VISIONs of Greatness – Greatness. Defined.

What does it mean to be great? Is greatness, like genius, something elusive, forever beyond the reach of our definitions? Is it futile to even attempt a definition of greatness? Maybe. But that’s not going to stop us from trying.

So you want to be great?

Welcome to the club. A lot of people desire greatness, but to actually become great, you’ve got to do a lot more than want it – you’ve got to live it. Day in, day out. You’ve got to put in the work. That’s because at the end of the day …

“It’s not about money or connections – it’s the willingness to outwork and outlearn everyone when it comes to your business.” – Mark Cuban, Entrepreneur & Investor

And working hard means working hard at every part of your business, your craft, your goal. Not just the big, fun stuff, but all the boring little details, too. After all …

“Greatness is a lot of small things done well.” – Eric Thomas, Motivational Speaker & Author

If that sounds hard, that’s because it is. So if you’re going to pursue greatness, make sure you pick something you love, because …

“You can only become great at that thing you’re willing to sacrifice for.” – Maya Angelou, Writer & Activist

… and it’s not worth all that sacrifice if you don’t love it.

It’s also not worth the pain. That’s right – there’s pain on the path to greatness. And failure, too. Plenty of failure. But hey, don’t stop when the going gets tough, because here’s the thing …

“Greatness begins beyond your comfort zone.” – Robin Sharma, Author & Speaker

OK, but what if you go for it … and fail? What if you put everything you have into your dream, and things don’t work out? What if –

Look, those thoughts are scary. They’re also human. Every great person in history likely started their journey to greatness with serious doubts. With fear. So embrace those doubts and make friends with your fear, because …

“Greatness comes from fear. Fear can either shut us down and we go home, or we fight through it.” – Lionel Richie, Singer & Songwriter

As for the possibility of failing, that’s just part of the deal. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, when you feel that fear bubbling up, just remind yourself …

“No one ever achieved greatness by playing it safe.” – Harry Gray, Business Leader & Philanthropist

In the pursuit of greatness, you can plan, strategize, and learn as much as you can to mitigate risk. But risk can never be eliminated. Greatness requires a leap of faith. It requires courage.

But the best thing about greatness – the thing that makes greatness, well, great – is that it’s usually worth it: the risk, the work, even the pain.

That’s because true greatness is bigger than you. It’s bigger than any one of us. True greatness makes the world a better place. Is the moon landing great? Of course. But so is an act of kindness. So is sitting beside a hospital bed for hours …

“Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Wise words from Dr. King. Service IS great. Helping others is great. Caring is great.

This brings us to a crucial point: greatness isn’t about how much ‘success’ you have – how much money you make or how many people know your name (even though greatness tends to lead to success). It’s about who you are and how you treat others.

“Most people define greatness through wealth and popularity and position in the corner office. But what I call everyday greatness comes from character and contribution.” – Stephen Covey, Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Character and contribution. That’s it, right there. Greatness comes from within, and it manifests in how we affect the world around us – and the people we encounter. And it’s in all of us, too, this capacity to be good, to do good. To be great and do great.

So don’t wait to be great or make plans to be great.

BE great. In your thoughts, in your intentions, in your actions. Greatness starts with the small things. And it starts … right … now.

Go.

If you enjoyed this piece, look out for the next “VISION of Greatness” from The 20. And don’t forget to register for VISION ’23, the MSP event of the year!

VISION is just a few weeks away – secure your seat before spots fill up!

Post-Pandemic Principles for MSP Growth

The pandemic was hard on all of us, and it rocked the business world to its very foundations. But it’s like Einstein said, “In the midst of difficulty lies opportunity.” This is definitely true in regard to the situation that managed IT service businesses are currently facing. Managed service providers (MSPs) are on the cusp of a potentially very fruitful next five years.

Covid-19 dealt us all a bad hand, but MSPs who play their cards right can stand to benefit from certain conditions that prevail in the post-pandemic world. The key phrase here is play their cards right. Although the MSP market is expected to grow a lot in the next five years, not all MSPs are going to be lifted by the rising tide. As in most industries, a select portion of MSPs are going to feast on profits, while everyone else fights for scraps.

To sum up the situation: what you’re facing right now as an MSP is an opportunity, not a gift. Current conditions are conducive to MSP growth, but getting to where you want to be with your business is still going to depend, more than anything else, on what YOU do.

The purpose of this blog post is to equip you with some general principles to guide you forward as you navigate the next several years of your MSP’s journey. Principles are important in life; they give us structure and focus. They allow us to cut through the noise and chaos and build toward a greater goal.

But before we get to “post-pandemic principles for MSP growth,” let’s review why right now is a great time to commit to your MSP’s growth.

The Time is Ripe to Grow Your MSP

The Rise of Working from Home (WFH)

We saw a sweeping transition to remote work as a consequence of Covid-19 — a change which appears to be here to stay. The rise of WFH complicates individual companies’ IT infrastructures and provides new points of ingress for threat actors.

What this all means for MSPs can be spelled out in two words: greater demand. Specifically, there is now a greater than ever demand for the type of proactive cybersecurity that MSPs tend to offer. This brings us to the second post-pandemic reality that has the potential to catalyze MSP growth …

Cybersecurity

Even before the rise of WFH, cybercrime was already a growing problem. The digital age is a dangerous one, and as more and more cyberattacks make the news, businesses are waking up and smelling the coffee: modern businesses cannot survive — let alone thrive — without a robust security posture. A survey of SMBs carried out by ConnectWise found that 79% of respondents were worried about undergoing a cyberattack in the next six months. And this very justifiable fear will translate to spending — or, investment rather: a study published by MarketsandMarkets™ forecasts that the global cybersecurity market will balloon to $248.26 billion by 2023 (it was at $152.71 billion in 2018).

MSPs stand to capitalize on these trends as their cybersecurity offerings tend to be more proactive and comprehensive than those offered by traditional break/fix outfits.

Digitalization

Finally, there’s the digital revolution itself, which continues to carry out society forward at breakneck speed. The IT landscape is constantly evolving and gaining complexity, and businesses are beginning to embrace — though perhaps not as quickly as they should — the idea that your IT provider shouldn’t just fix your computers, but turn your entire IT environment into an asset that improves your business’s operational efficiency and boosts profitability. And this idea is of course at the very heart of the MSP business model.

If you’re reading this as an MSP owner, the above three post-pandemic realities should be heartening, as they make one thing abundantly clear: Your MSP can really take off in the next several years. But don’t just expect it to happen. Make it happen. Put in the work. Plan intelligently. Make necessary changes to your business even when it scares you — especially when it scares you.

And keep the following principles in mind as you move forward with your business, as they can help you get the most out of your efforts.

Principles to Grow By

Principle #1: Go Deep!

This principle is vague and abstract, but therein lies its value: you can apply it to various aspects of your business. Here, we’ll look at two ways in which “go deep” serves as a useful guide.

The first has to do with your MSP’s offerings. Now, although it’s simplistic to say that it’s better to perfect a service you already offer than it is to add a new one, MSPs are often too eager to expand their repertoire, rather than ‘deepen’ it. Deepening your MSP’s offerings can simply mean getting better at them, or it can mean choosing one or two to focus on as specialties and points of emphasis in your marketing strategy. MSPs who specialize appeal to niche markets who are willing to spend a little more for tailored IT support. So don’t lose sight of the importance of mastery in your efforts to make your MSP a jack of all trades.

The second application of the “go deep” principle concerns client relationships (also the focus of the next principle). Many MSPs believe that adopting a “growth mindset” means something like: Seek out as many clients as possible. This can be detrimental for a variety of reasons (bad clients do more harm than good!), but one distinct cost of growth-by-expansion is that it can take your focus away from clients you already have.

The key to MSP profitability is, let’s not forget, recurring revenue, which you get when your clients stay put — when you build long-term relationships with the people you serve. Expansion is good, but not if it stretches you so thin that you can’t provide white-glove service and support to the businesses who are trusting you to do so. So instead of always looking for new clients, devote plenty of time and resources to deepening the relationships you have with your existing clients. It WILL pay off.

Principle #2: Put Relationships First

Our second principle for MSP growth in the post-pandemic world is really an extension of the first. However, given how utterly crucial relationships are to MSP health — and how they’re often underappreciated or just plain neglected — we think a separate discussion on the importance of relationships is in order. The discussion doesn’t have to be lengthy though, because the principle says it all: PUT RELATIONSHIPS FIRST. If you’re into mantras, work this one into the rotation. Say it to yourself in the mirror every morning before work. Buy a bumper sticker. Get a tattoo!

All jokes aside, find a way not to lose focus of the fact that your MSP is only as successful as the relationships it builds.

The relationships your MSP builds with clients are, of course, of the utmost importance. Happy clients stay put, and the best way to make your clients happy is to actually connect with them on a human level. They’ve hired you to be their IT provider, not their friend, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make an effort to get to know them. Asking for referrals isn’t a bad practice, but if you’re truly taking care of clients, they’ll often refer you without needing to be asked. When that happens, you know you’re doing things the right way — with a human touch.

Take care of your clients, but don’t forget to foster relationships within your MSP too. Check in with your employees, promote a positive and supportive company culture, solicit feedback — and don’t go about doing this in an ‘artificial’ way, like a robot that feeds on metrics. Putting relationships first doesn’t mean pretending to for the sake of profit. It means actually caring, actually listening, actually connecting. If you can be real with your clients and your employees, and form genuine human connections with them, you can help your MSP stand out as a true IT partner in a sea of IT providers.

Principle #3: Figure Out How to Talk to Prospects and Clients about Cybersecurity

You might be thinking, “Aren’t principles supposed to give us answers, not tell us to figure things out on our own?” But here’s the thing: there is no agreed upon answer in this case — no consensus among MSPs as to how best present the issue of cybersecurity to prospects and clients.

Channel Future’s recent survey of MSPs yielded a variety of answers to the question: How are you addressing customers’ cybersecurity concerns? Some MSPs reported that they take an optimistic tack, reassuring customers that they’re being protected by “best-in-class products and suppliers.” Other MSPs said they choose to be frank about the severity of situation, telling customers outright that nobody who uses the internet is “safe.”

It’s not as though there is one perfect way to broach the issue of cybersecurity, and how you frame it for your clients will depend on your style of communication, among other factors. That said, finding out what works for you can give you a competitive edge.

Fear tactics can be too aggressive, but generic optimism and confidence might sound hollow and inauthentic to your prospects and clients. Try to find that sweet spot, where you’re honest about the very real dangers of cybercrime, but at the same time, confident and reassuring in how you characterize your MSP’s approach to cybersecurity. If you can pull of this feat of nuance, it will help you convert more leads and boost that bottom line.

Principle #4: Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!

If you choose to follow only one of the principles presented in this blog post, let it be this one. Here’s the deal. You might not like marketing. You might even think it’s silly — that it shouldn’t matter what font you use on your website, whether you post regularly on social media, etc. Or maybe you’re just not comfortable ‘putting yourself out there’ the way marketing often requires. And that’s fine. You don’t have to like marketing. But you do have to do it — if you’re serious about growing a successful MSP in this ultra-competitive industry. You have to do it consistently, seriously, and well. Why?

Because it WORKS. Look at what successful MSPs are doing. Put aside your pride and really look. They’re marketing up a storm. And they’re not going about it willy-nilly, either. They’re systematic, and in many cases, they’re hiring experts, because let’s be honest, most people who found MSPs know a lot more about tech than they do marketing.

Now, it can be scary to invest in marketing. When you begin marketing in a serious way, the results aren’t always immediate. It’s anxiety-inducing not to see a healthy ROI right away. But that’s just the way it works. You market your butt off, nothing happens. You keep going, making tweaks and adjustments. Nothing happens. A few more months. More tweaks. More adjustments. You see a few results. Nothing big. Then you start to notice a trickle. A lead here and a lead there. After a year — maybe more — the trickle grows stronger. You refine your methods even more. Now the trickle is a stream. Your sales pipeline gets fuller and fuller. You’re amazed to find yourself actually turning down work because your team is at capacity.

This is the pattern we see time and again, so if you’re planning on bringing your MSP’s marketing up to speed, you MUST (a) commit to being patient, and (b) commit to actively working on your marketing on an ongoing basis — or to hiring professionals who will do so.

Grow Your MSP with The 20

We’ve seen that MSPs face a potentially lucrative five years if they get their houses in order. The MSP market is growing, but it’s also becoming increasingly crowded and competitive. There’s no shortage of demand for the type of IT services and solutions that MSPs offer, but how do you distinguish your MSP in the eyes of your potential customers? How do you separate yourself from the herd?

The 20 is an exclusive business development group of MSPs aimed at dominating and revolutionizing the IT industry with its standardized all-on-approach. Growing a successful MSP requires a lot more than technological prowess, and The 20 offers a robust RMM, PSA, and documentation platform, along with proven processes for sales and marketing, to help MSPs not only separate themselves from the herd, but leave it in the dust. Instead of assembling all the moving parts your MSP needs in a piecemeal fashion, join The 20 and get them all in one convenient package. Learn more about what The 20 does and how we can help your MSP achieve monumental revenue generation and unprecedented profitability and growth.

By: Crystal McFerran | CMO, The 20
Originally shared via Forbes

How you run your marketing process determines how it nurtures the rest of your company. Marketing traditionally feeds sales, but it also helps with ongoing retention and expectations. Your marketing team is going to help you provide your customers with a way in, but it is also going to help keep them coming back and keep them happy. The right perception can make a mistake an issue, but not a problem.

Marketing and sales should act like a well-run kitchen. Your marketing team determines which raw ingredients make it to the sales team to be baked into a final product. Sometimes, you’re going to get something bad in the shipment. It doesn’t matter how good the marketing efforts are if your sales team can’t make use of the leads that are generated.

Avoid trying to filter sludge for water. Don’t just blindly burn money, and don’t let the process get overcomplicated. Marketing requires creative adaptation, so we can’t get caught up in what we should do, as it is ever-changing. Certain things are showstoppers no matter what, though.

Don’t filter sludge for water.

Some leads just aren’t that good. Not every lead has the same potential to become something of value. Throw out your obvious junk and grime before it damages your process. Even if you can filter it out, you still waste your time and resources the longer it takes to toss out the obvious no-go’s.

When you have marketing parties, don’t invite your dead-end leads. Each one of them isn’t only a waste of money; it’s also a potential liability. Don’t advertise to the leads you know aren’t going anywhere. If you target medium businesses and larger, you’re not going to put out an ad for companies you know have fewer than 10 employees. How much juice are you going to squeeze from rotten fruit? Even if you do get juice, are you really going to want to drink it?

Don’t burn money.

Marketing costs you money, and even if you use a wide net, someone still has to sort what it brings in, clean it and maintain it to keep the process going. You’ll catch something in a lake with no fish, but it likely won’t be anything you need. This burns time and money sorting out things that you don’t want.

By filtering the junk before you start spending real money, you can throw out the opportunities that aren’t really opportunities. Leads are like relationships: Some of them are toxic, and you won’t want to deal with them. Don’t waste money expecting them to change.

The marketing funnel starts with general awareness, and then you foster interest. But how much desire is there at that point? Your prospective lead can be all over the place for this process, so how much are they worth to you? If you know there is desire, it can be worth spending resources. But if they just want to browse, do you break out the samples and the goodwill, or do you wait to see what develops?

You need to gauge their interest in your company before you break out the fine china. Are they a good fit, and are they going to be willing to sign up? If not, how much does your sales team want new leads, and how much will it do to try to woo them?

Don’t overcomplicate the process.

A great campaign requires a lot of work and a lot of coordination to make it function, but you can’t let it get overcomplicated. How do you prevent the funnel from getting clogged, and how much safety do you put into the process? The irony here is that you don’t want your filter to be perfect.

The more complicated and error-proof the process, the less likely it is for your organic process to shake loose the mediocre leads. It’s OK if a little bit of junk makes it into the main filter, and it’s OK if a few good leads fall off if it keeps the process simple. A simple process tends to be more agile and adjustable.

When the process gets too complicated, it’s likely to break from the first adjustment that isn’t planned. The real world isn’t perfect; something will go wrong with your campaign. You just need to know that and be ready to change course to fix it. The less baggage you heap, the easier it is to adjust.

Sales is also responsible for helping you filter leads. Let them have the lead (or at least the data about the lead) sooner than later. They may know that a company isn’t a good fit for reasons that can’t be measured by your marketing campaign. Don’t intrude on their part of the process without a good reason, or you may hurt both campaigns.

Take the next steps. 

Marketing is the first filter for your company’s sales. Don’t let the wrong things in the filter; don’t burn money, and don’t overcomplicate the process. When you prevail over these issues, you can work to make the campaigns generate more leads during the initial steps — and better leads during the later steps.

You need to work with your sales team to shape your goals and purpose for each campaign. If you are targeting new clients and your sales team is targeting upsells, you are working against sales, and they are working against you. Figure out what the bigger picture is, and make your efforts synergistic rather than antagonistic. Help them get the best ingredients so they can make the best meals.

Interested in The 20’s Marketing Program? Become a member.

The 20 Announces Strategic Advisor  

 Full press release here

The 20, leading MSP consortium, announced the appointment of Daniel K. “Danny” Astin as Strategic Advisor to Tim Conkle, Chief Executive Officer of The 20.

In this position, Astin will be a thought leader and trusted strategic advisor to the CEO on the strategic direction of The 20’s corporate and security organizations which includes guiding the C-Suite in managing compliance issues for the company related to cybersecurity initiatives, governance and providing senior management with actionable guidance regarding company strategic growth opportunities.

“Danny is a trusted advisor with a strong background and proven success in advising high-growth private technology and companies in many different sectors and strategic situations. He will be instrumental as The 20 continues to execute on our MSP growth strategy,” said Tim Conkle, CEO of The 20.

A frequent presenter and advisor to SMB’s in the IT sector Astin has over 30 years of unique business experience advising corporations, SMB’s and the entrepreneurs that lead them. Astin’s advices regularly concern core strategies related to business, contract, litigation strategy, dispute resolution, geopolitical relations, reputation enhancement, crisis management and other key business strategics. Astin’s advisory experience includes prior service in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps., as counsel to the Commanding Officer Michael; B. Nordeen (call sign “Nordo”) USS Constellation (CV64). After leaving active service Astin and Nordeen assisted a delegation of investors’ attempt to privatize shipyards in Taiwan at Keelung and Kaohsiung. During active duty Astin served simultaneously as Prosecutor and Defense attorney. Astin served in the Office of The United States Trustee, United States Department of Justice, (America’s bankruptcy “Watch Dog”), for oversight of some of the largest and most complex restructuring cases pending at that time.

“I am excited be a part of The 20 team, whose core values reflect mine and with such a talented team of professionals,” said Astin. “I am looking forward to playing my part in The 20’s growth story.”

Astin is founder of March Brown, Envoys & Advisors, and is Managing Partner of Ciardi Ciardi & Astin LLC (CCA) of Delaware, a nationally recognized boutique law firm headquartered in Philadelphia. Danny Chairs the International Business Law Consortium’s (“IBLC”), Salzburg, Austria, “Creditor Working Group”, and recently presented to foreign firms on the newly enacted bi-partisan “Corporate Transparency Act.” Danny is the Representative for the IBLC in Delaware interfacing with exemplary advisory firms situated throughout the globe.

About The 20 MSP

The 20 is an exclusive business development group for Managed Service Providers (MSPs) aimed at dominating and revolutionizing the IT industry with its standardized all-in-one approach. The 20’s robust RMM, PSA, and documentation platform ensures superior service for its MSPs’ clients utilizing their completely US-based Help Desk and Network Operations Center. Extending beyond world-class tools and processes, The 20 touts a proven sales model, a community of industry-leaders, and ultimate scalability. For more information, contact us.

Follow The 20 MSP: Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Meet Mike Bramm of BomberJacket Networks!

Tell us a little about your MSP…

BomberJacket Networks is located in Minnesota, Twin Cities (Minneapolis-St Paul), Established: 2001, Previously a Value Added Reseller- System Integrator

How long have you been a member of The 20?

5 months

Why did your MSP originally look to partner with The 20?

24x7x365 Support Desk/NOC

Tell us about the biggest change in your business since joining The 20.

Breaking old Break/Fix habits

What do you like most about being a member of The 20?

Tim’s Sales Pitch

What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success?

Marketing, Hard Work, Persistence

What are your biggest business challenges?

Having enough time

What are your areas of focus for 2020?

Marketing 

What advice would you share with an MSP looking to scale their business?

Join The 20 Way

What book are you currently reading?

You Can’t Be Everywhere – Marie Wiese

Favorite blogs / podcasts

Building a Story Brand with Donald Miller

Interested in becoming a member like BomberJacket Networks? Click here for more information!

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a daunting task for anyone who doesn’t have a background in marketing. SEO is how you get your site or business found. While following the basics will almost always be the right choice, there are tricks which can help an MSP get an edge over the competition. Let’s look at the 13 easiest things you can do for your MSP (though a lot of this advice applies to most businesses) to improve organic SEO.

Keywords

When someone performs a search, they use keywords or important terms to try and find a specific result. This is the foundational concept behind how a search engine works. Keywords used to live in special tags or be derived from the title, but computing has grown and search algorithms have gotten exponentially more complex. Almost everyone is familiar with keywords, but how they work has changed substantially. Keywords don’t just live in a title or a tag, they live in the content.

1. Targeted Keywords

What does your page or solution provide and how would a prospective client find it? This is the most important question to answer before even starting to create content. Once you have an answer, you can begin planning keywords which are relevant. For instance, if you’re writing about backups, you want to target the core keywords for backups, but also the specific keywords which help qualify your article.

We use terms like backup, BDR, and disaster recovery to cast a wide net for generic information on backups. This isn’t enough though, we want to get some of the long-tail searches even if they’re tangential. We work in terms like cloud, on-premise, virtualization, tape, etc. to make this content more appealing to more search users (and ideally anyone reading as well). Target keywords, but make sure they’re relevant to your content. This is the foundation to everything you do with SEO for any content.

2. Use Synonyms

You may have noticed that a lot of those keywords I mentioned seem a bit redundant. Backups and BDRs are arguably the difference between rectangles and squares. A search engine algorithm might use synonyms to help a user direct their search, but an exact match is still worth more. Pepper in synonyms and similar terms where they fit to cast a wider net.

This is especially important for MSP’s since your client may not always know what to search. They don’t necessarily know what DRaaS is before they talk to you, but they do know what they want (or at least have an idea) when they search (and it may be as vague as “to have backups”). The more generic or simple terms you can work in (especially early on) the more likely you are to get and retain a prospective client. Spicing up terms benefits more technical content as well.

Links

Inbound and outbound links can influence search rankings. Who you link to, and who links to you will impact your search engine ranking. Links are still important, but link farming (arbitrarily putting links on sites, or link farm sites to manipulate search rankings) is a quick way to get dropped. How can you squeeze an extra ounce of link juice (the value of a piece of content based on inbound links) out of your content without crossing a line?

3. Internal Links

The quickest and easiest way to increase link juice (which improves your SEO) is to link to your own content. You can’t just spam the same links or random links; they have to fit the content. Internally referencing your own blog or assets (in a way which contextually fits) is an extremely easy way to get an edge without any real downside.

Got an article explaining what something is? Link to it on other pages where you use the concept. Don’t be afraid to edit older content to add links to newer articles. This gives clients (or peers) a way to dig deeper and stay on your site while (ideally) deriving value.

Content

Modern search engine algorithms don’t just look at keywords and titles, they look at the entirety of the content and everything on the page. The main “trick” to good organic SEO is to just make better content. What question does your content answer and for whom? While good content is the main key to good SEO, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to improve the odds or make content shine even more.

4. Clearing Assets

Any asset which you use needs to be legally obtained or applied (the license matters). You can’t just download an image off the internet and use it. This seems like it would be common sense, but there are countless people who don’t follow this rule. If you used to do it before you knew better, fix it now.

It’s arguably content theft, but to top it off, it will hurt your SEO. It can also get you dropped entirely or even a DMCA takedown notice. Clear all assets you plan to use and make sure you have them licensed or use something with a free or public domain license. Attribution is also important depending on the license.

5. Subheadings and Organization

Headings, subheadings, and their organization can also impact SEO. The “ideal” at present is between 100 to 300 words per subheading for most content. These little changes in organization can enrich the keywords a search engine picks up on and in turn increases your SEO.

Most search engine algorithms give preference to content which is emphasized in some way. The most common way to do this is via test markup like em or strong tags, or h header/title tags. Make sure you highlight things which are important. You don’t even need to rewrite the whole thing. A little extra organization of content and subheadings leads to a boost in SEO.

6. Content Consistency

A bad verse in an otherwise great song can ruin the whole thing. Likewise, inconsistent quality can be as bad as consistently bad quality. Having poorly written content and keeping it for a misguided attempt at optimizing keywords or similar hurts your SEO. This can be a paragraph or a page.

This isn’t a judgment on your writing, but what content do you have which is (or has since become) wrong? An article about Windows Server 2003 won’t hurt anything, but an article about best practices for wireless security from the days of WEP will. It isn’t just dated, it can be harmful.

If everyone who Googles “best MSP near me” clicks your page and jumps to the next result because the content sucks, Google’s algorithm takes notice. If some of your content is bad, it can tarnish the rest too though. Where a reader lands can be as important as whether they even click. If content doesn’t work anymore, pull it. Make sure that the content you have stays consistent with the message you’re trying to broadcast to your clients without confusion.

Content Length

A long article has a different impact on SEO than a short article. A short article weekly has a different effect on SEO than a long article sporadically. You can create countless comparisons but the rule of thumb is that more is usually better. More content more often, or more words on a single article.

7. The Magic Word Count

Most search engines hit a soft SEO plateau around 1,000 to 1,500 words. The bigger ones tend to favor a bit more, usually 1,200 or more is ideal. Google, Bing, and basically any other modern search engine is going to reward you for longer content, you just hit diminishing returns from it.

The one thing to take of note of though is that substantially less than 1,000 word articles (say around 800 or less) tend to be worth less for SEO. Some content doesn’t need to be that long and trying to force it just harms it (like a contact page). SEO rules, especially this one, tend to be a bit like English spelling rules. The rule applies until it doesn’t.

Conclusion

SEO is SEO in any industry, the difference is how valuable a specific factor is over another. These tools and techniques work as basic tools for all kinds of specific SEO. A local business will benefit less from a global presence. One of the big differences for SEO for an MSP is the focus on both local and general reach.

You want your company to be the first result locally for prospective clients, but you also want vendors and other businesses to be able to find your site. These give you opportunities for growth and development of your business.

The 20 Honors Top Managed Service Providers and Vendors at Virtual VISION 2020

Full press release

 The 20, leading MSP consortium, honored top managed services providers and vendors with 2020 Virtual VISION awards. Presented at its seventh annual VISION conference, these awards recognized managed service providers and vendors for their outstanding achievements over the past year. 

“Year after year, our community of MSPs continues to blow us away with their dedication to innovation, growth, and excellence. It’s an honor to recognize their commitment to The 20’s model, and showcase their continued performance and success,” said Tim Conkle, CEO of The 20. 

“It is also a tremendous privilege to honor the vendors propelling the growth of our MSP members, and give them the recognition they absolutely deserve,” added Conkle. 

The 20’s 2020 Virtual VISION Awards include:
 

• MSP of the Year – YourITgroup 
• MSP Business Growth – 3i International  
• Most Engaged MSP – Monroy IT Services 
• Support Desk Favorite – Peterson Technology Group 
• Ambassador of the Year – John Rutkowski III of Bolder Designs 
• Best Revenue Booster – Crayon 
• Most Disruptive Solution – Nerdio 
• Most Helpful Vendor – Ciardi, Ciardi & Astin 
• Product of the Year – BLOKWORX 
• Partner of the Year – BLOKWORX 

The 2020 Virtual VISION Conference featured best-in-class thought leadership, actionable content sessions, channel trends, interactive peer panels, and virtual peer networking – all focused on growing your IT services business. Keynote speaker Gary Vaynerchuk, 5-time New York Times Best Selling Author, presented his road to entrepreneurship and how he created top line growth within his company. Hailed as the most important MSP event of the year, VISION brought together top MSPs and IT service providers for three impactful days of speakers, sessions, and networking focused on business best practices, thought leadership, and growth. 

Meet Courtney Ford, Graphic Designer

 This month we have turned the spotlight on Courtney Ford! Courtney quickly became a tremendous asset to the entire team at The 20. Read below to find out more about Courtney!

What do you do here at The 20?

I’m the Graphic Designer so I help the Art Director create social media content, digital/print collateral, and cool stuff for around the office.

Describe The 20 in three words…

Strong, Family, Exciting. 

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? 

Marine Biologist… until I realized I am actually scared of everything in the ocean ????

What’s the most challenging thing about your job? 

Right now it’s VISION season so deadlines are crazy trying to get everything finished. (PS: don’t forget to register at the20.com if you haven’t already ????)

What do you consider your greatest achievement? 

Knowing all the words to Eminem’s “The Real Slim Shady”

What do you think is the most important quality necessary for success? 

Dedication

What do you like most about The 20? 

I often describe The 20 as my dream job, so that’s a list we don’t have time for.

What do you like to do in your spare time? / What are your hobbies? 

This isn’t a hobby… YET. I just bought a leash so I can start walking my cat outside. I’ve also picked up playing Animal Crossing in my excessive amount of time at home this year.

Where are you going on your next vacation?

Colorado is the plan ⛄️

What’s your top life hack?

Always keep a bottle of hot sauce with you.

Interested in working with Courtney at The 20? We’re hiring! Check out our Careers page for more info.

Can you believe 2020 is here? It’s a brand new decade!

It’s a great time to reflect on on the lessons learned last year, and to set intentions for what we wish to create for the rest of the year! These are the tops MSP lessons learned by our members in 2019. Check them out!

Happy World Entrepreneurs’ Day!

On August 21 of each year, we like to take a moment and reflect on the day that’s been coined to celebrate innovation and empowerment of entrepreneurship and leadership throughout the world. Entrepreneurship is vital not just for job creation, but a very essential and integral part of our economic growth and problem-solving. Today we’re celebrating the 30.2 million entrepreneurs who are running and operating small businesses in this country! So to do so, we wanted to hear some of our partners’ advice on running an MSP. We asked the question: What do you wish you’d known when you started your MSP that you know now?

This is what a few of them said…

I wish I had known about recurring revenues and what products to sell and how to sell them to get this MRR.

– George Monroy, President/CEO of Monroy IT Services

I wish I had fully understood the idea that ‘if you aren’t growing, you’re shrinking.’ Going from full tech to many hats that include sales, it’s easy to forget to fill the sales funnel when business is ‘just right.’

– Patrick Hoerter, Owner of Your Network Security

A few things: Hire for culture fit, know what numbers are important to track, seek outside counsel and mentorship, and standards and processes are your friend.

– Kevin Peterson, Owner of Peterson Technology Group

None of us is as smart as ‘all of us.’ The early days were ‘lone wolf.’ I believed you ask no one; figure it out by yourself. I learned, however, that that’s wrong, and to trust other IT people; ask for help when needed. And give help freely in return. The more you give, the more your get.

– John Rutkowski, CEO of Bolder Designs

Two things: 1) Real marketing! Referral marketing is good but direct mail, telemarketing and others are what keep growth going and profits increasing. 2) Read and FOLLOW ‘The E-Myth,’ which is to understand that YOU are the business owner and MUST transition from technician to owner for a real business. 3) Yes, I said two things, but I thought I’d give a bonus: Continue to learn from your peers. They have a wealth of history to share that you later can share with the new guys as they come along.

– Bill Wright, Owner of WCI Technology Solutions

I wish I’d known about The 20 because no one tells you that you’ll be working 80 hour weeks and not getting vacations.

– Rodney Sees, CEO of Accurate Computer Solutions

Borrowing money for expansion — don’t do it. Worse than drugs. Also, there are a million apps, tools, etc. out there to “support and grow your business.” Then, there are the basic tools — RMM, AV, Backup, Billing. Don’t confuse the things you NEED with the things vendors promise will make life awesome. Some of them will, and most of them won’t, but regardless, they will cost you a lot of money. Beware of metered storage and metered throughput. NEVER agree to a long-term contract for a product you “will grow into.” If you’re staring at $300/month for 50 licenses of something you only need 5 of, then it isn’t $6/month per device, it’s $60.

– Jim Bachaud, CEO of Stratocent Technologies

So there you have it! Hopefully this sheds a little a light onto what you can expect from running your own business as entrepreneurs. We think it’s important to listen to those who have tried it — if for nothing else, it brings attention to things you may have not yet considered.

Are you interested in becoming a Partner with The 20? Click here for more information!