Effectively using Social Networking to build your IT Support business Richard Tubb Independent Consultant Chris Martin GFI MAX – MSP Consultant

Slide 2 of 34 Introducing Chris Martin GFI MAX – MSP Consultant Richard Tubb Independent Consultant

Slide 3 of 37 Webinar Agenda »The principles for using Social Networking »The ROI of Social Networking »Social Networking vs Social Media »Tips for Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook »Why Blog? »Content Loops »The Tools to use »Social Networking vs traditional Business Networking »Question and Answer

Slide 4 of 37 The Principles of Social Networking »Do not sell! »Use to educate »Add Value, not noise »It’s a two-way conversation »It’s about quality, not quantity

Slide 5 of 37 The ROI of Social Networking »Establishes you as a subject matter expert »Begins process of building trust in you »Gives you visibility »Typically used as a conversation starter »Business can be won thanks to Social Networking!

Slide 6 of 37 All about conversations Social Networking vs. Social Media

Slide 7 of 37 Social Media »Primarily about content »There are still opportunity for conversations though!

Slide 8 of 37 Content Loops »Create a video on YouTube –link to your web-site »Create a blog post talking about the video »Tweet about the blog post »Create a LinkedIn status update about the blog post »Add photos to Flickr about how you made the video »Your web-site has a link to your blog »Different people consume information through different channels. Help them to find you!

Slide 9 of 37 The tools to use »Tweetdeck »Outlook Social Connector »SocialOomph »Google Alerts »Bit.ly – Shorten and track the links you share »Read my blog article – “The Tools I use” (link TBA)

Slide 10 of 37 »140 Characters – micro-blogging! »What you say will be open for the world to see! »Share links that share your viewpoint – add your thoughts »Follow like minded individuals, start conversations »Use Groups to categorise those you follow – Business, Friends, Local, Vendors, Prospects, etc. »Getting started? Re-Tweet (RT) some articles, ask and answer questions »Use Hash-Tags (#) to discuss specific subjects Tips for Twitter

Slide 11 of 37 Tips for LinkedIn »Solely business focus »Offers status updates like Twitter – but use sparingly. »Use as part of your process for managing business cards »Scan the Weekly LinkedIn update for opportunities to re-connect with people »Use LinkedIn Groups to engage with peers and prospects »If cross-posting to Twitter, don’t use Hash-tags (#) on LinkedIn!

Slide 12 of 37 »Facebook primarily for personal relationships, but is used extensively for business too »The line between personal friendships and business friendships is blurring »People do business with people they like – don’t be afraid to be yourself on-line! »Use Facebook Privacy settings to separate your friends and colleagues where necessary  sign to tag other people – in status updates, in photos Tips for Facebook

Slide 13 of 37 Why Blog? »Blogging is free – it doesn’t matter if anyone reads it! »It teaches you to effectively articulate your thoughts and points – it’ll make you a better salesmen, a better speaker, a better party guest! »Be consistent with your message and your frequency »If you’re good at it, people will read. If you’re no good at it, you’ll get good at it. »Effectively builds trust in you and your brand

Slide 14 of 37 Social Networking Etiquette »When in doubt, treat like “real world” networking »Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want to be quoted on »But do be yourself! »Don’t “Friend Collect” – *always* write personalised introductions within connection requests »Read my blog post – “Thanks for your Friend Request, but who are you?”

Slide 15 of 37 Social Networking vs. traditional Business Networking »Social Networking compliments traditional networking, and visa versa! »Putting all your energy into just one or the other will only get you so far »Use a balanced “linked up” approach to networking both on-line and off-line – Face-to-Face, Telephone Calls, s, Social Networking »Always try to “Be The Connector”

Slide 16 of 37 Any questions? »Blog – »Twitter – »LinkedIn – » –

Slide 17 of 37 GFI MAX Building Blocks

Slide 18 of 37 »A series of discrete, pre-packaged services that the customer can easily grasp the value of »That you can sell easily »That generate recurring profits for you »Bind that customer to you »Learn about their systems »Begin changing the nature of the relationship »And migrate them to full Managed Services How the Building Blocks can help you get started

Slide 19 of 37 »All the information, tools and collateral needed to sell and implement a set of Managed Services »You can use to: □Attract new customers or strengthen relationships with existing customers □Easily sell a profitable service □Ease customers from break-fix to Managed Services »With NO major changes to your company □And no expensive training What’s a Building Block?

Slide 20 of 37 Building Blocks Program – Do it your way! Server & NetworkWorkstation Server & network management Workstation management archiving hosting Delivery verification Real-time server & network monitoring Proactive workstation maintenance Continuity Daily Server Health Check Real-time workstation monitoring Anti-virus & anti-spam Daily Server Safety Check Daily Workstation Health Check infrastructure monitoring Lucrative but complex Lower value but simple

Slide 21 of 37 What’s contained in each Building Block? Each Building Block Contains: Information about the service, context in which it sits in Building Blocks Financials (pricing & profit) calculators Promotional material (flyers, letters, web site text, etc.), value proposition, marketing and sales strategy Implementation documents (contracts, SLAs) Implementation considerations: Integration, billing, scaling, etc. Example: Server Blocks – all you need to price and sell Server & Network Management Real-time Server & Network Monitoring Daily Server Health Check Daily Server Safety Check

Slide 22 of 37 Your Logo Here All the self-branded information and material you need Sample flyer Your strap line here

Slide 23 of 37 Sample website copy

Slide 24 of 37 Sample sales letters and telephone scripts

Slide 25 of 37 Pricing calculators, sample contracts, statements of work...

Slide 26 of 37 » All the info and collateral. » To easily sell straightforward services that the customer grasps. » That bind the customer to you. » That truffle hunt and brings more incidents to the surface. » That you can make good recurring revenues and profits. » That require no changes to your business system. No training and travel and time. » That can be used to attract new customers with a straightforward service. » That start the progression to full Managed Services. GFI Max and Building Blocks are…Easy! GFI MAX Building Blocks summary

Slide 27 of 37 » You get the full system » Set up in less than 10 minutes! » No commitment » No hard sell » Or contact us for more information: Thank you

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Slide 29 of 37 » Online resource to help you: »Grow your IT support company »Run your company more profitably »Deliver fast IT support and increase uptime »Minimize threats to your business MSP Business Management website