As an example, if you send out postcards, offer a reduced price on an IT audit and a free seminar with your newspaper ad.

Real Numbers with Computer Consulting Marketing

As an example, you might mail out 1,000 postcards to 1,000 law offices in your area attached to an offer for a seminar, a free report or a free needs analysis.  How many resulted in an inquiry?

You got almost a two percent response on inquiry (a fantastic response rate), at 1.7 percent and out of the 17 inquiries, one turned into a nicely-sized account and one turned into a one-shot deal.  Your results for that mailing would be 17 inquiries of the 1,000 mailed that turned into $19,500 in the first year.  Even if you have it printed and professionally-designed and copy-written with postage you made a $500-$700 investment that turned into a one-shot deal that mostly covered the cost of the mailing and one huge account that paid for the mailing … and then some!  

The main idea is to put time and effort into tracking and measuring your computer consulting marketing results.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

How do you find your sweet spot computer repair business prospects among your leads?  The first sign is their annual sales.  You need to look at businesses with at least a seven-figure annual sales volume with 10-25 employees. What are some other criteria to help you find clients for your computer repair business?

Computer Repair Business:  Good and Bad Signs

Some industries are more focused on IT than others.  There are good signs and bad signs when it comes to a business hiring you, and as you go along you will figure out whether a business is going to be up for spending $1,000-$2,000 for computer consulting services.

What is a good sign?  If you go to meet with a prospect and find out the prospect is already working with another computer repair business in your community but is dissatisfied.  If the prospect is dissatisfied and looking for someone else, that says that the company is willing to pay you or anyone else for sophisticated services.  

What is a bad sign?  If you go meet with a prospect and discover he/she is working with a moonlighter, friend or family member who helps out occasionally and gets paid in pizza or pats on the back.  Any price you quote this type of lead is going to seem high when the alternative is free.  

Sweet Spot Clients for Your Computer Repair Business Hang out Together

Sweet spot clients willing to spend $1,000-$2,000 per month on IT services will have relationships with trusted business advisors in the local community like accountants, attorneys and management consultants.  They may even be working with other niched tech providers, which works to your advantage when it comes time for referrals.  

When you can recognize favorable characteristics of prospects and clients for your computer repair business, you can find more prospects that can turn into great relationships.  

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Have you ever received a very nice looking piece of junk mail or misdirected IT marketing collateral?  Chances are the person that created it spent a lot of money (upwards of $1,000).

IT Marketing and Bad Positioning

In order to avoid positioning problems with IT marketing, here are some tips for avoiding some of the major problems with a lot of ads.

As an example, I received an IT marketing ad in the mail with a headline that said, “Computer Repair, I Come to You.”  This particular benefit of making “house calls” is no longer really a benefit.  Yes, if you are doing retail, it can be nice … but, with B2B, people just don’t haul their 25-node LANs into a shop for work, so having someone that will come to them is pretty much expected.  

If you have a bad headline with IT marketing, you’ve just missed a chance to get someone’s attention that could be a potentially great client.  

Why Not Mention Price?

The ad in question next said, “Computer Repair A+ and Microsoft Certified Professional, Repairs, Upgrades, One-on-One Lessons and Tutoring.”  Again, none of this is unique in the computer business world.  But, the most disturbing part of the ad was the part in big letters that mentioned price:  “Don’t pay $40, $60 or $80 an hour for computer repair!  Call us!”  The price mentioned was $20 … which is really not even possible for anyone that wants to make any sort of a living in computer consulting (or be at all respected for the specialized services they provide).  

The Big IT Marketing Mistakes

1.     The IT marketing ad has no target.  The company is trying to go after about 7 million businesses.  The ad doesn’t even narrow its focus to the small business segment.  And the company is basically promising it will do everything from pulling out stuck disks to repairing a $79 printer.  

2.    The company is advertising price.  $20 is not a sustainable price for a computer consulting business.  Even at 75% utilization rate (which is unlikely given this IT marketing campaign), the company will not make it.

3.    The company is expressing nothing unique.  If you want to be successful at an IT marketing plan, you have to think about what makes you unique and narrow your focus and specialization.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Testimonials are excellent IT marketing resources to help advance your consulting business.  

Give Yourself Credibility!

If you want to be believed and seen by prospects, you need to have believable, credible testimonials.  This means they need to be clearly REAL, marked by a client or customer’s first name, last name, job title, company name and MINIMALLY, a city and state to verify location.  These characteristics of testimonials show prospects that you are serious.

When you have real testimonials, people will be more likely to believe that you are offering good services.  Prospects (and anyone really) will believe third parties without a financial stake in your company more than they will believe your own IT marketing shtick.  

Qualities of Good Testimonials

You want benefits-focused testimonials placed on clients’ letterhead that talk about how your company has helped them.  You want to use very pointed examples that speak to return on investment, your reliability, dependability and what kind of response time you have.  You also want to show that you are there for emergencies, understand business needs and work well within a budget and with a concrete deadline.

How Do You Get IT Marketing Testimonials?

1.    Interview clients and help them with certain questions that take them exactly where you want to go.

2.    Draft suggested testimonials and email them, ask them to review them and approve.  Have clients put the finished product on their letterhead and send it along.     

3.    Take clients out to lunch or breakfast and conduct interviews.  Take notes and go back to your office to type up testimonials, email them and ask for a review to make sure the finished product reflects the conversation you had.  If clients are happy with the testimonials, they can put them on their letterhead and sign them so you can file it away for IT marketing purposes.  

The main idea is to make the process of giving you testimonials easy for clients so they will be very likely to give you what you need to boost your business.

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

While you’re growing your business, you might think the concept of turning away clients is ridiculous.  But when you are an IT specialist, you have to be selective and gear your marketing efforts towards a very targeted group of prospects.  

For example, if you know that your best clients are accounting offices, you can do a search to determine how many small accounting offices are within an hour of your location.  To find out this information, you can contact one of that industry’s top trade groups or work with a mailing list broker.  

As an IT Specialist, Market to a Niche

When you market to a niche, you will have an easier time finding prospects that are qualified because you will know precisely in which trade publications to advertise.  You shouldn’t waste time and money on generic ads in newspapers, on the radio or in the phone book.  Because you are an IT specialist, you need to narrow your focus to your niche.  

Once you have an expertise, you will be worth more to potential clients.  Your marketing message will ring true with the person picking up the phone, looking at your long copy sales letter, postcard or the person that wants to attend your seminars.  

You Can’t Speak to the Masses

You absolutely can’t find a message that will speak to everyone.  If and when you do, you end up competing on price.  You will be a commodity, and the prospects you attract will be the type to open up the phone book and call 30 companies looking for dirt-cheap prices.  

Where Will Clients See You?

If there is a newsletter or magazine that prospects all read, you can put a targeted ad in it or write an article.  You can also become active in an organization by volunteering or speaking at events for the group.  Be sure to mention that your company offers fantastic IT solutions for that very industry in order to establish yourself as a trusted IT specialist.  

What Else about Being a Specialist?

There are a lot of ways you can get into being an IT specialist, but the main way to do it is to find something you really enjoy doing that will make you enough money to be worth getting more clients within the industry.  A targeted marketing plan works well for an IT specialist working in just about any arena, but you have to find a real niche.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

There are many great things about using direct mail postcards as part of an IT marketing campaign, but one of the best benefits is that – because they are already “opened” piece of mail – you don’t have to worry about them getting tossed in the garbage unread.

Postcards are also less expensive than other types of direct mail and can save you IT marketing budget money.

Your IT Marketing Campaign Should Be Focused

You shouldn’t send the same exact message to a couple thousands random small businesses in your area and hope you will strike gold.  You should instead target a very specific group.  For example, if you have experience with accounting offices, create an IT marketing message that speaks directly to these.  Make your expertise in a specific area very clear.  

Relationship IT Marketing

Direct mail postcards help you with relationship marketing.  Your goal with them is not to close a sale or agree to a huge project.  Your goal is to generate a response and start up a relationship.  You want people to raise their hands and say “Yes” to learning more about you.  Once you have their attention, you can figure out how to cultivate the opportunity. The next step after this is to hold seminars with a group of interested people or offer a free report or needs analysis.  

Time is Important with IT Marketing

You need to create a sense of urgency or you might find out that people take your postcards and file them away for indefinite periods of time and then don’t act on them.  You need to get your targets to know, like and trust you, which means you need to get past the postcard and move onto getting one-on-one contact or one-to-group contact (IT marketing seminars) where they can see you in person and know what it is like to work with you.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

If you want to grow your customer roster, you need to do additional IT marketing that includes getting out into your community and getting to know decision makers.  How do you connect with decision makers?

If you are targeting the small business owner and manager, you will meet a lot of bank managers, but they will not necessarily be the right decision maker for you.  Similarly with directors from non-profits, you might meet a lot of them but they will not have a lot of money to spend on computer services.  You might also find a lot of big Fortune 1,000 company employees, but again, they will not be your targets for IT marketing.  

You need to know who your target decision maker is so you can get the most out of your IT marketing and networking activities.  

Partner Programs

You can build a name for yourself in the local community by joining a partner or reseller program.  As an example, you could join the Microsoft Certified Partner Program; however, you have to be proactive as a small firm and seek out your local field representative.  Shake hands, talk to your field rep and exchange business cards.  You want the field rep to attach your face with your name.  You can contact him/her every few weeks to give updates and ask questions and brainstorm.   

What Are the Problems?

You should learn about the problems of your chosen niche.  Ask your field rep as part of your IT marketing plan if he/she can think of any ways you might be able to help with the big problems.  Then ask if there is anyone involved in the channel partner programs that would be responsive to partnering, for work quotes or for non-competing skills sets.  Partner programs can bring great opportunities for IT marketing when used properly.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Seminars are a very important part of a comprehensive IT marketing plan, and you need to make the most of them.

Focus on Registration

When you offer IT marketing seminars, they should be free, but you have to stress registration to remind people that there is limited seating.  Because they are free events, not everyone will make it a priority to show up.  Have a door check in and a survey that, if completed by participants can be exchanged for a door prize.  This will also help you tailor-make your IT marketing seminar to fit the interests of your attendees.  An educated prospect will be easier to engage than one that is uneducated.

The registration process also helps you capture contact information, which you will need to follow up with prospects.   

After Your IT Marketing Seminar

You should offer a handout with your contact info and a limited-time special offer for participants of your IT marketing seminar.  Offer highlights of the seminar in a short article that you can hand out right after the seminar or mail shortly after it.  You can also try to get it published in different local business journals, the chamber newsletter or other organization newsletter.  You should be forthcoming and allow anyone that wants to educate people about protecting computers against viruses and security threats (or whatever your seminar is about) to publish it.  You can also make the article into a free report to offer with future IT marketing campaigns – advertisements, follow-ups, etc.  

The IT marketing seminar and the highlights article help to showcase your expertise.  Offer the same fixed-price audit package with a special offer discount and a set deadline also to those that participate in the seminar.  

Traveling Seminars?

You can also travel with your IT marketing seminar.  GO out and offer it for the local chamber of commerce meeting or Rotary and Kiwanis.  They are typically always looking for speakers to speak for 15 or 20 minutes at breakfasts and luncheons.  Seminars of this variety give you a captive audience and instant demand.  They are already filling the seats, and you have the floor to show your expertise!

You can also go to business partners – set up a good partnering relationship with an accounting firm or other professional, non-competing services firm.  Get their clients together and talk about data security awareness or something else related to what they are doing regularly to help your IT marketing strategy.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Personal referrals are your ticket to great prospects with IT marketing.  Typically, these types of referrals will be pre-sold – they already trust you.  Trust is really important and is one of the major goals of any IT marketing campaign.  But how do you get more personal referrals?

Trust and IT Marketing

An IT consultant is a trusted professional, not unlike a good internist, attorney or accountant.  Some people go to the Yellow Pages for any of those things, but mostly they will put a lot of faith in personal word-of-mouth referrals when looking for this type of professional. 

Are You Well Known?

If you want to get to the decision makers that will hire you and target them with your IT marketing campaign, you need to increase your profile within the community.

One way to do this is through networking.  Networking is a huge IT marketing strategy and one that can really mean the success or failure of any computer consulting firm.  With this type of IT marketing campaign, as with others, relationships are key, and these relationships are about trust.  

Use IT Marketing to Get More Recommendations

How can you get more personal recommendations?  The answer is – know more people.  This means you have to join organizations and attend events regularly as part of your IT marketing strategy.  You don’t need to go to every single breakfast and after-hours function, but you do need to be active.  The more active you are, the more people you will get to know.  And you will get better at noticing the types of people that will lead you to the best opportunities.   

The Main Idea with IT Marketing

Personal referrals – and those you get through IT marketing activities related to organizations – are key to the success of your computer consulting business and will help get you noticed as a trustworthy professional within your community.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

Elevator pitches are meant to be quick IT marketing strategies you can use on a daily basis.  Say something fast and memorable when the time is right to talk about your business.  

How do you make your IT marketing elevator pitch memorable?

What is an Elevator Pitch?

An elevator pitch is something you say about your business to appropriate listeners.  The deal is, you should think about the following scenario:  you get in an elevator on the 20th floor and are with a man or woman that is well-dressed and looks like an executive that might make a good customer.  You are leaving the same cocktail party, and he/she looks down at your name tag and acknowledges you and asks how you are doing and asks what you do.    

This is your opportunity to tell a person a little bit about yourself.  You can now pull out your IT marketing elevator pitch and say something about your business.

Examples of Elevator Pitches

“I own a company that repairs, builds and upgrades computers.”

“I’m John Doe with ABC Computer Consulting and we make it our business to help small and mid-sized businesses learn how to get great benefits out of their computers, the Internet and networking productivity.”

If the person you are with is having problems with computers, he/she may very well ask for your card, and you’ve just produced a very positive IT marketing outcome with little effort.  

It’s All about Benefits

Any part of your IT marketing strategy needs to stress benefits.  You should be talking about providing business services and network consulting.  If you can spend some time talking about the types of problems you help people solve, you can probably capture even more attention.  A call to action at the end of this IT marketing tactic is also wise; ask them for an appointment for a consultation if they are interested.

Added By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

When it comes to small business computer consulting, $100 per hour is about the right rate and can make a huge difference in your business growth.  To see why, you can take the $100 per hour rate and multiply it by about 1,500 hours per year (which represents a 75% utilization rate or 75% of a 40-hour work week).  Your gross income will be $150,000 for your small business computer consulting.  

How to Manage Salary

When you have a small business computer consulting firm, you will take a third of your gross and use it for sales and marketing.  This means you can afford a $40,000 base salary for a sales account executive.  Of the one-third of your gross small business computer consulting income, $40,000 goes to base salary and $10,000 goes to marketing expenses.  

Another one-third will handle taxes, insurance and overhead items.  $50,000 will be left to pay technical staff salary.

How Do You Get Past $100 Per Hour?

If you are thinking about going beyond a $100 per hour rate for your small business computer consulting firm, you can hit the hourly billing rate ceiling.  If your clients are paying $110 to $125 per hour, you will be more able to afford the best, most qualified technical staff.

Higher Rates Mean a Different Business

If you want to charge beyond $100 per hour, you will need to go beyond sweet spot small business clients and start serving large small businesses, medium-sized businesses and enterprise accounts that will mean a new business model and new technical skills for your small business computer consulting firm.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

If you stick around in the small business computer consulting industry for long enough, you’ll find freeloaders.  Regardless of what you choose to call them, these freeloaders can bring you financial and emotional turmoil that can destroy any small business computer consulting firm.  How can you protect yourself?

The Source of the Problem

Figuring out how to handle unrealistic expectations of professional consulting services starts with figuring out the source of the freeloader issue.  

Your job as a small business computer consulting professional is convincing prospects that hiring your firm is an investment rather than an expense.  You need to stress the tangible, measurable and unquestionable benefits of the solutions your small business computer consulting firm will bring and how they outweigh the costs of your services.

The Easy Prediction Tool for Small Business Computer Consulting

Because you are selling specialized services, your sales pitch is going to be different from sales pitches your competitors deliver.  A good way to avoid computer consulting freeloaders is to look for small business decision makers used to paying for other professional services, such as accounting services, legal services, PR services and others.  This kind of small business will already be willing to invest in $100 + per hour services, and your propositions will not be new.  

Work Smart

Your sales staff will use time more efficiently if it goes after qualified leads and prospects.  An unqualified lead will need to be talked into buying your services and will most likely not even understand why he/she needs them in the first place.  In your area, there will probably be hundreds, if not thousands of prospects and leads that will have real small business computer consulting needs and are used to paying for professional services.

The Bottom Line About Freeloaders

You shouldn’t waste time on those that don’t understand the concept of paying top dollar for professional services.  Focus on small businesses that are used to paying for professional services and increase your chance at small business computer consulting success.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

If you stick around in the small business computer consulting industry for long enough, you’ll find freeloaders.  Regardless of what you choose to call them, these freeloaders can bring you financial and emotional turmoil that can destroy any small business computer consulting firm.  How can you protect yourself?

The Source of the Problem

Figuring out how to handle unrealistic expectations of professional consulting services starts with figuring out the source of the freeloader issue.  

Your job as a small business computer consulting professional is convincing prospects that hiring your firm is an investment rather than an expense.  You need to stress the tangible, measurable and unquestionable benefits of the solutions your small business computer consulting firm will bring and how they outweigh the costs of your services.

The Easy Prediction Tool for Small Business Computer Consulting

Because you are selling specialized services, your sales pitch is going to be different from sales pitches your competitors deliver.  A good way to avoid computer consulting freeloaders is to look for small business decision makers used to paying for other professional services, such as accounting services, legal services, PR services and others.  This kind of small business will already be willing to invest in $100 + per hour services, and your propositions will not be new.  

Work Smart

Your sales staff will use time more efficiently if it goes after qualified leads and prospects.  An unqualified lead will need to be talked into buying your services and will most likely not even understand why he/she needs them in the first place.  In your area, there will probably be hundreds, if not thousands of prospects and leads that will have real small business computer consulting needs and are used to paying for professional services.

The Bottom Line About Freeloaders

You shouldn’t waste time on those that don’t understand the concept of paying top dollar for professional services.  Focus on small businesses that are used to paying for professional services and increase your chance at small business computer consulting success.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Micro small businesses with less than 10 PCs very frequently use peer-to-peer networks for file sharing and printers.  Small business computer consultants want to steer clear of this situation and stick to businesses that have a dedicated server built around Microsoft Windows 98 or ME to keep costs low.  

Peer-to-Peer Networks Don’t Work with Small Business Consultants

A business-grade desktop OS on a dedicated business-class PC is not used that often, but it is a good compromise between low-budget solutions and more expensive solutions.  However, small business consultants and peer-to-peer networks don’t mix very well unless an upgrade is possible in the near future.  

The Issue with Peer-to-Peer Networks

Peer-to-peer networks are typically chosen to reduce costs, so companies that use them typically cannot afford to hire small business consultants or else don’t believe in the benefits of spending the money on a true professional.

A lot of times, peer-to-peer networks also come with IT issues including lack of software licensing, neglect of data security, virus protection and backup.

The Main Point About Small Business Consulting

Even though there are many issues for those working with peer-to-peer networks, many companies might be sick of unreliable server and business performance and ready to hire small business consultants, which can be a great opportunity.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting 101 Professional Kit

When you are starting a small business computer consulting company you need to be aware that small businesses with 10 to 50 PC’s are going to have more than one office.  Prospects this large are typically accustomed to using professional computer consulting experts and are willing to pay for support.

Small Business Computer Consulting:  Is There an In-House IT Department?

If a prospect has an in-house IT staff you need to know what they are thinking of having you do for the company.  If the prospect wants a deep specialty or if it is a strange outsourcing situation, you need to know.  

Small Business Computer Consulting:  Research Prospects

Finding prospects for your small business computer consulting company is as seasy as Googling towns using area, ZIP and postal codes.  Also try telephone prefixes when conducting a search.  Typically the best prospects will also belong to local or regional chamber of commerce organizations or similar organizations.  You can join these organizations to meet people or attend as someone’s guest.  

Small Business Computer Consulting:  The Location of Your Prospects  

Your prospects will typically be found at B2B events, so market your small business computer consulting firm by going to these events.  Target clients for your computer consulting firm will be covered in business sections of local papers and publications, so subscribe to these or read them in the library or on-line to increase your chances of finding the best prospects.

Small Business Computer Consulting

Narrowing your focus to the best small business computer consulting prospects in your area is as simple as networking at local events and reading about businesses in local publications.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Referrals make the process of IT marketing much simpler.  Asking clients if they know someone that could use your expertise and using those referrals to advance your business are excellent IT marketing tools.

The Main IT Marketing Question

Ask clients, “Do you know anyone else that might be helped by our services?”  Write down their responses anywhere you can and look at the answers often when dealing with your marketing plan.  Get used to asking clients if they know anyone in their immediate circle of friends, family members, colleagues or business acquaintances and even vendors that you could help.  

IT Marketing Means Teaching Clients How to Find Referrals

IT marketing means training your clients how to tell whether or not someone might be able to use your services.  Tell them to listen for people complaining on the phone about slow computers or inability to email back because of a regularly down system.  These are the leads you need clients to look for as referrals so you can unlock IT marketing opportunities.  

IT Marketing:  A Client Survey

Survey customers once a year as part of an IT marketing strategy and during the survey ask if they would list people that might be able to use your services.  A statement stuffer is also a good way to show appreciation for referrals and give client tips on the types of businesses with which you work.  

IT Marketing:  Rewarding Referrals

If you want to increase your IT marketing efforts with referrals, start a forma referral program.  Tell customers they will be rewarded for referrals that become customers.  Rewards might include $100 credit on their accounts, a $100 gift check or $100 donation to their chosen charity.  

When you reward clients for improving your IT marketing efforts, you will get better referrals.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

IT marketing using referrals is accomplished most efficiently by involving yourself in networking organizations.  IT marketing is about knowing a lot of people and gaining their trust.  If you are active in some organizations within your niche, you can accomplish these goals.

IT Marketing:  Three Types of Business Organizations

You should not join more than one of each type of organization within the following categories, but find your best fit and stick with it.

General Business Organization

This type of organization for IT marketing includes chamber of commerce, Rotary or Kiwanis or even a group like Le Tip or BNI.  This type of IT marketing organization is not targeted by industry, rather gives you a community of other small business owners and managers.  

User Group

If you decide that you are going to be a specialist in the installation of Windows-based networks, you might look for a user group that is a Windows server group.  Similarly, if some of your staff wants to specialize in security, a security group may be best.  User groups as part of IT marketing strategies give you people with similar interests.

Targeted Business Organizations and Trade Groups

This type of IT marketing organization is where you will find your target clients.  If you are looking for businesses in the medical field, go to medical organizations.  Also determine which events are coming up, including expos and if there are newsletters for you to read.  

IT Marketing:  Be Part of a Niche

When you are using referrals for IT marketing, you need to become part of a niche to get the highest quality referrals.  Who you know is much more important than what you know in the IT business.  You are selling services that are very technical, and of course you have to have technical expertise, but your ticket in is your people skills.

IT Marketing:  Relationships

In IT marketing, relationships are key.  Even if your technical skills are just so-so, relationships is what is going to get you long-term clients and qualified partners, subcontractors and other vendors.  Personal referrals are the key to a successful IT marketing campaign, and strong relationships will get you what you need.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg