Community-Building Strategies to Elevate Your MSP Brand

[00:00:01] Welcome to the Powered Services Podcast, your go-to source for all things MSP. Each episode, we're diving deep into the world of MSPs, exploring cutting-edge solutions, strategies, and insights that empower you to supercharge your services.

[00:00:22] Join us as we connect with industry experts, thought leaders, and tech visionaries who are reshaping the managed services landscape.

[00:00:31] Plug in, power up, and prepare to elevate your MSP game to the next level. Now, here's your host, Dan Tomaszewski.

[00:00:48] Greetings, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Powered Services Podcast. I'm your host, Dan Tomaszewski.

[00:00:54] It's nice to have you along as we start this new season of the Powered Services Podcast.

[00:01:01] Today, we're going to dive into a lot around your community efforts and how that can help you with your brand building because there's still a lot of time left in the month of October for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

[00:01:14] And I'm going to give you some tips today of what we're seeing and hearing from MSPs that really makes an impact and some other strategies that you can do around your community to continue to help that brand that you're building as an MSP.

[00:01:27] Because it's so important that in all the things that we're doing, that we think about our brand strategy.

[00:01:32] You know, we're not Coca-Cola. We're not Pepsi.

[00:01:35] It's not something that people can, you know, easily know.

[00:01:37] So we're out there in a competitive market today where there are other MSPs in our communities.

[00:01:43] And we've got to do a lot of different things to stand out.

[00:01:47] And one of the ones that I'm probably the most passionate about, if you've known me, you've heard me speak, it really is around your community engagement.

[00:01:57] I built my MSP off of community engagement.

[00:02:02] I was at chamber events.

[00:02:03] I was at lunch and learns.

[00:02:05] I was at golf outings.

[00:02:07] I was at dinners.

[00:02:08] I was a part of all the different associations.

[00:02:10] And I watched what that impact did to our business.

[00:02:14] And when we were a two, three, four, five-man shop, people were convinced that we were a 50 to 100 person MSP.

[00:02:22] Because we spent the time, we were everywhere, and our community involvement and our community engagement took us to new heights.

[00:02:31] And I want to share some of those best practices with you because I think if we all take the time, I'm not saying you got to go do 500 things,

[00:02:39] but if you can start getting involved in your community and making this a part of your bigger strategy of marketing, it's going to pay off for you.

[00:02:48] So let's dive into a couple.

[00:02:51] And I'll give you some different examples and some thoughts behind each of those examples and what I would possibly do in those scenarios.

[00:02:59] And one of the ones I'm hearing a lot of people right now, and this is why I wanted to get this podcast out right away, is trunk or treats.

[00:03:07] There is a ton of time left between now and Halloween where trunk or treats are taking place.

[00:03:13] It is nothing that is a huge lift.

[00:03:17] It's literally buying candy and having your car, truck, van, whatever it is that you guys drive and participating in the different community trunk or treats.

[00:03:27] And have a little sign.

[00:03:29] Have something there that represents you, the company.

[00:03:32] Wear your branded apparel.

[00:03:34] Get involved.

[00:03:35] Partake in it.

[00:03:36] There's ways to sponsor things, Adam.

[00:03:38] They're a great way to get involved.

[00:03:40] And I can tell you, like, I've been watching Facebook, different social media in my local community.

[00:03:46] And I can tell you right now, I could go partake in about 14 or 15 different trunk or treats that I've seen.

[00:03:53] And I'm just looking at that as a huge opportunity.

[00:03:57] I know I spoke to an MSP that is participating in about nine of them.

[00:04:02] They got their candy all stacked away.

[00:04:04] They got awesome, like, little giveaway prizes that they're doing.

[00:04:09] Like, the one MSP is doing a thing.

[00:04:11] So you come by the trunk or treat.

[00:04:13] And they're having the kids fill out, like, a little raffle prize, you know, thing.

[00:04:19] And they're giving away, like, a Lego set.

[00:04:21] And they're giving back.

[00:04:23] But it's a great way to be seen because the moms, the dads, the aunts, the uncles, the grandmas, the grandpas, you don't know where they're connected in the community or what businesses they run or are part of.

[00:04:34] It's starting to connect the dots.

[00:04:37] So think of that as one community engagement thing that you can do.

[00:04:42] And if they have bigger ones in your community, how do you take part and really get into that?

[00:04:47] And think about it past Halloween.

[00:04:50] And I'm going to have an episode coming up, you know, around just the holidays and, like, ways to promote and go about it in your communities.

[00:04:57] But, you know, a lot of people have, like, holiday parades coming up with Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other holidays that are about to take part.

[00:05:06] It's a good way to be thinking about it right now to say, yeah, you know what, our business isn't in there.

[00:05:12] Let's take part and start small.

[00:05:14] You don't have to go big.

[00:05:15] You don't have to knock it out, you know, a home run on the first one.

[00:05:18] We just want to get a base hit here and start moving the needle.

[00:05:22] I think it's super important.

[00:05:25] Another one that, you know, it kind of goes tied into this is looking at the overall giving back to the community.

[00:05:35] This is something that I did a lot with inside my MSP as well.

[00:05:39] I picked a local charity that really meant something to me, you know, and what my core values and what I would really wanted to represent.

[00:05:50] And we gave back to an organization that helped kids that had disabilities and were not able to go out and get jobs in the market and be able to go out and do things in food service.

[00:06:02] And we donated $1.75 for every seat we managed.

[00:06:08] $1.75 went to that charity or to their organization every single month.

[00:06:15] Our customers knew that.

[00:06:17] The community knew that we were giving back.

[00:06:20] And our customers felt they were a part of something bigger with us.

[00:06:25] And it really changed the game for me, my staff.

[00:06:33] And we participated.

[00:06:35] We got involved.

[00:06:36] We went and did lunches with them.

[00:06:38] We went and saw the facility.

[00:06:40] We just didn't write a check.

[00:06:41] We actually were participating in trying to be a part of it with them.

[00:06:46] And I will tell you, it was really awesome to see what our work and what our efforts, you know, was supporting.

[00:06:53] And I know we tried to take that then and also share that with our customers so they could see that the impact that they were doing through us with our customers.

[00:07:03] So is there something in your community that you're passionate about?

[00:07:07] Is it something that aligns with you, your core values, the mission of your business?

[00:07:13] I think it's super important that you take it back and look.

[00:07:16] Maybe you don't do it monthly.

[00:07:17] Maybe it's once a year.

[00:07:19] Maybe it's every quarter.

[00:07:21] What is it?

[00:07:22] You know, what's that thing that can get you to get involved and really give back within the community?

[00:07:29] That's another great idea for folks to think about, especially as you're establishing your business or if you're already established.

[00:07:36] It's just a great thing that you can put to on your materials to let people know a little bit more and kind of see who you really are under the covers and really what your business is.

[00:07:49] Another idea and things is just employee involvement.

[00:07:54] So it kind of leads into what I was going into there.

[00:07:57] It's like our employees were involved, but we also encourage people to be involved in other community efforts.

[00:08:03] Maybe they felt like they wanted to go to the soup kitchen and get involved.

[00:08:07] Maybe they felt like they wanted to go and do like Habitat for Humanity.

[00:08:12] Maybe they wanted to go do a United Way Day of Caring.

[00:08:17] Encourage your employees to get involved in community efforts.

[00:08:20] And if you can get your team of folks from your organization to get involved in those community efforts, man, not only optically what that does for the business, but it's also just a good overall feeling for your staff to go out, work together and do something for the common good.

[00:08:39] And it goes a long way.

[00:08:41] These things are super important.

[00:08:44] We're expecting people now to give us the keys to their kingdom to oversee and run their IT networks.

[00:08:53] They could be a two, three, four, five million dollar company.

[00:08:56] And they just want to let us come in and take over their IT, which can make or break a lot of companies.

[00:09:01] And so them being able to see who you are, your staff, the character, all of those core values and the mission of your company, that group of folks, when they're constantly out there, I recognized it.

[00:09:16] When I did a United Way Day of Caring, when I did my rotary groups, when we went out and participated, you saw very, almost the same people a lot of the time.

[00:09:28] And you build that bond and that relationship.

[00:09:31] And that leads to business being passed because like-minded people want to do business with like-minded people.

[00:09:38] And that goes right to what we're talking about, right, when we're building our brand.

[00:09:43] So think about that from an employee involvement.

[00:09:47] But then there's other opportunities.

[00:09:50] Collaborating with local businesses.

[00:09:52] So maybe it's collaborating with local businesses to do different seminars.

[00:09:58] I know I hear, I was speaking to an MSP here a couple weeks ago.

[00:10:02] They're collaborating with their local bank.

[00:10:04] And they're doing a lot of cybersecurity training and education for all ages.

[00:10:10] And the bank is inviting their customers.

[00:10:13] And the bank's inviting their customers.

[00:10:15] And the MSP is teaching things that are going on and things that you need to be careful of and that you need to be watching for.

[00:10:23] Especially as like the scams that are out there that are hitting the elderly.

[00:10:27] The shopping scams that happen for all of us when you're online.

[00:10:33] When you're looking at those types of things.

[00:10:35] And then just business, phishing scams.

[00:10:38] Man, look at the world that we live in today.

[00:10:40] It's changing.

[00:10:41] They're getting more complicated.

[00:10:43] It's harder to detect what's real and what's fake.

[00:10:46] But taking that time to be seen as a thought leader, it's a great way.

[00:10:51] You can do that with collaborating with another local business.

[00:10:54] I've also heard this year we've seen some successful events where people have partnered with four or five local businesses just to put on an event.

[00:11:04] And they've made something at a local brewery or a restaurant.

[00:11:09] Or they've done little trade shows or business expos and things like that.

[00:11:16] Maybe that's an angle.

[00:11:18] Maybe you're sitting in a group that has some different businesses.

[00:11:20] Or you know some folks that if you guys got together, what you guys could do.

[00:11:25] It's a force multiplier because now you're bringing existing customer bases together to see each other and share.

[00:11:33] That's a great way to get that warm lead or that warm introduction to your business from a brand standpoint.

[00:11:40] So, look, there's a lot of things that you can do.

[00:11:45] But these are ways, everything that I just talked about are authentic community building ways to go do it.

[00:11:52] These are things that are really going to be core to who you are, your business.

[00:11:59] And, you know, it can lead to so many different avenues.

[00:12:03] And I get it.

[00:12:04] We don't have a lot of time in our days.

[00:12:06] We got lots of tickets.

[00:12:08] There's always a 5,000 things on our list.

[00:12:11] But we can't miss these opportunities.

[00:12:14] Because the one thing we commonly hear is my business isn't growing the way I want it to.

[00:12:19] The referrals aren't the way they used to be.

[00:12:23] And a lot of these things can start to go away and you can change that tone is if you can just start to get involved, build that brand.

[00:12:31] And before you know it, you're going to be that company that everybody in the community is like, I know that MSP.

[00:12:38] Man, they give back to this community more than anybody I've seen.

[00:12:42] They're always participating.

[00:12:43] They're a great one.

[00:12:44] I would highly recommend them to anyone.

[00:12:47] And that's what we want to be hearing from folks.

[00:12:50] Because at that point, our marketing is going to pay off.

[00:12:54] Our efforts, what we're doing and how we're involved are going to go to new heights.

[00:12:59] And the dollars and the spend that we put in there to promote our company is just going to actually 2, 3, 4, 5x, sometimes maybe even 10x.

[00:13:08] And you're going to start seeing the results versus saying marketing doesn't work.

[00:13:12] So, look, there's still a couple weeks left in October.

[00:13:16] Take advantage of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

[00:13:19] Be that thought leader.

[00:13:21] You have time to educate.

[00:13:23] If you're a Powered Services Pro customer, man, I hope you've seen the kit that we've put in the portal for you.

[00:13:29] It's got interactive PowerPoint games that you can send to your customers.

[00:13:33] It's got interactive activity books that you can send to people.

[00:13:37] I mean, think about it.

[00:13:38] Sending a word search, crossword puzzle, some of the things.

[00:13:43] People love to do those things.

[00:13:45] But we're teaching cybersecurity while doing it.

[00:13:50] There's no better way than put community contest or something around that, but get the message out.

[00:13:55] Because I'm sure your local chamber, you put your logo on that.

[00:13:58] Your local chamber will send that out to help educate during this month.

[00:14:02] Your local news station, still probably looking for people to come on and be seen as that thought leader.

[00:14:09] Man, you're seen on the local news.

[00:14:11] You're heard on the radio.

[00:14:12] The chamber is promoting you.

[00:14:13] You're out at community events.

[00:14:15] Do you see how all these things start to come back and really align?

[00:14:19] And just cannot recommend those things enough to everybody.

[00:14:23] So look, reach out.

[00:14:26] Connect with me on LinkedIn.

[00:14:27] I would love to connect with you and share more best practices.

[00:14:32] I blog every week.

[00:14:33] I have the podcast that you're going to be hearing from us every week on.

[00:14:36] I'm sharing different industry news and trends.

[00:14:40] So connect with me.

[00:14:42] Subscribe to the podcast.

[00:14:43] We'd love to have you back for another episode.

[00:14:45] But I hope these tips help you as you go out there in your community and trying to really build that brand strategy.

[00:14:54] Until next time, everybody.

[00:14:56] Have a great week.

[00:15:00] And that's a wrap for today's episode of the Powered Services Podcast with Dan Tomaszewski.

[00:15:06] We hope you're leaving with your mind buzzing with new ideas and strategies to revolutionize your MSP offerings.

[00:15:13] Don't forget to subscribe for more insights.

[00:15:16] And join us next time as we continue to decode the complexities of managed services.

[00:15:22] Until then, keep powering through.

[00:15:25] And remember, the future of MSP is bright and fully charged.

[00:15:31] Thank you for listening and stay connected.