Small Biz Tech Talk ™

According to a recent article, entrepreneurs hoping to survive the economic downturn should invest time and energy into technology marketing and starting businesses focused on technology services.  While many industries are experiencing ruin, startups with marketable technology or products, dedicated customer- and client-focused teams, strong business plans and access to great resources that help them provide sophisticated solutions for its customers are thriving.

According to experts, the key to the success of these businesses is great technology marketing that can be extremely hard work but can produce fantastic results.  Of course, strong technology marketing can be challenging, particularly when it is just you running a company and you must reach a lot of prospects all at once.  Networking through organizations like the Chamber of Commerce (and others!) can be an excellent way to grow a start-up business and develop the relationships that make a technology company work.

Technology marketing is especially important during difficult financial times, and can be relatively inexpensive.

To learn more about start-ups and what this article has to say about building a technology marketing plan, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Massachusetts-based company H.T. Hackney recently announced it would be joining together with NACS Chicago, a managed services marketing expert to jointly offer in-store digital signage advertising programs – the Digital Promo Network (DPN) – to C-Store customers all over the East Coast of the U.S.  DPN will exhibit with H.T. Hackney at NACS, Chicago on October 5th-8th to introduce this new initiative and answer questions about managed services marketing and other marketing services.  

This new relationship will give Hackney’s customers the chance to use in-store digital signage advertising programs that include rich media ads as well as the DeliNET™ portal.  This program is geared towards the food services industry.  

Spokespeople for DPN say they are excited about this new partnership and look forward to helping them increase the impact of their advertising.  

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

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Research in Motion has amped up its technology marketing efforts recently to compete with Apple after disappointing performance in the third quarter.

This is the second straight quarter that Research in Motion (RIM) has not met its expectations.  The problem is tied to development of four new phones.  Technology marketing of the new models made up $379.6 million in sales and marketing costs last quarter, which was twice the amount of last year’s sales and marketing costs.  Shares of the Canadian-based Research in Motion company at one point fell to $77.47 in extended trading after closing at $97.53 in the stock market.  

To learn more about how RIM is improving its technology marketing efforts and partnering up with other companies, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Research in Motion has amped up its technology marketing efforts recently to compete with Apple after disappointing performance in the third quarter.

This is the second straight quarter that Research in Motion (RIM) has not met its expectations.  The problem is tied to development of four new phones.  Technology marketing of the new models made up $379.6 million in sales and marketing costs last quarter, which was twice the amount of last year’s sales and marketing costs.  Shares of the Canadian-based Research in Motion company at one point fell to $77.47 in extended trading after closing at $97.53 in the stock market.  

To learn more about how RIM is improving its technology marketing efforts and partnering up with other companies, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

Recent articles and studies by experts have noted that managed services marketing activities, most particularly Customer Relationship Management (CRM) continue to help businesses grow, particularly in terms of the number of customers they acquire.  Managed service offerings also have been shown to help technology companies find new business opportunities, niches and specialties previously unknown.  

A product marketing manager for a technology company stated that knowing about customer history and preferences can really help improve a managed services marketing campaign, and CRM is helpful in this arena as it encourages loyalty and increases the credibility of your company.

Customizing products and creating easy methods for implementing solutions also helps businesses identify new leads and opportunities so they can increase their customer base and keep enough prospects, customers and clients in their sales funnel at all times.   

To learn more about managed services marketing and what other IT consultants and managers had to say about strategy, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Computer Consulting Kit

On September 11th, Law Enforcement Associates Corporation (LEA), a U.S. developer and manufacturer of undercover surveillance equipment held a technology marketing event for members of the law enforcement and corporate security fields.  This expo and technology marketing opportunity featured a variety of important domestic and international manufacturers of devices.

Participants included the following companies:  FLIR Systems; First Body Armor; Security Products International; Qwonn Cameras; Morovision Night Vision; Power Flare.

LEA also displayed its surveillance and security products and introduced some new options for its customers and clients.

To learn more about LEA and this Technology Marketing expo, please visit the attached link.

Blogged By:  Joshua Feinberg

Many comptuer consulting firms continue to work on their managed services marketing as many Irish-based companies continue to choose to engage them in spite of decreasing overall budgets.  In fact, reports indicate that managed services firms continue to see opportunities to expand.  

A sales manager at the Irish-based firm Datapac, John Casey says that while IT budgets in many businesses are tight, he is still seeing great results from his managed services marketing efforts, growing in popularity among business owners.    

He adds that while some other areas of his business have slowed down due to tightening of budgets in a lot of customers, IT continues to be important.  IT departments have to deliver services to businesses, which means they need to outsource, particularly in the small business market, even if regular employee recruitment is frozen.  

Many other IT professionals sounded off about their managed services marketing efforts in Ireland.  To read their stories and more about managed services, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Marketing Results, Inc. (MRI) and eBet, an Australian gaming systems firm announced on August 26th that they would be combining forces to distribute the Advanced Intelligence Marketing (AIM) technology marketing system that includes CRM, campaign management, analysis and player development applications.  

The blend of technology marketing experience of the two companies are expected to help casino marketers develop strategies that will help them create more personalized communications and compete in the industry.  This new relationship between MRI and eBet is expected to help casinos in Australia to keep up with leading businesses in Las Vegas.

The AIM technology marketing tool is designed for casino databases and helps analyze data about player behaviors so it can be used to create better marketing strategies.  This new partnership will expand AIM’s presence in Australia and provide casinos with new marketing and analysis tools.

For more about this technology marketing news, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Markham, Ontario-based Canadian managed services marketing firm Momentum Advanced Solutions, Inc. announced yesterday it would be acquiring the IT hosting division of BroadSpire.  Located in Los Angeles, California and founded in 1997, BroadSpire offers web hosting and a range of other related services.  It also has developed a successful managed services marketing strategy called Web ecosystem marketing.

Momentum bought the division for a before-transaction price of $2.66 million.  Experts expect the acquisition will bring Momentum an extra $1.50 million per year thanks to its improved managed services marketing strategies.

Momentum has been around for 25 years and has experience in enterprise-level managed hoisting.  In the last year, the company added services for small and medium-sized businesses.  The company hopes that by adding to its range of services and its new managed services marketing strategies it will be able to continue to provide excellent services to customers who will also receive expanded benefits.

For more information on this managed services marketing story, visit the attached link!

Submitted By:  Joshua Feinberg

Mark Klein, the CEO and founder of provider of analytics Loyalty Builders announced he would be speaking at the company Hubspot’s event to discuss technology marketing issues.  The Inbound marketing Summit will be held on September 8, 2008 in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Boston Marriot Cambridge.

His presentation will be called “Managing the Bottom of the Funnel” and will revolve around technology marketing issues related to customer retention and Mathematical Marketing tools that can be used to increase revenue from companies’ current customers and clients.

Mathematical Marketing is a technology marketing concept that describes the process of marketing to existing customers based on a scientific analysis of their past behavior and how it informs future purchases.  Techniques involved in this process are predictive analytics, behavioral targeting and tracking, multivariate testing and a variety of other types of question-based analysis.  

According to Klein, many business owners miss this important technology marketing concept and fail to market to existing customers alongside prospects.

The Inbound Marketing Summit is a meeting of experts in the field of technology marketing and inbound marketing who get together to discuss strategies, tools and best practices and learn how to use them to grow their businesses.

To learn more about this technology marketing story and the Summit, visit the attached link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Today, Dallas, Texas-based company Online Strategies, providing Online Transaction Processing solutions to businesses announced it would be releasing a new managed services marketing tool for program managers.  The product, as with many of Online Strategies’ other products, will be geared towards those that would benefit from a pre-paid program.  

The managed services marketing tool OLS.Host was created by industry experts and is a processing platform that allows program managers to process their own transactions smoothly.  Terry Richards, president of Online Services (OLS) says the product will help bridge a previous gap in pre-paid managed services marketing, which was inefficient collection of fees by program managers that often included dealing with the complexity of a third-party processor to handle important transactions.

Program management companies have often been under-represented because they are not like traditional sales agents.  Instead, they are subject to a lot of regulations and rules put in place by the banks for which they work, which don’t often square with their own philosophies and strategies.  This new managed services marketing tool will be important to helping them do their job more efficiently and provide more specialized services to their clients.

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

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Leading anti-spam and technology security company Engate Technology Company, Inc. recently appointed a new technology marketing leader, Tony Busa.  With 15 years of experience leading global teams in technology marketing, Tony Busa will be Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Business Development for Engate.

A part of many successful marketing programs, Busa will be heading a team of people working on e-mail security and anti-botnet technologies.  One of his main focal points will be working with award-winning Engate MailSentinel, a product line designed for large enterprises, solution providers and hardware and software sellers.

Busa has a track record of helping companies of all sizes with technology marketing and building leading brands to make them more visible in the marketplace.  With Engate, he will work on worldwide marketing strategy that includes branding, product marketing, channel marketing, demand creation, business development, public relations and marketing communications.

For more information on this technology marketing story, visit the attached link.

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

Managed services marketing firm Nimsoft, Inc., provider of IT performance and monitoring solutions stated it had continued to experience growth for the three months ending June 30, 2008.  The company has been growing its managed services marketing for a while now with increased subscription business and recurring revenue that grew 130 percent in the past year.

The company also enjoyed an 85 percent increase with 41 new enterprise and managed services customers. Thanks to great managed services marketing in the past year the company has more than 680 customers in 30 countries.  

Spokesperson for the company Gary Read, president and CEO stated that the reason for Nimsoft’s success is its progressive business model as well as its ability to custom-make monitoring solutions to suit the needs of clients.  The focus on its customers is also cited as a reason the company’s products and services continue to thrive.   

For more highlights on this managed services marketing story, visit the attached link.

Blogged By:  Computer Consulting Kit

In technology marketing news, Seattle-based network security company WatchGuard was recently named the global leader of unified threat management shipment growth in 2007.  It claimed a 190.2 percent growth rate last year and was also called the leader in shipments to Western Europe, where is enjoyed 196.4 percent growth.  

According to Eric Aarrestad, VP of technology marketing at WatchGuard, the fantastic growth can be attributed to attention paid to research and development as well as innovation and network management for clients.   

Clients of Watchguard have reported great reliability and performance for the price.  The company was established in 1996 and has consistently provided reliable, easy-to-manage firewall and VPN appliances to thousands of clients.  It’s known for its Firebox X integrated security solutions, which have led the industry in protection against viruses, worms, spyware, malware, e-mail spam, bots, etc.

For more information on this technology marketing story, follow the link!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

On Tuesday, Microsoft announced new managed services marketing opportunities and other resources for its valued partners at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.  Among the new features will be a new pricing and partner model for Microsoft Online Services, an important part of its managed services marketing and delivery system.

Microsoft has recently been again stressing the importance of its partners and is offering new tools to help drive opportunity and also profitability for its partners of all sizes and to help them deliver better services for their customers.

For more much more valuable information about Microsoft partner programs as well as its managed services marketing initiatives, visit the link to the full story!

Added By:  Joshua Feinberg

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